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Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

nytimes.com

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Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#291

Post by nadermx »

kevinmchugh wrote: post #131
lubujackson wrote: post #57

I'm old enough to remember when it was a physical paper you'd get for free in Harvard Square... wish I kept some of them. I particularly enjoyed the old "Point/Counterpoints" such as: https://www.theonion.com/u-s-out-of-my-uterus-vs-we-must-dep... https://www.theonion.com/americas-homeless-want-a-hand-up-no... https://www.theonion.com/my-computer-totally-hates-me-vs-god... Also, shout out to the "Oh! Mumford" comic s…

The point/counterpoint that I have thought about at least once a month for at least fifteen years: https://www.theonion.com/this-war-will-destabilize-the-entir...

"You are completely wrong."

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#292

Post by snowwrestler »

lubujackson wrote: post #57

I'm old enough to remember when it was a physical paper you'd get for free in Harvard Square... wish I kept some of them. I particularly enjoyed the old "Point/Counterpoints" such as: https://www.theonion.com/u-s-out-of-my-uterus-vs-we-must-dep... https://www.theonion.com/americas-homeless-want-a-hand-up-no... https://www.theonion.com/my-computer-totally-hates-me-vs-god... Also, shout out to the "Oh! Mumford" comic s…

I’m old enough to remember when it was a black and white paper you could only get at UW Madison.

They had an issue with a banner headline: W A R

And when you unfolded it, the subhead was “C’mon! Let’s have one!”

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#293

Post by Majromax »

1over137 wrote: post #236
HeatrayEnjoyer wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's bad about The Onion? I've always enjoyed their work.

I used to love it. But in recent years, they only ever seem to make fun of Republican and rarely Democrats. I'd prefer to see them shit on everyone, because they all deserve it.

Current above-the-fold headlines on https://www.theonion.com/politics:

* Biden Carried Away By Ants * Janet Yellen Unveils Plan To Boost Economy By Stealing World’s Largest Diamond * Congress Quickly Passes Funding For National Night-Light After Waking Up From Scary Dream * Biden Surges In Polls After Convincing Terrified Voters He Causing Eclipse * Biden: ‘Israel Has An Obligation Not To Harm My Reelection Chances’ * What Trump Will Do On His First Day In Office * Trump Warns Of Electric Vehicles Raping, Murdering Americans * Kamala Harris Joins D.C. Coworking Space

By my count, that's five stories with a Democrat as the principal character (three specifically for Biden), two with a Republican/Trump, and one mocking Congress as an institution.

That being said, looking through the recent archive it seems like these things come in waves, with a series of stories targeting Republicans (mostly Trump), followed by a few in a row that go after Biden or Harris.

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#294

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS »

whims31 wrote: post #280
justin66 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ‘The Onion’ Stands With Israel Because It Seems Like You Get In Less Trouble For That This is a recent Onion classic. The thing about the Onion is, once you’ve got a great headline - and maybe a photo, which will usually be a head shot - the text of the article sometimes seems largely superfluous. They actually ought to be doing better in the age of Twitter and so on, but it didn’t work out that way.

Here is another article that's on point. The Onion does have a way with (omitting) words. https://www.theonion.com/israel-assures-it-doing-everything-... "Israel Assures It Doing Everything Possible To Minimize Civilians"

I’ve felt for a long time that The Onion is the reincarnation of Voltaire: savage, subtle, clever, culturally relevant, slightly undersold in its time. They will be studied in history books, or whatever the equivalent of books become. Even if you don’t agree with the political spin, you cannot discount the beauty of how they took such a common political phrase and turned it on its head like that.

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#295

Post by Talanes »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #87
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think any of the articles that grandparent linked are really the most exemplary Onion articles. The onion is really at its best when it manages to nail it exactly right. Sometimes they are just so perfectly in touch with cultural zeitgeist it’s uncanny. Here are two of the most memorable ones in recent memory: https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-na... https://www.theonion.com/the-onion-s…

Okay, I chuckled at the Ted Kaczynski signature, aka The Unabomber. I assumed all the other "board member signatures" were similarly infamous bad guys but I can't figure out what they all are and when I search on Steve Hannah, he apparently actually was the CEO of The Onion at one time. I agree with some of their points about it being a conflict going back hundreds of years. I personally think it's inevitable that wa…

There's not any correlation between fitting the standard HN mold and liking The Onion. I'm a barista who just checks in here for the marginal stuff outside the tech professional centered stuff, and I'm a big fan of The Onion.

Honestly, I think the disconnect is that you pay very close attention while you read, while the Onion's style caters more to a quick glance-through. They rarely have every point nailed down completely, because they're expecting you to just be moving on quickly anyway.

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#296

Post by defrost »

082349872349872 wrote: post #285
defrost wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hilarious: Mac Sabbath Pair-a-Buns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7kFfLRcHjU Playful: Leo Moracchioli feat. Mary Spender Sultans of Swing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0RV0kgdqJU It's not like the Church of Satan is actually pushing an agenda to make anybody believe in an actual Satan.

> Pair-a-Buns obrigado! Fear of the Dark (QQT) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td3c5rNFLew

Ahhhh, classical air guitar with traditional thin white stick .. nice!

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#297

Post by defrost »

082349872349872 wrote: post #281
defrost wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from Australia. I grew up on a cattle station in the Nor'west. I'm downvoting your comments for their strong foaming at the mouth unhinged vibes, and I'd do the same if they ranted in a similar manner against some other part of US culture. I dare say you could make a comment with fewer empty buzz phrases if you tried.

> on a cattle station in the Nor'west. Were B&S Balls a thing there then? (the food dye may not exactly be elegant, but it is reminiscent of Carnival)

Further south in the wheat belt, and often called BnS Inseminators Balls with the Hay day being more the late 1980s and 1990s.

Lot's of burnouts, circle work, lube slides, burning wrecks, food dye, and actual ball in a tent, fire engines, drinking, limousines (both real hires and "bush mechanic" stretched tractors), etc.

Being so far away I either flew in from the Kimberleys or hitch hiked across from Perth to go to a couple.

This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_RWBSQ9ic seems 'typical' of part of the weekend.

Not dead yet, it seems: https://www.sistersanguinista.com/bns

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#298

Post by porl »

imron wrote: post #209
Scarblac wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a nice crossover, the Economist predicted the number of blades to go to infinity in this beautiful graph: https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2006/03/16/... .

And then there's this from 1992 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YleuLyCUx28

I didn't have to click on the link to know what this would be. Love the D Generation and the Late Show.

Truly champagne comedy.

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#299

Post by 082349872349872 »

defrost wrote: post #297
082349872349872 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> on a cattle station in the Nor'west. Were B&S Balls a thing there then? (the food dye may not exactly be elegant, but it is reminiscent of Carnival)

Further south in the wheat belt, and often called BnS Inseminators Balls with the Hay day being more the late 1980s and 1990s. Lot's of burnouts, circle work, lube slides, burning wrecks, food dye, and actual ball in a tent, fire engines, drinking, limousines (both real hires and "bush mechanic" stretched tractors), etc. Being so far away I either flew in from the Kimberleys or hitch hiked across from Perth to go to…

I'm so square that if I'd tried a pun like that, everyone would've baled.

Looks very reminiscent[0] of Carnival[1], except not seasonal, no utes[2], and we have very few bogans or muppets[3] so ours are usually urban[4]. Also, confetti[5] instead of food colouring.

(good that Sister Sanguinista has a way to relax; people-helping jobs, like vet practice, seem to be a real ticket to burnout)

[0] especially the slogan "where the rams get used and the ewes get rammed"

[1] some balls are held for charity, and some for fancy dress[6], but holding them for pleasure is the course which we profess.

[2] boots and roots, yes. Does "pull" originate from pulling someone into your swag?

[3] coming from an anglophone culture, I was amazed that instead of making "glass pinecones"[7], everyone, despite elevated BAC, piles their dead soldiers in ranks by the recycle bins.

[4] if you're into Analogue Dance Music, there's nothing quite like doof doof in a medieval guild hall or old town alleyway[8]. The recent shopping malls are not so scenic, and the roman coliseums are historic but are too open for gut-felt acoustics.

[5] there's a song somewhere on YT by a young dutch lady about how Karneval is wonderful but it still is a little annoying, mornings, to be picking the confetti out of your pubic hair — with enough compressed air, one can send confetti tens of meters into 2nd storey windows. (we colour our faces via airbrush, and use markers only on exposed skin)

Speaking of exposed skin, some of those blokes might could be risking the worst sunburns of their lives.

[6] this advert version looks a bit different to your unscripted clip: "are you getting enough?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQBc2dmUiHs

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RShAxvg5MJE

[8] see Schroeder, Fractals, chaos, power laws : minutes from an infinite paradise (1999) for why.

Re: Jeff Lawson buys The Onion

#300

Post by difficil »

runarberg wrote: post #270
pc86 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the risk of engaging in what I'm sure will be a very even-headed and reasonable dialogue, I can think of a handful of things that the moderate American left would do / agree on that the more extreme elements would not. And just because you have to bend over backwards to avoid getting shadowbanned or flagged for even mentioning any of these, I'm not telling anyone where I stand on any of these things. Some I agree…

As a person firmly in the American political left, I have to disagree with all but one of those (point 6 holds true). 1. If you don’t want Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza to stop, you are not a leftist. 2. If you don’t want trans children to get correct healthcare, you are not a leftist. 3. If you want to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, you are not a leftist. 4. If you don’t want to fix the gender wage gap, y…

One problem with this perspective is that the American left has adopted some views that a real leftist would have some disagreement with.

Point 1 is picking a side in an ongoing war in which both side have committed many atrocities. A real leftist would acknowledge this and seek an end to the conflict in solidarity with the victims on both sides. And consider that for a war that is mostly led by groups of aggressive men, the main victims of this are women and children.

Point 2 should be considered in the context of for-profit healthcare providers and their aim of maximising profit and creating repeat customers. There is a huge conflict of interest with many of those promoting their particular idea of "correct healthcare", as they profit off it. A real leftist would give much critical consideration to the capitalist and consumerist nature of the cosmetic surgeries and pharmaceutical interventions that are used in an attempt to make individuals appear to be the opposite sex.

Point 3 is something real leftists certainly do agree on but also to acknowledge there is a conflict of rights when it comes to single-sex spaces, and that it's important to listen to left-wing feminist voices on this topic rather than cede the discussion to meet the demands of males who desire to use female spaces.

Points 4, 5 and 6 do match up with the views of real leftists.

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