It’s the mission of any ad to get you to buy the product it’s pitching—and today—both John McCain and Barack Obama are on a mission to convince you that Obama is either:

A) just a rock Star

B) a strong leader

But, while they do it— they’ve diverting our attention from a much more important campaign issue.

It started with an attack ad by the McCain camp—which featured pictures of both Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Listen for the subtle use of music underneath the images of Obama and McCain to drive home the ad’s point.

Obama gets a dirge-like drum-roll, while the music that swells under the McCain logo is downright chipper as it ends on a warm and fuzzy image of the candidate.

It didn’t take the Obama people long to crank out a rebuttal.

Equally effective in its subtle use of music and imagery—the Obama ad uses black and white photos to create a more sinister and “old fashioned” portrait of McCain while a plaintive musical score plays.

When it comes time to highlight Obama, the images switch to bright color, while stirring march-like music underscores the words.

Both ads use a similar sounding female announcer—and both ads are brilliantly done.

The problem is—while both ads get lots of play in blogs, main stream media news stories, and other venues—they are keeping our attention away from the issue of the economy.

Neither candidate is addressing the substantive issues about what they’ll do to help the millions of us who are hurting.

As Forbes‘ Brian Wingfield pointed out here, this election may end up turning on whether a continuation of George Bush’s economic policies will be good for the country are not.

Meanwhile, we sit mesmerized by cleverly edited images and music—picking our candidates based on superficialities.

C’Mon folks. Don’t let Madison Ave. disenfranchise you.

—Steve

Link to the video and the story Steve covered today on NBC-17

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Like a perpetual motion machine that just keeps on running, we seem to have an endless supply of criminals who are not the brightest bulbs on the marquee of life…

Check ‘em out in this latest edition of:

A STORYBOOK ENDING….

Generally, the art of burglary is best executed if you leave the place you’ve robbed once you’ve taken the goods.

But, a 33-year-old thief in Portsmouth, England apparently hasn’t figured out that you shouldn’t take a nap in the home you’ve just burglarized.

Dubbed the “Goldilocks” robber by the local constabulary— Tommy Gill’s efforts probably weren’t helped by the 15 Valiums he downed right before he decided to become second-story man…

When the owners of the home found him snoozing in one of the bedrooms with a sack full of loot, they called the cops…

As you can read here, Tommy was so sleepy—it took the cops a few minutes to wake him…

R U RED-E 4 JAIL?

Terrell, North Carolina is a little community in the western part of the state—where about 860 people live—including at least one guy apparently believes everything he reads.

Seems he and a friend were engaged in a series of burglaries in that small town.

The local cops moved in and grabbed one of the burglars. They also grabbed the burglar’s cell phone.

Pretty soon his accomplice was texting him. “Have U Been Cot” he asked?

The cops texted back “NO.”

The sender then offered to pick up his pal.

You know what happens next.

I suspect his face looked like this when he was apprehended.

: (

HE CRACKED THEM UP…

Crooks and telephones don’t seem to mix really well…

Here’s the story of a man from East Hartford, Connecticut who called the police to report a theft— the theft of the $8 dollars he was using to buy crack cocaine.

When 48-year-old Max Minnefield showed up in court, the judge asked him if he really thought the police were going to go after the people who didn’t give him his drugs.

Many in the court reportedly were suppressing smirks and smiles as the case unfolded.

He was charged with criminal attempt to commit possession of narcotics…

You see Max, that Serve And Protect thingee that cops do only works if you’re one of the good guys whose been victimized…

—Steve

Link to the video and the story Steve covered today on NBC-17

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Here’s a bunch of stuff lying around that doesn’t go anywhere else, which is why we’re trying to fit together more:

HAVING A RUFF TIME WITH ROVER…

We’ve all heard how vicious some pit bulls can be—but apparently, an 11-year-old Brazilian boy doesn’t worry about that…

When “Titan,” his uncle’s pit bull suddenly turned angry— Gabriel Almeida gave the dog a taste of his own medicine.

Gabriel says Titan started to attack and bite him while he was playing with the dog—so, little Gabe bit Titan right back.

In fact— Gabriel bit the dog SO hard, he broke a tooth.

And which tooth do you think it wa he snapped as he chomped on the K-9?? Why it was Gabriel’s canine tooth !

I bet Titan will gives “paws” next time before he thinks about biting a human…

URINE TROUBLE NOW…

Before NASA sends astronauts back to the moon, it needs 8 gallons of urine a day—every day—from now till the end of the month..

No, it’s not for some sot of exotic rocket fuel—it’s for a new space toilet.

As you can read here, NASA says the only thing that works in test toilets is REAL urine—fake urine just wont do…

See, the new Orion program intends to put men on the moon for up to 6 months at a time—and —well, that a lot of urine.

Despite the fact that urine is a waste product, NASA is very picky about the KIND of urine it wants, as you can read in this memo that was posted for employees at the agency’s Johnson Space Center facility.

LOOK, UP IN THE SKY…

One of the men who holds the current record for the longest moonwalk ever— continues to speak out about Aliens he says are visiting earth.

Last week, we told you how Doctor Edgar Mitchell created an inadvertent media splash when he went into great detail on a British radio show about visitation by extraterrestrial biological entities (EBE’S) whose visits he claimed are being covered up by the U.S. Government.

NASA tried to put the squish on his claims saying it had nothing to do with Aliens.

Now— Mitchell’s gone further in explaining his statements to a reporter from Discovery Channel, in this piece here.

He says indeed, he wasn’t told about the Alien presence by space agency officials— but rather he was briefed by highly placed people in our military.

He also explains why so few in the government actually have access to this information—because it’s been compartmentalized since President Harry Truman’s day.

Now, both sides in the UFO debate can truly say, “it’s really out there.”

—Steve

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As we move into the weekend—it’s time to pick up some of the scattered currency left over from previous posts…

So let’s put pocket the loose change in these updates…

THE ALIENS AMONG US…

It came out of the blue from a man who spent a lot of time in space.

Former Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell says aliens are REAL and they’re on this planet.

His stunning disclosure follows a similar revelation that occurred last May.

That’s when a mysterious article we told you about in this post was published in the Vatican newspaper by the Catholic Church’s official astronomer saying- -among other things—Aliens are our brothers, and we should consider them God’s creatures too.

The 6th man to walk on the moon revealed he’s been privy to knowledge about aliens on earth—and detailed it is a pretty lengthy conversation that took place on a British radio show—the audio of which you can listen to here:

IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF VANITY—BUT IS IT FAIR?

Yesterday we told you how Vanity Fair took a few shots at The New Yorker by creating a phony look-alike cover poking fun at Barack Obama illustration that The New Yorker said was satire..

Well, it seems Vanity Fair might not have been so fair…

They apparently ripped their John McCain idea from cartoonist David Horsey–whose illustration for the Seattle Post Intelligencer was published back on July 15th…

You can read more details here about the Post-Intelligencer’s anger at being ripped off.

POLLS APART…

By the way—anger over the original Obama cover seems to fall just about along party lines…

A new Survay of Democrats and Republicans by the Pew Research Center found two thirds of Democrats didn’t like the cover—while about two-thirds of Republicans surveyed thought it was funny.

The detailed breakdown can be found here.

Considering the way this country is polarized politically—are you at all surprised by the results?

—Steve

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Over the course of the presidential campaign, we’ve seen how one candidate or another has been lionized by the press…

And we’ve also seen how—after a while—that lionization fades as the newest “next big thing” is put up on the pedestal for a while…

So, let’s take a look at the current hot buttons before they are no longer fashionable..

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND PUBLISHING…

The New Yorker continues to take hits for its feeble attempt at satire…

As you might recall—this front cover was roundly criticized in many quarters, including in this post….

Now—it takes another public flogging—this from its publishing rival Vanity Fair…

Their blog purports to show the front cover of their August issue –which bears an eerie similarity to the much maligned New Yorker cover—right down to identical type fonts used for the masthead.

With tongues firmly planted in cheek—you can read here how Vanity Fair’s editors talk about how they’re doing this in “a selfless act of solidarity with our downstairs neighbors here at the Condé Nast building”

But solidarity only goes SO far…

Vanity Fair’s real August cover WON’T use the fun-poking illustration which features a constitution burning in the fireplace, a portrait of George Bush on the wall and McCain’s wife holding a fist-full of prescription bottles..

Could it be because BOTH publications are owned by the same company?

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS….

At one point, John Edwards was lionized by the media early in his run fore the presidency—but that adoration soon faded as the press became more interested in the Obama-Clinton dust-up.

Supposedly, Edwards and Sam Nunn are on the short-list as potential running mates for OBama..

But now—Edwards faces a new challenge.

The National Enquirer has posted a very detail filled story on line alleging Edwards had a west coast rendezvous with his supposed mistress and his love child.

Edwards has called the story “trash” —but you have to know the Enquirer is just using its blog post to generate interest in its yet to be published story—which no doubt will feature pictures and more details.

And If Obama’s people were thinking about Edwards as a number two guy—you’ve gotta figure they’re re-thinking that idea now.

THE NUMBER TWO, TWO-STEP…

John McCain—who also was once the darling of the media—can’t seem to catch a break coverage-wise these days.

Barack Obama’s overseas trip not only attracted the major news anchors as tag-alongs— but generated tons of coverage.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Dolly put an end to McCain’s planned visit to a Gulf of Mexico oil rig.

And assertions by columnist Robert Novak that McCain was about to name his veep this week seem to have been nothing more than a feeble attempt to generate more focus on McCain’s campaign activities.

As you can read here, Novak now believes he was hoaxed, and that McCain’s people “were trying to get a little publicity to rain on Obama’s campaign.” Novak calls it “pretty reprehensible if it’s true.”

Hey Bob—you’re an old hand at this…

You ought to know by now—you can’t trust those lionize…

—Steve

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