The offical blog of The Drunkard's Dream
My wife is still amazed that this song A) Exists and B) Was a hit. It really blew her mind when I told her the Captain from "Orca: The Killer Whale" recorded it originally...you might know him by his stage name..Dumbledore
If you haven't seen this tribute/award ceremony for Sir Paul, check it out. Great covers.
U.S. Agency To Investigate Ledyard Mother's Complaint About Happy Meal Toy
July 27, 2010
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A scary evening for a 4-year-old Ledyard boy and his mother has led to a federal investigation of a consumer complaint alleging that a toy in a McDonald's Happy Meal poses a safety risk for children.Jerry Farrell, commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection, said Monday that the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has agreed to review Ledyard resident Maze Stephan's complaint about "The Last Airbender Katara" figurine and bracelet that came with her son's Happy Meal last month. McDonald's Corp. was using the toy, depicting a figure from "The Last Airbender" feature film, in its Happy Meals as part of a promotion, which ended July 22.
Stephan said that she ordered a Happy Meal for her son, Michael, from a McDonald's in the Gales Ferry section of Ledyard on June 30. Later, as Stephan was doing some work in the garge at her home, Michael was there with her, playing with the Katara figure. The two were chatting.
"He had been wearing this bracelet on his wrist and I had my back to him and he stopped answering me," Stephan said Monday. "I asked him a question twice and I turned around to see him. He had opened up [the bracelet] and [placed it] on the front of his throat and he started to flutter and just fell back onto boxes and passed out," said Stephan.Stephan said she immediately removed the object from Michael's neck and he quickly recovered. He had no further symptoms, she said, so she didn't take him to a hospital or doctor. But since that night, she has been on a crusade to get the toy recalled and is frustrated that it's taken almost a full month for federal officials to agree to investigate.
Stephan spoke with McDonald's Corp. customer service representatives on more than one occasion, and reported the incident to Farrell, the state consumer protection commissioner, who then wrote to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, urging it to review Stephan's complaint.
In his letter to the federal agency, Farrell said that he thought another child could put the bracelet around his neck. "This particular complaint struck close to home for me, as my 3-year-old son also had this toy in his possession," Farrell wrote.
McDonald's Corp. is no longer using the figurine since the "Airbender" promotion ended last week. July 22 was to be the last day for the Katara toy be in Happy Meals.
McDonald's Corp. said the Katara figurine met all federal requirements for safety. The toy "was evaluated by an independent third-party laboratory, accredited by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and determined to be safe for children and in compliance with all applicable federal requirements," said McDonalds USA spokeswoman Ashlee Yingling.
"Hundreds of thousands of these toys have been given out and parents everywhere have these," Stephan said. "I don't want this out there. I believe that this could have killed my kid or caused serious brain damage."
Staff writer Mara Lee contributed to this report.
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Comments (3)
Add / View comments | Discussion FAQIN the Shadows at 1:51 AM July 27, 2010IM sorry. Im sorry you have visions of dollar signs dancing in your head. A) just by looking at the toy you can tell its not really appropriate for a four year old.B) if you were so worried why wasnt the boy brought immediatly to the ER? Wheres the proof of this event even actually happening?Im sure if it was a real viable issue it would have happened to more "Intellectually challenged" children by now. Not just yours.IM calling Hoax on this one.
ph7719 at 11:47 PM July 26, 2010and why are you allowing your child to have this toy. it's the parent's responsibility to make sure anything their child has is age appropriate. would you buy this toy in store?
It's time parents started learning the word NO and stop blaming everyone else for the problem. Sounds like another law suit coming up
Maze Stephan at 10:35 PM July 26, 2010
Immediately, I called McDonald's Corporation when this happened to my child. Shared everything that happened and begged them to recall this toy. June 30th, McDonald's was aware of this danger to children and they ignored it! I called them multiple times.
McDonald's could have sent an email to every restaurant and ask them to hold the toy back but instead they continued to give out hundred's of thousands putting children at risk.
I wanted the US Consumer Protection Commission to handle this quickly with McDonald's so I wouldn't have to expose my family to the media but 26 days later, still nothing was happening. Just last week, I went to McDonald's and bought two more of these toys to help the investigators conclude their study!
Responsible corporations act responsibly and do not hide behind "public relation statements".
I have tried to get McDonald's to do the right thing. Hopefully, this media coverage will shame them into being responsible.
Sincerely, Maze Stephan
McDonald's once again, is trying to kill America's children...
The House passed a bill that would make it easier for tribal courts with limited sovereignty and jurisdiction to prosecute non-native rapists who rape Native American women on tribal lands. There’s a huge jurisdictional mess when it comes to crimes involving natives and non-natives due to confusion between tribal, federal, and state court authority. It basically results in non-native rapists going free because it is difficult to ascertain what kind of court they should stand for trial in. This bill helps to clear some of that up, and make it so rapists can be dragged into court much easier and made to stand for their crimes when the act is committed on tribal land by a non-member. This is something pretty much anyone can get behind right?
Nope. Not if you’re a conservative Republican apparently, as the only people who voted against this anti-rape legislation (all 92 of them) are card-carrying members of the GOP.
Apparently the GOP just can't get enough of screwing over Native Americans.
Fighter pilot bails out seconds before being blown to bits.
This was submitted by one of our listeners. It just goes to show you that every cloud has a silver lining. Drink up.
GULF SPILL
1.5 blueberry juice oz
.5 oz kahlua
.5 oz chocolate liqueur (i prefer godiva)
3 blueberries
sand colored sugar, like raw or demerara
optional:
bar spoon chocolate sauce to make extra chocolatey! if you're an addict, and chocolate is your poison, might i suggest CHOCAGAVE. this stuff is amazing and sort of healthy (considering that it is chocolate sauce!)
rim the glass with sugar that will symbolize sand.
shake all ingredients over ice and strain into glass.
float blueberries on top to symbolize dead sea creatures.
cheers!
