The Yes Men strike again

Remember those crazy Yes Men, who infiltrated several international conferences and informed unsuspecting audiences that the WTO was reversing its destructive policies, or that human waste could be recycled into burgers? Well, they're at it again - this time in Louisiana.

Yesterday a man who claimed to be a high-ranking official with Housing and Urban Development told an audience of 1,000 at a post-Katrina public housing conference that the government was reversing its policy. The man came on stage after speeches by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, saying he was the "deputy assistant secretary" of HUD and announcing that HUD would halt plans to demolish thousands of public housing units in New Orleans.

William Loiry, president of Equity International, which organized the conference in Kenner, La., said "everything seemed legitimate" about the man who made the speech - until the man suggested that people leave the conference, board buses, and attend a ribbon-cutting at a public housing development.

When Loiry and security officers went to find the speaker, he was vapor.

Fortunately, the man left a flier at the conference with his phone number on it. The man who answered the phone at that number was Andy Bichlbauer, of Yes Men fame.

Unfortunately, HUD is investigating the matter. We hope they conduct the investigation with the same level of competence they've demonstrated in New Orleans...

The Yes Men: http://www.theyesmen.org

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2368057