Free Republic

When Patrick Wensink was commissioning the cover for his book, Broken Piano For President, he probably wasn’t expecting a cease-and-desist letter from Jack Daniel’s Properties — the owner of the Jack Daniel’s trademarks. Looking at the cover for the book, it’s easy to see why the Jack Daniel’s people might take issue with the design. The typeface isn’t exactly the same, but the border and presentation is a dead-ringer for the classic black label of that sweet, sweet Tennessee whiskey. Usually when we write about trademark disputes, one party claims that another party is using its size to “bully” to...

The successful trademark registration of “Nordic Model” by Sweden’s Social Democrats has prompted a sharp reaction from the rest of the Nordic region's political establishment. The move has led other political bodies to protest the Social Democrats' move, which has put the question of who created the Nordic Model into ever sharper focus. "We may have understood if they had (trademarked) the 'Swedish Model', but when it comes to the 'Nordic Model' we have no choice but to protest," Jens-Erik Enestam, who heads the Nordic Council representing opposition parties from across the region, said in a statement Tuesday. Sweden's opposition...

USA Today has an article about the need for Obama to revive his brand for the 2012 election. He lost control of it. I'm not quite sure what that means.... But he needs to find a way to trick people again, and being half way done with his first term, "change" ain't gonna do it for him, because he'd either be asking us to change from him, or asking us to fork over what's left of our money to him. This was inevitable. The entire campaign was built on a bill of goods, and while conservatives knew back then his...

The news reports that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaeda terrorist mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, will be prosecuted by a U.S. military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, come at a time like no other in Arab history. The dissent and rebellion in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and most recently in Syria has caused most of the mainstream media to speculate about a future Middle East where moderates have a greater influence. Cooler heads have pointed out that there is still much to be concerned about in regard to the growth and strength of al-Qaeda. For example, Admiral James Stavridis,...

Did it seem odd to you that even the Fox all-star panel would have us believe that the President with the most micromanaged image in recent memory had no control or influence whatsoever over the preparation, format, and tenor etc. of the commercialized, pep rally memorial we witnessed this week, and that the White House can blame the embarrassment entirely on the University of Arizona? The entire event was about Captain Greek Columns - who gave a half hour speech – and his time to shine and show off his magical healing abilities. Togethere We Thrive” sure sounded a lot...

Ezra Klein from the Washington Post recently wrote a column about the irrelevance of liberalism's lack of a brand...-------------------------------------------------------------- There is perhaps no surer signal that Democrats are about to suffer a terrific defeat than to see liberals begin discussing how to define, redefine, or otherwise burnish their "brand." So far as I'm concerned, this falls firmly in the "doesn't matter" category of American politics. In 2004, all liberals could talk about was the power of the conservative brand, and George Lakoff became an icon because of it. In 2006 and 2008, better branding didn't save Republicans from being...

A gynaecologist is being sued for branding his patient's name on to her removed uterus. Dr Red Alinsod claims the unusual act, using a laser burning tool, was simply a 'friendly gesture' because the female patient was a 'good friend'. However, Ingrid Paulicivic, a 47-year-old hairdresser from California, was not so impressed. She alleges the branding was done for 'no medically necessary purpose or reason' and that she somehow suffered burns on her legs while the uterus was being marked, according to her complaint. Her lawyer Devan Mullins called the branding 'inexcusably bizarre behaviour', adding that the 50-year-old Dr Alinsod...

NEW YORK, - A New York English professor said she was kicked out of a Starbucks by three police officers because she refused to follow the cafe's ordering rules. Lynne Rosenthal, who gave her age as early 60s, said she got into an argument with a barista Sunday morning because she refused to specify whether she wanted butter or cheese on her multigrain bagel, the New York Post reported Monday. "I just wanted a multigrain bagel," Rosenthal said. "I refused to say 'without butter or cheese.' When you go to Burger King, you don't have to list the six things...

I happened to be reading an outdoors magazine while waiting for a haircut this evening. Maybe it was the idea of "taking a haircut" which got my mind moving in this vein, but I started thinking maybe we need new symbols for the two major political parties. Just to review, the current symbols are: For the GOP, the Elephant. Which I guess makes sense if and only if you think of Elephants as Grand and Old. And if you think the phrase "the elephant never forgets" describes them accurately. For the Dems, the Donkey. OK, the Jackass. I am tempted...

Barack Obama ran an unprecedented Presidential campaign - utilizing the power of design to help secure the seat of the President of the United States of America. However, his iconic emblem, the ever present "O", holds more power than even Obama knows. Bill Whittle points out the dangers of branding an ideology with an icon and how, perhaps, the powerful symbol will be used against the very man it built up. video

Running a successful church requires cutting-edge marketing and branding as much as it does innovative preaching and ministry. The Fellowship at Celebration Baptist Church has learned that the hard way during the past decade as a similarly named congregation has become synonymous with the word "Celebration." As a result, the East Arlington congregation is changing its name on Thursday to FaithBridge Church. That's something church member Jaime Brasseit said she's had to pray to accept. "I liked 'Celebration,' and I kinda wish we had kept 'Baptist,' " Brasseit, 22, said after a recent Sunday morning service. But Brasseit said she...

Great article describing what I noticed very early in Obama's campaign. Obama ran as a brand rather than a traditional candidate. I think this explains the early loyalty, particularly by young or new voters, to a man with very little experience and a track record, what little he had, which clearly did not match his rhetoric. Obama is the proverbial empty suit, but due to precise and effective branding he is perceived as the more preferable candidate to his target audience, the youth and persuadable voter.

Another student came forward during Wednesday’s session of the contract termination hearing for John Freshwater. The student, now a senior at Mount Vernon High School, testified at the end of the day’s proceedings. Upon questioning by David Millstone, the school board’s attorney, the student said he had Freshwater as his eighth-grade science teacher and learned, among other things, about electricity and evolution in Freshwater’s class. Regarding evolution, the student, who asked that his name not be revealed, said Freshwater taught that the earth may only be several thousand years old rather than the billions suggested by the theory of evolution...

<p>Welcome to Obama-mania, Brazil-style. Few countries have embraced the idea of the US's first black president as enthusiastically as Brazil, a country with one of the largest Afro-descendant populations on Earth yet where black faces remain a minority in politics. Obama T-shirts are everywhere while chat shows and newspaper columns are filled with talk of the 47-year-old Illinois senator.</p>

Barack Obama is running for mayor in Belford Roxo, a little town close to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is also trying to become a mayor and a city council member in at least five other towns around Brazil, in the Brazilian October municipal elections. Not that Barack Obama though. Thanks to the Brazilian electoral legislation, which allows candidates to choose whatever name they want to appear on the ballot, Brazilian politicians are using the high name recognition and popularity of US senator Barack Obama to advance their own political career. The Rio Obama calls himself Obama of Belford Roxo....

A public school board in Ohio voted unanimously today to proceed with firing an eighth-grade teacher for allegedly teaching his Christian beliefs in science classes and "branding" students with crosses. Responding to an investigation, the Mount Vernon School District board voted 5-0 to consider termination of John Freshwater's contract at its next meeting, July 7. The report presented to the board today charged Freshwater used a high-frequency generator – a Tesla coil – to make a cross on the arms of students, taught the theory of intelligent design and refused to remove all religious articles from his classroom. Board president...

A Mount Vernon teacher undermined science instruction in the public school district by discrediting evolution in his classroom and focusing on creationism and intelligent design, an investigation has found. Eighth-graders who were taught by John Freshwater frequently had to be re-taught in high school what they were supposed to have learned in Freshwater's class, according to outside investigators hired by the district. For 11 years, other teachers in the school district and people in the community complained about Freshwater preaching his Christian beliefs in class and slamming scientific theories, a school administrator told investigators. "There is a significant amount of...

NEW YORK - A college student who branded a former lover's body with a scalding piece of metal as payback for never calling her after they had sex was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.

This week, two articles regarding studies focused on children caught my attention because they highlighted everyday activities in children’s lives in America, fast food and TV/video. The Los Angeles Times’ headlines were: “Kids prefer McDonald’s-wrapped food, study finds” and “Baby Einstein': a bright idea?” The fast food branding study in the first article, (Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children’s Taste Preferences), included 63 lower-income preschool children aged 3.5 to 5.4 years of age. The study noted that the "children tasted 5 pairs of identical foods and beverages in packages from McDonald's and matched but unbranded packaging and were...