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Lucylastic -> Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 2:25:30 PM)

The Onion Live Tweeting Congress Hostage 'Breaking News' (POLL, VIDEO)
Satirical news publication The Onion broke the news on Twitter about an hour ago of a hostage situation involving Congress, but the story is not true and a number of Twitter users are saying it's not funny.

It all started with this tweet:

@ TheOnion : BREAKING: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol building.
That was quickly followed up by this: "BREAKING: Capitol building being evacuated. 12 children held hostage by group of armed congressmen."

Both tweets were retweeted more than 100 times. From there, The Onion continued to live tweet the "developments," including a tweet about a congressman buying semi-automatic handguns. It also posted a fake news report on its website, which it also shared on Facebook.



see video... the video has some.... unusual content, to say the least

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/29/the-onion-congress-hostage_n_987254.html


From the onions website....

Congress Takes Group Of Schoolchildren Hostage
'We Need $12 Trillion Or All These Kids Die'

WASHINGTON—Brandishing shotguns and semiautomatic pistols, members of the 112th U.S. Congress took a class of visiting schoolchildren hostage today, barricading themselves inside the Capitol rotunda and demanding $12 trillion dollars in cash.


If the money is not delivered by this evening, members of Congress say they will shoot a new child every hour on the hour.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who has emerged as spokesman for the bipartisan group, informed FBI negotiators this morning that the ransom was to be placed in stainless-steel suitcases and left on the Capitol steps by 4 p.m. sharp. If their demands are not met in full, the 11-term representative announced, "all the kids will die."

"Bring us the money and we let the children go, simple as that," said Boehner, appearing in the East Portico with a serrated switchblade held to one of the fourth-grader's throats. "If you want to play games and stall for extra time, we're going to shoot one kid an hour, starting with little Dillon here."

"Tick tock," he added, vanishing back into the building with the terrified child in tow.



DomKen -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 3:22:33 PM)

It's the freaking Onion. Anybody who took this seriously needs to get serious help.



TheHeretic -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 5:39:34 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

It's the freaking Onion. Anybody who took this seriously needs to get serious help.



Note that I'm quoting Ken in complete agreement.

Nothing left to say then, is there?



slvemike4u -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 5:45:29 PM)

No,there isn't....as they said...it's the fucking Onion....alright they said freaking,I said fucking [:D]



LafayetteLady -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 5:50:43 PM)

But ya gotta love how a bunch of stupid people re-tweeted as though it were an actual news story.



slvemike4u -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 5:54:35 PM)

Orson Wells anyone ?



Lucylastic -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 5:58:59 PM)

LMAO Mike thats the first thing that came to me:)
mind you the video of the "person being shot" took it a bit far, for my taste, but then the onion issssssssssssssss the onion for a reason



LanceHughes -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 5:59:34 PM)

I want to know the volume of $12 Trillion in cash.

That's 12,000,000,000,000 dollar bills, no?
12,000 is 12 thousand
12,000,000 is 12 million
12,000,000,000 is 12 billion
12,000,000,000,000 is 12 trillion = 12 * 10^12.

BRB

According to the U.S. Treasury, "In $100 bills, the weight of $1
million is about 22 pounds." http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/rr2748.htm

(So, those spy payoffs in an attache case seem reasonable.)

A trillion (U.S. - Brits count differently) is a million, million.  Therefore, $12 trillion in $100 bills  (notes for our UK friends)  is 22 million pounds (of weight - not those kinds of pounds, the ones with the Queens' pic.)  OOPS!  Forgot the "12", making the weight if 12 Trillion in $100 bills to be 264 million US pounds.

Is the Capitol Dome large enough for the volume?
This answer looks "right," but I didn't check math:

in $100 bills a billion = 1/2 empire state building

Since a trillion is a thousand billion, we're looking at 500 Empire State Buildings.  Oops, forgot the "12" again, so 6,000 Empire State Buildings.

And, of course, if you've ever been there, it's basically a round opening with galleries leading off.  No barricading for you!
--------------
Love the story, just love it!  The Onion has always been one of my favs.



LafayetteLady -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:02:06 PM)

First thing that came to me are the people who forward those emails "warning" me about some danger or alerting me to a potential prize.

I once had someone forward an email to me that said Walt Disney's son had partnered with Microsoft to track emails and everyone who forwarded the email would receive a free trip to Disney World. I promptly hit the "respond to all" button and told everyone that Walt Disney never had a son, only daughters.



slvemike4u -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:07:39 PM)

Way to ruin a free trip to Disney...[:'(]



Lucylastic -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:12:37 PM)

heheh its like telling a dog you are going to the vet
*anyone else watch Wilfred?"



pahunkboy -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:33:12 PM)

fire -  crowded theator.



Lucylastic -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:37:12 PM)

they werent in a crowded theater



Termyn8or -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:41:24 PM)

"A trillion (U.S. - Brits count differently) is a million, million.  Therefore, $12 trillion in $100 bills  (notes for our UK friends)  is 22 million pounds (of weight - not those kinds of pounds, the ones with the Queens' pic.)  OOPS!  Forgot the "12", making the weight if 12 Trillion in $100 bills to be 264 million US pounds. "

What are you some kind of a weirdo ? Don't answer that, just step in to this little room here........

T^T



Termyn8or -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 6:43:28 PM)

"they werent in a crowded theater "

Well then let's put them (congress) in one. It did Lincoln a world of good. His public approval polls never dropped did they ?

T^T



LanceHughes -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 7:50:20 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or
"A trillion (U.S. - Brits count differently) is a million, million.  Therefore, $12 trillion in $100 bills  (notes for our UK friends)  is 22 million pounds (of weight - not those kinds of pounds, the ones with the Queens' pic.)  OOPS!  Forgot the "12", making the weight if 12 Trillion in $100 bills to be 264 million US pounds. "

What are you some kind of a weirdo ? Don't answer that, just step in to this little room here........

T^T

No, not some kind of a weirdo.  I just think the public ('Merican 'specially) needs to know how to read a news story - Onion one or not.  The numbers - espicially financial ones - are so big, we just gloss over them, thinking, "Yep, that's alot of money."

AND suggesting that I am "some kind of a weirdo" is playing right into the hands of those that have been contributing to the dumbing-down of America.  A better comment might have been: "Bless that Onion.  Just goes to show how stoopid people are when even a couple of multiplications gives away the satire.  Thanks, Lance!"



Kirata -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 8:00:15 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic
quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

It's the freaking Onion. Anybody who took this seriously needs to get serious help.

Note that I'm quoting Ken in complete agreement.

Nothing left to say then, is there?

Well actually, yes there is... because I agree with Ken too.

So now we know that the Mayans were wrong.

K.



OrionTheWolf -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 8:11:31 PM)

~FR~

Parody is a form of Free Speech the framers actually had in mind when the Bill of Rights was created. It allowed critizism of the government in a form that was acceptable, and entertaining to most people.

I see no public threat by what they did, that would enact other laws that suspend that right, and make it unlawful.



igor2003 -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 8:39:02 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: LanceHughes

I want to know the volume of $12 Trillion in cash.

That's 12,000,000,000,000 dollar bills, no?
12,000 is 12 thousand
12,000,000 is 12 million
12,000,000,000 is 12 billion
12,000,000,000,000 is 12 trillion = 12 * 10^12.

BRB

According to the U.S. Treasury, "In $100 bills, the weight of $1
million is about 22 pounds." http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/rr2748.htm

(So, those spy payoffs in an attache case seem reasonable.)

A trillion (U.S. - Brits count differently) is a million, million.  Therefore, $12 trillion in $100 bills  (notes for our UK friends)  is 22 million pounds (of weight - not those kinds of pounds, the ones with the Queens' pic.)  OOPS!  Forgot the "12", making the weight if 12 Trillion in $100 bills to be 264 million US pounds.

Is the Capitol Dome large enough for the volume?
This answer looks "right," but I didn't check math:

in $100 bills a billion = 1/2 empire state building

Since a trillion is a thousand billion, we're looking at 500 Empire State Buildings.  Oops, forgot the "12" again, so 6,000 Empire State Buildings.

And, of course, if you've ever been there, it's basically a round opening with galleries leading off.  No barricading for you!
--------------
Love the story, just love it!  The Onion has always been one of my favs.


After all your thought and number crunching, here is a graphic that you might find interesting:
http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us/



HeatherMcLeather -> RE: Freedom of speech? (9/29/2011 8:52:57 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

It's the freaking Onion. Anybody who took this seriously needs to get serious help.
Even I know not to take the Onion seriously, well no, it is serious, but it is satirically serious. [:D]



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