Tracy Morgan: ‘I Can’t Believe Walmart Is Blaming Me’ for Crash Injuries

Wal-Mart's driver caused the crash, but Morgan wasn't wearing a seat belt. I wonder how many other people would be just as surprised if something like this happened to them? 

Mr. Morgan called Wal-Mart's argument "despicable."  I don't think so, and neither does the prevailing legal thought in the USA - and probably elsewhere as well.  When you do not do everything reasonable to protect yourself from risk, then the other seemingly culpable party in an injury case may not be held fully responsible.  Depending on where you live, this concept may be memorialized as contributory negligence, or perhaps comparative negligence.  I am told these are two slightly different concepts (along the same lines).  If you do not wear your seat belts, and injuries result in an ensuing collision, the portion of your injuries deemed caused by your failure to wear them will likely be deducted from any claim you might win. Think about it... why would "they" shoulder the complete responsibility when the liability is, in reality, shared?

In my city, about two and a half decades ago, a local police chief and seat belt wearer was driving to a local car wash.  Since it was just a short distance, in his own neighborhood, the Chief did not fasten his seat belt.  He was t-boned by an extremely drunk driver (my characterization) and he suffered a severe, paralyzing back injury, which shortened his life significantly. He lived long enough to sue the drunk driver -- but because his injuries were judged to be about 50% caused by his own failure to wear the belt, the court reduced his award by that amount.  When you think about the costs associated with the treatment of this kind of injury, we're talking about a responsibility of millions of dollars in his case.

These concepts apply to any such liability situation -- failure to wear a helmet in a motorcycle crash, for example, or a case where a collision is a result of failures by both drivers to observe traffic laws -- you run a red light and hit someone who was drunk and speeding, just to name a couple.  A jury might decide 50/50, like in the Chief's case, or maybe 60/40, whatever.  It will vary according to the circumstances.

So if you are not convinced by the overwhelming safety considerations to wear your belts -- at least do it to protect your wallet and your family's future!

Hey... keep the shiny side up, eh?

Strawberry Shortcake

Bob's Shortcake 2014

On the face of the Earth, perhaps even in this galaxy, there may not be anything quite as perfect as good strawberry shortcake.  And while there MAY be bad strawberry shortcake somewhere, I don’t know how that’s even a possibility.

 

PINT STRAWBERRIES, HULLED AND SLICED.
Sprinkle liberally with sugar and set aside until the sugar becomes a syrupy glaze.

SHORTBREAD BISCUITS

1 cup flour

1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ TB sugar +
2 TB butter
⅜ cup half and half (or milk)

Sift and mix dry ingredients.  Rub or cut in the butter until mixed. Add the cream and mix just enough to form a soft dough, just until it comes together and you can squish it into a ball.  A little extra milk or cream may be required.  Do not overwork the dough, no kneading.

Press out onto a floured surface to a thickness of ¾ to 1 inch.  Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or cut with a knife into small squares.  Sprinkle pinches of sugar over the tops before baking. Bake at 450 for 12 minutes until done.  Serve warm.  This makes about a handful of biscuits. Maybe 4 to 6.

Break or slice a warm biscuit in half, top and bottom.  Place in serving dish.  Spoon desired amount of strawberries over the biscuit halves.  Top with a spoonful or two of strawberry yogurt and whipped cream.  Vanilla ice cream is also a good choice…  It’s hard to go wrong.  Onions.  Onions probably wouldn’t work. Or peas.

Store the leftovers in an airtight container for later enjoyment.  Shortcake at 3 AM when all others are asleep and unaware!  Score!  If the biscuits have cooled, be sure to toast the halves before loading them up with the strawberries and cream!

Barbecue Pie

Bob's Barbecue Pie

So... last night I made a cottage pie, for supper. It was pretty excellent for something I just threw together.  This resulted in me eating more than usual for supper.  So that was good.  For those who don't savvy, a cottage pie is the beef equivalent of a shepherd's pie, which is made with ground lamb.  I do not eat sheep.  This got me thinking about how I could modify the concept por algunos otros ingredientes.  Mom has difficulty eating meats if they aren't fall-apart tender, so I was looking for ways to accomplish some dishes with the refrigerated or frozen meats in the microwaveable trays you can get at most grocers.  They are always very soft and tender. I used a roast beef in gravy for the cottage pie.

So tonight, since there weren't too many leftovers from that, I got a package of barbecue pulled pork and I made a sort of tamale-barbecue pie with it.  It turned out very tasty.

My cottage pie was a 16 oz package of roast beef and gravy, to which I added some sautéed carrots, mushrooms and onions.  I spread one potato's worth of mashed potatoes over it in a pie plate, drizzled a little melted butter over the top, and baked it at 350 or 400 for about 25 minutes.  Last night, I actually forgot the mushrooms, but it was still good.  Very good.

Tonight, I adapted the same concept to the barbecue pie...



First, make a corn bread batter.  I used this one...

1/4 cup corn meal
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 TB baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/6 cup vegetable oil
1/12 cup melted butter
(yes, that's one-twelfth)
1/2 TB honey
1 egg, beaten
5/8 cup buttermilk (you can sub reg whole milk if you choose)

(Note: I weigh my ingredients using a kitchen scale, so the weird measurements are really very easy.)

Sift the dry ingredients together.  Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine the two and mix just long enough to blend the ingredients.  I also add 1 tsp of red pepper flakes and a dash or two of dried chives to the batter.  Set this aside for a few moments.

Other ingredients:
16 oz pulled pork in barbecue sauce
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 303 can no-salt corn, or about 1.5 cups of frozen corn, thawed.
1 batch of the corn bread batter
Opt: 1 can of green chiles, drained

Prepare the 16 oz of pulled pork in barbecue sauce as directed.   At the same time, sauté some celery and chopped onion in a skillet with a little bit of oil, until tender.  Open and drain a can of sweet corn, or its frozen equivalent.  If using frozen, it needs to be cooked first, or at least thawed before going into the pie.

Spoon or dump the hot barbecue pork into a 9 inch pie plate.  Fold the sautéed vegetables into the corn bread batter along with the drained corn, and pour this over the top of the pork. 

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until the corn bread topping tests done with a tooth pick.  This might also work OK at 400 degrees, and could brown a bit more golden, in less time.

I served this with sides of coleslaw, Hoppin' John, buttered spinach and apple cake with whipped cream for dessert.  I don't know if anyone else liked it, but I sure did.  All of it.

It goes without saying that you could use some fresh green chiles, and they would be even better.  If you happen to have some on hand.

Don't have any fun until I get there!

Bob