Woody Allen settles for $5 Million
You may have heard about Woody Allen’s recent copyright feud with American Apparel. Well, he won the battle yesterday and walked away with $5 million in settlement. And so the case is over, but questions still remain as to what exactly prompted the multinational “alternative” clothing company to assume that Allen wouldn’t make a fuss about his face being copied & pasted on their billboards. Did the AA marketing directors feel some vague sort of empathy/indie-connection with the celebrated filmmaker? Or did the copyright laws just slip their minds when they right-clicked on “Save and Download Image As”?
Which brings up the real question and the point that I want to over-stretch from this episode: are copyright laws still “real” in the year 2009? I am just saying, I think Woody is great and all, but I seriously doubt that $5 million he scored will leave any permanent lessons to be learned. Just saying.
Total Lee Salutes Your Poor Judgement.
Police beatings happen. And every time it gets caught on tape, liberals cry out civil rights violation and others say they are just doing their job. But at the end of the day, the cops really don’t give a shit what people have got to say, right? So here’s a couple footage of recent police beatings, brought to you in the most casual manner. Total Lee salutes you, officers; your poor decision-making on the job have somehow made the headlines and now they will always live with us on the world wide web.
El Monte Police Department, California (5/14/09)
Where America’s Largest Cities Get Their Water
Good Magazine put together this “photographic” chart on the water supplies/resources around the country’s largest cities; you can click on the image to see the rest. It sort of gives you a quick glimpse on the alarming realities of water shortage, but it also doubles as a fashionable foldout with a bunch of dudes in color-coded AmApp hoodies. Beats the pie charts, I guess.
AP: In Last Month, Mass Shootings Claim 53 Lives
March 10: In Samson, AL, Michael McLendon kills 10 people and commits suicide in a shooting rampage; he had struggled to keep a job and left behind lists of employers and co-workers who have wronged him.
March 22: In Oakland, CA, Lovelle Mixon fatally shoots four police officers during a routine traffic stop; he had been frustrated about not finding work and feared returning to jail.
March 29: In Santa Clara, CA, Devan Kalathat fatally shoots his two children and three other relatives before killing himself at a family housewarming party; motive of the shooting is still unknown.
April 3: In Binghamton, NY, Jiverly Wong kills 13 people and commits suicide at a local civic center building; he had been upset about losing his job and about people picking on hip for his limited English.
April 4: In Graham, WA, James Harrison fatally shoots his five children at home before taking his own life in his car; motive of the shooting is yet unknown.
