Sometimes nothing hits the spot like a nice bag of "Thug Chips" washed down with an "Atomic Dogg," energy drink, no? So refreshing.

But apparently New York Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) doesn't like refreshing snacks marketed using obvious gang references. He started a fire last week by claiming that the company, OG Nation (which the Post so keenly informs us "in street parlance, "O.G." means "original gangster.") is essentially marketing gang paraphernalia to kids and, like the gangsta rappers of yore, promoting a violent thug lifestyle.

Not to be topped, OG Nation responded in kind with a scathing press release:

"This is the most insidious kind of racism, because it masquerades as piety, when it's really just political grandstanding. Jim Brown has worked tirelessly for decades to give a voice to the disenfranchised, dispossessed and marginalized members of our society."

Yes, turns out former New York Knick Larry Johnson and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown are involved with the company, which complicates this plot considerably. So far the only real casualty seems to be the charming "Thug Chips," which are no longer listed on the website. Sigh.(via Boing Boing)

-- Brian Bernbaum