In what has to be one of the most disappointing examples of brand self-destruction of late, Eliot Spitzer decapitates his career, one that he built partly on going after men like himself.
Or maybe he was going after men with a different class status. Ooops!
David Hinckley makes some important observations about Mike Huckabee:
"He calls a press conference to announce he won't show a negative campaign spot, then he rolls it for a room full of cameras."
"He says he supports the TV writers in their strike, then seems to think they won't mind if he crosses their picket line to support a show they're boycotting."
"His produced ad spots, meanwhile, just happen to place a cross behind him. Gee, he says, how'd that get there?"
But he'd be a great dinner guest.
That's how W got in. And that's how Mike Huckabee could get in.
Cause America loves liars that make them feel good. Bon appetit!
The Catholic League takes issues with some Britney Spears photos for some reason specific to their religion.
All I know is, anybody associated with an institution now strongly branded for child abuse by their oh so holy priests needs to sit down and shut the fuck up until that situation has been fully rectified, i.e., till all those abusers have passed on to hell where they belong.
Till then, I don't think folks are so interested in what someone has to say "as a Catholic", i.e., your brand is so totally fucked. Now get the hell on out of here!
Rudy Giuliani gets served by the International Association of Firefighters.
Idiots arrested for talking smack
American security continues its exploration of uselessness.
Jimmy Carter is The Man.
Seriously.
Unity08 on Lobbying and Corruption:
Unity08 intends to fix this broken system by electing a bipartisan "Unity Ticket" to the White House in ‘08 funded solely by small-dollar donations from everyday Americans.
Speculation regarding Michael Bloomberg for President:
Reports that Bloomberg, New York's Republican mayor, is willing to spend a big chunk of his personal fortune -- perhaps as much as $1 billion -- on a White House run set off a new round of speculation about his intentions and his possible impact on the November 2008 election.
Supposedly, Bloomberg's talking with Unity08. What can they do? Claim that his funds aren't from corrupt lobbyists and the like so they're really ok?
Or hold Bloomberg to running without using his money in the campaign?
Unity08 will have to make a very clear statement about how they would work with such a candidate, regardless of whether or not they go with Bloomberg, or their basic platform and claim to difference will be nonsense.
Concerns about managing online threats to one's brand are quite real. Unfortunately, for Barack Obama, such concerns took an antidemocratic turn as someone from the campaign convinced MySpace to let them steal an indie Obama profile.
Apparently the profile was quite successful:
Established in November 2004 by Los Angeles paralegal Joe Anthony, the page has grown from an unofficial fan site to a grassroots Internet movement, racking up some 160,000 “friends” at last count.
The Obama campaign's action are an example of Online Brand Self Destruction.
Alberto Gonzales Seeks to Evade Responsibility
I'll be honest. I really only like the Democrats in comparison to the Republicans. But you gotta admit, the Republicans haven't been this entertaining since Watergate or maybe the Iran/Contra scandal except that, this time, multiple fires have broken out and are gradually moving towards each other.
Guess W. will have to pour a beer on it!
Via The Rap Up.
John McCain positions himself for failure:
"I know who I am and what I want to do."
I'm going to make bootleg t-shirts with the slogan, "I know how the world works", and sell them outside the Republican National Convention.
BDR's money is on Giuliani for the Republican nomination.
MoveOn.org Ad: John "Bomb Iran" McCain
While right wing anti-immigration nuts confirm their commitment to torture [and their love of Abu Ghraib] with the Hold Their Feet to the Fire campaign, John McCain makes it clear where he stands on Iran.
Fortunately, MoveOn.org took full advantage of his stupidity.
It's looking like Giuliani these days.
MoveOn.org Press Release:
New TV Ad Cites McCain 'Bomb Iran' Gaffe
Compares Arizona Senator's Remarks on Iran with Bush's Recklessness in Iraq
'Can't Afford Another Reckless President'
View at http://youtube.com/watch?v=C9L3kEQXjrU
WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new TV ad will air next week in early Republican primary states and on the YouTube Web site today criticizing presidential hopeful Senator John McCain for his "bomb Iran" comments at a public meeting with constituents. It calls the Arizona Senator's remarks reckless and compares them to the President's reckless policy in Iraq
McCain responded to a question about U.S. Iran policy by singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the '60s Beach Boys' song "Barbara Ann." The moment was caught on camera and uploaded to YouTube.
"At a tense moment, when cooler heads in his own party and many retired military leaders are calling on the President to negotiate with Iran, Senator McCain's outburst isn't merely inappropriate, it's dangerous," said Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action. "This isn't 'straight talk,' it isn't leadership, it's just more out-of-control bravado. The country can't afford any more of it," he added.
AD SCRIPT FOLLOWS:
MoveOn.org Political Action
TV :30
"Reckless"
MOP-07-301
VIDEO
OPEN ON PHOTO OF GEORGE BUSH SPEAKING. CUT TO VARIOUS PHOTOS OF DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ.
AUDIO
Announcer (VO): American has lived through six years of a reckless foreign policy. We're stuck in Iraq. More than 3000 Americans are dead. And thousands more wounded.
VIDEO
CUT TO A PHOTO OF JOHN MCCAIN SPEAKING AT A CAMPAIGN EVENT IN SOUTH CAROLINA ON 18 APRIL 2007.
AUDIO
Announcer (VO): Now comes John McCain with his answer to what we should do about Iran.
VIDEO
CUT TO VIDEO CLIP OF JOHN MCCAIN SPEAKING AT THE SAME EVENT. ON SCREEN, SUPER THE WORDS, 'BOMB IRAN. BOMB. BOMB. BOMB." AS HE SPEAKS THEM.
AUDIO
John McCain: That old Beach Boys song: Bomb Iran. Bomb. Bomb. Bomb.
VIDEO
CUT BACK TO PHOTO OF MCCAIN. ON SCREEN, SUPER: "JOHN MCCAIN? WE CAN'T AFFORD ANOTHER RECKLESS PRESIDENT."
AUDIO
Announcer (VO): John McCain? We can't afford another reckless president.
VIDEO
AT SCREEN BOTTOM, SUPER FULL MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION LEGAL DISCLAIMER.
AUDIO
Announcer (VO): MoveOn.org Political Action is responsible for the content of this advertisement.
Source: MoveOn.org
CONTACT: Trevor FitzGibbon or Alex Howe of MoveOn.org, +1-202-822-5200
Web site:
MoveOn.org
McCain ad on YouTube
I'm sitting here writing this while I wait for the HBO commercial to end that proceeds the series I'm trying to watch on DVD. I've already let the damn thing run once when I saw the first episode on this disc. The second round may be due to my DVD player but the first was HBO's fault and I truly despise them for that.
Oh, it's done! Now I can see what I paid for following totally legal methods as the industry prays I will. Yet, still, I was forced to wait out this commercial and will have to again and again and again on other DVDs for which I've paid to rent.
Newt Gingrich Apologizes in Grade School Spanish
Say what?
Guess the extreme right comeback isn't going so well.
Though clearly devastated, Kathy Sierra is responding to personal attacks and death threats that led her to cancel a major speaking engagement by going public with the details.
In addition to an incredible show of support in the comments, folks like Seth Godin are doing Kathy the favor of linking to her post.
I'm just wondering how this will affect the careers of folks that Sierra names as creating an environment that enabled the attacks:
Chris Locke aka CuntBoy RageBoy
Allen Herrel
Jeneane Sessum
Frank Paynter
There will be many in the tech community who will laugh at this but many will not. Let's make sure these people pay both personally and financially.
Note from Sierra's blog:
"In comments, Frank Paynter -- owner of the meankids.org site -- expressed that he was both ashamed and sorry for his participation in both sites. Kathy believes Frank when he says that he was not the one responsible for the specific posts and comments in question."
Until Frank exposes those responsible, he remains a facilitator.
Sidenote:
You know, if Kathy Sierra was a hip hop blogger, she would get no support from the majority of her readers. That's why hip hop is its own worst enemy.
Certain Republicans in the House find it necessary to waste the taxpayer's time and money by exaggerating and misdirecting discussions regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's security mandated travel arrangements.
Interestingly enough, even other Republicans think this maneuver is stupid:
The White House weighed in, as well. “This is a silly story,” its spokesman, Tony Snow, said. Mr. Snow said that the Republican criticism was unfair and that the Bush administration essentially sided with Ms. Pelosi...
“This is a bunch of baloney,” said Representative Ray LaHood, Republican of Illinois, who said he had flown on Mr. Hastert’s military plane. “Next week,” Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said, “we are going to steal their mascot and short-sheet their beds.”
For a party in disarray, as are the Republicans, this is a bizarre turn of events. I guess some of these guys still think it's a couple of years back and everyone is hanging on their every stupid slam like they're Ann Coulter's in training, though absent her slutty attractiveness.
Considering that the Republicans in power have betrayed States' rights and fiscal conservatism, in addition to lying about WMD's and taking us into a war that's killed huge numbers and weakened our military defenses, you'd think they'd get their act together and actually attempt to appear to be living the values in which they claim to believe.
But I guess they're no longer even capable of putting up a decent front.
Sometimes going on camera is a big mistake.
The following press release officially announces that Cingular is going away and that whoever concerns themselves with brands at AT&T is high on some really fucked up drugs. Cingular is such a strong mobile brand and reading this release putting forth concepts like:
While the AT&T logo will be prominent in all advertising and communications, the ads will initially include a transitional graphic with both the AT&T and Cingular logos. The co-branded element will help underscore the association of the two companies and transfer Cingular's strong brand equity to the new AT&T.
Good luck transferring that equity. It's worked so many times in the past. Can't think of a company for whom it's worked but I'm sure AT&T knows best.
Press Release: Cingular is Now the New AT&T
Advertising, Re-Branding Efforts Begin, Will Continue Throughout 2007
SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T, the standard bearer of communications excellence for more than a century, is getting younger on Monday, when the company folds the six year-old Cingular wireless name into the iconic AT&T brand.
Starting Monday, Jan. 15, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is launching a new multi- media campaign to begin transitioning the Cingular brand to AT&T in advertising and customer communications, throughout Web sites and nationwide retail stores, and on company buildings and vehicles.
"Around the world, our customers recognize the AT&T brand for meaningful innovation, a commitment to customer service, high quality and exceptional reliability," said Edward E. Whitacre Jr., chairman and CEO of AT&T. "AT&T, BellSouth and Cingular are now one company, and going to market with our services under one brand is the right thing to do."
"Services are converging and the lines between wireless and wireline are increasingly blurred," said Boyd Peterson, analyst, Yankee Group. "Customers want simplification. By uniting the three company names into one, AT&T has simplified its message to the marketplace."
While the AT&T logo will be prominent in all advertising and communications, the ads will initially include a transitional graphic with both the AT&T and Cingular logos. The co-branded element will help underscore the association of the two companies and transfer Cingular's strong brand equity to the new AT&T. During the transition, the campaign will integrate popular imagery, phrases and icons from Cingular's traditional advertising, including the "raising the bar" tag line, the "Jack" character and the color orange.
Each transition campaign element will conclude with the Cingular and AT&T logos coming together while an announcer states that "Cingular is now the new AT&T." The broadcast spots will conclude with an animation in which the "Jack" character appears to "skywrite" the AT&T globe.
The campaign will kick off with several creative executions called "Raising It Higher," which morphs Cingular's familiar "raising the bar" tag line and imagery into the AT&T globe. The first version of this creative execution is called "Grain," which shows a combine harvesting wheat and appears to be drawing the Cingular five bars, but as the picture zooms out, the AT&T globe comes into focus. Both broadcast TV and print executions are scheduled to start the week of Jan. 15.
Additional spots called "Jets" and "Cars" will start appearing in the coming weeks. Additionally, over the coming months, AT&T will add new creative executions. The brand ads will be complemented soon by call-to- action product ads that will carry similar transitional branding elements.
As part of the re-branding initiative, approximately 2,000 nationwide company-owned wireless retail outlets and store kiosks will be transitioned over the coming year with AT&T-branded signage. Additionally, the approximately 15,000 personnel in these stores and kiosks will begin wearing AT&T-branded apparel in the coming months.
Callers will begin to hear the AT&T name mentioned on Cingular voice greetings in the coming weeks. Merger-transition messages will be placed on envelopes with customer billing starting in the coming weeks, and communications and the AT&T logo will begin to appear on customer bills starting in the coming months. Customers should watch the "remit to" line for when to make checks out to AT&T; those customers who pay their bills electronically or via credit card deduction will be notified as procedures change.
Customers will continue to see existing Cingular product and service names until all necessary legal and regulatory name-change filings are complete. The use of the AT&T and Cingular co-branded graphic will continue until customer awareness levels that Cingular has joined with AT&T are high. Once the transition ends, the color orange will continue to be associated with AT&T's wireless services, while the Cingular brand will be phased out.
AT&T estimates that 20 percent of the operating expense savings from the AT&T-BellSouth merger will come from advertising, as all operations are moved under a single brand. Previously, the three companies each supported distinct brands with three separate advertising campaigns.
AT&T is not disclosing the amount of the brand-transition campaign or media buy.
AT&T Emerging Media Retail Experience
Parallel with its re-branding efforts, AT&T is expanding its retail strategy to take advantage of Cingular's significant retail presence; thousands of stores nationwide are visited by millions of customers each month.
AT&T is creating an in-store "emerging media experience" where consumers can experience products and services before they purchase. Knowledgeable store personnel will be available to guide consumers through product trials and purchasing decisions.
AT&T has expanded its reach in its 13-state pre-merger local service territory, installing AT&T-branded media centers at more than 375 wireless stores. At these centers consumers can learn about, see live demonstrations and order AT&T Yahoo!(R) High Speed Internet and, where available, AT&T U-verse(SM) TV or AT&T Homezone(SM).
To help customers in many of these stores, AT&T will hire approximately 400 new sales representatives; many are in place today. These "home solutions consultants" will help customers learn about a range of AT&T wireline services that they can bundle with their wireless services. Additionally, customers today can arrange for a combined bill for wireline and wireless services and order AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet service as well as other key services.
In addition, AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet service is available through more than 750 agent-owned wireless locations, which also will have AT&T- branded signage. Through these additional locations, customers can order broadband and soon, other services.
Source: AT&T Inc.
Once again I've allowed my belief that rich people can do good things without simultaneously doing bad things to get in the way of reality. Yes, I too assumed all that Gates Foundation stuff was a positive. Didn't know they were making money off investments that dramatically pollute Africa while saving kids from polio so they could grow up and get leukemia.
Nice work!
No, he wasn't an artist!
An idiot cop pulled his gun in a crowded school hallway and pointed it at the back of the head of a student because the student was "acting up".
Scientists have now revealed that beverage industry funded research is biased toward's the industry's needs! OMG!!!
Though some consider such a historically obvious conclusion to be controversial, you can check out the research report and a related column for yourself:
Relationship between Funding Source and Conclusion among Nutrition-Related Scientific Articles
Does Industry Sponsorship Undermine the Integrity of Nutrition Research?
It's odd but even I have to check my socially inbred tendency to assume that scientists don't cheat however, based on my direct observations in diverse settings ranging from anarchist live/work spaces to academic hallways to corporate confines, con artists and criminals appear to be randomly distributed throughout society.
Except for the holy priesthood, of course!
NEWSWEEK: Baghdad Embassy Draft Report: 'Inadequate Message Control in Iraq Is Feeding The Escalating Cycle of Violence'
Many Attacks on U.S. Forces Filmed, Edited Into Slick Propaganda Films and Ready to Download Within Hours; Some Attacks May Be Staged Mainly to Generate New Footage
NEW YORK, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A draft report recently produced by the Baghdad embasy's director of strategic communications Ginger Cruz suggests that despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars, the United States has lost the battle for Iraqi public opinion, reports Baghdad Bureau Chief Scott Johnson in Newsweek's January 15 issue (on newsstands Monday, January 8). "Insurgents, sectarian elements and others are taking control of the message at the public level," the draft states. Videos of U.S. soldiers being shot and blown up, and of the bloody work of sectarian death squads, are now pervasive. The images inspire new recruits and intimidate those who might stand against them. "Inadequate message control in Iraq," the document warns, "is feeding the escalating cycle of violence." (A U.S. Embassy spokesperson claims the draft reflects Cruz's personal views, not official policy.)
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070107/NYSU021 )
Sunni insurgents in particular have become expert at using technology to underscore -- some would say exaggerate -- their effectiveness. "The sophistication of the way the enemy is using the news media is huge," Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told Newsweek just before he returned to the United States. Most large-scale attacks on U.S. forces are now filmed, often from multiple camera angles, and with high- resolution cameras. The footage is slickly edited into dramatic narratives: quick-cut images of Humvees exploding or U.S. soldiers being felled by snipers are set to inspiring religious soundtracks or chanting, which lends them a triumphal feel. In some cases, U.S. officials believe, insurgents attack American forces primarily to generate fresh footage. Advancements in technology have also made these videos easy to download and disseminate. "Literally, it's only hours after an attack and [the videos] are available," says Andrew Garfield, a British counterinsurgency expert who has advised U.S. forces in Baghdad. "You can really say it's only a cell-phone call away."
What the insurgents understand better than the Americans is how Iraqis consume information, reports Johnson. Popular Arab satellite channels like Al- Jazeera and Al-Arabiya air far more graphic images than are typically seen on U.S. TV-leaving the impression, say U.S. military officials, that America is on the run. At the extreme is the Zawra channel, run by former Sunni parliamentarian Mishan Jibouri, who fled to Syria last year after being accused of corruption. (Jibouri says he's being persecuted for political reasons, and can return to Iraq whenever he wants.) Since November the channel has been spewing out an unending series of videos showing American soldiers being killed in sniper and IED attacks. The clips are accompanied by commentary, often in English, admonishing Iraqis to "focus your utmost rage against the occupation." Among Sunnis and even some Shiites, Zawra has become one of the most popular stations in Iraq. "I get e-mails from girls in their 20s from Arab countries; some of them are very wealthy," Jibouri boasts. "Some offer to work for free, some offer money."
The U.S. military's response, on the other hand, usually sticks to traditional channels like press releases. These can take hours to prepare and are often outdated by the time they're issued. Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, director of the military's press operations in Baghdad until last September, complains that all military-related information has to be processed upward through a laborious and bureaucratic chain of command. "The military wants to control the environment around it, but as we try to [do so], it only slows us down further," he says. "All too often, the easiest decision we made was just not to talk about [the story] at all, and then you absolutely lose your ability to frame what's going on."
The consequences of losing the propaganda battle are real, reports Johnson. "One of these videos is worth a division of tanks to those people," says Robert Steele, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer. Not only do the insurgent videos draw recruits and donations, they don't give ordinary Iraqis much incentive to cooperate with the Americans.
(Read entire article at www.Newsweek.com)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16497895/site/newsweek
Source: Newsweek
WTF? Don't they know we're all free now?!?
No more Al Quaeda! No more oppressive regimes in the Middle East! No more weapons of mass destruction! No more U.S. deficit! No more cops killing old ladies! No more lying to Americans about really serious matters! No more prison rape! No more working poor! No more New Orleans!
Bring on the New Year and all our new freedoms!
Yay!
Note to U.S. government when interacting with Muslims:
Assume that executions scheduled on Islamic holy days by Muslims are clear messages to other Muslims and act accordingly. Duh.
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