How did the crowd funding platform become the shopping destination for things like artisanal wrapping paper and bras with built-in iPhone pockets? People love to hate on home-shopping shows -- after all, who in their right mind tune in to QVC to buy this John Lennon-inspired sterling-silver "Imagine" ring for two easy payments of $27.00? What kind of sad lonely person would do that? Yet these shows continue to exist, so presumably they make money. Presumably these vendors tap into a deep emotional need for connection and self-expression. Presumably these absurd products reflect the values and desires of a group of home shoppers -- old people who still own TVs, of course, not digitally savvy hipsters with good taste in stuff. Browsing Kickstarter, however, it ... Continue reading →
Last week BostonHerald.com debuted The Truth Squad, a weekly internet show dedicated to uncovering truth in politics through short, poorly conceived, unfunny video clips that are less on par with what one might expect from a major news outlet, and more like the results of the Make A Wish Foundation.The videos feature political columnist Joe Battenfeld and and chief political reporter Hillary Chabot, who bring a talent for quality journalism that closely resembles the impact flesh-eating bacteria has on one’s good looks, while the show’s executive producer Katy Jordan provides a high school AV club-level of video production expertise.First up, is the hard-hitting exposé on the source of tourist giggles all over Beacon Hill – the “General Hooker Entrance” at the State House.A large statue ... Continue reading →
Last week BostonHerald.com debuted The Truth Squad, a weekly internet show dedicated to uncovering truth in politics through short, poorly conceived, unfunny video clips that are less on par with what one might expect from a major news outlet, and more like the results of the Make A Wish Foundation.The videos feature political columnist Joe Battenfeld and and chief political reporter Hillary Chabot, who bring a talent for quality journalism that closely resembles the impact flesh-eating bacteria has on one’s good looks, while the show’s executive producer Katy Jordan provides a high school AV club-level of video production expertise.First up, is the hard-hitting exposé on the source of tourist giggles all over Beacon Hill – the “General Hooker Entrance” at the State House.A large statue ... Continue reading →
After the arrest of a yakuza boss for his alleged role in supplying workers to TEPCO’s Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Plant, we are learning the details of how Japan’s nuclear industry relied on organized crime. Since July of last year, a few months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami resulted in a triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant, investigators have been probing possible yakuza links to TEPCO and the nuclear industry under the guidance of the National Police Agency. “Yakuza involvement in the nuclear industry is believed to go back to 2007 or earlier," said a police source, "and the gangs involved were dispatching yakuza to nuclear sites all over Japan.” The yakuza boss arrested has been identified as Makoto Owada, a high-ranking member of ... Continue reading →
The American West, 150 Years Ago In the 1860s and 70s, photographer Timothy O'Sullivan created some of the best-known images in American History. After covering the U.S. Civil War, (many of his photos appear in this earlier series), O'Sullivan joined a number of expeditions organized by the federal government to help document the new frontiers in the American West. The teams were comprised of soldiers, scientists, artists, and photographers, and tasked with discovering the best ways to take advantage of the region's untapped natural resources. O'Sullivan brought an amazing eye and work ethic, composing photographs that evoked the vastness of the West. He also documented the Native American population as well as the pioneers who were already altering the landscape. Above all, O'Sullivan captured -- ... Continue reading →
There's no way this could ever go wrong: The Daily Caller plans to give away a gun a week until election day. The so-called Great Gun Giveaway doesn't, um, target any specific issue, but Daily Caller publisher and CEO Neil Patel made a general appeal to his readers' as red-blooded everypeople: "Like most Americans outside Washington, DC, New York City and most of our nation’s news rooms, large numbers of Daily Caller readers love guns," he said in the contest announcement. All this gun-friendliness sounds like a big ol' promotion for the site's Guns and Gear section as well as California-based gun manufacturer FMK, whose 9-mm pistol engraved with the second amendment will get shipped out to some 23 Americans before Nov. 6 -- or ... Continue reading →
