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> From: The Yes Men <[email protected]> > Date: 30 March 2010 14:20:11 GMT+01:00 > To: "martinmitch21-mac.com" <[email protected]> > Subject: Our new DVD, the "Yes Lab," and plenty of news > > To make sure you keep getting our emails, or to unsubscribe, please visit > your profile. > May your April Fools' Day be newsy and chatty! > > Our DVD comes out in two days (no joke), and you can: buy it, organize your > own screening with it, use it as a fundraising tool, etc. (see below). No > matter what, you'll be helping us Yes Men with our upcoming plans, including > the launch of the "Yes Lab," a sort of institute to generate projects and > spread our techniques. > > More on that in a moment - but first... > > TWO NEW ACTIONS FROM JUST THIS LAST WEEK! > > CODEPINK pulled off a "Yes-Men-inspired" coup last Monday by making everyone > think that AIPAC was suddenly agreeing with the Obama Administration's > criticism of settlements in the West Bank. The action forced AIPAC, which > claims to not have a position on settlements, to admit that it disagrees with > current U.S. policy and international law. (It also incidentally drew > attention to J Street, the much more representative, intelligent, and cool > Jewish lobby - which does have a clear position on settlements.) Later the > same day, a CODEPINK operative brusquely interrupted Israeli PM Benjamin > Netanyahu as he gave lip-service to peace. > > A big shout out to a group in Missoula who made waves in their community last > week by widely announcing a shockingly generous "thank you" concert and > giveaway on behalf of Macy's and Smurfit-Stone, two longtime Missoula > businesses that had closed just before Christmas, laying off hundreds of > workers and leaving the town with millions in unpaid property taxes and debt. > (Macy's CEO Terry J. Lundgren noted that "we improved our profitability" in > 2009 by reducing expenses, "enabling us to generate significant cash flow" of > $1.6 billion; Smurfit-Stone, whose operations in Mexico and Asia leave them > "well positioned for long term growth," paid out millions in executive > bonuses while CEO Sir Michael Smurfit bought a $68 million yacht.) In part > thanks t o the "thank you Missoula" action, a bunch more folks in Missoula > are wondering why the two companies haven't thanked the town for sacrificing > prospects and jobs for their profits and yachts. > Oh and speaking of prospects, here are... > SOME EXCITING LEGAL UPDATES! > > In case you were wondering how things were going with that whole "being sued > by the biggest and most reactionary lobbying organization in the world" thing > (thank you, U.S. Chamber of Commerce), we're proud to say we've got the most > amazing pro bono legal team imaginable: the Electronic Frontier Foundation > and a big law firm called Davis Wright Tremaine. To read about this > potentially pivotal, and definitely hilarious, case, please visit the EFF's > special page. > > Another bit of legal good news: Back in October, someone at our Chicago movie > premiere was arrested for handing out charcoal to 150 people who used it to > draw all over a nearby Chase branch what they felt about Mountaintop Removal > coal mining (Chase is the largest funder of that filthy practice). We're > happy to say that all criminal charges against the charcoal-distributor were > dropped, thanks to a settlement negotiated by the amazing People's Law > Office. A portion of the proceeds from our DVD will help pay off the small > costs that resulted. > > Those last two paragraphs naturally lead, in a seamless segue, to the subject > dearest to our hearts as of late: > > THE YES LAB! > > Now that the Yes Men get covered in Reader's Digest and USA Weekend (in > grotesquely watered-down form), it's probably time to prepare our move into > the old folks' home by spreading our know-how to others. We'll tell you more > about our nearly-born Yes Lab in late April, but we can't stop ourselves from > letting you know that there are already three, count 'em three, Yes Lab > projects lined up already. Stay tuned! > > Oh and by the way, to help us launch the Yes Lab right, you can buy or > screen... > > OUR NEW DVD AND ITS MANY EXCITING DOODADS! > > We're excited to announce the new, elaborately packaged and somewhat toxic > format in which you can now get our film, The Yes Men Fix the World, and 80 > minutes of never- or seldom-before-seen extras. > > If you buy it from us at the standard retail price ($25), you'll also get a > free copy of our "dream edition" New York Times, as well as the knowledge > you're helping us continue our de-dirtying work. The DVD (from the excellent > folks at Docurama) contains the uncut feature film as well as 80+ minutes of > never-before-seen actions, some early Yes Men videos, a seldom-seen bit of > TV, and much more. For more on the extras click here. > > If watching our DVD by yourself doesn't cut it, why not organize your own > screening for friends, colleagues, parishioners, Coffee Party adherents, > lovers, pets, or total and complete strangers with an excellent new tool > called Good Screenings, set up by Franny Armstrong, director of The Age of > Stupid. You can even charge money and keep it. > > If you're part of an activist group or just know one, you can use our DVD for > fundraising! Because we kept our film's DVD rights, so we can offer NGOs > steep discounts for orders of 50 or more, and nearly vertical ones for > quantities over 500. Please write to us to discuss. > > (If you're in New York, you can watch us flack our DVD in person in a > mega-super-ultrastore - one that's just as big as the one that laid off the > folks in Missoula. Also no joke. Afterwards, we'll try to find an independent > venue nearby to raise a glass - join us!) > > AND APROPOS OF NOTHING! > > Did you know that Belgian national television played a meaningful practical > joke on the entire country (Belgium) back in 2006? > > Our friends at Corporate Accountability have helped make a short film about > how savvy marketing has gotten Americans to buy half a billion bottles of > water each week when they can get it free from the tap. A hilarious April > Fool's joke on consumers? Get the whole stupid story at The Story of Bottled > Water. > > Here's another film about garbage, as well as everything—really > everything—else: Isle of Flowers. It's a masterpiece. > > Stay tuned for another, less chatty but even more newsy update soon. (Make > sure to visit your profile at the top to be sure you keep getting emails.) > > Onwards, > Andy, Mike, and the legions of other Yes Men and Women >
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