Floating around cyberspace for at least a month and a half, via White Rabbit, this leetle coupon saver caught the staff’s attention only the other day.Though we were slow on the uptake, we did notice that no toaster coupons were available to match the many lesser-known banks that failed in the last year. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

Given the so-called change said to be coming to the aaaeulc, it may be seen as cynical to recall this Thanksgiving Prayer, first offered 20 years ago this week and dedicated to John Dillinger. But Uncle Bill‘s words of gratitude have a certain je ne sais quoi … the ring of truth maybe? Listen or, […]

Have a listen to the sweet nothings William S. Burroughs offers, by way of Philip Hunt’s extraordinary animation short. It was pointed out to me by Supervert. Ah Pook I’d say the film is an ideal accompaniment to Malcolm Mc Neil’s “lost art” exhibition, which has been extended through January. That’s Burroughs reading his text, […]

Is it something in the November air? Doubtful. Maybe it’s the god of artistic collaborations wanting to set the record straight. Let’s say it’s strictly dumb coincidence. Whatever the reason, this month provides a happy occasion for legions of Jack Kerouac fans, to say nothing of William S. Burroughs cultists, who always seem eager for […]

Because of something Ralph Nader said on Election Day — he asked whether Barack Obama was going to be an Uncle Sam or an Uncle Tom — I feel obliged to take note of an interview (as posted on YouTube) that Nader did shortly afterward with Fox Report news anchor Shepard Smith, who was shocked […]

If you think people have gone nuts for Obama memorabilia — they bought stacks of newspapers marking the Obama victory — get a look at the book collectors’ market. With enough scratch you can pick up a boxed set of Dreams of My Father and The Audacity of Hope for a meager quarter mil. Here’s […]

Now that America has elected a black fist bumper to the presidency, take a look at the newspaper he has in his hand. Take a close look. The photo, shot during the election campaign, shows him carrying The Wall Street Journal. As everybody knows, the Journal’s editorial page falls somewhere between Barry Goldwater and Attila […]

Oh shit. Studs Terkel has died. He was 96. He was the blackest white man I ever met. Blacker even than his lifelong friend the novelist Nelson Algren, another black man who happened to be born white. Anyway, here’s what several former Chicago Sun-Times colleagues of mine had to say. Roger Ebert: “Was he the […]

As mentioned here at the beginning of the week, “there must be millions of cleverly individualized videos like this one circulating now.” But whether it’s the “novelty of personalization” achieved through “multiple layers of Flash animation” or the “third order of simulacra,” PalTalk got there first with its faux presidential candidate Sarah Wheaton. Watch the […]

Look at what the wind blew in … a news story about the arrest of a couple of neo-Nazi creeps who “talked of ‘killing 88 people and beheading 14 African-Americans,” and topping that off with a drive-by of Barack Obama. From the NY Times: The two men each had “very strong views” about Aryan white […]

I know because I saw it on my video screen: There must be millions of cleverly individualized videos like this one circulating now. In other words, “all reality is an imitation,” as a friend of mine, Bill Osborne, says. He cites Baudrillard. Third Order of Simulacra: The present age — dominated by simulations, things that have […]

Here in New York, the City Council backed Bloomberg’s bid to run again. The logic went like this: It would have been undemocratic to deprive voters of the chance to elect the mayor to a third term, despite the fact that voters had twice approved a two-term limit for elected officials. So the City Council […]

Can’t stomach the political campaign? The media spin? Neither can The Onion. Have a look: Gunman Kills 15 Potential Voters In Crucial Swing State Tip of the hat to a gimlet-eyed Straight Up staffer who sent it in. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

Quick take on who won, besides Joe the Plumber. CNN poll: Debate watchers say Obama wins. Time magazine: McCain Threw the Sink — and Plumber — But Obama Doesn’t Falter. CBS poll: Uncommitted Voters Say Obama Won Final Debate. So anyone who believes the kind of horseshit being dished up by George Stephanopoulos that the […]

I mean McCain of course. Seems to me that Andrew Sullivan, live-blogging last night’s Nashville encounter between Obama and the overheated Gasbag, got it just about right: 9.51 pm. Why is McCain wandering around the stage .?. It’s weird. He looks like an old man pacing aimlessly. 10.33 pm. This was, I think, a mauling: […]

It’s no surprise that Ralph Nader makes more sense than anyone else in politics. What’s surprising is that, at 74, he is as smart and as principled as ever. Watch the video. It was recorded last week in San Francisco at The Commonwealth Club of California and runs a little more than an hour. Skip […]

… and the award for best exploitative photojournalism goes to … … this photo. It appeared yesterday on the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The caption reads: “Panorama Towers is shown in Las Vegas on Sunday as a commercial airliner flies in the distance.” The excuse for running the photo was an FAA […]