MetaFilter

How Fox News Gets Ratings

Move over Janet Jackson and CBS, here comes Fox News with the "full plow!" Descending to the depths and pushing the envelope for what constitutes "news," Rupert should be in for much larger fines than the little Super Bowl fiasco. Its good to see the mouthpiece for the Morality Party being bold enough to do what it takes to attract their demographic audience. (NSFW, but fine for broadcast television)
comment posted at 7:13 PM on Jul-1-04

"Lift the handset and dial a number to be transported to another place." [via MonkeyFilter]
comment posted at 8:21 PM on Jun-29-04
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comment posted at 9:11 PM on Jun-29-04

Policing Virtual Reality. Wired reports on Sociolotron(NSFW). A MMORPG that allows gamers to rob, rape, and kill other players. Being a gamer, I understand that actions in an MMORPG aren't "real" but how far can you take it?

"Lord Foucault is an admitted rapist. He does it on impulse -- for the thrill of it and for the feeling of control he has over his female victims." Is this any different than running around and killing dwarves?
comment posted at 7:10 PM on Jun-29-04
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comment posted at 3:59 PM on Jul-1-04
comment posted at 11:04 AM on Jul-3-04

Army to recall former military members It is good to be too old! "The Army is preparing to notify about 5,600 retired and discharged soldiers who are not members of the National Guard or Reserve that they will be involuntarily recalled to active duty for possible service in Iraq or Afghanistan, Army officials said Tuesday."
comment posted at 7:21 PM on Jun-29-04

Chocolate dipped pork fat is now on the menu in one of the Ukraine's trendiest restaurants. Because regular pork fat isn't chocolately enough.
comment posted at 3:43 AM on Jun-23-04
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comment posted at 7:51 AM on Jun-23-04

Let's say that you have a cell phone, and you need to sound as if you're somewhere else, or you need to get the long-winded person you're talking with off the phone.
comment posted at 1:12 AM on Jun-23-04

Michael Moore, or Michael snore? (I am so funny its almost pointless) Are people judging a film before it is seen? Is our nation so solidified on partisan ideals that our own political idealogies only want to oppose the "other side"?
comment posted at 7:07 AM on Jun-22-04

Pentagon officials tell NBC News that late last year, at the same time U.S. military police were allegedly abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered that one Iraqi prisoner be held “off the books” — hidden entirely from the International Red Cross and anyone else — in possible violation of international law.
comment posted at 10:15 AM on Jun-17-04
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comment posted at 2:53 PM on Jun-17-04

Doctors refuse laywers. So your last client managed to get restitution from that quack who left the clamp in her abdomen, just in time to pay for your daughter's delivery. Good luck finding an OB. Or perhaps your husband works for a law firm. Good luck with that nursing job. Maybe you're a neurosurgeon making less take-home than your insurance premiums. What are you going to say to the next ambulance chaser with migrane trouble? The war between the two solitudes could start racking up a real body-count.
comment posted at 8:57 AM on Jun-17-04

You Too Can Profit From The War on Terra "You’d think with both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars well under way and with the war on terrorism being more than two years old that the share price of any bullet proof vest manufacturer would be fully valued. Not so! The company that manufactures the amazing life saving bullet proof vests that Sgt. Travis L. McKinney wrote to from the Iraq front line is not only undervalued but is a screaming takeover candidate that is poised to enjoy an up to 450% increase in its stock price." Operators are standing by...
comment posted at 3:04 PM on Jun-16-04

The spite factor - Or, why Democrats are in danger of losing their wonderful, angry momentum.
comment posted at 11:30 AM on Jun-16-04

Winning hearts and minds in Iraq (or anywhere else, for that matter)? Not really. Check this U.S.-sponsored poll, then pray and hope for the best.
comment posted at 9:38 AM on Jun-16-04
comment posted at 11:51 AM on Jun-16-04

AP reports that Michael Moore's upcoming film "Fahrenheit 9/11" was given an 'R' rating today by the MPAA. The same MPAA that says violence is much more acceptable than sex. The same MPAA that has close ties to the FCC, running roughshod over First Ammendment freedoms. The same MPAA headed by Jack Valenti who played himself in Freakazoid! a cooky cartoon about superheroes that save Washington D.C. Email him if you disagree at jvalenti@mpaa.org or call the MPAA 818-995-6600 x396.
comment posted at 6:27 PM on Jun-14-04
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comment posted at 10:13 AM on Jun-15-04

The Allen Plan --a very interesting alternative to the possible coming draft. Makes perfect sense to me.
comment posted at 6:02 PM on Jun-14-04
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comment posted at 6:48 PM on Jun-14-04
comment posted at 8:14 PM on Jun-14-04

Secret world of US jails The United States government, in conjunction with key allies, is running an 'invisible' network of prisons and detention centres into which thousands of suspects have disappeared without trace since the 'war on terror' began. In the past three years, thousands of alleged militants have been transferred around the world by American, Arab and Far Eastern security services, often in secret operations that by-pass extradition laws. The astonishing traffic has seen many, including British citizens, sent from the West to countries where they can be tortured to extract information. Anything learnt is passed on to the US and, in some cases, reaches British intelligence.
comment posted at 3:36 PM on Jun-14-04
comment posted at 5:53 PM on Jun-14-04

The Supreme Court ruled today that Michael Newdow did not have standing to sue on behalf of his daughter in challenging the recitation of the pledge in a public school classroom in California.
comment posted at 12:24 PM on Jun-14-04
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comment posted at 2:58 PM on Jun-14-04
comment posted at 5:59 PM on Jun-14-04

Mutilation of victims and Muslim law The ruling by Sheik Omar Abdullah Hassan al-Shehabi specifies two circumstances in which the desecration of an infidel -- a non-Muslim -- is permitted. One is retaliation "when the enemy is disfiguring Muslim corpses or when it otherwise serves the Islamic nation." The other is when mutilation will "terrorize the enemy" or "gladden the heart of a Muslim warrior."
comment posted at 11:41 AM on Jun-13-04

So, you want some hot mp3's? Well, this is the place (Russian, but English cookie-set option in top-left). Huge repositories of legal music, yours to download for only $0.01/Mb! If that's not enough, they'll even serve it up to you in any format or bitrate you require (MP3, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMV). Add on to that the fact there's no DRM built into the files downloaded, and the option to pay with Paypal is a nice touch too. So, I ask you, MetaFilter, what is the catch?
comment posted at 7:11 PM on Jun-10-04
comment posted at 9:07 AM on Jun-11-04

Bush has a new running mate: Zombie Reagan. From the FAQ: What are some other advanatages of adding Zombie Reagan to the ticket? He will demonstrate America's resolve to continue the battle against terrorism. Instead of retreating to an undisclosed location, for instance, Zombie Reagan will be on the front lines, eating illegal combatants.
comment posted at 1:56 PM on Jun-9-04

"A reversal of soldiers' fortunes" describes how the first solider to be court-martialed for Abu Ghraib is greeted as a hero, while the soldier who brought these activites to light is treated as a villain.
comment posted at 11:22 AM on May-24-04
comment posted at 12:24 PM on May-24-04