This Wednesday’s Revolutionaries Live! lecture with UK climate campaign activists John Stewart and Dan Glass has been postponed.

A few days ago, Stewart landed in JFK Airport for a month-long US speaking tour, only to be escorted off the plane by 6 police officers; interrogated for six hours by the FBI, Secret Service, NY police, and Immigration; and put on a plane back to the UK. The other tour member, environmental activist Dan Glass, was stopped by the CIA on the UK side.

Stewart and Glass are celebrated environmentalists who have won support from direct action activists and even Conservatives in the UK Parliament for successful efforts to reduce carbon emissions and stop the expansion of Heathrow airport. For some reason, however, our own government isn’t keen on them coming here.

We’re going to bring them to you anyway. Join us on Thursday, November 3rd for a special Skype session with these revered (and reviled?) climate revolutionaries. The best part: no transcontinental air emissions involved!

Thursday, November 3, 7pm
Department of Performance Studies
721 Broadway, 6th Floor
NY, NY 10003
(photo ID required)

And now that your Wednesday is freed up, consider joining us at OccupyWallStreet! Wednesday is the biggest action yet, with the Steelworkers, Transit Workers Union, United Federation of Teachers, Working Families Party, MoveOn.org, Rebuild the Dream, and countless economic justice and community organizations taking part in a massive march to the Liberty Plaza encampment. Starts at 4:30pm at City Hall, 250 Broadway Ave

Today, GE appeared to put out a press release noting that it had decided to do the right thing and pay the $6.3 billion taxes that it owed for 2010. And all the thanks it got was a quick drop in its stock price. If GE’s paying the government, that’s less money for shareholders. We can’t have that.

Remember the story that GE paid no taxes last year–and in fact, got money back from the government–despite making $11 billion in revenues (though, as with all tax law, the story was maybe a little more complicated than that). Pick your jaw up off the floor, though–GE would never do the right thing. It was all a big hoax, even though you might have read about it in USA Today.

It was just another jab at corporate America from those culture-jamming rascals The Yes Men, who’ve made a career of afflicting the comfortable. They did it in partnership with US Uncut, who want the government to ban circumcision and/or to not cut the budget while corporations don’t pay the taxes they should owe (see, for instance, Google’s 2.4% corporate tax rate…

[continues in Fast Company]

Jakob Boeskov's fake ID Sniper Rifle

This story totally reminds me of an essay we included in Russ Kick’s classic anthology Abuse Your Illusions: The Disinformation Guide To Media Mirages And Establishment Lies, “How I Crashed A Chinese Arms Bazaar With A Rifle That Doesn’t Exist,” by Jakob S. Boeskov. For some reason, white guys in China seem to be cloaked in Yes Men-like levels of suspended belief as to their (highly unlikely) cover stories. By Mitch Moxley for the Atlantic:

Not long ago I was offered work as a quality-control expert with an American company in China I’d never heard of. No experience necessary—which was good, because I had none. I’d be paid $1,000 for a week, put up in a fancy hotel, and wined and dined in Dongying, an industrial city in Shandong province I’d also never heard of. The only requirements were a fair complexion and a suit.

“I call these things ‘White Guy in a Tie’ events,” a Canadian friend of a friend named Jake told me during the recruitment pitch he gave me in Beijing, where I live. “Basically, you put on a suit, shake some hands, and make some money. We’ll be in ‘quality control,’ but nobody’s gonna be doing any quality control. You in?”

I was.

And so I became a fake businessman in China, an often lucrative gig for underworked expatriates here. One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: “Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face.”

Six of us met at the Beijing airport, where Jake briefed us on the details. We were supposedly representing a California-based company that was building a facility in Dongying. Our responsibilities would include making daily trips to the construction site, attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and hobnobbing. During the ceremony, one of us would have to give a speech as the company’s director. That duty fell to my friend Ernie, who, in his late 30s, was the oldest of our group. His business cards had already been made…

[continues in the Atlantic]

Why now?

We Yes Men have been doing our thing for about 12 years. Many of our best projects have been in collaboration with activist groups—our BBC announcement on behalf of Dow Chemical came out of a collaboration with Greenpeace, for example.

Last fall, we collaborated with a coalition of groups to release a much-improved “climate edition” of Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, and to launch an assault on the U.N. by sea (”Balls Across America“). Also in collaboration with activists, we visited our nation’s capital to re-brand the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, then headed to Copenhagen to successfully embarrass Canada about its terrible climate policies.

In part because of these successes, we’ve realized it’s high time for us to get systematic about helping activist groups highlight life-or-death issues—with or without the Yes Men’s participation. That’s what the Yes Lab is all about.

How will the Yes Lab work?

In a typical Yes Lab project, an activist organization will come to the Yes Lab with a target—e.g. Monsanto, or war profiteers, or one of those “too big to fail” banks, or greedy health insurance companies, or a bad government policy—as well as a goal: to affect public debate, push for legislation, embarrass an evildoer, etc. Depending on ability, they will pay a fee to help the Yes Lab keep going.

We’ll work with the group to develop the smartest, most effective plan to accomplish it. We’ll help assemble the team from within the group as well as our mailing list, we’ll train folks as necessary, and we’ll check in on the project until it’s successful.

Why does the Yes Lab need $50,000?

With proper staffing, we believe the Yes Lab could generate a steady stream of disruptive, productive media events keeping the public reminded of what’s wrong, what could be right, and what’s in store if we don’t change our ways. But there’s the hitch: we’ll need proper staffing, because these sorts of projects take a whole lot of work. More specifically, we’ll need:

1. A main organizer, who will go after projects, work with organizations to figure out how projects can fit into their ongoing campaigns, and help follow projects through to completion.
2. An administrator who will also serve as primary fundraiser and manager.
3. An online guru who will develop our extensive list and put it at the service of projects.
4. Possibly, extra space beyond our teeny-tiny Manhattan office.

$50,000 will enable us to do that for an initial period of six months, from September 2010 to March 2011.

And what about after that?

With the momentum that six months will bring, we’re confident that more permanent support will come in—from institutions, foundations, and from organizations themselves.

Want to participate in the Yes Lab?

Great! If you’re an individual, sign up and we’ll let you know when projects are happening near you. If you’re with an organization, please send us an email at yeslab at theyesmen.org or use our contact form. It might take us a while to build our capacity, but we’d still love to hear about your interest in collaborating.

Now about those goodies….

Bucolic Prospect park in Brooklyn, NY played host to a bizarre spectacle on Sunday, as a dramatically under-attended Dow-sponsored “Run for Water” was infiltrated and turned upside down by hundreds of furious activists, including a hundred dressed as Dow spokespeople…

The so-called press conference was held at the Utah State Capitol at 1:00 p.m. Monday.

The woman claimed that…Utahns should get behind the initiative that would force homosexuals to relocate to New York City, Portland or San Francisco. According to the woman, who claimed to be Nora Young, homosexuals who chose not to relocate who be forced to undergo therapy that would “rehabilitate” them from homosexuality.

When corporate pranksters The Yes Men staged a December stunt against the Canadian government’s emission proposals, the group had no idea that the resulting backlash would take down more than 4,000 unrelated websites. Whatever you think of the hoax, the saga is a reminder of the power of ISPs and Web hosting companies. If they don’t like what you’re saying and doing, there are often no consequences to shutting down or blocking sites, even when tremendous collateral damage ensues.

The scenario played out in December when The Yes Men and another group called ActionAid staged a hoax aimed at the Canadian government. They put out press releases and launched official-looking websites at domain names with more than a passing similarity to their official counterparts. All of the materials said the same thing: on the eve of the international climate change shindig in Copenhagen, Canada was committing itself to the most aggressive emissions reduction targets of any country. In addition, it was willing to pay developing countries cash to compensate them for dealing with climate change.

None of it was true. Canada went to Copenhagen with much more modest emissions targets, but soon found itself responding to the hoax and defending its own position on issues like the Alberta oil sands. The Environment Minister, Jim Prentice (yes, that Jim Prentice), soon had his staff blaming the hoax on the cofounder of an environmental group called Equiterre. Equiterre angrily denied the charges.

Read more of Nate Anderson’s article on ars technica and for more on The Yes Men check out the Disinformation-published book of the same name.

What at first looked like the flip-flop of the century has been revealed as a sophisticated ruse by a coalition of African, North American, and European activists. The purpose: to highlight the most powerful nations’ obstruction of meaningful progress in Copenhagen, to push for just climate debt reparations, and to call out Canada in particular for its terrible climate policy.

The elaborate intercontinental operation was spearheaded by a group of concerned Canadian citizens, the “Climate Debt Agents” from ActionAid, and The Yes Men. It involved the creation of a best-case scenario in which Canadian government representatives unleashed a bold new initiative to curb emissions and spearhead a “Climate Debt Mechanism” for the developing world.

The ruse started at 2:00 PM Monday, when journalists around the world were surprised to receive a press release from “Environment Canada” (enviro-canada.com, a copy of ec.gc.ca) that claimed Canada was reversing its position on climate change.

In the release, Canada’s Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, waxed lyrical. “Canada is taking the long view on the world economy,” said Prentice. “Nobody benefits from a world in peril. Contributing to the development of other nations and taking full responsibilities for our emissions is simple Canadian good sense.”

Thirty minutes later, the same “Environment Canada” sent out another press release, congratulating itself on Uganda’s excited response to the earlier fake announcement. A video featuring an impassioned response by “Margaret Matembe,” supposedly a COP15 delegate from Uganda, was embedded in a fake COP15 website. “Canada, until now you have blocked climate negotiations and refused to reduce emissions,” said “Matembe.” “Of course, you do sit on the world’s second-largest oil reserve. But for us it isn’t a mere economic issue – it’s about drought, famine, and disease.”

(The video was shot in a replica of the Bella Center’s briefing room, at Frederiksholms Kanal 4, in the center of Copenhagen. Matembe was actually Kodili Chandia, a “Climate Debt Agent” from ActionAid, a collective of activists that push for rich countries to help those most affected by climate change for adaptation and mitigation projects. The “Climate Debt Agents,” with their signature bright red suits, have been a ubiquitous presence in Copenhagen during the climate summit.)

Then it was time for Canada to react. One hour later, another “Environment Canada” (this one at ec-gc.ca) released a bombastic response to the original release. This one quot
ed Jim Prentice, Canada’s Minister for the Environment, decrying the original announcement: “It is the height of cruelty, hypocrisy, and immorality to infuse with false hopes the spirit of people who are already, and will additionally, bear the brunt of climate change’s terrible human effects. Canada deplores this moral misfire.”

Because almost none of the resulting news coverage even mentioned Uganda or “Matembe’s” response, a fourth release was sent from the second website (ec-gc.ca).

Meanwhile, in the real world

The real Canadian government’s reactions were almost as strange as the fake ones in the release. Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for the Canadian Prime Minister, emailed reporters and blamed Steven Guilbeault, cofounder of Quebec-based Equiterre. “More time should be dedicated to playing a constructive role instead of childish pranks,” said Soudas in a first email, while misspelling Guilbeault’s name.

Guilbeault demanded an apology. “A better way to use his time would probably be to advise the Canadian government to change its deeply flawed position on climate,” said Guilbeault.

Soudas and Guilbeault were seen exchanging angry words in the hallway outside of Canada’s 3:30pm press conference, which did not start until 4:30pm, and at which the Canadians refused to answer any questions about the flurry of false releases.

More raised voices were heard when Stephen Chu, the US Secretary of Energy, refused to pose for a photo with his Canadian counterpart, Jim Prentice. After Steve Kelly, Prentice’s chief of staff, begged for 10 minutes, the US guy finally asked why a photo was so important. Kelly replied that “we were carpetbagged this morning by [environmental non-governmental organizations] with a false press release. I gotta change the story.”

Why Blame Canada?

The only country in the world to have abandoned the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions and climate debt targets, Canada also has the most energy-intensive, destructive and polluting oil reserves in the world. The Alberta tar sands, according to The Economist, are in fact the world’s biggest single industrial source of carbon emissions.

“By not agreeing to emissions reductions, Canada is holding a loaded gun to our heads, and seems ready to pull the trigger on millions of us around the globe, ” said Margaret Matembe aka Kodili Chandia of the “Climate Debt Agents.” “They leave us no choice but to see them as criminal.”

At last year’s climate summit in Poznan, Poland, over 400 civil society organizations voted Canada worst of all nations in blocking progress towards a binding climate treaty. Will Canada take the dubious prize again this year in Copenhagen?

“The Canadian government is not listening to its citizens,” says Sarah Ramsey, a resident of Alberta who has seen the destruction of the tar sands firsthand. Ramsey traveled to Copenhagen to give voice to a generation of young Canadians. “We are discouraged and demoralized by our government’s position on climate change. We decided to lend our government a hand, and show them what good leadership looks like.”

In solidarity with the delegates from the G77 Bloc of nations, today’s intervention was also meant to highlight an issue at the heart of the ongoing talks—the issue of climate justice, and the climate debt that the developed world owes the developing world. Seventy-five percent of the historical emissions that created the climate crisis came from 20% of the world’s population in developed countries, according to the UN, yet up to 80% of the impacts of the climate crisis are experienced in the developing world, according to the World Bank.

“I meant every word I said,” says Kodili Chandia, a spokesperson for the Climate Debt Agents, who spoke out as a member of the Ugandan delegation. “This debate isn’t just about facts and figures and abstract concepts of fairness—the drought we are seeing right now in East Africa is directly threatening the lives of millions of people, including farmers in my own family. We have not created this problem but we are living with the consequences. That’s why I still say: It’s time for rich countries to pay their climate debt.”

There will be a press conference today at the “good” Bella Center used to shoot the fake announcement videos: 1pm, Frederiksholms Kanal 4, Copenhgaen.

More dream announcements coming soon! Come make your own or stay tuned at good-cop15.org.

“USUALLY it’s my shoes,” Andy Bichlbaum said, staring at his feet. “They’re black, but — uh-oh — they’re work boots.” Apparently a small detail like this can give you away when you’re trying to impersonate a corporate spokesman in front of millions of TV viewers.

A glass of whiskey in hand, Mr. Bichlbaum, who is one half of the prankster/activist duo the Yes Men, was greeting fans in the courtyard of the Hammer Museum where “The Yes Men Fix the World” was about to have its Los Angeles premiere. The other Yes Man, Mike Bonanno, was in Washington talking on MSNBC about the film.

Mr. Bichlbaum, 46, had on a dark suit jacket and a dress shirt, which he wore untucked over baggy cargo pants that were tied at the ankles. Nonetheless, he conveyed the same air of authority that helped him when, keeping a straight face, he held a televised news conference two weeks ago as a representative of the United States Chamber of Commerce and announced that the organization had dropped its opposition to climate-change legislation. (On Tuesday the organization sued the Yes Men for trademark infringement.)

Earlier in his career — as documented in the movie — Mr. Bichlbaum posed as a Dow Chemical Company spokesman on the BBC World News and offered $12 billion to compensate the victims of the 1984 disaster in Bhopal, India. His ruse was quickly found out, but not before the price of Dow’s stock dropped precipitously.

In the courtyard, a fan approached and asked if Mr. Bichlbaum was apprehensive when he faked his identity. “I get dry mouth and my heart pounds,” he said, his voice sonorous as a newscaster. “But where else do you get the chance to be that nervous? Bungee jumping?”

After the film started, Mr. Bichlbaum and three friends, including his boyfriend, Carlo Cattaneo Adorno, headed to the green room. “Wow, this is rock star,” Mr. Bichlbaum said upon seeing the makeup table and mirrors. Pizza, heirloom tomato salads and two bottles of wine soon followed, and the talk turned to Mr. Bichlbaum’s beginnings.

His real name is…

The Chamber of Commerce stunned DC on Monday by calling a last-minute press conference to announce a dramatic about-face in its climate policy—it would not only stop opposing the Kerry-Boxer climate bill but would work with them to make it better. But the whole thing turned out to be a hoax mounted by the Yes Men, a notorious band of anti-corporate pranksters.

Reporters received a press release early Monday stating that the Chamber would be “throwing its weight behind strong climate legislation” at an event at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, DC. But when I and others showed up, we were met by a fellow dressed in a suit looking like a typical corporate PR man. This wasn’t Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue. And I recognized him as Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum. (I’ve written about the group previously.) He soon was telling reporters, “We at the Chamber have tried to keep climate science from interfering with business. But without a stable climate, there will be no business.”

The Yes Men posted text of the fake speech on a fake website that closely mirrors the actual Chamber site. There were a couple of tell-tale signs that there might be some funny business going on: The speech was to come from “Tom Donahue,” while the actual CEO of the Chamber is named “Tom Donohue.” And as TPM pointed out, the press release announcing the event was issued by one Erica Avidus, whose last name is Latin for “greedy.”

As one might expect, the real Chamber was none too pleased. Eric Wohlschlegel, spokesman for the US Chamber, showed up and protested loudly during the event. “This is fraudulent!” he yelled. Later he could be heard asking a Press Club employee how they could host this kind of stunt. “How could someone call and represent the Chamber in this way?” he asked. “We do a lot of events here. We’re very supportive of the Press Club.”…

a series of civil disobedience actions involving Survivaballs. It’s inspired by the Climate Pledge of Resistance and BeyondTalk.net. “Balls Across America” was launched in prime-time on CNN, and now will spread across the United States, in lockstep with the distribution schedule of The Yes Men Fix the World!

Well as it turns out you can try on a Survivaball too. If you’re in New York or have friends who are, you are “invited to come wear the world’s stupidest costume and hand out coupons for a free fake New York Times with each ticket. We really need people to do this, because a lot of people don’t know our film is showing (not much money for advertising). To volunteer, please write wearaball@theyesmen.org. We need you starting today!”

And if you’re not in New York, don’t worry:

Sign up on our email list. Make sure to select your city, and click the box that says “I would like to wear a Survivaball.” We’ll do our best to get you one, and suggest a list of targets. The rest is up to you….

Andy actually got arrested and jailed for over 24 hours while wearing one earlier in the week, so I suppose my 10 minutes or so wearing one weren’t bad in comparison. Still, it isn’t the most flattering thing I’ll ever wear. Check it out for a laugh here:

2012 and the Survivaball Video

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