Thursday, October 07, 2004

"DON'T TRIP" NEEDS LESSONS?

"A locomotive driver has been awarded nearly $1 million in damages for serious injuries he sustained when he fell from a stationary train while on the way to the toilet. The Supreme Court heard Reck was a locomotive driver on the coal line between the Bowen Basin and the terminals near Mackay, in North Queensland. He was aboard a stationary locomotive in a rail siding when he attempted to leave to attend the toilet. As Reck attempted to leave, his foot caught on a raised lip at the doorway. He pitched forward on to the track sustaining serious facial and head injuries.

In a written judgment which became available yesterday, Justice Peter Dutney found QR had been negligent in its obligation to Reck. He noted Reck had been given no safety instructions or information concerning entering or exiting the locomotive. Justice Dutney said since the accident a video had been prepared giving instruction and warning of risks. Justice Dutney said the lip, which fulfilled a practical function of sealing the door, was an obvious danger to persons using the entry. Justice Dutney said Reck had negotiated the access system on hundreds of occasions and should have been aware of the dangers". [!!!!!]

More here.



ALL MEN ARE VILLAINS

Leftist groupthink at work

Swedish politicians are proposing to hit men with a domestic violence tax to cover the costs to society of abuse against women. Sweden's parliament was expected to open debate yesterday on the Left Party's proposal. It follows an Amnesty International report that found violence against women increased almost 40 per cent during the 1990s and that up to 40 women are battered to death in Sweden each year. "It must be clear to all we have a gigantic social problem and cost in men's violence towards women and we must discuss how we are going to pay for it," said Gudrun Schyman, the party's former leader and one of several female MPs who have signed the motion.

The Left Party says the idea of men collectively paying for the social costs of violence towards women is similar to the principle of poor people paying less tax than the rich. The party, which has 30 members in the 349-seat Swedish parliament, supports the Social Democratic minority Government, giving it enough votes to muster a majority. In order to gauge what the tax should be, it is proposing to appoint a taskforce to establish the cost of treating victims of domestic violence.

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