New computer coming next week. I am nearly shaking in anticipation.

I want to write about the latest Adbusters but I think I need a week of breathing time first. At first blush I could have sworn one of the articles was blaming the Iraq War on 25 neoconservative Jews in Washington. I'm going have to cool down first before re-reading the damming article.

Oh yeah, Adbusters is now in the shoe business.

From the Globe and Mail (link expires tomorrow):
"The running shoe fits for AdBusters" ; Wednesday, August 20, 2003; Page B9:

"The company's goal? Nothing short of bringing Nike to its knees with a hip, stylish sneaker that wears its "anti-logo" mantra like, well, a logo. It plans to release the shoe to great fanfare, complete with a $500,000 advertising budget that will see the sneakers promoted on CNN and in The New York Times, among other big media outlets...

Whether they are cheap is perhaps in the eye of the consumer ("It will be a very high-class shoe that will sell for around $50 to $60," Mr. Lasn estimated), but he said the shoes will likely be produced in factories in the developing world.

"We're negotiating with some people in China, we're looking at Indonesia, and we're looking at doing it right here in North America," Mr. Lasn said, adding that "the sweatshop rhetoric has gone a little bit too far."

In fact, Mr. Lasn sounds a little like Knight when he talks about using companies in the developing world. "I think it's wonderful to reward companies in the Third World. They need the money, they need the jobs, they need the work." He maintains the chosen company will be one "we can be proud of," and will be featured in AdBusters. "We're going to make sure this is not a sweatshop," Mr. Lasn said. "I think a lot of this 'let's do it locally' is just a lot of trade union, old lefty talk..."