'If You Don't Know What These Symbols Mean Then the Message is Useless'

When we last heard from Russell Simmons it seemed he was under the influence of some heavy narcotics as he assigned blame for the 1993 World Trade Center attack to Christians. Well, maybe it wasn't drugs. I think the guy is just out of his mind.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is using his apartment overlooking Ground Zero to send an artistic message of peaceful coexistence to mosque opponents.

Passersby seemed to think the display - a series of religious icons across windows of his Liberty St. pad - may be a little too symbolic.

"It looks more like astrology signs," said Ayo Aduroja, 45, of Staten Island, glancing up on Tuesday afternoon.

Simmons teamed up with artist Glen Friedman for the installation, which uses the symbols to creatively spell out "coexist."

"I hope some yogi sees om. I hope that some Christian sees the cross. I hope that some Jewish person sees Star of David. I want people to see their images," Simmons said. "That's the idea to coexist and to learn to love each other."

Three other windows are emblazoned with slogans:"MARK 12:31," a reference to the "love thy neighbor" Bible verse; "USA = FREE," and "IT'S THE LAW."

Simmons supports the proposal for a mosque and community center two blocks from Ground Zero.

"I'm appalled that there's even a dialogue about it...Roughly two billion muslims in the world did not attack us," he said.

"America is using the mosque and Ground Zero as a mask for its own Islamophia."

Two billion Muslims? Huh? Again it appears he's confusing Christianity and Islam. It's curious how someone wants everyone to coexist but sees no need for the cherished "dialogue" the left only wants as long as they're the ones doing the talking and giving the orders. Meanwhile, folks in Lower Manhattan are scratching their head over what the hell message this blithering idiot is trying to convey.

He said he got the idea of decorating his windows around 10 a.m. Monday while exercising on his StairMaster.

He made a quick call to Friedman, who had helped him post a anti-war message in the top-floor windows in the summer of 2004.

By 5 p.m. paper images were taped to the top floor windows. He plans to keep them there through Sept. 11.

While some New Yorkers applauded his effort, they wondered if the message would get lost.

"I think a lot people don't know what those symbols mean," said Robin King, 49, of Bedford-Stuyvesant. "If you don't know what these symbols mean then the message is useless."

Randy Harris, 55, of Jamaica, Queens, called it "ambigious."

"It's an attempt, but it says nothing," he said, standing on Cortland St. "I wouldn't look at that and say, 'Let's all get along.'"

I look at it and say the guy needs to see a doctor about his obvious head trauma.

Speaking of head trauma, yet another deep thinker in the liberal media decided it's time for a lecture. These people just don't get how far out of touch with mainstream America they are.

We Don't Want to Risk Portraying Obama as a Shallow Celebrity, But Here's Another Celebrity Wet Kiss For Him Just in Case

Remember a couple weeks back before the surfgod departed for Hawaii that we were told about Obama fatigue? Yeah, I know, seems like a long time ago already.

Well, if you haven't quite had your fill of fawning celebutard mindmush, have a glimpse at this drivel gushing over fashion designers and their latest Obama fashion line.

Sadly, there's no barfbag with an Obama logo on it, but give them time. The funniest thing will be seeing an army of zombies wearing this loser's apparel after he goes down in flames come November.

Now really, let's be honest. How would you approach someone if they came up to you wearing something like illustrated here? If it were me, probably with a large net.

It used to be that political campaigns would be satisfied if they managed to settle on an eye-catching font for their T-shirts and trucker caps. The merchandise wasn't so much designed as it was stamped out like a pile of red, white and blue bunting. Political paraphernalia was mostly about the message -- not the aesthetics.

Now it is enthusiastically and abundantly about style. The Barack Obama campaign, which has been actively courting the fashion industry, has coordinated some 20 or so designers who are creating official merchandise for the candidate's Web site. It is the first time, as far as Seventh Avenue long-timers can recall, that a quorum of the fashion industry has organized its financial resources and creative energy around a single presidential candidate.

The mix, available online next month, ranges from T-shirts to tote bags and will lend a bit of runway panache to the Obama brand. The list of participating designers, which includes Derek Lam, Isaac Mizrahi, Tracy Reese, Charles Nolan and Diane von Furstenberg, covers the full spectrum of the market, from high-end to inexpensive. Other names have been bandied about but not confirmed: Beyoncé, Russell Simmons, Michael Bastian, Vera Wang.

There's not a shred of substance to the guy, but he'll sure have a snazzy fashion line.

Oh, did we mention the street activist from Chicago is offended at comparisons to empty-headed celebrities? Poor thing has delicate feelings, don't you know.

All of the smoke-and-mirror marketing, prescient creativity and business acumen have the New York fashion industry generating $47 billion in sales annually. Imagine how much gloss fashion folks could apply to the Obama brand.

Smoke and mirrors. How appropriate.

The junior senator from Illinois already is the candidate Ebony magazine declared "cool," the one who has rock stars, actors and Obama Girl swooning. Designing for his campaign is a long way from getting a red-carpet credit, but there's no small amount of warmth in his reflected glow.

Good Lord. Such dreck would be rejected in Journalism 101. How embarrassing. Rock stars, actors and Obama Girl swooning? Uh, how about alleged journalists swooning?

Where are the layers of editors to take Ms. Givhan aside, hose her down and order a rewrite?

Now she runs head first into self-parody.

The benefit to the candidate is a direct line to the "Project Runway" crowd. The risk, of course, is being perceived as highbrow or shallow. Obama's opponents have derisively dismissed him as an elitist and a celebrity. And it was the fashion industry that spawned the celebri-monster known as Paris Hilton. Having Seventh Avenue on his roster of supporters would not seem conducive to a Dockers-man image.

Ahem. Obama's opponents have derisively dismissed him as an elitist and a celebrity exactly because of nonsense like this.

Is she so dumb she can't figure this out? Goodness, the media really needs to de-program these Obamatons. Thirty days somewhere to decompress and maybe get back to the real world.

"I spent an evening -- not just me alone -- with Michelle Obama and became aware of what they were all about," Lam says. "They're incredibly inspiring."

What a pity. Poor thing must have had a very empty life before that night if those two are such an inspiration.

Time is so impressed by this journalistic tongue-bath it gives them another excuse to run a staged photo of The One looking off in the distance.

Update: Gateway Pundit has some of these stylish new threads.