PSA: Texting While Driving

This PSA is intense! It makes you think twice about texting while driving.

Florida man spends three months in jail for possession of breath mints

Donald May is suing the Kissimmee, Fla. Police Department for his arrest over breath mints that were thought to be crack.

May was originally pulled over for an expired tag, but police officers thought the mints were an illegal substance and arrested May.

WFTV.com reported that May told Eyewitness News that police wouldn't let him out of jail for three months until the tests proved the mints were candy.

May said he was just driving home from work when an officer pulled him over. He said when the officer walked up to him, the officer noticed something white in his mouth.

"He took them out of my mouth and put them in a baggy and locked me up [for] possession of cocaine and tampering with evidence," May said.

The officer said he field-tested the evidence and it tested positive for drugs. He said he saw May buying drugs while he was stopped at an intersection. In the police report, the officer said May admitted to buying drugs. May said that never happened.

"My client never admitted he purchased crack cocaine," said Attorney Adam Sudbury. "Why would he say that?"

Regardless, May spent the next three months in a jail because he was unable to pay his bond. He was released when he received a letter from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office that test results showed no drugs were found.

"While I was sitting in jail I lost my apartment," May said. "I lost everything."

WFTV.com reported that while May was behind bars, the Kissimmee Police Department towed his car and auctioned it off.

May said he also lost his job and was evicted. Now he is suing the city for false arrest and false imprisonment. He wants to be compensated for the loss of his car and job. May's attorney and the city of Kissimmee discussed a possible settlement last year, but failed to reach an agreement.

Playlist for 8/14/09

Here is the full playlist for this week. If you have a request for next week, let me know!



Also, I had to edit Sarah McLaughlin's "Building A Mystery," so I've included that file below. Enjoy!

The Summer of 69: Woodstock Turns 40

I can't believe I forgot to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. Better late than never.


If you like the video, you can also follow the creator on Twitter @musicjunkie6301

Lady Vol recovers after brain surgery

Lady Vols forward Amber Gray, 19, is now in recovery after undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm. She walks with a limp, her left eyelid droops almost shut as a lingering effect of a stroke, and her left arm is in a sling. However, she said she is determined to play basketball again for the Lady Vols.

"I'm not sure of the timetable ... but I definitely will play again," she said Monday as she prepared to leave a long-term rehabilitation facility to continue her recovery at home in nearby Mason. "As soon as they say I can go out on the court, I'm getting out there.

"I'm still working on my walking," she said. "I do eyebrow raisers every day."

Unfortunately, Gray will not be able to play this year, but The Associated Press reported that she did play in 27 games her freshman year. Gray was also voted the top girls prep basketball player in Ohio a year ago and was recruited by all the top college programs.

Doctors first discovered the brain aneurysm after Gray had shoulder surgery in July. She then underwent a 12 1/2-hour procedure that may have saved her life.

The Associated Press reported that Dr. Mark Goddard helped oversee Gray's rehab at Cincinnati's Drake Center. He said it was lucky the aneurysm showed up while Gray was hospitalized.

"Whether you call it serendipity or divine providence, they noticed that something wasn't right," Goddard said. "She probably had this all along, but people don't generally notice it until their '30s and '40s."

Goddard said Gray had successful rotator cuff surgery on July 2 in Knoxville, Tenn., and the aneurysm was unrelated. Goddard said that within hours of surgery, Gray's lungs filled with fluid and doctors performed more tests to get to the root of the problem.

The doctors spent days searching for the cause of the stroke. Finally, a broken blood vessel showed up. During this time, Gray was transferred to University Hospital Cincinnati for neurosurgery. She was then transferred to the rehabilitation center on July 23.

"Amber's strong will, positive attitude and determination, coupled with the excellent work of her medical team, has allowed for her release 2½ weeks ahead of schedule," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "The Lady Vol basketball family continues to keep Amber in our constant thoughts and prayers.

"We know she will approach the next phase of her rehabilitation with the same strong will, determination and intensity."

Gray's mother, Tonya Carter, said she was afraid that her daughter might never wake up again.

"I've always known that she was a strong person, but she was amazingly strong," Carter said.

Gray said she expects to return to classes at the University of Tennessee in January.

California student faces 10 years in jail after altering video game consoles

Matthew Lloyd Crippen is a student at California State University at Fullerton, who was arrested Monday on charges that he illegally modified Xbox, Wii, Playstation and other game consoles to play pirated video games.

NBC.com reported that the 27-year-old was taken into custody Monday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. This arrest follows his indictment by a federal grand jury on two counts of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Crippen is accused of modifying the video game consoles for personal financial gain. Each criminal count such as this, carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, NBC.com reported.

It turns out that the ICE have been investigating Crippen ever since last year when they received a tip from the Entertainment Software Association. The ICE seized Crippen's home last May and found a dozen Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony video game consoles.

Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE investigations office in Los Angeles, said "piracy and counterfeiting violations not only cost U.S. businesses jobs and billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, they can also pose significant health and safety risks to consumers."

“Playing with games in this way is not a game -- it is criminal,” Schoch said.

The ICE said that counterfeiting and piracy have grown in recent years. As of now, counterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. economy $250 billion a year, which equals a total of 750,000 American jobs.

NBC.com reported that some estimates even indicate that 5 percent to 8 percent of all the goods sold worldwide are counterfeit.

Crippen was expected to make his initial federal court appearance late Monday in Los Angeles.

So does this mean that pirated video games have replaced the worry of sharing and downloading music? Are people like Crippen "fixing" games across the country to fit their personal needs? If so, does the company resemble anything like Shawn Fanning's business, Napster?

All of these are questions ran through my head while reading this and the whole music downloading and sharing debacle got me thinking about copyright law and piracy.

Napster allowed people to download music for free and share it with their friends. Moguls in the record company heard about the system and witnessed their paychecks being cut in half. Why buy music when you can get it for free? Outraged, artists came together and accused Napster of taking music and selling it for free without consent.

The Recording Industry Association of America sued Fanning's company for copyright infringement. While Napster users may have thought they were doing nothing wrong, the fact was that they were stealing someone else's copyrighted material. Fanning could not claim fair use either because the value and potential market of the original works were being affected.

I wonder if Crippen's case is common and happening around the country. The music industry cracked down on Napster to where the company is only allowed to "sell" music – not distribute it for free. Will the video game industry do the same when it comes to pirating games and modifying consoles? Only time will tell.

John Hughes dies of heart attack

It's a sad day in the movie business. Writer and director John Hughes died today of a heart attack while taking a walk in Manhattan. He was 59.

Fans might know Hughes' work as the master of '80s teen movies such as "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles," but he also continued directing and even worked on "Home Alone" in the '90s.

Variety.com said that Hughes retired from directing in 1991, but continued to write and inspire other filmmakers. Both Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow have said they grew up with Hughes' films.

In fact, Apatow told The L.A. Times last year that his stuff "is just John Hughes films with four-letter words."

"I feel like a part of my childhood has died," Apatow said. "Nobody made me laugh harder or more often than John Hughes."

It's true. Hughes had a special way of relating to young people, and it's something most filmmakers are unable to tap into.