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The Onion buys Infowars

nytimes.com

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Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#471

Post by BizarroLand »

rsynnott wrote: post #388
dogleash wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on now. The world wasn't just sent to live with it's auntie and uncle in Bel-Air. The distressed sullen worldview might be new to you, but people certainly had it back when I found the Onion regularly quite enjoyable too.

In 2004, George W Bush was re-elected. At that time, a plausible Onion story might have been that George W Bush was going to appoint a vaccine denier HHS and someone who was investigated by the DOJ as AG, and that would have been, like, mildly funny (which was always the Onion's thing, really; it was almost never _great_), because haha, the president popularly considered to be a bit incompetent is appointing obviousl…

Maybe appointing Paula Deen as the secretary of health. Show a "food pyramid" that is just multiple pies stacked on top of each other with a side of melted butter to wash it down with, and her vice secretary is a disgraced police officer with over 800 sanctions kitted out in full milspec riot gear whose job it is to beat every child who fails to eat 15 pies a day into submission?

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#472

Post by gpderetta »

arethuza wrote: post #366
andrepd wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU is governed by the European Commission, which is not elected. Say what you will about reactionary British conservatives, the fact remains that the EU is not a particularly democratic organisation.

The members of the Commission are appointed by the governments of the member states which are elected?

Not in all EU members; in parliamentary republics (as opposed to presidential republics) governments are not typically elected.

That's also the case in the UK.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#473

Post by narrator »

tantalor wrote: post #397
from-nibly wrote: post #384

> “By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’s ability to do more harm,” How hard is it really to start a new podcast?

IANAL but isn't it going to be very hard for Jones to meaningfully profit from a podcast, or anything really?

Jones isn't in it for the money.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#474

Post by xanderlewis »

standardUser wrote: post #453

Worth remembering that Donald Trump embraced Alex Jones after his sustained campaign of vicious, hateful and provably-false lies about dead child. So did Joe Rogan.

I actually kind of liked Joe Rogan (from the little I saw of him interviewing scientists and other ‘intellectuals’), but the more I think about it and learn the more I realise he’s just a moron.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#475

Post by KerrAvon »

tightbookkeeper wrote: post #280
paddy_m wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have a claim for $1.5B, they are going after all Alex Jones assets which are much less than $1.5B.

Don’t forget their many other successful lawsuits: - school administration - rifle manufacturer - the shooters mother (home insurance) - other journalists who wrote about the event I don’t know exactly what compensation they should get, but this does not seem like a healthy or sustainable way for our society to deal with tragedy.

I guarantee you these do not add up to a billion dollars.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#476

Post by sophacles »

rs999gti wrote: post #427
chvid wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess this is about the domain name infowars.com which belongs to a bankrupt company. Alex Jones is such a big name and has other channels (x.com, Joe Rogan etc.) that he can easily build a similar site/business under a new domain name. Perhaps The Onion should ask - who gets most promotion of this?

> Alex Jones is such a big name and has other channels (x.com, Joe Rogan etc.) that he can easily build a similar site/business under a new domain name. Maybe but the judgement was for 1B USD. So any profits would probably be garnished away. Basically, lawfare was used to censor Alex Jones. I wonder if this is a case for the Supreme Court and First Amendment rights?

Was it? The constitution lays out slander and libel as types of speech that can be censored. The trashy Jones then knowingly and maliciously lied about people for profit - aka libel and slander. Seems reasonable to take the money he made as well as punitive damages.

How is censorship?

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#478

Post by thecosas »

jsheard wrote: post #2

The announcement by America's Finest News Source: https://theonion.com/heres-why-i-decided-to-buy-infowars/ Alex Jones response: https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1857058831135645739

Truly a great piece of satirical writing on The Onion. Just one example:

> With a shrewd mix of delusional paranoia and dubious anti-aging nutrition hacks, they strive to make life both scarier and longer for everyone, a commendable goal.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#480

Post by TeaBrain »

slater wrote: post #468
darepublic wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Onion youtube vids of the late 2000's were phenomenal. It was all downhill from there imo. Take a look at this recent video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2niC4ACCp20 . I don't like Taylor Swift but this is just not funny. I don't see what the point of it is is. Compare to this celebrity satire of the golden era: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QisdRPwEM .

"[Thing] that just so coincided with my formative years was the absolute best. it's been downhill ever since" is a tale as old as the hills.

That is true, but the Onion is also a shell of its former self. The Onion became a household name because of how widely consumed it used to be. It doesn't have anywhere near that reach or cultural influence today.
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