From carrie at stayfreemagazine.org Mon Jul 5 16:41:47 2004 From: carrie at stayfreemagazine.org (Carrie McLaren) Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 16:41:47 -0400 Subject: Stay Free! | BushIsNotAChimp.org Message-ID: Hello, Although the press release below is unaffiliated with Stay F---! (it's from Monkeywire, another project of mine), I thought some of you might appreciate it regardless. It's a response to the news, released over the weekend, that President Bush is succeeding in his plans to water down the Endangered Species Act. :::: For immediate release CRITICS BLAST LIBERAL MEDIA FOR BUSH "CHIMP" REMARKS http://www.bushisnotachimp.org/ http://www.monkeywire.org/ Leaders of a Brooklyn-based primate news service have called on political activists and news media to cease from referring to U.S. President George W. Bush as a chimp or monkey. The heads of Monkeywire, which bills itself as the "number one source for news about monkeys and apes," have called the Bush primate references "misguided and demeaning." Bush has been described as a "chimp," (Globe and Mail), a "grinning chimp" (In These Times), a "smirking chimp," (SmirkingChimp.com), "the Chimp in Charge," Democratic Underground, a "hairless chimp" (The Columbian) [incorrect on both counts], and a "pretzel-eating chimp" (AP) with a face that reveals "thin-lipped brow-furrowed monkey confusion" (San Francisco Chronicle). The President's actions have similarly been conveyed in simian terms: "Bush proposes to monkey with the Constitution" (Slate). Monkeywire cofounders Carrie McLaren and Joe Garden maintain that such comparisons overemphasize physical similarities between Bush and chimpanzees while downplaying important differences in genetics, behavior, and natural habitat. Humans share over 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, our closest genetic relative. However, that fraction of a percent accounts for clear differences in mental capacities, physical dexterity, and body hair. Bush shares with lower primates the ability to make his desires clear despite an inability to communicate in English. He also understands and reacts to negative stimuli, and makes use of simple tools. However, Bush's dental records -- which were used as evidence of the President's service in the National Guard -- clearly demonstrate that he is human. The Monkeywire heads say the most marked distinctions between Bush and chimpanzees are not physical characteristics, however, but behavioral ones. "Bush has proposed changing the Endangered Species Act to allow imports of endangered species and body parts," says McLaren. "A chimp would never do that." Chimpanzees are an endangered species. The chimpanzee population has dropped from 2 million to 150,000, due in part to the slaughter of apes for "bush meat." When changes to the Endangered Species Act were proposed last year, renowned primatologist Jane Goodall predicted that bush meat trade could eradicate all great apes within a couple of decades. The Monkeywire heads also cite Bush's position on global warming as evidence of his anti-chimp position. Bush withdrew from the Kyoto Treaty and reversed his 2000 campaign pledge to regulate industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. The Monkeywire founders argue that such decisions may contribute to the devastation of chimps' natural habitats. "Obviously, Bush is not a chimp," said McLaren. "But we hope everyone can come together to release him into the wild." CONTACT For more information on changes to the Endangered Species Act, contact Brian Nowicki of the Center for Biological Diversity at (520) 623-5252 http://www.sw-center.org For depressing news about the modern-day plight of primates, visit: The Great Ape Project - http://www.greatapeproject.org The Jane Goodall Institute - http://www.janegoodall.org NOTE: The above organizations have no affiliation with Monkeywire. From carrie at stayfreemagazine.org Thu Jul 8 19:35:19 2004 From: carrie at stayfreemagazine.org (Carrie McLaren) Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 19:35:19 -0400 Subject: New issue of Stay F---! out now Message-ID: Hello, I am pleased to inform you that a new issue of Stay F---! is now available for purchase. You can pick it up at finer independent book/record stores (plus Borders and Tower) or online straight from the source: http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/order Of course, we'd prefer that you subscribe since we make a lot more money that way. Subscriptions run from $7 to $20 for three issues: http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/order There's no real theme this time, just a potpourri of pointy-headed goodness, including but not limited to the following: THE GREAT WHITE WAY Long before Adolf Hitler hit his stride, prominent American scholars and politicians worked to breed a better, whiter race. Historian Daniel Kevles discusses the United States eugenics movement, Fitter Families, and efforts to segregate, sterilize, and castrate the "unfit." THE DARK SIDE OF DOG BREEDING Why can't purebred retrievers retrieve? How do sickly powder puffs win dog shows? What makes a dalmatian a dalmatian? Historian James Serpell discusses humanity's kinship with canines. JURY RIGGING 101 How trial consultants are using market research techniques to win court cases. POP SONG PIRACY, OR, THE NAPSTER OF THE 1930s Barry Kernfield tells the story of bootleg song sheets and fake books. BIG IDEAS Stay Free! readers share their get-rich-quick schemes and entrepreneurial experiences. PR MACHINE Marketer Robert Doornick uses robots and technical wizardry to warm consumers to his Fortune 500 clients. SUBLIMINAL SEDUCTION Did the uproar over subliminal advertising help the ad industry more than it harmed it? Carrie McLaren on the paradox of advertising criticism. ...and more! that's all for now, carrie From stay.free at verizon.net Sun Jul 25 18:23:16 2004 From: stay.free at verizon.net (Carrie McLaren) Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 18:23:16 -0400 Subject: Stay F---! | July 25 Message-ID: STAY F---! STARTING A NEW MAGAZINE Hello. Stay F----! is looking for volunteers for a new local magazine we're starting in the fall (tentatively titled THE PARK SLOPE YUPPIE). Anyone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, or one of the nearby neighborhoods (including Propect Hts, Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Windsor Terrace, Sunset Park, Carroll Gardens, etc.) interested in getting involved should contact me at stay.free at verizon.net for more information. RECENT ITEMS OF INTEREST :::::: "Advert Channel makes its debut in Britain" :::::: http://www.waveguide.co.uk/latest/news040721.htm This is the sort of thing that people expect me to get all worked up about: the world's "first TV channel dedicated entirely to adverts." But I actually appreciate a revenue model that lets people CHOOSE to watch ads or not. Besides, it makes sense that some people find commercials more interesting than most TV content. After all, the amount of resources put into developing commercials -- into writing, filming, and producing them -- dwarfs that of regular programming. That is part of the problem, of course, but it ain't the audience's fault. :::::: "Is your computer a loaded gun?" :::::: "At a Senate hearing on Thursday, defenders of the Induce Act -- which would ban technologies that encourage copyright infringement -- will try to explain why their bill isn't the stupidest idea they've ever come up with." By Siva Vaidhyanathan http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/07/22/induce/index.html (Requires watching an ad if you don't subscribe) :::::: " National Barbie-in-a-Blender-Day " :::::: To celebrate Illegal Artist Tom Forsythe's victory against Mattel, Freeculture.org is organizing an online Barbie exhibit. So gather up all your dirty Barbie photos, drawings, animations and poetry and send them to these folks, post haste. http://barbieinablender.org/ http://www.freeculture.org/ :::::: "A copyright battle kills an anthology about composer Rebecca Clarke" :::::: http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i45/45a01401.htm (Thanks to David Glenn) :::::: "Web sites can use new technology to block groups of visitors" :::::: http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2262535,00.html UPCOMING STAY F---! EVENTS Seattle - Sun. August 8 and Wed. August 11 - 7pm "WIZARD PEOPLE, DEAR READERS" LIVE! Creator Brad Neely will be there to narrate the show himself. At Rendezvous Restaurant/Jewel Box Theater (2320 2nd Avenue) www.nwfilmforum.org/wizard Portland, OR - either Fri. Aug 20 *or* Sat. Aug. 21 (date TBA) Stay F---! editor Carrie McLaren will be in-store to talk about the magazine + related projects and pranks. Maybe I'll read a bit, too... who knows. Reading Frenzy (921 SW Oak St.; 503-274-1449) http://www.readingfrenzy.com/