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New American Girl Doll Shares Name With Fugitive

You’ve heard about the new American Girl doll. Rebecca Rubin. Nice name.
But it turns out there’s another Rebecca Rubin out there. She’s a fugitive.
Not just any fugitive. One of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives. An eco-terrorist, if you will.
The real-life Rebecca J. Rubin was part of a group called the Earth Liberation Front. Perpetuators of “the biggest act of eco-terrorism in U.S. history,” according to some. Here is a video report of one of their more notorious acts:
So why pick the same name as a suspected terrorist? (What’s next? Barbie Bin Laden? The New York Times quotes American Girl spokesperson Julie Parks as saying that, “Rebecca was one of the most popular names for Jewish girls in 1905, when Rebecca [the doll] would have been born. When researching last names, Rubin was on a list of a handful of other names that would have been appropriate for a Russian-Jewish family but, honestly, Rubin rose to the top because we liked the alliteration and knew that girls could easily pronounce it.” (As opposed to one of those really Jewy names, like Schlemielowitz.)
To be fair, “the company originally applied to register the name [Rebecca Rubin] with the United States trademark office in 2004,” according to the Times. Suspected eco-terrorist Rebecca Rubin was indicted by a grand jury in 2006. Still, maybe the next time American Girl is about to launch a new doll, they might want to Google the name. Just in case.
Source: New York Times
Image: FBI (first time that’s ever been an image source for me)
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2 Comments
[...] New American Girl Doll Shares Name With Fugitive [...]
They Say - New Disney Princess Not Black Enough | Strollerderby commented on Jun 03 09 at 5:30 pm[...] New American Girl Doll Shares Name With Fugitive Tags: Brett Singer, doing it for the kids, entertainment, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Jon and Kate, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Jon Gosselin, Kate Gosselin, NBC, Patti Blagojevich, Patti Blagojevich ate a tarantula on TV, reality TV, Rod Blagojevich, television « « A Son Who Forgives His Dad for Intentionally Giving Him AIDS OAS_RICH(‘x13′); [...]
Blago’s Wife Ate Tarantula For Her Kids | Strollerderby commented on Jun 07 09 at 10:23 pmAdd your take:
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