Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Twitter News -- #deathmatch -- Man Versus Lion

By John Ballard


Guilty thought....
Am I the only TV viewer who thinks Dr. Phil is running out of civil content when he goes running down a Jerry Springer rabbit trail?
The reason I call that question a guilty thought is sometimes I find myself blogging in a similar direction, chasing down a story not befitting a serious blogger. An occasional light post to lift the mood is one thing, but investing energy on a subject with little or no redeeming social value is like getting wrapped up in the Casey Anthony trial.
That said, here is this weekend's guilty pleasure for voyeurs everywhere.


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This is not all.
I'm putting together a Chirpstory, picking through a welter of Tweets.
It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
Here is the Chirpstory link. Go play!


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Deathmatch Followup:
To the credit of major news media a Google search turns up very little. There really are more important events in the world.


One government aurhority with the Minister of Tourism had said a few weeks ago that no such event would be allowed.


In the end the police apparently intervened and prevented either man or beast from getting hurt.


Blake Hounshell put the story to bed nicely.


 John McCain was in town, but I guess he missed this event.
Arabic at the link but nice photos.
McCain may be counseling the Egyptian government about border security.  Illegal aliens are prone to setting fires, you know.


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Another Followup:


Anyone needing more information can go read J. Hammond's eye witness account at The Arabist's blog, with a couple more pictures.



Far from being �King of the Jungle� the lion seemed confused, dehydrated and possibly drugged as it stayed in one corner of the ring. The lion gave one feeble roar but largely ignored his opponent. The lion�s body showed open wounds above its right eye, on the tail and around the anus. An online petition to stop the fight attracted nearly 5,000 signatories and was aimed at the �President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.". On Twitter some animal rights activists called on NATO to launch airstrikes against those in attendance.




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