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Author Archives: Juicio

$1.6 Billion Spent On War Propoganda

Bush Mission Accomplished

From J-Luv:

This is appalling in the face of the 2007 proposed budget cuts. Small
snippet quoted below.

Bush Administration Spent $1.6B on ‘Propaganda’ Efforts

The study, requested by the House of Representatives Democratic leadership, found that from 2003 to mid-2005, the administration racked up some $1.4 billion in contracts with advertising agencies to broadcast positive messages about its policies and initiatives. Another $200 million went to public-relations companies, and $15 million were spent building connections with media outlets. Individual members of the press received a total of $100,000 in promotional contracts.

LED Throwies

LED Throwies

The Graffiti Research Lab came up with a wonderful little device that anyone can make: LED Throwies. From their website:

LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Throw it up high and in quantity to impress your friends and city officials.

(via MAKE)

Google Sightseeing

Google Sightseeing Logo

Last week, I found this wonderful sight: Google Sightseeing. The premise is simple. The site’s owners and their readers find the best tourist spots in the world via satellite images from Google Maps and Google Earth. Not only does the site catalog the images they find, but they link directly to Google Maps so you browse around for yourself. Needless to say, I fell in love with them right away. Here are a few of my favorites from the last couple of weeks:

Alien Crop Circles!

GS found a whole series of crazy crop circles that aliens (or farmer kids with too much time on their hands) could have created.

Crop Circles Crop Circles

Stonefridge

Stonefridge is exactly what its names implies: a complete replica of Stonehenge made entirely of refrigerators. Apparently, the monument is now 2.5 fridges high and requires 60 more refrigerators to complete.

StoneFridge

Winter Olympics 2006

And for you fans of the World Games, GS has cataloged many of the great sites marking this years events.

2006 Olympics Google

Cheney Hunting Accident Simulation

Cheney Hunting Simulation

George Gongora, a photographer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and avid quail hunter, simulated the impact of Cheney’s shotgun on his victim. You can read the article and watch the video. (via ThinkProgress)

Cheney’s Hunting Accident Rarely Occurs

Cheney Hunting

One of the rumors flying around the Cheney shooting states that this type of accident occurs regularly in hunting. It turns out that is not really the case.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas only had 2.7 hunting accidents per 100,000 hunting licenses. Perhaps, Cheney does not count because he did not get the required permits and was thus hunting illegally.

More at ThinkProgress.

Visual Hunting Aid for Dick Cheney

Cheney Hunting Guide

What Atrios has learned:

Every conservative on the internet is an avid hunter and they’ve all been shot multiple times.

Shotguns aren’t really guns, just toys. You can’t really hurt people with them, only animals.

It’s standard hunter etiquette to yell and scream at your fellow hunters as they’re stalking their prey.

The most dangerous place to be is behind the people with the guns.

And Dick Cheney was not drunk, so stop saying that.

(Image via NeedleNose)

Official Report of Cheney’s Hunt

Dick Cheney Waving

The Smoking Gun got their hands on the official incident report filed by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

According the report, the conditions were the following:
Topography: Flat
Visibility: Fair
Type of Cover: Light
Lighting: Sunny
Weather: Clear
Distance from Muzzle to Victim in Yards: 11-50

Light cover, fair visibility, sunny and clear weather? Hmmm.

Cheney: Shoot First, Don’t Ask Questions Ever

Dick Cheney

As almost everyone knows now, our Vice President shot a 78 year old man in the face and chest last Saturday with a 28-guage shotgun. It turns out, to no ones surprise, that Cheney tried to stall the presses on the issue as reported in Time.

Even worse, his victim suffered a minor heart attach yesterday morning. What was the White House’s response? Don’t mention it and make jokes about the shooting instead. That’s right. Instead of telling reporters the latest state of the victim, Scott McClellan decided to make jokes about Cheney shooting a 78 year old man in the face and chest with his shotgun. Now, I understand that there are a lot of jokes to be made as anyone who watches Letterman or Stewart know. However, it seems to be off-color when the White House Press Secretary makes jokes while hiding the knowledge that the victim’s health took a turn for the worst.

Super Bowl XL Commercials

Super Bowl XL Stadium

For all of you not willing or able to sit through the Super Bowl to catch the million dollar commercials, Google Video is hosting all of them. From Bud’s superfan to the Go Daddy commercials that were not allowed to air, you can see them all.

But check this out: one ad was reused from a different brand. This video is the Degree deodorant commercial “Stunt City” that aired during the Super Bowl. This video is the same “Stunt City” commercial that Leaving Only Footprints found last year. It is the exact same commercial but with a different deodorant, Rexona. If anyone knows more about this, let me know.

Stunt City Degree Stunt City Rexona
Deodorants in the two commercials

Abramoff Who?

You cannot hide the truth forever, especially when it has been photographed. Last week, both photos and emails with Bush and disgraced lobbyist, John Abramoff, were released to the press. The NY Times was the first to print the following picture from a 2001 meeting with Abramoff, Bush, Rove, one of Abramoff’s clients, Chief Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe, and many other powerful people:

Bush and Abramoff

This follows on the heels of the emails that ThinkProgress was first to publish last week between Abramoff and Kim Eisler, the editor of Washingtonian. This is one of the excerpts from the emails:

HE HAS ONE OF THE BEST MEMORIES OF ANY POLITICIAN I HAVE EVER MET. IT WAS ONE IF [sic] HIS TRADEMARKS, THOUGH OF COURSE HE CAN’T RECALL THAT HE HAS A GREAT MEMORY! THE GUY SAW ME IN ALMOST A DOZEN SETTINGS, AND JOKED WITH ME ABOUT A BUNCH OF THINGS, INCLUDING DETAILS OF MY KIDS. PERHAPS HE HAS FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING. WHO KNOWS.

And we are supposed to believe Bush when he said on January 26th, “You know, I, frankly, don’t even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don’t know him.” Perhaps, it is because Bush has such a good track record at telling us the truth? You know, if one of the most, if not the most, powerful lobbyists in America was responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars to my campaign and millions of dollars of campaign funds to my party, I think I would probably know him.