the "Headline That Caught My Attention or the WTF" thread

You'd think the SCOTUS has some more important business. I'm disappointed as we just bought our Fur Granddson a Christmas Toy and didn't see any of these...

Justices asked to hear dog toy dispute. Will they bite?​

pressherald.com/2022/11/20/justices-asked-to-hear-dog-toy-dispute-will-they-bite/

By JESSICA GRESKO November 20, 2022
Supreme_Court_Jack_Daniels_Dog_Toy_64327-1668977593.jpg

WASHINGTON — The company that makes Jack Daniel’s is howling mad over a squeaking dog toy that parodies the whiskey’s signature bottle. Now, the liquor company is barking at the door of the Supreme Court.

Jack Daniel’s has asked the justices to hear its case against the manufacturer of the plastic Bad Spaniels toy. The high court could say as soon as Monday whether the justices will agree. A number of major companies from the makers of Campbell Soup to outdoor brand Patagonia and jeans maker Levi Strauss have urged the justices to take what they say is an important case for trademark law.

The toy that has Jack Daniel’s so doggone mad mimics the square shape of its whisky bottle as well as its black-and-white label and amber-colored liquor while adding what it calls “poop humor.” While the original bottle has the words “Old No. 7 brand” and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey,” the parody proclaims: “The Old No. 2 on Your Tennessee Carpet.” Instead of the original’s note that it is 40% alcohol by volume, the parody says it’s “43% Poo by Vol.” and “100% Smelly.”

Supreme Court Jack Daniel's Dog Toy
A bottle of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is displayed next to a Bad Spaniels dog toy in Arlington, Va., Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022. Jack Daniel’s has asked the Supreme Court justices to hear its case against the manufacturer of the toy. (AP Photo/Jessica Gresko)

The toy retails for about $13 to $20 and the packaging notes in small type: “This product is not affiliated with Jack Daniel Distillery.”

The toy’s maker says Jack Daniel’s can’t take a joke. “It is ironic that America’s leading distiller of whiskey both lacks a sense of humor and does not recognize when it – and everyone else – has had enough,” lawyers for Arizona-based VIP Products wrote the high court. They told the justices that Jack Daniel’s has “waged war” against the company for “having the temerity to produce a pun-filled parody” of its bottle.

But Jack Daniel’s lead attorney, Lisa Blatt, made no bones about the company’s position in her filing.
“To be sure, everyone likes a good joke. But VIP’s profit-motivated ‘joke’ confuses consumers by taking advantage of Jack Daniel’s hard-earned goodwill,” she wrote for the Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman Corp., Jack Daniel’s parent company.

Blatt wrote that a lower court decision provides “near-blanket protection” to humorous trademark infringement. And she said it has “broad and dangerous consequences,” pointing to children who were hospitalized after eating marijuana-infused products that mimicked candy packaging.

If VIP Products is allowed to confuse consumers with dog toys, “other funny infringers can do the same with juice boxes or marijuana-infused candy,” Blatt wrote.

The toy is part of a line of VIP Products called Silly Squeakers that mimic liquor, beer, wine and soda bottles. They include Mountain Drool, which parodies Mountain Dew, and Heini Sniff’n, which parodies Heineken. A court in 2008 barred the company from selling its Budweiser parody, ButtWiper.

After the company began selling its Bad Spaniels toy in 2014, Jack Daniel’s told the company to stop, but VIP went to court to be allowed to continue to sell its product. Jack Daniel’s won the first round in court but lost an appeal. The case reached the Supreme Court at an earlier stage, but the justices didn’t bite.

Bad Spaniels isn’t the only parody puppy toy to draw the ire of the brand it imitated. Luxury bag maker Louis Vuitton sued the makers of Chewy Vuiton over their plush purse dog toys. In 2007 a federal appeals court sided with the chew toy’s manufacturers, Nevada-based Haute Diggity Dog. Louis Vuitton didn’t appeal to the Supreme Court.

The case is Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 22-148.
 
www.yahoo.com

‘Upsetting’ discovery made in belly of whale on Nova Scotia beach, researchers say

“It caused the animal to slowly starve to death.”
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

Miami Herald

‘Upsetting’ discovery made in belly of whale on Nova Scotia beach, researchers say​


A sperm whale washed ashore on a Nova Scotia beach, and closer inspection shows it died a slow, painful death caused by eating “garbage.”

“The findings were very upsetting — the death of this 45(-foot) male was attributed to a massive ingestion of fishing gear which led to emaciation and subsequent stranding,” the Marine Animal Response Society reported Nov. 17.

“Shockingly, there was 330 (pounds) of gear compacted into the animal’s stomach!”

The whale was discovered Nov. 4 stranded off Canada’s western Cape Breton Island, and researchers say it “came ashore alive and subsequently died the previous week.”

A photo of the fishing gear was posted on social media, revealing it was a knee-high mound of nets, ropes and lines. The knot created giant blockage in the whale’s digestive system, experts say.

“At this point, we do not know the type or origin of the gear, nor where or when the animal would have ingested it,” the society wrote.

“What we do know without a doubt, is that it caused the animal to slowly starve to death. This is a stark reminder of the serious issue with garbage and other plastics in our oceans, including lost, derelict, and discarded fishing gear.”

Tonya Wimmer, the society’s executive director, says it is easy for sperm whales to ingest trash because “they use their mouths like a vacuum” while feeding, CTV News Atlantic reported.

“This would have been an incredibly horrific way, and a traumatic way for this animal to slowly die,” she told the network.

Sperm whales live up to 60 years and are endangered and protected, according to NOAA Fisheries. Males can reach 45 tons and 52 feet, NOAA Fisheries says.

Among the greatest threats they face are fishing gear entanglement and vessel strikes, NOAA says.


1669046737999.webp

A 330lb mass of mixed fishing gear and other debris was found in the stomach of the animal and was the cause of it's death. (c) Marine Animal Response Society
 
My
Chevy1 said:
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My wife just brought up that CT had done this. I advised that it was coming here soon. I didn't expect it this fast, but I should have, considering this woke state's agenda.

What a slam this is to the natives who's history was honored by chosing their names and likenesses to carry into competition. I wonder how many members of the actual descendants are offended by this as opposed to the SJWs who appointed themselves to be offended on other's behalf.

BTW, as long as we are on this path of cancellation, how many towns in NY now need to be renamed because they reflected native tribes. Montauk has to go, as does Quoge, Wantagh, Niagara, Genesee, Ontario, Oneida etc.

Is this an attempt to somehow mitigate the supposed sins of the past, or more of the Land O Lakes, "get rid of the indian and keep the land" kind of just cancelling people for convenience?

Absolutely shameful. :cry:
 
jpd said:
Is nothing sacred?

nypost.com

Ex-priest pleads guilty to obscenity after filming threesome on church altar

Travis Clark, 39, received a three-year suspended prison sentence, followed by three years of supervised probation, for having a sex romp with two dominatrices on top of the altar at Saints Peter a…
nypost.com nypost.com
Click to expand...
And the chick that firebombed the police got fifteen months, mean while you will face ten years for walking into the capital.

At least this guy isn’t touching boys.
 
Thank you Baby Jesus!!!

Beyond Meat Is Struggling, and the Plant-Based Meat Industry Worries​

A few years ago, business was booming. That growth has slowed, with some wondering if the number of consumers has reached its limit.

For a while, it seemed Beyond Meat was taking over the world.

Its faux burgers and sausages were landing on dinner plates in homes throughout the United States and on the menu boards of chains like Subway, Carl’s Jr. and Starbucks. When the company went public in 2019, its shares skyrocketed as investors bet that the meatless movement was finally having its moment. During the pandemic, Beyond Meat’s grocery store sales surged as curious consumers tried its vegan options.

But these days, Beyond Meat has lost some of its sizzle.

Its stock has slumped nearly 83 percent in the past year. Sales, which the company had expected to rise as much as 33 percent this year, are now likely to show only minor growth. McDonald’s concluded a pilot of the McPlant burger — made with a Beyond Meat patty — this year with no plans to put it on the menu permanently.

In late October, the company said it was laying off 200 people, or 19 percent of its work force. And four top executives have departed in recent months, including the chief financial officer, the chief supply chain officer and the chief operating officer, whom Beyond Meat had suspended after his arrest on allegations that he bit another man’s nose in a parking garage altercation.

What investors and others are debating now is whether Beyond Meat’s struggles are specific to the company or a harbinger of deeper issues in the plant-based meat industry.
 
Couldn't happen to a "Nicer" Tyrant!!

Western sanctions catch up with Russia’s wartime economy​

pressherald.com/2022/11/26/western-sanctions-catch-up-with-russias-wartime-economy/

By Catherine Belton and Robyn Dixon November 27, 2022

When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched last month a new council for coordinating supplies for the Russian army, he seemed to recognize the scale of the economic problems facing the country, and his sense of urgency was palpable.

“We have to be faster in deciding questions connected to supplying the special military operation and countering restrictions on the economy which, without any exaggeration, are truly unprecedented,” he said.

For months, Putin claimed that the “economic blitzkrieg” against Russia had failed, but Western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine are digging ever deeper into Russia’s economy, exacerbating equipment shortages for its army and hampering its ability to launch any new ground offensive or build new missiles, economists and Russian business executives said.

Recent figures show the situation has worsened considerably since the summer when, buoyed by a steady stream of oil and gas revenue, the Russian economy seemed to stabilize. Figures released by the Finance Ministry last week show a key economic indicator – tax revenue from the non-oil and gas sector – fell 20% year in October compared with a year earlier, while the Russian state statistics agency Rosstat reported that retail sales fell 10% year on year in September, and cargo turnover fell 7%.

“All objective indicators show there is a very strong drop in economic activity,” said Vladimir Milov, a former Russian deputy energy minister who is now a leading opposition politician in exile. “The spiral is escalating, and there is no way out of this now.”

The Western ban on technology imports is affecting most sectors of the economy, while the Kremlin’s forced mobilization of more than 300,000 Russian conscripts to serve in Ukraine, combined with the departure of at least as many abroad fleeing the draft, has dealt a further blow, economists said. In addition, Putin’s own restrictions on gas supplies to Europe, followed by the unexplained explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, has led to a sharp drop in gas production – down 20% in October compared with the previous year. Meanwhile, oil sales to Europe are plummeting ahead of the European Union embargo expected to be imposed Dec. 5.

The Kremlin has trumpeted a lower-than-expected decline in GDP, forecast by the International Monetary Fund at only 3.5% this year, as demonstrating that the Russian economy can weather the raft of draconian sanctions.

But economists and business executives said the headline GDP figures did not reflect the real state of the Russian economy because the Russian government effectively ended the ruble’s convertibility since the sanctions were imposed. “GDP stopped having any meaning because firstly we don’t know what the real ruble rate is, and secondly if you produce a tank and send it to the front where it is immediately blown up, then it is still considered as value added,” said Milov, who wrote a report explaining the situation for the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies published this month.

Deeper problems were also lurking in the Russian banking sector, where most accounting has been classified. The Russian Central Bank reported this week that a record $14.7 billion in hard currency was withdrawn from the Russian banking system in October, amid increasing anxiety over mobilization and the state of the economy.

Even so, a November report by the Central Bank warned that Russia’s GDP would face a sharper contraction of 7.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022, after falling 4.1% and 4% compared with last year in the previous two quarters. Last week, as the Russian economy officially entered into recession, Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina told lawmakers that next year the situation could get darker still. “We really need to look at the situation very soberly and with our eyes open. Things may get worse, we understand that,” she said.

Putin’s announcement in September of a partial troop mobilization dealt an enormous blow to business sentiment. “For many Russian companies the reality of the war sank in,” said Janis Kluge, senior associate at the German Institute for Security and International Affairs. “It became clear that this is going to continue for a long time. Now expectations are much worse than they were over the summer.”

Putin’s creation of the coordination council, headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, was a sign the Russian president is rattled by the increasing impact of sanctions, economists and analysts said. Putin “is concerned he needs to interfere to make sure supplies will be available,” said Sergei Guriev, provost at France’s Sciences Po. “He is concerned that sanctions have really hit the ability to produce goods.”

It also signals the Russian government is preparing a broader mobilization of the Russian economy to supply the army amid chronic shortages of basic goods such as food and uniforms. New laws will impose hefty fines on business executives who refuse to carry out orders for the Russian military, as well as potential prison sentences, clearing the way for entrepreneurs to be pressured into providing goods at knockdown prices. The creation of the council is “connected to big pressure on business and the need to enforce a tough diktat to make business do what it doesn’t want to do,” said Nikolai Petrov, senior research fellow for Russia and Eurasia at Chatham House in London.

One Moscow businessman with connections to the defense sector said a quiet mobilization of the Russian economy had already been long underway, with many entrepreneurs forced into producing supplies for the Russian army but fearing to speak out against orders at cut-price rates.

“This became necessary right from the very beginning when the war began,” the businessman said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “The main mass of business is silent. If you say you are making supplies or weapons for the Russian state then you could have problems abroad.”

Anecdotal evidence reported in the Russian press has pointed to enormous problems supplying Russia’s newly drafted conscripts with equipment. An in-depth October report in Russian daily Kommersant described huge shortages in ammunition and uniform supplies for conscripts, with manufacturers citing difficulties securing the necessary materials due to sanctions.

Other Russian business executives said Russia’s military debacle in Ukraine had exposed the huge inefficiencies and corruption in Russia’s military industrial complex. “There are huge questions over where all the trillions of rubles of the past decade have been spent,” said one former senior Russian banker with connections to the Russian state.

If the new economic council fails to better coordinate the production of supplies and weaponry, it could impinge on Russia’s ability to launch new offensives in Ukraine, Petrov said. “The main problem ahead of the Kremlin is the question of when the army will be ready to begin new military action in Ukraine, and the preparation of arms and ammunition and so on will determine these plans.”

The outlook appears likely to worsen when the E.U. embargo on Russian oil sales comes into force Dec. 5, economists said. Combined with a price cap expected to be imposed on all sales of Russian oil outside the E.U., the measure could cost the Russian budget at least $120 million in lost revenue per day, Milov said, and already the Russian budget is expected to rack up a deficit by the end of this year.
 
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