The Daily Background

The Yes Men (see the documentary about them if you haven’t already) impersonated Bush Administration officials and announced what should have been announced long ago. TPM Muckraker:

Posing as fictitious senior HUD official Rene Oswin, Andy Bichlbaum — a member of the Group the Yes Men — promised big (and unlikely) changes in New Orleans to a privately-organized conference in Kenner, Louisiana. Among his expansive promises, according to CNN:

- Energy giants Exxon and Shell would spend $8.6 billion “to finance wetlands rebuilding from $60 billion in profits this year.”

- Wal-Mart would withdraw its stores from poor neighborhoods and “help nurture local businesses to replace them.”

- the federal government would spend $180 million to fund “at least one well-equipped public health clinic for every housing development.”

The list goes on. Meanwhile, CNN reports:

A man who pulled a hoax on Louisiana officials and 1,000 contractors by presenting himself as a federal housing official said Monday he intended to focus attention on a lack of affordable housing.

“We basically go around impersonating bad institutes or institutes doing very bad things,” said the man, who identified himself as Andy Bichlbaum, a 42-year-old former college teacher of video and media arts who lives in New York and Paris.

“That would be HUD. At this moment, they’re doing some really bad things.”

Awesome.

Filed under: Little Noticed News, Z-TDB Blog