There is a price to pay for our litigious system of serving up huge jackpots in lieu of actual innovation or productive behavior. That price, in the case of Miami, Oklahoma, was 350 jobs, the loss of health insurance for 350 families, and all of the ancillary multiplicative effects of a small community losing its only manufacturing and tax base. What it cost the country is this, you will no longer have the option of walking to the nearest gas station in order to purchase a sufficient quantity of gasoline to get your whole car to the gas station should you run out of gas. Now, thanks to law suit abuse, you will have to pay for the tow, and wait God knows how long for that tow truck to arrive.
At what point exactly did we as a society, just throw our arms collectively, (pun intended,) into the air and declare ourselves just too damned stupid to function without being forced to wear protective head gear? Blitz USA inc. manufactured about 75% of the small gasoline containers used in the world by people who wished to put small amounts of gasoline into lawn mowers, stalled cars, motor cycles, snow blowers, or anyone of another dozen legitimate uses. But since this is America, and we all have the God given right to be just as stupid as is humanly possible, you can bet your bottom dollar that more than a few people saw fit to take the good Lord up on that very concept. They used Blitz’s otherwise useful product to pour gasoline on open flames, rather than utilizing the fire safety lessons taught in Third Grade Classrooms to every child across the country, (for example, do not pour gasoline on open flames.) Having eschewed perhaps the only useful thing taught in our public school system, as you might have guessed, some folks got hurt. And since in America, nothing is ever the fault of the person who actually committed the act of idiocy in the first place, who ever has the deepest pockets gets volunteered automatically to take fiscal responsibility.
Blitz USA inc., not being a fortune 500 company with an unlimited asset base, eventually found her breaking point. That breaking point by the way, was reached without a single one of the claims made by her plaintiff’s having been proven in court. Not a single explosion of the variety claimed to be a potential was ever duplicated, created, or actually shown to have happened. Blitz simply ran through the entirety of her capital defending 43 law suits, all without merit.
You may never have heard of Blitz USA, but if you have a red portable gasoline can in your garage, chances are you own their product.
At its peak, Blitz USA, the 50-year-old producer of three out of every four portable gas cans nationwide, employed 350 people in the small town of Miami, Oklahoma. But over the last decade, a wave of costly litigation took its toll, and lawsuits finally drove the company out of business.
Around the turn of the century, Blitz came into the crosshairs of the product liability lawyers who saw opportunity in the handful of injuries that came almost exclusively from misuse or miss-storage of the gas can. What started as one lawsuit against Blitz quickly ballooned to more than 40.
The plaintiffs’ cases hinged upon the theory that Blitz cans were liable to combust in the course of use around an open flame.
“The lawyers that are suing us have a theory that the gas vapor, when somebody pours it on a fire, goes up inside the can and the can explodes,” says Blitz CEO Rocky Flick. While Blitz’ experts were never able to replicate the “exploding gas can,” it was clear that misusing a gasoline can by pouring fuel on an open flame could cause serious injuries. “There’s no way to protect somebody pouring gas on a fire,” says Flick.
As the cases mounted and Blitz was forced to empty more than $30 million from its coffers in defense and damage fees, the writing was on the wall. Blitz had to declare bankruptcy, forcing 117 of its remaining employees out of work.
“It was a case where we couldn’t fight them all,” explains Flick. Blitz USA finally closed its doors in August 2012.
All of this happened despite the fact that Blitz molded instruction on the proper use of their product right into the plastic, and placed warnings imploring people not to pour gasoline on to open flames, ever, let alone with their product. My goodness people, we used to laugh at morons who acted this foolishly, and deservedly so.
Of course, the usual lobby groups for plaintiff’s attorneys have all gotten together in order to frame the story in their nuanced language of moral relativism. It just so happens that some extensive studies were done concerning those vaunted flame arrestors, and guess what, turns out that they would have actually made the gas cans more dangerous if misused in the manner described. Knowing that the gas cans did not explode, but that the gas that splashed about actually ignited, a mesh screen would have resulted in greater amounts of gasoline being splashed about. As long as the plaintiff’s attorneys get their pay day I suppose, we should call that a big win for our lottery style judicial system.
Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.
I had a client once that made medical devices, specifically hypodermic needles. A women tried to sue them when her bady-daddy ODed… obviously it never went to court.
We are a nation of idiots with tools and stuff…not responsible for any of the things idiots do with tools and stuff!
The left would dearly love to be able to use this same tactic against gun manufacturers, but the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) stands in their way, fortunately. Democrats here in Colorado are pushing to pass a law that would expose manufacturers to liability in state courts, even though it’s probably doomed legally.
There was a rash of lawsuits in the late ’90s and early part of this century trying to make product liability claims against gun manufacturers, with the goal of driving them out of business. The most absurd case was in New York, where a jury decided that since the manufacturer of the gun used in one particular case was unknown, the only reasonable answer was to find every gun manufacturer liable, with damages based on each one’s percentage of market share.
the circus is in town!
whoopie!
Good luck with that…
Heh. Feinstein had to have the room cleared because of left-wing protests against Brennan’s nomination as CIA director.
You know, when both sides hate your nominee, that might be an indication that he’s a bad choice…
@ lobo91:
This is a riot!
@ lobo91:
Wouldn’t that require logic in one’s thinking?
DHS Purchases 21.6 Million More Rounds of Ammunition
http://www.infowars.com/dhs-purchases-21-6-million-more-rounds-of-ammunition/
@ Mike C.:
Sounds to me like they’re just trying to dry up the supply.
Some of the documents I’ve seen showed them buying huge quantities of ammo in calibers that nobody in the federal government even uses (like .30-’06).
@ 9 Mike C.:
It has to be in a government contract somewhere. And open to FOIA requests. Name of the manager who approves it would be there. And they might have even had to go out to bid on the contract. The ammo providers would know.
@ 10 lobo91: That crossed my mind also. An obot would think that way. Just buy up all the ammo so no one else can. Cheap gun control. But it would be bad public policy. A non transparent underhanded way to social engineer American society. Some congress critter would need to Supreme Court them.
lobo91 wrote:
Probably why I can’t find any 30.06 at a reasonable price. Seen some online, but the cost is through the roof!
@ lobo91:
Yeah, that’s what it sounds like to me, too. More of Obama’s Stimu-bux, no doubt, making ammo more expensive for the rest of us.
@ darkwords:
So what’s your point?
//
@ Tanker:
LuckyGunner had Wolf .30-06 online yesterday for roughly $ 0.50/round. Okay, it’s stell-cased and Berdan-primed, but it shoots.
Those numbers in that article ARE from official sources -- this stuff is all put out to bid and it’s all available online. See the links in the story.
@ Mike C.:
Er, “steel-cased”, not “stell-cased.”
@ Mike C.:
$ 0.76/round. I mis-remembered.
http://www.luckygunner.com/30-06-145-gr-fmj-wolf-500-rounds
Mike C. wrote:
I have some of that, but my Mouser hates it or any steel cased ammo!
I’m not aware of any federal law enforcement agencies that would use .30-06 for anything. The only rifle calibers they’d use would be .223 and .308.
Tanker wrote:
Crap..my Mauser, not mouser
I would hate to be standing close to him when he says things like that. A stray lightning bolt would really mess up your day…
@ Tanker:
I’ve never seen a cat chambered for .30-06…
//
This guy will be the new Leftist icon.
Suspected Mass-Murderer’s Manifesto Endorses Hillary, Obama, Gun Control, Elite Media
@ lobo91:
Which scripture? The Koran or The Communist Manifesto?
lobo91 wrote:
Touche…
You know anything about the Mauser model 66. I may be able to pick one up. I have a K98 and love it!
@ Tanker:
Sorry, no. Not really my area of expertise.
FNC really needs to stop showing file footage of a Shadow UAV during discussions of the CIA’s drone assassination program.
Shadows are unarmed low-altitude recon drones used primarily by the Army.
Rodan wrote:
You forgot the ass Piers Morgan. Shouldn’t old Piers be held partly responsible for all this….following Piers own logic of course!
@ Rodan:
We’ll never hear about this guy from the MFM. He’ll just disappear, like the Ft. Hood shooter. He doesn’t fit the pattern they want us to see, so he doesn’t get reported as news.
lobo91 wrote:
FNC’s research department doesn’t seem to have the sharpest people on many stories lately.
Iron Fist wrote:
His picture has already been on the news, so they can’t pretend that he’s a white guy.
@ lobo91:
Even on FNC, you can’t expect journalism majors to actually know anything…
@ Tanker:
Next, they’ll probably show a Raven.
//targeted killing of squirrels
@ Iron Fist:
It will be like it never happened!
@ Tanker:
Rules do not apply for the Left.
@ lobo91:
He will either disappear from the news or become a cultural icon for the Left.
Rodan wrote:
was KSM tried, convicted and executed?…I missed it
heysoos wrote:
He’s still sitting at Gitmo, because Congress kept Holder from having him tried in NYC, after which he probably would have been acquitted and released.
President Obama?…
“PRESENT!!”
oh damn… it seems the 2 shot in LA were women delivering newspapers.
brookly red wrote:
WTF is the matter with the lapd?
this is absurd.
This is just a sample of the tweets that intellectuals are putting out about
Dorner.
They are all down with the guy & want da Bama phone.
coldwarrior wrote:
I suppose there are some 350 pound women over 6 feet tall, but I think maybe the cop(s) didn’t do such a good job of IDing the trarget…
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/ex-cop-manhunt-newspaper-delivery-women-shot.html
look at the photo they just shot the truck up from behind.
brookly red wrote:
i am counting at least 25-30 bullet holes in the back of their pickup!
coldwarrior wrote:
what a way to bag a few million dollars
coldwarrior wrote:
fortunately both will be OK… I wonder how much the jury will award them?
heysoos wrote:
i hate cops. seriously. i have zero respect for the police. i used to be one, i know what goes on.
@ heysoos:
@ brookly red:
the lapd wants this guy dead. i wonder what he knows?
coldwarrior wrote:
/// where the birth certificate is
@ coldwarrior:
Students at the Obama Academy march for fairness!!
ht-WPXI
@ Bumr50:
I’ll bet they had to show their birth certificates to get in…
Bumr50 wrote:
looks like there was some tribal warfare at da hoops game.
werd.
Uh huh…
Suzanne Martinez rocks…she’s a tough cookie
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/what-the-most-prominent-latina-in-the-u-s-thinks-about-immigration-reform-20130207?mrefid=mostViewed
WTF?
@ RIX:
You seem surprised
RIX wrote:
so much for answering the red phone at 2:00 AM…
RIX wrote:
also good… “Why didn’t you put forces in place to be ready to respond?,” Senator John McCain asked the general.
Dempsey started, “Because we never received a request to do so, number one. And number two, we --”
McCain iterrupted, “You never heard of Ambassador Stevens’s repeated warnings?”
“I had, through General Ham,” responded Dempsey, referring to the commander of AFRICOM. “But we never received a request for support from the State Department, which would have allowed us to put forces--”
“So it’s the State Department’s fault?”
“I’m not blaming the State Department,” Dempsey responded.
present!
what difference does it make?
common sense solutions
I remember that I do not recall
This guy Horner is weapons grade crazy.
A little bit. These people need to red the employee handbook,/
heysoos wrote:
what are you running for?
Really.
@ brookly red:
These people are a mess top to bottom.
brookly red wrote:
Choomer in Chief
Re: Benghazi:
I heard Rush ask today why did the CIA guy light up the bad guy with a targeting laser (exposing his position and getting him self killed doing so)IF he did not think the was an air craft in position to respond?
heysoos wrote:
if I vote for you can I have a phone?
brookly red wrote:
AND a pizza?
brookly red wrote:
apparently there was a CID drone, armed, in the vicinity…so combine the DoD, CIA and State and you have an automatic clusterfuck….there was no legit reason to even have these people on station let alone playing games with each other
FREE BONGS!!
The Osprey wrote:
he can disguise himself as two women at once…pretty clever
heysoos wrote:
wait till they run healthcare…
“and why didn’t you help the patient?”
“I asked him twice to fill out the proper form but all he did was bleed…”
The real story here would probably make your teeth itch.
I doubt that we will ever have the truth.
fellow brotha clobbers BO at the prayer meetin…
I gotta see the tape
http://www.humanevents.com/2013/02/07/dr-carson-hits-a-grand-slam/
brookly red wrote:
When did anyone establish that any such laser designators were in use?
And this is the first I’ve heard of the attackers using night vision equipment, which is the only way they would have seen such a laser.
The Osprey wrote:
“…You call his wife a Wookie. Off the record, I love your new bangs, Mrs. Obama.” yup that is certifiable…
@ RIX:
I still say that the truth will come out…I never claimed there would be reprisals, but the truth will be exposed, slow but sure
lobo91 wrote:
I remember reading they had 2 types… lemmie googel
lobo91 wrote:
her you go… http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/04/what-laser-capability-did-benghazi-team-have/ If you don’t like Fox there are hundreds of others.
lobo91 wrote:
I read that somewhere back at the beginning…just another rumor at the time
@ brookly red:
All of which quote each other’s rumors.
@ heysoos:
90% of what “everyone knows” happened that night is unsubstantiated rumor, dreamed up by people who have read too many Tom Clancy novels.
Did Barry “Choom” before Kenya video address?
heysoos wrote:
Let’s hope so. Those guys that died that night deserve the truth to come out.
lobo91 wrote:
that’s the point…it’s only fair that we citizens know everything that went down and why…we deserve an honest timeline, capabilities and decisions made at the WH
RIX wrote:
It’ll come out about the time the truth about the JFK assassination does.
lobo91 wrote:
It could be true or not… but something went wrong for sure.
@ heysoos:
You ceased being a citizen in January of 2009.
“The most transparent administration ever!”
//
I’m pretty sure that OJ was behind the grassy Knool./
lobo91 wrote:
well in a way they are. and not a good way.
when I’m elected Choomander in Chief, I’m going need to pass legislation allowing me to waterboard….whoever I want, for any reason
@ brookly red:
I think that’s pretty much the definition of a rumor.
That depends on what the original plan was, doesn’t it?
RIX wrote:
I’m leaning toward Arlen Specter, personally.
He’s the only person on earth who actually believed his “magic bullet” theory, after all.
Have you noticed that none of the survivors are being made available
to talk?
lobo91 wrote:
well the night it happened I said it was a set up and got laughed at…
RIX wrote:
disappeared to Argentina?
@ RIX:
While the FBI hasn’t gotten around to investigating the scene yet, they are pretty good at keeping people quiet.
In his testimony Panetta said that we should not expect the Military to respond
within minutes.
That’s a straw man, nobody suggested minutes.
RIX wrote:
when they do talk they will have very dilated pupils, drool and praise O’s policies
And it’s working well.
What, exactly, do union members gain by having millions of low-skilled Mexicans added to the legal work force?
lobo91 wrote:
GM
lobo91 wrote:
to unionize them…fatten the ranks
@ coldwarrior:
And they shot into both the passenger side and the driver’s side of the back. Way to target the lone gunman…
“President Obama is the finest person that In have ever met & he loves
all of the people” repeat , repeat , repeat
@ heysoos:
The only people gaining anything from that would be the union leadership, which was my point.
The entire reason labor unions exist is to limit the supply of labor.
However, a new free app will be released for the Obamaphone to remind you when Honey Boo Boo is on…
Tanker wrote:
Ahh….
Maus (German) = mouse (English)
Mauser = mouser
lobo91 wrote:
well maybe al jizz will run it…
lobo91 wrote:
the unions know this is coming and simply want to be in the loop…they will create jobs that pay dues and vote accordingly
And they’re going to need members to pass the poverty test to qualify
for the ObamaCare subsidy.
Trumpka & the other genieuses have realized that ObamaCare can
bust their Health & Welfare funds
Guggi wrote:
no one needs 8 shots to kill a mouse!
lobo91 wrote:
But does he look as he could be O.’s son ?
brookly red wrote:
I can shoot a sparrow with a bow and arrow…
I can shoot a partridge with a single cartridge
@ brookly red:
Obama might…
Guggi wrote:
More like Mochelle’s sister…
lobo91 wrote:
it did take 3 for Carter to off the rabbit…
Those evil guns.
RIX wrote:
they really are an obstacle to redistribution…
@ brookly red:
Wait a minute. Since Obama has started shooting, there has not been
one credible report of a skeet attack.
RIX wrote:
I would think he would like guns… hey he likes drones.
That’s what I was thinking. This yoot was just trying to do an equitable
redistribution.
In the alternative, he thought that it was just like an ATM withdrawl.
He likes drones because us rabble can’t have one.
@ RIX:
Clinton is a liar and Dempsey and Panetta are incompetent idiots:
More than seven hours isn’t enough time ? “Events moved quickly on the ground?” The two ex-Navy-seals begged for seven hours for help, you criminal.
RIX wrote:
we really need to back to hanging thieves…
Lots of yoots for Obama down with Dorner.
Guggi wrote:
they didn’t where their own safehouse was?
Here is an idea, go THERE and kill the people shooting at IT.
New Thread.
RIX wrote:
don’t worry hollywood is already working on the movie (Wesley plays Doner)… they just haven’t figured out the ending yet.
I agree with you Guggi. They screwed this up & now they are circling the
wagons.
Malfeasance & misfeasance all over the place.
That is actually not far fetched.
@ Guggi:
Dempsey has nothing to do with it. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs isn’t part of the operational chain of command.
Panetta is, though.
Without presidential approval to move forces into Libya, though, it’s all moot.
@ RIX:
I have more respect for the Turkish military brass than for the U.S.A. one. When the Turkish generals were forced to accept certain things they retired while the American ones are cowards, opportunists, sycophants and pussies. Shame on Dempsey.
and btw.: Dempsey is so fugly he should wear a mask in public.
@ Guggi:
Good point.