Manufacturing Sector

Frito-Lay Gets Huge Bill In California Sales Staff Wage Cheating Case

Frito-Lay, makers of the popular Fritos, Tostitos and Doritos chips, routinely cheated more than 2,100 sales employees out of money owed for overtime work in California, according to a class action lawsuit. Earlier this year, the Texas-based snack food company agreed to settle the case before a ... More >>

Roberto Gonzalez Barrera, Founder of GRUMA/Destroyer of Mexico's Tortilla Industry, Now Rotting In Hell

See Also:* "Five Reasons to Hate GRUMA, Makers of Mission and Guerrero Tortillas, Maseca, and Other Tortilla Evil"* Read about REAL tortillas in our weekly feature: Tortilla Tuesdayst's amazing--scratch that. It's disturbing as hell how ill-informed the mainstream media is and how damn laz ... More >>

Old Records Are Outselling New Ones for the First Time

By Chris KornelisIn the two decades since Nielsen Soundscan started to keep track of U.S. album sales in 1991, the company has seen the industry fold in half, digital sales catch up to physical, and vinyl mount a resurgence. But until last week, they'd never seen old records outsell new ones. The f ... More >>

Intel Inside UC Irvine

Chip maker Intel says it is funding a $12.5 million research center at UC Irvine. The Intel Science and Technology Center for Social Computing apparently opened June 1, using existing facilities to apply social science and humanities to the design and analysis of digital information. Thus, our crude ... More >>

Gene Loves Gezebel

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Barbie v. Bratz, Part XVI: Mattel Wants Off the Hook for MGA's $310 Million Payday

​We told you earlier in the week that a federal judge in Santa Ana rejected MGA Entertainment's claim for a $1 billion judgment against Mattel, which the same jurist had previously ordered to pay the smaller toy company $310 million for stealing trade secrets involving Bratz dolls. Now, the maker ... More >>

Broadcom Says SEC Probing Its Accounting

​Irvine chip maker Broadcom, which has been no stranger to courtrooms thanks to shareholder lawsuits, complaints that caused one co-founder to step away as owner of his NHL team and a scandalous divorce involving the other co-founder and his love dungeon, may be back in legal hot water.The company ... More >>

5 Most Important Video Game-Related News Stories of 2011

​2011 has come and gone, and the year that seemingly slipped right past us was full of major events--some of which may very change the landscape of the video gaming industry forever. Everything from new a new Nintendo console to the death of a computer pioneer was all crammed into the previous yea ... More >>

[UPDATED with Correction:] Revenge of the Electric Car ALREADY ROLLED Into Long Beach

​CORRECTION, DEC. 12, 9:50 A.M.: No, it was not a bank of dead batteries that prevented filmmaker Chris Paine and his new documentary Revenge of the Electric Car from showing up as advertised (by . . . gulp . . . me) at the Art Theatre in Long Beach Sunday. As it turns out, that event was Dec. 4. ... More >>

Gateway Inc. of Irvine Deemed No. 1 Epic Tech Failure of All-Time

​Gateway Inc., which was founded in 1985 in Sioux City, Iowa (thus the cow logo), was flying high by 1991, with some believing it was poised to become the biggest and most popular personal computer maker in the world. But after a dodgy retail store strategy, the dot-com bust and moves to North Sou ... More >>

Huffington Post Gets Punked by Fake Ben & Jerry's Arrested Development Ice Cream Flavor

​It is amazing (and hella disturbing) how most people even bother to scan, let alone read a story anymore before spreading it around the Internet. Sign of the times, I guess. But when the offending organization is the Huffington Post (which carries my ¡Ask a Mexican! column), such a rush for web ... More >>

[UPDATED with $315 Mil Bond for Mattel:] Bratz Maker MGA's Total Take From Barbie Sugar Daddy Mattel? $310 Million

​UPDATE, AUG. 17, 5:21 P.M.: In federal court in Santa Ana today, Judge David O. Carter ordered Mattel to post a $315 million bond while the El Segundo-based toy manufacturing giant fights a $310 million award to MGA Entertainment.It's the latest twist in the trade secrets legal battle the makers ... More >>

[UPDATED with No Word from OC Registrar of Voters:] E-Vote System Breaks Down in Front of Blogger Critical of It

BradBlog.com​UPDATE, AUG. 17, 5:08 P.M.: I've swapped a couple emails with Brad Friedman today, and it's clear my original post about the Los Angeles-based blogger's encounter with an Orange County Registrar of Voters electronic voting machine at the OC Fair deserves some clarification.First, whil ... More >>

5 Things to Look Forward to After Harry Potter

​It is evident that few series (books or movies) will ever be able to achieve the popularity and esteem that the Harry Potter novels attained in the past years, and most certainly, none will be able to enchant readers quite like these novels did. But fret not, HP fans, after the jump are 5 Things ... More >>

Surf City Sex Stuff Seller Summer Sale

​Ah, summer. You've packed the towels.Sunscreen: check.Anal Lube Natural!?!

[UPDATED with Award Proposal:] Bratz Maker MGA Wants $339 Million From Barbie Sugar Daddy Mattel

​UPDATE, MAY 25, 9:30 A.M.: Analysts agree that in the seven years since Barbie-maker Mattel first went after Bratz manufacturer MGA Entertainment in court, the smaller company's fortune dwindled while Mattel remained a toy industry giant. MGA is hoping to retrieve $339 million of that fortune in ... More >>

As Food Prices Rise, is an Economic Slowdown Our Only Hope?

​Well this is a great story: mega-chains ranging from McDonald's to Nestle, Cracker Barrel to Whole Foods, are raising their prices, not because they're trying to milk you dry, but because the cost for food is going up, up, up. Yay!The United States Department of Agriculture had already forecast t ... More >>

[UPDATED with Mattel Getting Bitch-Slapped:] Chick Fight! Chick Fight! Barbie vs. Bratz

​UPDATE, APRIL 21, 12:31 P.M.: The sluttier, younger chick wins!A federal court jury in Santa Ana not only rejected claims that MGA Entertainment's popular line of Bratz dolls violates the copyright of Mattel's Barbie, but the panel awarded MGA $88.4 million for trade secrets misappropriated by M ... More >>

Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day is April 12!

​Yep, it's been a whole year: Ben & Jerry's free cone day is coming up on Tuesday, April 12. And as much as we love classics like Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia, why not try one of four new (or newish) flavors? There's even one that contains chocolate-covered potato chips. And it's tastier th ... More >>

Billionaire Henrys, Nicholas and Samueli, Move to Settle Broadcom Shareholder Suits

​"The Henrys," as Henry T. Nicholas (right) and Henry Samueli are known, had their billionaire asses saved in 2009 when a federal judge accused the prosecution of misconduct and eventually dropped all charges against Broadcom's co-founders. The judge also disappeared the case against William Ruehl ... More >>

Chick Fight! Chick Fight! Barbie vs. Bratz

​Considering the preponderance of plastic, empty-headed bleach blondes one finds around these parts, at least a few have likely found their way into the federal courthouse in Santa Ana. But the two fitting the same description going before a judge at the Reagan today have achieved icon status with ... More >>

Toyota's Record $32.4 Million Fine Settles Federal Probes But Not Suits Brought by OCDA and Others

​Toyota's agreement to pay a record $32.4 million to settle U.S. Department of Transportation investigations into the giant automaker's handling of two recalls does nothing to resolve civil lawsuits brought by the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the families of those killed or injured ... More >>

Toyota Lawsuits Can Move Forward, Judge Tentatively Rules in Santa Ana Court

​A federal judge has tentatively (double-negative alert) refused to dismiss dozens of personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp., despite the automaker's motion. U.S. District Judge James V. Selna issued the order last Wednesday, and then heard arguments from Toyo ... More >>

John Campbell Explains His Car Industry Conflict-Of-Interest Flip Flop

​Kudos to D.C. newspaper the Hill for asking U.S. Representative John Campbell the question that's been in the back of our minds ever since we read that the Office of Congressional Ethics was investigating him: Didn't Campbell, a former car salesman and auto executive, do a 180 on own conflict-of- ... More >>

Free Ticket Tuesdays Wednesday: Bamboozle Roadshow Tickets and Meet And Greet Passes

Myspace / Tim Kirch​Do you like All Time Low? Boys Like Girls? Good Charlotte? Third Eye Blind? Festivals? Free tickets to festivals? You're in luck then--we're giving away a pair of tickets to the Bamboozle Roadshow. Sure, it's moved from Irvine to The Palladium in Hollywood. And it's now going ... More >>

Placentia PD Declines to Oust Kogi Truck

​After a long Saturday spent trying to restore files to the in-laws' PC (incidentally, HP, there is a special place in Hell for you), I got home and decided I needed to get some fresh air. Since I like beer with my air, I headed up to Placentia to have a drink at the Bruery and discovered that the ... More >>

The Other Really Expensive Loafer Drops: Charges Against Henry T. Nicholas Dismissed

Henry T. Nicholas​It was one of the most unusual dismissal of charges ever witnessed: Broadcom co-founder and Anaheim Ducks owner Henry T. Samueli was testifying in another executive's case in Santa Ana last week when U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney leaned over and said he was tossing out Sam ... More >>

Jones Soda Co. to Release Tofurky™ and Gravy Soda

Jones Soda Co.​Maybe you're trying to take those first steps into veganism.Maybe you know a vegetarian who's just had dental surgery.Or maybe you just want to play a really, really, cruel trick on someone.It doesn't matter, because Jones Soda is here for you with this year's Thanksgiving offering: ... More >>

Anaheim Ducks Owner, Broadcom Co-founder Samueli May Be Prison Bound

Wikipedia.org Henry Samueli's next uniform may be an orange jumpsuit.The Anaheim Ducks owner, Irvine's Broadcom Corp. co-founder and UC Irvine Henry Samueli School of Engineering namesake may be prison bound. Orange County Register reports a federal court today dismissed an appeal ... More >>

Stockpile the Snickers! America Might Run Out of Sugar!

​That was the dire prediction made this week by a group of major food manufacturers such as Kraft, Hershey, Mars and General Mills, who claim that import restrictions will soon leave us bereft of the sweet stuff. Apparently, domestic sugar supplies are falling dramatically (the Agriculture Departm ... More >>

The See & Sprout Project

If your shiny new camera has permanently replaced your dust-collecting old digital  point-and-shoots, consider donating them to a  good cause while simultaneously supporting the arts. Founded by Stacie Krajchir, along with tsunami orphans from Thailand, the See and Sprout Project is an int ... More >>

Latina Authors Panel

Special Screenings

Movie of the Week: The 400 Blows

Foxes, Henhouses, and the Fashion Police

Just like breaking a leg can take your mind off a toothache, the major traumas the Bush administration has inflicted on the body politic make it easy to forget the lesser damage it's doing.  Or, as Ruth Marcus puts in her column in today's Washington Post, "The tornado of disastrous headlines - ... More >>

Squeezing Money from Corpses in Irvine

That companies which use magical accounting practices to rewrite history to fatten the bank accounts of their executives would try to squeeze money from corpses isn't really too surprising, but it is still disgusting. And it's happening in Irvine. The Wall Street Journal reports that dozens of co ... More >>

Who Stole the Election from the Stealers?

As Gustavo's recent post on Hugh Hewitt suggests, even Republican diehards are beginning to surrender. That raises an important question: how will conspiracy theorists explain the stolen election that wasn't? Many on the left had warned that the GOP had everything wired--from electronic voting machi ... More >>

Coyote Sale

Friends of Coyote Hills—the group battling valiantly to protect the last undeveloped land in Fullerton—hold their fifth annual Garage Sale Fundraiser from 7 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday at 925 Valencia Mesa, Fullerton. Promising "tons of bargains" (and advising shoppers to arrive ear ... More >>

Arnold Cuts Some Gas

We keep waiting for Arnold Schwarzenegger to show his true colors, especially with the media reports over the weekend indicating that while the country may swing left in the next election, California may swing back to the right. Surely, then, Schwarzenegger is just biding his time, waiting for more ... More >>

OC Drivers on the Pipe

According to the for-profit Orange County Automobile Dealers Association, the top new retail car and truck registrations this year through May: Toyota: 29.3% GM: 12% Honda: 11.5% Ford: 9.7% DaimlerChrysler: 6.3% Nissan: 5.6% According to the nonprofit Environmental Defense, the percentage of ... More >>

Six Degrees of Schwarzenegger

Quadriplegics lawsuit claims botched bounty hunt was no coincidence

Rage Against the Voting Machine

Thank Florida for electronic elections

Victory Through Tote Bags

Dropping In

Following his sale to Nike, Bob Hurley has global reach

Felony Foods

Bushs DEA criminalizes hemp foods

Coffee Crusade

The great Little Saigon coffee inquiry

Toys from Hell

In China, Santas elves labor in a Dickensian workhouse

Not Ready For Prime Time

Does new California law spell the end for the states junk-gun makers?

No Dial Tone

Trapped in cell-phone hell

Ain't He a Pisser?

Non-Windows Users of the World, Unite!

Microsoft Windows Refund Day is just around the corner