In WTF News: Roundup July, 7 2010

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION BANS PRESS PHOTO ACCESS TO GULF OIL SPILL, THREATENS JAIL TIME

According to a new safety zone rule passed down from the US government, reporters and photographers are not allowed within 65 feet (20 meters) of booms, boom operations, and other cleanup activities, except with the express permission of the US Coast Guard. CNN’s Anderson Cooper reports that the limit was originally 300 feet, but it was reduced to 65 feet.

But to complicate matters, under the new rule, anyone found “willfully” in violation of the rule would be fined $40,000 and charged with a Class D felony. Class D felonies typically carry a jail sentence. The law especially affects photographers in the area who need to be on site in order to properly cover the events.

Our two cents: I assume our new policy for the Gulf Oil Spill is to act like it never happened in the first place by banning media coverage until everyone forgets that it did.

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CORRUPTION IN AFGHANISTAN: US CUTS AID AFTER BILLIONS SIPHONED OFF TO DUBAI

Brigadier General Mohammed Asif Jabarkhel sits with folded arms in his office, just a few steps away from the security checkpoint at Kabul International Airport. “Of course I know what’s going on here,” the 59-year-old head of the airport’s customs police grumbles from beneath his thick moustache as a fan whirs in the background. “But, in this country, who’s allowed to speak the truth?”

Jabarkhel is referring to the huge amounts of money regularly being secreted out of Afghanistan by plane in boxes and suitcases. According to some estimates, since 2007, at least $3 billion (€2.4 billion) in cash has left the country in this way. The preferred destination for these funds is Dubai, the tax haven in the Persian Gulf. And, given the fact that Afghanistan’s total GDP amounts to the equivalent of $13.5 billion, there is no way that the funds involved in this exodus are merely the proceeds of legal business transactions….

Since invading Afghanistan in 2001, the United States alone has invested almost $300 billion in military and reconstruction efforts there. But far less progress has been made than what was either hoped for or expected. One major reason for this could be the fact that a significant portion of the millions meant for reconstructive efforts continue to be siphoned off. The people benefiting are often those who enjoy extremely close business ties with the donor countries….

Reports on cases of persistent corruption like this have enraged American politicians and led a key panel to approve a freeze on the $3.9 billion in aid for Afghanistan’s government already earmarked for the 2011 budget year.

Read the full article via Der Spiegel International (published July 5, 2010)

Our two cents: Thank god we’re not in debt in this country otherwise we might actually miss the $3 billion that magically disappeared in the Afghan War. Oh…wait a minute, we’re actually massively in debt – over $13 trillion in debt to be more precise.

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ECUADOR POLICE SEIZE 100-FOOT NARCO-SUBMARINE BEING SECRETLY BUILT IN A REMOTE JUNGLE

Police in Ecuador seized a 100-foot submarine being built by suspected drug traffickers capable of carrying a crew of six and 10 tons of cocaine on underwater voyages lasting up to 10 days — a “game changer” for U.S. anti-drug and border security efforts, officials said Monday. A raid Friday by 120 police officers and soldiers netted the fiberglass sub as it was nearing completion in a clandestine “industrial complex” hidden in mangrove swamps near San Lorenzo, a town just south of the Colombian border.

Read the full article via LA Times (published July 6, 2010)

Our two cents: First and foremost you’ve got to respect the ingenuity of the Ecuadoran drug dealers who built the sub. And I’m sure a few months from now the Pentagon will unveil the first billion dollar nuclear-powered submarine built specifically for the “War on Drugs.”

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WIDOW LIVED WITH CORPSES OF HUSBAND AND TWIN SISTER

The 91-year-old widow lived by herself in a tumbledown house on a desolate country road. But she wasn’t alone, not really, not as long as she could visit her husband and twin sister.

No matter they were already dead. Jean Stevens simply had their embalmed corpses dug up and stored them at her house — in the case of her late husband, for more than a decade — tending to the remains as best she could until police were finally tipped off last month. Much to her dismay.

“Death is very hard for me to take,” Stevens told an interviewer.

As state police finish their investigation into a singularly macabre case — no charges have been filed — Stevens wishes she could be reunited with James Stevens, her husband of nearly 60 years who died in 1999, and June Stevens, the twin who died last October. But their bodies are with the Bradford County coroner now, off-limits to the woman who loved them best.

Read the full article here via Associated Press (July 5, 2010)
Watch video of the story here

Our two cents: Creepy!

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KOBAYASHI ARRESTED AS CHESTNUT NABS 4th HOT DOG CROWN

Cops carted away six-time Nathan’s champ Takeru Kobayashi after the legendary competitive eater — banned from the Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest today — tried to rush the stage. Two beefy men, wearing polo shirts with NYPD logos, stopped Kobayashi as he attempted to hop a barricade and reach Joey Chestnut after the San Jose, Calif., eating machine won his fourth consecutive Nathan’s title.

“I saw Kobayashi trying to push his way through the police,” a witness said. “He got to the top step, almost to the stage, but he didn’t get onstage.”

The muscle men put Kobayashi in a headlock and dragged him backstage. It wasn’t immediately clear what Kobayashi wanted to do onstage. Kobayashi was barred from eating today due to an ongoing contract beef with Major League Eating. Kobayashi was charged with resisting arrest, trespassing and obstruction of governmental affairs, police said.

Read the full article here via the NY Post (published July 4, 2010)

Our two cents: You would think the NYPD would be too busy harassing New Yorkers at post 9/11 checkpoints to work security at a hot dog eating contest, apparently not.

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posted by: Harold Johns III

Big Pharma Breakdown

To enlarge and see all full rundown of the stats click here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Photo Flash: Does Advertising Work on You?

Click the photo for a larger version

Master propagandist Ron English recently created these subversive parodies of well-known corporate symbols as part of the Welling Court Mural Project in Queens, New York.

See more of English’s work here

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posted by: Brent Carter

Watch: Nike’s “Write the Future” Ad

I don’t usually post ads without some critique of the message, but this isn’t most ads. The above commercial, which will air in 32 countries, is about World Cup soccer – the only sporting event that truly matters (Biased? Un-American? – eh). Like director Guy Ritchie’s equally fast-paced “Take It to the Next Level” ad for Nike back in 2008, this commercial by renowned director and producer Alejandro G. Iñarritu (21 Grams, Babel) is so entertaining you hardly notice the sales pitch.

For those who don’t follow international soccer or the World Cup let me breakdown some of who and what you see.

Ivory Coast’s powerful striker Didier Drogba, who plays his club ball for Chelsea in England, starts off the action with a near goal until Italy’s living legend of center back Fabio Cannavaro robs him via a bicycle kick. The Italians are the defending World Cup champions and to repeat they need big things like that from Cannavaro.

From there English and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney takes over with some nice play before France’s stellar midfielder Franck Ribery steals his pass in mid air. While Rooney is contemplating his possible failure two US national team members, goalkeeper Tim Howard and forward Landon Donovan, make a quick cameo reading newspapers. Of course the always bulldogish Rooney gets the ball back from Ribery with a wicked slide tackle, something we Americans should note since our first World Cup match is against the English team. Clint Dempsey, who currently plays his club ball at Fulham in England, is actually our best player. Hopefully he was too busy preparing to kick some ass to make the shoot.

Next the Brazilians and their poetic style of soccer take center stage. After Thiago Silva wins a tough ball at midfield it eventually ends up on the creative foot of Ronaldinho, which is weird because he didn’t even make Brazil’s World Cup team. It’s not that Ronaldinho can’t play anymore, that’s just how ridiculously talented Brazil’s team is, the guy who Kobe Bryant imitates can’t even make the squad.

The final superstar featured is Chirstiano Ronaldo of Portugal. He’s the best player in the world, he can score from long range, score with a header, beat you with his speed, score from free kicks, juke you out of your socks with skill moves, set up others with his passing and steal your girlfriend all in one day. Lucky for us Portugal is in Group G, aka the “group of death,” and has to play Ivory Coast, Brazil and South Korea. And yes, if Portugal wins the World Cup, something they have never done, they will erect a statue of Ronaldo. He really is that good.

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa starts June 11 and the U. S. team plays their first game on June 12 against England at 2:30 pm EST.

posted by: Brent Carter

Chris Ware’s Rejected Fortune Cover Keeps it a Little Too Real

click to see a larger version

According to Media Bistro:

Chris Ware, the brilliant comic-book artist behind the Acme Novelty Library, designed a May cover for capitalist-cheerleader magazine Fortune, only to see it killed. We can sort of see why. A high-res version of the image reveals tiny figures celebrating with wine and music on top of the golden skyscraper. One helicopter shovels money out of the Treasury building while another dumps bills on the rooftop revelers. Greece’s Treasury, meanwhile, is empty; orange-clad prisoners sit in Guantanamo Bay; and in Mexico, workers sit cramped in a “Fabrica de Exploitacion.”

It’s a hilarious, beautiful, meticulous design. Shame it won’t hit newsstands, but we’re glad the Internet gives us a chance to look.

We couldn’t agree more. Which begs a question, given Ware’s exploration of themes like social isolation, broken families and emotional pain, why would Fortune even approach him for the cover in the first place?

From: “Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth”

posted by: Harold Johns III