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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: insult

insult stories: 16 news summaries

 Obama: Kanye's a 'Jackass' 

Off-the-record remark gets on Twitter; rest is history

Sep 14, 09 10:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama got in on the Kanye West-bashing today, calling the rapper a “jackass” for his interruption of country star Taylor Swift during an MTV awards show Sunday. Obama made the remark in an off-the-record portion of an interview with CNBC, the Huffington Post reports, but that didn’t... More »

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entertainment • ABC • CNBC • Kanye West • insult • Twitter • President Obama • Taylor Swift • MTV Video Music Awards • jackass • off the record • Terry Moran

(Newser) - The Iraqi journalist jailed for throwing shoes at President Bush last year could be out as soon as Monday, his lawyer tells CNN today. Muntadar al-Zaidi had a 3-year sentence reduced to 1 on appeal, and that can be cut further for good behavior. “We are happy,” one... More »

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Iraq • shoes • jail • George W. Bush • insult • Muntadar al-Zaidi

 Thai Activist 
 Gets 18 Years for 
 Insulting Monarchy 

Thaksin supporter vows to appeal

Aug 28, 09 5:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - A supporter of Thailand's exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was sentenced to 18 years in prison for insulting the monarchy in what free speech campaigners describe as a severe attack on political dissent, Reuters reports. The 46-year-old woman was arrested last year after a fiery speech denouncing the 2006... More »

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Thailand • monarchy • Thaksin Shinawatra • insult • Thai protesters • prison sentence

North Korea Blasts 'Funny Lady' Clinton

War of words after Clinton tells Pyongyang it has 'no friends'

Jul 23, 09 8:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - If insults were nukes, the US and North Korea would have destroyed the world today. Hillary Clinton, on a visit to Asia, told reporters that the secretive regime "has no friends left" to block denuclearization, after earlier in the week comparing Kim Jong-Il's coterie to "small children and... More »

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Hillary Clinton • North Korea • diplomacy • Asia • secretary of State • Kim Jong Il • ASEAN • insult

OPINION

 Palin's Platform: Victimhood 

She revels in acting insulted

Jul 15, 09 8:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - The driving force behind Sarah Palin’s political career is victimization, writes Thomas Frank in the Wall Street Journal: She’s “a collector of grievances” who “runs for high office by griping.” The complaining appeals to those who see a “trampling of Middle America by the... More »

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Alaska • governor • Sarah Palin • insult • complaints • vice presidential candidate • victim

Little People Ask FCC for
Ban on the Word 'Midget'

Group spurred to action by Celebrity Apprentice episode

Jul 6, 09 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Little People of America have filed a complaint with the FCC in an attempt to get the word “midget”—which people of exceptionally small stature see as demeaning—banned from broadcast television, Newsday reports. The LPA was moved to action by a segment on NBC’s Celebrity ... More »

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television • FCC • Celebrity Apprentice • advertisements • network television • dwarf • insult

'Showgirl' Crack Is Berlusconi's Latest Gaffe

Italian business leader disturbed at PM's characterization of her

May 21, 09 3:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Emma Marcegaglia runs Italy’s industrialist association and just might be the country’s most powerful woman. But that didn’t stop Silvio Berlusconi from likening her to a showgirl today, Reuters reports. Speaking to Marcegaglia’s organization, the gaffe-prone Italian premier recalled when “an usher told me a... More »

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Italy • prime minister • Silvio Berlusconi • political scandal • insult • Veronica Lario • Emma Marcegaglia • showgirls

Shoe-Chucker Gets Reduced Sentence

Iraqi journalist faces only 1 year in prison
on lesser charge

Apr 7, 09 11:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Muntadar al-Zaidi, famous for throwing his shoes at former President Bush, has been granted an appeal that cuts his prison time from 3 years to 1, the BBC reports. A court of appeals agreed with Zaidi’s lawyers that the Iraqi journalist deserves a charge of insulting—rather than assaulting—... More »

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Iraq • shoes • Iraq government • George W. Bush • insult • sentence • Muntadar al-Zaidi

COMMENTARY



 The Insult 
 That Hurts 
 Worldwide 


Mar 14, 09 4:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - Next time you want to indulge in a pulse-pounding, worldwide tradition, call somebody a motherf**ker, Nina Shen Rastogi writes at Slate. The Chinese, Africans, and Arabs are among those who have hurled versions of the indignity for generations. Anthropologists say it works because, like religion and scatology, family and sex... More »

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language • foreign languages • insult

Aussie Writer Gets 3 Years
for Thai Insult

Self-published book that sold 7 copies dissed the monarchy

Jan 19, 09 9:01 AM CST
(Newser) - An Australian writer has been sentenced to 3 years in prison for insulting Thailand’s monarchy in one passage of a self-published book, the BBC reports. Tough “lese-majeste” laws shield Thailand’s monarchy from criticism and led to Harry Nicolaides’ arrest as he was leaving the country. He pleaded... More »

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Thailand • monarchy • jail • writer • book • insult • imprisonment

Shoe-Throwing Journo Beaten, Brother Alleges

Iraqi military denies claim and says
man is healthy

Dec 16, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - The journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference 2 days ago has been beaten in custody, his brother told the BBC. The brother alleges that Muntadar al-Zaidi, 28, has a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, but the Iraqi military says the journalist is... More »

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Iraq • prison • shoes • journalist • Arab • George W. Bush • insult • Muntadar al-Zaidi

ANALYSIS

Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult

Journo's sole assault on Bush would likely have meant death under Saddam

Dec 15, 08 1:05 PM CST
(Newser) - Throwing a shoe at someone is hardly a positive gesture anywhere, but in Arab and Islamic countries, footwear is viewed as ritually unclean: Even mentioning your shoes while insulting someone carries vile significance, the BBC reports. Accidentally displaying an exposed sole is also considered insulting, so yesterday’s loafer-launching aimed... More »

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Iraq • Islam • Condoleezza Rice • shoes • Muslim • journalist • Arab • George W. Bush • insult • Muntadar al-Zaidi

 French Fight Ban on
 Insulting Civil Servants

More civil servants
filing suits when slighted

Jul 26, 08 7:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Paris publisher has launched a high-profile crusade to legalize an increasingly popular crime: the insulting of public officials, the London Times reports. After being fined €150 for calling a cop a connard—or stupid bastard—Jean-Jacques Reboux got even angrier, and accused civil servants of abusing the law... More »

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law • free speech • France • French government • civil service • insult

comment

 Unseemly Word Loses Its Sting 

'Near-dirty' term deserves a trip to the showers

Jun 21, 08 12:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - The word douchebag is in danger of losing its bite thanks to rampant overuse, writes Richard Dorment in Esquire. It's not that the "toxic mess of a man" population has increased, he observes. It may seem that way, what with reality TV and cable punditry promoting unsavory characters. But... More »

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profanity • obscenity • language • swearing • insult • opinion

Kennedy Wants 'Leadership,' Not Hillary, for VP

Democratic Sen. 'doesn't think it's likely given the tenor of the campaign'

May 9, 08 5:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Ted Kennedy vetoed a spot for Hillary Clinton on the Barack Obama ticket, saying their fellow senator needs a running mate “in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people.” He laughed off suggestions of a dream ticket, Politico reports, saying, “I don’... More »

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Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Ted Kennedy • vice president • dream ticket • vice presidential sweepstakes • insult

Letterman, McCain Trade Comic Riffs

GOP hopeful shows up and gives as good as he gets with Dave

Apr 1, 08 8:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - David Letterman had his routine McCain-is-old shtick interrupted today with comebacks from the Arizona senator himself, the New York Times notes. In the Late Show monologue that airs tonight, Letterman fired off comments such as, “He looks like the guy at the hardware store who makes the keys”—... More »

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John McCain • humor • joke • David Letterman • insult

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