Taking a ride on Disney's (DIS) "It's a Small World" is traumatic enough, with its relentlessly thumping soundtrack and those animatronic children staring you down with those cold, cold eyes. It's just a matter of time before one of those kids comes alive in a murderous rage, and my money's on you, tulip sitters.

One man lived the nightmare for about 30 minutes in 2009 after getting trapped on the ride at Disneyland. The ride broke down at the end, in the "Goodbye Room," and while other riders were evacuated, Jose Martinez was left in the car with the music playing repeatedly.

Martinez is paralyzed and needs a wheelchair, and Disneyland workers couldn't get him out. So they left him there while the ride was fixed. 

Should the 8,000 people Google (GOOG) has chosen to try its new space-age, Internet-connected glasses -- for the price of $1,500 -- be allowed to wear them while driving a motor vehicle? 

 

Experts aren't sure.

Most people would likely find Google Glass -- the high-tech eyeglasses that, among other things, enable a user to record a video through a voice command while displaying information such as Internet search results and the weather -- distracting to say the least. And distracted drivers make unsafe drivers who are more likely to be in accidents. But whether Google's device will cause safety problems isn't clear to experts such as The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

 

Because professional sports has effectively transitioned from national and global pastimes to morality plays, of course something Nike did with sponsorship partner Tiger Woods drew ire and scoldings.

After the golfer got his 77th career win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday in Bay Hill, Fla., he ranked No. 1 in the world for the first time since October 2010. Nike (NKE) opted to celebrate this by posting an ad featuring Woods on Facebook with the caption "Winning takes care of everything."

Despite the fact that the same phrase has come out of his mouth dozens of times since 2009, the ad caused the Internet to just about melt down. Woods and his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, may have come to terms with Woods' continued infidelity that led to their divorce in 2010 and his subsequent career tailspin, but apparently the tabloid-reading public isn't quite ready to forgive.

 

When Boston Beer Company (SAM) founder Jim Koch started brewing Samuel Adams in his kitchen in the late 1980s, there weren't “craft brewers” and “macro brewers,” just big brewers and small brewers.
 

Today, Samuel Adams still sits on the craft side of the wall along with other craft beer pioneers like Chico, Calif.-based Sierra Nevada and Fort Collins, Colo.-based New Belgium Brewing, but it's taken a little tweaking to keep it there. As craft beer's old-timers age and expand, that “craft” label becomes an increasingly snug fit.
 

That may seem like a cosmetic problem at best, but when the federal government determines taxes on brewers by their output, suddenly the definitions of “small” and “craft” carry a whole lot more weight. As the Craft Brewers Conference began Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that tax question created a rift in the beer industry that could signal last call for the “craft" title.

 

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in New York is reviewing controversial plans by American Airlines to approve a $19.8 million severance package for CEO Tom Horton -- as part of is proposed merger with US Airways (LCC).

 

The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of the airline's parent company, AMR (AAMRQ), filed an objection last week, saying the agreement doesn't conform to U.S. bankruptcy law. According to The Star Telegram, Horton -- who is expected to become chairman of the combined company -- would receive a cash and stock package once the merger is finalized.

 

"The Employee Arrangements are on market terms, are carefully designed to incentivize employees to remain focused on consummating the Merger,” AMR reportedly said in its filing, “and will allow the Debtors to maximize the value of the Merger for the benefit of their stakeholders.”

 

Tax season can be a stressful time for many Americans, with worries over missing out on deductions or simply filling out paperwork incorrectly. 

And while taxes are inevitable, the whole experience could be made simpler with something called "return-free filing." But that's far from becoming reality in the U.S. The holdup is at least partly because Intuit (INTU), the company behind tax-preparation software TurboTax, has spent millions to lobby against it, according to a report by ProPublica and NPR. 

Return-free filing is a voluntary alternative to using commercial tax software or paying an accountant or preparer to file returns, and it's already in use in countries such as Sweden and Denmark, the story says. 

How does it work?

 

Love it or hate it, Wal-Mart (WMT) has long been held up as a paragon of operational efficiency, spawning business school case studies and inspiring rivals to copy some of its techniques. 

But recently, the retailing giant has been off its game. First, it issued a dire warning last month that February sales were a "total disaster" because of higher payroll taxes. Then, it blamed late tax refunds for a sales slowdown. 

But a new report suggests that delayed refunds and tax hikes might be only part of the picture and that the retailer itself shoulders much of the blame. 

Merchandise isn't making it to Wal-Mart shelves, and on top of that, long checkout lines are driving customers into the aisles of rivals such as Target (TGT) and Kohl's (KSS), reports Bloomberg News. 

 

Updated 1:50 p.m. ET

Is Anderson Cooper going to replace the embattled Matt Lauer as the host of NBC's "Today" show? Who knows.

According to Deadline.com, the Comcast-owned (CMCSA) network wants the silver-haired broadcaster to replace Lauer "before the end of the year."

Then things get a little tricky. Lauer reportedly wasn't thrilled to learn that NBC was trying to replace him -- imagine that -- and contacted Cooper to "express his disapproval." Cooper, the host of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," was surprised by Lauer's reaction because he thought NBC would have checked with Lauer before approaching a potential replacement. 

NBC responded Wednesday by saying that it wants to keep Lauer on "Today" for years to come, according to the Associated Press.