Thursday, November 24, 2005

Things I'm thankful for: The Onion


Not the kind you eat, the kind you read.

The onion is a parody newspaper and online news service. Like other dead tree papers that are no less funny, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and Juggs magazine, the Onion will let you read a little on their site for free, or you can pay them and get it delivered.

Here's an example of the dark, demented humor you can find in the Onion along with a bit of background. One of the things the Onion parodies is the President's weekly radio address. On the page where you can listen to these comedic gems, you will find a picture of the sitting President, along with an image of the Presidential Seal.

Apparently after one of these the White House was miffed and informed the Onion that the Presidential Seal was only for non-commercial use and was usable only when permission was granted in writing.

Although there was some legal mumbo jumbo with the Onion defending their ability to use the seal (everyone knows the paper is a joke- well almost everyone- so there's no implied endorsement) and a request to in fact use the seal, the paper really responded a few days later in a way only the Onion can (for those interested in a less-funny description of this little legal back and forth in the so-called news, look here).

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