Oh yea, this is a real good one. I was actually laughing the whole time I read this. It really is perfect though, Mitt Romney strapping his dog to the top of a station wagon for a 12 hour drive. I have the idea that the dog may have been a bit uncomfortable, but it was probably okay (after all he did make a wind shield for the kennel).

As was pointed out to me today, it was also 1983, his kids probably weren’t even buckled up. The point I am trying to make is that this probably shouldn’t get blown out of proportion. If I saw a home-made windscreen for a kennel that was strapped to the roof of a station wagon I wouldn’t be able to contain the laughter. If anything, Mitt, thanks for the great visual.

Great civilizations such as the United States have grown on the backs of such industries as manufacturing and agriculture. I’m going to take a quick glance at agriculture. If you listen to public radio, no doubt you will hear Jim Hightower say “…9 million shiploads of foreign food came into our ports last year…“, he also makes mention of the lack of food safety on imported products.

The real question I am puzzled with is why this isn’t a higher priority for most Americans. We need food to survive, yet we so are precariously disconnected from its source in most cases, and we don’t seem to care. At home, smaller farms are being swallowed up by factory farms and this has been happening at alarming rates, for a long time. Factory farming is less efficient. One large farm will typically produce far less food than several smaller farms.

This factored into a growing population and growing demand just doesn’t cut it. How do we supplement this system? We import tons of food and have a growing dependency on foreign nations like china. We have duct taped the problem and are taking uneccesary risks with the American people. The government needs to take action to support more localized and independent farming operations. Washington should be heavily promoting small scale agriculture and investing in America.

According to Wikipedia, the following surveys show what others believe happened on September 11, 2001:

1. a Zogby International poll conducted in Aug, 2004 shows 49.3% of New York City residents and 41% of New York citizens “overall” say US Leaders “knew in advance that attacks were planned on or around September 11, 2001, and that they consciously failed to act”.
2. Scripps Howard and Ohio University conducted a poll in July 2006 that concludes “Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them”, “sixteen percent said it’s “very likely” or “somewhat likely” that the collapse of the twin towers in New York was aided by explosives secretly planted in the two buildings” and “twelve percent suspect the Pentagon was struck by a military cruise missile in 2001 rather than by an airliner captured by terrorists.”
3. Zogby International conducted another poll in May of 2006. This poll indicated that 42% of Americans more likely agree with people who believe that “the US government and its 9/11 Commission concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks, saying there has been a cover-up.”
4. An Ipsos-Reid poll conducted in September of 2006 found that 22 percent of Canadians believe “the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, had nothing to do with Osama Bin Laden and were actually a plot by influential Americans.”
5. An October 2006 New York Times and CBS news poll showed that 28 percent believe members of the Bush Administration are mostly lying about “what they knew prior to September 11th, 2001, about possible terrorist attacks against the United States.”
6. A May 2007 survey of American Muslims released by the Pew Research Center shows that 40 percent of respondents believe that Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. Another 28 percent don’t believe it. Among the 28 percent who doubted that Arabs were behind the conspiracy, one-fourth claim the U.S. government was responsible.

What do you believe? Please comment below.

Source: Wikipedia + 9-11 Conspiracy Surveys

Driving around the Salt Lake valley in the past few weeks i have noticed several banners hanging in prominent locations with nothing more than the words “Ron Paul Revolution”. My wife and I have both commented on them, and their obvious appeal toward a younger crowd. The impression I get, maybe an extreme motocross rider or skateboarder (Ron Paul) will be visiting soon, and this is the guerrilla marketing campaign. The stenciled effect is definitely an attempt at grabbing the attention of both youthful individuals, and middle aged people as well. The impression that never struck me was that this is a serious polotician who is running for office of the president, that changed today.

I received an email with a link to the Ron Paul presidential campaign site today, and checked it out. As i looked over the site the name stuck out and i made a connection the the stenciled banners I’ve seen around. But this site was serious, no stenciled banners or extreme graphics here, just a serious presidential hopefuls site. I quickly did a Google search for Ron Paul Revolution and found this site. It took a good scan of the page before the link between Dr. Ron Paul, the presidential candidate and Ron Paul (the fictional motocross stunt man in my mind) were made. Obviously the Ron Paul revolution campaign can’t have ties to this serious presidential hopeful I thought. After a bit more research it was confirmed, Dr. Ron Paul is campaigning for the office of the President in 2008, but his campaign is not affiliated with the Ron Paul Revolution. The Revolution is a grassroots campaign started by supporters in Arizona, and has been spreading since. By way of the Internet first, and other “Guerrilla Marketing” strategies second.

“The folks behind the Ron Paul Revolution have no official connection to the campaign, and are not getting paid for their efforts. They are liberty-loving Americans who want to help get the word out about the only true peace-and-freedom Presidential candidate. “

Looks like Dr. Ron Paul is mustering support in an unconventional manner and is making headway with campaigning on the web, and on the ground - what about a “how to stencil” section of the Ron Paul Revolution website. This is revolutionary candidate if not in the way he is being marketed, but also some of his ideals. One to watch!

To the patriotic american.