Free Republic

The Supreme Court is going to the dogs. The high court on Monday said it would hear a dispute between Jack Daniel’s and a company that sells a parody dog toy that mimics the whiskey brand’s iconic bottle. Jack Daniel’s had asked the high court to hear its case against Arizona-based VIP Products, which manufactures the Bad Spaniels dog toy. The toy resembles the Jack Daniel’s bottle and label, though the wording is different. The parody label reads “The Old No. 2 on Your Tennessee Carpet,” while the original reads “Old No. 7 brand” and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey.” Other...

General Motors announced that its new $300,000 Cadillac Celestiq, an electric vehicle, will get just 300 miles of range per charge — or about one mile for every thousand dollars spent. As part of General Motors’s goal to sell only electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035, the car company’s new Cadillac Celestiq — starting at $300,000, before delivery fees and options — will be hand-built to customer preferences, according to a report by Business Insider. Production of the Cadillac EV is set to begin in December 2023.

A Bluetooth phone designed to evoke the carefree days of early childhood has been found to instead threaten the very adult prospect of being surveilled in your home. The phone is the Fisher Price Chatter Special Edition, a device that adds Bluetooth and a speaker to the smiling, brightly coloured, wheeled, rotary dial phone on which it's previously been possible to make calls only by using one's imagination. The phone also bears the name “60G LTE” – which stands for “60 great years, Let’s Talk Everywhere” and an infomercial for the handset opens with “The past has finally arrived” before...

Petitioners seek review of the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals arising out of Deputy Gelhaus’ fatal shooting of 13 year-old Andy Lopez, who was carrying a toy replica automatic rifle by its grip. At all times, the toy rifle was pointed towards the ground, with Lopez’s hand on the grip, away from the trigger. Deputy Gelhaus shot at Lopez eight times, hitting him seven times, from approximately 62 feet. The question presented is whether there is qualified immunity for a police officer who shoots a 13-yearold boy seven times, particularly where there is evidence that the first...

In the meantime, three Expedition 58 crew members living aboard the space station – NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko – have adopted "little Earthy" as an unofficial rookie in training. The crew opened the hatch and emptied the cargo, hailing SpaceX's arrival as historic. McClain immediately took to the Little Earth. "Earth will learn a lot during his busy week on @Space_Station — today he kept me company while we checked our suit sizing to account for space growth (I am 2 inches taller than when I launched!)" McClain tweeted....

A kids’ game that asked children to defuse a plastic, pretend bomb had parents exploding with anger — and now two major retailers are pulling the controversial toy. The game, called “Cut the Wire,” asks players to defuse a fake bomb before the timer runs out. Should a player cut the wrong wire with the toy wire cutter included in the game, the bomb sounds an alarm and lights up and vibrates to recreate an explosion simulation. The toy bomb is shaped like sticks of dynamite and the packaging is covered in flames to signify an explosion that has already...

Parents have expressed outrage over the "racist" design of a limited edition Kinder Egg toy, with one mum saying that she was "sickened". A large number of people took to Facebook to post photos of the "nasty" plastic toy.

During the Christmas of 1914, some French, British, and German soldiers along World War I’s Western Front informally ceased hostilities in order to celebrate the holiday. The truce offered the combatants a brief moment to celebrate their shared humanity amidst the otherwise ghastly conflict. No such luck for Americans weary of the United States’ all-consuming culture war. For anti-gun zealots, the Christmas season offers fresh opportunities to mold the next generation of obedient statists. On December 13, the Village of Hempstead, N.Y. hosted the Long Island Toy Gun Exchange Program, modelled after so-called gun “buybacks” that target real firearms. According...

Homosexual celebrations could be coming to toy aisles nationwide soon if Barbie manufacturer Mattel accepts a proposal to produce sets of same-sex “wedding” dolls. Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio are a homosexual couple in Arizona that plans to get “married” next May. In comments on Instagram and to ABC 15, they explain that they wanted to get a special birthday present for Jacobi’s 8-year-old niece, who will be a flower girl at their “wedding.” Jacobi is also an E! reality TV personality and contributor to Instinct Magazine. “We thought it would be special to give her something with a little...

A massive stuffed animal collection was deemed a fire hazard and the woman who owns them has to move out - toys in tow. Nancy Duchovnay's home is filled with thousands of toys. So many, in fact, there's only one place to sit down and just a small pathway through the house. The collection spreads through the living room, kitchen, bedroom and even the bathroom. Appliances and other household items are blocked because there are too many stuffed animals to access them. "Changing the sheets is a major problem because I have to get everybody off," Duchovnay said. But it's...

The Internet is ablaze with outrage over a new Fisher Price toy hitting markets just in time for Christmas—only the toy isn’t real, Fisher Price has no intention of producing it, and the image that’s riling up consumers is a Photoshopped product box intended as a social media joke. A photo, supposedly of a “Fisher Price Happy Hour Playset,” has been going viral on Facebook. According to the “ad,” the set, which has three very happy looking children playing bartender and barfly on the box, comes with a plastic bar, complete with three plastic bar stools and beer bottles,...

The gun-control lobby has a new target: Your children’s Lego sets. A new "study" touted by libs decries the prevalence of weapons in the brick construction kits: I kid you not. The gun-grabbers have their panties in a twist over harmless fantasy play with teeny-tiny plastic parts. LEGO building kits are becoming increasingly violent as toy manufacturers are engaged in an “arms race” to appeal to children, a New Zealand study says. Researchers at the University of Canterbury concluded from research that examined LEGO catalogues from 1973 to 2015 that weaponry is now included in 30 per cent of...

ABC NEWS Alleged robber in critical condition after victim shoots him in Houston NEWS Robbery suspect in critical condition after victim opens fire in Houston A suspected robbery was struck by gunfire after his alleged victim pulled a gun and started shooting. KTRK Monday, December 14, 2015 05:35AM HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A robbery suspect is in critical condition after his victims pull out a gun in Houston. The shooting happened at about 2am on Washington Street near Heights Boulevard, where police are still interviewing the victims. Officers say four people were leaving work at a nearby club this morning when...

A Fox News anchor says she’s no hamster—or choking hazard. In papers filed in New Jersey Federal Court, Harris Faulkner says she’s suffered “substantial commercial and emotional damage” from a plastic hamster doll that shares her name.

The Apple Watch Edition is Apple's 18k gold version of the Apple Watch, and I had an interesting opportunity to wear one for review, think a whole lot about it, and then take it to the heart of Swiss watchmaking country to see what the locals felt about it.I’ve written a lot about the Apple Watch because, frankly, I think there is a lot to say. This product is a mixture of luxury watch universe elements and wearable technology concepts. Together, this makes for a unique item that also happens to have a unique wearing experience. My goal is to...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers including Wal-Mart, Sears and Amazon have agreed to halt the sales of realistic-looking toy guns in New York and pay over $300,000 in penalties, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday.</p> <p>Schneiderman's office found that five retailers and their third-party sellers sold over 6,400 toy guns from 2012 to 2014 that violated New York laws. Most of the toys were sold online.</p>

Astronomical sales of a tiny figurine of the Protestant reformation figure Martin Luther, have confounded its maker, Playmobil, by becoming the fastest-selling Playmobil figure of all time. The German toy manufacturer announced this week that the first edition of 34,000 pieces sold out in less than 72 hours, forcing the company to urgently request its factory in Malta to produce more of the so-called “little Luthers”. Fans have been warned that the next batch will not be available until the end of April. “...he had very modern ideas. He believed every person had the right to an education, including women...

General Motors Co on Monday showed its Chevrolet Bolt concept car with an electric driving range of more than 200 miles and a $30,000 price tag, offering a view into where the U.S. automaker is pushing in development of electric vehicles (EV). The all-electric Bolt is a concept car not currently slated for production, but Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra said the company is committed to developing an affordable long-range EV, and GM said they could develop the car in as little as 18 months. “This is a real game changer,” Barra told reporters at the media preview at the...

DETROIT — General Motors plans to start selling an affordable electric car in 2017 that will be able to go 200 miles on a single charge. A person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that GM plans to start selling a $30,000 battery powered family car called the Chevrolet Bolt sometime in 2017. A concept version of the car will be unveiled Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the official announcement hasn't been made.

A little over a week ago, the Hamilton County Sheriff department said that they arrested a man who they believed painted a handgun to resemble a toy.  From thestate.com: "And the fact is right here in Hamilton County, we arrested a dangerous individual who we believe purposefully painted a loaded handgun red to mislead law enforcement into thinking this was a toy gun," Neil said in statement. The pistol, a Cobra FS 380, pictured above, comes from the factory in a variety of colors. Guns have been available in a variety of colors for decades. It seems likely that...