controversies

Foreigners Are Making American Money Without Speaking American!

Hamilton Nolan · 11/09/11 11:17AM

Just when you think that this is America and yew better speak American if you wanna live here because my daddy worked hard to support our family and I don't pay taxes to support a buncha Mescans sneaking over the border to steal my hard-earned dollars and date my daughter, you read something like this: foreigners are making good solid American dollars—millions of 'em!—without even talkin' English like a real human. Is this that "socialism" they're always talking about?

Christians Stink-Bomb Play That Features a Poop-Covered Jesus

Lauri Apple · 10/28/11 08:51AM

AFP tells us that Italian director Romeo Castellucci's production of the play On the Concept of the Face, Regarding the Son of God features the face of Jesus "drizzled in excrement." The Guardian explains the poop on Jesus' face comes from "an excremental stream pouring from his right eye-socket." Sounds a bit like an extreme version of a Gallagher show!

Stutterer Shut-Upper Professor: The Kid's a Mouthful

Hamilton Nolan · 10/14/11 08:30AM

Earlier this week, we told you about the case of Phillip Garber (seen in the video above), the precocious 16 year-old college student whose professor asked him not to speak in class because of his stuttering problem. Wholly predictable outrage ensued! Now, the professor is defending herself. Let's listen!

Arizona Town Hates Peace-Sign Park Bench

Lauri Apple · 10/14/11 07:59AM

Here's the director of parks and recreation in Prescott, Arizona (pink suit) telling college student/artistic person Kristin Anthony (brown-haired woman on the right) why she had to stop work on her senior project—a community park bench and mosaic created by park users under Anthony's supervision. It's because some of the symbols people have chosen to decorate the bench with are "un-traditional" and therefore unacceptable.

Should Sculptor Who Shot Dog 'for Art' Receive $750K in Public Funds?

Lauri Apple · 09/17/11 07:53PM

Back in 1977, Brooklyn-based artist Tom Otterness made a film of himself shooting and killing a dog he'd adopted from an animal shelter. It's art! But it's also evidence of an act of animal cruelty, which is why some San Francisco residents don't want Otterness to receive $750,000 in public funds to make statues for a local subway station.

'What I Saw Was Not a Penis. What I Saw Was Cancer'

Hamilton Nolan · 08/23/11 09:37AM

Phillip Seaton, the unlucky ducky whose bratwurst went bye-bye after his chopper doctor turned pecker wrecker, is finally having his day in court. Tell us, "Dr." John Patterson (pictured grinning with his high-priced attorney; do you find something funny, sir?), how did a simple circumcision become a member dismembering, leaving Phillip Seaton to wake up wangless without even a chance to bid tally-ho to his tallywhacker?

Americans Demand Everyone Always Carry Guns Everywhere

Hamilton Nolan · 08/01/11 10:38AM

Guns! Guns! We need more guns! We need more people carrying guns! We need more people carrying guns outside, in public, everywhere, constantly armed! What America needs are more armed citizens in public, ready to shoot!

Chicks on the Rag Ruin Hilarious Milk Campaign

Hamilton Nolan · 07/22/11 11:24AM

The people who sell milk (who ARE those people?) started an edgy and viral marketing campaign last month based on the scientific(?) fact that milk can help ease PMS symptoms in women. The edgy part was that the campaign was aimed at dudes, the ones who suffer most when chicks are on the rag! "Slip your bitch some milk," I think was the underlying message.

Bill Keller Orders Us to Discuss His Stupidity

Hamilton Nolan · 05/12/11 02:52PM

In your peerless Thursday media column: Bill Keller twit-muses, Jim Lehrer is leaving, a National Magazine Award is controversial, more on the NYT's Week in Review revamp, and the internet spawns another millionaire.

Louisiana Defends Its Confederate Flag From 'Revisionists'

Hamilton Nolan · 05/09/11 09:11AM

In Louisiana, a black man who was convicted for murder is seeking to overturn his conviction on several grounds, the most interesting of which is this: he contends that the fact that the Confederate flag flies in front of the courthouse where he was convicted is evidence of discrimination.

Salt: Not So Bad After All?

Hamilton Nolan · 05/04/11 10:17AM

For years, so-called "health experts" on the teevee have been saying "blah, blah, blah." That's really all we hear. We block that stuff out. But when we go back and watch the TiVo, they were saying "Stop eating so much salt, salt will kill you and give you a heart attack, just cut it with the salt, what are you a deer at a salt lick?"