News Quiz

Name and Shame

No. 152: “Name and Shame”

By Randy Cohen

British Home Secretary Jack Straw has proposed a “name and shame”
initiative. So how would that work?

by 5 p.m. ET Sunday to e-mail your answer to newsquiz@slate.com.

Wednesday’s question (No. 151)–“Dead Enough?”:
Who said this about what?
“I do think that [it] is something of a dinosaur and that it has outlived its relevance. It has failed to move with time. … It has remained this dogmatic, old-fashioned, humorless [thing].”
“My dog, Gracie, about the American Kennel Club.”–Deb Stavin“Anna Quindlen, about A.M. Rosenthal’s habit of welcoming female hires with a towel-snap to the butt.”–Jim O’Grady“Tom Hanks, attacking the Vatican in an attempt to secure himself even more headlines.”–Tim Carvell“I said it about my husband’s stiff, prim parents. In 1946. You can’t imagine how puffed up and self-righteous perfectly nice people used to be.”–F.L. Stearns60 Minutes said this about Barbara Walters. Barbara Walters said this about Hugh Downs. Hugh Downs said this about Andy Rooney. Andy Rooney said this about napkin rings.”–Alfa-Betty Olsen and Marshall Efron (Dennis Cass, Todd York, and Randy Heath had similarly anti-Roonian answers.) Click here for more responses. Randy’s Wrap-Up
The most-mocked targets were Bill Clinton, Ken Starr, and–surprisingly in a post-Viagra world–Bob Dole, who was depicted as the target of Libby’s sexual discontent (click here). Meaning what? Too much late-life sex? Too little? Too wrinkly? You know how he could enhance his prestige? Suppose NASA agreed to put some really old guy into orbit–not for actual research or anything, but just as a feel-good geriatric sexual display. Every TV news program would join the chorus of praise, and NASA would get more money for its “important scientific missions.” And maybe there’d be one of those Tang-like byproducts, whereby people could have zero-gravity sex right in Miami Beach, in some kind of Space Sex room, right on Collins Boulevard, over at the Fontainbleu. Featuring Mr. Shecky Green. OK–a joke’s a joke, but then someone has to go too far and it ends in tears. Hey–you could put a person’s eye out with that thing.
OK, It’s No Teen People Answer
Gender traitor Katie Roiphe said this about Ms. magazine.
Liberty Media for Women, a group led by Gloria Steinem, the magazine’s original editor, yesterday announced the purchase of Ms. from MacDonald Communications for $3 million.
Several respondents (click here) thought it amusingly hyperbolic that Roiphe would make such a predictably anti-feminist comment to please the folks in the big house, but Roiphe herself was offering sincerity, not satire; apparently egalitarianism reigns on the nicer parts of Central Park West and at Versailles.
Actual Correction to Editor’s Note to Actual Answer to Yesterday’s Extra Extra
“The Vatican could catch up to Harvard in New York Times mentions if only it would become an adjective. I’m sure 90-plus percent of the Harvard articles consisted of ‘noted Harvard philosopher Jim Smith, when asked to comment on the Mideast crisis, said that “this is a difficult situation. It could go either way for us.” ’
“This approach just doesn’t work as well with ‘noted Vatican representative John Paul …’ “–Heather Harmon (similarly, Andrew Staples, Michael Estep, Oberg Bruce)
Another Persian Gulf Book Fair Extra
From the Gulf Times (Qatar):
“QATAR’s biggest international book exhibition was opened yesterday by Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdulraheem Kafoud at the Qatar International Exhibition Centre. Some 340 publishers from 15 countries are displaying 60,000 titles at the 12th Doha International Book Fair. It will be open from 8 am to noon and from 4 pm to 9 pm. Certain mornings are set aside for women.
“Outside the exhibition, the Interior Ministry has put up an impressive display of traditional goods like dhows and boxes and excellent paintings. They are all made by inmates of Qatari jails and the proceeds from their sales would go to their welfare, said Major Yousuf al-Nusf.
“He said there were a lot more goods in store. They would be brought once those on display were sold out. Goods include those made by both men and women prisoners.”

(Editor’s note: It was unclear from the article if Roiphe’s book is available in Qatar, but I’m guessing it is.)

Randy Cohen writes “News Quiz” for Slate.

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