The Politics of Parking Permits

Although Mayor Mike and company still dole out the highly coveted park where you want permits to select V.I.P.’s, high ranking state officials, and lawmakers, at least his system isn’t as crooked as Giuliani’s: “[T]wo 1998 memos above appear to show some effort on the part of the Republican administration to reward friends and ignore foes.” |City Room|

Dolphins Join Fight Against Somali Pirates

No, we’re not talking about those SEALS who shot the unruly Somali teenagers, but actual dolphins that blocked pirates from attacking Chinese shipping freights in the Gulf of Aden. The Xinhua News Agency reports that when thousands of the cetacean mammals began leaping out of the water, “the suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness before the vast number of dolphins.” Damn, defeated by probably deaf dolphins! Piracy is quickly losing its cool.

Poster Boy Is Doing Something In Bushwick, But We’re Still Not Sure What

So the subway ad modifying vandal and newly christened gallery artist known as Poster Boy is doing some sort of art event at the 3rd Ward gallery in Bushwick and it’s being hosted by indie quarterly Pomp and Circumstance, but beyond that the details become awfully sordid. According to the Brooklyn Paper, local businesses like “Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, Harper Perennial, and the Brooklyn Salsa Company” are giving him permission to cut up their ads. The public will then be invited to help “remix” them under his tutelage. But that’s not the case according to Poster Boy who slammed the Rupert Murdoch owned paper in the comment section:
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A Foot Costs An Arm And A Leg

Jesus, the limb-loss rate for workers in Victoria, Australia most be gruesomely high. You may remember previously, last fall, WorkSafe Victoria produced these grisly-but-fake workplace injury posters. Now, they’ve built the “Body-O-Matic” a human body parts vending machine placed exactly where I have no idea. What the hell’s going on Down Under? Either work safety rules are nonexistent, or Victoria workers are idiotic klutzes. Examining the machine, I see arms, feet, fingers, toes, eyes, and ears. There should probably also be in a liver in that thing. Because If plant conditions there are so freakin’ dangerous, I’d be drinking heavily. Stephen King should visit Victoria to do research for a follow-up short story to The Mangler. Concept by Lifelounge in Melbourne. |Image: BestAdsOnTV|

Artist Sets the ‘Oil Price’

The detention torture facility at Abu Ghraib has been shuttered and President Obama plans to eventually close down Guantanamo too. But the treatment of detainees in addition to the country’s oil-guzzling, war-prone foreign policy, as suggested in this illustration by Rhyper of a prisoner getting gassed at the pump, remains culturally relevant as the administration filed an appeal to continue denying these long held captives the right to challenge their imprisonment and the historical inability for the U.S. to wean itself off the OPEC teat.

Damien Hirst Ups His Chances With Art Lottery

Times are tough for artists used to selling multi-million dollar works, but it seems they’re tougher than we thought. Not only is artist Damien Hirst back to designing album covers for The Hours, he’s also using a sweepstakes to offload the $186,000 original painting, plus some prints as well. Of course, the former skull-bedazzler does own the label putting out the band’s new album, so it’s not as though he’s giving away the work for nothing, he’s just trading it for publicity the same way creative trailblazers like Burger King and Kia would.

New York City Is Up In Smoke

New York City has some of the toughest anti-smoking laws in the country, banning people from lighting up at work and many public places. Although the laws have helped clear the air, a new study from the city’s health department suggests they’re not enough to protect non-smokers from cancer-causing clouds. The study found 57 percent of non-smoking New Yorkers tested positive for cotinine, a non-harmful nicotine byproduct indicative of secondhand smoke exposure, significantly higher than the 45 percent national average. Read more »