Nobody died in the last one but I guess it still qualifies.

>>2002 Darwin Awards Nominees
>
>
>>Quality in, Quality out?
>>
>>
>>Hard to believe, but another year has passed...
>>(For those who don't know about it, the Darwin
>>Awards are awarded every year to the person(s)
>>who died in the stupidest way, thereby removing
>>themselves from the gene pool...)
>>
>>The nominees are:
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 1: [San Jose Mercury News]: An
>>unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to
>>break a former girlfriend' windshield,
>>accidentally shot himself to death when the gun
>>discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette] James Burns,
>>34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, Mich., was killed in
>>March as he was trying to repair what police
>>describeas a "farm-type truck." Burns got a
>>friend to drive the truck on a highway while
>>Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain
>>the source of a troubling noise. Burns' clothes
>>caught on something, however, and the other
>>man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft."
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record] Ken Charles
>>Barger, 47,accidentally shot himself to death in
>>December in Newton, N.C. Awakening to the sound of
>>a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached
>>for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith &
>>Wesson .38 Special, which discharged when he drew
>>it to his ear.
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 4: [UPI, Toronto] Police said a
>>lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a
>>downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a
>>pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to
>>his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39,
>>fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion
>>Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was
>>explaining the strength of the building's windows
>>to visiting law students. Hoy previously had
>>conducted demonstration of window strength
>>according to police reports. Peter Lawyers,
>>managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson,
>>told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was
>>one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-
>>man association.
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 5: [Bloomberg News Service] A
>>terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are
>>being blamed for the death of a man killed by his
>>own 'gas'.  There was no mark on his body but an
>>autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas in
>>his system. His diet had consisted primarily of
>>beans and cabbage-just the right combination of
>>foods. It appears the man died in his sleep from
>>breathing the poisonous cloud that was hanging
>>over his bed. Had he been outside or had his
>>windows been opened, it would not have been fatal.
>>But the man was shut up in his near-airtight
>>bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big
>>man with a huge capacity for creating "this deadly
>>gas." Three of the rescuers got sick and one was
>>hospitalized.
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 6: ["News of the Weird"] Michael
>>Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird
>>posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting
>>South Carolina's electric chair on a murder
>>conviction before having his sentence reduced to
>>life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet
>>in his cell and attempting to fix his small TV
>>set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.
>>
>>NOMINEE NO. 7: ["The Indianapolis Star"]. A
>>cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal
>>explosion in Dunkirk, Indiana. A Jay County man
>>using acigarette lighter to check the barrel of a
>>muzzle loader was killed Monday night when the
>>weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's
>>investigators said.  Gregory David Pryor, 19,
>>died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home about
>>11:30p.m. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a
>>54-caliber muzzleloader that had not been firing
>>properly. He was using the lighter to look into
>>the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.
>>
>>NOMINEE No. 8: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario] A
>>man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his
>>condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb
>>slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan
>>Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when
>>the accident occurred, said Inspector D'Arcy
>>Honer of he Peel Regional police. "It appears the
>>chair moved and he went over the balcony," Honer
>>said.
>>
>>AND FINALLY: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette] Two
>>local men were seriously injured when their
>>pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near
>>Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday
>>morning. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder
>>reported the accident shortly after midnight
>>Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc and Billy
>>Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock are listed in
>>serious condition at Baptist Medical Center.
>>
>>The accident occurred as the two men were
>>returning to Des Arc after a frog-gigging trip.
>>On an overcast Sunday night, Poole's pick-up truck
>>headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded
>>that the headlight fuse on the older model truck
>>had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not
>>available, Wallis noticed that the 22 caliber
>>bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the
>>fuse box next to the steering wheel column. After
>>inserting the bullet, the headlights again began
>>to operate properly and the two men proceeded
>>toward the White River bridge.
>>
>>After traveling about 20 miles and just before
>>crossing the river, the bullet apparently
>>overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the
>>right testicle. The vehicle swerved sharply right
>>exiting the pavement and striking a tree. Poole
>>suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the
>>accident, but will require surgery to repair the
>>other wound. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle
>>and was treated and released. "Thank God we
>>weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his
>>balls off or we might both be dead" stated Wallis.
>>
>>"I've been a trooper for ten years in this part
>>of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't
>>believe that those two would admit how this
>>accident happened," said Snyder.
>>
>>Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia,
>>Poole's wife,  asked how many frogs the boys had
>>caught and did anyone get them from the truck.
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
>http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
>

Fritz Efaw,
per/pro
The Sacco-Vanzetti Chair
of Excellent Edu-Babble