Am I the only one who finds it fantastically amusing that the two people in the news article are named Burnett and McBurnett?
Yes. 
well, depending on how the reference child/pet was made. I’m a mom and have pets, and often have referred to the cats as ‘the kids’, talk about me being their ‘mom’ etc. I do, however, assure you that I’m well aware of the difference, and when my cat of 19 years died, I was very sad, still miss her and all, but when my son was in the hospital ICU, I absolutely lived there, and could think of nothing else, it still scares me how close I came to loosing him. Compare to, when my cat was in the kitty hospital, I stopped to see her once a day for a few minutes.
so, someone might overhear me refer to my cats as the kids, or me as the mom and mistake that I’m equating them with my child, it’s not true.
I noticed that too, friedo. Weird.
Wring I completely understand what you are saying. We always refer to the dogs as “the boys” and I love them dearly. I had to put one of “the boys” down two years ago when his kidneys failed I was very upset, and I still think of him fondly. But the kind of humanizing that some people go to, like our asshat friend RangerDude comparing throwing a dog in the street to stringing a man from a tree is just wrong. That’s all I’m saying.
Er … I think, Rhum Runner, that you’ve taken **RangerDude’s ** statement and gone running a mile with it. He was referring to “jokes”. You’re referring to “acts”. I can’t find the comparison, sorry.
**Ice Wolf[/] They were saying that the evil Keith’s jokes about throwing the dog was the moral equivalent of making jokes about lynching. The only way that could be true would be if RangerDude feels that actually throwing the dog is the same as lynching, which IMNSHO is a silly thing to say. Anyway, like you said before, our defendant here is a real jerk and I don’t have a tremendous amount of sympothy for his plight.
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How’s the cup going? 
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We’ll lose th’ bloody thing today, hopefully! Best of luck to you guys in the Mediterranean! Yay!!! (Sick of the whole bizzo, actually).
Oh, yeah, folks – I mean the America’s Cup yachting.
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Sorry about that, folks. Do carry on. 
The son of a bitch - actually, that’s too good an epithet for him, how about…
The piece of shit got exactly what he deserved. Unfortunately, when they let him out he’s going to do something worse, mark my words. People like that always do.
I’m mostly amused that Angry Keith can’t figure out that the answer to this riddle:
is “nothing,” and claims that it having no answer proves it’s bullshit.
Absolutely no offense meant to you, Rhum Runner, but I find this statement absolutely fascinating, in regards to the eternal debate of the comparison between human and animal life and death, in all its myriad complications and emotionality.
I feel like looking up some of those old threads now…
He shouldn’t be barred, of course. But since jumping out of a car and tossing live animals around does not sound like the actions of someone who has just suffered a million dollars worth of spinal injuries (and given that he just drove away afterwards, and given that he didn’t feel the need to make any medical claim before this, and given that there was no mention of him seeking medical treatment before this and given that the accident was discribed as minor by pretty much everybody) my suspicion is he’s trumping up his injuries to harrass the poor woman, because he’s pissed off about being in jail.
Which is unethical. Of course I may not know the whole story (does he have any medical evidence?) but based on the facts at hand I’m going with “asshole”.
He’s gonna have a hard time suing the newspaper. Truth is an affirmative defense to a libel charge.
A question for our esteemed members of the Bar:
Does Burnett have to prove that what the paper were lies?
And, can a jury consider Burnett’s killing of the dog when trying to assess his credibility? (I am assuming it could only be introduced to impeach his credibility)
So he threw a dog in a fit of rage, which to me as an animal lover is abhorrent enough.
So just as easily he could have picked up a baby and thrown that, in the same fit of mad rage.
So this guy, IMO, should be in jail, and I bet he will come out just as angry, and just as dangerous, and I only wish he had died in the accident, or from his (spurious) “injuries” he is suing for.
istara we don’t usually put people in jail for what they could have easily done.
Well, we put people likely to kill (eg who have tried to kill, but failed) in “secure institutions.” At least we should do.
Yet another example of where cost sanctions might both help deter such frivolous actions and help compensate the wrongly accused who find themselved dragged into these messes.
Eh, thing is, Muffin, thanks to Assmunch being a prisoner, we’d have to pay his sanctions through our taxes, in order to ensure his rights.
In November, I was struck from behind by a speeding motorist travelling at about 60 MPH. (I was at a dead-stop, waiting to make a turn.)
Since that day, I have been in constant pain, and have had to undergo physical therapy. Yet, I would not say that I deserve a million dollars.
This accident, in all of the reports I have read, has been described as “minor,” and as betenoir said, he wasn’t complaining about injuries before this time.
I agree with the lawyer in the article, this is clearly a frivilous lawsuit, intended to harass the victim of his nasty acts, but there’s nothing that can be done. He is excersizing his rights, and you have a right to be an asshole if you want to.
** E-Sabbath, ** in some states, unless he has been declared indigent, he must pay for the costs of his filing, so it may not be a burden on the taxpayers at all. If he works in the priso, his pay is most likely around $20-30 a month, so that’s a big chunk out of his cigarette money.
Unfortunately, the poor woman will have to pay to defend herself, assuming the case is not tossed out. And if she wins, he can sue again. And again. And again. This could become very costly for her, and this is probably his intent.
Not sure about that there Lissa. If his complaint were dismissed with prejudice he would be barred from relitigating it. res judicata