Quote.

I have named the destroyers of nations: comfort, plenty, and security—out of which grow a bored and slothful cynicism, in which rebellion against the world as it is, and myself as I am, are submerged in listless self-satisfaction.

—John Steinbeck

Bush's defeat.

As the Washington Post quotes a senior official who says the administration is lowering its expectations of success in Iraq—after downgrading the "global war on terror" to "a global struggle against violent extremism"—and "shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning." Considering the overblown chest-thumping of Bush and Rumsfeld when they started the war, this is huge. So huge that, as Frank Rich says, someone oughta tell Bush the war is over:

Nothing that happens on the ground in Iraq can turn around the fate of this war in America: not a shotgun constitution rushed to meet an arbitrary deadline, not another Iraqi election, not higher terrorist body counts, not another battle for Falluja (where insurgents may again regroup, The Los Angeles Times reported last week). A citizenry that was asked to accept tax cuts, not sacrifice, at the war's inception is hardly in the mood to start sacrificing now. There will be neither the volunteers nor the money required to field the wholesale additional American troops that might bolster the security situation in Iraq.

Sheehan: Best protest sign.

As Bush drove past Cindy Sheehan in his limo to a barbecue where he hoped to raise $2 million for the GOP, Sheehan held up a sign that read: "Why do you make time for donors and not for me?"

And: Just read this: a wonderfully incisive take on the case of Cindy Sheehan by a "lifelong conservative with a strong independent streak."

Cindy Sheehan: The High Road.

If the hatred directed at Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan is any indicator, she's fighting the good fight. Her work—and authenticity as a mom who gave the ultimate sacrifice, her son, for the country—has sent the Republican smear machine into high gear: rightwinger Phil Hendry called her an "ignorant cow," Bill O'Reilly says "this kind of behavior borders on treasonous," a post at redstate.org called her "a left wing media whore in the form of a grieving mother," and a group of 50 Bush supporters gathered for a counter-protest, rallying with a telling chant: "We don't care, we don't care!" (You can bet there were more than a handful of "Support Our Troops" magnets on the back of their cars while they did it.)

Regularly blogging at The Huffiington Post, Sheehan wrote this morning:

But you know what, the people who have come out from all over the country to give me a hug and support the cause of peace, overwhelms me so much, I don't have time to worry about the negativity and the hatred. The people who are slamming me have no idea about what it feels like to unjustly have a child killed in an insane war. Plus, they have no truth to fight truth with, so they fight truth with more lies and hate.

This is an important woman, one who didn't ask to be thrust onto center stage but someone a movement is coalescing around. And, movingly, she's not shrinking from the call. Want to help her? MeetwithCindy.org can hook you up with media contacts, ways to support the Crawford Peace House, or directions on how to join her in Texas.

(Thanks, Jeff.)

Red city, blue city.

The nonpartisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research has released its ranking of 237 American cities based on how liberal or conservative they are. The most liberal and the least suggest a trend: "Detroit and Provo epitomize America’s political, economic and racial polarization,” said Jason Alderman a BACVR director. “As the most conservative city in America, Provo is overwhelmingly white and solidly middle class. This is in stark contrast to Detroit, which is impoverished, black and the most liberal.”

I was surprised that legendary Madison, Wisconsin, failed to represent, coming in at 34, just two earlier than St. Paul.

The top 25 in each category:

Liberal:

1 Detroit Michigan
2 Gary Indiana
3 Berkeley California
4 Washington, D.C. Dist. of Columbia
5 Oakland California
6 Inglewood California
7 Newark New Jersey
8 Cambridge Massachusetts
9 San Francisco California
10 Flint Michigan
11 Cleveland Ohio
12 Hartford Connecticut
13 Paterson New Jersey
14 Baltimore Maryland
15 New Haven Connecticut
16 Seattle Washington
17 Chicago Illinois
18 Philadelphia Pennsylvania
19 Birmingham Alabama
20 St. Louis Missouri
21 New York New York
22 Providence Rhode Island
23 Minneapolis Minnesota
24 Boston Massachusetts
25 Buffalo New York

Conservative:
1 Provo Utah
2 Lubbock Texas
3 Abilene Texas
4 Hialeah Florida
5 Plano Texas
6 Colorado Springs Colorado
7 Gilbert Arizona
8 Bakersfield California
9 Lafayette Louisiana
10 Orange California
11 Escondido California
12 Allentown Pennsylvania
13 Mesa Arizona
14 Arlington Texas
15 Peoria Arizona
16 Cape Coral Florida
17 Garden Grove California
18 Simi Valley California
19 Corona California
20 Clearwater Florida
21 West Valley City Utah
22 Oklahoma City Oklahoma
23 Overland Park Kansas
24 Anchorage Alaska
25 Huntington Beach California

(Via Norwegianity.)

Facing death.

Want a funerary urn that'll remind you of your loved one every time you look at it: check out Turn Your Head, a lathe-turned urn that creates the facial profile of your loved one in black walnut, cherry or maple, "hand polished to a natural luster."

(Via Core77.)

Bumvertising...

Benjamin Rogovy thought he had an idea so brilliant—getting panhandlers to hold advertising signs—that he trademarked it: Bumvertising. Not an original idea, but could it be effective? As Regine asks, "aren't we looking away whenever we see a homeless?"

More Venom.

My earlier post on the faux Specialized bike line Venom has generated some curious comments. Marc writes in to say that the bikes are "shopped versions of a conceptual artist's tutorial"—that is, a demontration of digital rendering (the second photo is a draft sketch from the site Marc mentions, the first from the original post). And "Verdra Ciretop" makes this claim:

I wrote the article as an April Fool's prank, after finding the pictures on the web. If you look closely, you'll see that most of the bikes are impossible (eg no steering). But it is rather entertaining to send people to the article and have them drool over the pictures until they clue in that it's a joke!

Update: Um, missed this. Verdra's site says the bike was announced during a November 31st press conference in Tokyo. The 31st, eh?

Where in the world?

Sign my guestmap and let me know where in the world you are. Just click here, then point your cursor to your town on the map (zoom in if you need to), and fill in the details (including the selection of a little icon) in the pop-up window. Thanks.

(Via SeeHere.)

New from Green Day...

Green Day, whose concept-album/rock-opera CD American Idiot is turning out to be a surprise favorite, has come out with a 7-minute music video that turns a relatively cheesy rock anthem into a relatively cutting anti-war message. Ballsy for Warner to host it. Movie links here.

ABC's big-box bias?

A quiz: which website screengrab is from Wal-Mart and which is from ABC's Wal-Mart–sponsored "Person of the Week" segment? Befitting these times when sponsors get more play than the content they're sponsoring, the one with the three Wal-Mart logos and three employee photos is ABC's page.

Now consider FAIR's allegation of one-sided reporting by ABC on a million-person class-action suit filed against Wal-Mart:

This week, the largest class action suit in U.S. history goes to court in California, as plaintiffs representing over 1 million workers accuse Wal-Mart of sex discrimination.

In addition to being the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart also spends considerable money advertising on mainstream media outlets--including regular spots on network newscasts like ABC's World News Tonight, where the discount giant sponsors the show's regular "Person of the Week" segment. Plastered with huge Wal-Mart ads, it's easy to confuse that feature's web page with a visit to the Wal-Mart website. Wal-Mart regularly airs commercials during the newscasts, and underwrites ABC's daily email preview of the evening newscast (a plug for the company's "Wal-Mart Facts" website).

The company also sponsors the "Only in America" series on ABC's Good Morning America, an arrangement that was criticized by the United Food & Commercial Workers union (UFCW). And ABC and Wal-Mart have other commercial ties as well, including a perfume line that was featured on an ABC soap opera and sold at Wal-Mart stores (Broadcasting & Cable, 2/14/05).

So how will ABC's nightly newscast handle the news of Wal-Mart's day in court? In an August 7 preview, reporter Geoff Morrell called the lawsuit the "biggest civil rights case ever," and quoted plaintiff Chris Kwapnoski. But then ABC lined up three sources to criticize the case, starting with Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. His comments were echoed by Steve Bokat from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who called the suit "fundamentally unfair."

Morrell then mentioned that "economists say that could have a chilling effect on big retailers, forcing them to raise prices and implement stricter policies for promotion." To back up that point, the broadcast quoted Tim Kane of the right-wing Heritage Foundation--hardly representative of all "economists": "It will make the management risk-averse, that adds cost to you and I."

No experts or advocates in the segment spoke on behalf of the plaintiffs, aside from Kwapnoski herself, whose credibility was undercut by ABC's Morrell: "Ironically, Chris Kwapnoski was promoted three days after filing her suit." The idea that this timely promotion was not irony but strategy on the part of Wal-Mart was not considered.

Giving its lucrative relationship with Wal-Mart, ABC's news reporting on its sponsor should take care not to leave viewers with the impression that the company gets an easy ride. But segments like the August 7 report only contribute to a suspicion that Wal-Mart's sponsorship of the news comes at a steep price--for ABC viewers who want to know more about the company than what the company's PR campaign tells them.

ACTION:
Tell ABC's World News Tonight that its reporting on Wal-Mart--a major sponsor--should be more balanced.

CONTACT:
ABC World News Tonight
Phone: 212-456-4040
netaudr@abc.com

Revenge of the translator...

From Parenthetically:

A blogger (of a now-defunct blog) buys a pirated DVD of Revenge of the Sith and finds the subtitles were interpreted in Chinese, then translated back into English--to hilarious effect. I can't explain it: just go see.

Mixed-up morals.

It must take a lot for a 4-star general to be relieved from duties, right? What did Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes do to earn the distinction of being the first general of that status to be removed in modern times? Was he overseeing the deplorable treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo? Did he urinate on copies of the Qu'ran?

Nope. He had an extra-marital affair.

(Via TalkLeft.)

Hell, Vol. 2.

The other Hell Pizza billboard featuring George.

Chair fetish.

I haven't a lot to say this evening. So here's this:

iPod jam.

As culturejamming goes, this is toooo easy. Plus, I'm still a fan of the more clever iPod/iRaq jam. [Via the MIT brand lab.]

And: Yesterday, WorldChanging muses on whether culturejamming works at "solving problems."

Copyright criminals.

Browsing the site of University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod, best known for trademarking the phrase "freedom of expression" (and then sending out cease-and-desist letters to those who infringe upon it), I came upon a documentary he made in February with Ben Franzen. Called Copyright Criminals, it's an excellent primer on intellectual property and the perils of sampling music. Filled with friends and heroes—Lawrence Lessig, Siva Vaidhyanathan, DJ Spooky, Greg Tate (of the Village Voice and Burnt Sugar), Saul Williams, Carrie McLaren (of StayFree!), Miho Hatori from Cibbo Matto, the TC's own Eyedea and Abilities, Public Enemy's Harry Allen, Scanner, and others—it looks at the history, law, and potential future for the use of copyrighted music in hip-hop and pop. I especiallly like when Shock G of Digital Underground says, "How many comedians tell the same joke? Nobody says, 'Hey, that's my knock-knock joke. That's my mama joke. That's my political joke.' Jokes are free."

For now, they are.

[Go straight to the movie file.]

Yeah, you...

A project.

Culture on the cheap.

Tyler Green points out that Costco's in the art biz! For the Costco-esque price of $129,999.99 (bring your change!), you can buy Picasso's "Atelier De Cannes." But don't put away your checkbook yet: in addition to this 1958 crayon drawing by the Spanish master, authenticated by his daughter ("the world's utmost authority"), Costco sells works by the likes of Chagall, Dufy, and Miro.

Iraq deaths "are on you."

A Miami Herald editorial blames a complacent populace for the mounting military death toll in Iraq. Arguing that armoring GIs and the vehicles they drive is a nonpartisan problem, and as such, we "can't seem to get excited about an issue unless it pits them against a known political enemy." Why didn't we "raise hell when 14 young Marines perished in an amphibious landing craft in the middle of the damn desert"?

...You allowed the Pentagon and Rumsfeld to pretend armor was no big deal. ''You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want,'' Rumsfeld responded. If you had been paying attention, such a flip answer would have sent Rummy packing.

You allowed the president to remain oblivious. You didn't protest when your congressmen, from both parties, snatched money out of the military budget to pay for pork-barrel projects. You let them protect well-connected contractors even after it was obvious that they weren't up to fixing the problem.

Of course, Rummy, when he visited Iraq, didn't run the 10-mile terror gantlet from the airport to Baghdad in a tinny Humvee. Nope. He was snug inside a Rhino Runner, a reinforced steel bus manufactured by Weston-based Labock Technologies. The Pentagon VIPs and private contractors in Iraq know the Rhino, as opposed to the Humvee, will ward off bombs. The Pentagon brass may ride Rhinos. But they won't certify them. Not for our soldiers.

The military moves No. 1 prisoner Saddam Hussein around in a Rhino. Our soldiers get something far inferior...