Mommy, What's a Mushroom Cloud? (War Is Bad For... )
Found on a wooden utility pole near The Stranger's office, this Xeroxed masterwork (artist unknown) dares viewers to reject the sunny façade of international warfare to explore the pain and horror underneath. "Mommy," asks the wide-eyed darling with the blowup-doll mouth, "what's a mushroom cloud?" Mommy's answer is never heard, buried beneath a textual torrent of war's victims. Not content to parrot the classic "War is bad for children and other living things," the unknown artist goes for broke, listing as many casualties of war as he or she can imagine. The effect is electrifying. Did you know that war is bad for both crops and hair? What about books, mammals, lungs, and tolerance? The message is clear: War is bad. DAVID SCHMADER