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When reality reflects The Onion (redux)

ggw
Joined: December 16, 2001 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 14237
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 06, 2014 at 06:50 PM UTC #


In the years after the 9/11 attacks the Central Intelligence Agency searched for novel ways to combat the threat of international terrorism. Some were more novel than others, and none more so than the agency?s partnership with Don Levine, the retired head of research and development at the toy company Hasbro and the creator of G.I. Joe.

To win the hearts and minds of impressionable children in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mr. Levine was asked to take part in an ?influence operation.? His mission: to develop an Osama bin Laden action figure that projected a negative image of the world?s most wanted terrorist.

The doll, 12 inches tall, presents bin Laden in a white turban, a white four-button robe over a white four-button tunic, off-white pants, and black boots. There are two heads. One shows bin Laden with a stern expression but normal features and skin color. A second head has a demonic red face with black markings and piercing green eyes. The final product would have incorporated both faces in one head, with the first face peeling back to reveal the Satanic bin Laden beneath.

RatBastard
Joined: January 07, 2003 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 2955
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 06, 2014 at 07:08 PM UTC #
Julian, wrote:
RatBastard wrote:
Here is a question for you.  In VA, if an election is decided by ½% or less, the state will pay for a recount if requested by the potential losing candidate.  That number would be roughly 11,000 votes in this election.  With the difference being 16,727 as of the latest tally, it seems unlikely that Gillespie could catch Warner.  However, it is not far fetched to think he can close to within the 11,000 or so to qualify for a state funded recount.  If the count does end up with a difference should the potential loser (probably Gillespie) request a state funded recount?

Correction, the criteria for a recount at state cost is slightly different from what I suggested above (although looking back my previous statement was ambiguous).  It is not ½% of the total votes cast in the election for that office, it is ½% of the votes cast for the candidate involved in the recount.  There are actually three criteria where the recount is state funded…

>> The candidate challenging the results is declared the winner after the recount.
>> The petitioners in a recount of a referendum win the recount.
>> The final margin between the candidate challenging and the candidate winning the recount is not more than 1/2 of 1% of the total votes cast for the two candidates prior to the recount.

Details can be seen at http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/politics/elections/2013/11/06/how-a-recount-works-in-virginia/14835662/
Didn't an election fall just inside the 1/2% margin recently in Virginia and the loser conceeded because he did not want the state to pay for it? Its too early in the morning for me to remember who it was, though.


That may well be.  I do not particularly remember this but it could be.
RatBastard
Joined: January 07, 2003 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 2955
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 06, 2014 at 07:09 PM UTC #
MDR-7506notBeats wrote:
Julian, wrote:
RatBastard wrote:
Here is a question for you.  In VA, if an election is decided by ½% or less, the state will pay for a recount if requested by the potential losing candidate.  That number would be roughly 11,000 votes in this election.  With the difference being 16,727 as of the latest tally, it seems unlikely that Gillespie could catch Warner.  However, it is not far fetched to think he can close to within the 11,000 or so to qualify for a state funded recount.  If the count does end up with a difference should the potential loser (probably Gillespie) request a state funded recount?

Correction, the criteria for a recount at state cost is slightly different from what I suggested above (although looking back my previous statement was ambiguous).  It is not ½% of the total votes cast in the election for that office, it is ½% of the votes cast for the candidate involved in the recount.  There are actually three criteria where the recount is state funded…

>> The candidate challenging the results is declared the winner after the recount.
>> The petitioners in a recount of a referendum win the recount.
>> The final margin between the candidate challenging and the candidate winning the recount is not more than 1/2 of 1% of the total votes cast for the two candidates prior to the recount.

Details can be seen at http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/politics/elections/2013/11/06/how-a-recount-works-in-virginia/14835662/
Didn't an election fall just inside the 1/2% margin recently in Virginia and the loser conceeded because he did not want the state to pay for it? Its too early in the morning for me to remember who it was, though.


Gillespie will pay for nothing out of his own well-lined pocket. If not the state then his partners in crime.


Yeah and all other candidates pay their campaign expenses 100% from their personal resources.  How dare Gillespie not foot his own bill!
Rogue Riderhood
Joined: Unknown
Posts: 0
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 13, 2014 at 11:05 PM UTC #
www.spin.com/articles/ne-yo-woman-brain-remove-seizure/
"Woman Has Seizures Upon Hearing Ne-Yo, Gets Part of Her Brain Removed to Fix It"
Maybe you've joked about undergoing elective surgery to get a song out of your head (most recent examples include "Too Many Cooks" and 2012's inescapable "Call Me Maybe"), but Zoey Fennessy, who has seizures whenever she hears any Ne-Yo track, has actually done it. Yes, Fennessey ? who freezes and starts vomiting whenever she hears Ne-Yo (trying like hell to stifle jokes here) ? underwent brain surgery to alleviate her symptoms.

The 26-year-old, who suffers from a rare illness called musicogenic epilepsy and doesn't even dislike Ne-Yo, recently tried to explain her medical phenomenon to the Daily Mail: "[Doctors] are saying it could possibly be something in the tone of his voice, something like that, but it doesn't happen when I hear Usher, or people like him who have a very similar sound," she said. "It is only him, only Ne-Yo."

To help cure her symptoms, doctors removed part of Fennessy's left temporal lobe, which she says has helped to an extent, but she still suffers from seizures when Ne-Yo comes on. Ugh, this is just "So Wrong," Ne-Yo. We're not in any way "Jealous." You're making a woman "So Sick." And it's all "Because of You."
beetsnotbeats
Joined: April 26, 2002 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 5756
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 14, 2014 at 01:57 AM UTC #
I guess her risk assessment skills were also impaired. Brain surgery vs. not listening to Ne-Yo. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
grateful
Joined: October 15, 2008 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 11564
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 14, 2014 at 01:58 PM UTC #
MDR-7506notBeats wrote:
I guess her risk assessment skills were also impaired. Brain surgery vs. not listening to Ne-Yo. Seems like a no-brainer to me.


POTW!
Sidehatch
Joined: October 04, 2011 at 04:33 AM UTC
Posts: 25687
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 14, 2014 at 03:14 PM UTC #
looks like she went with the Less-brainer approach
sweetcell
Joined: July 18, 2006 at 05:01 AM UTC
Posts: 22608
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) November 14, 2014 at 09:07 PM UTC #
MDR-7506notBeats wrote:
Seems like a no-brainer to me.

indeed.  or a half-brainer, at least. 

edit: sidey beat me to it, sorta.
Sidehatch
Joined: October 04, 2011 at 04:33 AM UTC
Posts: 25687
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) December 09, 2014 at 07:16 PM UTC #
I guess in good news they  fixed it
although they don't put a price on it's current value, but just to be safe it's behind a thin layer of glass
i am gay and i like cats
Joined: Unknown
Posts: 0
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) December 10, 2014 at 12:14 AM UTC #
What would you rather see on any street of any major city?
ggw
Joined: December 16, 2001 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 14237
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) December 10, 2014 at 12:32 AM UTC #
So the official blog of gentrifying hipsters is complaining about the gentrification of a hipster neighborhood?  Now that's META.
jrpa
Joined: September 03, 2013 at 03:15 PM UTC
Posts: 29999
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) December 10, 2014 at 12:34 AM UTC #
ggw wrote:
So the official blog of gentrifying hipsters is complaining about the gentrification of a hipster neighborhood?  Now that's META.
Yeah, see! Someone gets how you use META. Only took a year.
RatBastard
Joined: January 07, 2003 at 06:01 AM UTC
Posts: 2955
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) December 10, 2014 at 10:16 AM UTC #
Julian, wrote:
ggw wrote:
So the official blog of gentrifying hipsters is complaining about the gentrification of a hipster neighborhood?  Now that's META.
Yeah, see! Someone gets how you use META. Only took a year.


And it only took a year for the term to be used correctly anywhere ion these forums, even in the title of threads.
jrpa
Joined: September 03, 2013 at 03:15 PM UTC
Posts: 29999
Re: When reality reflects The Onion (redux) December 10, 2014 at 02:21 PM UTC #
RatBastard wrote:
Julian, wrote:
ggw wrote:
So the official blog of gentrifying hipsters is complaining about the gentrification of a hipster neighborhood?  Now that's META.
Yeah, see! Someone gets how you use META. Only took a year.


And it only took a year for the term to be used correctly anywhere ion these forums, even in the title of threads.
How has my use of it been incorrect?
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