6 Things You Should Never Do at Legoland

Hanging out at Legoland might seem like child’s play (pun intended), but as with anything, there are some things to avoid. For example:

1. Building child-inappropriate structures.

2. Eating legos.

3. Stealing legos.

4. Pretending your an evil child-eating lego monster.

5. Getting the Lego pirates drunk.

6. Getting in a massive brawl while standing in line.

Obvious right? Maybe not. Last weekend at at Legoland Windsor in England a fight broke out between families. People yelled, punches were thrown and the families eventually were kicked out and banned for life. The reason? One onlooker said it might just have been because they were sick of standing in line.

Agitated because you’ve been standing in line for too long? Go buy another cotton candy instead of throwing a fit. Lesson learned.

Airline Bans Dark Lipstick Onboard

Turkish Airlines has announced it will soon ban its flight attendants from wearing lipstick or nail polish in bright shades while on the job.

The carrier says colors like red or pink don’t match the inflight crew’s uniform, so wearing make up in those shades would “impair the visual integrity” of the outfits.

Instead, the airline says it wants its staff to wear pastel-toned makeup, as that would not only coordinate better with the uniform but also give off a more calming effect.While it’s standard practice for airlines to provide guidelines on how their staff should be groomed, the Turkish Airlines announcement has been met with criticism from some flight attendants, the general public, and even Turkish government officials. A number of Turkish Airlines hostesses have started wearing red lipstick during flights in protest of the ban.

The new makeup rules come in the wake of stricter guidelines implemented last year in which the carrier banned crew from coloring their hair platinum blonde or red, and forbade female staff from wearing silver eye makeup. The latest measure banning bright lipsticks is apparently the result of passenger complaints.

Do you think the ban is out of line? Do you care what makeup shades your flight attendant wears?

[Photo credit: Flickr user jerine]

Belarus internet ban targets foreign websites

A new internet ban in the former Soviet country Belarus will make the usage or browsing of many foreign websites illegal and punishable by a fine of up to $125. The Library of Congress reports that all Belarusian companies and entrepreneurs will be required to use only locally-hosted websites for conducting business, sales, or exchanging emails. Additionally, e-commerce websites without a local presence will be banned from providing goods or services to anyone in Belarus, meaning that websites like Amazon will not be allowed to sell to Belarusians. Internet cafe owners are required to report any illegal browsing to the authorities for prosecution. Additionally, websites deemed “extremist” or “pornographic” will be banned, bringing to mind a scene from the TV series Scrubs when Dr. Cox says “I’m fairly sure if they took porn off the Internet, there’d only be one website left, and it’d be called ‘Bring Back the Porn’.”

What’s unclear about the law is how it would apply to non-commerce sites like blogs or news sites, or any other website without the .by extension. How about travel booking engines or content for citizens to travel abroad? It’s also unclear how it would affect non-Belarusians doing business in the country, such as Gadling’s blogger Alex Robertson Textor, who recently reported from Minsk. Will this very website become illegal to read in Belarus? We hope not, for any Belarusian readers, and for the sake of internet freedom for all.

Photo courtesy Flickr user decafeined from a protest earlier this year in Istanbul against pending internet censorship in Turkey.

France’s burqa ban goes into effect

Today France has taken a controversial move and instated a burqa ban, aimed at the traditional religious covering worn by conservative Muslim women. The ban will potentially affect up to 2,000 women who wear a full-face veil in public, though it is unclear how the enforcement will work as police cannot remove the veil. Women who refuse to lift the burqa or niqab may be taken to a police station for an identity check, threatened with a 150 euro fine, or forced to attend “re-education” classes. Men who force women to wear the veil will face a 30,000 euro fine and up to a year in jail. So far only a few women have been arrested for protesting the ban near Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral.


Jacques Myard, a Parliament member and supporter of the ban said “The face is a dignity of a person. The face is your passport. So when you refuse me to see you, I am a victim.” France has the highest Muslim population in Europe, estimated between four and six million, though only a few thousand women wear the full-face veil. Belgium has passed a similar law but hasn’t enforced it, and the Netherlands is considering a ban as well.

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Newark Mayor goes head to head with Conan O’Brien over joke about city

Conan O’Brien recently made a crack about the city of Newark, New Jersey, on The Tonight Show. But it seems the city’s Mayor, Cory Booker, didn’t find it very funny.

“The Mayor of Newark, NJ, wants to set up a citywide program to improve residents’ health. The health care program would consist of a bus ticket out of Newark,” O’Brien said. Ouch.

The Mayor handled it well though, responding with a YouTube video challenging Conan’s perceptions of the city. “You fail to understand our city is one of the fastest growing cities in the Northeast,” he said. He went on to detail the many improvement made to the city, one that he called “a city on the rise.” He then offered a glimpse of resident reactions to Conan’s crack, including the ego-crushing query of one woman: “Who’s Conan O’Brien?”

With a slight grin, Mayor Booker told Conan he was officially on the Newark Airport’s “no fly list” and closed with “Try JFK, buddy.”

Of course, Conan had to fire back.

He said the ban was no problem; he could easily get to Newark through the sewer system, because, “Everyone knows, all sewer pipes lead to Newark.” He invited the Mayor to come on his show to settle things like “men of honor”, adding that the studio was just five minutes from the Burbank Internatonal Airport. . . which the Mayor was now, of course, banned from.

In response to Conan’s egging, Booker posted another video. This time, he’s calling for reinforcements, saying that he has 566 municipalites backing him because “we in New Jersey roll hard, we roll strong, and we roll together.” And Booker didn’t stop there. He says he’s reached out Newark’s Sister Cities all over the world, which means Conan’s not just banned from the entire state of New Jersey, but also from cities in places like Ghana and even Conan’s own ancestral home of Ireland. “CoCo can’t go go,” the Mayor taunts.

He does offer to come on The Tonight Show show to settle the dispute, but only if Conan will first pay a visit to Newark.

Your move, Conan.