Showing posts with label cafepress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cafepress. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Cafe Oppressed?



Quite frankly, I'm amazed when some of them sell. My "Graphictruths" are designed without consideration of the potential consequence of wearing them in public. Often they are one-offs, or designed using a generic template that I can simply throw text into. That is not a usage Cafepress, or indeed many other services lend themselves to.

I used to rely heavily on Cafepress for my core graphics sales. Well, no longer. Cafepress has decided to compete against the people that made it a success, to undercut our price-points and generally, treat us as a resource to be exploited. It's as if they didn't realize there are competitors out there...

It's been some time since I've featured a Cafepress product on this blog. One change after another made it less and less appealing to me from the viewpoint of marketing - which is important, as it pays my server costs - and from the viewpoint of easily indulging my fetish for creating editorial shirts.

The first such choice was to switch to a new affiliate tracking "solution" that I could not get an account for. So, rather than be bothered to figure it out, I fairly much moved to Zazzle, leaving my cafepress designs to fend for themselves in the Marketplace; as several did.

But they also do well on Zazzle.

Irregular Times: CafePress Announces Big Price Hikes for Buyers, Big Commission Cuts for Sellers

CafePress may try to dress up today’s announcement with a barrel full of hand waving, a slapdash cloudiness of vocabulary and a few other mixed metaphors’ worth of dazzling PR-speak, but what their news release all boils down to is this:

1. Come June 1, the print-on-demand corporation CafePress will increase the prices shoppers pay for its shirts and other gear.
2. Come June 1, CafePress will decrease the commissions paid to the sellers who make designs available on CafePress products, especially on non-apparel items.
3. Starting now but especially after June 1, CafePress will work to undercut designers who maintain their own shops and also sell on CafePress’ “marketplace” search engine.

The result: less independence for designers who work through CafePress and a greater profit margin for the CafePress corporation.


I'll be removing my designs from the Cafepress Marketplace and moving them to Zazzle and one or two other services. If you use Cafepress, I encourage you to do the same - even if you only have a few token products. In this matter, it's not merely about the money - although, of course it is. It's also about the unethical exploitation of artists and designers - and without artists and designers providing them high-quality work for free, they will be forced to hire people, or reconsider this policy.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Cafepress and Shopbot Beta



I'm a long-time Cafepress store owner and that seems to have gotten me an invite to play with a private beta marketing application called "Shopbot."

Now, I'm still poking things and pressing buttons, but it seems to work pretty well. It certainly shows off these products well.

And I welcome it with open arms. You see, I just plain suck at marketing. And I doubt that I'm alone in this. To the extent that Cafepress, Zazzle and other such enterprises survive at all, they survive due to professional marketing affiliates. Us creative types tend to be more interested in making the new thing than selling the old thing.

Anyway, this has led me to think aloud. You see, my father was a salesman and I grew up knowing what was involved in sales, in marketing, in social networking, in the whole process of "getting to yes," and at the same time, knowing that I sucked. Badly. It fascinates me, but in the same way that spiders and and plummeting do. I want to avoid accidental encounters very, very badly.

I also learned that sales and marketing are every bit as much a creative talent as is what I do when I sit down to write or make art, and I come to regret the snottiness and high episcopal disdain I've felt for the nuts and bolts of marketing.

There's hardly an aspect of marketing that I don't do every day, and do well enough or even better than most - until it comes to closing the deal. That's where technique and skill end and raw native capacity begins; you either can, or you can't.

I can't. So when it comes to that, I much prefer automated solutions, ways of allowing other people to market my stuff, or simply decide to buy it on it's own merits.

The one positive thing in this whole matter that I learned from my father was that, for a salesman, the best of all possible worlds was a product that was good enough and cheap enough that all the salesman had to do was haul it out of the sample case and slap down an order form.

That's a tall order in itself, but I do try. And I really very much rely upon tools like this to give me some of the advantages that used to be reserved to very well-heeled professional marketing intermediaries.

This tool is similar in that way to several others - for instance, this Zazzle scroller. The zazzle tool, though, has a feature that doesn't seem to exist with this (although I could well be wrong about that, or it could as yet be un-implemented.) The zazzle tool allows me to display my own designs, or to display particular products and keywords; so I chould choose to scroll all "Chrismas Mugs" or "Mother's Day Cards."

But the only intertivity they leave to the consumer - the person who has to "come to yes" in the equasion - is whether to buy any particular product or not. And as such, this is simply a smarter and more elegant way of better targeting a market niche.

This is the internet and we are speaking of custom items. I want a feature I see in none of these examples; I want a way for my customer to ask, in an automatic way, "can I have that in purple" or "could you put my kid's name on this" in a way that automates the calculations and generates an individual quotation. One of the reasons why I prefer Zazzle to Cafepress in many ways is that Zazzle does that for me - it's a means by which people may build upon my work in an automated way.

And I'd like to see Cafepress take that up in it's own way. For instance, I'd like to be able to release some or all of the designs I've uploaded over the years to Cafepress "into the wild," for people to use, or even resell. For a modest fee, of course.

Anyway, that's my thinking at the moment. Time to put this out there and see what it does. :)

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

The Last Minute Christmas

I've pretty much given up on blogging this season. Between Nov 1 and Jan 1, I'm pretty much useless. I've gotten several things half written - and when I can edit them properly, they will be half as long, or less.

You may thank me now.

So I'm trying to use this time wisely and well, in hopes of being able to delight my wife with something pretty.

My mind seems to work seasonally, and right now I'm in a highly visual mode. I can barely make sense in words. So I'm starting a tradition, belatedly. From now on, this season will be devoted to art and photography. Oh, and there's another crass, commercial reason. Without some money, this season will suck abnormally hard. I would like to buy my wife a few shiny things, I'd like to cook a nice Christmas dinner, maybe even have some folks over.

I'm hoping that my needs and yours may congrue - and I'm hoping that in working on your photos, some of the happy might rub off. :)

So let's get started.

I have a lot of trouble bragging about my abilities, but I'm pretty good with a graphics package. I've kind of specialized in taking bad photos and turning them into great art. It's not JUST because I tend to take interestingly bad photos myself. It happens that when you take a blurry, over-compressed photo and start applying filters, amazing things can happen. I'm not always sure what I can pull out of a photo, but I can promise it will be worth hanging on your wall.

Here's one of my absolute all-time favorites, shown as I'd want it framed. Of course, that's all up to you.

Fae in the Fernwoods print
Fae in the Fernwoods by webcarve
See More poster Designs on www.zazzle.com
Browse more Creatures Races Posters


Now, if that happens to be the perfect gift for someone you have in mind, great! I've set it up so that you can even add a custom inscription. Heck, if you like, I might even be able to create a fairy to add to the image, if you have an image I can start from.

But it's getting late, we have all been procrastinating and there might not be time for this to be created, printed and shipped.

But that is not actually a problem, thanks to the magic of email and home photo-printers. If you have a photo-printer, your butt is totally saved. All you have to do is send me the image you want turned into art, tell me how big it needs to be to fit the frame you are going to run out and buy right now, and whether the paper you plan to print it on will be gloss or matte.

Yes, it matters. Trust me, I'm a professional.

Now, how much? Well, I'd like to be busy, I like having stuff to work on - but see above. And it is going to be a solid day's work. Send $200 (US) (per subject) to webcarve@graphictruth.com via paypal. Make sure that you include all the information I need in the message there and also send the actual image(s) as an attachment.

I will do my absolute level best to turn this around within the day, so that you will have as much lead time as possible. Now, 200 bucks is not a lot for what you are getting - which is a digital original. But wait, there's more!

What you are getting is the image burned to disk - possibly several versions, if I have variations that are too good to toss. I'll send that to your physical address. This will serve as the "provenance" that makes this an original work of art. But that's for later. I will email the original to you even before I've done that, so you can slam it into the printer, or download it to a thumb-drive and run to Wal-Mart to print, frame and wrap an 8x10.

That way, you will have something worth giving, but what makes it special - aside from the speed - is that you have the option of taking that image and printing it out via the service of your choice on canvas, say, with a better frame than you are likely to score at an all-night drug-store.

You will also find an html page included on that disk with pointers to the various services and products that I think would work best for your image.

Obviously, I have to take commissions in order and the quicker you click the button the more options you will have.





Oh, and I've given you two options. You can send me the image, or you can just give a gift certificate for this service, an absolutely non-lame option.

The advantage of doing this is that I'll be able to take a little more time to work with your friend, and I promise, I will go the extra mile to thrill the heck out of them.




Friday, September 05, 2008

Sarah Palin, the User-Generated Candidate



Adam Hanft sniffs loudly in the direction of the unwashed know-nothings who worked to put their candidate on the ticket.
Sara Palin

The promise of sagacity hiding in the humble corners of the continent, along with a latent and corresponding anti-intellectualism, are American memes that arch back to Andrew Jackson, Mark Twain, and to those Jimmy Stewart movies on TCM.

What is new, though, are two ways in which the Internet has amped up this belief structure.

First, the web removes all the friction from disseminating your bone-headed opinions. And it creates instant gratification. We write, we post, we see our wisdom on the Internet immediately - and so does all the world. It's Kant 2.0. Cogito ergo sum becomes cogito ergo send.


Yes, sir; we all know the trouble; something that makes it possible for any idiot to do something ensures that they will.

And certainly the US has never had any noticeable lack of idiocy. Nonetheless, the results of active and efficient idiocy is still idiocy. Due to the nature of the medium - it's now much more conspicuous idiocy than ever before.

The fact that it's easier to document how stupid it is makes seem far more problematic. But 2.0, if it permits any idiot to suddenly find themselves in the Veep Slot thanks to the efforts of those even more idiotic, it certainly also permits rapid response by those who are smart enough to use 2.0 apps with truly devastating effect. (Or at least, take our modest best shots in volley.)



And of such persons, in which I humbly hope to be included, Barack Obama is certainly in the front ranks. For every "user generated candidate" there is a user-generated, web 2.0 response. One is right below in a google ad, quoted lest it change:

Contribute now to change we need. Barack Obama and Joseph Biden 2008; donate.barackobama.com along with a link to a cafepress store button.

Obama Shop 2.25" Button (100 pack)
Obama Shop 2.25" Button (100 pack)



It's direct interaction with voters, with a campaign expense of exactly zero, and a time expense of a couple hours. Bizarrely, I've talked with lots of pols who cannot see the point to letting volunteers loose on this, but it goes directly into campaign coffers, when it's currently going into the pockets of those who don't contribute, but wish to take advantage of a genuine phenomonon.

I don't know what the reporting requirements are, but if this is done directly by the campaign, I doubt it's counted as a "donation." Could that mean that Obama has more cash on hand than anyone expects? I dunno. I don't think anyone ever once considered the need to address the possibility of a candidate for office making a profit. With Obama, it could turn out to be true.

And frankly, it was in part due to the professional polish made possible by sites such as Cafepress and Zazzle, along with social networking sites that made the whole Ron Paul thing happen. I doubt anyone was more baffled than Paul himself - but made the shrewd choice to not try and "control the message" and therefore alienate the self-appointed messengers. Here's the shop link: http://www.cafepress.com/obama_shop

By the way, folks, you need Banners and yard signs!!! The two most obvious political products aren't there!

Here's what I did "for" John McCain - it's not that difficult. to create an arresting design. Indeed, if someone were to wave my banner on TV - they would probably be arrested! :>




Cafepress has a really interesting thing, a page tracking sales of political items over time against designs created per candidate - and that means that every product sold and every product created has an incremental, but meaningful effect. BOTH sales and created products amount to putting money and effort into a candidate - and that carries more weight with me than people who haven't figured out how to not avoid political pollsters.

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/buy/elections08_meter

I prefer Zazzle and my best Obama stuff is there; Zazzle is truly 2.0. On Cafepress I can try to sell you something I want you to agree with, on Zazzle, I can sell you a way to say what you want, within a certain range.

About Sarah Palin
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Things that Make you Wonder Aloud...

The Turd Riech
Yes, dear readers, there are T-Shirts.
According to Statcounter, there's a significant demand!

But don't worry, the design isn't as tasteless as you might think
That's not a swastika. It's a Turd Blossom!


A lot of things are coming together in the public consciousness - and of course they have to be put there.

Which makes you wonder - about what is not being said, and why hints must be dropped loudly on C-Span, rather than facts directly stated at a press conference.

Emptywheel » Yeah, What ABOUT that Anthrax Terrorist?

Call me crazy. But after viewing this very creepy exchange between Patrick Leahy and Michael Mukasey regarding the anthrax killer, I got the feeling that both of them know exactly who sent those anthrax-laden letters almost seven years ago.

Leahy uses the recent settlement between Hatfill and DOJ to raise the issue. As he raises it, he notes that he is privy to classified information about the anthrax killer, and because of that he has refrained from even discussing the case.

Leahy: I almost hate to get into the case of Steven Hatfill. I've refrained from discussing this, I've refused to discuss it with the press. I've told them some aspects of it I was aware of were classified so of course I could not discuss it but also, considering the fact that my life was threatened by an anthrax letter, two people died who touched a letter addressed to me I was supposed to open, I'm somewhat concerned.

What happened?

Mukasey: That case ...

Then Leahy makes a curious statement: we're paying Hatfill, which means that the guy who committed the crime is going free.

Leahy: We're paying Hatfill millions of dollars, the indication being the guy who committed the crime went free.

Emptywheel goes on to observe that both seem to be fairly certain about exactly who "the guy" is, but cannot say so, implying it's classified, that inquiry is forbidden, etc.

And that seems to be a common theme today, that "the truth is out there" but you have to dig it up for yourself - because congress cannot or will not. This may explain why. I don't know if it's true but it doesn't insult my intelligence like the official stories do.

Who's involved in all of the "official stories?" Yeah. Karl Rove. There seems to be a Turd Blossom floating in the Rotunda; the common theme in all things that are known, implied, hinted at, blogged, speculated upon - but never directly stated authoritatively - lest one have an unfortunate encounter with some unidentifiable toxin, imprisoned on false charges, or perhaps found to have kiddy porn on your computer.

What do you think "sneak and peek" warrants are for?

Velvet Revolution has some several entries on the Siegalman railroading featuring video interviews with Don Siegelman. Among other things, he alleges that the election to replace him was... um. Not left to chance.

Our YouTube videos of Mr. Siegelman and are getting thousands of views. We now have a new streaming 20-minute interview of Mr. Siegelman with tons of new powerful information including allegations that his last election for Governor was electronically manipulated—flipped—by GOP partisans directed by Karl Rove. Watch that video here.

For members of the media, we have high resolution footage of our Don Siegelman interview available for broadcast.

Yeah, don't hold your breath, guys. But here's the essential point:
"We won't know the truth until Congress digs it out, and that's why it is so incredibly important that anybody that reads your blog...gets on the phone, gets on their computer, or writes Congress and tells them to hold Karl Rove in contempt if he does not show up to testify on July 10th." - Don Siegelman


My computer tells me that it's the 15th. That sounds like "Inherent Contempt" to me. Which has led many to speculate why the Seargent of Arms has not been directed to bring Rove before congress, with the suggestion that "we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way."

A whole string of such thing have perhaps led to a more generalized contempt FOR congress, as the Brad Blog dryly reports.

Speaker Pelosi has signaled that an Article of Impeachment charging Bush with lying to Congress about his pretexts for invading Iraq might at least get a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.

There's no way to know what, if any, changes in conditions may have prompted her to rethink impeachment, but it may have something to do with a new Rasmussen poll released on Tuesday that found approval of Congress at 9 percent, which is essentially a statistical zero.

"If all else fails, do the right thing."

Jon Ponder, guest blogger, continues:

True, the fact that Bush's lies cost the lives of 4,116 lives of US service men and women, injuries to over 30,000 of our troops, the deaths of over 1 million innocent Iraqi civilians, the destruction of Iraq, and a long term cost over $3 trillion may not rise to the level of a sex lie about a blowjob, but it at least deserves a hearing.

The article speculates as to why Pelosi took impeachment off the table in the first place. I do not think anyone who's survived to get to be in her position is incapable of doing basic political caclulus, and when presented with an opportunity to do the right thing, the constitutionally mandated thing, the legally required thing, the arguably popular thing AND end up as president pro-tem, with a clear shot at the party's nomination, generally you'd expect a different result than such altruism alluded to "maintaining unity during a time of crisis" or whatever twaddle it was she uttered at the time.

Me, I'm thinking Rove's little "object lessons" have more to do with it. Object lessons like, oh, say, the Hammer's Gerrymandering of Texas. Or the Siegalman affair. I'm not saying Rove is "the guy" behind the Anthrax thing, but he's for sure the first guy I would ask.

Between immersions, I'm tempted to say!

I mean, considering that in matters of national security, the executive branch has insisted that "enhanced interrogation procedures" are perfectly ok, it would be entirely proper to take them at their word and set up a waterboarding for Rove.

The fact that Rove refuses to testify under oath makes me chuckle. Why should Congress have to accept his word that he's telling the truth when they could bring in an "expert" to ensure he's highly motivated to reveal every little detail.

It could be C-Span's first pay-per-view event!

But, in case it was not clear, I am not even remotely suggesting that would be the right thing to do. It would be wrong, and it would be evil. Sometimes, in order for Good to survive, Irony must be taken off the table.

Not impeachment, however. And when Rove cites the fifth amendment, that will certainly be enough to impeach the administration, pending full investigation, while keeping material witnesses - who may well pose a flight risk - in custody.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

John McCain, heeere's your sign!


The Ultimate Asshole Bumpersticker is available at Cafepress.
Get it now, before it Evil Liberal Censorship causes it to disappear!

I have a "no torture" design at Cafepress which I think is rather good and I was trying to see why I was losing the sales race. I think I've sold two or three, total.

Well, the answer is, it's a good design, but there are a few better ones, and clearly hundreds of better-promoted ones.

But right in the middle of scratching the curiosity itch, I found a design that says "I support waterboarding."

I had to know what combination of stupidity and ignorance of our Constitutionally-recognized basic human rights would provoke creating such a thing - much less the idea of slapping it on the ass of your car.

RIGHTREVOLUTION.COM: "WE HAD THE REAGAN REVOLUTION IN THE 80'S AND THE CONTRACT WITH AMERICA IN THE 90'S. NOW WE NEED A NEW RIGHT REVOLUTION TO CONFRONT ALL OF OUR ENEMIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY!"
As the saying goes; "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it."

Assholes create enemies at an exponential rate, and right now, our foreign policy is being determined either by assholes like this, or the fools who PANDER to assholes like this, apparently ignorant of the brutal reality of legitimizing the opinions of Camaro-Driving Assholes.

I found the one you see at the top of the story. And that's your GraphicTruth for the day and a succinct summation of WHY civilized nations DO NOT FUCKING TORTURE PEOPLE.

FIRST: You make enemies, enemies that may one day be in a position to do you a serious injury.

SECOND - and more immediately - When you torture people, other people treat YOUR people accordingly.

THIRD: When you torture people, they do indeed talk. They tell you exactly what you want to hear. When people tell you exactly what you want to hear, you find out that applying that "intelligence" can lead you far, far astray. Like, for instance, where we are right now, in Iraq.

Where we torture people.

To get "intelligence."

So, like, how's that been workin' out for us?

FOURTH: Those people who understand this and who are supposedly on your side realize that you are adding to their own chances of being tortured or blown up without warning. As a result, you make enemies you don't even know about.

The vast majority of Europeans, Canadians, Australians and of course 70% of the American people can see, hear and understand the consequences and outcomes that are inevitable when you let the asshole drive the Camaro with the Red White And Blue decal onna hood that makes it go even faster!

The FBI, which does not exactly have an institutional tradition of tender concern for the rights of the accused, nonetheless maintains a strict policy against torture that not even Alito could subvert. Why?

Because torturing people gets you false leads, false confessions and acquittals - as well as making you an easy mark for disinformation. Or in other words, aside from the national security situations this causes, it can lead to the public embarrassment of elected and appointed superiors!

Even when those superiors are apparently immune to being embarrassed by the fruits of their own incompetence and malfeasance, those real-world, national security issues remain.

Remember, it's the FBI that was and continues to be our counter-intelligence arm, they went up against the best-trained agents the KGB and the Chinese could send. And, once or twice (at least), Mossad.

They learned patience and have a remarkably good record in getting real intelligence from people, without those people being converted into terrorists in the process; something that Gitmo has rather notably achieved.

But this sort of ruthlessly patient professionalism is unacceptable to the sort of Camero-Driving Assholes who think that there can be no "victory" without someone being beaten to a bloody pulp. And, quite clearly, not only do they feel they have enemies, they positively delight in making them - ignorantly and indiscriminately.

Do you think John McCain is gonna think that's funny or even remotely appropriate?

Now, like all assholes, you may well be about to say "whatcha gonna do about it," or maybe "It's a free country" or "I got a goddamn RIGHT to say whatever I want!"

Indeed. But then, if these things are true, they are true for all of us, not merely the sort of asshole who drives a Camaro as if it were a spooge filled, condom-less penis aimed at the faces of their fellow citizens.

While it is certainly "First Amendment speech," the First Amendment says nothing about legal, non-violent consequences - ranging from mockery to boycotts to direct objections to Cafepress. Those communications are also protected by the First, And Greatest Amendment.

Care to shake your fist at me? Let me refer you to the Second Amendment and Common Law. Or in other words, it's unwise in the extreme to use physical force against people who are too civil to simply beat the crap out of you on general principles. "Civilized" does not mean "pussy."
Indeed, civilized nations and persons tend to be rather better prepared for violence than others - since they rather commonly run into this sort of situation and need to have a variety of options to deal with it. Those options most definitely involve physical force.

Then there are the consequences that, while not being protected by the first or recognized as legitimate by the law, can nonetheless be expected to occur on a statistical basis.

I sure as hell would not want to be parking anywhere NEAR a National Guard or Reserve outfit with that on the back of my car. Never mind being keyed, it's entirely possible that I'd find an APC parked on it.

An APC with this sticker slapped on it's ass.


Feel free to pass this on to Cafepress (cup@cafepress.com) and inquire as to whether the bumpersticker (and indeed, the shop itself) meets their Terms Of Service.

Or you can call Cafepress toll free at 1-877-809-1659. If you are outside of the US, please call 1-402-517-4480.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

My Colors Flatter All Others


There's more...

I'm trying to be fiscally and tactically responsible and actually have designs for a holiday ready for the holiday THIS year. And yes, I just noticed it was almost time for the 4th.

And when it comes to patriotism and it's proper place, I have a few things to say about what it is, and what it ain't. This design is about what it is.

And this design, via Zazzle (never mind where) is what it is not.


This shirt may set a new record for most fallacious statements in the fewest number of words. (See how many you can find, kids!)

I'd really hoped that I'd seen the last of red-baiting fluoride-bashing foolishness, but it's still there, lurking within the traitor parks of uhmurika where there are actually people dumb enough to think wearing such a shirt makes you look smart.

Not that I'm trying to make this silly person shut up. I even approve of her selling shirts to the like minded. I LIKE knowing when I'm dealing with dangerous idiots.

You see, words like "communist" and "socialist" and "democrat" and "republican" and "fascist" and "neocon" mean pretty specific things. If you use them as if you were just reaching about for a handful of crap to fling at someone you don't like, it's pretty clear to everyone else that you don't have your shit together.

For myself, I choose a positive patriotism. I don't wish to point out the wrongs of others - especially as my views are indeed just that, my views. Rather, I wish to point out the things I feel strongly and positively to be GOOD things.

I've never seen anything wrong with communism as a philosophy. Or fluoride as a means of preventing tooth decay. Both have their place. Personally, I'd very much prefer that neither were imposed upon me. Both Communism and Flouride work best when applied directly to the relevant situation.

For me, patriotism can only be meaningful if it's pride in real achievements, rather than being of the "I'm an uhmurikin and you are not!" variety. I don't believe in building fences or picking fights to prove what a manlyman I am. That's neither manly nor patriotic - it's boorish and an invitation for a righteous crotch-kicking.

I've a perfect personal record, I humbly suggest, of never having justly deserved a crotch-kicking. But then, I wonder, how hard is it to choose to NOT be a total asshole?

As illustrated above - apparently harder than I would have thought.

Though I love my country, I cannot say that about us as a whole. Indeed, due to my love of her best at her best, I have been first in line with a grandmotherly shit-kicking from time to time. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Friday, June 20, 2008

The fourth is coming up...


And I suppose I should create a template for stories about it.

On the other hand, this zazzle bumpersticker kinda sums it up for me. I mean, sometimes it really does all fit on a bumpersticker. I did a nice version for Cafepress too.

Anyway, I think we need to provoke more thinking on the human cost of warfare for political gain. We need to ask a few questions, such as, well, has a war of choice ever come out with a net gain?

Probably.

But sure as hell and napalm, this ain't one of 'em.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Graphictruth Party Swag: Help me pervert the political process.


I have come to the conclusion that there is an insufficiency of satire at Cafepress - and of course, just in general. I think that if we take this upcoming election too seriously and too personally, we may all strain something vital.

Well, to that end - and to the end of "building a residual income" - I have started a new Cafepress Store with the aim of not praising Caeser.

While my first victim was John McCain... well, that image was a gift from God, and if it's good enough for Colbert, it's good enough for me.

And yes, there ARE t-shirts. But don't you think that yard signs are more fun?

The Green Monster Yard Sign - Introducing GTparty

If you love it, please give this a thumbs up on Stumbleupon. But of course, the best single response of all is a large number of Derivative Imitators.

Design and Sell Merchandise Online for Free

HINT HINT HINT

Friday, December 21, 2007

Bumperstickers. I Digg Bumperstickers.


From digg , referencing this item
which references this photo:


by jeliel on 11/02/2007
Why the burials, the 127.0.0.1 was truly EPIC
-3 diggsBuryDigg
sgtbutterscotch by sgtbutterscotch on 11/02/2007
I feel dumb, what does that mean?

Being something of a geek myself, I will first digg this, and then stumble the whole.


Monday, August 27, 2007

I want this Custom-Printable Stein for the Holidays!

Attention, Cafepress and or Zazzle:

I WANT to have this beer stein! I found it on the crobike.de promotional items site - which is like a wish-list for print-on-demand folks such as I.

If this is what I think it is, it's not cheap-ass slipware, it's a stein you can clink while belting out a drinking song and sloshing homebrew suds. And I would love to start a store dedicated to the home brewer... Hm.

I'll get right on that, actually. It fits with my general libertarian bias toward the important role the so-called vices play in matters of personal liberty. But while I can make customizable labels and even slipware steins - there are none such as these heavy ceramic beauties to be had.

And that's a shame. Because my art would kick butt on this product. Besides, I want one just for me. It's just the right size for my morning coffee.

Oh, if you are of more conservative tastes, there are many more reasonable choices from ceramic to glass to insulated stainless steel travel mugs.

But I want this bad boy for my morning beans.

Here are a couple more examples they would like me to feature, from a selection of literally thousands of items.

In the process of researching this post, I went so far as to connect directly with one major vendor, and they could not have been more helpful and accommodating, with all sorts of tools on their site to save you both time and money. And yes, they do offer rapid turn-around in many cases; in many cases you can have your item within five business days.

Meanwhile, getting to my patron's intent in commissioning this post; if you have a business and need promotional items, these folks can connect you with imprintable products from all over the globe. For some reason, this whole industry has fascinated me for decades, possibly because by dad wanted me to collect stamps and coins. I always wanted to MAKE the stamps and coins - or at least, collectable items.

So, if you happen to be on a political campaign staff - there are literally hundreds of items that can be engraved, embossed, stamped and printed that will make those major donors light up - and open their wallets!



Sunday, July 08, 2007

Thomas Jefferson : GraphicDesign : CafePress.com

Thomas Jefferson : GraphicDesign : CafePress.com





When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson

A Little Rebellion

A Little Rebellion
I hold that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and is as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical.

Fear The People

Fear The People
Fear The People
Jefferson thought that if the government scared you, it was time to put it out of your misery.


I've found that people of a certain mindset find it difficult to argue with unquestionable authorities. Hence, these t-shirts and stickers are intended to speak the unspeakable to those least able to hear constitutional common sense.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

An Open Letter to George Soros

Dear George Soros:

No O'Rielly Whining


It's come to my attention, via Bill O'Rielly, that all his critics are supposedly funded by you, in order to provide "lies and smears."

I didn't know anyone needed to be paid to pick on Bill. Making fun of Bill is getting cheaper every day, to the point of being a minor vice like chewing gum. If it were a full time effort, of course, it might be another matter; having to actually listen to every word of his would be for me right up there with golf, gardening and exposure to sunlight.

I can see asking for grants to ease the pain might be in order if I were dedicated to listening to and transcribing all the the conservative asshattery out there. And clearly, Media Matters deserves our support for all the harmless fun it provides us. So if you have been clandestinely slipping them money under the table - thank you. And if you haven't, why not?

Despite my impressively well-endowed IQ, I still don't quite understand how it would be wrong for you to fund Media Matters, or even directly fund a "smear site" that unfairly targeted Bill O'Rielly. Short of provably actionable statements, e have a First Amendment and last I checked, there wasn't an "except for rich people" clause.

Even stranger, it's seems to be OK by Bill if Sun Myung Moon, that Coors fella and Rupert Murdoch perform the same exact stunts he's accusing you of, to the tune of many, many millions more. Could it be that he sincerely believes that everyone is as obviously corrupt as he, with no motives but the ulterior? Or perhaps he simply can't understand that he and his ilk simply don't matter enough for you to notice.

I'm less concerned at the double standard, where "Lies and Smears" are bad for Liberals (and me) but OK for the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" I don't really mind being held to a higher standard than Bill and the Swifties.

It really isn't that hard.

But I do find it hilarious that Bill and his listeners are incapable of noticing a level of cognitive dissonance that should literally crack their skulls. Or at least Bill is. Perhaps by this point a significant fraction of his listeners are rolling in the aisles at his expense. I'm sure they are over at Media Matters. Hell, I wonder if there's a pool on Bill's next public meltdown?

Anyway, I must congratulate you on maintaining plausible deniablity in this matter of the funding you OF COURSE have not provided by way of the clever ploy of provoking Bill into this "hard-hitting expose.'" As most of America has come to realize, if Bill says it, it ain't plausible.

But I AM somewhat miffed at Bill's latest excretion, courtesy of Media Matters.

Now, I confess I've never actually had to lie about Bill, not with so many sharp and truthful rocks lying about, sadly unused. I'll admit to an occasional negative appreciation of him, the odd derogatory comment, but then, I'm an editorialist. I try and tell the truth as I see it, but it is my own humble opinion that he's a corrupt, lying, womanizing incompetent who WISHES he had access to as good a grade of pharmaceuticals as Rush Limbaugh. But having said that, I do understand that he may feel unappreciated by those of us with IQ's above that of tepid water and the capability to read and comprehend above a fourth-grade level.

No, what troubles me is that, despite our alleged collusion, you have yet to buy one of my t-shirts! These are very high-quality shirts, even a billionaire would be hard-pressed to find such a combination of ring-spun cotton goodness and hilarity. Furthermore, they are available in a full spectrum of politically relevant colors. They display a particularly skillful and unflattering image of Bill and the light-colored shirts feature a reverse (shown above) that says "No Whining."

Now, in the spirit of candor our conversations have always enjoyed, Iconfess that I'm not really a Liberal; I know that O'Rielly, Limbaugh and the like would say I am, even as they say you are, but I'm a Libertarian and you are a Billionaire, so I expect our mileage varies on a few, tiny, barely perceptible core issues of Liberalism.

But O'Rielly and those who find him compelling and persuasive continue to lump all their opponents together as "liberals," as if common sense, competence, ethics and a sense of proportion were the native fruits of any political philosophy. Would that they were, of course, but I doubt I'll live to see that day.

Still, I was somewhat miffed to find that we have been lumped together thusly and rudely by Bill: (Transcript, of course, from Media Matters,) apparently as a result of the gleeful fun-poking at his expense by all and sundry due to the Indiana University Study.

By the way, did you know that Soros' Open Society Institute donated $5 million to Indiana University? I'm sure that was just a coincidence. Also sure that Soros is very disappointed he didn't get more bang for the buck this time around. Most of the committed left press didn't mention the nutty Indiana paper. Only those truly bought and paid for elements at NBC News and Rosie O'Donnell spit it out there.

I confess a childish and sadistic glee in being able to write this headline: O'Rielly "less nuanced" than Father Charles Couglin. Other than that, the study was an exercise in quantifying the obvious; a five-finger exercise in sociology barely requiring statistical tools more complex than a clipboard and anti-nausea medication. But hey, what are undergraduates for?

For me, the sweetest bit is that references to Fr. Charles Couglin is probably lost on both O'Rielly and his core audience, making the allusion truly tragicomic. In Bill's case; "Those who will not remember history are forced to impersonate it."

Now, whether or not you cleverly funded this delightfully accurate research or whether it's the sort of thing students do when they are trying to find an easily documented research topic against a looming deadline with an eye toward sucking up to a particular professor is moot. As a result of being slightly associated with the production and enjoyment of these "inconvenient truths," you and I are now accused of being fellow "liberals."

But I suppose one could be called worse things; "Ineffective Liar" comes to mind.

I don't mind at all being called a Propagandist, that is what I am. However, there's white propaganda which relies on telling the most inconvenient possible truth in the most effective and damning way possible; "Black Propaganda," which is Karl Rove's forte' and then there's Bill - an embarrassment to competent propagandists everywhere.

You see, it's not so much his politics I despise, or even his lack of ethics both journalistic and personal. Even worse, in my mind, is the contempt for his audience his shoddy workmanship reveals. Cheap jingoism, clumsy and obvious false associations, moldy and unconvincing straw men and of course, the transparent appeal to the willful stupidity of anti-intellectualism, jingoism and racism. If carpenters built houses like Bill makes an argument, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.

However, I was trying to twist your arm, presuming upon our now obvious commonalities. Since we are now"Fellow Travelers" - along with Rosie O'Donald - may I point out that my Cafepress shirts now come in women's plus sizes?

Regards;

Bob King.

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Thursday, May 03, 2007

O'Rielly "less nuanced" than Father Charles Couglin

No Bill O'Rielly
Bill O'Rielly makes me snicker uncontrollably whenever he says he's "fair and balanced" or refers to his show as "The No-Spin Zone." Fact is, he's a hack and a mouthpiece, anyone who'd ever seen him on the trash-tv show, "Hard Copy" knows that his journalistic standards are short of that tolerated by the "National Enquirer."

But it's nice to have real data to expose the lazy, lying slug for what he is, using actual data based on his actual content.

When the data show you to be "less nuanced" than Father Charles Coughlin, you are not "fair and balanced," you are in fact fairly unbalanced. Perhaps even in a clinical sense!


Content analysis of O'Reilly's rhetoric finds spin to be a 'factor': "Using analysis techniques first developed in the 1930s by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis, Conway, Grabe and Grieves found that O'Reilly employed six of the seven propaganda devices nearly 13 times each minute in his editorials. His editorials also are presented on his Web site and in his newspaper columns.

The seven propaganda devices include:

  • Name calling -- giving something a bad label to make the audience reject it without examining the evidence;
  • Glittering generalities -- the opposite of name calling;
  • Card stacking -- the selective use of facts and half-truths;
  • Bandwagon -- appeals to the desire, common to most of us, to follow the crowd;
  • Plain folks -- an attempt to convince an audience that they, and their ideas, are 'of the people';
  • Transfer -- carries over the authority, sanction and prestige of something we respect or dispute to something the speaker would want us to accept; and
  • Testimonials -- involving a respected (or disrespected) person endorsing or rejecting an idea or person.

The same techniques were used during the late 1930s to study another prominent voice in a war-era, Father Charles Coughlin. His sermons evolved into a darker message of anti-Semitism and fascism, and he became a defender of Hitler and Mussolini. In this study, O'Reilly is a heavier and less-nuanced user of the propaganda devices than Coughlin."


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Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Chickenhawk excuses.



"I'm fighting the cultural war. Both need to be fought and both need to be won by Conservatives."

What an astonishingly stupid thing to say. What the hell would a "Conservative Victory" in IRAQ look like? Seems to me it would involve the disenfranchising of women, the suppression of religious and political dissent, a government unwilling to consider evidence that "contradicts scripture"... Or in other words, a "Conservative Victory" seems a hell of a lot like turning over the keys to the Taliban and doing the Baghdad boogie all the way home.

Idiot.

Of course, that's exactly what a "Conservative Victory" in the "Culture War" would look like, so why don't we all just convert to Islam and get it over with?

"I'm fighting the "Cultural War." You gutless no-neck twerp, you who wish you HAD the guts to be a pansy, you phony, with your GI haircut and 'tude - I have these words for you.

Don't Ask me to support the troopsif you aren't in uniform!

Sunday, March 25, 2007

I Don't Do Blog Begging.

I'm a libertarian and I want to support Graphictruth the libertarian way - by selling you stuff. IMPEACH! And since I'm a libertarian, I don't object to YOU making a buck. Buy ten of my buttons and I bet that YOU can sell nine of them for enough to recoup your investment. Not only that, that's NINE other people walking around with an IMPEACH button!

I promise you will be happy with the quality. The graphics speak for themselves, but they ARE better in person! So help out Graphictruth AND make the point YOU want to make.

And hey, if you ain't a button sort of person, I have dark t-shirts, trucker hats, stickers and a ton more.

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Impeach - the commodity

I have said for years and years now - if you want to know what people are talking about - look at who's trying to make money selling "conversation starters."

Here's the results of a cafepress search for "Impeach."



would someone please give bush a blow job...



would someone please give bush a blow job...


products available: 88



Bush is Listening...



Bush is Listening...


products available: 72



Daddy Say I Special



Daddy Say I Special


products available: 22



Had Enough?



Had Enough?


products available: 36



FBI webstore!!



FBI webstore!!


products available: 79



Impeach Meme



Impeach Meme


products available: 50



Liberal - buttons



Liberal - buttons


products available: 1



Liberal - buttons



Liberal - buttons


products available: 1



Impeach Bush



Impeach Bush


products available: 37



COULTER 2008: Blond, Leggy & Vicious



COULTER 2008: Blond, Leggy & Vicious


products available: 14



Lynzi's CafePress Shop



Lynzi's CafePress Shop


products available: 7



Get your official photograph of President G W Bush



Get your official photograph of President G W Bush


products available: 19



Buttons



Buttons


products available: 3



Bye Bye W



Bye Bye W


products available: 65



One Language



One Language


products available: 22



The Republikan Shop



The Republikan Shop


products available: 4



Samurai Sam 1



Samurai Sam 1


products available: 7



Obama 2008 - This time I want a smart president!



Obama 2008 - This time I want a smart president!


products available: 11



9 Funny Anti-Bush Buttons!



9 Funny Anti-Bush Buttons!


products available: 5



Pelosi 07



Pelosi 07


products available: 36



Anti-Bush Last Day



Anti-Bush Last Day


products available: 73



Lynzi's CafePress Shop



Lynzi's CafePress Shop


products available: 42



Democrats



Democrats


products available: 65



WWJBD?



WWJBD?


products available: 66



I consider Cafepress to be one of the most important political bell-weathers on the web. Zazzle has a lot fewer "political" shops - so the fact that it has so many designs keyworded "Impeach" tells me another thing - that this has now crossed the firewall from the politically active and the news junkies to the apolitical.


buy unique gifts at Zazzle


This is an amazing sea-change from six years ago. If you want to see more stunning comparisons, do a few more Cafepress searches:






As accurate as Zogby, plus or minus a few t-shirts.

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