What went wrong with McCain’s PR Campaign? The Psychological Methods of Focus-Group driven Madvertising.

People who know John McCain personally know that he is a very personable man, with very high decency, honor, level of truth, and very likable.

However his advertising campaign went sour when he was trying to use the same techniques that Bush used to win in earlier battles, going excessively negative on his opponent and to drive the voters by fear and intimidation. Basically the same people who drove Bush’s campaign were now working for McCain, and they used the same technique: Marketing-Psychologists were running focus groups for him to figure out what works.

For example, the selection of Sarah Palin was the result of his Focus group.  Putting Sarah Palin next to John McCain resulted in a much higher initial acceptance ratio than putting other people next to him, such as Guiliani, or any of the others. So Sarah Palin got selected, although he had met her only once before.

The problem with using this psychology-driven instant response focus-group thinking is that they are almost going after some instant stimulus-response reactions and feelings. Sarah Palin seemed instantly likeable. So she was used in the campaign. The idea that Obama could be connected to terrorists and the fear of another war seemed tremendously terrible. So it was used in the speeches and campaigns.

But these psychology-marketing buttons are not of any long-term value for strategy, and can be disastrous.  Indeed, Sarah Palin proved to be a weakness with her lack of experience. And when McCain and Palin were told to push the terrorist buttons and the war buttons they hated it. Palin went “rogue”, and that resulted in more troubles.

McCain was the MOST LIKEABLE when he was on the last Saturday Night Live episode, because although these were skits prepared by comedy writers, he was telling things that were actually true, it was fun listening to him and he was much more likeable than when he was regurgitating the psychology-madvertising driven marketing buttons in his speeches. Also his speech to congratulate Obama was probably written by himself, it was totally dignified, totally above board, and it showed that he is a man of incredible dignity, trustworthiness, honor and likeability.

Let’s hope that in the next years we see more truth and less psychology-madvertising in politics. The people don’t need to be corralled into fears of war and terror so that they are “manageable”. They are not stimulus-response dogs and cats. They are decent and human living people. They want to be happy and live successful lives. They are the people of the USA and of the world.

Chinese $5,500 Electric Car runs on SOLAR energy! Is this too good for America? Why will this NOT BE ALLOWED?

This sounds too good to be true: Just a few days ago they introduced in China an Electric Car at a price of 38,000 yuan (US$5,560), and get this — IT RUNS ON SOLAR ENERGY.

Solar cells mounted to the roof of the car charge the batteries, it takes 30 hours of recharging to get 100 miles of driving, the maximum driving range of the car. Every hour of sunshine results in 3 Miles of driving. Just imagine, with a car like this you are OFF THE GRID!

We will probably never see something like this coming out of Detroit: Detroit would not get the permission of Rockeller’s Exxoyl company because it does not consume gasoline. Citi bank  would complain that the price is too low, people could actually pay off their mortgages, that would not be good. The electrical companies would not approve, because the car is OFF THE GRID.

The Billionnayre Oyl Boys would not like it. No profits. If the consumers would turn into energy PRODUCERS, well, everybody could come along, and that’s not good.

Our Washington Politicians do not like it because it’s just too darn difficult to impose a tax on sunshine. The sunshine tax is also very unpopular. And it is impractical to regulate the sunshine and to cut it off in case of non-payment of sunshine tax.

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Well, I guess I have to dream on. NO $5,560 car that runs on Solar Energy. Pie in the Sky.

Stop the presses: Detroit HAS come up with IT’S OWN SOLUTION to the economic crisis. A sporty TWO-SEATER, Hybrid, runs on gasoline AND Diesel, 2000 Horsepower, takes approx. 10 gallons to the mile, and all lobbyists have approved it already, so the politicians are supporting it too. Welcome to Detroyt’s new dreamcar:

Dreamcar: 10 gallons PER mile, 2000 Horsepower, a sporty Economy Two-seater.

Help! Need to repair vintage Fanatic 320 windsurfer mast foot

I have this Fanatic 320 windsurf board (ok, ok, I admit, vintage stuff),

which has this kind of sliding contraption to hold the mast foot…

but just a few days ago my mast foot broke apart like shown here:

and here …  Aaargh

Does anyone have a suggestion what I can do? Are these parts still available anywhere? Can I just one of these new rubber-mast-feet and somehow screw it on top of the this contraption?

Help, help, help! SOS - SOS - SOS !

Tom Cruise is on Oprah TV again! Was he right and Brooke Shields and Matt Lauer wrong?

Tom Cruise is back on Oprah again, three years after he has been jumping on the couch. Who could forget it? Tom Cruise, jumping up on talk show queen Oprah Winfrey’s couch and proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes in 2005. We tell you on this site when the show airs.Oprah will interview Tom Cruise on May 2 from his home in Colorado. They will discuss “his family, his life and the future.” Then, on Monday May 5, he is headed to Chicago and Oprah’s studio where he will tape a new show celebrating 25 years of his Hollywood films since his breakout role in “Risky Business.”

He caught a lot of critics for his criticism of psych-drug treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

But HERE IS THE KICKER:

There is no evidence that drug treatments or the majority of non-drug treatments work on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a major review of the medical literature on the topic.

A committee of the Institute of Medicine reviewed the literature on PTSD treatments upon the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Initially, the committee identified 2,771 studies, but eventually reviewed only 90 of these. The trials reviewed included randomized controlled trials, controlled psychotherapy trials and placebo-controlled pharmacotherapy trials.

Of the 90 studies, exposure therapy was the only treatment that was supported by evidence of its effectiveness. All other tested treatments had insufficient evidence to support them.

“These therapies may or may not be effective - we just don’t know in the absence of good data,” said committee chair Alfred O. Berg.

Piers Morgan Wins Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice! Who should have won in YOUR opinion? Vote here.

Well, this was the only TV episode of Celebrity Apprentice I watched and it was indeed quite entertaining.

Initially the game was geared up so that the Celebrities were supposed to support their charity, and who would do the most effective job would win.

Overall Piers Morgan won in 11 out of the 13 challenges and he raised more money than all other celebrities combined, and in fact raised more than TWICE as much than even the $250,000 that The Donald contributed. The funny thing was that the Donald had some difficulty to award him the winner because Trace Adkins gained some more brownie points for being more personable and likeable as a Country music star and a “man’s man”.

Most of America seems to disagree with Donald’s choice. What do YOU think?

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Thoroughbred Race Horse Lovers: Cowboy Needs Help!

If you love cowboys, thoroughbred race horses and helping someone who really needs and deserves it, then this story is for you.

Cowboy, Gary Ladd, spent years shoeing thoroughbred race horses at tracks in Minneapolis. He moved to Farmerville, Louisiana with a dream to breed thoroughbreds for the race track.Gary his wife, La Dan (Danny) Ladd bought High Flight Farm to pursue his dream. They have bred some track winners and things were going well.But disaster struck last year when Gary was diagnosed with terminal Cancer. Unable to physically work the farm and care for the horses, his wife, Danny has shouldered the load of working a full time job to keep the farm running, keeping the horses fed, and taking care of Gary.

It is now at the point where Gary and Danny agree it’s time to get rid of the horses so they can concentrate on getting Gary the medical care he needs. They currently have about 17 thoroughbreds they need to get rid of, either by selling them or giving them away. They would like to sell them, as feeding the horses is costing them about $50 a day. But he needs to get rid of the horses and is even willing to give them away, just to unburden his wife who is now having to care for the horses and him due to his illness. I became aware of this because Danny’s sister is a good friend of mine who lives in Clearwater, Florida. She’s been in Louisiana, away from her own husband, helping feed the horses for months to help her sister. I decided right away that I wanted to help in two ways: (1) I sent a check to the place they buy the feed for the thoroughbreds to help defray the cost until the horses are found new homes, and (2) I decided I would help get the word out to the good citizens of America and ask for help with cash donations for horse feed and to find some people who would want to buy or take one of these thoroughbreds.I’m going to post some pictures of the horses in a minute, but bear with me because if you could donate a little cash for feed, I want to tell you how and where to send it. You decide how much you want to give based on this: It costs $3 per day per horse so that is $51 a day in feed. I sent $100 – felt it was the least I could do to help this good  family in need.So if you want to donate for feed, make your check out to Thomas Nursery & Feed (and in the lower left corner write that it’s for the LADD ACCOUNT}Then mail it to:

Attention: Mrs. Thomas

Thomas Nursery & Feed Company

9695 Highway 15

Farmerville, LA 71241.

Phone number is 318-368-2425

If you want to consider buying / adopting one of the thoroughbred horses, then here’s how to contact Gary and Danny Ladd:

High Flight Farms

Gary & LaDan Ladd

543 Denton Rd.

Farmerville, LA 71241

318-368-2339

Here are pictures of some of the horses and their thoroughbred bloodlines. There are 9 pregnant Mares that are ready to foal (more mouths to feed!) and plenty of 1, 2 and 3 year olds ready to be trained for the race track. More information is available direct from Gary and Danny.

This first photo is of the farm property

Here are pictures of some of the horses and their thoroughbred bloodlines. There are 9 pregnant Mares that are ready to foal (more mouths to feed!) and plenty of 1, 2 and 3 year olds ready to be trained for the race track. More information is available direct from Gary and Danny.

Bruce’s Son - foaled Feb 2, 1989 by Alleged out of Bruce’s Blue Lou by Storm Bird

 Highflight Thunder - 2 year old filly - foaled Mar 27, 2006 by Bruce’s Son out of Thunderous Applause by Cannon Dancer

This story was posted on Sandra Simmons’ Myspace page

Boston Tea Party 2007 - Can Ron Paul win 2008?

Ron Paul supporters want to raise $10 million in ONE day? Can they do it?

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Money Management Software

Most people think that business is really just an application of common sense, right? Wrong! That is exactly the reason why over 95% of the businesses fail within the first couple of years and those that survive continue to struggle with gross revenues of a few hundred thousand or less every year.There is an essential difference between the successful businessman and the person who would be much more happy in the long run as an employed worker, and this difference is NOT common sense.

The thing that sets the successful businessman apart from the average is that they use money to make more money in their business. If all the money that they created was a result of their own labor, they might as well just be an employed worker, working for a salary. But if you look at the really successful business people you will find one common denominator: they use the money that they get from the business to make even more money. Just look at people like Donald Trump, Warren Buffett or Dave Ramsey.

How do these people become really rich? Do they get good at managing their money so that it makes them more money and then they keep doing that more and more and more.

This important ability is not an inherited skill or common sense, but in every case you will find that they have been specifically taught how to do that, and most often not in university or school. They learned it from their parent or from somebody who was really good at it. Now here is a money management software system that has not only very detailed video tutorials that teach this exact skill set. Once you have watched these videos you can use that software to exactly put those basic principles into action: the Money Management Solutions money management software package. This is just a great way to learn. You see it in action on the video, and then you have the exact software that allows you to put that the exact set of actions to work with your very own money. It’s like having your own mentor for business money management success. All successful businessman had mentoring in money management. Here is your mentor, money management software in a shrink-wrapped box.

What the $399 Apple-TV SHOULD have been: Commercial-Free Television

These people are just marketing geniuses: Here they introduce another mediocre product that’s just a little bit better than their previous (non-upgradable) version of their mediocre product so everybody has to upgrade and Apple stock goes sky-high.
Here is what I did with $399 instead of getting this junk: Take a used PC (approx $100) and a $240 22″ LCD monitor, put in a $29 video card that connects to the monitor, to my projector and to the big-screen TV all at once, and installed Hauppauge WinTV PVR and GB-PVR. Full-featured DVR but here is the sweetest deal: Totally commercial-free Television ON ALL CHANNELS. How?
Install COMSKIP and COMCLEAN and the computer can AUTOMATICALLY remove commercials from all recorded programs. StarTrek or ANYTHING, WITHOUT commercials. Any movie on TV gets converted into commercial-free. It’s a whole new world of entertainment.
Install WMENCODER and it converts it to Windows Media, any program can go on the road into my 2003 Smartphone, no need to wait for an iPhone. Now THIS is what the AppleTV SHOULD have been.
If there’s interest let me know and I’ll post more detailed instructions on this Web site.

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Black Friday 2006 Buying Guide

Considering myself an “expert shopper” in electronics and computers, I always love to help others to find the best deals possible. This upcoming Black Friday is a great opportunity again. To start with, here are the ads from CompUSA and CircuitCity

On top of that I found this web site, DealsPl.us where you have access to easy direct links to tons of these websites. Plus, the filter tool allows you to navigate thorough these websites, compare Black Friday Special prices, and obtain additional information for the shopper to save money such as rebate and early bird special. Have fun!

And don’t forget to visit my own web site, http://www.strijewski.com often - smirk!