UPDATE: Folks, please note that some of the designs that you’re finding as “still there” are simply thumbnails that haven’t yet churned out of our Marketplace. If you click on them, you’ll most likely find that the products themselves are no longer available. The thumbnails themselves will also disappear shortly thereafter.
Please understand that, given our size and the sheer number of people adding content to our site on a daily basis, you may run across a design that has been only recently pended. If you refresh your browser and take a breather, in short order you’ll find that that design has been yanked by our team.
Thanks!
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This morning we made the decision to remove all Psalms 109:8 designs from CafePress.
The public debate started with questioning if the design was simply intended to be criticism of the President or something much worse. The discourse was surprisingly civil online, given the heated nature of the topic. Given that, and the positions of groups like the ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League, we decided to let the dialogue play out publicly before making a final decision.
Last night we posted a poll on our blog, read through the emails we’ve received and weighed the nature of the calls we’ve received on the topic. In the process we also learned that many of the original designers of the Psalm 109:8 designs had already decided to remove them on their own.
General consensus has proven that the design does point to a broader interpretation of the Psalm and thus has been deemed inappropriate for sale at CafePress.
We try to create an atmosphere of self-expression. Many of the things we encounter are not black and white, but grey. When the dialogue is civil, we want to let the larger community work things out rather than making an uninformed ruling. The dialogue has played out and common sentiment has reached agreement – this merchandise is not appropriate.
UPDATE 11/20: Please see the updated Psalm 109:8 post. Thanks, all, for your civil input on this heated topic.
Over the last 10 years, we at CafePress have become accustomed to the T-shirt being a springboard for people to express their views – including those that are political, religious and various combinations of the two. The discussions that result from these designs can initiate healthy political dialogue or debate and, sometimes, strong criticism.
The past couple of days have illustrated this point rather clearly, as user-designed merchandise with “Pray for Obama – Psalm 109:8” has come to public attention.
When folks started talking about the Obama Psalm 109:8 merchandise, we weren’t particularly shocked to find that a T-shirt had caused heated political discourse. What did catch our attention, though, were the folks claiming that Psalm 109:8 was being used to advocate Barack Obama’s assassination.
We take our Content Usage policy seriously here, and no content that advocates the harming of any human being is acceptable. But is that what Psalm 109:8 is trying to convey in the context of a T-shirt?
Psalm 109:8 states: Let his days be few; Let another take his office.
To date we have treated these designs much in the same way we took the “No W” and “Impeach Bush” merchandise. But does it mean something more?
As the leaders in User Generated Commerce we strive to manage our content in a way that protects self-expression and free speech, while also making sure that we’re not allowing the promotion of violence.
Sometimes, though, iconography and words can take on new meaning over time – and this is often as a result of public discourse. If we see that the overall public discourse has determined that the meaning of this use of Psalm 109:8 goes beyond it’s literal meaning, and is being construed as threatening to the President, we will revisit our decision to allow the designs.
We’d love for you to weigh in on the Psalm 109:8 designs:
To see how experts – including representatives from the ACLU and the Anti Defamation League – have weighed in on the subject, check out this article.
Turns out that the U.S. Preventative Task Force issued a new statement that advises women between the ages of 40-49 that they don’t really need mammograms. This announcement prompted fierce debate over the issue, at which point “The Today Show” brought on their Chief Medical Editor to discuss it.
And it just so happens that CafePress Shopkeeper Kathleen Moore was watching this segment, and it got her pretty fired up. Here’s what she said:
I was watching The Today Show this morning, and they were interviewing Dr. Nancy Snyderman about this new study that recommends doing away with routine mammograms for those under 50. She said, “You may have to screen up to 1900 women in that between-the-ages-of-40-49 group to save one life — so it is pitting the American Cancer Society against some other academic groups.” I found myself responding out loud to the TV “that 1 in 1900 is my sister!” My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer thanks to an under-40 routine mammogram. Then I started thinking about all those “1-in-1900s” — they’re all someone’s sister, or mother, or daughter, or wife. We know that a mammogram catching something doesn’t necessarily save a patient’s life, but early detection gives you the best chance.
To me that cuts to the heart of the issue: when you start making public health decisions based on statistics instead of medical science, you lose sight of the point — to save and preserve life. In cost-analysis terms, 1900 procedures for the benefit of one person may seem ludicrous, but to that one woman’s sister it means the world.
Kathleen started the 1 in 1900 shop to inspire her friends and family, and tells us she’s donating proceeds from the sales of the shirt to the American Cancer Society.
To put some perspective on the number: 1 in 1900 is 48 people at a sold-out Los Angeles Coliseum. It’s 4,368 people in Manhattan. It gives you 1/6 the lifetime odds of accidentally dying via firearm (that troubling statistic is one in 300 people), but about the same as your odds of dying in a year due to an accidental injury (1 in 1600).
So: is that one person in 1900 enough of a reason to continue with early-detection mammograms? While the debate continues around not only the necessity of the test itself but whether or not insurance companies will begin to deny coverage for under-50 mammograms given the new position of the government, we’ll go to the polls:
Strike Maine off the list of states that recognize same-sex marriage. Today, the political consultants that brought Proposition 8 to California (Schubert/Flint) had another success with Question 1 in Maine. Like its California counterpart, Question 1 overturned the previous rights of same-sex couples to marry.
Both initiatives were based on the premise that gay marriage is harmful to traditional marriage, with very similar websites highlighting the ill-effects that legal same-sex unions will have on this country’s children. Like the Protect Marriage site (California), the Stand for Marriage Maine site has a variety of video and calls-to-action focused on mobilizing supporters to rescue marriage from the calamitous harm that would befall society should homosexual unions be legally recognized.
One man, though, doesn’t think that Schubert/Flint is being effective enough. He too has a website with a variety of video and calls-to-action, all focused around protecting our country’s children and restoring traditional marriage.
That man is John Marcotte of Rescue Marriage, who was disappointed by Proposition 8 due to its inability to actually protect traditional marriage from anything but gay people. Marcotte notes that the true enemy of marriage is divorce, and therefore seeks to save the institution by outlawing divorce in the state of California.
Marcotte, of course, wasted no time in setting up a CafePress shop so that like-minded supporters can raise awareness of his worthy cause. In addition to the shop, Marcotte has also arranged a Wedding March on the Capitol, to be held in Sacramento on November 14, 2009.
Whether Marcotte will follow in the footsteps of Schubert/Flint and clone his pro-marriage initiative in Maine at some point is TBD.
Incidentally, the people of Maine did pass a medical marijuana bill along with Question 1. So if you’re gay and in Maine, you still can’t get married – but if this news sends you into uncontrollable depression, insomnia or premature glaucoma, you do have a new resource available to help numb the pain.
The Phillies may be down 2-3 in the World Series count, but Macy’s is apparently feeling optimistic. An ad congratulating the Phillies on back-to-back World Series wins ran in today’s Tegucigalpa Daily News (per the Macy’s Marketing Director) and, closer to home and perhaps of more interest to the locals, in the Philly Inquirer.
While Yanks fans derisively laugh at the baseball version of “Dewey Defeats Truman,” the question being asked by Philly Phans is why the ad is such a laughable concept. Sure, it ran early – but Philly residents will tell you that the Yanks don’t have this nailed down yet.
This week we’re thinking of groovy costumes one can assemble from the CafePress catalogue, and given the interest our design community has had in the H1N1 scare it seemed remiss to leave out such an easy costume. Swine Flu has garnered more designs than Bird Flu and Anthrax together, and brought to us the brand-new term “Hamthrax.”
See? Easy. A blue surgical mask is so much more comfortable and practical than that plastic Transformers mask you were thinking about anyway.
If you’re really feeling it, adding tourism-style accessories (camera around the neck, fanny pack, hat, tropical shirt over your swine flu T-shirt) will give you extra bonus points and a perfect excuse to carry around frosty beverages bedecked by umbrellas and fruit. Optional: portable blender to make one’s own frosty beverages throughout the evening. Bonus: carrying a portable blender is a really good way to make a lot of new friends.
With the Balloon Boy hoax having taken over the airwaves for a week, inspiring our design community to get busy making Balloon Boy T-shirts and such, it seems only fitting that The Great Balloon Boy Saga Hoax be our third Halloween costume suggestion this week.
There are a few variations of this costume, and all can involve a groovy T-shirt.
If you’re an overachiever and you have friends that want to be part of a group costume, you can easily outfit the Heene parents with some relevant T-shirts and have your other friends dress as the paparazzi. Or reporters. Or Wolf Blitzer.
Extra bonus points: build a cardboard TV screen frame and carry it around, posing with reporters behind it at random.
Extra extra bonus points: actually go out on the town with Wolf Blitzer.
Costume 2: The Balloon Boy Saga
Carrying around a mylar balloon and an empty box all night can be so cumbersome, and it takes away your drinking hand. With 6 simple T-shirts, you (or you and 5 friends) can be the balloon boy saga. Either line up together, or if you’re solo just layer them (it’s chilly on Halloween anyway – layers are good!) and then, at random, blow a whistle* to let people know that you’re about to dramatically re-enact the balloon boy hoax.
What you’ll need:
A collection of T-shirts (below is a suggested narrative, but you have lots to choose from)
*a whistle (but only if you want to call attention to periodic, dramatic re-enactments)
Sarah Palin inspired T-shirt designers like no other Vice Presidential candidate ever has, with Sarah Palin T-shirts and other groovy gifts numbering over 1 million.
Perhaps our fondest memory of Sarah Palin is the Great Moose Bag Sighting, which led some folks to design rebuttal bags on behalf of the moose and moved us to recommend a Sarah Palin costume for Halloween. Since we’re recommending random Halloween costumes this week (yesterday’s suggestion: be the “Saw” franchise), today we’ll revisit last year’s Palin plan with some slight alterations.
How to be Sarah Palin for Halloween this year:
Swap out the business suit for a snow-machine suit (easily obtainable on the cheap at larger thrift shops) and stuff your pockets full of dollar bills. Don’t forget your moose bag and your glasses, though.
Mock up a few fake copies of “Going Rogue” to hand out to screaming fans, and bring a pen to sign them. (Yep, we make books. No, we are not advocating trademark infringement. Call the book whatever you’d like, or just carry Dr. Seuss’s “My Book About Me” for kicks.)
Engage friends to be your screaming literary fans. It’s an easy costume for them; we have tons of flair that they can wear to express their love for all things Palin (read: you).
Just don’t forget your lipstick. Extra bonus points to anyone who brings their pit bull and lipstick – but unless the lipstick is bacon-flavored, please do keep it off your dog. (And if you find bacon-flavored lipstick, please let us know. That would be a find.)
Obama gave a speech back in February wherein he laid out plans to cap the pay and bonuses of executives working for companies who received taxpayer-funded federal bailout money, noting that such executives could still receive compensation (like options) tied to the long-term health of the company. The move was in response to events like the AIG fiasco that occurred after the first round of Bush bailout money.
This week, the Federal Reserve “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg – hired to oversee the companies who took the bailout money – issued a set of guidelines (The White House likes the term “formula” and “guidelines” better than “pay cap”) aimed to limit the pay at 7 firms who received the most bailout money. The White House ordered what’s being described as “drastic” pay cuts for 175 top executives at these companies, which are: AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, GM, Chrysler, and the financing departments of the two automakers. However, it’s worth noting that the guidelines don’t specifically prohibit multi-million dollar paychecks or substantial deferred compensation.
Said Obama in a speech, “I’ve always believed that our system of free enterprise works best when it rewards hard work. But it does offend our values when executives of big financial firms — firms that are struggling — pay themselves huge bonuses even as they continue to rely on taxpayer assistance to stay afloat.”
The Fed also noted that it would begin reviewing compensation practices at some our largest largest financial firms. In its guidelines the Fed stated, “Banking organizations too often rewarded employees for increasing the firm’s revenue or short-term profit without adequate recognition of the risks the employees’ activities posed to the firm.”
The Fed also noted that the hope is for other banking institutions to adopt the “pay cut model” in an effort to focus on long-term profitability and stability, rather than short-term cash.
The Astro Boy movie opens in theaters this Friday – and if you enjoy animated features, space stories or classic good vs. evil tales, this is a good weekend movie for ya.
If you’re wondering what one wears to the opening weekend of a futuristic animated feature, look no further: official Astro Boy T-shirts and other groovy gear is available in the Astro Boy shop.
Remember, it’s always cold in movie theaters and it’s flu season. So bundle up in a hip Astro Boy sweatshirt, stuff yourself full of popcorn and enjoy!
