Restore the Republic
27-Oct-07
The Restore the Republic is an example of an ad the campaign should run.
There are more great commercials at Operation New Hampshire.
Are there any other ads you guys like?
I think I know how it happened. Ron Paul’s campaign staff is very frugal. So they hire a staffer to make their campaign ad. And the staffer, in turn, wanted to make an authentic ad, with real Ron Paul supporters, explaining in their own words, why they like Paul. But the activists were nervous and didn’t want to flub their lines. So he had them memorize their lines from a script.
The result has just been posted to Youtube:
The general reviews are…not good. These are some of my favorite responses:
lol, oh my goodness, that was so corny. I love you, Ron Paul, but my goodness, do NOT approve THAT message. lol. I can’t stop laughing.
Holy shit balls this acting is terrible!
FAAAAAAIIILLL!
Ron Paul – FIRE your PRODUCER!!!!!!!!!! He’s a Clinton Supporter!!!!
…Ron Paul looks like a mother fucking ANGRY OOMPA LOOMPA…
I liked this commercial but in the way I like David Lynch films.
Whoever produced this commercial needs to be taken out and shot.
…worse than a 1970′s porno!
…never hire teenagers with a mental disorder to make your ad…
This video is such shit. We can’t start off with this TV ad. I’ll donate more money to make it stop.
Personally, if they air it, I think our best hope is that it achieves the cult status of the “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” ad from the 80′s. Though perhaps the tsunami of bad reviews will cause them to come up with a better ad.
I don’t don’t think the campaign is making adequate use of the wealth of volunteer talent available to them. For example, all of the ads produced so far for this volunteer ad campaign are excellent, and would make a much better choice.
I think that they should sponsor an official ad contest, to see who can come up with the best 30 second ad. If you think this ad sucks, write the campaign at [email protected] or call them at 703-248-9115. Perhaps suggest that they run an ad from the campaign above, or sponsor an ad contest.
Oleg Volk
26-Oct-07
Oleg’s been posting a great series of pro-2nd amendment posters recently, starring Kitiara and Raquel (no livejournal?).
If you like his stuff, consider donating to his lens fund or buying one of his prints.
John Stutz and Maggie Diubaldo
26-Oct-07
If you like fitness photos like the above shot of Maggie Diubaldo, may I suggest you check out the photography of John Stutz.
Back in 2002, Bush’s chief economic advisor Lawrence Lindsay was fired for publicly suggesting that the Iraq war would cost 1-2% of GNP, or about $100-$200 billion. Rumsfeld and other top administration officials endorsed a cost estimate between $50-$60 billion.
According to today’s Yahoo:
The U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could cost taxpayers a total of $2.4 trillion by 2017 (emphasis added) when counting the huge interest costs because combat is being financed with borrowed money, according to a study released on Wednesday.
That’s $8,000 for every man, woman, and child now living in the U.S.
The CBO estimates that ongoing annual costs of continued occupation to be between $25 and $30 billion.
Okay, but are we getting $8000 (and up) worth of “security” out of this war? Maybe it’s worth it.
How would we know? It’s a very difficult question to answer, since the people with the best information have very strong incentives to distort it, to either make themselves look good (if they support the war), or to attack their political opponents (if they don’t).
According to the Iraq War and U.S. Global War on Terror:
“…London’s conservative International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded in 2004 that the occupation of Iraq had become “a potent global recruitment pretext” for jihadists and that the invasion “galvanised” al-Qaeda and “perversely inspired insurgent violence” there. The U.S. National Intelligence Council concluded in a January 2005 report that the war in Iraq had become a breeding ground for a new generation of terrorists; David B. Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats, indicated that the report concluded that the war in Iraq provided terrorists with “a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills… There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will therefore disperse to various other countries….”
Some among al-Qaeda also seem to think the war is good for recruiting:
A letter thought to be from al-Qaeda leader Atiyah Abd al-Rahman found in Iraq among the rubble where al-Zarqawi was killed and released by the U.S. military in October 2006, indicated that al-Qaeda perceived the war as beneficial to its goals: “The most important thing is that the jihad continues with steadfastness … indeed, prolonging the war is in our interest.”
Personally, I think my risks of terrorist attack have gone up, not down. And even if they have gone down, I don’t think that they’ve gone down enough to justify the enormous costs.
More from the Yahoo article:
Ron Paul Money Bombs
23-Oct-07
If you’re a Ron Paul supporter, please join the Ron Paul Money Bomb Brigade! The purpose of the brigade is…
…to find 40,000 solid volunteers to step up to the plate and donate $25 once per week, every week, to Dr. Ron Paul’s Presidential Campaign fund. ‘Bombs Away’ times and date will be provided to your email and posted on this website. Congressman Paul will be given a million dollar boost every single week. We are currently between 1000 and 2000 strong, growing rapidly since the success of last weeks bomb-drop.
The next drop is November 5, to coincide with the November 5th campaign.
Naked rugby players (NSFW)
22-Oct-07
I think they’re rugby players posing for a beefcake calendar. Anyway, one for the ladies (and/or gay men):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOCS2fNDMvU
Alien baby costume
22-Oct-07
Dumbledore is gay.
20-Oct-07
According to Entertainment Weekly:
Responding to a question from a child about Dumbledore’s love life, Rowling hesitated and then revealed, “I always saw Dumbledore as gay.” Filling in a few more details, she said, “Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald…. Don’t forget, falling in love can blind us. [He] was very drawn to this brilliant person. This was Dumbledore’s tragedy.” She added that in a recent meeting about the sixth movie, she spied a line in the script where Dumbledore waxed poetic about a girl, so she was forced to scribble director David Yates a note to correct the situation.
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