HO-HO... HUH?
Mattel Shocks Santa Claus 10 Days Before Christmas Suing to Terminate Its American Girl License
Just as Santa Claus’ elves are preparing to load up the reindeer, toy giant Mattel filed suit to cancel the American Girl toy license for Claus’ North Pole Ventures toy factory. Millions of children who placed their American Girl orders through affiliate Santas at shopping malls might be receiving only a lump of coal Christmas morning. [More]
ASIAN PILOTS
Another Asian Airliner Crashes In Dramatic Fashion
The controversy surrounding Bad Asian Driving (or “BAD”) will flare up again after a Taiwanese TransAsia turboprop plane carrying 58 passengers and crew careened into a bridge on Wednesday. The plane ended its flight in a small river in downtown Taipei. At least 31 people are believed to have died. Dozens more were injured. [More]NEVER FORGET... OR DO
Obama Makes Controversial Statements Concerning Holocaust
Comments made by President Obama concerning the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp have drawn criticism by some in the Jewish community. The comments came as the president finished a brief visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. [More]
ASIAN DRIVING
Asians Scrutinized After Another Airliner Disaster
ISLAM AND FREE SPEECH
Obama Announces Method To Stop Anti-Muslim Speech
After thousands of Muslims around the world held protests on Friday, President Obama expressed his concerns over free speech “run amok.” The president said that Western democracies could do more to “discourage incitement speech” without outlawing it. [More]
NORTH KOREA
White House Reaches Accord With North Korea Over Film
The 31-year-old leader paid a visit to the Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Textile Mill in order to “give guidance” in the wake of the Sony release of the controversial film “The Interview.” The PR campaign comes as White House officials leaked what some see as a breakthrough in U.S.–North Korean relations. [More]
SPACE EXPLORATION
Branson Re-Thinks Private Sector Bid For Space Tourism
LONDON – Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s commercial “spaceline,” completed its third rocket-powered supersonic test flight with its SpaceShipTwo craft, soaring to 71,000 feet for the first time. The flight, however, might be Virgin Galactic’s last. The problem might lie with its first civilian passenger – also its owner. [More]
ASIAN DRIVING/AIRLINE SAFETY
Asian Driving Scrutiny Hits The Mainstream After Malaysian Airline 17 Veers Into Disaster
The blood-encrusted corpses from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 still litter the lush sunflower fields of the modest village of Rozsypne, Ukraine. Yet already critics in the aviation industry and in the halls of Western governments are speaking in hushed tones about what may be the latest instance of Bad Asian Driving (“BAD”) downing a commercial airliner. [More]
THE VATICAN
Pope Emeritus Benedict's Visits To London's Gay Clubs Upsets Vatican
LONDON – With the sex abuse scandal still in the Vatican’s rear view mirror, the church now contends with a new source of embarrassment – the lifestyle of retired Pope Benedict XVI who retains the official title of “pope emeritus” in his retirement. [More]
THE WORM
Dennis Rodman Performs Hoops Diplomacy
If the American media hates Dennis Rodman for being snippy with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, then Rodman must be on to something. Don’t get me wrong. I was skeptical, too. Seeing Rodman’s previous interviews, I thought his trips to North Korea were all show. In this interview, in contrast , we see that Rodman is dead serious. [More]
INTERVIEW WITH SANTA
The LBT Exclusive Interview: Kris Kringle
Kris Kringle sits down for the first time in decades for an in-depth interview about diversity, globalization, the future of the toy industry and his battle to retain the rights to Santa Claus.. [More]ASIAN FLYING
Bad Asian Driving Blamed For Asiana Crash
The stunning and devastating crash of an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 is just over a day old, but already National Transportation Safety Board officials are pointing to a culprit all too familiar to American automobile drivers: substandard Asian driving. [More]