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Yes Men Fake New York Times: Iraq War Ends (15 posts)

1. truthmod
   Administrator

   http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Fake_New_York_Times_...

   If anyone is NY they should try to get a few copies of the paper.

   The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are over, if you can believe a fake copy of the New York Times circulating around Manhattan today.

   The paper was allegedly printed by the parodists "The Yes Men," who are responsible for myriad politically-oriented pranks that were the subject of a major film. The following is a release the apocryphal paper's creators sent to RAW STORY. Early this morning, commuters nationwide were delighted to find out that while they were sleeping, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had come to an end.

   If, that is, they happened to read a "special edition" of today's New York Times.

   In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million papers were printed at six different presses and driven to prearranged pickup locations, where thousands of volunteers stood ready to pass them out on the street.

   Articles in the paper announce dozens of new initiatives including the establishment of national health care, the abolition of corporate lobbying, a maximum wage for C.E.O.s, and, of course, the end of the war.

   The paper, an exact replica of The New York Times, includes International, National, New York, and Business sections, as well as editorials, corrections, and a number of advertisements, including a recall notice for all cars that run on gasoline. There is also a timeline describing the gains brought about by eight months of progressive support and pressure, culminating in President Obama's "Yes we REALLY can" speech. (The paper is post-dated July 4, 2009.)

   Posted 16 years ago #
2. truthmod
   Administrator

   Some people may remember the "Not the New York Times" printed by Nick Levis for the 2005 9/11 Anniversary:

   http://summeroftruth.org/09-11-2005.html

   Posted 16 years ago #
3. JohnA
   Member

   what ever happened to that guy? i heard a rumor he got a job writing synposis for the TV Guide.

   Posted 16 years ago #
4. chrisc
   Member

   http://summeroftruth.org/09-11-2005.html

   This is weird?

   As of 2008, this page contains two links requested by sponsors:
   http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cr...
   http://www.uwsa.com/debt-consolidation.html

   Posted 16 years ago #
5. emanuel
   Member

   Nick Levis is writing for TV Guide? I knew things were fucked up in the world, but this takes the cake! LOL!

   Emanuel

   Posted 16 years ago #
6. Diane
   Member

   Why are we discussing rumors about Nick Levis's personal whereabouts, such as his employer, on a public message board? (Some of us have complained, in the past, about personal information about oneself being publicized by others.)

   To the moderator: I would suggest deleting all references to Nick Levis's rumored employer, unless we have specific permission from Nick to discuss this matter.

   Posted 16 years ago #
7. truthmover
   Administrator

   Why are we discussing rumors about Nick Levis's personal whereabouts, such as his employer, on a public message board?

   Nick and John are longtime friends. TruthMove considers Nick a mentor and ally. He hasn't gone anywhere and still posts to both this and the truthaction forum on occasion. It was a joke.

   Diane, you need not doubt that very general protocol such as protecting people's private information would be respected on this forum. I read every new post.

   But thanks for the suggestion.

   Posted 16 years ago #
8. emanuel
   Member

   I'm friends with Nick too, and I just assumed it was a joke. (still waiting for Nick to chime in on it).

   Emanuel

   Posted 16 years ago #
9. Diane
   Member

   Nick and John are longtime friends. TruthMove considers Nick a mentor and ally. He hasn't gone anywhere and still posts to both this and the truthaction forum on occasion. It was a joke.

   I'm glad to hear this. Thanks for clearing this up.

   Posted 16 years ago #
10. Durruti
    Member

    Full paper available here:

    http://www.nytimes-se.com/

    Check out the adds by De Beers and Monsanto ;)

    Ken Knabb enjoyed it:

    I'm forwarding the two messages below, which I received yesterday. The fake New York Times "Special Edition" can be found at http://www.nytimes-se.com .

    Regardless of critiques that might be made of the ideas in some of the imagined stories, the perpetrators of this scandal have pulled off a remarkable coup, a coup that may help to spread some salutary memes regarding social change.

    The social changes envisioned in some of the articles could be accomplished even within the current social setup (in which case people will be contrasting these possible changes with the probably very different results of the new Democratic administration). In other cases, notably those involving economic matters, it will be evident that the imagined changes could not be effected under current conditions, but would require a fundamental transformation of the whole socio-economic system (in which case people might start considering what sort of transformation would be sufficient, and how such a transformation could be brought about).

    But in both types of cases, an important first step is clearing away the existing clouds of habit and resignation, so that people are able to get some sense that things could be different. This "Special Edition" coup may help to do just that. As limited as the particular "solutions" suggested may be, they are presented with a freshness and good humor that may provoke people to start questioning supposed inevitabilities and encourage them to take the initiative rather than to remain in panic-stricken, passive-defensive positions.

    Many of you will have recognized that this Times "Special Edition" is an example of the situationist tactic of "detournement". For information on this tactic, see these two articles:

    "A User's Guide to Detournement" http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/detourn.htm

    "The Situationists and the New Forms of Action Against Politics and Art" http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/11.newforms.htm .

    Then compare and contrast the "New York Times" scandal with situationists' notorious "Strasbourg scandal", which helped prepare the way for the May 1968 revolt in France:

    "On the Poverty of Student Life" http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/poverty.htm

    "Our Goals and Methods in the Strasbourg Scandal" http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/11.scandal.htm

    Posted 16 years ago #
11. JohnA
    Member

    unfortunately i failed to get Nick's goat. rats.

    Posted 16 years ago #
12. truthmod
    Administrator

    So, did anyone actually get a hard copy of the paper?

    Check out the maximum wage article. I hope some people will separate the parody from the history.

    http://www.nytimes-se.com/2009/07/04/maximum-wage-...

    WASHINGTON — After long and often bitter debate, Congress has passed legislation, fiercely fought for by labor and progressive groups, that will limit top salaries to fifteen times the minimum wage. Tying the bill to a plan of overall reform of the U.S. economy, the bill echoes a similar effort enacted by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, which was followed by the longest period of growth for the middle class in U.S. history.

    “When C.E.O. salaries remain stable thanks to high taxation of high salaries, there’s little incentive to take big risks with shareholders’ money, and the economy remains in a steady growth mode,” said Senator Barney Frank, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. “But when C.E.O. salaries can fly through the roof, there’s a very strong incentive for C.E.O.s to rake in massive dividends, often at the cost of the company’s, and the country’s, stability.”

    The first time the U.S. implemented a maximum wage was in 1942, when President Roosevelt said that “no American citizen ought to have an income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000 a year,” the equivalent of $315,000 today.

    Some version of a maximum wage law was in effect until 1980. Before 1964, income over $400,000 in today’s dollars faced a 91 percent federal tax rate, and the top-bracket tax rate never dipped below 70%. Under Reagan, the top tax rate slid down to 28 percent — a shift that is now understood to have been one of the prime contributors to the mortgage meltdown and other market failures.

    The current minimum wage is $5.85 ($12,168 annually) making the new maximum wage $182,520/year. Any amount over that will be taxed at a rate of 100 percent.

    Here's a chart of actual income tax rates historically:

    http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151...

    Posted 16 years ago #
13. NicholasLevis
    Member

    .

    John, I wish TV GUIDE would make me an offer. How exactly that would be different from translating corporate PR magazines in between bouts of total unemployment, I don't know. But given that I do have a current weakness for the tube, it would be nice to be paid for it.

    Diane, you're amazing. Thanks.

    Chris, that's right. For some reason I was offered a couple of hundred bucks to include links on debt relief planning (a gov site but nothing sinister that I see) and asbestos patient lawyers, which I accepted as an acceptable advertising offer, and added the note at the bottom in the service of full disclosure.

    .

    Posted 16 years ago #
14. truthmover
    Administrator

    I got a copy. They came out and people thought it was just an issue of the Onion. But that night, every local news show ran a prominent story about the paper and the Yes Men, and they were all gone by the next day. I grabbed the last one in a pile.

    It's really very close in feel to the real thing. Exactly the same paper and printing process. And having so much content, and most of it being funny, you really get a feel for how much effort went into producing it.

    On the front inside page where the publishing info usually goes we find the following. This is the only place in the paper where they break the forth wall.

    This special edition of The New York Times comes from a future in which we are accomplishing what we know today to be possible.

    The dozens of volunteer citizens who produced this paper spent the last eight years dreaming of a better world for themselves, their friends, and any descendants they might end up having. Today, that better world, though still very far away, is finally pos- sible — but only if millions of us demand it, and finally force our government to do its job.

    It certainly won’t be easy. Even now, corporate representatives are swarming over Washington to get their agendas passed. The energy giants are demand- ing “clean coal,” nuclear power and offshore drilling. Military contractors are pushing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. H.M.O.s and insurance companies are promoting bogus “reforms” so they can forestall universal health care. And they’re not about to take no for an answer.

    But things are different this time. This time, we can hold accountable the politicians we put into office. And because everyone can now see that the “free market” has nothing to do with freedom, there is a huge opening to pass policies that can benefit all Americans, and that can make us truly free — free to pursue an education without debt, go on vacation every once in a while, keep healthy, and live without the crushing guilt of knowing what our tax dollars are doing abroad.

    Following are just a few of the many, many groups working for change. Join them, support them, or start your own, and we can begin to make the news in this paper the news in every paper.

    If you want to end the war in Iraq and prevent new wars:

    If you want to fight for health care:

    If you want to save the environment:

    If you want economic justice:

    If you want to protect our civil liberties, civil rights and human rights:

    If you want to end torture:

    If you want to defend the rights of immigrants:

    If you want to help eliminate worker exploitation:

    If you want to end homelessness and promote affordable housing:

    If you want to fight for a more democratic media:

    If you want to create a more democratic media:

    If you want to fight for women’s rights:

    If you want to defend LGBTQ rights

    Posted 16 years ago #
15. Durruti
    Member

    You said "If you want to fight for a more democratic media:

    And

    If you want to create a more democratic media"

    I guess it bears repeating.

    I guess it bears repeating.

    Posted 16 years ago #

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