Crate & Barrel asks forgiveness for "beggar" wallet

Adfreak reports that this dreadful "Lucky Beggar Wallet" has been pulled from Crate & Barrel with the  apology, "We made a bad decision when we purchased this product". (The original designer is still selling it.)

The homeless have been the target of quite a bit of high-profile ridicule this year. There was that time when fashionistas found it amusing to pose with a street person for a photo op during NY Fashion Week. And let's not forget the high-larious video premiered at Justin Timberlake's wedding. And the guy who was gifted footwear by an NYPD officer, who ended up becoming an internet punching bag when he didn't keep wearing them. Oh yeah, and "hobojacketing" is a thing now.

In context, this is just the tip of a very ugly iceberg.

The designer of the iconic NYC coffee cup it's based on died just a couple of years ago. The design is now owned by Solo Cup. I wonder what they think of this?

PETA helps humans (for a change)

I have plenty of issues with some of PETA's promotional tactics, like sexploitation and making fun of human tragedy, but this campaign I really like.

Last week, PETA donated 100 cast-off fur coats to the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, noting that people on the street are "the only people who have any excuse to wear them." They were then distributed free-of-charge.

Of course, they made note of the fact that all the furs had been "donated by erstwhile fur-wearers who, once they found out that animals on fur farms are often bludgeoned or genitally electrocuted, couldn't stand to have carcasses in their closets." PETA marks the coats to make resale impossible, and issues tax receipts to donors.

Donated furs are also used as bedding for animals in wildlife rehabilitation centers, or as props in anti-fur demos.