Posts tagged satire

Twitter Diplomacy Last week Egypt issued an arrest warrant for the comedian Bassem Youssef for insulting Islam and the country’s President, Mohamed Morsi. Jon Stewart, to whom Youssef is often compared, spent 10 minutes on his show Monday defending Youssef, talking about free speech and satire, and generally roasting Morsi. Yesterday, someone at the US Embassy in Cairo sent out a link to The Daily Show clip. Morsi’s office is not amused. Details at the New York Times. Image: Screenshot, Storify by Rami Reda Khanfar capturing the exchange.

Twitter Diplomacy

Last week Egypt issued an arrest warrant for the comedian Bassem Youssef for insulting Islam and the country’s President, Mohamed Morsi.

Jon Stewart, to whom Youssef is often compared, spent 10 minutes on his show Monday defending Youssef, talking about free speech and satire, and generally roasting Morsi.

Yesterday, someone at the US Embassy in Cairo sent out a link to The Daily Show clip.

Morsi’s office is not amused. Details at the New York Times.

Image: Screenshot, Storify by Rami Reda Khanfar capturing the exchange.

Ten Tips Guaranteed to Improve Your Startup Success

As a startup we’re always on the lookout for tips and tricks that might help lead us toward success. Today, we’re thankful for this list by Anil Dash.

  1. Be raised with access to clean drinking water and sanitation. (Every tech billionaire I’ve ever spoken to has a toilet!)
  2. Try to be born in a region that is politically and militarily stable.
  3. Grow up with a family that is as steady and secure as possible.
  4. Have access to at least a basic free education in core subjects.
  5. Avoid being abused by family members, loved ones, friends or acquaintances during the formative years of your life.
  6. Be fluent in English, or have time to dedicate to continuously improving your language skills.
  7. Make sure there’s enough disposable income available to support your learning technology at a younger age.
  8. If you must be a member of an underrepresented community or a woman, get comfortable with suppressing your identity. If not, follow a numbingly conventional definition of dominant masculinity.
  9. Be within a narrow range of physical norms for appearance and ability, as defined by the comfort level of strangers.
  10. Practice articulating your cultural, technological or social aspirations exclusively in economic terms.
Unemployed Reporter Porter Via CT.com Jon Campbell, who briefly made Hartford a more interesting place with his presence and reporting for the Advocate, has entered the homebrew game with his signature Unemployed Reporter Porter (pictured). “Porter style beers were first popularized in the nineteenth century by merchant sailors and manual dock laborers,” the label reads. “Unemployed Reporter is crafted in the same tradition, honoring a profession likewise doomed to decline and irrelevance.” For this new class of “expendables,” the label goes on, “we’ve included chocolate and roasted barley malts that are as dark and bitter as the future of American journalism, and a high alcohol content designed to numb the pain of a slow, inexorable march toward obsolescence. While Unemployed Reporter is especially delicious as a breakfast beer, it’s still smooth enough to be enjoyed all day, every day. And let’s be honest: what else do you have going on?” FJP: Give it up for Jon. Brewing up the best out of a difficult situation. Here he is on Twitter. Image: Brewing it dark and bitter. Select to embiggen.

Unemployed Reporter Porter

Via CT.com

Jon Campbell, who briefly made Hartford a more interesting place with his presence and reporting for the Advocate, has entered the homebrew game with his signature Unemployed Reporter Porter (pictured).

“Porter style beers were first popularized in the nineteenth century by merchant sailors and manual dock laborers,” the label reads. “Unemployed Reporter is crafted in the same tradition, honoring a profession likewise doomed to decline and irrelevance.”

For this new class of “expendables,” the label goes on, “we’ve included chocolate and roasted barley malts that are as dark and bitter as the future of American journalism, and a high alcohol content designed to numb the pain of a slow, inexorable march toward obsolescence. While Unemployed Reporter is especially delicious as a breakfast beer, it’s still smooth enough to be enjoyed all day, every day. And let’s be honest: what else do you have going on?”

FJP: Give it up for Jon. Brewing up the best out of a difficult situation. Here he is on Twitter.

Image: Brewing it dark and bitter. Select to embiggen.

The Top Ten Top Ten Lists You’ve Never Heard Of

Top Ten

About this time of year, most editorial calendars feature an annual “top ten” list. This achieves a couple of goals: Thanks to frequent use of numbers, bullets, line breaks and sundry other non-lexeme typographical devices, lists tend to eat up column inches without burdening the writer with too much writing. Also, lists are like crack on the Internet where these posts enjoy an eternal half-life.

The Intern, Part 2: Is it Hot in Here

Competition to become the Lady Business intern heats up as Erik claims he’s the “biggest feminist” he knows and Ashley is prepared to go the extra mile.

Learn more about Lady Business here and join them on Facebook, YouTube and/or Tumblr.

And That’s How a Woman Shuts it Down

As Republican candidates continue with their odd rape theories, we take a look inside the lady parts to see how a woman can “shut it down.”

Biologically speaking, it all begins with a dinosaur named Marcy.

The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, 183rd Imperial Edition Released today, the book comes in at 244 pages containing “1,500 entries spanning all 27 letters of the alphabet.” And if you need help managing the interface, the Onion’s got you covered with the Book Bjorn. Onion editor Will Tracy tells Salon how the book was created: Choosing entries for the book, and brainstorming “takes” for these entries, was a two-year process that, like the paper, was very much a war of attrition. We had a master list of entries we knew we had to have: God, Music, Literature, War, Abraham Lincoln, etc. The biggies. Everyone on staff, as well as some freelance contributors, poured in dozens, sometimes hundreds, of ideas for takes, and may the best idea win. Once we had a take idea nailed down for an entry topic, that entry would be assigned to a writer. In addition to the big, must-have topics, we also wanted the book to be full of things that were completely left-field, or completely invented. A lot of people on the book staff, including the book’s lead editor, Joe Randazzo, are very skilled at this type of absurdism, and the book is chock-full of entirely imaginary animal species, public figures, locations and historical events. And then we were also all delighted by the idea of writing entries on incredibly banal things, like an entry for “Table.” Or an entry for “Potato.” Suddenly, we were put in a position where, OK, the Onion has 200 words to tell the world what a table is. That challenge was pretty delightful. Read on.

The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, 183rd Imperial Edition

Released today, the book comes in at 244 pages containing “1,500 entries spanning all 27 letters of the alphabet.” And if you need help managing the interface, the Onion’s got you covered with the Book Bjorn.

Onion editor Will Tracy tells Salon how the book was created:

Choosing entries for the book, and brainstorming “takes” for these entries, was a two-year process that, like the paper, was very much a war of attrition. We had a master list of entries we knew we had to have: God, Music, Literature, War, Abraham Lincoln, etc. The biggies. Everyone on staff, as well as some freelance contributors, poured in dozens, sometimes hundreds, of ideas for takes, and may the best idea win. Once we had a take idea nailed down for an entry topic, that entry would be assigned to a writer.

In addition to the big, must-have topics, we also wanted the book to be full of things that were completely left-field, or completely invented. A lot of people on the book staff, including the book’s lead editor, Joe Randazzo, are very skilled at this type of absurdism, and the book is chock-full of entirely imaginary animal species, public figures, locations and historical events.

And then we were also all delighted by the idea of writing entries on incredibly banal things, like an entry for “Table.” Or an entry for “Potato.” Suddenly, we were put in a position where, OK, the Onion has 200 words to tell the world what a table is. That challenge was pretty delightful.

Read on.

Lady Business: Newscast, October 2012

Earlier this month we mentioned that we partnered on a satirical news show called Lady Business. And here, to get your pregame on for tonight’s debate, is the first newscast.

Lady Business follows the exploits Rebecca Whitehurst and Jenny Grace. The shows will alternate between newscasts like this and behind the scenes episodes as they try to build their news empire.

For updates, follow Rebecca and Jenny on Tumblr, Facebook or YouTube.

Runtime: ~13:30

Watcha Gonna Do?

The Gregory Brothers songify Tuesday’s presidential debate.

Tech Talk: iPhone 5

SNL with a look at what happens when tech reporters meet the gadget makers.

Onion Talks

Yes, the Onion is launching a series of fake TED Talks. Series starts October 17 on YouTube.

yencid:

Only Weather report you will ever have to watch.

no seriously watch it.

FJP: We’ll be waiting for Godzilla Wednesday.

Do Not Kill Registry Gallows humor: In response to the establishment of a national ‘kill list’ and the expansion of the United States’ predator drone program, the National Agency for Ethical Drone-Human Interactions has launched the Do Not Kill Registry. Adding your name to the registry will assist us in avoiding accidental casualties in our mission to make the world a safe place for Democracy and Free Enterprise.  That said, don’t forget the disclaimer:  Adding your name to the ‘Do Not Kill’ Registry does not guarantee that you will not be the target of a drone strike but only that an additional review process will be undertaken before you are labeled an enemy militant and added to the national kill list. 

Do Not Kill Registry

Gallows humor:

In response to the establishment of a national ‘kill list’ and the expansion of the United States’ predator drone program, the National Agency for Ethical Drone-Human Interactions has launched the Do Not Kill Registry. Adding your name to the registry will assist us in avoiding accidental casualties in our mission to make the world a safe place for Democracy and Free Enterprise. 

That said, don’t forget the disclaimer: 

Adding your name to the ‘Do Not Kill’ Registry does not guarantee that you will not be the target of a drone strike but only that an additional review process will be undertaken before you are labeled an enemy militant and added to the national kill list. 

On Copyright and Occupying the Wall Street Journal Susie Cagle interviews the creators of various “Occupy” newspapers to see what reactions they’ve received from established brands. The question is whether appropriation of corporate logos, brands and marks is protected free speech or copyright infringement. In Oakland, the Oakland Tribune sent the Occupied Oakland Tribune a cease and desist letter. In New York, the Wall Street Journal has remained silent about the Occupied Wall Street Journal. In Chicago, there appears to be some absurdity going on. Via The Atlantic: A source with knowledge of to the Occupied Chicago Tribune’s legal situation who preferred not to be identified said the Chicago Tribune’s lawyer had pushed hard in the company’s demands in informal negotiations.“Occupied Chicago Tribunesaid okay, we’ll use ‘Chicago’s Occupied Tribune.’ The lawyer objected. So they said okay, we’ll change it to ‘Occupied Tribune,’ and the lawyer objected. They said okay, we’ll change it to ‘Occupied Chicago Times.’ The lawyer objected again.” “Then he allegedly said something like, ‘You cannot have anything that has a T in the name.’ And that’s when finally it had reached such a point of absurdity that they decided to fight back.” Image: Inaugural issue of the Occupied Wall Street Journal, via Marcus Franklin.

On Copyright and Occupying the Wall Street Journal

Susie Cagle interviews the creators of various “Occupy” newspapers to see what reactions they’ve received from established brands. The question is whether appropriation of corporate logos, brands and marks is protected free speech or copyright infringement.

In Oakland, the Oakland Tribune sent the Occupied Oakland Tribune a cease and desist letter. In New York, the Wall Street Journal has remained silent about the Occupied Wall Street Journal.

In Chicago, there appears to be some absurdity going on.

Via The Atlantic:

A source with knowledge of to the Occupied Chicago Tribune’s legal situation who preferred not to be identified said the Chicago Tribune’s lawyer had pushed hard in the company’s demands in informal negotiations.“Occupied Chicago Tribunesaid okay, we’ll use ‘Chicago’s Occupied Tribune.’ The lawyer objected. So they said okay, we’ll change it to ‘Occupied Tribune,’ and the lawyer objected. They said okay, we’ll change it to ‘Occupied Chicago Times.’ The lawyer objected again.”

“Then he allegedly said something like, ‘You cannot have anything that has a T in the name.’ And that’s when finally it had reached such a point of absurdity that they decided to fight back.”

Image: Inaugural issue of the Occupied Wall Street Journal, via Marcus Franklin.