This hot-selling T-shirt not as innocent as it looks

This hot-selling T-shirtnot as innocent as it looks
NEW YORK -- One of the hottest-selling T-shirts around the country shows a simply drawn snowman with a menacing expression. It's not Frosty's evil twin. The image popularized by drug-dealer-turned-rapper Young Jeezy symbolizes those who sell a white substance known on the street as snow: cocaine. Anti-drug campaigners and education officials are alarmed, saying the T-shirt and others like it are part of sophisticated marketing campaigns using coded symbols for drug culture that parents and teachers are not likely to understand. Some schools are banning kids from wearing the snowman images. "The snowman is made of white, grainy stuff like sugar," said 12-year-old seventh-grader Mailik Mason, standing next to his mother in a Manhattan store selling the snowman shirts. "It has to do with a certain drug, crack or coke." Young Jeezy's hit debut album, "Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101," peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard album charts. On one of his songs he raps, "Get it? Jeezy the Snowman / I'm iced out, plus I got that snow, man." The shirt was first produced solely for Jeezy by Miskeen Originals, a hip-hop fashion firm in New Jersey, the company says. The owner, Yaniv Zaken, says his artists produced a handful for the rapper to wear on TV appearances.
Jurors deliberatewrongful-death suit
BURBANK, Calif. -- Jurors began deliberations Friday in the wrongful-death lawsuit that contends "Baretta" star Robert Blake is liable for the killing of wife Bonny Lee Bakley 41/2 years ago. Blake, 72, was acquitted of murder in March after a criminal trial, but the lawsuit brought on behalf of Bakley's four children seeks to hold him civilly responsible and to win monetary damages. Jurors put in just over two hours of work before recessing for the weekend. They began deliberations after Los Angeles County Judge David Schacter instructed them on the questions they must answer to reach verdicts. The judge said they must decide whether Blake intentionally caused Bakley's death or plotted to cause it.
Judge in Oregon backs ban on gay marriage
SALEM, Ore. -- A judge on Friday upheld a gay marriage ban adopted by Oregon voters last year, rejecting claims that the amendment made too many changes at once and interfered with local government. In his ruling, Marion County Circuit Judge Joseph Guimond backed supporters of the law who said the measure only clarified marriage law in a single, simple sentence. The Oregon amendment, passed overwhelmingly in November 2004 as Measure 36, reads: "It is the policy of Oregon, and its political subdivisions, that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or legally recognized as a marriage." Seventeen other states have similar constitutional bans. The gay rights group Basic Rights Oregon said it will appeal.
Bloomberg can makeDemocrats vote GOP
NEW YORK -- For some true-blue New York Democrats, just the thought of voting Republican makes them wince. But when the Republican is Mayor Michael Bloomberg, they can make themselves pull the GOP lever. The willingness of Democrats to put aside party loyalty for Bloomberg is a big reason the billionaire former chief executive appears to be coasting toward a huge re-election victory Tuesday in this overwhelmingly left-leaning city. Bloomberg is drawing an extraordinary majority of Democrats away from his opponent, Fernando Ferrer. Not even Republican Rudolph Giuliani, who enjoyed considerable Democratic support, did this well with the opposite party. Many Democrats say they want Bloomberg to stay in office because he is a problem-solver who makes them feel safe -- and he used to be a Democrat, too. "What outweighs the flinching is what he's done for New York," said Patty Newberger, a film executive who has also never cast a vote for a Republican. But she was persuaded by Bloomberg's first-term accomplishments -- like lower crime and better school test scores. "When you consider that, it hurts less."