Hey, I’ve been insulted by much harsher words than “goon”, can I get paid also?

Just when you think you’ve heard of some ridiculous shit to sue over… something like this comes along.  I realize China censors their media but are U.S commentators also supposed to keep their opinions about junky Chinese products hush hush? I mean, my 2 day old “made in China” flip flops have already bit the dust after only 1 poolside stroll.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Chinese primary school teacher and a beautician have filed a suit against CNN in New York over remarks they say insulted the Chinese people and are seeking $1.3 billion in compensation — $1 per person in China, a Hong Kong newspaper reported.

The case against the Atlanta-based cable channel, its parent company Turner Broadcasting and Jack Cafferty, the offending commentator, comes after 14 lawyers launched a similar suit in Beijing alleging that Cafferty’s remarks earlier this month violated the dignity and reputation of the Chinese people.

Cafferty said the United States imported Chinese-made “junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food” and added: “They’re basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years”.

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Two Illinois Men Indicted on Federal Hate Crime

WASHINGTON - Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Grace Chung Becker and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois A. Courtney Cox announced today that Joseph L. Brown of Collinsville, Ill., and William Charles Bowen of O’Fallon, Ill., were indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to drive an African-American couple out of their home, and for vandalizing that home with racist graffiti. Brown is also charged with making false statements to a federal investigator.

According to the indictment, on the evening of March 29, 2003, while at a party, Brown and Bowen came up with a plan to try to drive the victims out of their home because Brown and Bowen did not want African-Americans living in Brown’s neighborhood. Brown offered Bowen marijuana in exchange for Bowen painting the racist graffiti on the home of the victims, and Bowen agreed to do so. It is alleged that Bowen then vandalized the home.

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