It was The Yes Men, of course, the liberal group behind the Fake New York Post and the Fake New York Times and plenty of other, similar stunts in which they pose as representatives of some evil corporate entity and pretend that said corporate entity has acquired a conscience, thereby embarrassing said corporate entity when it turns out, no, it was a hoax, Dow Chemical really isn't giving shit to Bhopal survivors, or whatever.

Today's stunt sounded especially good, though, because a guy from the real Chamber of Commerce burst in and caused a scene! The Washington Post was there:

"This guy is a fake! He's lying! This is a stunt that I've never seen before," said Eric Wohlschlegel, an official at the actual Chamber of Commerce, who said he'd heard about the hoax event from a reporter who'd mistakenly shown up at the chamber's headquarters...

Afterward, he said the chamber's position had actually not changed: they have called for "strong" legislation on climate change, but they do not support the bill passed by the U.S. House this summer.
"It is a very sad day," Wohlschlegel said.

Haha! Very sad day for you, dude! The Yes Men's fake newspapers are always too earnest to be funny but these things are, in fact, funny. We haven't found any video of this one yet, but enjoy their Dow Chemical hoax, below. [Pic via]

UPDATE: Here's a screenshot of the Reuters story that briefly went out on the wires falling for the hoax. And below is a clip of Fox Business reporting the Chamber's new position as breaking news, via Enviroknow (which has a clip of CNBC falling for it as well).

Congrats to the Miss America organizers for finding a celebrity judge precisely as revolting as Miss USA's Perez Hilton! Now you just need a stupid contestant to become a political martyr and your 2010 media strategy will be basically mapped out.

And, black contestants, don't get your hopes up.

Walking through Midtown streets awash with foul-smelling dignitaries, I hoofed it yesterday to the Libyan Mission on the East Side.
It was my civic, moral and aesthetic duty to confront the butcher on the very turf where, I believed, he had parked his camel.

Ha, "foul-smelling dignitaries." I don't even get it! Then Andrea went up and harassed a Libyan security guard, who, after much prodding, turned Khadafy over to her. She and Col Allan are currently taking turns beating the soles of his feet with a nail-studded clothesline deep inside the News Corp. building.

Her next column will be about sex.

The Post's PR firm, Rubenstein, sent us this dynamic statement:

Witless Spoof in Flawless Format

It's no surprise that they tried to spoof the New York Post; they figured this time they'd choose a paper people actually love to read. But this is a limp effort. It has none of the wit and insight New Yorkers expect from their favorite paper. The Post will not be hiring any of their headline writers.

[Jeff Bercovici. Pic via]

Top stories:

• "We're Screwed!" By climate change.
• "Pentagon top brass warn: Act now, or pay later with ‘lives'." Global warming kills.
• "Congress cops out on climate." Greenhouse gas is dangerous.

Apparently, instead of flooding the East River with Survivaballs as we originally thought, this fake paper was The Yes Men's big stunt. It's keyed to promote The Age of Stupid, the soon-to-be-released environmental flick. Want to know where you can pick up your free copy of the Fake New York Post? The group sent out an email advisory last night to volunteers telling them to go to the following spots. You should still see liberals out there with the papers if you go now:

* UN Headquarters - 2nd Ave. and E. 41st Street, SE corner (subway: 4-5-6
Grand Central)

* Grand Central - E. 42nd St. and Lexington, SW corner (subway: 4-5-6
Grand Central)

* Penn Station - W. 33rd Street between 7th and 8th Ave., nearer to 7th
Ave. (subway: A-C-E-1-2-3 Penn Station)

* Columbus Circle - corner of 58th and 8th Ave., NW side (subway:
1-A-B-C-D, Columbus Circle)

* Wall Street area - just north of 20 Broad Street, near Wall Street
(subway: JMZ Broad Street or 4-5 Wall Street)

* Atlantic Ave. (BROOKLYN) subway stop, on the corner of Ashland and
Hansen Place

* Staten Island Ferry building - northwest corner of State Street and
Whitehall Street (subway: 1, South Ferry station)

* World Trade Center - Church and Barclay, SE corner (subway: E or Path to
WTC, 4-5 Fulton Street)

* Union Square - northwest side, near 17th Street

[Pic: Flickr, Flickr]

"Survivaball." Read all about it on the website. "Worried About Climate Change? Don't sweat it." Instead, you can wear a ridiculous rubber-ball body suit to protect you from the ravages of global warming. It's an example of the world's largest corporations using engineering to replace ethics, with humorous results, etc.

This sort of fake corporate reductio ad absurdum is The Yes Men's specialty. They've previously posed as corporate spokespeople and weaseled their way onto unsuspecting news shows, where they made humorous, evil corporate statements, and filmed rooms full of unsuspecting corporate suits applauding politely at some outrageous presentation for an idea like using shit to feed the poor. They also had a hand in last year's Fake New York Times.

So! A tipster tells us this Survivaball website and promo video are just laying the groundwork for next week's stunt:

The plan so far is to put a bunch of people in like 50 inflatable "Survivaball" suits and float them down the East River. It's about the UN meetings that are happening that day, and it's going to be pretty crazy.

The group's already been handing out this Survivaball flier down on Wall Street. Everything appears to be in order here. All you unsuspecting corporate whores who don't read this website or watch lefty documentaries on a regular basis will soon pay—with your dignity.

This vile fucking terrible woman is, obviously, a miserable liar and a political hack. The mad old people, though, are not Republican "plants." They are just angry old white men who believe crazy things because all their preferred media outlets lie to them relentlessly and shamelessly, and that is not their fault, really, except inasmuch as they're generally incapable of being reasoned with.

Video #1 relates to the tip: "Don't mention your spouse's job." Particularly if it involves imaginary creatures.


And Video #2 relates to the tip: "Don't babble." We might also add, "Put down your fucking iced tea."
Luckily for these job hunters the job in question didn't actually exist! So all they lost was their time and dignity. Whew. [How to Nail an Interview]

Duff McKagan, of GnR and Velvet Revolver, got off drugs in the 90s. And picked up a finance habit, hey! Now he's Playboy's new financial columnist, which, well, yea.

McKagan admits, however, he doesn't understand all the technical ins and outs of high finance, but says TV's talking heads don't, either.

"Those boneheads on TV just want to make themselves come off as smart . . . I hope to shed some no-nonsense light on day-to-day money issues," he wrote, closing his salty commentary with a promise: "I will do my best to expose frauds and criminals, one at a time."

Seems like a good dude, but do not take financial advice from a magazine, especially from Playboy magazine, especially from a celebrity columnist in Playboy magazine, especially from a celebrity columnist in Playboy magazine who's a rock star who does not understand finance. Although he can probably lose you money just as well as the pros. [NYP, a bit late on the story. But no biggie!]

Though it looked for a while like Wipeout may have its lowest-common-denominator license revoked for any number of intellectual-property infractions, that day won't come soon enough for NBC, which will be forced to stave off what THR calls "one of the most ambitious Super Bowl Sunday programming plans ever mounted by a non-host network." And yes, let's face it: If Pop Culture Doomsday has proven anything, it's that inbreds falling off padded balls (with NFL retiree-commentary) is the definitive sophistication Americans crave between football halves.

And as for counterprogramming against The Office? Boobs, naturally:

ABC will air an hourlong Wipeout in which cheerleaders compete against male "couch potato" sports fans. [...] "It's broadcast's biggest day, and this is a big mass-market show, and it's fun to be able to participate and be a part of it," said John Saade, senior vp alternative programming at ABC. "This will put Wipeout back in the public's consciousness between runs, and we plan to have a lot of fun with it."

Meanwhile at NBC, Jeff Zucker is hoping the Japanese can pick up the pace on that Wipeout injunction, lest he be forced to augment his own gameday programming with the stakes-upping, fan-friendly halftime act tested out earlier this year in New York. You don't know what this guy is capable of when he's cornered.

• 'Wipeout' special set for Super Sunday [Source]

Is Greater Than has an interview with Anne Elizabeth Moore, who was involved in the paper's production but bailed out prior to distribution day due to ideological differences. It's interesting! It also includes the following complaints:

‘Cause the project turned out to be, ‘a couple guys in New York pulled some crazy prank,’ — that’s sort of inconsequential in my mind. At least as activism, although also as art. How does that shift any power structures or misconform to any notions of how the world operates?

A ton of stuff was cut — much of it the most engaged critical stuff. Maybe stuff that took on the Times too closely, out of fear, I don’t know. Perhaps coincidentally, most content by female contributors was cut.

I’d been really cautious from the beginning that my efforts — and the efforts of the many many people I brought on board this project — not be ultimately co-opted to further forward the brand of the Yes Men. I’ve personally had enough of my efforts going toward brand names I don’t actually believe in[.]

And so what happened, right, is that The Yes Men here first became the symbol that simply replaced the New York Times as the people in power. For a moment, the positions were reversed. Ho ho! It’s not the New York Times that has all the power, it’s these guys that look and act like the guys at the New York Times and live in the same city and have similar economic and racial and backgrounds. Which is a very disempowering way of thinking about power

Other than that (and more), it was great. [Is Greater Than]

We have done some sleuthing based on intelligence received yesterday. First of all, this stunt needed a lot of volunteers to distribute the papers. They were rallied online, via BecauseWeWantit.org.

This email went out to the collaborators last night:

TONIGHT - and especially, TOMORROW MORNING (WEDNESDAY) - a year of work
involving dozens of collaborators comes to a head. Here's the schedule:

** TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY) MORNING, 7am-11am: **

Take a break in your commute to pick up materials, then distribute them
on the rest of your commute. (Or if you want to come back and refill,
fantastic.)

Look for the white UHaul vans near:

- UNION SQUARE: probably near the northwest corner of Union Square Park
- COLUMBUS CIRCLE: probably on 56th St. between 8th and 9th Ave.
- GRAND CENTRAL: probably on 43rd St. between Vanderbilt and Madison,
near west entrance of Grand Central Station.
- PENN STATION: probably on 33rd St. between 6th and 7th Ave., just NE of
Penn Station

Locations will be confirmed and updated by text alert (sign up at
http://becausewewantit.org) and email around 7am tomorrow.

** Also, TONIGHT, 5pm-8pm (if time is tight tomorrow or you just can't wait): **

Look for a white UHaul van near the NORTHWEST CORNER OF UNION SQUARE
PARK. You'll pick up the materials and KEEP THEM SECRET until TOMORROW
MORNING, when you can distribute them wherever you happen to be, or on
your commute.

WATCH TEXT ALERTS FOR ANY LOCATION CHANGES (sign up at
http://becausewewantit.org). We'll also send another email around 5pm.

** THINGS TO BRING: **

- A bag that can hold a big bundle of printed matter - as much as you
can carry. Think big canvas bags, big backpacks, rolling carts, etc.
- Warm clothes
- Friends (or we will team you up)

What will happen:
Something cool! You'll receive materials and instructions when you
arrive. NOTE: YOU DON'T KNOW WHO DID THIS. We want to maintain maximum
mystery around this, for as long as possible - at least for a couple of
days.

Tomorrow morning we'll also have an online viral campaign - a quick
click before you take off for work can make a big difference!

Thank you again for volunteering your time and energy!

See you soon,
The many secret people YOU DO NOT KNOW

BUT: The email address that sent out this message was linked to the site of The Yes Men, longtime liberal prank group that has been doing things just as complex and finely tuned as this for years. The Yes Men run the Because We Want It site, through which they set up this prank. They wanted to be anonymous for a while allegedly, but too late.

Well done, sirs. We hope the Times doesn't sue you for copyright violations.

Buckley's hate mail column, though, has the advantage of quoting an unnamed editor from the magazine his father founded! "One editor at National Review—a friend of 30 years—emailed me that he thought my opinions 'cretinous.'" Ha, ha, that is probably from Rich Lowry? Buckley continues:

Within hours of my endorsement appearing in The Daily Beast it became clear that National Review had a serious problem on its hands. So the next morning, I thought the only decent thing to do would be to offer to resign my column there. This offer was accepted—rather briskly!—by Rich Lowry, NR’s editor, and its publisher, the superb and able and fine Jack Fowler. I retain the fondest feelings for the magazine that my father founded, but I will admit to a certain sadness that an act of publishing a reasoned argument for the opposition should result in acrimony and disavowal.

Is it perhaps too cynical of us to assume that this was all orchestrated as a PR stunt for Tina Brown's crazy new Internet Thing?

Today, the half-ass nature of Blaine's stunt is being pointed out across the UK, in India, and domestically. But did America's prestigious media outlets bother to point out the very germane fact of Blaine's hourly breaks when they initially reported on his stunt? Let's see:

The AP (no mention of breaks):

What's David Blaine up to? Oh, just hanging around.

The magician-daredevil is proclaiming "I'm doin' all right" after starting his latest endurance challenge - 60 hours hanging upside-down, without a net, above Wollman Rink in Manhattan's Central Park.

CBS (no mention of breaks):

Illusionist and endurance artist David Blane plans to spend 60 hours hanging upside down in Central Park without a net. He faces serious health risks such as hemorrhaging and blindness.

And most hilarious of all, ABC News (no mention of breaks):

For three days and two nights, illusionist David Blaine will enjoy an unusual view of New York City's Central Park — one that can only be enjoyed from six stories in the air, while hanging upside down...

Dr. Ronald Ruden, Blaine's physician, told ABCNews.com that when he first heard the name of the stunt, "It scared the crap out of me."

Considering the various health hazards Blaine may face as he hangs in the position for about 60 hours, Ruden's concern is warranted. He said the stunt will be all endurance — no smoke and mirrors.

"How he does this I'm not 100 percent sure," Ruden said. "He seems to have the ability to use his mind to control his body to not experience pain and discomfort, as well as take away his basic drives to eat and sleep and defy his fear."

"We don't even know what the physiology of this is," he said with a laugh. "I hate that."

ABC, of course, is airing the big TV special on Blaine's stunt tonight. Should be awesome.

We, and no doubt the Times, wondered a month ago if architect Renzo Piano's "lace" skin shouldn't come down, after two ascents in one day, but the Times wanted to first try beefing up security. That clearly didn't work, but maybe this way is better: at least the paper can truthfully claim to have become not only more secure, but also a significantly more transparent organization than it was even a month ago!

[City Room]



(Photo by David Dunlap via Times)

Apparently, the Times is being vague about the contents of the banner because "we can't read the words yet - we're trying," according to a newsroom staffer. If you're in midtown, and reading this, take a look for us! tips@gawker.com (What, you have something better to do at this hour?)

UPDATE 2: Nevermind, the Daily News has a picture and got a call from the climber, David Malone, who is responible for the website and book Bin Laden's Plan, which advocates new tactics against Al Qaeda. And, as reported in the comments, the Times has already put in an email to the guy for comment (the guy right outside their window — but hey, maybe he has a BlackBerry!).

[Times]