[image mashup courtesy Eat The Press]
[disclosure, blah, blah, blah -- Ed.]
Time has joined Newsweek in determining that Americans who are retired or go to the dentist can't handle the truth. Or, perhaps, would rather read about Paris Hilton than, yaknow, things that might be like, all bad-news and shit.
Read all about it after the jump...
The image montage above shows covers from Time US and three other international editions of Time. One of these things is not like the others, eh???
What do Time editors from around the globe think their readers need to know? The cover story everywhere else is that Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders [mostly] in "the tribal regions" of Pakistan have succeeded in creating their own virtual "non-state" "state" free of control from either the Pakistani or Afghan governments. "Remote, tribal and deeply conservative, the border region is less a part of either country than a world unto itself, a lawless frontier so beyond the control of the West and its allies that it has earned a name of its own: Talibanistan." It's a very interesting -- and disturbing -- story, and you can read about it on US Time's website -- but not in US Time magazine -- here.
Sadly, this is not the first time our newsweekly overlords have determined we in the US just can't handle the truth. Back in September, Newsweek did the same thing with a related story and cover that postulated that the NATO allies were "Losing Afghanistan". Here's that cover montage fun:
[image courtesy Wonkette]
Here are Wonkette, Gawker, and TruthOut on the "Losing Afghanistan" cover story...story.
Then, Newsweek did it again in October, with an international story about the effects of global warming that was, well, apparently not hot enough to make the US mag. Here's that cover montage fun:
[image courtesy Wonkette]
Here is Wonkette on the Global Warming story.
Oh, and just because they wanted to be dicks, apparently, Newsweek did it yet again in October with a story about North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
Rachel Sklar wants you to know that she's had enough of this bullshit.
Why does the American media think the big depressing stories need to back-burnered in favor of stories about celebrity and "social controversy"? Sadly, I think we all know the answer to that question.
Whatever moves the most copies. Sigh.
*****
Take a look back at that first montage above. The international editions feature a story about "Talibanistan". The US edition features a story titled "Why We Should Teach The Bible In Public School".
Maybe one of these things really is like the other things after all.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
This Is Why We Don't Love American Newsweeklies [27 March 2007 Edition]
Friday, March 16, 2007
BREAKING: Boring Old Newsmagazine Makes Sweet Escape Back To The Future, Sheds No Tears About Cribbing Boring Old Iconography
[disclosure, blah, blah, blah -- Ed.]
Have you seen the first issue of Time after its much-balleyhood redesign?
I won't bore you with discussions of white space and font sizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze [go here or here if you want to see that kind of stuff]. And, of course, there's no need to digress to discuss the HI-larious cover story, which contains such awesome bits as:
" A generation ago, fresh off the second biggest electoral landslide in American history, Ronald Reagan surveyed the wreckage that had been the opposition and declared victory. Standing before 1,700 true believers at the 1985 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he proclaimed, "The tide of history is moving irresistibly in our direction. Why? Because the other side is virtually bankrupt of ideas. It has nothing more to say, nothing to add to the debate. It has spent its intellectual capital." "
[and]
" "Compassionate conservatism, for all its virtues, does not even try to address itself to parents. A conservative agenda that did so would not only cement a relationship with these voters, it would also appeal to many with similar worries who do not share the strong cultural predilections that have drawn middle- and lower-middle-class parents to vote for Republicans." [says Yuval Levin of the Ethics and Public Policy Center] "
No, I'm more interested in this surely-not-photoshopped awesome cover image of Ronald Reagan shedding a lone tear.
I think I've seen this iconography somewhere before.
I think it's awesome that the folks at Time wanted to fictionally demonstrate that "Reagan would be sad if he knew his party had no new ideas, had brought the world to the brink of an apocalyptic World War III, and was maybe about to nominate a possibly-closeted-gay liberal as their new standard bearer" in the "a photoshopped picture is worth 1000 10,000 words" kind of way. I wonder where they got this idea from?
Maybe they were inspired by Gwen Stefani shedding a tear after realizing that Fergie had displaced her as the new dance-pop-R&B queen:
[image courtesy gwenstefani.com]
Or maybe they were inspired by Elmo shedding a tear because The Black Parade's dealing-with-cancer theme touched him at the core of his soul:
[image courtesy stereogum.com]
Or maybe they were inspired by Lil Wayne's non-photoshopped non-tears he has never actually shed over anything:
[image courtesy cashmoney-records.com]
Or maybe they were inspired by this widely-distributed 9/11-themed image:
[image courtesy angelfire.com; seriously, who still hosts their site on Angelfire??? -- Ed.]
Or maybe they were inspired by this eTrade Super Bowl commercial from 2001 -- widely considered to be one of the Top Ten Super Bowl Ads of all time:
[video courtesy filefront.com]
[Wouldn't it be not-in-the-"rain-on-your-wedding-day"-kind-but-the-real-kind ironic if this really were the inspiration for the Time cover??? -- Ed.]
Or maybe they were inspired by "the original" -- the classic 1970's-era anti-pollution PSA starring totally non-"Indian" actor Espera De Corti, a/k/a "Iron Eyes Cody" [his parents were Sicilian, but he was born in the United States] [hey, he could run for President if he hadn't died 8 years ago -- Ed.]:
[video courtesy youtube.com]
[seriously, DHMBIB recommends that all readers check out these two videos -- Ed.]
*****
Okay, Time, I know a picture is worth 1000 words -- even if it is completely fake. But the "shedding a single tear" meme jumped the shark a long time ago. And after the eTrade monkey did it, it became a complete joke.
[Sort of like Time magazine, I s'pose -- Ed.]
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
META: Area Music Blogger Gazes Into Navel With Rose-Colored Glasses, Sees Rose-Colored Lint
This is left over from the end-of-the-year holiday crush, but I'm still over the moon about the whole thing.
Like lots of bloggers, I'm always interested to know if anyone out there is actually reading my precious ramblings, or even gives two shits about them. I admit to occasionally doing a Technorati search to see if any other blogs are linking to me [currently, sadly, only my MySpace blog links over here]. And I'm always scanning through my blog to look for any comments that have appeared since my last visit. [Do I need to tell you how many comments I've received at either of my blogs? Do I???]
I know that there are people who are reading, but I have been wondering who might be reading, other than the friends and family I know about.
I recently posted [no links, peruse the archives if you're interested] and jokingly suggested that some well-known music blogger[s] may have stumbled upon my blog and may have been lurking. [BTW, I totally approve of such behavior.] I dropped in some fun "bait", hoping that might lure someone to say hello.
Recently, I received a message from someone[s] -- and I won't reveal who -- who said yes, indeed, she/he/it/them have/had been reading. This was the most exciting news I've received since I've started doing this.
So, if "you" are still reading -- and I don't mean " 'you' ", but "you know who" -- THANK YOU! Thank you for reading, and thank you for reaching out to me. You have affirmed my faith in bloggeranity, and made me the happiest blogger that I personally know.
ciaobaby
