Essay 299

Pre-Holiday Cheer from MultiCultClassics Minutes…

• Stealing someone’s lunch money can really backfire on you. Wal-Mart got hit for $172 million from a lawsuit claiming the company denied lunch breaks to employees. Now Wal-Mart plans to appeal the ruling. In the meantime, the retailer’s lawyers will probably be brown bagging for a while.

• A Catholic magazine apologized for running an ad featuring a Virgin Mary statue covered with a condom. The magazine publishers claimed the condom was not visible in the early proofing stages. An artist protesting the Vatican’s opposition to condoms is the culprit behind the ad. The copy read, “Unique Contemporary Religious Art Work for Sale…a stunning 22 cm high statue of the Virgin Mary standing atop a serpent wearing a delicate veil of latex.” Just in time for the holidays.

• The Ohio kids who slept in cages will remain in foster care for now, separated from their adoptive parents. A judge ruled the couple abused some of the children by making them sleep in the wood-and-wire compartments. The parents continue to fight for the kids’ return. “We love our children very much and we will continue to do everything possible to get them home,” the parents’ lawyer read from a prepared statement. He also remarked, “I would expect that if the children come home there would have to be some accommodations made to the enclosures.” Now there’s a keen legal mind at work.

• Lil’ Kim sent holiday greetings from her cage in Philadelphia. A note posted on the rapper’s Web site reads, “I thank all of you for your heartfelt, overwhelming, tremendous love and support…I wanna wish you all a Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year. May God bless all of you and your families with Happy Holidays and the best times of your life.” Lil’ Kim is doing time for perjury.

• The Boys Choir of Harlem was evicted from its public school home by the city Department of Education. A letter instructed the choir to vacate the premises by January 31. Hey, there are some special sleeping quarters available in Ohio.