Well, it sure surprised me!

Typically, surprises are reserved for April Fools Day pranks and drunk office party goers.  Who'd have thunk that 2013 would bring us a few surprises, too.

For example, a woman is suing the manufacturer of a brand of electronic cigarettes (Ries v. Zolghadr, RIC1306769, Riverside County Superior Court, filed 6/10/13).  Seems as she was smoking an e-cigarette and it exploded engulfing her in flames causing 2nd degree burns and surprising the heck out of her husband (who was sitting next to her).  I mean, don't most people smoke something to relax and then here comes a product that blows up in your face?  What's up with that?!  Anyway, with sales for electronic cigarettes projected at reaching over $1 billion (that's billion with a B), this is a case that is worth watching over the coming months.

In other news is a case picked up by Yahoo News.  Seems a woman was giving birth in a Catholic hospital.  Apparently, a woman - pregnant with twins - was struggling for her life at St. Thomas More Medical Center in Canon City, Colorado.  Seems woman died and when the hospital staff didn't take steps to retrieve the two babies in utero, they also died.  Subsequently, the husband of woman sued the hospital saying they killed his babies.  The surprise was when the lawyers for the CATHOLIC hospital (I emphasized catholic if only for the fact that historically, Catholic dogma holds all life is sacred) argued that under Colorado law, the babies are not legally "human" and thus cannot be killed.

What we have here is a dichotomy.  On the one hand, the Catholic church says all life is sacred (i.e. pro life).  On the other, the law (and society at large) says no crime is committed if a baby dies in the womb (i.e. pro choice).  So (I suspect) to protect it's financial health and get rid of the lawsuit, the hospital took the legal road and said the babies were not born so they can't be held liable.  Subsequently, the world is freaking out because how dare an organization use the laws to protect itself?  I'll bet the pro choice fanatics who scream against the Catholics (and everyone else who is pro life) didn't even see this coming; just blew their collective minds that someone would use pro choice laws as a shield against the choice onslaught.  The nerve of some people.

...and that's just two of the cases that were started/decided/appealed/resolved this year.  Just two!  Who knows how many of the zillion other cases filed would blow your mind?!  No way to know until/unless you start looking around the Internet.  Might surprise yourself (and help you be the center of attention at your next New Years Party).