Unfortunately, when people are wronged, they think they have a lottery ticket. Furthermore, lawyers will encourage people to sue for an extreme amount in the hopes there is a smaller settlement with a more generous amount than intended.

My wife was rear ended by a Hummer last November. A full size Hummer vs a Mitsubishi Mirage...um...not much Mirage left. My wife was okay. We just wanted the car replaced and this guy pulled out all stops in countering everything out of fear we would sue his pants off.

A friend of mine once slipped and broke his arm in a Burger King. When he got home from the ER, 2 reps from BK were there with a check for 40K he could have if he agreed not to sue.

He took the check, but later told me he would have been more than happy if BK had said "What is your medical insurance deductable, we will pay that?"

All this to say, what the teacher did was wrong, but this family is also wrong. Story of life in America. 2 wrongs is the rule.

Greed...gotta love human ways. People are always looking for reasons to get money/attention.

I agree that the teacher shouldn't have shown Brokeback. But that kind of suit is a bit out there.

Now, I can see how the film could distress a child, but not because there's gay men in it. There are a few rather violent scenes. Like the three screens of brutal attacks on gay men (one showing a man's jeans bloodied because he's had his penis ripped off in addition to having his face smashed in and left to rot in the wilderness). Then there's the bar fights and a few domestic violence type scenes. It would freak out a kid that's only 12 (and under age for the rating).

I can see why the teacher wanted to show it. It is a good film, but it would play hell getting viewed on university campuses, let alone compulsory school. Unfortunately, if you try to show a film about gays in the states, you won't be able to show most in public schools - almost automatic R rating applied to such films, regardless of other content.

Sad part about greed is that money does not give happiness.

Lottery winner: money does not make you happy | LifeTwo

LOL, it was a mirage, so there wasn't be anything to hit :P

Anyway, that's why I envy you guys in America/Europe. I was with my friend in Pizza Hut, the cleaning guy over there left some floor unwiped, so it was wet. my friend slipped and he had an injury in his head.
I took him to the hospital immediately.It wasn't that bad, but when we came back to Pizza Hut, the manager there told us we were trying to get some money by deliberately making my friend slip
(and FYI, there are no restaurants here which give any money for having injuries there, and if you try to sue them, the people in court will think you're a lunatic)

Extreme Coder

I have been to Cairo on business a few times....it has been a few years..where the blazes is the pizza hut?!?!?!

Where exactly in Cairo did you go? Cairo is very large, I don't understand how it is still called one city. There are lots of branches in Cairo still, and there are 2 here in Maadi(one in CityStars/Carrefour, one in Al-Nasr street)

Extreme Coder

I usually stayed at the Grand Hyatt (once at Hotel Cairo) and most of business was conducted int he business district. In other words, Zamalek. But when I had free time I would wander about.

I believe the film was about two cowboys who were gay. A friend of mine saw it and liked it, but I did not see the film because it is not the kind of movie I usually see. I like Star Trek.

As for hot coffee, some people complain when it's not hot. When people want warm coffee, it will be served that way.

The word is used much the same way here in the states. Homosexuality is still regarded as abnormal by many people but it is also regarded as not politically correct to be intolerant of people who are different. So it is acceptable to believe that homosexuality is wrong but it is not generally acceptable to discriminate against homosexuals; everybody needs to earn a living and everybody needs access to housing.

I think there are many things in a 12 yr old's life that are more stressful than seeing a couple of cowboys hugging.

And the insurance industry is totally blamless, right? Don't you think the word 'some' should be inserted here in two places? Besides, what do you expect when our government condones the lottery, which usually is supported mainly by those whom can afford it least. Or when corporate CEO's are being payed insane bonus' and salaries and then we learn of scandles, which the consumers or taxpayers foot the bill for. Some people believe they have one chance in life to get ahead, so they jump at the first possibility that comes along. My wife was broadsided by an elderly man who, in my jusgment, had no business being permited to hold a drivers license. The accident caused lifelong vertebrae damage. The insurance company called and asked what type of insurance we had , full tort or limited tort, when we informed them we had limited tort, they said, 'ok, we will be in touch'. We never heard from them again. Fortunately, we hired a lawyer before the statue of limitations ran out. We didn't get much, but they had the gall to offer us $800.00. Mind you, my wife will suffer with this for the rest of her life, and as she grows older, her tolerance of the pain will diminish.
Didn't he have insurance for that? Liability insurance is a reqirement last I checked, however, if he didn't, he should be scared shitless.


Didn't the check cover the deductable? Or, is it all about principle with your friend? He sounds conservative.


That is your filter, and it sounds like you haven't had to deal with much adversity in life. Try taking that philosophy to the black person who gets pulled over every night, only because he/she is black, or cannot get a job because he/she is black. Talk to the single mother who can't get ahead for all the obvious reasons.

When one sees life through the lens of right and wrong, I become very alerted as to their motives. So I listen and watch very carefully. I am reminded of a quote out of the bible 'be as wise as a serpent, but as meek as a dove". This is a bit of scripture some christians use to justify being deceptive.

I am all for a stupid tax, and the lottery is among the best taxes on stupidity ever devised. The fact that it takes in many poor is of no concern to me- the poor that are stupid enough to spend money on the lottery and similar foolishness are beyond help and would squander any help given.
Now, the poor that are poor by no means of their own, but merely inherited poverty from their parents or acquired it by some injury (medical or otherwise) and scrimp and save to try to get out; those are the ones we should be helping.

I can agree to a degree, Josh. However, I wonder if it is in a societies best interest to prey on any groups fallibilites and weakness'. Then consider it survival of the fittest, more or less.