Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2006 January 8-31

When Donald Pirone saw that a fellow MARTA rider was having trouble with a token vending machine, he figured he'd be helpful. He gave the man a token, but the man insisted on paying him face value for it. Unfortunately, an Atlanta transit policeman saw the exchange, and he handcuffed and arrested Pirone for selling the token. It seems state law bars people from selling MARTA tokens, even at face value. MARTA says the officers did the right thing. "There are customer service phones for people who are having trouble getting tokens out of the machine," said spokeswoman Jocelyn Baker.

Not quite sure about the lyrics to one of your favorite songs? Planning to look them up on the Internet? Better look fast. The U.S. Music Publishers Association says it is going to pursue legal action against Web sites that post lyrics and song scores. The MPA, which represents sheet music publishers, says it isn't just looking to shut the sites down or even reap monetary rewards. MPA president Lauren Keiser says that throwing some people in jail would make their campaign even more effective.

The Central African Republic has banned songs that might encourage men to leave their wives from being broadcast. Communications Minister Fidele Ngoundgika says "music of a misogynistic character" shouldn't be allowed.

Police fired upon about 1,000 demonstrators in China's Guangdong province, killing at least two. The protestors were demonstrating against the seizure of their land for a new power plant, land for which they haven't been compensated.

Christopher Nielsen had a seizure while driving and drove his car off the road into a landscaping company. When officers from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office and Longmont, Colorado, police arrived, they found Nielsen still disoriented. When they asked his name, they could barely hear his response. He did not respond to their commands. So they Tased him. Six times. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle stands by the officers. "The Taser is not an attractive option. But none of the other options are attractive, either. Had they used batons, I'm sure he would have been hurt," he said.