President Obama made a pledge today to end the Iraq war by August 31st, 2010, with his “highest priority” being the safety of both troops and civilians. In a speech at Camp Lejeune, Obama announced a plan to withdraw the bulk of American combat troops by next summer. The remaining 35 – 50,000 troops will stay to help support the Iraqi government and its Security Forces.
The Iraq war has been a bitterly debated topic since its inception; our own catalogue has 1.4 million Iraq T-shirts and other products, with the primary theme being sharp criticism of the Bush administration and the war itself.
A larger theme even than Iraq, though, is the overwhelming display of troop support. Troop t-shirts and gifts outnumber the Iraq topic with almost twice as many creations, with 2.3 million troop products created by their friends, family and supporters.
The Iraq war has taught us many lessons, and the T-shirts have taught us this: while people may vehemently disagree as to how or why or whether the war in Iraq should end, it would seem that one topic that unites us is the respect and support we have for our American soldiers.
If you haven’t seen the show: “It’s Me or the Dog” is essentially the canine version of Supernanny, give or take a leash.
Stains the Hypnodog was featured hanging tough in a training exercise wherein British dog trainer Victoria Stilwell held a plate of cupcakes in front of him to teach him about self-control.
Stains’ pained, hypnotic gaze made him an instant hit with fans, most of whom would probably give a similar look if some random British lady invaded their household, stuck a plate of cupcakes in front of their noses and then told them they couldn’t have any with a clipped “AWAY!” command.
And so this episode illustrates both how to deal with a dog who sneaks human food, and why Victoria Stilwell is not the host of “The Biggest Loser.”
While the counter-surfing Stains didn’t get to eat a cupcake that day, things are looking up for him: he has his own website now, and his human parents have created an online Stains shop for him as well.
Stains himself is the recipient of a Fantasy T-Wearer award today, with the “I Eat Carbs” shirt at right.
For those of you who didn’t get to see this classic canine moment, here it is. Disclaimer: no dogs or cupcakes were harmed during the filming of this episode, but a sandwich was horribly maimed.
President Obama addressed Congress last night to drive home the message that his stimulus package, while huge, is the reponse needed to address the huge crises before us.
The speech focused on the individual people to be helped by the plan, and held up certain small-town heroes that embody the spirit of this plan. Which is to say that Obama has his own “Joe the Plumber” – i.e. Leonard the Banker, who gave away his $60 million bonus to his staff.
The night was full of frequent and thunderous applause, with Joe Biden being the recipient of a particularly enthusiastic bout when Obama listed him as The Plan Enforcer with the bold statement that “Nobody messes with Joe.”
The stimulus plan in general was portrayed as a necessary course correction that will help steer America toward a brighter and more prosperous future. Overall, Obama’s address focused heavily on the ambitious, long-term goals of the nation that hearkened back to the Inaugural message: America is ready to lead once more.
The other main points in the speech can be summed up with the following T-shirts:
Fat Tuesday is upon us, giving everyone a nice excuse to engage in a day of gluttony in full New Orleans style.
It also gives a lot of people an excuse to stumble around Bourbon Street in various states of accessories and undress, and of course no Mardis Gras would be complete without a few Hurricanes and a lot of King cake being consumed.
In recent years, Mardis Gras has become a time to celebrate the rebuilding and rebirth of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It’s also a time to help rebuild new Orleans by donating your spending money toward the betterment of the city. (Read: you can justify your third Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s.)
So if you’re out there baring yourself for beads or giving them away for an eyeful, just remember: it’s all in the name of a good cause. You can give up public nudity (or the solicitation of it) for Lent.
Obama’s recent spending spree has not exactly lessened the division between liberals and conservatives; in fact, the parties are so bitterly divided over the matter that CNN recalled Hillary Clinton’s sarcastic primary statement about celestial choirs and such.
Depending on where you stand (and what you wear), Obama is either so dangerously liberal that the next few generations will be paying for his reckelss spending and move towards a bloated and socialist government, or he’s finally changing a collision course by taking timely and bold action to address the current financial crisis facing America.
Our own catalogue has seen an influx of T-shirts protesting the bailouts and the stimulus package, with one organization calling for public “tea party” protests set to take place this Friday.
The New American Tea Party is a “coalition of concerned citizens” that hopes to spur a grassroots movement throughout the nation in protest of the recent government spending spree. With local groups actively creating merchandise, it seems that this movement is supported by an activism-minded crowd not afraid to wear it loud in the name of liberty.
A boy in India married a dog recently to prevent tiger attacks – which is arguably a better reason than marrying someone for money or fame or any number of other reasons that folks get married. And then divorced.
The boy is from the Munda tribe, which feels that any tooth growth before 2 years of age makes an infant prone to being attacked by wild animals. The marriage was undertaken with the intent to ward off evil spirits.
No worries for any potential brides of the human variety: the marriage will not interfere with any future marriage plans. Or so say the humans; the dog has not been available for public comment.
The male dog in question belonged to the neighbor, and celebrated his big day by ditching out on his new groom to be a gadabout around town.
And so we award this special dog 2 Fantasy T-Wearer Awards, both present and future. May the shirt above honor his special day, and may the one at right help him cope with the reality that, once his human husband discovers human girls, it’s likely that he’ll be Just Not That Into Him.
American Idol is always full of surprises, and this season’s first Vote-Off Results show was no exception. Some fans were shocked when audition standout Anoop Desai (a.k.a. Noop Dogg) didn’t make the top 3 cut.
No worries, though: Anoop is still eligible for a Wild Card spot, and is getting the out there on Noop Dogg T-shirts, buttons and other gear. Not that we expect Simon to be sporting a Noop Dogg T-shirt, but we do have a new black mens’ fitted T…
The format of Idol changed significantly this year. There are now 3 rounds of preliminary eliminations, in which groups of 12 are voted on by the public to determine which 3 people – one guy, one girl, and the next person with the most votes – move into the final 12 from that group. (For those disinterested in multiplication: that’s 9 people.)
The remaining 3 slots are given out as “Wild Card” spots, and that’s where Anoop’s (and his fans’) hopes lie. In the meantime, Anoop-crazed voters can keep track of him via his fan site.
Of course, if Anoop doesn’t capture a Wild Card spot he may have a future on the Food Network. Anyone who can write a 60-page thesis on Southern Barbecueand impress Simon Cowell with a Bobby Brown song may give Bobby Flay a run for his spatula.
President Obama announced a $75 billion plan to help 9 million homeowners from going into foreclosure. The plan is aimed at homeowners who are current on payments, with the aim being to prevent more foreclosures from further dragging down the housing market and the economy as a whole.
In addition to the $75B aimed at personal loans, the Treasury also plans to invest $400B in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which were bailed out by the Bush administration in September.
Funding for the $75 billion program will be taken from the $700 billion allocated to bail out out the financial industry in 2008 – which is perhaps a better use of taxpayer dollars than sending a bunch of bankers to Vegas to hang at the Venetian, but then again the Venetian does have a lovely nightclub sure to be an oasis for stressed-out bankers.
Those who didn’t buy into an overvalued housing market – or bought within their means – are now sitting on the sidelines, left to wonder whether this package punishes responsible consumers.
Overall, the general feel of our design community seems to be that bailouts are bad. Will the spirit of the shirts change as the packages are implemented? Time – and T-shirts – will tell.
You know you’re in for a long day at work when the head honcho tells you to bring a toothbrush. And so it is for California lawmakers, who have a tough choice on what’s going to be a very long work day: either pass the $40 billion budget on the table, or 20,000 state employees get layoff notices.
The budget woes for the world’s eighth-largest economy have been going on for months and months, with the stalemate being the issues of taxation and spending cuts. Minority Republicans consider it “political suicide” to vote for any budget that would increase taxes, Democrats have been resistant to cut social service programs, and Governor Schwarzenegger has insisted that a workable budget must include both spending decreases and tax increases.
Which is to say that they’ve all been arguing about the same thing for over 6 months. Last week Gov. Schwarzenegger finally came to agreement with legislative leaders on a budget that includes $15.1 billion in spending reductions, $14.4 billion in tax increases and $11.4 billion in borrowing. Republicans refused to break party ranks due to the tax increases, and the package missed being passed yesterday by 1 vote in the Senate.
In the meantime, California faces financial insolvency and the defecit is at a whopping $42 billion. Last month the state put taxpayers, contractors, counties and social service agencies on the IOU list to keep education funded. While some people might wonder whether Schwarzenegger has the fortitude to follow in Bill Clinton’s steps and shut down the government, simple math will reveal an unfortunate reality: even if you fire all the state’s employees and ditch the Legislature that seems incapable of getting California out of this mess, the state is still $16B short of the defecit number.
The remaining $16B could be obtained by shutting down all California university systems and the community colleges. Or by convincing investors that California is a better place for their money than Kurdistan.
We therefore award a Fantasy T-Wearer award to Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the “Today I feel bankrupt” T-shirt at right.
So if you live in California and you’re wondering why the heck somebody tore up your freeway and made the traffic worse only to seemingly abandon the project, now you know why. On the plus side, your kid can still go to school. Today, anyway.
Today is Presidents’ Day. This day used to be known as Washington’s Birthday until curmudgeonly Principals decided that giving kids both Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays off 10 days apart was just too much fun for the kids, and they combined the honors into one holiday.
This year we celebrate Lincoln’s 200th birthday and Washington’s 273rd. Most people recognize George Washington from his tenure on the dollar bill and the quarter, but after perusing the T-shirts we did run across a few interesting designs that might suggest that some folks didn’t pay complete attention in Mrs. Daly’s third grade American History class.
And so, with schools closed today, we’ll take over for Mrs. Daly to correct some apparent myths about George.
While some of you may wonder how anyone could make this mistake, we do understand the confusion – Harrison was a Whig, and Washington wore a wig. Also, Harrison’s nickname was “Old Tippecanoe,” and Washington crossed the Delaware in a vessel that included paddles.
MYTH: Washington wore a beret. FACT: While Washington was not down with the beret (Jefferson was the Francophile), he was indeed fond of jaunty headwear: at his Inauguration his hat was trimmed with a feather, leading us to wonder whether he or Aretha Franklin would win the Most Ornate Inaugural Hat Award. For everyday accessorizing he tended to prefer a simple tricorne, as seen on small children in the school play about The First Thanksgiving.
MYTH: George Washington totally shredded on the electric guitar. FACT: Washington was more of a bass guy, preferring to lead the band by laying down killer basslines.
Also worth noting is Washington’s general disdain for sleeveless shirts and long pants; in point of fact, Washington was much more prone to be wearing short pants and long shirts.
And that is because Washington was confident enough in his own leadership and masculinity to wear tights. And wigs. And lace. And velvet.
Of course it’s difficult to remember the finer details about any one President. Heck, not many people can name all 44 Presidents in order. And so, in honor of Presidents’ Day, we have two devices to help you memorize the Presidential lineup. The first is a song sure to delight your friends and neighbors, and the second is a T-shirt that we recommend for the tone deaf, the stage-frightened and those who can’t keep an audience for 10 minutes.
Happy Presidents’ Day. Yes, there will be a quiz on this later.
President Obama made a pledge today to end the Iraq war by August 31st, 2010, with his “highest priority” being the safety of both troops and civilians. In a speech at Camp Lejeune, Obama announced a plan to withdraw the bulk of American combat troops by next summer. The remaining 35 – 50,000 troops will stay to help support the Iraqi government and its Security Forces.
The Iraq war has been a bitterly debated topic since its inception; our own catalogue has 1.4 million Iraq T-shirts and other products, with the primary theme being sharp criticism of the Bush administration and the war itself.
The Iraq war has taught us many lessons, and the T-shirts have taught us this: while people may vehemently disagree as to how or why or whether the war in Iraq should end, it would seem that one topic that unites us is the respect and support we have for our American soldiers.
And so this episode illustrates both how to deal with a dog who sneaks human food, and why Victoria Stilwell is not the host of 
