It’s about time the New York Times recognized that this race to the White House will be shaped more than ever by You-Tube and bloggers on the advertising front.

I mean how many college students really watch television or would be influenced by the sort of adds run with the 5 o’clock news? TV is so passe!

Check out this article from the NYT.

WASHINGTON — The House on Friday overwhelmingly approved a bill overhauling the rules on the government’s wiretapping powers and conferring what amounts to legal immunity to the telephone companies that took part in President Bush’s program of eavesdropping without warrants after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

 It isn’t what I expected, especially in a Democratic house. Is this justified? Is it right to give amnesty to the companies that were told to do this, or are they justified in a sort of Nuremberg Defense way? Moreover, does our current security climate justify this sort of intrustion into what we though were basic, if prenumbral, legal rights?

Add your thoughts in the “comment” section.

As I was going to College Mall the other day for a haircut, I stumble across this gem of a public information sign right past the main entrance.

 Fantastic. I know.

 My chief complaint isn’t even that it essentially treats teenage mall patrons like Islamic Women under Shariah law, as it prevents them from gathering in groups of more than 5 people. It’s that it tries to do this through mock text-messages.

For some reason, text message advertising has always struck me as bothersome. I could never before define quite why. Somehow, whenever the underfunded and obviously idea-starved marketing department decides it wants to connect with the youth demographic, it decides to code its message in what it imagines to be the parlance of our times. But they can never get the tone right.

IU does the same thing. It likes to air advertisements on the busses with text messages that read like they’re supposed to be friend to friend, for example, encouraging them to sell books at the bookstore:

“Sell UR books @ the IU Bookstore and get $$$ rly fast! U should do it!”

Attending the Career Fair:

“The IU Career Fair is totally swt, i found a gr8 job that will pay me $$$!”.

 These things strike someone who actually uses text messages as the pinnacle of ridiculousness, like the Empire Carpet spokesman tippin’ slow on 22s, ghost-riding the Empire Van. “You’ll save mad guap, son!”

The best way not to sell something is to illustrate through ineptitude the generational gap. Simon Mall had better brace itself for more vandalization, more groups of teenagers, and more spite from its tired masses. That this sign will breed anything but the highest contempt is wishful thinking at its worst.

Barack Obama just released his first general election television ad. It basically rehashes Obama’s life story while emphasizing his commitment to American (or in this case Kansan) values. The ad reviews Obama’s stint as a community organizer in Chicago and his childhood with has mother and grandparents. It noticeably omits Obama’s time in Indonesia and his Kenyan father.

The ad probably won’t do anything for people who think that the contest between candidates over who is more patriotic or pro-family is kinda of silly. The most interesting part of the ad was where it was running.

The ad focuses on 18 potential swing-states including red states that could probably be flipped, like North Carolina, as well as states that will probably be much tougher for Obama, like Georgia. The ad is also running in Indiana which I found somewhat surprising. It may just be my childhood impression of southern Indiana Read the rest of this entry »

Indiana’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jill Long Thompson announced her pick for Lt. Governor today. Joining her ticket will be Denny Oxley. Several critics were quick to pick up on the fact that, while he’s known as a great fund raiser, Oxley differs from Long Thompson on several of her platform issues. http://www.indianabarrister.com/archives/2008/06/are_they_on_the_same_page.html.

So the real question is, will Oxley work with the more liberal Long Thompson to make her a well-rounded candidate in the eyes of Indiana voters or will their differences create an unelectable ideological rift on the Democratic ticket?

After his loss to hard-lefty Ned Lamont two summers ago, Independent Joe Lieberman doesn’t seem too pleased with his former party’s brand of partisan politics and has endorsed John McCain for president.

He’s always been a bit of a black sheep, as Democrats go, especially in his short-lived bid for the White House in 2004.  Party leaders like Reid and Durbin, not to mention Obama, have held little chats with him on the Senate floor about how his recent rhetoric isn’t sitting well with the Dem. base.  They don’t seem to recall how his former running mate, Al Gore, backed Howard Dean in ‘04 instead of him, beginning a trend that suggests centrism/moderation hasn’t really been the aim of modern Democrats.  Then again, old Joe is just one example.

FOX recently announced that they would run less commercials – up to a 50 percent decrease – on their two newest and brightest shows, “Fringe” and “Dollhouse,” a move that has been widely accepted by viewers.

Now it seems that Fox, which has just simply jacked up the ad rates they had remaining, has made a killing. They are reporting that they’ve received 30 to 40 percent higher rates on those remaining spots. Seems like smart business all the way around. Not only will fans flock to these shows more due to the smaller number of ads, but FOX is ending up ahead anyway.

It’s a very surprising day that FOX actually does something right. They’re on a roll lately. This announcement plus the fact that they dominated in viewership this season. Now if only they got rid of “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader”.

Mark Twain, master of wit, once made this wise quip.

He may have been outdone. The New York Time’s front page contained the headline, “Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Report.”

Let’s see, that’s only been news for, what… about five years? It’s good to see there is so much intellectual vigor and innovation in the Senate!

As Hillary’s presidential run slows to what will be an inevitable and appropriate halt, her husband is making more of a spectacle of himself than ever by calling Vanity Fair reporter Todd Purdum a “scumbag” and “sleazy,” among other things, for describing recent sightings of the former president with actress Gina Gershon and other women (granted anonymity).

While Gershon herself is no happy camper, Clinton’s blood is simply boiling: the former blames Purdum for his “insinuation” and the juxtaposition of facts to paint a portrait she calls “reckless” and “malicious,” while CNN.com mentions Slick Willy saying “there’s five or six just blatant lies in there. But he’s a real slimy guy.”

It’s hard for me to believe Clinton ever shacked up with this woman. But it’s equally hard for me to take him seriously–however you evaluate him a president, the man is throwing the mother of all hissy fits. Read the rest of this entry »

Ouch.

The above image was taken in Monterrey, Mexico where a vehicle plowed into a bike race, killing one individual and injuring 10 more. Apparently the driver was either drunk, asleep at the wheel, or both. Maybe he just got tired of cyclists thinking they own the road.

This is literally one of the craziest pictures I’ve ever seen in my entire life. People are thrown every which way, just awful. I’d be counting my blessings if I was the dude on the far left that JUST missed what happened.

Here’s a long shot view, just in case the carnage didn’t look that bad close up.