ART AND ACTIVIST GROUPS SPOOF NEW YORK TIMES

Thousands of New York commuters on Wednesday morning were handed copies of a newspaper that looked a lot like the New York Times, with a main headline blaring IRAQ WAR ENDS, reports the New York Times’s Richard Perez-Pena and Brian Stelter. Articles described a nation turned hard left: nationalized oil companies, a “maximum wage” law, the enactment of national health insurance, President Bush indicted for treason, and evangelical churches providing sanctuary for Iraqi refugees.

Wired’s Lewis Wallace reports that hundreds of independent writers, artists, and activists are claiming credit for the elaborate project, six months in the making; groups claim they distributed 1.2 million copies across the US via thousands of volunteers. The papers were dated July 4, 2009; there was also a spoof site. The people behind the project are involved in a diverse range of groups, including the Yes Men, the Anti-Advertising Agency, CODEPINK, United for Peace and Justice, Not an Alternative, May First/People Link, Improv Everywhere, Evil Twin, and Cultures of Resistance.