Custer Rides Again!

Custer Rides Again!

Not such a happy meal

A McDonald’s Happy Meal motorcycle toy has annoyed American Indians in the Rapid City, South Dakota, area.

The toy depicts Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer atop a motorcycle. It’s part of a Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Happy Meal package honouring the new Ben Stiller comedy.

But Paul Long Fox, a guidance counsellor for the Rapid City School District, says the toy does not honour native Americans.

"Custer didn’t kill Indians or natives," she told the Rapid City Journal. "He killed relatives."

Custer was an American cavalryman who led his soldiers into a catastrophic battle along the Little Big Horn River in 1876. He was celebrated as an Indian fighter, but he and all his men were killed in his final battle. These days, he is seen as a bigot and a ruthless killer of native Americans in aid of the U.S. government’s desire to take land from natives.

A McDonald’s spokesman said the restaurant chain values and respects "people of all ethnicities" and meant only to "provide families a positive experience."

But a Lakota Peoples Law Project rep said the Custer toy is "like handing out KKK dolls in the south."

It’s a little hard to tell with the packaging, but it appears that Custer is astride an Indian Chief motorcycle. And he’s not wearing a helmet.

Just send him the bill

Somebody’s got to pay for this

A British motorcyclist who crashed in April 2007 and was left with head injuries has been told to pay for traffic cones and signs used at his collision site.

Twenty-three-year-old Alex Hall of Lloyds Crescent, Whipton, Exeter, pleaded guilty to careless driving and was fined for the offence. He hit a silver Mercedes while trying to pass it, then collided with a Ford Fiesta going in the opposite direction.

The Devon County council said it was entitled to recover the cost of "remedial works from any person responsible for damage," and offered "the option of paying by direct debit."

But Hall, who has just completed an apprenticeship in aircraft engineering, said the £505 bill was too much, He’ll pay it off in installments.

You’ve got the right stuff

We can wheelie!

Think you can wheelie? Fine, but can you wheelie with your left hand holding a cup of coffee and your right hand on your keyboard? We can, and this picture proves it.

But you’re better than us, because we crashed a moment after this picture was taken, and you can go the distance.

Try it at www.bennettswheelie.

The UK motorcycle insurer wants to tell you about all the deals you can get if you list your bike with them, including a £20 Hein Gericke voucher. That won’t matter to readers outside the UK, but their wheelie game will keep you busy for a while. Try it. Scrape your tail section without crashing. You’ll be a hero, and your name will go into the record books. And this time you won’t wreck the garden in your grannie’s front yard.