Thursday, May 11, 2006
Wal-Mart seeks smiley face rights
Wal-Mart is embroiled in a legal dispute over the smiley face image which it wants to trademark in the US.
A Frenchman who claims to have invented the yellow smiley face back in 1968 is opposing the US retail giant's move.
For some, the image is a reminder of 1970s counter-culture, for others, a useful shorthand when sending e-mails.
But since 1996, Wal-Mart has used the image in the US on uniforms and promotional signs, and it wants sole rights to it in the US retail sector.
His Only Weapon Was A Dildo.
A 37-year-old man remained in police custody Tuesday, charged with a violent assault against his former girlfriend. He has testified that his only weapon was a dildo.
The 28-year-old victim remained in the hospital after suffering a concussion, two broken fingers and several cuts. According to local newspaper Firda, she told police she feared for her life during the assault.
The defendant appeared in the Fjordane court in the scenic western town of Nordfjordeid on Monday. He told said he was sorry for his actions, and attempted to downplay the assault.
The Gallows
A farmer who builds gallows and has sold them to African countries with poor human rights records has been condemned by Amnesty International.
David Lucas, of Mildenhall, Suffolk, said he had been selling execution equipment to countries including Zimbabwe for about 10 years.
Amnesty said the export of gallows, which will be made illegal by an EC regulation in July, was "appalling". But Mr Lucas said the trade was not sick and "business is business". He added some people deserved the death penalty.
Disney is not renewing a 10-year agreement with McDonald's
Apparently Steve Jobs doesn't care too much for the food at McDonald's or at minimum he wants to stop using it to promote Disney/Pixar films to kids.
According to a story in the L.A. Times, Disney is not renewing a 10-year agreement with McDonald's to include plastic toys in its Happy Meals
The word is that Disney is trying to disassociate itself from high calorie and trans fat laden fast food peddled by fast food giants like McDonald's. Times staff writer Rachel Abramowitz finds the timing the contract cancellation (reported to be worth US$1 billion to Disney) less than coincidental. It happened just as Steve Jobs becomes Disney's largest shareholder after the acquisition of his Pixar Animation Studios
Butcher Arrested For Hacking Up His Rival
There has been a bizarre killing of a young man n the Bronx involved in a love triangle. The victim’s body was spread out over several blocks in the Longwood section.
The body parts, all in garbage bags, were recovered from five locations. Police found a torso in the garbage in the basement of 923 Kelly Street: arms and legs on the sidewalk half a block away on Intervale Avenue and a head in the garbage in an alley on Dawson Street. Angel Romero found one body part. “He hacked that guy. I found an arm, it was cleanly cut.”
Later the victim’s shoulders and groin area were retrieved from the front of a middle school two blocks away; and three blocks away the victim’s thighs were found among garbage bags at this construction site. When construction worker John Crespo was asked how he knew the body parts were human he motioned to his thigh and said, “You could see. It looked like a thigh cut away and left in a bag with a sheet.
Man charged with selling marijuana from diaper bag
An Albert Lea man was charged with selling and possessing marijuana Monday after he and a teenage girl were allegedly caught selling the drug while walking a baby in a stroller.
About nine grams of marijuana were confiscated from Matthew Rowand, 22, of Albert Lea, and about 71 grams were confiscated from a baby bag being held by the juvenile female, according to the criminal complaint issued in Freeborn County District Court.
The baby in the stroller was taken into protective custody, according to police.
Look who's talking! Axl drops in on WAXQ
Rose came from a Guns N' Roses rehearsal to the WAXQ studio around 12:30 a.m. to join Trunk, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, WWE wrestler Chris Jericho and Bach, who Trunk says "really made it happen."
Rose drank Red Bulls, swapped stories, cracked a few jokes about himself and his reputation and suggested Trunk play Motorhead's "Ace of Spades." He also told stories about the hard-rock world and talked about growing up and listening to bands like Kiss and Wasp.
He answered some questions from Trunk, saying the long-awaited "Chinese Democracy" CD will be out in the fall, and deflected others. He declined to identify the band's new lead guitarist or explain why he aborted a 2002 tour beyond saying the tour wasn't his idea.