Miss Piggy's Grocery Store Checkout Headlines

[arus2001]

Shouldn't have had watermelons on sale in a warzone.

[Cail]

SEATTLE (AP) — Two Seattle men say they spent more than two hours in a detention center at the Canadian border after U.S. border agents discovered illegal chocolate eggs in their car.

Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney told KOMO-TV (http://is.gd/usuy85 ) they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family during a recent trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. They bought Kinder Eggs — chocolate eggs with a toy inside.

The two men say border guards searched their car and said the eggs are illegal in the United States because young children could choke on the small plastic toys. Importing them can lead to a potentially hefty fine.

Sweeney says the bust was a waste of his time and the agents' time. The men eventually got off with a warning.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined to comment about the case Tuesday night.

The agency warned on its website around Easter that the treats can't be imported legally.

The agency says it seized more than 60,000 Kinder Eggs from travelers' baggage and international mail shipments in fiscal 2011.

.

[Kerberoz]

They need to stop interfering with natural selection.

[wop]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-marathon.html

A TEENAGER was found dead in an internet cafe after reportedly playing a video game for 40 HOURS straight.

The 18-year-old lad is believed to have collapsed during a marathon session of Diablo 3.

He was found by workers in the internet cafe in Tainan, southern Taiwan.

It is believed he had not eaten for two days.

The gamer has so far only been identified by his surname, Chuang.

On the morning of July 15, an attendant entered the room and found Chuang resting on a table. After the attendant woke him, he stood, took a few steps and then collapsed, reports said.

He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital.

Police were investigating the cause of death and an autopsy was being carried out.

It has been speculated that sitting for long hours in a sedentary position created cardiovascular problems for Chuang.

The teen had been playing the latest instalment of the role-playing game.

It is the second death from playing video games in the country this year.

In February, a man in New Taipei was found dead, slumped in a chair facing a computer with his arms still reaching out for the keyboard after playing for 23 hours. The cause of death was reported as cardiac arrest.

[Fievel]

Darwinism

[Ragnus]

Christ. He didn't even die playing a good game either.

[Omniyoji]

Gotta get dem items...

[Karbuncle]

He probably didn't see a single good drop either.

[BaneTheBrawler]

See, now that shit's just stupid. I played FFXI for 40 hours straight multiple times, but I took short bathroom breaks when I needed to and grabbed snacks etc. Gonna go with darwinism here.

[Kerberoz]

Probably stimulant O.D.

[Lucavi]

Trying to make dat money; he could have made a few month's worth of rent if he had found a nice item.

Sadly, the bots already have better shit up for sale for less, so yeah, shoulda played another game, kid.

[Krazy]

I swear I've seen that exact article word for word before but with a different game.

[Ragnus]

You have

[MaachaQ]

http://torrentfreak.com/rights-group...acy-ad-120717/

Rights Group Fined For Not Paying Artist For Anti-Piracy Ad
July 17, 2012

Five years ago a composer created music for use in a one-off anti-piracy video. However, without his permission it was used time and again on dozens of commercial DVDs such as Harry Potter. Even in the wake of a huge controversy over “corrupt” and “mafia-like” practices, the local music rights group that got involved in the case failed to pay him the money he was owed. The case went to court and this week the music rights group lost.

In 2006, Dutch musician Melchior Rietveldt was asked to compose a piece of music to be used in an anti-piracy advert. It was to be used exclusively at a local film festival.

However, when Rietveldt bought a Harry Potter DVD in 2007, he discovered his music being used in the anti-piracy ad without his permission. In fact, it had been used on dozens of DVDs both in the Netherlands and overseas.

In order to get the money he was owed, Rietveldt went to local music royalty collecting agency Buma/Stemra who had been representing him since 1988 but had failed to pay him any money for the anti-piracy piece previously registered with them.

Eventually Stemra sent Rietveldt an advance of 15,000 euros along with a promise to forward a list of all the other DVDs that the composer’s music had been used on. That list never arrived, but according to the Amsterdam Court this week it amounted to at least 71 commercial DVDs.

In January 2009, Rietveldt wrote to Stemra informing them that the amount paid thus far wouldn’t cover the amount owed. Despite much wrangling, by 2011 Stemra still hadn’t provided Rietveldt with the necessary data but did pay another 10,000 euros ‘advance’.

“This dispute lingered on for some years, but in 2012 Stemra arranged a settlement with BREIN legal parent NVPI for the unpaid royalties,” Arnoud Engelfriet, a lawyer specializing in Internet law at the ICTRecht law firm, told TorrentFreak.

“Under the settlement Stemra would receive 60,000 euros. Rietveldt sued because he had calculated he was due at least 164,974 euros.”

In June, Stemra paid Rietveld another 31,000 euros but this week the Amsterdam District Court ruled that Stemra had indeed been negligent in their handling of the case. They were fined 20,000 euros, ordered to pay Rietveldt’s legal costs, and told to continue efforts to pay all money due to the composer while keeping him fully informed of developments.

The case caused a scandal in the Netherlands last year following discussions Rietveldt had with Buma/Stemra board member Jochem Gerrits about getting the money he was owed.

In order to help, Gerrits suggested that the composer should sign his track over to High Fashion Music, a label owned by Gerrits himself and one that would take 33% of Rietveldt’s royalties for its trouble.

“This prompted TV news organization PowNews (who had recorded the conversation) to assert corruption, but Gerrits later claimed he was speaking as director of his record company, and it is standard that a record company gets 1/3rd of the mechanical royalties,” Arnoud Engelfriet explains.

Although Gerrits resigned his position, he later initiated a defamation lawsuit against PowNews. But the embarrassing ripples caused by the case didn’t end there.

“While traditionally these societies operate as private institutions (self regulation), this affair has prompted the under secretary of state Fred Teeven to announce regulations to forbid the conflict of interest that Gerrits was in. More regulations may also appear,” Engelfriet concludes.

[Manako]

http://gawker.com/5927316/man-who-st...blic-indecency

Man Who Stripped Naked in Airport to Protest TSA Found Not Guilty of Public Indecency
50-year-old John E. Brennan, who grabbed headlines back in April when he stripped naked in front of TSA screeners at Portland International Airport, was acquitted of public indecency after a Multnomah County judge ruled his act a protected form of protest.

"It is the speech itself that the state is seeking to punish, and that it cannot do," Circuit Judge David Rees said, agreeing with the defense that protest overrides nudity laws.

"I know the irony of taking off my clothes to protect my privacy," Brennan told the court. "They're getting close to seeing us naked, so I thought I'd up the ante."

Nicknamed "Sir Godiva" by his friends, Brennan explained that his decision to remove his clothes was not premeditated. "The machine went off, and I asked what it was and he said 'nitrates' which I know from Oklahoma City is one of the explosive ingredients," Brennan, a high-tech consultant and frequent flyer, told KGW. "And I was not interested in being hassled so I took off my clothes to show them I was not carrying any explosives."

A spokeswoman for the TSA said Brennan was being "purposefully disruptive" and affecting its ability to "screen all passengers safely and efficiently." Indeed, although he is free and clear of indecent exposure, Brennan could still be fined up to $11,000 if it is determined by the TSA that he interfered with the screening process.

He also faces being put on the Department of Homeland Security's no-fly list.

[TacoTaru]

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollyw...pee-wee-herman

Well, here is a thing that has happened: Fred Willard — the avuncular staple of the Christopher Guest repertory players, the go-to clueless old-guy for dozens of other movies, and, most recently, host of ABC improv show Trust Us With Your Life — has been arrested for what can only be referred to as "pulling a Pee-wee Herman." In fact that's what TMZ, which reported the story, has dubbed it. They also provide some actual information: "Fred Willard was arrested for lewd conduct last night in Hollywood when police allegedly caught him with his pants down in an adult movie theater … According to law enforcement sources, LAPD undercover vice officers went into the Tiki Theater in Hollywood and found the 72-year-old Anchorman star watching last night's feature … with his penis exposed and in his hand — aka, pulling a Pee-wee Herman. We're told Willard was arrested around 8:45 p.m. and booked for lewd conduct. It was a quick release — we're told he was out of police custody a short while later."

Well. Huh. OK. This is all a bit awkward to discuss in public. But, like, certainly he had a perfectly good explanation for all for this, right? And look, whatever else may be true, it all did eventually work out for Pee-wee. For now, though, we can only ask one thing: Fred, wha happen?

[SephYuyX]

http://www.networkworld.com/communit...obs-yes-really

Some chucklehead working for Microsoft thought it would be funny to slip a thinly camouflaged sexist remark -- "big boobs" -- into software code that connects the Linux kernel to Microsoft's HyperV virtualization product.

[Tweek]

And no, I could not have done better than that. I know the limits of my mspaint abilities.

China got one thing right

Theme park offers discount for mini skirts

A theme park in southern China is holding the kind of event that would never fly in the US.

Guilin Merryland Resort is offering a half-price discount to women wearing skirts shorter than 38 centimeters over the next two months. The "Love Miniskirts" campaign, in its fifth year, is credited with generating record ticket sales.
Some Chinese have complained that the park is encouraging women to behave erotically, but they seem to be the minority, according to Shanghai Daily.

Oh yeah, and it coincides with a water-splashing festival, which is exactly what it sounds like.

[Tajin]

I know, I know, mexico nobody gives a shit about third world etc.
http://www.catholic.org/internationa...y.php?id=46955

Seven girls were raped after a gang of armed people invaded a church camp-out near Mexico City. About a dozen suspects went on an hours-long rampage of beatings, robberies and rape, authorities say. Several campers were beaten before the suspects fled in two stolen vehicles.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Authorities say that about 90 youths sponsored by a church known as the Chains of the Holy Trinity were camping at an eco-park on the eastern outskirts of Mexico City, close to the lower flanks of the Popocatepetl volcano. The camp-out appeared to have been a sort of spiritual retreat.

The office said investigators were pursuing two lines of inquiry, but did not reveal what they were. It is not clear if police officers were patrolling the eco-park where the attack happened on Friday night. It's not yet known whether officers were on duty at the time.

Campers and hikers have been targeted in the past by common criminals. Mexico City is a popular site for violent drug-related crime.

Police only found out about the crimes when an adult organizer of the camp-out showed up at police offices to report the attack.

In a statement, the government said it had witness' descriptions of the attackers and pledged to catch and punish those responsible.

Mexico's most populous state was ruled by the president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, between 2005-2011. Human rights groups complain that the state has one of the worst records in the country on violence against women. On Wednesday Amnesty International singled out the state for abuses against women and said Mexican police solved one in every 21 rape cases.

Although all of these victims were Mexican nationals, U.S. churches and ministries use similar camps in this area and throughout Mexico.

Was the first source I found in english, the information is accurate though.

Inb4 shouldnt camp in a warzone.

P.S. Despicable bastards.

[Tekki]

I think this can go into the WOP thread...