// 2009 Darwin Award WINNERS Announced //
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
The Darwin Awards team is prouud to announce the late, the great,
the 2009 Darwin Award Winners!
Named in honor of Charles Darwin, father of evolution, the Darwin
Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool... by removing
themselves from it. This award is generally bestowed posthumously.
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Darwin Awards: "The shallow end of the gene pool."
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
2nd Runner Up: It's very exciting, for the first time ever,
a woman--yes, a member of the safer sex--has made it into
the year's top Darwin Awards contenders!
"DOUBLE DIPPING" -- Darwin Award Runner-Up 2009
3 June 2009, North Carolina | Greensboro was innundated with four
inches of rain in two hours, stranding several cars on flooded
roads. Rosanne T., 50, was not deterred. She hopped on her moped
and drove to a convenience store where she "possibly had a beer,"
according to her mother, before deciding to blunder home through
the storm. She phoned home to say, "My moped has two rubber
wheels, Mom, I'll be fine."
North Carolina does not require a license to own a moped. Ms. T.
had acquired hers two years previously after a DUI conviction.
The Highway Patrol had blocked off several roads that were
inundated with water, including Rosanne's path home. But she
rode right past the officer and the barriers, lost control of
her vehicle, and fell into the swollen creek below. The officer
retrieved rope from his vehicle and proceeded to haul her from
the water.
He then interviewed the woman, probably inquiring about her
motivation for speeding through a roadblock during a flash flood.
When the officer returned to his patrol car to call for assistance,
Rosanne took the opportunity to escape--by jumping back into the creek!
The officer attempted to rescue her again, but alas, it was too late.
The victim's mother speculated that her daughter's motivation
for jumping into a flooded creek was to rescue her drowning moped.
"She loved that thing."
References: Home Page : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis, Greensboro, NC; Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Burlington, NC Local News and Weather - WXII12 Piedmont Triad
URL: 2009 Darwin Award: Double Dip
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Darwin Awards: "I think not, therefore I am not."
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
First Runner Up: We've all been in this man's shoes, taking
that fateful whiz at the side of the road. The 2009 penultimate
winner is:
"Dying To Go" -- 2009 Darwin Award, 1st Runner Up.
12 April 2009, Florida | Traffic was moving slowly on southbound
I-95. Shawn M. had recently left a Pompano Beach bar, and now he
was stuck in traffic. As the saying goes, you don't buy beer--you
just rent it, and Shawn couldn't wait another moment to relieve
himself. "I need to take a leak," he told his friends.
Traffic was deadlocked, so the waterlogged man climbed out of the
car, put his hand on the divider, and jumped over the low concrete
wall...only to fall 65 feet to his death. "He probably thought there
was a road, but there wasn't," said a Fort Lauderdale police spokes-
man. The car was idling on an overpass above the railroad lines.
His mother shared her thoughts. "Shawn didn't do a whole lot for
a living. He got along on his charm, just like his father."
Though his death was tragic, Shawn's downfall proves the old adage:
"Look before you leak."
Comments:
"Guess he was dying to go."
"He shoulda peed in a bottle."
"Apparently it was just his time to go."
References: South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald
URL: 2009 Darwin Award: Dying To Go
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
'Stupidity has a knack of getting its way.' --Albert Camus
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
And the 2009 DARWIN AWARD WINNER, or rather winners, are...
"Crushing Debt" -- 2009 Darwin Award Winner
26 September 2009, Belgium | The city of Dinant is the backdrop for
this rare Double Darwin Award. Two bankrobbers attempting to make a
sizeable withdrawal from an ATM machine died when they overestimated
the quantity of dynamite needed for the explosion. The blast
demolished the building the bank was housed in. Nobody else was
in the building at the time of the attack.
Robber One was rushed to the hospital with severe head trauma; he
died shortly after arrival. Investigators initially assumed that
his accomplice had managed a getway, but the second bungler's body
was excavated from the debris twelve hours later. Would-be Robbers
One and Two weren't exactly impoverished--their getaway car was a
BMW.
HEADLINES:
Debit Cards are Safer
Dynamite: Not For Everything
They Really Blew It
References: Le Soir l'actu - lesoir.be, De Standaard De Standaard Online,
deredactie.be, nu.nl | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl, De Morgen Home
URL: 2009 Darwin Award WINNER: Crushing Debt
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
'Man is the only animal that blushes--or has reason to.' -Twain
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Finally, we gladly announce a Darwin Award Winner that was posted
too late in 2008 to earn that year's top spot. The most popular
story of the year, beloved by millions of fans, presenting the one,
the only, the ludicrous:
"Priest Visits Boss" -- 2008 Darwin Award WINNER! (retroactive)
(The Balloon Priest)
(Padre Baloneiro)
20 April 2008, Atlantic Ocean | A Catholic priest recently ascended to
heaven on a helium host of party balloons, paying homage to Lawn Chair
Larry's aerial adventure. In 1982, Larry attached 45 helium weather
balloons to his lawnchair, packed a picnic lunch, and cut the tether--but
instead of drifting above Los Angeles as planned, he was rocketed into LAX
air traffic lanes by the lift of the balloons. Astoundingly, Lawnchair
Larry survived the flight. Adelir Antonio, 51, was not so lucky...
FULL STORY: 2008 Darwin Award WINNER: Priest Visits Boss (Balloon Priest) (Padre Baloneiro)
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Note: The Darwin Awards are true tales of misadventure.
Please visit the URL if you wish to verify the references.
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+ //
You are subscribed to the Darwin Awards newsletter as "frito1@charter.net"
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
SUBSCRIBE: join-news@list.darwinawards.com CANCEL:
leave-news@list.darwinawards.com HELP:
news-welcome@list.darwinawards.com IMPORTANT! The word 'gazelle'
MUST be on the Subject: line!
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+ //
Be safe! Forward this newsletter to friends.
Copyright 2010 The Darwin Awards
---
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
The Darwin Awards team is prouud to announce the late, the great,
the 2009 Darwin Award Winners!
Named in honor of Charles Darwin, father of evolution, the Darwin
Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool... by removing
themselves from it. This award is generally bestowed posthumously.
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Darwin Awards: "The shallow end of the gene pool."
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
2nd Runner Up: It's very exciting, for the first time ever,
a woman--yes, a member of the safer sex--has made it into
the year's top Darwin Awards contenders!
"DOUBLE DIPPING" -- Darwin Award Runner-Up 2009
3 June 2009, North Carolina | Greensboro was innundated with four
inches of rain in two hours, stranding several cars on flooded
roads. Rosanne T., 50, was not deterred. She hopped on her moped
and drove to a convenience store where she "possibly had a beer,"
according to her mother, before deciding to blunder home through
the storm. She phoned home to say, "My moped has two rubber
wheels, Mom, I'll be fine."
North Carolina does not require a license to own a moped. Ms. T.
had acquired hers two years previously after a DUI conviction.
The Highway Patrol had blocked off several roads that were
inundated with water, including Rosanne's path home. But she
rode right past the officer and the barriers, lost control of
her vehicle, and fell into the swollen creek below. The officer
retrieved rope from his vehicle and proceeded to haul her from
the water.
He then interviewed the woman, probably inquiring about her
motivation for speeding through a roadblock during a flash flood.
When the officer returned to his patrol car to call for assistance,
Rosanne took the opportunity to escape--by jumping back into the creek!
The officer attempted to rescue her again, but alas, it was too late.
The victim's mother speculated that her daughter's motivation
for jumping into a flooded creek was to rescue her drowning moped.
"She loved that thing."
References: Home Page : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis, Greensboro, NC; Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Burlington, NC Local News and Weather - WXII12 Piedmont Triad
URL: 2009 Darwin Award: Double Dip
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Darwin Awards: "I think not, therefore I am not."
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
First Runner Up: We've all been in this man's shoes, taking
that fateful whiz at the side of the road. The 2009 penultimate
winner is:
"Dying To Go" -- 2009 Darwin Award, 1st Runner Up.
12 April 2009, Florida | Traffic was moving slowly on southbound
I-95. Shawn M. had recently left a Pompano Beach bar, and now he
was stuck in traffic. As the saying goes, you don't buy beer--you
just rent it, and Shawn couldn't wait another moment to relieve
himself. "I need to take a leak," he told his friends.
Traffic was deadlocked, so the waterlogged man climbed out of the
car, put his hand on the divider, and jumped over the low concrete
wall...only to fall 65 feet to his death. "He probably thought there
was a road, but there wasn't," said a Fort Lauderdale police spokes-
man. The car was idling on an overpass above the railroad lines.
His mother shared her thoughts. "Shawn didn't do a whole lot for
a living. He got along on his charm, just like his father."
Though his death was tragic, Shawn's downfall proves the old adage:
"Look before you leak."
Comments:
"Guess he was dying to go."
"He shoulda peed in a bottle."
"Apparently it was just his time to go."
References: South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald
URL: 2009 Darwin Award: Dying To Go
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
'Stupidity has a knack of getting its way.' --Albert Camus
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
And the 2009 DARWIN AWARD WINNER, or rather winners, are...
"Crushing Debt" -- 2009 Darwin Award Winner
26 September 2009, Belgium | The city of Dinant is the backdrop for
this rare Double Darwin Award. Two bankrobbers attempting to make a
sizeable withdrawal from an ATM machine died when they overestimated
the quantity of dynamite needed for the explosion. The blast
demolished the building the bank was housed in. Nobody else was
in the building at the time of the attack.
Robber One was rushed to the hospital with severe head trauma; he
died shortly after arrival. Investigators initially assumed that
his accomplice had managed a getway, but the second bungler's body
was excavated from the debris twelve hours later. Would-be Robbers
One and Two weren't exactly impoverished--their getaway car was a
BMW.
HEADLINES:
Debit Cards are Safer
Dynamite: Not For Everything
They Really Blew It
References: Le Soir l'actu - lesoir.be, De Standaard De Standaard Online,
deredactie.be, nu.nl | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl, De Morgen Home
URL: 2009 Darwin Award WINNER: Crushing Debt
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
'Man is the only animal that blushes--or has reason to.' -Twain
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Finally, we gladly announce a Darwin Award Winner that was posted
too late in 2008 to earn that year's top spot. The most popular
story of the year, beloved by millions of fans, presenting the one,
the only, the ludicrous:
"Priest Visits Boss" -- 2008 Darwin Award WINNER! (retroactive)
(The Balloon Priest)
(Padre Baloneiro)
20 April 2008, Atlantic Ocean | A Catholic priest recently ascended to
heaven on a helium host of party balloons, paying homage to Lawn Chair
Larry's aerial adventure. In 1982, Larry attached 45 helium weather
balloons to his lawnchair, packed a picnic lunch, and cut the tether--but
instead of drifting above Los Angeles as planned, he was rocketed into LAX
air traffic lanes by the lift of the balloons. Astoundingly, Lawnchair
Larry survived the flight. Adelir Antonio, 51, was not so lucky...
FULL STORY: 2008 Darwin Award WINNER: Priest Visits Boss (Balloon Priest) (Padre Baloneiro)
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
Note: The Darwin Awards are true tales of misadventure.
Please visit the URL if you wish to verify the references.
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+ //
You are subscribed to the Darwin Awards newsletter as "frito1@charter.net"
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+
SUBSCRIBE: join-news@list.darwinawards.com CANCEL:
leave-news@list.darwinawards.com HELP:
news-welcome@list.darwinawards.com IMPORTANT! The word 'gazelle'
MUST be on the Subject: line!
--------------------------------------------+---+-+---+-+-+-+-+ //
Be safe! Forward this newsletter to friends.
Copyright 2010 The Darwin Awards
---
awprint: RUBY Imagine yourself doing What you love and loving What you do, Being happy From the inside Out, experiencing your Dreams wide awake,