radosh's blog

America's priorities in a fucking nutshell

05/04/2009 - 8:00am

America's priorities in a fucking nutshell

Daniel Radosh

The American obsession with profanity reaches its apex in this story out of Michigan about a police officer who hangs up on a 911 caller because she says the word fuck.

It happened a while ago, but Boing-Boing just discovered it, so that makes it new to the nets. This transcript of the ABC news story begins after 17-year-old Adrainne Ledesma calls 911 to report that her father is having a severe seizure.

She says she got no quick answer, so she hung-up and called again. Now you know those emergency calls are recorded, but did you know the recording starts even before the call is answered?

So you can hear her near-panic when again she can�t get an immediate answer, blurting out the f-word just as the call is picked up.

Ledesma: What the fuck.

Officer Robert McFarland: 911.

Ledesma: I need an ambulance at (address).

Sgt. McFarland: Well, okay, first of all you don�t need to swear over 9-1-1 and slow down.

Ledesma: Send me a fucking ambulance!

Your answer may be partially informed by the fact that the question was posted to a video game site

05/02/2009 - 8:00am

Your answer may be partially informed by the fact that the question was posted to a video game site

Daniel Radosh

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Does Keith Olbermann believe waterboarding is torture?

04/29/2009 - 8:00am

Does Keith Olbermann believe waterboarding is torture?

Daniel Radosh

The story so far: Sean Hannity, declaring that waterboarding is not torture, announces that he'll allow himself to undergo the Versch�rfte Vernehmung technique for charity. Keith Olbermann, with his unerring nose for ratings, puts up $1000 per second ��double if Hannity "acknowledges he feared for his life and admits that waterboarding is torture."

Olbermann goes after Hannity on the legitimate grounds that Hannity is "trivializing torture." Which makes it all the more baffling that Olbermann's response is to further trivialize it. If you truly believe waterboarding is torture, and you are not evil, than you would not subject another human being to it, even Sean Hannity.

Watching the segment, it seems quite likely that Olbermann made this offer only to prove a point, knowing that Hannity wouldn't follow through. If Hannity did somehow accept, my guess -- my hope -- is that Olbermann would withdraw the challenge in order to keep the moral high ground (probably donating the money anyway).

But that's not how it looks to everyone on the outside. For example, here's the AP taking Olbermann at face value. Even if I'm correct and the AP is wrong, there are surely a lot of Olbermann supporters who actually would at least cheer on the waterboarding of Sean Hannity. Which makes it worth looking at what this would mean.

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #191

04/27/2009 - 8:00am

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #191

Daniel Radosh

This one will be judged, I promise.

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First place
"Hmm, tough question. If I could have any super power in the world... probably super-strength, I guess. That or laser vision. You?"�Vlad

Second place
Hypnotic Balloon Knot Anus Cat uzes powars fer evel. �Damon

Third place
Feed a cat a mouse, he's happy for a day. Hurl a cat off a cliff along with a bunch of mice, he's happy for the rest of his life.�mypalmike

Honorable mention
"Sniff my ass, ya dirty fucking lemmings!" �David

"As you all can see, we're leaving that hillock and are now rounding the corner of the frozen lake to our right. Pay no attention to the snowdrifts behind us, or the fact that our perspective seems slightly off."� Tim C.

"i haz invisible ledge. lol." � therblig

"No children, if you want to master "feline parachuting" you need to spread your legs and arch your back so you can float slowly down to the ground like mommy. Kids! Come back and listen to what I'm saying." �Richard H

"Goddamned GPS!!"�Tim H

"And the spaceship will pick us up to take us to Urania before we hit the ground, right? Right?"� Francis

"Wait ... I thought Disney made that up."� Jim/The Velvet Blog

"Follow me, follow me you foolish little lemmings, as I compel you to waste valuable brain energy thinking up foolish captions for un-judged contests! Muwahahahaha!"� Redundent

A contest that means something (to someone, anyway)

04/27/2009 - 8:00am

A contest that means something (to someone, anyway)

Daniel Radosh

Richard Hine, a frequent anti-caption contest winner � "in the days when there were winners," he notes uproariously, alerts me that his would-be debut novel Russell Wiley Is Out To Lunch is a semi-finalist in Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Awards. That means that out of 10,000 entries, the free excerpt of his book linked above has been judged one of the best 100. I'm unclear on how the judging works, but Richard is pretty sure it has something to do with the number of people who download the free excerpts (linked above). Given that his comic novel concerns sex and the media biz, it's a natural for readers of this site (I look forward to reading the excerpt (linked above) myself).

Richard writes: "The out-of-NY finalists are getting profiled in local papers, etc. but jaded NY-ers are perhaps understandably less impressed by the enormity of the achievement reflected in entering an online contest." So consider Radosh.net your local newspaper and help out a fellow reader. At stake: a contract with Penguin Books and a $25k advance.

If you do read it, let us know what you think.

Besides, everyone knows that was a missile

04/27/2009 - 8:00am

Besides, everyone knows that was a missile

Daniel Radosh

a-view-of-the-world-from-9th-avenue.jpg Statue of Liberty flyby startles New Yorkers

An Air Force fighter jet and one of President Barack Obama's official planes on Monday flew low over the Statue of Liberty in an approved photo opportunity that startled some New Yorkers who have memories of the September 11 attacks...

"After our history with planes in lower Manhattan, you would think they would consider doing their exercises over the Potomac (in Washington) instead," said Peggy Lewis, who heard the planes from her Manhattan home.

Yeah! Or maybe Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Did they think of that?

Why not Bil Keane?

04/20/2009 - 8:00am

Why not Bil Keane?

Daniel Radosh

ballardhighrise028.jpg J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009.

�Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.�

That's the opening line from my favorite Ballard novel, High Rise. I always thought it would make a great film (better than Crash at the least). Today it occurred to me that, properly handled, it could also be the basis for that breakthrough narrative video game we've been searching for.

 

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #190

04/20/2009 - 8:00am

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #190

Daniel Radosh

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But has she chosen her five favorite feather boas?

04/20/2009 - 8:00am

But has she chosen her five favorite feather boas?

Daniel Radosh

toubybloomy.jpg How can she tell?

Release the memos

04/16/2009 - 8:00am

Release the memos

Daniel Radosh

Obama's must-pass test.

"Excessive reliance on 'secret law' threatens the effective functioning of American democracy." �Dawn Johnson, Obama's nominee to run the office of legal council, on George Bush's "practice of making and relying on secret law."

Notes Greenwald: "Given that she specifically pointed to concealment of OLC interrogation memos as a prime example of tyrannical secret laws, it is impossible to reconcile her arguments with any substantial redactions of these remaining memos."

Obama's civil liberties report card currently shows a C-minus average. If he wants to borrow the family car again, he needs to start earning better grades now.

These are not intelligence documents. There's nothing here to protect other than "methods" which don't deserve protection and the "morale" of the agents who may have followed inhumane and illegal orders, which is the kind of thing that should make a person feel bad about themselves and their job.

I don't have any confidence in Obama doing the right thing or his supporters holding him to account, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

So no truth commission then?

04/16/2009 - 8:00am

So no truth commission then?

Daniel Radosh

calvinlamp.jpg

Calvin!

04/16/2009 - 8:00am

Calvin!

Daniel Radosh

calvinlamp2.jpg

Why not Bil Keane?

04/15/2009 - 8:00am

Why not Bil Keane?

Daniel Radosh

66AC6CE5A68B36598A14FA9285C9.jpg "The book is sleazy trash, but it should be in every medium-sized library in the United States." �Judith Krug, 1940-2009.

Toxic assets

04/14/2009 - 8:00am

Toxic assets

Daniel Radosh

Lehman Sits on Bomb of Uranium Cake as Prices Slump.

Money quote: "A lot of the funds playing this market have blown up."

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #189

04/13/2009 - 8:00am

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #189

Daniel Radosh

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Dayenu!

04/08/2009 - 8:00am

Dayenu!

Daniel Radosh

sabra-passover-02.jpg You know what suddenly struck me as funny? This.

Oh well, at least you still have the anti-caption contest.

Sometimes even the results.

Happy Passover. Next year on Twitter.

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #188

04/06/2009 - 8:00am

The New Yorker Cartoon Anti-Caption Contest #188

Daniel Radosh

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Eye doubt it

04/03/2009 - 8:00am

Eye doubt it

Daniel Radosh

Coraline2.jpg I want to love 3D movies. Sometimes I actually do. Coraline was beautiful. U23D -- and I'm not a huge U2 fan -- made me think that while 3D is still a gimmick in narrative film, there's no reason a concert film should be shot in any other format.

But every time some critic or studio suit goes on about the old days when bad 3D technology gave audiences headaches, I get, well, a headache. As I've been telling everyone throughout this latest generation of 3D technology (my Facebook friends can confirm this) the films give me moderate to severe eyestrain every single time, without fail. I'll suffer it if I really think the effect is going to add something artistically (and the film isn't too long) but for something like Monsters Vs. Aliens, I'll be seeing it the old fashioned way, thank you very much.

Today in Slate, Daniel Engber also calls bullshit on the no-headaches myth, and explains why the technology is inherently and unfixably hard on the eyes. But what jumped out at me, so to speak, was this claim by Jeffery Katzenberg that someday "people are going to own their own glasses -- I think from a fashion standpoint and a coolness standpoint, people will want to have their own glasses."

Smoked out

01/01/2009 - 8:00am

Smoked out

Daniel Radosh

Cigarette companies are suing the government over the new "tombstone labels" requirement, which mandates large warning stickers with pictures of diseased lungs and other gross stuff on each pack of smokes. The lawsuit is a losing gambit, but that doesn't mean the labels will necessarily be as effective as some experts think. After all, just because tobacco companies can't take the disturbing pictures off their product, there's nothing stopping customers from doing so themselves.

Introducing the deviously clever SmokeStixx, do-it-yourself decals for cigarette packs that hide the warning labels (and the brand names, so don't expect tobacco companies to embrace them, at least not openly) and also make smoking seem cooler than it has in decades. Aimed squarely at teens accustomed to personalizing everything from their MySpace pages to their game controllers, SmokeStixx turns the tobacco company's crisis into a money-making opportunity.

What's that saying about insanity again?

03/09/2004 - 9:01pm

What's that saying about insanity again?

Daniel Radosh

Remember when the American Family Association took a poll on gay marriage only to have it blow up in their face? Well now Donald's wild men want to know who you support for President. Apparently convinced that their last fiasco was due to a single liberal's devious use of automated scripts, they've instituted a security code this time around. For all the good it did them. Current results:

John Kerry 91.06 % 2,456 votes
George Bush 3.19 % 86 votes
Ralph Nader 5.75 % 155 votes

Spread the word, and let's see if we can get the AP to pick up this story too.

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