Two years as a professional writer and she has the cover story in The New York Times Sunday Magazine. How will she ever recover from the damage blogging has wrought.

Feh.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:20 AM on May 22, 2008

If it fails to rise, do I need a little blue pill?
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:11 AM on April 4, 2008

The point of the article is that the notorious Abu Ghraib photographs did not document rogue soldiers' excesses, as the administration has claimed, and as the media has largely reported.

In fact, the photos were windows into the official U.S. policy, documenting some of the mandated, routine torture of prisoners suspected of possessing actionable intelligence, the article says.

No article I have read in the mainstream American press has put it... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 5:42 PM on March 20, 2008

The story speculates that she started to take pictures as a way to try to distance herself from what was happening. As Sy Hersh has written, other soldiers that did the chain-of-command thing to try to stop the torture got ignored, or cashiered.

Her personal story reminds me of nothing more than the Vietnam stories about the small town boys turned GIs who want crazy behind the razor wire waiting, as the booby traps and the snipers turned their friends into corpses.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 6:49 AM on March 21, 2008

.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 10:10 PM on March 18, 2008

Ow.

That is all.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 5:45 AM on February 14, 2008

So, is Men's Vogue going to have lots of these how-to articles? Like, "How to seduce your kids' nanny and screw your wife on the settlement while sculpting fantastic washboard abs"?

Cause that's a magazine I would totally subscribe to.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 1:19 PM on January 25, 2008

The only link above that's been offered previously is the original newspaper story, included here for the backtracking convenience of those who did not catch the original thread on Monday.

To me, the original story, which sparked the original thread, was appalling. But what people did afterward? I don't know if it's "Best of the web," but it surely is an interesting example of the web at work.

But if it's to be deleted, then aw, shucks.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 9:51 PM on November 15, 2007

Survey says: BZZZZZZT.

Hang this next to "monkeyfishing" in the Hoax Hall of Shame.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 12:37 PM on November 15, 2007

Ooo, I always wondered what a mashup of Veggie Tales and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" would look like.

Yep, you have to wonder what audience would pay to see this. There's a reason, maybe, movies are made with teams. "Great animation! The characters ... not so much."
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 2:37 PM on November 14, 2007

Blogs are engaging in journalism. Reporters are engaging in stenography.

People who talk like this, in my experience, don't know any reporters.

So the blogs are the future, hey? Aw, bullshit. Blogs can do connecting-the-dots type analysis, and sometimes come up with interesting insights (how come all these Attorneys General who declined to prosecute Democrats got fired?). Blogs can also fact-check claims with massed attention... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 2:10 PM on November 14, 2007

There may be something about the Iraq war that is messing up soldiers' heads worse than previous wars.

“We’re beginning to see, across the country, the first trickle of this generation of warriors in homeless shelters,” said Phil Landis, chairman of Veterans Village of San Diego, a residence and counseling center. “But we anticipate that it’s going to be a tsunami.”

The U.S. Army's own report has nearly 1-in-3 returning soldiers admitting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:19 AM on November 12, 2007

I'm as tired of Security Kabuki as anybody, but this sounds like BS to me.

All Mr Joel L. Merchant would have had to do, to be a good citizen, was to include the date and time of the train on his post. Amtrak would have done the rest.

A poster on Schneider's blog said they'd contacted him to ask for more info. So far, no good.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 5:37 PM on November 8, 2007

Dammit. Not panacea. Placebo is the right word.

That is, in the articles there is some dispute whether the reported salutary effects have a physiological foundation, or should be ascribed to the power of suggestion.

Hope me, mods?
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 2:00 PM on October 30, 2007

I was thinking, "There's no way the story can back up that headline."

I was wrong.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 12:24 PM on October 23, 2007

Heh. The U.S. Army wouldn't even fill out a form for a finger. You get pissed and pop a few Iraquis, they send sonebody by later with $1,000 to say sorry, maybe.

An investigation? Puh-leeze.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:45 AM on September 12, 2007

When they kick in your front door, how you gonna come?
With your hands on your head, or on the trigger of your gun?

God save the Queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-Bomb

The preacher asked her, and she said "I do"
The preacher asked me, and she said, "He does too"
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 12:11 PM on September 7, 2007

I missed the announcement back in April -- could someone smarter than me elucidate the "### 30 ###" comments?

Smarts got nothing to do with it.

It's how newspaper reporters ended their stories when they typed them on typewriters - a note so editors wouldn't worry that the last page of manuscript was misplaced. It's a carry-over from telegraph-era transmissions, when you would want to signal that you were done... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:28 AM on July 5, 2007

If his blind, fumbling arrogance as a blogger is at all reflective on his professional attitudes and decisionmaking as a doctor, maybe his blog really was relevant. As "flea" himself said, he was instructed that the malpractice jury would make its decision based on its perception of his character.

If the jury was going to find him a stupid, preening asshole, no wonder he settled.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 11:21 AM on May 31, 2007

You want to rage about prosecutorial misconduct, how about some cases where the death penalty was the grand prize?
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 6:00 AM on May 29, 2007

Thanks, Professor Lamewad.

I feel for the guy. I teach at a New York State university, and I find students who have picked up hip-hop culture (mainly white but some blacks, Asians, Latinos) to be huge energy sinks as students.

That is, they not only aren't that interested in learning, they disparage the strivings of other students. Laughing at suggestions that they might do something that takes energy, that takes stepping... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 6:17 AM on May 22, 2007

"High school kids are indeed more accomplished and impressive than ever."

I must object.

Maybe the top layer are. But a vast number are being underserved by a high school culture that sees itself as supporting college applications as much as actually ensuring kids learn.

Half of the kids who walk into my classroom at Big State U. have appalling language skills and work habits. And they're signing up for an... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 11:13 AM on May 17, 2007

Gassed by your own guys. Sheesh.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:14 AM on May 17, 2007

.

### 30 ###
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:17 PM on April 23, 2007

*
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 9:51 PM on April 11, 2007

IIRC Lee Ermey also thought it was balls, and threw his lines out and made up his own.

Hasford detested Emery, but most of the drill instructor's rants are straight from Hasford's manuscript. Emery did add some memorable expletives and recruit-abuses.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 9:23 PM on April 2, 2007

"Insane fight scene." That guy sure is hell on windshields.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 7:59 PM on March 30, 2007

These ain't truckers.

Oh. What everybody else said. Delete me now pls.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:10 AM on March 28, 2007

The good thing about NSFW is that it says STOP to workplace surfers. It's an easy warning sign to erect, and as easy to recognize as a red octagon.

Not every content creator has the patience to carefully limn the degree of skin or blood or ick. And not everyone will see a pink trapezoid and immediately get the sign's message.

At work, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Besides, heck, I always thought NSFW drove UP... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 11:01 AM on March 27, 2007

Fie on the whole Fight Club scene here. Never had to fight myself. Was I just lucky? Did I win lifetime fight Lotto?

I don't think so. I will tell my son that the goal is recognizing what's going on and doing what it takes to avoid a fight. That includes walking away from people who are trying to bully you.

To me, it's better to walk away even through the jeers and even thrown beers of a crowd than imagine fists are the way to go.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 10:30 PM on March 16, 2007

At this point instead of debating how much is enough and how do we define defeat, Americans might do well to hear a voice from Baghdad - one of the people the U.S. is trying to help:

... as the situation continues to deteriorate both for Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq, and for Americans inside Iraq, Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse.

Let... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 4:49 PM on March 16, 2007

Jesus-Fucking-Christ-on-a-Crutch-Eating-a-Roasted-Declawed-Cat-on-a-Stick-While-Quoting-Richard-Dawkins

Now you've gone and made me hungry.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 12:09 PM on March 15, 2007

Abstract, hell. That there is extremely, um, representational. As the Fark cats would say.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 3:20 PM on January 22, 2007

137 sacrebleu 10,252 +0 hours

Played through to level 30 and killed 'em all - no earth towers and spent the last three levels adding clusters of fire and water towers as fast as I could, upgrading them up as I went and adding more.

Got the cash to do it by using wood for fire, interest, interest, water.

I'm glad I got through or I would surely have lost a night to this sticky little beastie. More!
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 5:55 PM on January 9, 2007

Great story. That writer is a freak. Inspiring. Thanks.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 9:18 AM on December 21, 2006

Oh, my wife is gonna hear about this. And she said all these hours spent on teh Interweb was a waste of time ...

PERSON OF THE YEAR, biatch!

... Clearly TIME must retire the meme, as they have proven the cannot be bothered to carry out its primary, threshhold reson for existence: focus.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 11:27 PM on December 16, 2006

Hey, just because you're bloated, male and English doesn't mean you can't channel Ann Coulter.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 11:08 AM on December 12, 2006

Hell has a new attraction.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 6:42 PM on December 10, 2006

Great story. Thanks.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:05 AM on December 5, 2006

A story about the only anonymous Pulitzer in history is a mystery worth reading. Divining anti-Iranian agitation intent into the story is an iffy proposition at best.

Who made this story happen? The guy who pulled the trigger on this story was the photog. He lives in Iran. To the extent that his decades-old pictures make the Iranian government look bad, he's the guy who's going to pay the freight. He decided to take credit for a remarkable piece of journalism others have... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 11:55 AM on December 5, 2006

If anything good came come out of this, hopefully it's rolling back all of the damage done to the Constitution over the past 4 years. And how about some damn trials for the captives in Gitmo already.

Without a veto-proof majority, this might never get beyond wishful thinking.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 1:18 PM on November 9, 2006

What a fantastically effective act 9/11 was. If the idea was to fracture the United States and weaken it from the inside, you have to appreciate the genius who came up with the plan. It was a masterstroke, and has done exactly what it was intended to do: bring the US to its knees.

But Osama had no chance to succeed without his inside team, the secret al Qaida enablers: Richard Cheney and George W. Bush.

Without them, the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 6:55 PM on September 29, 2006

I will unite behind President Bush when:

1. his people stop accusing me of aiding the terrorists
2. he states that invading Iraq was a terrible mistake
4. he agrees that the U.S. Bill of Rights – written while a large percentage of proto-Americans were in daily danger of being murdered, raped and scalped by Native American terrorists – does not need to be gutted for our safety, and that we do not need to make of our President a King.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 12:09 PM on September 12, 2006

CNN luuuuurves them some 9/11 porn.

Did you catch the SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE GROUNDBREAKING REPORT last week on this guy named Osama bin Laden? Supposedly he's our enemy and stuff.

Funny, I never hear our President talk about him. But if his raggedy ass is in Baghdad right now he's toast! God bless America.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 5:53 PM on August 25, 2006

The Pakistani secret police tortured a guy in Pakistan who screamed out enough stuff to roll up the dudes they'd been watching in England. We've seen this movie before.

No airline tickets purchased by these guys at all. Some didn't even have passports. Given all the information we know now, there's a good chance there was no real live plot at all - just a guy with alligator clips on his scrotum who would say anything at all to make it stop.

Like... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 7:27 PM on August 17, 2006

Read it. Great example of an article that tries to get by on loopy writing (Too cool for you to understand!) when it doesn't have the facts and reporting to form the foundation of a solid story.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 12:07 PM on July 25, 2006

New Hampshire's state liquor stores are definitely not designed to cut down on drinking

My favorite was always the one right on the Interstate-93. With all the vending machines outside selling any mixer you could think of. That really put the high in highway.

No lime wedges, though.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 8:25 AM on July 12, 2006

Who gives a shit if "some" Polish Jews were soft on the Red Menace. Even if it was true, it's completely irrelevant to Poles murdering their Jewish neighbors and stealing their land.

It's murderers looking to camouflage their motive, that's all. Simply "killing someone for their stuff" doesn't have the same fiery emotional appeal, shouted out before the rabble.

As clearly proven in the linkage, people with a motive will grasp... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 7:25 PM on June 25, 2006

So what's that batter made of? It looks ... yellow.
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 4:09 PM on June 25, 2006

More? More! I need MORE!
posted to MetaFilter by sacre_bleu at 10:44 AM on June 25, 2006