Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The more things change, the more they stay insane

It may be apt that I'm Just Wild About Harry (originally a Broadway tune, later a Harry Truman campaign song) got promoted to Featured Sound overnight. Ever since lipstick on a pig became this week's political catchphrase I've been wondering whether someone would dig up an old Photoshop gag I created half a year ago. Hadn't been watching the article itself (which is quite the Wikipedian hotbed), but somebody linked me to an edit...

Sure enough, it's in the article now. And admin Jossi Fresco was the editor to place it. Now I try to keep mum about politics, or at least log out of my own party when I log into Wikipedia. On September 11, 2008 Wikipedia ran its first featured sound on the main page: George W. Bush's September 11, 2001 address ran in conjunction with a featured picture of the 9/11 rubble. So I have no opinion about whether that image belongs in the article. Someone on the talk page has already objected. I'm just sitting back, shaking my head, waiting to quietly enter the voting booth in November and do my thing. I've already decided who's getting my vote and that's nobody's business.

A few hours before that wiki-storm hit I started a featured picture nomination that's surprisingly timely: footage of the cleanup after the 1900 Galveston hurricane. Doesn't it just seem like nature is reminding us that there are certain places where humans aren't supposed to live?

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Image credit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lipstickonapig.jpg

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