Judge This: Has Hulk Hogan got a case vs. Cocoa Pebbles?

May 24th, 2010. By AbiK

So the Hulk (as in Hogan, not as in Incredible) is suing cereal maker Post over their use of a wrestler, Hulk Boulder, in an ad for Cocoa Pebbles. Hulk Boulder, admittedly, does seem to bear a bit of a likeness to the Hulk Hogan we knew circa 1990—that would be approximately the last year in which we saw that much hair on the human Hulk’s head. (Btw, Hulk Hogan’s real name would be Terry Bollea and he’s now pushing sixty.)

You be the judge on this one, but I’m having a hard time not laughing. Not because there may indeed be a little bit of ripping off the Hulk’s likeness, but because of some of the wording in the lawsuit—such as this where Hulk “is shown humiliated and cracked into pieces with broken teeth, with the closing banner, ‘Little Pieces…BIG TASTE!'”

Humiliated!

According to Tampa Bay Online, the lawsuit says Post Foods never sought or received Hogan’s permission to use his likeness to promote the cereal and Hogan says he raised his objections with Post in August, but the ads continued.

Apparently, Hogan claims he’s been harmed by, “the unauthorized and degrading depictions in the Cocoa Smashdown advertisements.”

What do you think?

With where Cars are Heading, my Money’s Going in Funeral Homes

May 21st, 2010. By Hunter West

I love to drive—but I just may have to give it up and be done with it. Because I don’t like where the cars of the future are going. 

For that matter, I don’t like where they are now. 

A recent article in The New York Times focused on the cars of the future and what our dashboards are going to look like. Specifically, a demonstration by Cisco Systems showed how an LED dashboard display can be manipulated and customized much like the screen on your smart phone, iPad or laptop. 

In other words, if you don’t like the fuel gauge over HERE, you can drag and drop it over THERE. 

Same with the icons for the car’s web browser, the weather channel, the stocks channel, the news feed, the video screen, the keyboard and the GPS. 

Here’s the problem…  

It’s one thing to have the dashboard evolve from a collection of mechanical dials to integrated electronic bars, and graphs. This gee-whiz stuff has been happening since the 1980’s. 

The problem—and I’ll say it again—is all the interconnectivity that automotive manufacturers have, or are bringing into the car. 

Were cars to have the capacity to drive themselves, then I’d be all for it. Just like the cockpit of an airliner, where you can throw the multi-million-dollar jet on autopilot and play with your laptop while the plane overshoots the airport by an hour… 

Oh, wait a minute. That’s not so good, either. 

The point is, even if cars were to have the kind of sophistication that commercial jets have, Read the rest of this entry »

Asbestos News Roundup: 5.20.10

May 20th, 2010. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. 

Asbestos Settlements

Miami, FL: A $14 million settlement has been awarded in an asbestos lawsuit brought by a man who alleged that he developed deadly abdominal cancer after being exposed to the mineral in the 1970s.

William Aubin, now 59 years old and a retired firefighter, worked for his family’s construction company, Aubin Construction on Key Biscayne, in the 1970s. During that time he was exposed to products laden with asbestos, specifically joint compounds.

In hearing the case, a jury in Miami-Dade county found that the chemical manufacturer, Union Carbide, was negligent for using asbestos fibers to make the joint compounds used by construction companies such as Aubin Construction. Further, Aubin was exposed without his knowledge, as the product labeling did not mention asbestos.

The jurors also found four other compound manufacturers, including Georgia-Pacific, responsible for causing Mr. Aubin’s peritoneal mesothelioma. (Miamiherald.com) 

Asbestos Hot Spots

Quebec, Canada: A decision affecting the future of the asbestos mining industry in the Canadian province of Quebec is pending and, if passed, could negatively impact thousands of people’s health and well-being, anti-asbestos lobbyists claim.

The Quebec government is currently trying to decide whether to provide essential loan guarantees for an expansion of the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Que.

The new underground mine is reportedly set to create 450 jobs and produce enough asbestos Read the rest of this entry »

Lawyer to Discuss Defective Car Seats on FOX 11 Ten O’Clock News LA

May 19th, 2010. By AbiK

Given all the news over the past few months about sticking accelerator pedals, floor mat problems or defective brakes, it’s easy to see how an issue like defective car seats can get lost in the mix. And, in truth, you don’t hear about defective car seat stories too often in the news. Sadly though, it appears to be a growing problem and when there is a car accident involving a defective car seat, it’s often with fatal results.

Attorney Brian Chase is scheduled to appear on FOX 11 Ten O’Clock News Los Angeles at 10:00 pm tomorrow night (Thursday, May 20) as part of a special report on the issue. Chase’s firm, Bisnar Chase, has handled defective car seat lawsuits and Chase will discuss two of these cases.

One case involves a woman who sustained catastrophic injuries that rendered her quadriplegic due to a defective seat. The other case involves a woman whose seven-year-old daughter was killed as the result of a defective seat that careened backwards, crushing the child’s chest and causing her to sustain fatal injuries.

Chase is also set to discuss what’s described as “an inadequate, 40-year seat manufacturing standard that provides pathetic occupant protection in rear-end collisions—a standard that desperately needs changed.”  What’s more, he’ll speak about side-by-side crash tests that prove more rigid seat designs would offer significantly better occupant protection than “soft” designs currently being manufactured by a majority of today’s automakers.

Hooters Asst Regional Manager Needs Free Gym Membership

May 19th, 2010. By AbiK

Cassie Smith, a waitress at Hooters in Roseville, Michigan—for two years now—was apparently called in for a review and basically told that she needs to take some weight off. Ok, let’s face it, Hooters is all about the eye candy. And I guess they want to get on the “wellness” bandwagon and help out a pudgy (apparently their assessment of Cassie, not mine) gal by offering her a free gym membership—and giving her what sounds like your run-of-the-mill HR-is-now-involved 30-60 day timeframe to slim down.

I’m not sure how Hooters monitors progress on this front—do they have weigh-ins? or is it all based on visual cues? Will Cassie be “ok” when she’s able to get into size XXS vs. the size XS Hooters uniform she wears now? And I wonder what business metrics—like customer retention, revenue increase vs prior month—those kind of measures—will be monitored and considered in direct relation to Cassie shedding those pounds? I muse and I digress…forgive me.

You can see more about this case—what’s basically a weight discrimination case—on the video above. But what I love is the double-standard. Take a look at the picture of this guy at the right, pulled from a WDIV tv (Detroit) report—he’s the Assistant Regional Manager for the Hooters where Cassie works. Now, I don’t like to point fingers or be the pot calling the kettle black, but…I’m hoping Hooters has offered him a nice little gym membership and that he’s taken them up on the offer.

The other interesting thing about this is the Hooters’ company line about image. We’ve now heard from two “head office” Hooters folks: Alexis Aleshire, PR Manager, and Mike McNeil, VP Marketing. They both defend (a given) the company’s stance on image and appearance by pointing to the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and the Radio City Rockettes. Ok, again there is more eye candy. But at least those gals have to DO something—as in something physical. As in they probably should be in decent shape in order to merely perform their jobs. I know, I know—there’s still a “looks” component. But I’m hard-pressed to come up with a correlation—aside from sex appeal—between the cheerleaders and Rockettes who work out, practice and perform together, and the Hooters waitresses who show up for their shift.

Closing thought…if men only like women of a certain mold, who’s frequenting those big and beautiful dating sites? And what—they’re not showing up at Hooters every now and then?