The truth will set you free from your job

From ProPublica

What do asking for a raise and feminine hygiene have in common?

If you know then you probably work for Summer’s Eve®. Via BOING BOING:

A moment of silence for one of the greats … Satoshi Kon

The brilliant anime director Satoshi Kon has died at the age of 46 from pancreatic cancer. I’m not even going to pretend that most people have heard of him, let alone seen his work, which is a shame. Kon, along with Hayao Miyazaki, are two truly great artists whose chosen media is anime. Kon directed [...]

Lolrus snafu as AP rejects I Can Has Cheeseburger offer

Earlier this week it was reported that the AP had turned down a purchase offer by Pet Holdings Inc., best known for the amazingly successful LOLCat’s site I Can Has Cheeseburger. Of all the efforts to Rescue The Future of Journalism™, this was by far the least expected and easily my favorite. As the LA [...]

Is a Disney-brand Muslim headscarf on the way?

Imane Boudlal has a problem: She is a member of two of the world’s largest religions — Islam and Disney. This became an issue in her life when, several months prior to Ramadan, the Disney World employee asked if she could wear a headscarf in observation of the month-long religious celebration. This was kicked up [...]

Farewell – hopefully – to American Apparel

American Apparel’s brand promise was a unique mix of “clothes made in the USA” and porn. The company alleged it manufactured things in a responsible way. (Mass layoffs earlier this year of the illegal workers who made their product in the USA did away with that one.) AmAp’s approach to marketing is best described as [...]

The Penguins of Irony’s favorite moment in the effort to save journalism from its future

Here are two of the 10 projects that came out of the “Journalism That Matters” conference at the University of Washington in January. Abundant Journalism: Led by Fancher, this group eventually wants to link journalism projects and initiatives with potential donors. Microfinance: The initiative would provide business and micro-finance training for journalists who want to [...]

Round-up of great stuff found on the web this week

 CSMonitor: Monkeys hate flying squirrels, report monkey-annoyance experts AdFreak: Kelly Brook nude billboard airbrushed while Kelly speaks out against airbrushing Uncle Dudley’s Knucklebones: Weird dice Monkey Goggles: Deep in the Novelization of “E.T.” is an Edgier E.T. NESN: Hiroshima Carp’s Masato Akamatsu Makes Baseball’s Catch of the Year

One more reason ProPublica rocks

From their blog, Officials Say The Darndest Things: “No consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.” — A judge, summarizing the defense offered by Coca-Cola’s lawyers as to why the company’s marketing for vitaminwater isn’t deceptive.

Naomi Campbell and Tony Hayward: A match made in JUST SHUT UP

“I don’t want to be here. I was made to be here. This is a terrible inconvenience to me… Obviously I just want to get this over with and get on with my life.” – British supermodel Naomi Campbell about how much trouble it is for her to appear as a prosecution witness in the [...]

Spirit Airlines brand model is screw you

Spirit Airlines, known as a traveler’s worst friend, is considering going all out and charging customers if they want to talk to a person at the airport. This would be in keeping with Spirit’s long and distinguished history of viewing its customers as chattel. Just last week the airline began charging for carry on bags. [...]

Rhode Island outraged by use of Massachusetts to illustrate size of oil spill

Rhode Island, perhaps because it is the smallest state in the union, is the preferred media reference when describing the size of something. This works well for both the factual and the fantastical. The following are just from news stories in the past week: Charles Mix County covers an area about two-thirds the size of [...]