March 2005

Swedish Child-Bikinis Called “Remarkably Daft”

Swedish clothing maker Lindex said this week that it had decided to stop selling a controversial line of childrens’ clothes that a Norwegian cabinet minister had criticized as “bikinis on small children.” “It is remarkably daft to make bra-like bikinis…


Rhode Island Anti-Autograph Bill Doomed to Failure

Rhode Island Senator Roger Badeau says he was appalled when Red Sox players participated in an autograph-signing event in his state last year and charged children $200 per autograph. Feeling that the state need to send a message that sports…




Men Who Posed as Wife Beaters Sue Over Wife-Beater Portrayal

In late 2002, New York City ran an anti-domestic-abuse ad campaign that pictured men behind bars with captions such as “Successful executive. Devoted churchgoer. Abusive husband.” The four male models who agreed to be pictured as the abusers are now…


Easter Bunny Beaten, Will Prosecute

Police in Bay City, Michigan, reported that a 12-year-old boy who had come to a local mall to sit on the Easter Bunny’s lap returned the next day and punched the Bunny repeatedly in the face. Bryan Johnson, who plays…



Headline of the Week

Sumo World Says “No Thanks” to Pants The report notes that Japan’s professional sumo association has rejected a request that children be allowed to compete in “sumo pants,” something like bike shorts, rather than the traditional butt-exposing “mawashi,” so that…


Louisiana Convenience Store Robbed by Pirate

Last week I reported that Butte, Montana, was apparently plagued by leprechauns around St. Patrick’s Day. This week it’s pirates in Louisiana. Police in New Iberia said they had arrested a man in connection with the robbery of a Food…


Moments of Zen

"’I lied about being a lawyer but other than the lie, everything else was totally legit,’ Goldstein said [at his sentencing hearing]." (He won 25 cases in 8 months of fake practice.) FindLaw.com "Flemming, who practices in Concord, Calif., is…