Rant on.

Frank Zappa appeared on Crossfire in 1986 to debate the censorship of rock lyrics. During the argument he said this,

"Could I make a statement about national defense? The biggest threat to America today is not Communism. It's moving America toward a Fascist Theocracy."

It's around minute 21. It's pretty spooky if you ask me.* I know a lot of people have been shifting in their seats as some policy makers try to smudge some of the lines between church and state. It's just eerie to hear Zappa's warning from the 80s in the current context.

Here's a quiz too. I got this ad in an email from YouWorkForThem. What's wrong with this picture?

Give up? Read the fine print:

"Ultra hip bourgeois superiority"? This is why art sucks today. Is that even a sensible phrase? Buying some crappy stock art patterns will not make you or your design work cool! Stock art devalues artists and the market as a whole.

On second thought that sentence can make sense. "Buying this stock art will make your work more middle class and marginal than the rest" is a bit clearer but it doesn't really work as a selling tag line. This is what kills me about advertising. It's trying to make people feel lame without product with the hopes that the product will make you feel cool. Scrap that! Who actually responds to text like this as something compelling? This sort of copy should polarize you against purchasing the dumb product to the begin with.

*I changed this post because I respect my dad. Don't worry, you didn't miss much.