Salon.com > Ethan Sherwood Strauss http://www.salon.com Mon, 28 May 2012 15:05:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Best of the CIA: Charlie, the robot fish http://www.salon.com/2011/02/07/cia_youtube_channel_video_fish/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/07/cia_youtube_channel_video_fish/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/07/cia_youtube_channel_video_fish The Central Intelligence Agency is releasing unintentional comedy via YouTube. Though taking the media-savvy lead of the Obama White House, a YouTube channel seems like an odd choice for the secretive set, but every organization likes to show off, I suppose. Here are some highlights:

Hanging out with a smiling android fish with elevator music in the background -- the novelty value could be high on this one. All hail James Pond. 

 Hey, do you want to know how to become a ''CIA canine''? These talking dogs are happy to clue you in!

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/07/cia_youtube_channel_video_fish/feed/ 3 Foundation cancels on Sarah Palin http://www.salon.com/2011/02/07/sarah_palin_fundraiser/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/07/sarah_palin_fundraiser/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:27:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/07/sarah_palin_fundraiser The Denver Post reports that The Sharon K. Pacheco Foundation rescinded an invitation for Sarah Palin to make a guest speech in May. Pacheco is an apolitical non-profit, designed to help military families and at-risk youth. So, in a political vacuum, Sarah may have seemed like a good choice because she's a famous face with a serving son.

But, the organization may have gotten more than it bargained for. Fame has come with a price for the polarizing Palin. She's equal parts loved and hated, and Pacheco perhaps decided that benefiting from the former was not worth incurring the latter. The foundation noted that: ''no direct threats have been made against anyone, but the recent increase in negative rhetoric against the former Alaska governor raises concern for her safety and the safety of others.''

Regardless of their motives, this frees Palin up for what should be a massively entertaining May 2nd NBC/Politico Republican presidential candidates debate.

 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/07/sarah_palin_fundraiser/feed/ 35 Obama vs. O’Reilly http://www.salon.com/2011/02/06/o_reilly_obama_interview_fox/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/06/o_reilly_obama_interview_fox/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 22:07:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/06/o_reilly_obama_interview_fox Bill O'Reilly sat down with President Barack Obama just before the White House Super Bowl bonanza. On the whole, the conservative pundit and liberal hero seemed to -- wait for it -- get along really well. Topics ranged from Egypt to tax cuts to political persuasions. Frankly, nothing earth shattering happened so we've keep this round up brief and posted the interview in full at the bottom.

On Egypt:

O'Reilly: "Mubarak, is he gonna' leave soon?"

Obama: "Egypt is not gonna' go back to what it was. The Egyptian people want freedom"

O'Reilly (when announcing his suspicions regarding the Egyptian revolt): "Mubarak knows a lot of bad things about the United States. I’m sure you’re aware of that… Those are tough boys, that Muslim Brotherhood."

On tax cuts:

O'Reilly: "Are you a man that wants to redestribute wealth?"
Obama: "Absolutely not."

 On political persuasions:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/06/o_reilly_obama_interview_fox/feed/ 55 The Super Bowl’s most memorable ads http://www.salon.com/2011/02/06/super_bowl_commercials/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/06/super_bowl_commercials/#comments Sun, 06 Feb 2011 09:07:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/06/super_bowl_commercials We've culled the most eye-catching commercials from this year's Super Bowl -- including some spots that went viral long before they hit the TV screen. Check them out below. 

Volkswagen: The viral superstar of the pre-Super Bowl hype. A small child tries to use the force on a car that fights back.

GroupOn awkwardly makes light of Tibetan plight, via Timmy Hutton.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/06/super_bowl_commercials/feed/ 33 The Daily whoa? http://www.salon.com/2011/02/03/the_daily_murdoch/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/03/the_daily_murdoch/#comments Thu, 03 Feb 2011 03:03:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/02/the_daily_murdoch As Rupert Murdoch unleashes his digital, iPad-specific newspaper, he does so to a receptive peanut gallery. With the product selling for 99 cents per week, $39.99 a year, it has potential to economically alter our little industry's fate. And we, the media, love to navel-gaze our own future. Promise the moon and we'll all grab telescopes in a gunslinger's blur. The scribe's zeal to look forward is informed by an uncertain, desperate present.

(Will The Daily make me obsolete? Will The Daily pay my mortgage?)

(Who am I kidding, will The Daily pay my rent -- for the hole I'm renting from toothless glue addicts?)

The reviews -- as the cliché goes -- have been mixed:

  • Huffington Post's Larry Magid is hardly a fan, citing a "yesterday's news" problem that plagues dead tree screeds.
  • Jack Shafer: ''I'd say that The Daily is more about establishing a new business model, with an efficient pay wall, than embracing a new medium.''

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/03/the_daily_murdoch/feed/ 33 Chromium primer: How your drinking water may cause cancer thanks to coal http://www.salon.com/2011/02/01/coal_ash_epa_hexavalent_chromium/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/01/coal_ash_epa_hexavalent_chromium/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:12:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/01/coal_ash_epa_hexavalent_chromium As House Republicans move to restrict the EPA, hexavalent chromium -- of Erin Brockovich infamy -- is trickling back onto the scene. The drinking-water pollutant has been found in three Pennsylvania coal sites, according to a report by environmental watchdog EarthJustice. The organization lauds EPA goals, but argues that the agency is underreaching on this particular issue:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/01/coal_ash_epa_hexavalent_chromium/feed/ 10 Mubarak speaks of stepping down, then steps away from blame http://www.salon.com/2011/02/01/mubarak_egypt_speech/ http://www.salon.com/2011/02/01/mubarak_egypt_speech/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:53:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/02/01/mubarak_egypt_speech An hour before midnight, Egypt's state television network aired a recorded speech by President Hosni Mubarak. The millions outside his door waited -- as did hundreds of millions around the world -- for his response to what many have called a revolution.

Though Mubarak spoke in Arabic, he used familiar (translated) language:

I will be judged by history, by my merits and demerits.

This stubborn trope knows no borders. Ah yes, history will save Mubarak when his own people won't. History will look back on the torture, repression and desperate Internet scrapping with doe-eyed fondness.

The president depicted Egypt as a land overrun by political manipulation. He lamented the fear felt by average Egyptians at the hands of the chaos-makers. He catered to a silent majority that, based on the news coverage, is likely a slim sliver of a silent minority. An appeal "to immediately ... identify and arrest the outlaws who perpetrated the mayhem" probably won him a few supporters among the throbbing Cairo throng.

Finally, after the waiting and the defiant part of the rant, Mubarak announced that he would step down at term's end, which is what he'd been planning to do anyway.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/02/01/mubarak_egypt_speech/feed/ 8 Twitter, the athlete killer http://www.salon.com/2011/01/31/athlete_twitter_cutler/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/31/athlete_twitter_cutler/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:05:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/31/athlete_twitter_cutler On Howard Kurtz's "Reliable Sources," Jason Whitlock announced a new era. In the columnist's opinion, social media flash mobs are tearing athlete reputations asunder in a manner that scoffs at precedent. Considering what happened to Jay Cutler and LeBron James, I'm buying this theory. For many unfortunate jocks, Twitter converts hatred into a billowing cultural meme.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/31/athlete_twitter_cutler/feed/ 9 SNL: Michele Bachmann sequel http://www.salon.com/2011/01/30/bachmann_snl_wiig/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/30/bachmann_snl_wiig/#comments Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:31:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/30/bachmann_snl_wiig

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/30/bachmann_snl_wiig/feed/ 15 The NFL: An indictment of America http://www.salon.com/2011/01/30/nfl_painkillers_violence_cutler_roethlisberger/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/30/nfl_painkillers_violence_cutler_roethlisberger/#comments Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:03:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/2011/01/30/nfl_painkillers_violence_cutler_roethlisberger When ESPN commissioned a study that found incredible rates of painkiller addiction among NFL players, a nation of burrowed ostriches shrugged their feathers.

True fans possess an enormous capacity to live through their football heroes, but they retain an even greater capacity to do so without empathy. Just last week, Bears quarterback Jay Culter was all but put in stocks for leaving a game due to a torn MCL. Fans burned his jersey as though Cutler “quit” out of feminine frailty, as though this professional QB had concocted some elaborate, cowardly, fan-jobbing conspiracy. The public violently, irrationally demands that a player play, even with knee ligaments dangling. No wonder so many of these athletes gobble painkillers in a manner that would trump a toilet-bound Elvis.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/30/nfl_painkillers_violence_cutler_roethlisberger/feed/ 87 Liveblog: Cairo erupts http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/egypt_blog/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/egypt_blog/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/29/egypt_blog 1/29

UPDATE (3:00 PM EST) Al Jazeera reports of looting in multiple Egyptian cities. The news organization also claims that one of its camera crews was mugged.

UPDATE (1:12 PM EST) From the annals of ironically humorous advice, John Kerry gives political pointers to Hosni Mubarak:

"I think he's got to speak more to the real issues that people feel,"

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi supports the uprising in Egypt, but wants everyone to know that Iran started all this.

UPDATE (1:01 PM EST) Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed Elbaradei just finished speaking on Al Jazeera, expressing displeasure over how the United States and other countries chose "the middle ground." He insists that Egypt cannot stand unless Mubarak steps down immediately.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/egypt_blog/feed/ 2 Brian Wilson is a sea man http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/brian_wilson_2/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/brian_wilson_2/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/29/brian_wilson When Brian Wilson made Salon's Men on Top 2010 list, the coolness bar was set higher than a giraffe on Mount Everest. But, he outdid himself by dressing as a sailor for no earthly reason. Kudos to the Giants closer for imbuing sports with some much needed humor and weirdness.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/brian_wilson_2/feed/ 14 From the Pundits: Egypt means what? http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/egypt_reactions_commentary_pundits/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/egypt_reactions_commentary_pundits/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/opinion//feature/2011/01/29/egypt_reactions_commentary_pundits As another Middle Eastern nation inverts its power structure, the West is left to ponder, conjure and hand-wring. What does this populist revolt mean? Is it good for America? Is Obama doing the right thing? The pundits shed light.

Marc Lynch likes Obama's Egypt policy so far:

I think the instant analysis badly misread his comments and the thrust of the administration's policy. His speech was actually pretty good, as is the rapidly evolving American policy. The administration, it seems to me, is trying hard to protect the protestors from an escalation of violent repression, giving Mubarak just enough rope to hang himself, while carefully preparing to ensure that a transition will go in the direction of a more democratic successor.

Tony Karon thinks that Obama is realistically suspicious of Egyptian democracy:

Democracy movements are attractive to Washington when they target a regime such as Iran's, but in allied autocracies, they're a problem. There's no way for Egypt to be democratic and exclude the Islamists from political participation. The same is true for most other parts of the Arab world

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/29/egypt_reactions_commentary_pundits/feed/ 24 Tracy Morgan objectifies Sarah Palin http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/tracy_morgan_palin/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/tracy_morgan_palin/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:28:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/27/tracy_morgan_palin I love the "NBA on TNT," and I love the unpredictability that comes with any live Tracy Morgan appearance. So I tuned in to the comedian's "Inside the NBA" cameo, smiling dimples into an un-dimpled face. After some riffing, TNT’s Kenny Smith asked the "30 Rock" star whom he preferred between Tina Fey and Sarah Palin.

Morgan: “I think Sarah Palin is good masturbation material! The glasses and all of that ... great masturbation material!”

The ebullient, gross response was met with childish giggles, nervous shifting, and co-host Ernie Johnson’s dyspeptic frown. Tracy had gone too far.

Kenny Smith was the one who objectified both Fey and Palin, though it was tacit and therefore OK. When Morgan brought the question to its natural conclusion, the comedian likely earned a life ban from TNT, and a bag full of frothing death threats. Had he simply chosen Fey, or Palin, the situation would have floated down the memory hole on a cloud of harmless jock cackles. Instead, Tracy’s unvarnished, lewd honesty revealed the unsavory nature of Kenny’s question line, and made Morgan a momentary pariah.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/tracy_morgan_palin/feed/ 133 Charlie Sheen hospitalized for being Charlie Sheen http://www.salon.com/2011/01/27/sheen_hospitalized/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/27/sheen_hospitalized/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:28:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/feature/2011/01/27/sheen_hospitalized Charlie Sheen has been rushed to the hospital with severe abdominal pains. The details are what you'd imagine. Partying. Porn star. Wine-stained shirt.

"He continues, however, to fulfill the terms of his contract with CBS."

And that’s why I’m fascinated by Charlie: Despite existing in a hellish fugue state, he doggedly commits to a muted self-portrayal. For years, Sheen's dined out on the sitcom version of a womanizing, hard-living lout. Pretend Charlie is a playful Bill Maher -- were Maher vacuous.

It turns out, Real Charlie is the caricature. Off set, Sheen is a sex-crazed whirlwind of a werewolf, torn asunder by what he mines for banal comic relief. His lascivious lifestyle has dark sides that network TV would sooner forget, facets that include domestic abuse allegations, overdoses and an assault conviction.

While most actors, comedians and pop stars exaggerate their personalities, this odd, depraved duck profits from selling what he tones down. Has there ever been an entertainment figure like this?

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/27/sheen_hospitalized/feed/ 18 NFL reaction: Quarterback morality http://www.salon.com/2011/01/24/nfl_conference_final/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/24/nfl_conference_final/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:25:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/opinion//feature/2011/01/24/nfl_conference_final Quarterbackbone?: Packers beat Bears

Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler had a bit of a loutish reputation that preceded his blowtorch arm. Then he led the Bears to this postseason, prompting Chicagoans to rally behind. Yesterday, he tweaked a knee, and slinked off the field. Mass "quitter!" accusations fueled an angry Chicago fire that set his jersey ablaze. It happens all the time: Fans abandon a losing athlete, then crave moral superiority to the guy they used to live through.

Chicago nearly came back by the grace of third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie, but his game-ending interception killed a cockle-warming narrative. Superstar Packers QB Aaron Rodgers had a mediocre day of it, so if he regresses to the mean two weeks from now, he'll be transcendent.

Big Ben ends it: Steelers beat Jets

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/24/nfl_conference_final/feed/ 29 Giffords, Palin and the blame game http://www.salon.com/2011/01/09/giffords_rundown/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/09/giffords_rundown/#comments Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:26:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/09/giffords_rundown The Gabrielle Giffords tragedy is not an opinion vacuum -- though some pundits are proceeding with extreme caution. Some progressive voices are pointing to rhetoric from the right over the past few years that, in their view, may have  encouraged the violence in Arizona. Conservatives are responding by arguing against "politicizing" Tucson. Here's a rundown of some of the most forceful commentary from the past 24 hours:

Paul Krugman of the New York Times urges politicians to take a stand against hate:

You know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear we’re going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And it’s long past time for the GOP’s leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/09/giffords_rundown/feed/ 171 The Gabrielle Giffords shooting (liveblog) http://www.salon.com/2011/01/08/us_congresswoman_shot/ http://www.salon.com/2011/01/08/us_congresswoman_shot/#comments Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:39:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/08/us_congresswoman_shot Updated EST 1:38 PM: Talking Points Memo reports that Loughner will be charged today.

Updated EST 1:23 PM: Anthony DeRosa of Reuters states via Twitter, that the FBI has confirmed the crime scene gun as a glock nine millimeter--the same type of magazine featured in Jared Loughner's MySpace photos.

----

1/8 Updates

Updated EST 8:34 PM: Sheriff Dupnik ends his press conference, emotionally decrying the political "vitriol" that may have in part fueled this tragedy. His final line is, "That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences.”

Updated EST 8:24 PM: Sheriff Dupnik says the suspected accomplice ("person of interest") is male, and possibly "in his 50's."

Updated EST 8:13 PM: Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik gives press conference, raises possibility that Loughner did not act alone. He also refers to Arizona as "a mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/01/08/us_congresswoman_shot/feed/ 268 Professional basketball’s new race debate http://www.salon.com/2010/11/26/race_in_basketball/ http://www.salon.com/2010/11/26/race_in_basketball/#comments Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:01:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2010/11/25/race_in_basketball As the great David Halberstam often observed, the racial politics of professional basketball have always been rather delicate. The sport, after all, sells the talents, style and power of mostly young black men to a largely white audience — and these uncomfortable racial dynamics have a tendency to bubble to the surface in strange ways. This summer, after LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami in a showy power grab, the move unleashed a tsunami of bile. According LeBron, the backlash was at least in part caused by the "race factor," and it spawned a heated debate about the role of racism in the NBA.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2010/11/26/race_in_basketball/feed/ 75 LeBron James “plays race card”: Pitchforks out! http://www.salon.com/2010/10/01/lebron_james_race_card/ http://www.salon.com/2010/10/01/lebron_james_race_card/#comments Fri, 01 Oct 2010 18:30:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/life//feature/2010/10/01/lebron_james_race_card As some may remember, LeBron James left one team for another in a move that enraged the masses. It led to criticism, torrents of rage, mob jersey burnings, and the "runaway slave" imbroglio. But race never plays a role in large emotional sociological events -- just as sarcasm never plays a role in this sentence. And now we have an aftershock controversy, stemming from LeBron's obvious answer to a yes/no question last night on CNN. Soledad O'Brien asked James:

O'BRIEN (on camera): Do you think there's a role that race plays in this?

JAMES: I think so at times. It's always, you know, a race factor.

Calling all pitchforks, calling all pitchforks! The criticism piled up, and quickly. A few highlights:

Shaun Powell of NBA.com: "My advice for LeBron? Don't cite race anymore, unless you can give examples or prove you possess the power to look into someone's soul, because the (white) fan doesn't want to hear it."

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