We had customers just like this at my old grocery store (minus the assault on the police officer, but including the assaults on employees). I think they’re everywhere. I used to love the old, “I spend $400 here, every month!” routine – most of the time not a single employee would recognize them as ever having been in the store before. After 11 years in the business, I learned one thing: “When you’re done takin’ it in the ass from every customer in the joint, make sure to save some energy ’cause management wants their turn.”

One more reason not to eat at salad bars

Quote of the day: “It’s amazing what some college guys on spring break will do for some free T-shirts, condoms and other prizes.”

More Opposition for the Recording Industry – The Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Recording Merchandisers have stepped up to bat against the music labels citing consumer rights issues and unfair business practices. Digital music companies have expressed similar concerns over the last two years, and welcome the support of these traditional powerhouse organizations that represent hardware manufacturers and retail outlets. Vice president of Tower Records Mike Ferrace stopped short of accusing the labels of collusion when he described the way they’ve been conducting their businesses online:

“Bertelsmann buys CDNow, which has a strategic relationship with Time Warner, which wants to cross-license movies with Sony, which has a subscription service project with Universal called Duet, which has a joint venture called GetMusic with BMG.”

This type of cross-licensing content between record labels and movie companies is their way of trying to cut retailers out of the picture, killing competition, and giving entertainment corporations a monopoly of control over distribution. If the future of music distribution is digital, I can certainly see why retailers would be pissed about this type of activity. Hillary Rosen, CEO of the RIAA gave the predictable argument that the recording industry, instead of working to develop business models , has been forced to fight to protect its intellectual property blah blah blah… and that the speed of technological development has made the record companies gun-shy blah blah blah… Hey butt-munch – the technology was around long before the lawsuits came about – the current state of music distribution came about BECAUSE the recording industry was doing NOTHING. And now, they’re going to have to go up against some big organizations with very deep pockets. Nyah Nyah.

Caution IE 5+ Users! A major security hole recently discovered in MS Internet Explorer 5 and 5.5 could leave your computer open to attack by malicious hackers. Once compromised, the attacker could, from a remote location, do anything on your computer that you can. Microsoft has developed a patch to fix the hole.

They’re watching you! (chya, right) Record Industry Quote of the Day:

“Is the RIAA and its friends doing some kind of technology surveillance? Yes. Is it going to work? No. It’s really dumb. It’s another serious mistake by an industry going out of business in the stupidest way, bumping its head on the steps on the way down, because the record industry was always a bunch of thugs and that’s what they still are.”

(thanks, MeFi)

Dream Teacher Doesn’t every 13-year-old male dream of a teacher like this? As much as I’m sure the kid appreciated the gesture, what the hell was this woman thinking in the first place?

This makes me sick – Members of a Butler County church had themselves a good old-fashioned book burning! Though it was pretty tame, and they were only burning personal possessions, this sort of thing still makes me ill. Okay, maybe some of the items were just begging to be burned : old Foreigner and Joe Walsh albums. But I can’t help getting a sick feeling when I read about a kid there burning his copy of Jurassic Park II that was given to him by his mother.

Horrible Accident A Texas man survived for more than three hours after he was cut in half by a slow-moving 18-wheeler. Originally the call to Emergency Crews was for a dead person, but when paramedics got to him, he was breathing and he raised his arms to them. They had his torso airlifted to hospital, and the lower portion of his body was transported by ambulance. Although the man was pronounced dead three hours later, the fact that he survived for as long as he did was a shock: “I’ve seen a lot of very horrible accidents, but never one this horrible where the victim actually survived.”

And justice for all… A guy steps out of his shower in time to see a burglar running out of his appartment. So he grabs a shovel and chases said burglar into the basement. According to a police officer, “When the police got there, they find this guy laying on his back covered in blood and suffering from extensive head wounds.” Now the district attorney is deciding whether battery charges will be brought against the robbery victim. I think this guy asked for it by breaking in in the first place. I say, if you fuck with my shit, I’m going to kick your bitch-ass! The sonofabitch is just lucky he didn’t pick a place where the owner had a gun. Why should the burglar have any right to personal safety once he breaks into my home to steal my stuff and to threaten my family? Reasonable force, my ass.