low culture

Via the LA Times: Jose F. Aguilar marks his ballot in a booth on the showroom floor at Robertson Honda in North Hollywood. (Al Seib / LAT)

Also via the LA Times: Voters cast their ballots at Harmon and Son Tire Center in Los Angeles.
(Mark Boster / LAT)

Again, via the LA Times: Richard Anderson, 80, votes amid paintings on display at the Perk U Up cafe, espresso bar and art gallery in North Hollywood. (Al Seib / LAT)
RELATED: “L.A. MAYORAL ELECTION Villaraigosa Landslide: Voter Discontent Helps Propel Challenger to a Historic Victory”, Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2005

(Above via Yahoo/Reuters; Below via Litlounge)

Afghanistan Sees Worst Anti-U.S. Protests Since Fall of Taliban, the New York Times, May 11, 2005:

Four Afghan protesters were killed and more than 60 were injured today in the eastern city of Jalalabad in the worst anti-American demonstrations Afghanistan has seen in the three years since the fall of the Taliban.
[…]
It was the second day of demonstrations by students in Jalalabad who were angered at a report in Newsweek magazine that United States interrogators at the Guantánamo Bay detention center had desecrated the Holy Koran by placing it on toilets, and even in one case, flushing a Koran down the toilet.

Please take this opportunity to join us, and let the editors of Newsweek know how disappointed you are by canceling your subscription.

In anticipation of President Bush’s diplomatic trip to the Baltic States this weekend, protesters in Riga, Latvia were out in full force today. Thankfully, these were literate types — you know, real Eastern European, Milan Kundera-reading coffeehouse denizens — and took the opportunity to demonstrate against Bush’s arrival using that uniquely untapped Baltic brand of oblique irony.


As you can see above, however, their protestation is so goddamned indirect that, well, the “Engrish”-esque point is nearly lost on an American audience. “Peace Duke?” The idea comes across, but just barely.
Some blunter, coarser suggestions for future demonstrations in Riga:

NO MORE NATO

Russians Out, and Bush, Too

Bush & Kalvitis: Ogres in Arms

FAIR TRADE: We Supply You with Pornstars, You Supply Us with War

RELATED: Google results for “peace duke”, which you shouldn’t bother clicking, as they’re of no help at all
EARLIER: I’m sorry, I don’t speak “European”…what exactly are you trying to say, here?

RELATED: Bush Marks National Day of Prayer, the Associated Press