Santorum beats Romney in Iowa

Remember how in the Iowa caucus, Romney managed to just squeak by with just 8 votes over Santorum. Did that seem really, really close to anyone else? Was anyone else just a little suspicious, having lived though such events as the Bush/Gore/Florida fiasco, that there might be some margin of error in the counting?

Well, there has been a retally and turns out Romney lost, and not by 8 votes. Santorum actually surpassed Romney by four-times that amount with 34 votes. However, Iowa GOP is calling the race a tie, because votes from eight of Iowa's 1,774 precincts could not be officially certified.

What I find interesting about this whole turn of events is that with the first count no one even mentioned the word "tie." There was discussion over Romney winning by such a small margin, but it was very clear in everyone's mind that Romney had ultimately won Iowa. Now that it in fact turns out Romney was not the winning, the vote is considered a "tie."

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, and there has DEFINITELY been no evidence discovered of any conspiring having taken place, nor am I suggesting there is. But it seems very clear to me that the powers that be within the GOP are interested in tilting the favor in Romney's direction. I think they realize now that with the Tea Party they've created a golem-like beast that they cannot control and so have no interest in a Santorum or, God-save-them, a Paul. Gingrich has a lot of enemies within the GOP for his antics and Perry, who will likely be leaving the race later today, can barely string a coherent thought together. Romney is their only option. An option they taken begrudgingly, but an option they take.

Definitely Not Coordinating with Stephen Colbert Super Pac

I think it can be pretty well agreed that this current presidential primary has tilted away from the traditional prestige of our government process and in occasion come to resemble the absurdity of a VH1 "celebrity" reality show. Over the past six months we've trotted out a parade of circus acts for voter approval. They are lifted up and adored only to quickly be tossed aside when we finally realize upon closer examination what nut-jobs they really are.

Well, in a most perfect, satirical demonstration of this silliness, comedian Stephen Colbert announced last Thursday, after learning a poll of South Carolina voters ranked him higher than then-candidate John Huntsman and consulting "with [his] money," that he would be forming an “exploratory committee for president of the United States of South Carolina.”

Now in order for him to do this, Colbert would legally have to give up control of Super Pac, American's for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, which he has used since last summer as a way of giving audience members an inside look into the process and ultimately mocking the lack of regulation concerned. Because candidates and their staff are not allowed to "coordinate" with Super Pacs, Colbert managed to circumvent this rule by handing over control to his close friend and business partner, Jon Stewart.

Turns out it is actually quite common for candidates to have close personal and business ties with the heads of their Super Pacs. Romney's Super Pac, Restore our future, was starting by his Charles Spies, his lawyer during the 2008 presidential bid. Gingrich's Super Pac, Winning our Future, is headed by former Gingrich staffer, Becky Burkett. Perry's Super Pac, Making Us Great Again, was started by Governor Perry's chief of staff, Mike Toomey. Mr. Toomey also co-owns a resort island with Perry's current chief campaign strategist, Dave Carney.

So since Stewart has been endowed with the limitless funds of this Super Pac, he is then able to use that money to advocate on behalf of Colbert's candidacy and fire attacks at rival candidates. On Monday, Stewart kicked it off, purchase five prime time slots on South Carolina's top news stations for an ad attacking Romney's former career with the private equity firm, Bain Capital.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Colbert Super PAC Ad - Attack in B Minor for Strings
www.colbertnation.com
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Now the Colbert campaign did hit bit of a snag. Because South Carolina has a locked ballot - meaning the names are set and no write-ins are allowed, and Colbert had missed the state's filing deadline, there was no way to get Colbert's name on the ballot. BUT, because it is a locked ballot, that means that names of candidates no longer in the running will still be printed. In response, Colbert told audience members that in his view a vote for former-candidate Herman Cain, whom Colbert had endorsed on the show earlier in the season, was a vote for Stephen Colbert.

So on Tuesday, Stewart's Super Pac ran a new ad in South Carolina explaining the strategy.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Colbert Super PAC Ad - Not Abel
www.colbertnation.com
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Now critics have pointed out that since Colbert's show announcing the new strategy was not broadcasted until late Tuesday night after the ads premiered but was taped before the ads premiered, that Colbert could not have publicly expressed this idea a concerned citizen, as Gingrich demonstrated was allowed. Instead Colbert and Stewart must have privately "coordinated" over the strategy.

However, here too is a loophole. If Stewart had been the one to originate the idea and communicated to Colbert of his plans, this legally would not be "coordination." As long as Colbert does not explicitly express an approval or disapproval of Stewart's plans, it is not legally "coordination."

Internet Blacked Out

Check it out:

The logo for Google ... BLACKED OUT!

The entire, English content of Wikipedia ... BLACKED OUT!

So why are these and other internet sites totting this blackout out of content? It is all part of an organized protest against two bills of anti-piracy legislation that moving through the Congress. Critics claim that the bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act, are an affront to free speech on the internet and are concerned that many websites will be unfairly blacklisted by regulators for reports of alleged, but unproven, copyright infringements.

Ruck.US

I willing to bet that, like myself, most people do not 100% agree with the views on the just one end of the political spectrum and have probably grown tired with the political parties that are out there today.

There is a new political social media site out there that I think is really cool. It is designed to unite people around the country of similar political ideologies. What you do is login and answer a series of questions to establish your political views and then the systems works to link you up.

Check it out:

Ruck.US

Cheech and Chong's Magic Brownie Adventure

The duo is back! And what are they up to for their new adventure? Staying regular and spreading the word! Yeah, even pot-smoking, rebellious comedians get old and have to become more conscious of the proper working of their bodily functions.

So this isn't actually a television campaign. That would be way too costly of a time spot to ultimately lead up to fiber-filled brownies. It is a campaign specifically designed to go viral on the internet; partially through things like right here. This is kind of an amazing new evolution of advertising campaigns. If you'll remember Heineken's The Entrance campaign (which did originally appear on television) where the character makes a grand entrance to a party whilst expertly greeting each unique guest in their own unique way, the spot caught fire on the internet and spurned on a number of other videos as compliments feeding the sensation; each highlighting the unique characters and their background story.

The Rum Diary is a loosely autobiographical novel by the iconic Gonzo writer, Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson is also the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which in 1998 Johnny Depp also starred in in the movie adaption. The running theme: lots and lots of booze and lots and lots and LOTS of drugs going hand-in-hand with a series of 1970's, Hemingway-esque adventures.

Thompson is an absolute wild man! To give you an idea of this gentleman, it is appropriate to say that Ralph Steadman was a close friend of his and that Steadman was often enlisted to illustrate Thompson's words as the two aesthetics fell so perfectly in sync.

Coning

This is thing man! And you know what why the hell not. The only person losing out on the whole deal is the cone-er in that his hand is now kind of sticky. Working at a Mc-D's is boring as hell. At least this will give folks to talk about for a half hour.

Book: The Man in the Rockefeller Suit

I finished a book! Quite feat these days (unfortunately).

This is wild one. About six years ago this all front page news, but me in my ignorance just found out about it until now. Clark Rockefeller creates a media frenzy and worldwide search when he kidnapped his young daughter. Quickly it is revealed that this fellow was no Rockefeller. What unravels is the story of how a German immigrant makes it from his native hamlet to the being recognized as a member of one of the richest most elite families in the United States.

Now I'll say I tend to romanticize the idea of the smooth talking drifter able to charm the locals and recreate reality. It's one thing to learn about it through the envisioning of Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, but it is entirely another to see the raw realty of what such an individual must do to survive. It's quite unsettling to see how the kitchen prepares it cuisine. Yet, you are unable to look away. This story draws you in never stopping to fascinate and astonish.

Hitman 5: Absolution

I love the Hitman series. Other guys are into the high-body-count, mass-murder games, and, I mean, I'm a big fan of the GTA series and other shoot-em-up games, but at the same time I never really understood the appeal of going on some wild shooting spree killing a bunch of bystanders that had nothing to do with your objective. (By-the-by Scarface the game is good for this. Tony actually refuses to shoot someone who isn't a rival gang member and it still remains to be super high octane).

Anyway, after a round about way of getting to it, that's what I love of the Hitman games. You do it clean. Even killing one person outside of your contract will cost you money. You have to smart about your approach; strategic. In fact it is even more of a show of your talent if you don't use a gun at all, if you have get close, right up on your target, even better if you make it look like and accident.

In the last Hitman, the agency had been decimated and agent 47 (the lead character you see ripping through an army of guards here) was betrayed by his handler Dianna (the red head in the shower). However Dianna pulled a double betrayal helping 47 to fake his death so he could get close to the men who were after him. Now the man's gone rogue. It's going off!

Movie: Drive

Look at that cast!!! You got some real iconic figures in the male supporting roles: Albert Brooks taking a turn from his usual comedic path towards what looks to be a pretty well performed dramatic role, Bryan Cranson (Breaking Bad), and Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy). But then you see the phenomenal actresses in the female supporting roles: Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Carey Mulligan (An Education). While these women have had limited commercial debuts, their work has been inspiring.

Then to top it all off, you have Ryan f*king Gosling. The dude is undeniably the best young actor alive. He has a remarkable capability for assuming the most complex and enduring of characters. Nothing about his protrayals contain the melodrama and pretentious that seem to trouble so many of his peers with equally complex roles. He is unable to understand his characters, and in doing so does not over-inflate or under-deliver on them but presents them in their natural state.

Plus this movie just looks really bad ass!

Swiss Fight to Ban Powerpoint

One of the issues with third parties is they are often formed entirely around a narrow and singular cause. Not only does this make it difficult to establish appeal to the wider base, but once the party's cause is accomplished there often remains little to keep it united.

One such party in Switzerland however seems to be gaining a great deal of recognition for its unique cause. The Anti-PowerPoint Party is of course united under the cause of putting an end to PowerPoint presentations and the terrible boredom they inflict on citizens.

According to the founder, Matthias Poehm, 350 billion euros could be saved on the global scale if PowerPoint were to be eliminated. And think of it: no more will entire departments of staff be dragged into watching bullet points zip across the screen and frames come spinning towards them in a nausiating

Movie: Money Ball

I was thinking the other day about why baseball seems to have declined from its former glory in the hearts of Americans. It is said to be the national pastime, but I think its fairly clear that football and basketball have fairly well eclipsed it. Baseball is openly mocked for being way too long and boring (that's seems to be more of a faulty change in our society towards the microwave, immediate satisfaction mind set than a fault in the game).

One thought occured to me that perhaps to some degree it may be that our generation just hasn't had an iconic baseball for us to connect with. We were all too young to connect with films like Field of Dreams (1989), Major League (1989), or For the Love of the Game (1999) and WAY too young for The Natural (1984). There were a lot of kitchie baseball movies for us with monkeys and dogs and angels, but even as a kid you can't take that seriously. Most of all of our best sports movies were either basketball or football movies.

This here though takes a turn. It looks to be very inspiring (good underdog story against all odds), and, while Jonah Hill usually dabbles in the most immature of comedy, I get the vibe he has the ability to do this role real justice.

Ad Campaign Reviews

Okay, I watch a crap-ton of T.V. I can never find anything good, but I just can't turn it off. So much of it consist of the commercial that are on. As a result I have begun putting a lot of thought into the ad campaigns that are on.



First off, this Florida Organge Juice campaign has been catching my attention, mostly because they have been promoting the hell out of it on Comedy Central. It runs in like every of their prime time commercial blocks, and every time you try to watch an episode on the website it is preceded by a Florida Orange Juice commercial with an accompanying banner ad on the side.

What does this say? Company's advertise through mediums based on the demographics they attract. The ads show traditional family figures, but seem to be targeted at man-children and pot heads. Is it how it seems to be taking suburban lifestyle in humorous stride? I mean orange juice is really good for a hang over: hydration along with much needed vitamin C.



Next, this Dairy Queen campaign really bothers me on several levels. Not only is it a completely unoriginal repeat of the style made popular by Old Spice, but the spokesman has a mustache. Spokesman are NOT supposed to have mustaches!

Yes I realize that the Old Spice spokesman has a mustache, but he's black. I also realize that that last statement sounds kind of racist, but to be honest: marketing is kind of racist. It's not bigotry, but much of its focus is on understanding and playing of the symbols and icons subconciously understood by members of society. Visual aesthetic communicates thoughts and ideas to us, and, whether you want to be all high and mighty and deny it, that includes the color of a spokesperson's skin.

A mustache goatee thing on a black guy is a common image. It connotates a masculinity and stone cold coolness. In fact on some it just blank and irregular. Think about Samuel L. Jackson with a mustache... now without a mustache. Think about Dave Chappelle with a mustache... now without a mustache. Will Smith with a mustache... now without a mustache. Now again it's now universal. Just because someone is black does not mean they should have a mustache. Bill Cosby would look extremely weird with a mustache, but again it is ultimately about the persona you are trying to communicate.

With a white guy (and to getting back to my original point), it has a completely opposite effect. It comes off as though they are hiding something, or they are unkept or not clean; creepy in some cases. In fact this bring's me to this add:



Tell that it doesn't concern you that that man with the mustache is with a bunch of kids. Just something seems wrong with the situation. But seriously when you do sales they tell you to show up clean shaven, because that's one way people will assess if they can trust you. Television personality, like the type who are career talkshow folks (Seacrest, Philbin), don't have mustaches. News anchors don't have mustaches (the time of Ron Burgandy is long gone.



Now, after that very long, off color rant, I will try to keep this one short and PC. The significance of this commercial is that it is the first new ad campaign PepsiCo was come out with for just regular Pepsi in three years. Much of its marketing budget has been focused on new lines of its healthier drinks and Gatorades. This new campaign comes at a time when Pepsi slips third in national marketshare of carbonated beverages.

Arrest of Infamous Boston Mob Boss

Just after the takeout of Osama bin Laden, the FBI arrests another of their Top 10 Most Wanted. James "Whitey" Bugler was arrested yesterday at his home in Santa Monica, California, after at 16 year span of eluding authorities.

The 81-year-old Bugler once oversaw a major crime syndicate in Boston, and was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed. Like in the movie, Bugler consolidated his power as an FBI informant using his connections to hand competitors and rivals over to the authorities, and was alleged to have been aided by former FBI contacts in his initial escape in January 1995.

Bugler was arrested along with his female companion Catherine Greig. The 16 year search reached on a worldwide scale including reported sightings in parts of Europe. Burgler was reported as a "sun-chancer" for his alledged preference for warm locales.

The FBI finally succeeded in locating the elusive Burgler after beginning a 30-second television spot campaign Monday that featured Greig in 14 major, southern markets on show popular with women of Greig's age. Reportedly the campaign all-in-all only cost around a mere $50,000.

Burglar had earned his position on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted due to his alledged connection with 19 murders. A reward was offered up of $2 million for his capture. On Thursday Burglar is scheduled to appear before court to face federal charges of the 19 murders along with conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering.

New Cigarette Disclaimers

These are some of the new disclaimers the FDA is requiring cigarette companies to place on their packaging, and frankly I think it is bull shit.

I am not a smoker, but I am not a smoker because of my own decision. I have plenty of friends who are smokers; at parties I enjoying stepping outside occasionally to speak with the smokers, but I am not a smoker because of my own decision. So, as an individual free from bias, I would like to express that this anti-smoking has gone too far.

I personally cannot stand those pretentious a-holes who begin forcibly and loudly coughing should the slightest wiff of smoke wafted their delicate nostrils as a way of passive-aggressively voice their protest that someone might dare light a cigarette in their presence. That jerk is killing me. I have a right to be angry. REALLY!? You're 20-30 lbs. overweight with your cholesteral through the roof about to shovel a full pound, grease soaked cheeseburger into the bottomless pit you call a mouth and you're worried about a little smoke being hazardous for your health. Get over yourself.

The anti-smoking initiative has demonized smokers. They are regular working people not social deviants. They have made the most outlandish claims with the justification that discouragement of future smokers will redeem their grossly exaggerated statements. The most absurd and distasteful of their campaigns was following the 9/11 attack and claim the money spent on cigarettes was being funneled to the middle east to fund terrorism.

The issue is with the anti-smoking initiative carrying on this way they are doing exactly what they had initially begun criticizing the cigarette companies: manipulating information to brainwash the youth. Over the decades the anti-smoking initiative has succeeded in greatly restricting the abilities of cigarette companies from advertising in nearly every medium. The anti-smoking initiative had tried the hands of the cigarette companies behind their back and has now begun throwing cheap shots. These disclaims are absurd.

Ultimately of course it will prove to be unsuccessful. Some may stop smoking or be deterred, but ultimately smokings smoke with full knowledge that it is bad for their health. No matter what MTV campaigns the anti-smoking initiative runs, smoking will still be super cool. It just is. It has this nonchalant, I-don't-give-a-shit attitude. In fact, it is because smokers know that what they are doing will eventually kill them and they do it anyway, that it is cool. If anything all these adds will do is desensititize youth to the effects of smoking.

Norm Macdonald Sport Show Cancelled

This was a great show. I know this is a stupid thing to blog about, but it was and now it's been cut down in its prime. It already had established bits: What the H?; Wait, What?; Trash Talk.

This was Comedy Central's second attempt at a sports show. Last fall, Comedy Central unsuccessfully launched The Onion's Sports Dome. Apparently with Sports Show viewership had fallen below 1 million with the last few episodes. You have to start to wonder if the sports show format can work with Comdey Central's viewership. While their is some blending of demographics between ESPN and Comedy Central's viewership - they are both predominately men ages 16 to 35ish - there is a big difference between their most target viewer. ESPN you have this jockey, type-A guy probably working in corporate finance. Comedy Central you have this pot-smoking, type-B dude probably without a job at all.

Mostly I just feel bad for Norm Macdonald. This is his second failed attempt to launch a series on Comedy Central. He once had this late night variety half-hour/talk show, then Steveo from Jackass came on completely hammered and the whole thing was just this downhill train-wreck from there.

Dalls Maverick's Take It ALL!

WOW! The Dallas Mavericks are literally the dark horse that come out to beat the infamous dream team trio of the Miami Heat for the NBA finals.

Miami took the lead with the first games for wins. Then before anyone knew it the series was all tied up. Even then though it just seemed like a chance of luck; an off couple of nights for Lebron; home court advantage for Dallas; whatever. But then when it came to game 5 the results were clear: 105/95 Dallas.

This is HUGE mostly because of all of the hyped and controversy surrounding especially Lebron James but also to a good degree his teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Despite an excellent performance by the Heat, unfortunately anything short of an absolute success equates to an absolute failure.

Needless to say the people of Ohio, who Lebron had left for Miami, ruthlessly jumped on this event. The govenor of Ohio has apparently officially declared the day of game 5 to be Dallas Mavericks' Day.

Sarah Palin's Paul Revere Flub

Can we please stop giving this woman attention. Seriously, she is the Paris Hilton of politics. There is no reason to be giving this level of recognition to Palin or any level of recognition for that matter.

She clearly has no idea what she is talking about. We already that she is incapable of distinguishing between South Korea (our ally) and North Korea (home to a psychopathic miniature dictator who has threatened us with nuclear warfare). Now she has a complete ignorance for our most common of American folklore.

It's getting embarassing. The thought that people actually gather to hear her voice her opinion on the most complex of domestic and global issues is disturbing. That she is allowed to voice her opinion at on such matters is outstanding; the only upside being that it speaks to the profound integrity of our institution of the first admendment.

Pink Panthers Arrests

You know how you watch a movie about an epic heist and marvel are the glamor and adventure of the lives of the career criminals the story centers around, while at the same time that annoying little voice of practicality in the back of your mind reminds you that it's only Hollywood.

Well not this time! This time the story of international jewel theives dodging around Europe pulling off jobs worth millions of dollars is real (allegedly).

A suspected member of the group, Bojan Vuckovic, a 24 year-old Serbian, was grabbed by Interpol authorities while trying to cross the Montenegro/Serbia border.

All in a whole the Pink Panther gang is believed to be behind a series of high value jewel thefts with an estimated total worth of $327 million (250 million euros). Other suspects have been arrested in Cyprus, Monaco, and France.

Tech Companies' Emerging IPO

The web-based, music-provider Pandora, a site that offers users the ability to create radio stations personally tailored to their tastes, recently announced that they would be taking the company public. In addition the internet area-coupon provider, Groupon, has announced it too will soon be making its IPO. These offers following the tremendous success with Linkedin, the professional social networking site, in issuing their IPO.

These recent events along with the potential yet unrealized partnership of Goldman Sachs and Facebook, if I have to explain what that is you should not be using the internet, to circumvent SEC restrictions and raise funds have many speculating about the raise of another tech boom. This is of course is accompanied by speculation that we may see similar circumstance as to the popping of the 90's tech bubble.

However one cannot deny that many things have changed with the internet since the 90's; advances have been dramatic. We have since a remarkable increase in spend. Many young users now a days will have no memory of the dial-up internet making its connection. With reduced inconvenience comes reduced frustration and increased acceptance. Along with this internet use has become increasingly mobile. Nearly every cell phone - which almost nearly everyone has - today has access to the internet. Internet use has become a stable of everyday life.

So, while nothing rises forever, it might be fair say that this emerges of tech boom is one that will be a little longer lived.

(IMPORTANT - I am in no way offering investment advice. If you are basing you investment decisions on my writing her, that would be completely negligent on your part)