Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and thank you for making this blog such a success — and so much fun. We had over a million hits in the first year and continue to grow each month. I hope that you have a litigation free holiday. In celebration, I give you the annual Turkey Tort below and a video of the Palin Turkey slaughter.
SAMSON v. REISING
62 Wis. 2d 698 (1974)
The underlying facts show that on Tuesday, February 6, 1968, Pearl Samson attended a luncheon, which was put on by the Wauwatosa High School Band Mothers Association (an organization organized to give support to the high school band) at the Wauwatosa Trinity Episcopal Church. Pearl Samson paid $ 1.25 and ate a luncheon consisting of turkey salad and dessert. On Wednesday evening she became nauseated. She was unable to work on Thursday and Friday.
The symptoms subsided, and she returned to work on Monday, February 12th. A few days later, however, she again was obliged to miss work because of her illness. After these symptoms recurred every few days, she visited her doctor, who was unable to help her, and in the nine-month period following the luncheon she lost 22 pounds and periodically suffered from diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, and stomach pain. Eventually she was referred to a specialist, who determined that Pearl Samson’s condition was the result of salmonella food poisoning and that, as a consequence, she suffered a deficiency of the lactase enzyme in her intestinal tract.
This enzyme is necessary to properly digest foods with a lactose base, such as milk and dairy products. She claims that her illness recurs whenever she ingests foods which contain milk products. There was testimony that she found it impossible to be sure that the food she ate contained no such products and that she became severely ill sometimes twice a month. Her physician testified that this condition is permanent.
There is evidence that the turkey salad eaten at the luncheon was contaminated with salmonella bacteria. Dorothy G. Wood, one of the defendants, testified that she had taken some of the leftover salad home for her family to eat. Her family ate some of that salad and had no ill effects. When she received reports that some of the guests at the luncheon had become ill, she notified the chief sanitarian of the Wauwatosa Health Department. He submitted the sample of the remaining salad to the Milwaukee Food Laboratory. The report from the laboratory indicated the presence of the salmonella bacteria.
There was testimony by Dorothy G. Wood that she and Marjorie E. Borror were co-chairmen in charge of the luncheon, that approximately a month before the luncheon they purchased nine frozen turkeys from Kohl’s and had them stored in Kohl’s freezer until they were needed. Before the date of the luncheon, Dorothy Wood picked up the frozen turkeys and delivered them to other members of the luncheon committee. She named eight members of the committee to whom she delivered the turkeys to be cooked in their own homes. She stated that she delivered the turkeys to Margarette H. Hoffman, Charlotte G. Soleski, Violet E. Gullicksen, Betty Randa, Grace A. Kerler, Marjorie E. Borror, Ruth E. Johnson, Jane Frances, and one other. Each of these persons are defendants in the instant lawsuit. In addition, Audrey Riesing and Phillis Gill, together with Dorothy Wood, are named as defendants.
Dorothy Wood stated that she did not cook a turkey, but that nine ladies, one of whom she could not name, cooked them sometime between the day she delivered the turkeys and the afternoon of February 5, 1968, when the ladies brought the cooked turkeys to the Trinity Episcopal Church kitchen. The turkey salad was prepared in the Trinity Episcopal Church kitchen.
After the salad was prepared, it was taken to a refrigerator located at the Methodist Church. The turkey salad was returned to the Trinity Episcopal Church at 10 a. m. on Tuesday, February 6th. The salad received no refrigeration from the time it was taken from the Methodist Church. Prior to the time of serving, the turkey salad was held in large containers, which had been obtained from the Methodist Church. Dorothy Wood testified that the church kitchen in which the salad was prepared was “clean.”
At trial, Joseph D. Gorski, the chief sanitarian for the Wauwatosa Health Department, testified that salmonella is a bacteria common to the intestinal tracts of fowl. He said that food containing salmonella bacteria can be rendered safe for eating by exposure to heat and that a meat temperature of 146 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes or 161 degrees for thirty seconds would kill the organism. Properly cooking a turkey would render it free from salmonella bacteria.
However, even though a turkey were properly cooked, it could be contaminated if it came in contact with utensils or other objects which touched the raw contaminated turkey. Gary V. Doern, a bacteriologist, also testified that some individuals are unknowing carriers of the salmonella bacteria and can contaminate food products by touching them.
. . . In this case nine turkeys were cooked, each by one of nine defendants, but not all of the 11 defendants cooked the turkeys. It does appear, however, that all of them participated in the preparation of the salad.
Outcome: This case ultimately turned on the court’s interpretation of the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur used to prove such cases with a paucity of proof. The doctrine requires “(1) The event or accident in question be of the kind which does not ordinarily occur in the absence of someone’s negligence; and (2) the agency or instrumentality causing the harm must have been within the exclusive control of the defendant.”
The court found that first criteria satisfied but ruled that it failed on the second criteria of exclusive control. They could not prove which of the band mother’s Turkeys was the culprit so all of the band mothers walked.
Now, here is your Palin holiday video.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I am off to the Turley Turkeybowl game.
Wrong analysis and conclusion. They show up to spread this garbage because they’ve had on good authority there’s always a
‘volunteer member from our audience’…
As for the Wawautosa ‘Salmonella Salad’, the incident took place in 1968. And since I cannot imagine a more unpredictable way to compose a turkey salad, nor one more fraught with peril, I immediately checked where the planets were in the sky that day. Sure enough, Mercury had begun turning retrograde:
FEB 06, 1968 | 04:30 PM | 02PI17 | ME SR |
| FEB 28, 1968 | 08:36 AM | 17AQ06 | ME SD
Hey – it’s at least as good an explanation as ‘fate’ for why things get so screwed up – despite the best of intentions.
http://www.astropro.com/features/tables/geo/me-sta/me-sta26.html
LindyLou,
As my idol used to say…”There they go again”, so something like that. As soon as FFLEO brought up legal accountability for the cheneybush administration, they start showing up. Most interesting. As I said earlier, I’m glad to know the administration doesn’t think they have immunity completely in the bag or there’d be no need for their minions here.
Jill,
It is interesting timing, isn’t it, that they’re threatened enough to mess up the holiday greeting post. Who’s going to tell them that if Obama isn’t president, they won’t get McCain–they’ll get Biden, then Pelosi?
But doesn’t anyone want to discuss how dangerous things are in Wauwatosa?
Crank,
My compliments to you. After reading your comment I find that you aptly adopted a fitting pseudonym.
Google Obama Birth Certificate
Obama is not eligible to be President of the United States.
There will soon be a full page ad in USA Today asking Obama to allow the release of all documents pertaining to his birth, not just a copy of a Hawaiian birth certificate that by its nature does not prove you were born in the United States, just that you were born.
I actually take the apperance of bug et al as somewhat heartening. Notice they didn’t show up until the talks of trials for war crimes for the administration came to the fore in the news cycle. Each time this possibility is even discussed we get these types of visitors. That tells me that the administration is at least a little nervous around this issue. It means they’re not quite certain they won’t be charged, at least somewhere, and that’s a “good thing”!
Glenn Greenwald has some interesting things to say about torture and it’s discussion in the news. He links to JT’s talk with Rachel Maddow (notorious left wing lunatic!).
Bug,
Nice retort, well structured and certainly a good attempt to hoist me on my own petard. Now if only you were able to get the facts right and separate out the lies, like the fact that the 2000 election was stolen by some low life Anti Americans; leading to the prosecution of an unneeded war; deaths of thousands of our troops and a million Iraqi’s; shredding of our Constitution and
financial rewards for Bush’s base (the Haves and Have Mores),you
might be writing with coherence. However, I guess when Rush talks you listen and your thought processes goose step to the beat of his prose.
Hugo? That’s a car isn’t it? Well I guess david hasselhoff took instructions from his car and one could do worse.
Happy Thanksgiving to Carl, Betty and Bug.
That being said, it is nice to see Carl and Betty and Bug joining in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday. It is interesting that you give us “facts” alleging that Republicans go to a Chritian church on Christmas more often than Democrats and since their is trouble in India, Obama and the Democrats must be evil. It would be nice if you actually practiced the religion that you propose that America should be ruled by.
Mike, Jill, Mespo,Mike and all the other regulars on Prof. Turley’s site,
Have a great Thanksgiving.
Mike Spindall & the rest of the looney left:
A Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you.
I hope that the pain and anger you felt that your fellow Americans voted against your candidates & for BUSH in 2000 & 2004, thereby repudiating your political philosophies, will abate in time. When those of your political persuasion begin to realize that despite philosophies and ethnic disparities, we are all Americans, then we can all come together to keep our beloved country prosperous and strong. I suggest the cure for both of you lies in no longer listening to hate-filled fools like Olbermann, Maddow, Matthews, etc. Then perhaps you can open your minds, rather than having them locked tight by inept entertainers, who get their thoughts and talking points from the likes of Raul Castro & Hugo Chaves.
The last 8 years of blaming Bush for everything up to and including your landlord throwing you out got old. America is a country that suffers from extremly poor education despite spending upwards of $10,000 per student in our public schools ($14,000 in Washington DC). As these kids wise up on their own without the benefit of good schooling, they will realize that spending 7 trillion on bailouts for Democrats friends was wrong.
By the way Happy Thanksgiving to all, especially the Professor, all those highly intelligent people who write here and their loved ones. You all supply me with much information, thought and humor as I pay my frequents visits.
Carl & Betty,
A Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to both of you. I hope that the pain and anger you feel that your fellow Americans voted against your candidate, thereby repudiating your political philosophies, will abate in time. When those of your political persuasion begin to realize that despite philosophies and ethnic disparities, we are all Americans, then we can all come together to keep our beloved country prosperous and strong. I suggest the cure for both of you lies in no longer listening to hate-filled fools like Limbaugh, Savage, O’Reilly and Hannity. Then perhaps you can open your minds, rather than having them locked tight by inept entertainers, who get their thoughts and talking points from the likes of Grover Norquist and Paul Weyrich.
Iraqi Lawmakers Approve U.S. Troop Pact
BAGHDAD, Nov. 27, 2008
(CBS/AP) The Iraqi parliament approved Thursday a security pact with the United States that allows American troops to stay in the country for three more years.
Salim Abdullah, the spokesman for the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, earlier confirmed that a deal was reached and that his 44-seat bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, would support the security pact in Thursday’s vote.
Shiite lawmakers Khalid al-Attiyah, Sami al-Askari and Ali al-Adeeb told the Associate Press that the deal did not include two other key Sunni demands: the repeal of a law designed to weed out former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party, and the dissolution of a special court that tried the dictator and top officials of his regime. Saddam was sentenced to death and executed in 2006.
The security pact meets an Iraqi goal for the departure of American forces and has been described by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a path toward full sovereignty for Iraq.
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reported from Baghdad Thursday that most military analysts say the Iraqis are not quite ready to take over security duties yet, but there is broad recognition that the national forces have made huge strides in the last year.
One small but symbolic piece of evidence of that improvement came Thursday as U.S. troops at Falcon Base, south of Baghdad, enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast – alongside their Iraqi counterparts.
Palmer reports that mistrust between American and Iraqi troops is genuinely melting away as they work more closely together.
posted from blog:
Mumbai
I follow the stock market and actively trade. As a result, I remember well the way the market behaved before 9/11. There is enough foreign money in our market to amount to strong potential for influence… at least short term. It is highly likely the election was “bought” through the influence of Middle East money.
In addition, it occurs to me, from al Qaeda’s viewpoint, now that the election is over, this is the ideal time from their viewpoint, to strike another time. The reasoning is, this would be an in-your-face blow to all of us that support Bush’s efforts to prevent such an attack… and would add support to those that pressure our government to give-it-up, get out… etc.
At the same time, an attack now, would be a test and a “warning” to Obama… and give incredibility to Obama’s earlier stance that the whole “war-on-terror” is a waste of time and money. Two goals for the price of one.
The Mumbai attack is not likely to be the end of it… it is aimed primarily at us, so it must exceed 3000 dead… and its unlikely we will see more than 600 dead in Mumbai. So brace for additional attacks, in another city or two. It remains unclear whether they can muster the resources necessary to pull of their clear goals… but clearly they are having a go at it. So they think they can.
As I said, its a two-fer. In your face toward Bush (couldn’t do it before the election, as they didn’t want to risk electing McCain), and secondly, a nice test/warning for Obama. Let’s hope Obama stiffens whatever resolve he might have, if any, instead of naively reacting as the left normally does.
I think I can explain the “spirit filled” ramblings above.
I made pilgrimage to the liquor store yesterday. An elder whose hands were shaking spryly jumped in front of me to grab a buggy. People were filling carts and the line went snaking around the aisles, cashiers four deep. Once at check out, calls went out for cigarette packs by the twos and fours, thrown on top of the bulging carts. The lotto had it’s own station but was at a low 6 million, so not many takers. A festival of the merchants of death!
Although Squirrel Nutkin, Esq. and the Council of Midden has had reason of late to throw down their glove, they would like to say Congratulations on providing a wonderful blog full of delights!
Big Thanks and Cheers to Prof. Turley and the blog and Arlo! from me, a hopeful educator in small town Texas.
“…If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud…
I’ve been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it for another twenty five minutes. I’m not proud… or tired.
So we’ll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part harmony and feeling.
We’re just waitin’ for it to come around is what we’re doing.
All right now.
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant…”
http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml
I hope you all have a Thanksgiving dinner that can’t be beat.
COPIED FROM BLOG:
I was reading through the Sunday papers. Being desirous of news from all sides, I always start with the New York Times. The Times had a story on the front page entitled Citigroup Pays for a Rush to Risk.
Here’s paragraph 15:
“When he (Robert Rubin) was Treasury secretary during the Clinton administration, Mr. Rubin helped loosen Depression-era banking regulations that made the creation of Citigroup possible by allowing banks to expand far beyond their traditional role as lenders and permitting them to profit from a variety of financial activities. During the same period he helped beat back tighter oversight of exotic financial products, a development he had previously said he was helpless to prevent.”
Is the New York Times now suggesting that the Democrats might have had something to do with our current economic troubles? I mention this only because the Dems (to their credit) made piles of hay off the economic crisis leading up to election day… it was those damn Republicans and their addiction to deregulation. What a load of crap.
Imagine my surprise now, after the election, when the other side of the story gets a little play in the liberal press. Turns out the Obama camp might’ve put one over on us.
Regardless, Citi executives apparently showed up to Congress with a better business plan than the fellas from the auto industry. The Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, were all set to write a check to GM, Ford and Chrysler when the latest poll numbers came in showing the public was strongly against the auto bailout. Upon seeing that, Pelosi and crew got tough and insisted on plenty of camera time so they could be seen asking super difficult questions like “What will you do with the money?” and “How many cup holders are in a 2006 Suburban?”.
Intern number two studiously clipped all the articles comparing Obama to Lincoln and she’ll weigh them against all the articles describing Obama as the new FDR.
Intern number three will give a practical demonstration of just how much $700 billion is using nothing more than coasters and Slim Jims and then we’ll finish up with a rousing rendition of Those Were the Days.
Finally, we’ll sit quietly staring into cold tasty beverages while remembering how the New Deal sent the US into a new recession back in 1938 before WWII showed up to revive the economy.
Not to worry. According to a Bloomberg News study, current bailout promises and planned expenditures only total approximately 7 trillion dollars.
Carl,
Happy Thanksgiving! I know you didn’t mean it this way but I just got the most wonderful chuckle from what you wrote.
68% Prefer “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays”
Christmas is just around the corner, and a new Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 73% of American adults prefer stores to show signs saying “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays.”
Men (75%) favor “Merry Christmas” slightly more than women (68%).
From a politically partisan perspective, Republicans (84%) overwhelmingly prefer “Merry Christmas” more than Democrats (51%).
In terms of age, men (73%) and women (68%) over 40 want signs to say “Merry Christmas” slightly more than men (63%) and women (55%) under 40.
Regardless of what the signs say, 69% will be attending a Christian church service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year.
Adults over 40 are much more likely to attend a Christmas service than those under 40. Also, married adults (69%) will go to a church service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day more than those who are not married (52%). In addition, Republicans (68%) are more likely to go to a Christmas church service than Democrats (35%).
SURE CAN TELL THE GOOD GUYS FROM THE BAD GUYS IN THIS SURVEY OF AMERICANS. SHAME LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LOOK SO SPACED OUT ON XMAS.
Terror attacks in India targeting Americans.
But I thought the world loved us now that we have PRESIDENT OBAMA!