THE TOMO REPORT

'NUFF SAID...

2008-07-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

JACK IN THE BOX AD SIMULTANEOUSLY PROMOTES IDIOCY, WARNS AGAINST IT

2007-12-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

You gotta love this ad from Jack in the Box for their new "Holiday Antenna Ball". The ad is all about a guy driving around with the ball stuck to his head. As the commercial ends, you see a legal warning flash "DO NOT DRIVE WITH BALL STUCK TO FACE." Classic.

AMERICANS SUBSIDIZING DOLLAR WEAKNESS WITH HIGHER GAS PRICES

2007-11-27T11:11:00.001-08:00

I filled up my tank this morning... $3.51/gallon for regular... I'm talking about the cheap stuff. Of course, this is out in California where we are seeing the highest prices in the country, but I'm sure you've noticed gas prices are through the roof wherever you live.

I got curious about how much oil prices have actually increased this year so I started doing some digging... I found this chart which basically showed crude prices over 2007...

This chart showed me that crude prices had certainly increased over 2007, but I wondered if that was the whole story... I decided to map crude prices in dollars versus crude prices in euros (and, for fun, gold ounces)... I wanted to see if the price increases we were seeing on oil were occurring across all currencies or was the recent weakness in the dollar having an affect...

So, I grabbed crude oil prices in dollars for each month of 2007 (to date). I then mapped euro's and gold prices for each month using the historic currency converter at xe.com. Then, to normalize each data set, I found the percentage increase/decrease from month to month for each currency and charted it:

The fluctuations between the months looked about the same between the currencies, but you do notice that every time oil prices have spiked during the year, they have increased more in dollars than euros or gold. Interesting. Also, every time oil prices drop, they seem to drop more in euros and gold than in dollars....Also interesting. However, this really didn't show me the whole picture. I decided just to take the price of oil at the beginning of the year (in dollars, euros, and gold ounces) and compare it against the price of oil now, then see what the percentage increase was for each currency.

As you can see from this chart, the data is clear. Oil prices have increased 93% (in US$ dollars) since the beginning of the year. Compare that to a 66% increase in oil prices in euros and only a 49% increase in oil prices in gold ounces.

Which leads me to my conclusion... the American people are subsidizing the weak dollar by paying more for gas at the pump! This really hits home for me and, I expect, a lot of Americans. Many may not understand the intricacies of the currency markets and how they affect wealth, but they can certainly understand this.

I understand those which are saying that a weakened dollar is actually good for the U.S.A. because it makes our goods cheaper for overseas customers, which should help us balance the trade deficit. I get that. However, I don't want to subsidize a policy like this! It's like we are being forced to pay an export tariff for goods leaving the country!

I'm a fiscal conservative and have constantly been disappointed with this administrations monetary and fiscal policy. No matter what the MSM trys to force feed me, I can see with my own eyes that Bush is a big-government, liberal spender. I'm sick of it.

Please don't make the American people pay for your inept monetary policy Mr. Bush...

"WHO'S FRED?" "FRED'S DEAD, BABY. FRED'S DEAD." THE COLLAPSE OF FRED THOMPSON.

2007-11-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

Building off of Tom Bevan's posts (here and here)... here is some more data to add the chorus of those now claiming Fred Thompson is done...

I think its safe to say his candidacy is just about over (it peaked way back in September, when he "officially" announced)... The only question now is who is he pulling votes away from? Who will his supporters hitch their wagons to?

RON PAUL RISING... & THE TOP 3 REASONS HIS POLL NUMBERS ARE SO LOW...

2007-11-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

Looking through some of the metrics I have put together for this year's election cycle, its been hard to deny the rise of Ron Paul.... In almost every metric I have tracked (except his poll numbers), Ron Paul has consistently risen over the course of 2007. There is no doubt he is a force in this election cycle.

So why the low poll numbers? His message seems to be resonating. Interest in him in the blogosphere and the web far out paces his other republican rivals. Yet, he continues to be in the single digits in poll numbers. So whats the deal? Here are the TOP 3 REASONS...

1] Traditional polls based on 'home' telephone interviews
Traditional polls are done via telephone interviews conducted at peoples homes. While in the past, this may have been an effective form of identifying interest in a particular candidate, today, this absolutely skews the results in at least 2 ways. First, it skews the results to those folks who want to spend 30 minutes doing a phone interview at home. These people will generally be older and have less going on than a younger demographic. Second, this assumes people still use a 'home' phone. More and more people are switching to a completely mobile infrastructure for their communication needs which automatically excludes them from most traditional polling. By excluding these folks from the polling the numbers will be skewed to more traditional candidates who have dominated the MSM coverage of this election cycle.

2] Polling largely based on name recognition
It is clear that the more a candidates name is mentioned and they are talked about by the mainstream media, the more likely they are to become a so-called 'top-tier' candidate. In both the republican and democratic primary cycles, the MSM has 'anointed' their top-tier candidates and given them a tremendous boost in polling by simply talking about them constantly. Would Fred Thompson or John McCain really be polling as well as they are if they had a tenth of the mainstream press coverage they are getting? Not likely. But this is the position that 2nd and 3rd candidates find themselves in. With Paul, it is much more obvious than other candidates because there is such a discrepancy between his MSM coverage and the interest in him via other forums (ie. web visits, blogs, youtube, meetup, etc.). [Note: interesting to see how Paul dominated the polling in a recent Zogby "blind poll"]

3] Some, not all, but some of Ron Paul's support is from registered democrats and independents
This is an interesting one. It really appears that Paul has positioned himself in a niche where small government republicans converge with pro-privacy democrats. As such, his support from an exclusively republican perspective may be smaller than his overall support in the general populous. Does this mean that Paul is more popular than republican polls have let on... almost certainly. Does it matter? Nope. Because those are the folks who will decide if he becomes the Republican candidate or not...

Your thoughts?

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: OCTOBER MEDIA SHOWDOWN

2007-11-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

Building off my last Media Showdown post, I updated my numbers to measure the candidates for October...

For those who didn't see the last post, my premise was simple: Measure each presidential candidate on a variety of media factors to determine if there is any discrepancies in the coverage they are receiving... The three metrics chosen were: Mainstream media mentions, Blogosphere coverage, and individual candidate web site visitors. For information on how the numbers were derived, please see my previous post for details on my methodology...

[Aside: This time around I also mapped the candidates average national poll numbers against their media mentions to see if there was any connection... The green line in each graph represents the average poll position of each candidate over the month of October]

Here is the chart for Democratic Candidates...

Some interesting trends here. First of all, it looks like the MSM is still heavily invested in Obama, mentioning him far more than even Hillary. However, interest in him from blogs and web visitors seems to be waining a bit (as do his overall poll numbers)... Has he peaked? I guess not in Iowa, where there still appears to be a race on. Hillary's rough first few weeks of November may turn this around, but we'll only see the results of that in about a month or so. On the positive side for Hillary, blogosphere mentions and her website visits are growing rapidly as we move closer to primary season. She had the most blog mentions of any candidate (on either side of the aisle) this month and absolutely shredded her democratic competition. Month on month, her blogosphere mentions have grown 100+%, while web visits are up 32%. For better or worse, it appears as if both sides of the aisle are anointing her the democratic candidate to beat. Edwards is still chuggin, but his MSM vs. Blogosphere coverage seems way off. The MSM still seems to consider him a semi-top-tier candidate, but the blogosphere may have decided that ship has sailed. Interesting side note: Overall poll averages for the month almost exactly mirror the democratic candidates blogosphere-mention percentages.

Now for the Republicans...

Just like last month... all over the map. Rudy, Mitt, McCain, and Thompson are the MSM darlings again, although Huckabee has increased his profile a bit as well. Huckabee being pushed by the MSM did increase his web visits for the month, but the blogosphere still seems to be ignoring him. The discrepancy between Giuliani and McCain's mainstream press coverage and internet coverage is astounding. Their 'base' is surely not internet savvy, otherwise, their presence online would be much higher than it is. [Aside: I have to wonder how much longer these types of candidates will be able to survive once the internet is mainstream for all age brackets... In a world where all information is available to everyone all the time, I have a hard time believing they would have the same success they are seeing today.] Thompson's numbers have dropped like a stone the month after his big "announcement". Internet visits have particularly dropped almost 50% from last month. Why is this guy even still in the race?

However, again, the big story here is Ron Paul. His dominance of the other republican candidates in terms of web visits and blogosphere mentions is undeniable. I'm preparing a separate post on his meteoric rise...

Media Mentions per Party...

In terms of party coverage, just like last month, MSM mentions, blogosphere coverage and web visits are fairly even. However, if you take Ron Paul out of the equation, the democrats clearly have more coverage than the Reps in the blogosphere and on the web. MSM coverage on the whole has, surprisingly, been very balanced.

2008 Presidential Primary Data Tracker... Polls, Money, Blogs, Web, more!

2007-11-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of data out there on the 2008 Election... but it isn't always that easy to find. When I was doing my Media Showdown post a few weeks ago, I noticed that I had to do a lot of leg work just to gather the data that I needed for the analysis. I figured there had to be an easier way... unfortunately, I was wrong!. It's scattered all over the place. In an effort to consolidate this data, I decided I would put together a set of graphs & charts to help track the important data for this election cycle. So, I've pulled together, tracked, and charted what I felt were some of the most important metrics. Please note that this will be a living post... The data presented here is LIVE (thank you Google Spreadsheets!) and will continue to be updated throughout the election cycle. I hope it provides a 'one-stop shop' for 2008 Election data and charting. I would love to keep adding more charts here so please chime in with requests!

[Request from me: Anyone out there have a Lexis-Nexis account they can let me borrow for a few hours? I would love to chart out Media Mentions in the MSM over 2007, but don't have access...If you do, drop me a line!]

Polls

All the poll data which these charts are based on comes from our friends at RealClearPolitics. What I have done is just map the polls to each month to give an overall meta-monthly average for each "top-tier" candidate. Poll data will be updated about once a week or so...

Democratic Presidential Candidates - Aggregated Poll Numbers Over 2007

Republican Presidential Candidates - Aggregated Poll Numbers Over 2007

Money

Fundraising figures are a bit more complex as the reporting of these by candidates is only mandated quarterly. I have taken most of the figures here from PoliticalBase.com and supplemented this with data directly from Federal Election Committee. If anyone see's any issue with the data, I am happy to correct it!

Democratic Presidential Candidates - Fundraising Per Month

Democratic Presidential Candidates - Cumulative Fundraising Per Month

Democratic Presidential Candidates - % Fundraising Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - Fundraising Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - Cumulative Fundraising Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - % Fundraising Per Month

Republican vs. Democratic Fundraising Per Month

Republican vs. Democratic Cumulative Fundraising Per Month

Blogosphere

Blogosphere influence is measured using Google Blog Search with the search string for each candidate being: "firstname lastname". Measurements were taken for each month (from the first day through the last). This data will be updated at the conclusion of each month...

Democratic Presidential Candidates - Blogosphere Mentions Per Month

Democratic Presidential Candidates - % Blogosphere Mentions Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - Blogosphere Mentions Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - % Blogosphere Mentions Per Month

Republican vs. Democratic Blogosphere Mentions Per Month

Web

Web influence is measured using Compete.com's monthly "People Count" number. From their site, this metric "triangulates multiple data sources, including ISP, Panel & Toolbar to estimate U.S. traffic." Tracking was done using each candidates primary election web site.

Democratic Presidential Candidates - Web Visitors Per Month

Democratic Presidential Candidates - % Web Visitors Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - Web Visitors Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - % Web Visitors Per Month

Republican vs. Democratic Web Visitors Per Month

Search Trends

Search trends were based on searches for each candidates names using Google Trends. Unfortunately, Google does not provide numbers for me to chart, so these are just static screenshots made as of this posting. I will update these once a month or so... If you would like to pull the latest up to the second trends, please use these links: Democratic Candidates... Republican Candidates.

Democratic Presidential Candidates - Search Trends Per Month

Republican Presidential Candidates - Search Trends Per Month

LEAKED! SLINGCATCHER SPY PICS

2007-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post much tech stuff, but someone close to the project, sent me these shots over the weekend... they appear to show the final pack box of the new, heralded device from the SlingMedia guys, the SlingCatcher. Release, I am told, will happen soon! Looks good! Take a look at whats inside the box here.

2008 PRESIDENTIAL MEDIA SHOWDOWN: HOW THE CANDIDATES STACK UP IN THE BLOGOSPHERE AND THE MSM... or... RON PAUL IS FOR REAL

2007-10-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying that I have not been paying much attention to this extended presidential election cycle at all. It all feels a bit too staged and made to look like there really is a race going on, when, in fact, the outcome is all but already decided. In any event, I've been getting really curious about the so-called "Ron Paul phenomenon" and wanted to somehow see if there was some quantifiable data behind his candidacy and this web-roots internet outreach. I wanted to see if I could find out if there was a disconnect between the MSM coverage of this guy and what is happening with him on the internet (and quantify it!). To accomplish this, I decided to compare MSM mentions of the candidates vs. blogosphere mentions of the candidates vs. web visits to the candidates web sites.

My hypothesis: The percentage of MSM mentions, blogosphere mentions, and candidate web site visits should roughly correlate over an extended period (for my purpose, I chose 1 month). The reasoning is as follows: MSM coverage should reflect the peoples general interest in various candidates which should be reflected in the blogosphere at a comparable rate, which, in turn, should be able to be measured by individual visitors to each respective candidates web site. I knew going in that the numbers would not exactly align (they never do), but again, I wanted to see the difference between how the internet was treating Ron Paul versus how he was being perceived by the media.... and, while I was at it, see if there were any other discernible differences among how other candidates were being treated.

My methodology: Let me say at the outset, that this is not a scientific way to do this sort of comparison at all. However, I used the same sources for each number, so there should at least be consistency among the numbers, even though they may not be exactly correct. This was fine for me as all I really cared about was percentage. So, for MSM mentions, I did a 30 day GoogleNews search of each candidates full name (ie: "Hillary Clinton") WITHOUT duplicates. My timeframe for the search was 12-Sept through 12-Oct. I know, I know. GoogleNews includes some blogs and therefore would skew the numbers. Thats OK... At least all the numbers would be skewed to the same degree. Again, I wasn't going for completely scientific.. I just wanted to get a rough idea of the number of mentions. OK. Moving on. Next, I did a Google Blog Search for each candidates full name over the same time period (12-Sep through 12-Oct). For web site visits (individual visits, that is... not page views), I used Compete.com and got a total number of visits to each candidates main page over the entire month of September.

The Results: After plugging in all the numbers, I was able to come up with an excel chart detailing the numbers (see below). I then plotted overall MSM mentions / blogosphere mentions / visits per candidate on a graph. Needless to say, the numbers produced some interesting results...

Here is the chart for Democratic Candidates:

When I first saw this, I was pretty impressed. My hypothesis was actually fairly correct. Candidate MSM coverage, blogosphere coverage, and web visits fairly well lined up. The real exception here is Clinton, where her numbers in the blogosphere are really outshining Obama, who is still getting more MSM press coverage as a percentage of total democratic coverage. Also, it is pretty clear from this chart that it's a 2-3 dog race here between Hillary, Obama, and Edwards. However, Edwards support in the blogosphere and his web site seem to be trailing behind Obama and Clinton, which leads me to believe that Edwards is not a so-called 'top-tier' contender.

Ok.. that was interesting. Now for the Republicans.

A vastly different picture, isn't it. For the purpose of this analysis, let's toss Huckabee, Brownback, Hunter, and Tancredo from the discussion. Their numbers are all sub 6% in MSM mentions, blogosphere mentions, and web visits. Also, their numbers actually line up. However, the numbers for Giuliani, McCain, Romney, Thompson, and Ron Paul are all over the map. Giuliani is getting the most MSM mentions by far and is 2nd in blogosphere mentions. However, his web visit numbers are dismal (he comes in 5th place!). Romney and McCain are both just about even in terms of MSM mentions as well as blogosphere mentions and their web numbers are fairly well aligned. The anomaly in web visits during this period appears to be Fred Thompson (whose recently announced candidacy has no doubt attracted lots of visitors to his site - I would expect this to drop off significantly over the next few months). However, both his MSM and blogosphere mentions come in at about 17% of total republican candidate mentions. Pretty consistent. Then we have Ron Paul. He gets a paltry 3905 MSM mentions (on par with Huckabee, Brownback, etc.), but his web visit numbers and blogosphere mentions are through the roof! He beats out even the MSM darling Giuliani in terms of blogosphere mentions and comes in a close second to Thompson in web visits. Talk about a disconnect. Let this sink in: Ron Paul is the most talked about Republican candidate in the blogosphere. Yet, the MSM hardly mentions him. His web visits are through the roof, easily outstripping the top tier candidates Giuliani, Romney, and McCain; yet you wouldn't know he existed at all if you listened to the MSM.

Conclusions: It's interesting to see how aligned the MSM, the blogosphere, and individual web visitors are with respect to the Democratic Candidates. I do get the feeling, though, that the MSM is really going into Obama-Overdrive to force-feed this guy to democrat voters as a real candidate (similar to the Dean debacle in '04). I have a hunch that Hillary will win this thing in a landslide, but the MSM wants to keep up the appearance that Obama is for-real. I could be wrong... but that's the feeling I get. On the republican side, the MSM and blogosphere really seem to be pushing Giuliani (or at least discussing him / mentioning him). It appears he is the early pack leader here. It will be interesting to see how Fred Thompson affects the race as time goes by and the novelty of his candidacy wears off (I predict interest in Fred will fall like a stone from internet savvy voters). The republican race does seem to be a bit more wide open than the democrat race. Based on MSM mentions, there are four top tier candidates: Giuliani, Thompson, McCain, and Romney. However, according to web stats and the blogosphere, Ron Paul must be included here as well. He is definitely a quantifiable force on the web. Whether the interest in him comes from disgruntled republicans or libertarians (or others) can be debated, but the fact that he is a force among interested, internet-savvy voters cannot be. His message is getting out there on the web. By all accounts, the fact that his blogosphere mentions and web visits exceed all top tier candidates in the field should be a MAJOR story for the MSM... but they haven't even noticed (or have chosen not to notice). Let's see if this changes as Paul's donations continue to roll in as they did in the 3rd quarter. Last point: Media bias. I fully expected to see a huge skew in the overall numbers between republican candidates and democratic candidates in the MSM. This was patently false. Overall mentions for democratic candidates and republican candidates in the MSM turned out about even. The blogosphere: also, almost identical! Even overall web traffic between republican and democratic candidates.... almost identical. Very interesting to me considering I came in having the impression that either the MSM or the blogosphere would be skewed a bit to one side or the other.

Here is my full excel chart with all the numbers. I hope to keep this reporting up over the next few months as we move into the primary season to get some trend analysis going. Please let me know your thoughts. I would love to hear some other opinions here!

Update: Patrick Ruffini has just published an amazing analysis of where Ron Paul's donations are coming from thanks to some great stats work by the guys at RonPaulGraphs.com (Sullivan has some analysis). It is truly amazing to see the explosion of support that Paul has seen over the past quarter, not only in terms of donations, but also in terms of Blogosphere and web activity (as detailed above). It will be interesting to see if this momentum continues and how Ron Paul's funds stack up against the other top tier republican candidates going into primary season...

now linked at OTB|Traffic Jam

IRAN ATTACK PLAN NOW IN MOTION...

2007-10-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Looks like the pieces are falling into place and an Iran attack will happen sooner (ie: mid-October) rather than later based on some interesting activity over the last week...

First of all, the NY SUN pretty much says the attack has all but happened... We have the incident of Israel's first strike against Syria (which I presume was intended to draw Iran into a conflict with Israel which could then be used as a pretext for the US to enter the fray)... Now we have Russian intel all but saying the attack is a go and pulling all of their workers out of the Bhusher nuke facility...

This, of course, follows the months of sabre-rattling on both sides leading up to "the big event" (hey, these are just from September!)...

My only question: Will we see a terror attack within the US before, after, or during the attack on Iran and are we prepared (and by we, I mean us as individuals..., as the government obviously is not or chooses not to be)....

Christmas in September?

2007-10-02T14:47:00.001-07:00

Christmas in September? - 2007

The malls are getting more and more friggin ridiculous... I snapped this pic in Valley Fair (San Jose, CA) this past Saturday (Sept. 29th, 2007). We haven't even hit Halloween yet!!!!

CHAVEZ POWER GRAB!

2007-01-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

Hugo Chavez finally got what he wanted... Full dictatorial control of Venezuela (at least for the next 18 months)... How much you wanna bet it becomes permanent?

Venezuela's National Assembly has given initial approval to a bill granting the president the power to bypass congress and rule by decree for 18 months.

President Hugo Chavez says he wants "revolutionary laws" to enact sweeping political, economic and social changes.

He has said he wants to nationalise key sectors of the economy and scrap limits on the terms a president can serve.

Mr Chavez began his third term in office last week after a landslide election victory in December.

The bill allowing him to enact laws by decree is expected to win final approval easily in the assembly on its second reading on Tuesday.

Venezuela's political opposition has no representation in the National Assembly since it boycotted elections in 2005.

'MAJOR ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAEL ON THEIR WAY'

2006-10-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

According to sources at WND, terror groups aligned with Hamas are planning a series of large-scale, mega-terror attacks against Israel in the VERY near future....

Palestinian and Israeli security officials said they are aware of the attack plans. Israel said it beefed up security at Gaza border crossings.

The Palestinian officials said the threatened large-scale attacks, which they claimed may be imminent, are meant to provoke an Israeli military response in Gaza that would unite the Palestinians and thwart any attempt by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

What else will we see in the run-up to elections here in the US?

Technorati Tags: hamas, palestinians, israel, jihad, terrorism, attack, threat

NEVER FORGET: ON 9/11, PALESTINIANS CELEBRATED

2006-10-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to LGF for digging up this video...

Here’s some MSNBC footage shot on September 11 which was only aired on that day (and on the 5-year anniversary, when a moonbat posted it at YouTube), showing Palestinians celebrating the attacks on America. Some of the shots are familiar, but others will be new to most people. This was an important paradigm-shattering event that mainstream media almost immediately consigned to the memory hole.

Technorati Tags: 9/11, palestinian, terrorism, attack, al-qaeda

NORTH KOREAN MIND GAMES: GOOD COP, BAD COP

2006-10-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

North Korea must be taking lessons from Hugo Chavez and Ahmedinejad. Kim Jong Il is really getting good at playing the victim roll whilst simultaneously continuing to threaten the hell out of his enemies. Just yesterday, we had reports from a senior North Korean General that war with the U.S. "will be inevitable". Now, a day later, we have Kim Jong Il himself being quoted as saying "he is sorry about the nuclear test."

I mean, come on. These fools must really think we are stupid. These are classic "two-steps forward, one-step backward" tactics. They are designed to keep us on edge, but will always pull us back just enough such that we won't act militarily. These tactics allow our enemies to continue their pursuit of nuclear weapons, but don't give us the leverage to do anything about it. Iran is playing the same game. Continuing to enhance uranium, all the while stating that they are ready to negotiate.

Our enemies have a found a tactic that we have been unable to counter. We better figure out how to circumvent this strategy soon, or we will be worse off that we can imagine.

It's time to grow some balls Mr. Bush. Sanctions and "tough" talk don't mean sh*t to these thugs! They are biding their time, all the while building their weapons capability. We look as impotant as can be. It's time to prove to the world, once again, why we are the only super-power on the planet.

Technorati Tags: north_korea, nuke, nuclear, us, threat, attack, strategy, politics, news

CHAVEZ WATCH - OCTOBER UPDATE

2006-10-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

After the shenanigans he pulled last month at the U.N., I just wanted to update you on the happenings in Hugo's world. I'm gonna keep a close watch on this thug and make sure the BOYCOTT on CITGO continues - no matter what he says!

Since last month, 7-Eleven stations around the country have joined the BOYCOTT CITGO movement. They announced that they would no longer support or sell CITGO products in any of their 2100 gas selling stores. Awesome!

In other news, after returning from his idiotic trip to the U.N., Chavez claimed he had a White House spy, who has been informing him of Bush's plans to topple his government. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets of Venezuela to protest this thug and his policies. The people are beginning to see understand that his socialist policies have actually made the country worse off for poor people! A revolt will happen against this worm, unless he declares himself dictator first.

Chavez has now turned his full attention to his bid for a U.N. Security Council seat for Venezuela. Hugo thinks this is his key to fighting the "Owners of the Universe" (aka the U.S. / West). Well, U.S.-backed Guatemala is still coming out ahead in the U.N. polling, but the margin is still to close - even after 22 votes! Remember, Chavez has tried to line up support for his Security Council seat bid with other prominent members of the veto-wielding Security Council club. Last month, he basically bribed China for their vote by agreeing to supply 20% of their oil needs... Let's keep an eye on this...

Finally, "compassionate" Chavez has announced that he will, again, seize more oil companies in Venezuela, further nationalizing that nations oil industry.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's plan to take control of oil production joint ventures run by Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips may lead to defaults on $1.6 billion in bonds.

Chavez said his government would seize four companies owned in part by Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp., France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA. The ventures, set up before Chavez came to power in 1999, pump 22 percent of the nation's oil. Two of them sold the bonds and the others owe $2.3 billion in loans.

We need to keep the pressure up against this thug. Do what you can to stop the money flowing to him from the U.S. BOYCOTT CITGO today!

Technorati Tags: chavez, venezuela, oil, un, china, us, bush, west, socialism, politics

WEIRD FLYING OBJECT OVER ISRAEL CAPTURED ON CAMERA!

2006-10-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

I wonder what this was? Perhaps a new missile defence test? An undisclosed aircraft? Meteorite? Or...

A strange object was spotted in the Tel Aviv skies Thursday afternoon by three flat mates standing on their terrace. The three told ynet they suddenly saw a flash of light cross the sky as they were standing on their terrace located on Rothschild Boulevard.

"We suddenly saw a strip of bright light flying downwards," said Lior one of the three flat mates. "There was a sense of something supernatural happening, I have never seen such a thing," she added.

The three testified that the unidentified object didn’t make a sound and it remained in the sky for about 15 minutes, they said it was orange at first and then it turned white.

Technorati Tags: ufo, israel, space, airplane, aircraft

BRINK OF WAR: NORTH KOREA PREPARES 2ND NUKE TEST; ACCUSES U.S./U.N. OF DECLARING 'WAR'

2006-10-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Tensions have racheted up dramatically over the past 24 hours in the North Korean nuke stand-off. After the U.S. succeeded in getting the U.N. Security Council to pass a (watered-down) resolution condemning the North's first nuke test, North Korea wasted no time in responding. First, they accused the U.N. and the U.S. of declaring a de facto state of WAR on N.Korea and immediately began prepping for a "2nd nuclear test".

Considering how weak and feable our response to the North has been up to this point, I shudder to think of what will happen if Kim Jong-Il sets off another nuke. Will we have another meeting? Maybe restrict his importation of blonde bimbo's and booze? (yes, that is sarcasm) Seriously, what does this guy have to fear at this point. He is already shunned by the world; what does he have to lose. He is trying to provoke a reaction, and the weak and impotant West can only sit by and have meetings.

Stupid.

He is a bully. Any middle schooler knows that in order to get bullies to stop, they need to be taught a lesson. All the talking in the world is not going to do a lick of difference. He needs to understand that this behavior is intollerable. We look so WEAK to the rest of the world right now, it wouldn't hurt to show some balls here, Mr. Bush. Yes. You should have knocked out his launchers when he launched those ballistic missiles back on July 4th. Yes. You should have done it again last week when he set off the nuke. But hey. It's not to late to make an impression. Make him back down. Make him understand that this will not be tolerated. And, for God's sake, show the world we are still a bad-ass, not to be f'd with SUPERPOWER!

By the way, the NEIN thinks that the test last week was only the first stage of a 2-stage hydrogen bomb. The upcoming test, will be a test of both stages....

1.) The now offically acknowledged nuclear test conducted by North Korea a week ago yesterday was actually a test of the first-stage of a two stage hydrogen bomb. The sub-kiloton blast is assessed to have been a complete success.

2.) The much-rumored upcoming test is expected or anticipated in US military cirlces to be a test of both stages of a hydrogen warhead. The consensus is that North Korea plans to test its hydrogen bomb as soon as possible, possibly sometime this week.

One military source has stated the possibility that a combined missile test and h-bomb test might occur, with the warhead detonating in the upper regions of the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

Technorati Tags: north_korea, nuke, nuclear, test, un, us, politics, war, threat, attack, missile, china

ATTENTION SLUT, MADONNA, BUYS AFRICAN KID TO ADD TO HER COLLECTION

2006-10-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Not content with simply conceiving two of her own children (from two different men), Madonna has now decided to jump on the oh-so-sheek trend of "adopting" (read: buying) 3rd World children. Like Angelina Jolie, Meg Ryan, and so many others, celebs of all sorts seem to be jumping on the buy-a-third-world-kid bandwagon. How sad...

More from the Scotsman...

Her latest guise as an international humanitarian could be seen as the apotheosis of this journey. Off she went to Aids-ravaged Malawi last week, with her entourage in tow, to visit an orphanage and perhaps even adopt a one-year-old baby. The people of Malawi were suitably deferential: Aids orphans sang for her as she dispensed translated copies of her children's book and - according to a government minister - laws prohibiting international adoptions were waived, allowing Madonna, who plans to build an orphanage in the country, to pick a one-year-old boy from 12 pre-selected children.

If this proves to be true - and she continues to deny it - it would take an optimist of Cameron-esque proportions not to suspect the singer's motives, or ask: "Who the hell does she think she is?"

It's the same with all celebrities - Meg Ryan and Angelina Jolie spring to mind - who, fairly or unfairly, give the impression of waltzing into developing countries and picking out a baby as if they were picking out a designer suit or handbag.

Even more from the POST...

NO WORD - yet - on whether Madonna plans to nail her brand-new bouncing boy to a crucifix, live, in concert.

Madonna, the sluttish, egomaniacal mother-of-the-century has topped even her most revolting self. She plans to remove a baby from the loving arms of his dirt-poor father, in one of the most desperate nations on earth.

Madonna has traveled far beyond her bra-baring, intercourse-simulating, public girl-kissing, Jesus-emulating loser antics to grab attention - and flesh.

The one-named wonder, who already has given birth to two children by two different daddies, one of whom she would not deign to marry, has her heart set on raping Malawi.

Days ago, she lined up 12 African boys - tots hand-selected for her perusal. She picked out a 1-year-old, David, to take home in her luggage.

The sickest part of Madonna's child-shopping-spree: It was completely illegal under Malawi law. Conveniently, however, there was an exception made when Madonna announced that she would be donating $3 Million to build a center to help Malawi orphans. The center will teach children the "values" of Kabbalah. I sh*t you not....

Technorati Tags: culture_watch, madonna, adoption, africa, celebrities, news, politics

DEMOCAN OR REPUBLICRAT? WHICHEVER WAY YOU VOTE, THE U.S.A. GETS SCREWED

2006-10-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am a die-hard, independent conservative, and I have decided to sit this election out. I know. I know. My republican friends have already warned me - "if you DON'T vote for a republican, its the same as voting FOR a democrat." Frankly guys... I don't give a damn anymore. I have been so disgusted by the feableness of the Bush Administration and the republican-lead Congress, I cannot, in my right mind, vote for these bozo's again. They promised a return to dignity, conservative values, and security. We got just the opposite. The border is wide open. More illegals are coming here than ever before. Bush hasn't talked about family values or morals in so long, it makes me wonder if he ever gave a damn about them to begin with. And Iraq. Don't get me started. I have never seen a war fought so poorly. We are setting ourselves up to fail. My opinion: If we want to win, let's win. If not, let's get the hell out of there. It's not worth it anymore. I don't give a hell if the Shiites or Sunnis or whoever comes out on top there. I just don't care. But I don't want us in the middle of those mad dogs anymore.

The sad truth is, the democrats aren't any better. So ... what to do. Sit out, that's what. Neither of these parties deserve my vote, and neither will get it.

To borrow a phrase from Michael Savage: Republican or Democrat, Democan or Republicrat. There all the same. It's a choice between Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi.

It's all the same. They are corraling us towards New World Order, international socialism whichever one you choose.

This article from Chuck Baldwin is right on the money... read the whole thing:

It seems clear that "conservative" Republicans want to save us from liberal Democrats the same way that German fascists wanted to save their country from communists. In the end, both parties seek to dismantle freedom and constitutional government. They only differ in style; in substance they are twins. While fiercely opposing each other, both parties seek but one thing: unbridled power.

Technorati Tags: democrat, republican, conservative, liberal, news, politics, election, 2006

TARANTINO'S GRINDHOUSE TRAILER HITS NET

2006-10-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait for this movie. Looks great! Check out the trailer!

Check out other coverage of this flick...
Updated! GRINDHOUSE news from Comic-Con!
Wanna see the cover to Quentin Tarantino's DEATH PROOF script?

Technorati Tags: tarantino, rodriguez, movie, grindhouse

NEW MILITARY TECH CREATES WATER FROM THIN AIR

2006-10-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

Awesome article about a real advance in technology. What's cool is that this technology can be used for a variety of applications, but, is another example, of useful tech coming out of military research. Having the ability to make water, locally, at just about any location on the planet, using only air as input, is amazing... Check it out:

A company that developed technology capable of creating water out of thin air nearly anywhere in the world is now under contract to nourish U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.

The water-harvesting technology was originally the brainchild of the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which sought ways to ensure sustainable water supplies for U.S. combat troops deployed in arid regions like Iraq.

[...]

He also declined to comment on how the technology actually works.

"This is our secret sauce," Sher said. "Like Kentucky Fried Chicken, it tastes good, but we won't tell you what's in it."

He did, however, provide a hint: Think of rice used in saltshakers that acts as a magnet to extract water and keeps salt from clumping.

"We figured out how to tap it in a very unique and proprietary way," Sher said. "We figured out how to mimic nature, using natural salt to extract water and act as a natural decontamination.

[...]

The 20-foot machine can churn out 600 gallons of water a day without using or producing toxic materials and byproducts. The machine was displayed on Capitol Hill last week where a half-dozen lawmakers and some staffers stopped by for a drink.

[...]

The cost to transport water by C-17 cargo planes, then truck it to the troops, runs $30 a gallon. The cost, including the machines from Aqua Sciences, will be reduced to 30 cents a gallon, Roy said.

Technorati Tags: water, us, military, tech, technology, research, science, darpa

SYRIA, IRAN PLAN PRE-EMPTIVE ATTACK ON ISRAEL TO HALT U.S. STRIKE ON IRAN NUKE FACILITIES

2006-10-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

From Debka comes this strange story that Syria and Iran will actually strike Israel as a way to ward off a U.S. planned strike on Iran's nuke facilities.

Here's the meat of the story...

Our military and Washington sources read as preparatory justification the Syrian ruler Bashar Asad’s statement Saturday, Oct. 7, that he expects an Israeli attack. He was speaking in an interview to Kuwaiti paper al-Anba. Asad’s Iranian-backed war plan would serve the purpose of forcing the Americans to divide their military assets between a strike against Iran and the defense of their allies in the Persia Gulf, Israel and US forces in Iraq. Both are seriously looking at a Syrian attack on the Golan which would escalate into a full-blown Syrian-Israeli war and a second Hizballah assault from Lebanon.

[...]

According to DEBKAfile’s sources, Asad and Iran’s supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are prompted by the following motives: 1. Tehran is not prepared to wait passively for the Americans to build up their assault force in the Gulf and strike its nuclear facilities. A pre-emptive attack would suit them better. 2. Tehran and Damascus have not missed the debilitating crisis in which Israel’s political and military leadership are sunk since the Lebanon war. They do not propose to wait until the IDF pulls itself together enough to handle fresh aggression. 3. Both accept Israel’s deputy prime minister Shimon Peres’ assessment that Israel’s cities are not prepared for missile attack. Iran and Syria take it for granted that Israeli leaders understand they cannot afford to launch missiles against either one of them for fear of reprisal in kind. 4. Syria believes that if Hizballah could stand up to the Israeli army in Lebanon, its commandoes can capture sections of the Golan and walk off with an easy victory. 5. Tehran figures that the Bush administration is coming to the end of its patience in Iraq and preparing for a major review of its position there.

Let's look at some interesting parallels here. Remember in July, when N. Korea launched its Taepodong-2 missiles? About a week later, Hizbollah attacked Israel. Was this a coincidence, or a strategic move by the "axis-of-evil" to threaten the West on two fronts simultaneously? Now we have a (supposed) nuke test from N. Korea. Is another Hezbollah / Syrian / Iranian attack against Israel imminent? Based on Debka's analysis from above, it would appear so. But, according to Debka, this attack would be an attempt to head off a U.S. - led strike against Iran's nuke sites. If this is so, then we should see some signs that we are moving closer to striking Iran, right? One of the most obvious (and hard to hide) signs that an attack on Iran is in the offing is increased battle carrier movements to persian gulf and indian ocean. Do we have that. Yes we do. Remember, way back in March, Spengler predicted that the "October Surprise" for 2006 would be a U.S. strike against Iran's nuclear capabilities. We are fast approaching election time... are you ready?

Technorati Tags: iran, us, west, north_korea, syria, islam, israel, attack, war

AHMADINEJAD'S STRANGE MEETING WITH THE CFR, NEW WORLD ORDER ELITES

2006-10-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

It wasn't very widely reported, or publicized, but Iran's madman "president" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had quite an interesting meeting after his blistering speech at the U.N. a few weeks ago.

The meeting was with the Council on Foreign Relations. As many of you are aware, the CFR, is made up of intellectual, business, and political elites. To some, this is just a benign "think-tank" which analyzes and proposes foreign policy initiatives to the government. To others, the CFR is much more. It is the political and policy making arm of the "New World Order". It is the group which has masterminded the push for the North American Union, the group which believes our Constitution is "outdated", and the group with the power to change the structure of America and the world as we know it.

The CFR is the promotional arm of the Ruling Elite in the United States of America. Most influential politicians, academics and media personalities are members, and it uses its influence to infiltrate the New World Order into American life. Its' "experts" write scholarly pieces to be used in decision making, the academics expound on the wisdom of a united world, and the media members disseminate the message.

To understand how the most influential people in America came to be members of an organization working purposefully for the overthrow of the Constitution and American sovereignty, we have to go back at least to the early 1900's, though the story begins much earlier (depending on your viewpoint and beliefs).

That a ruling power elite does indeed control the U.S. government behind the scenes has been attested to by many americans in a position to know. Felix Frankfurter, Justice of the Supreme Court (1939-1962), said: "The real rulers in Washington are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes." In a letter to an associate dated November 21, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote, "The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson." February 23, 1954.

To better understand this mysterious group, I suggest you do some research into this group and its interlocking network of elites... Here are some links to get you started:

Bo Adelmann, 1986. "The Federal Reserve System." The New American, October 17.
Gary Allen, 1976. The Rockefeller File. Seal Beach, CA: '76 Press.
Gary Allen with Larry Abraham, 1972. None Dare Call it Conspiracy. Rossmoor, CA: Concord Press.
"Congressional Record," December 22, 1913, Vol. 51.
Phoebe and Kent Courtney, 1962. America's Unelected Rulers, The Council on Foreign Relations. New Orleans: Conservative Society of America.
Curtis B. Dall, 1970. FDR My Exploited Father-In-Law. Washington D.C.: Action Associates.
Devvy Kidd, 1995. "Why A Bankrupt America?" Colorado: Project Liberty.
Ferdinand Lundberg, 1938. America's 60 Families. New York: Vanguard.
Louis T. McFadden, 1934. "The Federal Reserve Corporation, remarks in Congress." Boston: Forum Publication Co.
Antony C. Sutton, 1975. Wall Street and FDR. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House.
George Sylvester Viereck, 1932. The Strangest Friendship in History. New York: Liveright.

So ... back to the mad mullah of Iran... Why did this influential group choose to meet with him of all people (considering many of the members of the CFR are Jews)? On the other hand, why did he choose to meet with them? What was the purpose? Did Ahmedinejad fully understand with whom his meeting was with?

Let's look at the meeting from two very different perspectives. First, here is a link to National Interest Online's reporting of the meeting where they interview CFR member, Maurice R. Greenberg on his impressions of the Iranian "president"... some exerpts...

Q: Was it your sense that he truly doubts whether the Holocaust occurred or was he grandstanding? He was presumably playing just to that audience because there were no television cameras there.

MRG: No, no, but there were reporters there. Look, he has said this on many occasions, not just last evening. And it's offensive. I would say that this man, he's not only out of touch, he's very clever and I worry about what he's capable of doing. And I do believe that the administration's, and the president's in particular, view of Iran and the danger that it presents to the world, particularly our country and Israel, is not only real, it reflects a real and present danger. I do not think that we can take lightly what he stands for and is capable of, if he came into possession of nuclear weapons.

[...]

MRG: I think it's almost impossible to do business with him as long as he has those views. He says: "Why should the Palestinians suffer even if there was a Holocaust? What does one have to do with the other?" I mean, they have nothing to do with each other. We don't link them together. And we discussed that. They're not linked.

He thinks the Palestinians should be permitted to return, that's never going to happen. If the Palestinians returned to Israel, they'd swamp the country and there wouldn't be an Israel. But he doesn't want an Israel.

Q: It sounds like he didn't make any effort to try to reach out…

MRG: No, no. There was no effort to reach out. He's offensive. He's smug. He's a danger.

So, we can see from this, that the message that the CFR is sending is quite clear: We gave this thug a chance. He is exactly what the Administration describes.. A madman who cannot be reasoned with.

Now, let's look at the meeting from Ahmedinejad's perspective... from his "blog"....

Q: Mr. President, I have a narrow question that I ask you, I am only speaking for myself, I could make major distinctions between military soldiers and civilians, killed in war, and millions that were killed purposely, so that would be a genocide, so that would be my first response.

A: Yes, there is certainly a distinction, but the Palestinian nation is systematically being massacred. Is their blood different from the blood of those? Do we have two types of human beings. I haven't heard of friends having made any remarks concerning the Palestinians, killed.

Q: Mr. President. I don%q%t think you answered the question, but you refused to have the holocaust confirmed during the war, I saw with my own eyes.

A: How old are you?

Q: I am 81.

A: You were there and you survived! Congratulations

OK... that's only one exerpt, and not a very representative one at that. Read the whole thing. Mahmoud makes the case over and over again that the world is with HIM and it is only the U.S. which is frightened of Iran becoming a nuclear power. Also, even with the above exchange, he denies the holocaust repeatedly and hints Palestinians should be allowed to "return" to Israeli-"occupied" land (ie overrun Israel such that it no longer exists).

OK. So, the CFR thinks Ahmedinejad is a madman. Ahmedinejad thinks that the CFR is an extension of the Bush administration. It seems to me that the CFR has given its "approval" to Bush for a war on Iran... if it comes to that. The CFR sees things from a global perspective. If they see an impediment in their march toward a one-world order, they will crush it. It seems that they now see that Iran's current regime is a threat to this plan.

The other perspective here, is that Ahmedinejad is a puppet in a grand play, whose ending has been written long ago. It could be that the CFR is using and positioning Ahmedinejad as a threat, in order to bring about their vision of a NWO. The Iran threat could be used as the catalyst which pushes the world closer and closer one-world government. "Crises precipitate change".

Others covering this topic:

LGF: CFR Vice Chair: Ahmadinejad "A Clear and Present Danger"
Regime Change Iran: Iran's Leader Relishes 2nd Chance to Make Waves

Your thoughts?

Technorati Tags: nwo, cfr, iran, ahmedinejad, war, conspiracy, meeting, us, bush

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE IN IRAQ? IRAQI POLICE POISONED...

2006-10-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

Reports are still sketchy, but as many as 11 police may have been killed, and hundreds others have fallen ill after "poisoning" at a base in southern Iraq...from AP (via Stop the ACLU)

Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning Sunday at a base in southern Iraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was intentional.

An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died. However, the governor of Wasit province — where the poisoning took place — denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.

Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal, said Jassim al-Atwan, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, who was serving as a liaison in the investigation between the Health Ministry and the base, located in the town of Numaniyah.

“Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar,” Wasit Gov. Hamad al-Latif told the Associated Press, referring to the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during the Islamic holy month. “Investigations are under way to determine the cause.”

Samples of the food and water were being tested “to determine the substance in them” and will be sent to Baghdad for further tests, al-Latif said.

Sunni insurgents who have targeted police and military forces with bombings and shootings have not been known to use poisoning as a weapon. But the suddenness and severity of the sickness raised speculation that the incident could be a new attack. The division is mainly made up of Shiites.

Between 600-700 policemen were affected to varying degrees, and 11 who had the heaviest amount of the food had died, al-Atwan told The Associated Press.

Some of the soldiers collapsed as soon as they stood up from them meal, others fell “one after the other” as they headed out to the yard in the base to line up in formation, al-Atwan said.

Iraqi ambulances and helicopters sent by the U.S. military rushed the policemen to hospitals in Numaniyah and the nearby city of Kut.

Technorati Tags: wmd, poison, biological, chemical, attack, iraq, police, terrorism