Society's ChildS


Beer

New York, US: Controversial "Anti-Semitic" Vodka Billboard Taken Down in New York City

Eric Pfeiffer
The Sideshow
Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:07 UTC
Image
© The New York Times
A billboard for Wodka vodka in NYC has been taken down and destroyed after complaints that the advertisement's message is anti-Semitic.

The New York Times reported that the billboard featured a long-haired dog wearing a yarmulke and another dog wearing a Santa hat with the words, "Christmas quality, Hanukkah pricing," alongside the photo.

The backlash against the billboard was nearly instantaneous. Ron Meier, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, called it "crude and offensive."

"To use the Jewish holiday in dealing with issues of money is clearly insensitive and inappropriate," Meier told the paper.

Brian Gordon, head of MMG, the advertising company behind the billboard, said the billboard's message was not intended to be offensive.
Read More...
Megaphone

US: Megyn Kelly's pepper spray comments spark backlash

Mike Krumboltz
The Upshot
Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Pepper spray, its effects, and its appropriateness continue to be top of mind in the media.

Following the protests at UC Davis, during which Occupy protesters were sprayed with pepper spray by a campus police officer, Fox News commentator Megyn Kelly went on the Bill O'Reilly show.

Kelly appeared to downplay the physical effects of pepper spray. Kelly said pepper spray is "like a derivative of real pepper. It's a food product essentially."

Read More...
Arrow Up

US: Passenger forced to stand for seven hours on U.S. Airways flight because of 400-pound man sitting next to him

Lee Moran and Mark Duell
The Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:52 UTC
  • Arthur Berkowitz flying from Anchorage to Philadelphia
  • One of longest possible domestic flights without a stop
  • Said it was dangerous as he couldn't use his seatbelt
  • Obese man said 'I apologise, I'm your worst nightmare'
The passenger who had to stand during a seven-hour flight because of a morbidly obese man sitting next to him has today spoken about his ordeal.

Arthur Berkowitz, 57, said his 400lb neighbour on US Airways Flight 901 from Anchorage to Philadelphia made it impossible to get into his seat.

The obese man spilled over into Mr Berkowitz's personal space and he could not move because the plane was full so he was forced to stand up.

Image
© AlamyDangerous: Passenger Arthur Berkowitz had to stand for a seven-hour flight after a morbidly obese man next to him made it impossible for him to sit down
Read More...
Heart

US: Dozens of rabbits found along Colorado roadside


The Associated Press
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© unknown
Animal advocates are trying to find out why someone apparently left dozens of rabbits along a road in Colorado Springs.

Someone spotted the white bunnies Sunday and members of the Dream Power Animal Rescue and other people helped round them up.

The Gazette reports that the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region is investigating and offering a $500 reward for information in the case.

Many of the bunnies went to animal shelters, but about 20 were taken home by people who helped rescue them.

Source: The Gazette
Read More...
Green Light

US: Why was Michelle Obama Booed at a NASCAR Race?

Mark Whittington
Yahoo! Contributor Network
Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:50 UTC
Michelle Obama
© unknown
First lady Michelle Obama, along with Vice President Biden's wife Jill Biden, was presented as grand marshals of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Finale in Miami. Obama was booed by some members of the crowd.

While stipulating the NASCAR crowd is hardly part of President Barack Obama's base of support, the unpopularity of an American president rarely translates to his wife. Mrs. Obama enjoyed a 63 percent positive rating in a recent CNN poll, while her husband languishes in the mid-40s.

It would not be too difficult to overanalyze this incident. Sports fans tend to be raucous, especially after they have been well lubricated. It is possible the NASCAR crowd would have booed the Second Coming if it came before the big race.

On the other hand, Mrs. Obama has delved into controversy in her pet cause of getting people to eat healthy. Recently she opined that her favorite meal was steak and arugula. It seemed to be a somewhat Marie Antoinette type of statement. A lot of families in these difficult times are hard pressed to afford hamburger, not to mention steak.
Read More...
Fish

US: Massachusetts Fishermen Snare 881-Pound Tuna, Feds Take It


The Associated Press
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/NOAAThis Nov. 12, 2011 photo released by NOAA and provided by Stephanie Rafael shows fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael in New Bedford, Mass., with an 881-pound tuna.
It's the big one that got taken away.

Local fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael was elated when one of his trawlers snared an 881-pound bluefin tuna earlier this month.

But the joy was short-lived. Federal fishery enforcement agents seized the fish when the crew returned to port Nov. 12.

Rafael had tuna permits but was told catching tuna with a net is illegal.

Instead, it's got to be caught by handgear, such as rod and reel, harpoon or handline.

"We didn't try to hide anything," Rafael told The Standard-Times newspaper of New Bedford, a famous whaling era port 50 miles south of Boston. "We did everything by the book. Nobody ever told me we couldn't catch it with a net."
Read More...
Info

Kenyan runner in Alaska loses feet to frostbite

Yereth Rosen
Reuters
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:03 UTC
Image
© Amanda Umberger/University of Alaska Anchorage/ScreengrabMarko Cheseto won several honors for the University of Alaska Anchorage athletics team.
A top college runner from Kenya who spent two days lost in an Alaska snowstorm earlier this month had to have both of his feet amputated due to frostbite, the University of Alaska, Anchorage said on Monday.

Marko Cheseto, a two-time NCAA All-American runner, disappeared on November 6 after leaving the university campus during a heavy storm. He walked into a campus hotel more than 48 hours later severely hypothermic and suffering from frostbite.

Both of the 28-year-old star athlete's feet later had to be amputated because of severe frostbite, the university said.

Cheseto, in his first public statement since he was found, thanked the university, city and volunteers who searched for him during his "troubled times".

"As some may know, I've been going through a lot of personal issues," the runner said in a statement released through the university.
Read More...
Heart - Black

Egyptians expect to 'see a lot of bloodshed'

Sarah Lynch
USA Today
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00 UTC
Security forces fought Monday with several thousand protesters in Tahrir Square in the third straight day of violence over demands that the military set a date for turning power over to civilians.

Egypt's army-appointed government handed in its resignation Monday in what the protesters took as a gesture toward addressing their complaints. "God is great!" they shouted upon hearing the news.

Protesters vowed to remain in the streets despite violence that has killed 24 people before parliamentary elections that will begin Nov. 28 and continue for months.

Read More...
Dollar

US: Farm belt rage over MF Global could chill markets

Bob Burgdorfer and Philip Shishkin
Reuters
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:12 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Andrew KellyA woman leaves the office complex where MF Global Holdings Ltd have an office on 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, October 29, 2011.
When the CME Group pledged $300 million of its own money to help former MF Global customers get their cash back faster, the exchange was likely thinking of customers like Kansas cattle rancher Tim Rietzke.

Fed up and frustrated with his broker's collapse and what he sees as the CME's slow efforts to help him retrieve $30,000 in stranded capital, Rietzke says his faith in the futures industry has been shaken to its core.

"I would be hedging some feeder cattle right now, but I'm not going to do it. I'm leaving them exposed to the cash market and I don't like that," Rietzke said.

Rietzke may reside far from the trading pit in Chicago, but he and thousands of other ranchers and farmers across the country are at the heart of futures trading.

With billions of their dollars locked up by MF Global's October 31 bankruptcy filing, they are a key voice in determining if and when the futures business regains its poise and reputation.

"I have no confidence in the market, because it could happen at any other brokerage," Rietzke told Reuters from his 8,000 acre ranch near the southwest Kansas town of Coldwater.
Read More...
Camera

German gynecologist caught with 35,000 pictures of naked female patients


My Fox Orlando
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:45 UTC
A German gynecologist is being investigated by police after secretly taking 35,000 pictures of female patients naked inside his practice.

So far 700 victims have filed criminal complaints against the 56-year-old doctor, who practised in the small town of Schifferstadt, in Rhineland-Palatinate in the west of the country.

"We are still in the middle of the investigation, it may well be that more victims come forwards," Lothar Liebig, the director of public prosecutions in Frankenthal, told the German tabloid Bild.

Approximately 3,000 women were unknowingly snapped by the perverted doctor while undergoing clinical examinations, the report said.

The doctor no longer practises, and could face up to one year in prison.
Read More...