However, you're correct that the video above isn't ironic. It could have been, if the sentence "Wasn't one of those guys supposed to be a terrorist?" was phrased differently. For example, "Great, four arrests in one! Nice work people."

>> ^Sarzy:

This is Alanis Morissette irony, at best. Like Shuac said, a lifeguard drowning, that would be irony. Finding out that a certain cancer medication actually causes cancer, that would be irony. If your car fell into a lake and you drowned because your seatbelt wouldn't come off, that would be irony. A bunch of cops accidentally targeting each other? Not irony.
But of course, the English language is always evolving, and it seems like the definition of irony (in this context at least, because irony obviously has a few other meanings as well) is broadening to essentially refer to anything that is a weird coincidence. Under that broader definition of the term, yes, this is ironic. Which means that the title of this video is probably more appropriate than Deano intended.

Well, this may be a trap, but Sarzy, none of your examples are ironic. They're all Alanis Morissette irony. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony. E.g. The image of a person holding a sign that says "I can't afford an actual sign" is a perfectly good example of irony. All your examples are just things that happen. Irony is all about truth and the assertion of it by proposing its negation. Eg Saying "Gee, what a pleasant day we're having" when there is a hurricane outside that is ripping off the roofs of houses. That's ironic.

Irony has to be the most misunderstood of all English words.

>> ^Sarzy:

This is Alanis Morissette irony, at best. Like Shuac said, a lifeguard drowning, that would be irony. Finding out that a certain cancer medication actually causes cancer, that would be irony. If your car fell into a lake and you drowned because your seatbelt wouldn't come off, that would be irony. A bunch of cops accidentally targeting each other? Not irony.
But of course, the English language is always evolving, and it seems like the definition of irony (in this context at least, because irony obviously has a few other meanings as well) is broadening to essentially refer to anything that is a weird coincidence. Under that broader definition of the term, yes, this is ironic. Which means that the title of this video is probably more appropriate than Deano intended.

>> ^chilaxe:
Haha. Intellectualism Fail.
Chavez' argument has 2 parts:
1. Fox News is intellectually illegitimate because they criticize X (Ahmadinejad) but refuse to criticize Y (Bush), which is of the same type as X. (A fair argument, depending on your perspective.)
2. I, Chavez, am noble because I criticize Y, but refuse to criticize X, which is of the same type as Y. (Not a fair argument from any perspective.)


Umm... huh? Good work on pointing out that criticising X should be equivalent to criticising Y, but why is one approach only fair "depending on your perspective" and the other "Not a fair argument from any perspective?" Your logic is a little faulty here. Sure, accuse Chavez of being a hypocrite (i.e. "intellectually illegitimate"), if you want, but this must also apply to Fox News and others, surely?

The arguments are:

1) If you criticise X you should criticise Y, else you are a hypocrite.
2) Fox News criticises X but does not criticise Y.
therefore, 3) Fox News is a hypocrite.

and

1) If you criticise Y you should criticise X, else you are a hypocrite.
2) Chavez criticises Y but does not criticise X.
therefore, 3) Chavez is a hypocrite.

> ^bluecliff:

And where the "object" that's experimented on has it's own voice.


Umm.. what about people who do research into the mating habits of South American tree frogs?

>> ^Nithern:

Nithern, is your argument that "the faithful ill should go to doctors because some doctors are Christian?" Do you really want to run with that one?

And science is cold? Huh?!

Hope is an utterly useless concept. I could be falling from a 100 metre building and hopeful of a speedy recovery or some of god's attention for a moment. Or I could be falling from a 100 metre building and be in despair of my soon to be mangled dead body. Either emotion is pretty much useless. I'm almost certainly going to die. Yet, people have survived such falls. Sure, you can stick with your hope and maybe god will deliver you from almost certain death, but I sure as hell wouldn't mind some jet-powered rocket pants to Junior Birdman the hell out of here!

There are situations where believing you are going to die actually has a very bad impact on your condition. Scientists (and others) are well aware of this. A really interesting off-shoot of this is the nocebo response. You might find it interesting.

I think the interesting thing about this video is that both the interviewer and interviewee are lying through their teeth. One is pro-US, pro-Iranian regime change (for a more US friendly regime); the other is pro-status quo Iran. If you have those compromised limitations, I guess you don't have much choice but to spin. However, are they really the only options?

If you like, read this article from the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/kurds/alliance.html
It is untrue that the US provided the IRAQI regime with weapons (chemical or otherwise). They did provide them, as Zakaria said, with agricultural credits, as well as with "dual-use" items which were not inherently military items, but would be vital to any war-time situation. That said, even if it were true that the US provided Iraq with weapons during the iran-iraq war, it doesn't negate the fact that this regime under ahmedinejad is a brutal and repressive one, and is trying to cover up this fact as much as they can.


Ba baw! United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war. But hey, nice try. Oh, also interesting, the Iran-Contra Affair.