A little context: The following piece was written to be performed in the March 26, 2011 edition of The Paper Machete, a weekly showcase for Chicago journalists, comedians, and other writers, hosted by Christopher Piatt. The Paper Machete has posted the audio of the performance as a podcast. You can listen to it here: The […]
Entries Tagged as 'Media'
Not Zero: The Fukushima Litotes
April 1st, 2011 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Chicago, Climate Change, Culture, Energy, Environment, Essays, Fringe, Journalism, Language, Media, News, Nuclear Power, Performance, Politics, Science, Writing
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McCain’s “Maverick” Image: Pining for the Fjords?
September 16th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Journalism, Media, News
Wow. This new Washington Post column by Richard Cohen is a scathing indictment from a journalist who admits he was previously “in the tank” for McCain. There seems to be a mass rebellion starting in the media among pundits and reporters who are realizing that McCain is no longer the principled maverick they’ve been worshiping […]
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Horsefeathers and Rattlesnakes
September 13th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Journalism, Media, News, Politics
It’s amazing, but suddenly the press seems to be showing distinct signs of calling out the McCain campaign on its recent and continuing orgy of horsefeathers and very bad judgment. Via this diary on Daily Kos, for starters we have yesterday’s scathing editorial in the NYT: As we watched Sarah Palin on TV the last […]
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Guantanamo, False Imprisonment, and the Human Rights Toggle Switch
June 27th, 2008 · Comments Off on Guantanamo, False Imprisonment, and the Human Rights Toggle Switch · Human Rights, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Terrorism, TESK, Torture
This story is about a week old at this point, but it goes in the “things everyone should know” category. One of the most common talking points from right-wing pundits, especially on Fox News, is that whatever happens to the people in Guantanamo Bay is okay because all those prisoners are really bad guys — […]
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Uncertain Smile: McCain Shredded by His Own Side
June 5th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
Watch the Republican pundits on Faux News shred McCain’s speech from Tuesday night. I daresay we won’t see him get within a mile of a green backdrop again. And suddenly, I can’t wait for the debates this fall with Obama and McCain on stage together. In the meantime, I’m dedicating my favorite The The […]
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McClellan, Yellin, and the Press Under Pressure
May 29th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Foreign Policy, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Video
Boy, Scottie McClellan’s decision to come clean — well, I say clean, I mean slightly less dirty — on his role as the Mouth of Sauron, and how the press corps passed along the White House’s propaganda to sell the invasion and occupation of Iraq, has really opened all sorts of floodgates. In addition to […]
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Colbert on the O’Reilly Meltdown
May 14th, 2008 · Comments Off on Colbert on the O’Reilly Meltdown · Comedy, Culture, Journalism, Media, News, TV, Video
Sublime. Any comment would be superfluous. And in case you haven’t seen it, the dance remix. Warning: Loud, crude, uncensored language, accompanied by a nifty techno beat. Lots of bad words that cultural conservatives might find objectionable, uttered by a conservative! Definitely not safe for work, kind of like the Falafel King himself.
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Larry King on the Other Larry King: Day of Silence PSA
April 25th, 2008 · Comments Off on Larry King on the Other Larry King: Day of Silence PSA · Culture, Education, Hate Crimes, Human Rights, LGBT, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
Very cool — CNN’s Larry King records a PSA in honor of his murdered namesake, in support of the 12th annual Day of Silence organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. Previously on Ocelopotamus: • Death by Flirting
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Death by Flirting
March 29th, 2008 · 6 Comments · Comedy, Culture, Education, Hate Crimes, Human Rights, Journalism, LGBT, Media, News, TV
From Friday’s AP story on Lawrence King: OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Larry King was a gay eighth-grader who used to come to school in makeup, high heels and earrings. And when the other boys made fun of him, he would boldly tease them right back by flirting with them. That may have been what got […]
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Rough Beast
December 11th, 2007 · Comments Off on Rough Beast · Culture, Media, Music, News, Politics
From the profile of Putin’s protégé (if that’s what we’re calling it), Dmitry A. Medvedev, in this morning’s New York Times: Short, boyish with a tuft of brown hair and sometimes described as socially awkward, Mr. Medvedev is also praised for a sharp and lawyerly intellect. Awww … tuft! Don’t you just want to tousle […]
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Keith Olbermann Reads Tom Tomorrow
December 2nd, 2007 · Comments Off on Keith Olbermann Reads Tom Tomorrow · Comedy, Comics, Culture, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
Here are your Sunday funnies, courtesy of Keith Olbermann reading Tom Tomorrow channeling Bill O’Reilly, bestowing The Falafel Truth upon America’s young people. *** UPDATE: Should have included this before — you can read the whole cartoon here.
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Roundup: Flight of the Humpback Edition
November 19th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Flight of the Humpback Edition · Apple, Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Feminism, Fiction, Film, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, Politics, Religion, Software, Tech, The Economy, Stupid, Torture
Markos from Daily Kos has a new gig writing opinion pieces for Newsweek, and he’s been in rare form with his first couple of efforts. From this week’s column: “In his first Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan remarked that ‘government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.’ While the quip has provided […]
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No Backsies
October 24th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Books, Culture, Education, Fantasy, Fiction, Film, Human Rights, LGBT, Lit, Media, Politics, Science Fiction
I haven’t weighed in on the whole gay Dumbledore thing, partly because everyone is already talking about it, and I usually view OcPot as a place to post about things that deserve more attention than they seem to be getting. But Minnesota Malcolm brought it up in the comments to this post last night, and […]
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The War on Halloween, Anderson Cooper, and Keith Olbermann’s O’Reilly Defense Initiative
October 22nd, 2007 · 8 Comments · Climate Change, Comedy, Culture, Journalism, Media, Politics, Video
Here’s a little video roundup to keep you entertained while I try to scrape together the time to post something more substantial. First off, Mr. Colbert points out the enormous black-and-orange elephant in the living room … the War on Halloween! That’s not going to be very popular in the candy corn belt. He really […]
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