April 2012 Archives

A woman by the name of Natasha Harris used to drink nearly 12 twelve ounce cans of Coca Cola a day and died of a heart attack that may be attributed to the Coke addiction, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

While the events of this tragic death took place abroad, namely New Zealand, they have ramifications for Americans as well, and because it involves Coca Cola, which has a massive presence in Atlanta, it is even a local issue in many ways.

Did a pair of New Jersey state troopers escort a caravan of luxury cars down the New Jersey Turnpike at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour?

It would seem so, reports NJ.com. And the caravan apparently also included former New York Giants (who play in New Jersey) running back Brandon Jacobs.

A Georgia grandmother got into a shootout with a pair of would be robbers and came out on top, reports The Associated Press.

This surreal Georgia grandmother shootout featured a 57-year-old woman named Lulu Campbell. It began when a pair of men stopped Campbell outside of her daughter's house and demanded money and threatened to shoot.

There are a plethora of reality shows out there now and keeping track of them sometimes requires knowing a lot of geography, as many of them now have a regional basis. One of these reality shows is Big Rich Texas, a name that sort of hints at what kind of topics it will probably cover. The show airs on the Style Network.

It seems now that one of the participants of the show, Pamela Martin Duarte, is suing a pair of other socialites for defamation in Dallas County District Court, reports the Dallas Observer.

Georgia broke into a problematic national top-ten this year, having been identified as the eighth most fraudulent state, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The study is based on data provided by the Federal Trade Commission. Florida -- as some might expect -- was number one.

The big driver of fraud in Georgia was identity theft and credit card fraud accounted for seventeen percent of the identity theft in Georgia, reports AJC.

The BP oil spill's ill after effects are still with the Gulf of Mexico and may be seen in the form of mutant fish and eyeless shrimp, according to Al Jazeera.

While at first evoking Blinky the mutant fish in The Simpsons, the frightening seafood situation in the Gulf of Mexico is no cause for laughter. Not only are the fish mutated, some have sores and lesions, while crabs are out there without claws. Some of the crabs, when opened, smell like they are dead, while others have cracking shells.

Going to the dentist just got a whole lot scarier.

Is there a dental x-ray and brain tumor link? It might be the case, studies are showing, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ionizing radiation, the sort found in x-rays, is a big risk factor for largely non-malignant meningioma brain tumors. And people that are often getting routine dental x-rays are simply exposing themselves to a lot of that radiation. The studies are showing that exposure to such radiation is an unnecessary risk.

America's most efficient car, with its one hundred miles per gallon rating, is facing a little bit of a problem.

The popular Ford Focus sedans are undergoing a recall due to a windshield wiper malfunction that allows water to get into the motor, reports Fox News. Water in an engine could cause the car to stall or simply break the motor.

The Ford Focus recall will affect nearly 150,000 vehicles. There have not been any accidents so far related to the Ford Focus recall.

Most Americans love chicken and rely on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors to make sure that the chicken is fresh and oh so clean. But now debate is starting up that might lead to the privatization of the meat and poultry inspection program, reports Food Safety News.

It is the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) that is currently responsible for making sure that the poultry carcasses don't have defects or fecal matter on them before they are sent on for more processing. They process the chicken carcasses at a rate of 35 birds per minute, reports Grist.

As Americans become more energy conscious, many are turning to the European and Chinese model of commuting — a bicycle.

But partly because American roads are not ready to welcome so many new bicyclists, and partly because drivers are not used to them, a new war is raging between drivers and bicyclists. Each side thinks that the other are *%$!#!! (fill in your choice of expletives here), reports Grist Magazine.

Three teens from Acworth were arrested for shooting BB gun pellets at retail locations near Cobb Parkway, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The BB gun toting teens were found by police locating a silver Chevrolet Impala in the Walmart on Cobb Parkway in Kennesaw. The names of the arrested were Caleb Fields, Andrew Morgan, and Christopher Kellner.

Andrew Morgan and Christopher Kellner were charged with criminal damage to property; while Caleb Fields was charged with the same, as well as possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

It is time for a little bit of nuance about personal injury law.

Often, when there is an accident or injury, it isn't entirely one side's fault. In fact, sometimes the person that is suing (the plaintiff) might actually be partly responsible for having created the conditions for the accident.

There is a term for that in personal injury law, it is called contributory negligence.

Georgia's contributory negligence law is Georgia Code 51-11-7, reports FindLaw.