ROFL ROI For My Tax Dollars

Apologies for the headline – I normally eschew ‘netspeak shorthand but the opportunity to mix bizspeak with ‘netspeak proved overwhelming of my baser instincts and hatred for AOLisms.
Longtime readers might remember my general disdain for NPR (and yet, I keep listening – who’s the idiot now?). I have found their news coverage to be more-than-a-little-biased at many points and, with the exception of “Car Talk” and “Prairie Home Companion”, I largely feel that my hard-earned tax dollars are going to waste.
Finally, though, some limited payoff: Friday’s “All Things Considered” show more than made up for years of yelling at the radio. NPR reporteress Laura Sullivan did a piece on the Taser company and their aspirations to have a Taser in every gentleman’s suit pocket and every lady’s purse. Her report had commentary from various groups, such as law enforcement advocates, Amnesty International, etc. The real coup de grace, though, was at the conclusion of the interview when she consented to being “tased”, you know, for the journalistic integrity of the whole thing. Her yelp and the subsequent “Owowowowowowowowowwww!” still ring in my ears.
I know it’s a bit mean to laugh at others’ pain, but I just had to chuckle. It’s not often that you get to experience NPR descending into “journalistic” realms previously occupied only by such luminaries as Geraldo Rivera, Myth Busters and the cast of MTV’s Jackass.
The actual piece is available here, with the yelps in question occurring roughly 30 seconds before the end of the clip.