Ron Paul: on top on the net, moving up on the tube?

Riding a wave of rising interest in constitutional practices in government (imagine that!), Ron Paul has passed 30,000 youtube subscribers, and their campaign has issued a press release today regarding their success

 on a similar note, I regret to say that I missed the GOP dibate to day and I wanted to see Ron mop up the place with the other guys (if they gave him opportunity to speak) but some of the responses I saw in the blogosphere are very encouraging.  This is getting to be almost as good as college football.  (well, almost)

link

Mysteriously, the CNBC poll results vanished shortly after the debates ended. However, for those who want to know the results, the last post we were able to record is below:

Here’s what I found at 5:46 p.m EST:

1. Which candidate won the debate?

Ron Paul 75%
Mike Huckabee 7.1%
Mitt Romney 5.6%
Fred Thompson 5.3%
Rudy Giuliani 3.6%
John McCain 1.8%
Duncan Hunter 0.7%
Tom Tancredo 0.7%
Sam Brownback 0.4%

2. If the GOP primary was to be held today, which candidate would you vote for? * 8253 responses

Ron Paul 76%
Mike Huckabee 7.1%
Fred Thompson 5.5%
Mitt Romney 4.9%
Rudy Giuliani 3.5%
John McCain 1.5%
Duncan Hunter 0.8%
Tom Tancredo 0.5%
Sam Brownback 0.3%

3. Which Republican candidate is best for your money? * 8253 responses

Ron Paul 76%
Mike Huckabee 7.2%
Mitt Romney 5.6%
Fred Thompson 5.2%
Rudy Giuliani 3.2%
John McCain 1.1%
Duncan Hunter 0.8%
Tom Tancredo 0.6%
Sam Brownback 0.4%

GO RON PAUL

Financial Peace University : Buyer beware

yesterday we attended our weekly seminar from Dave Ramsey.  It was entitled:  Buyer Beware

 One of the points that stuck out at me the most was how effective marketing schemes are.  Dave demonstrated how we get duped by scientifically conjured techniques from marketing agencies by things like eye-catching product labeling and repetitive advertising.  We say, “that stuff doesn’t work on me”  … O, yeah?!?  Have it your _____.  Melts in your mouth, not in your ____.    Repetition in advertising works.  (Who is Ron Paul anyway?) 

 He also gave some useful tips on making major purchasing decisions (over $200) like waiting overnight, consulting with your spouse, research and know about the product you are planning to buy, know the opportunity cost (if I spend $1000 on this cruise, then I can’t invest it in my mutual fund), and know whether the purchase would be filling a want or a need (either are okay to fill, the point is to be honest with yourself).  Practising these five disciplines are a sure fire way to keep us from making stupid and impulsive purchsing decisions that we will regret.

More tips from Dave:

Beware of the following as a consumer…

1. 90 Days Same-As-Cash
2. Zero-interest loans
3. All credit cards
4. “Let me check with the manager.”
5. Impulse product offers
6. High-pressure sales tactics
7. Get-rich-quick schemes
8. Zero-risk investments
9. Cosigning loans
10. Anything that sounds too good to be true

Ron Paul: War on Terror? It’s as Bad as War on Drugs

I have recently been finding out who Ron Paul is.  I have never been interested in a nominee as I am in Ron Paul.  I just cannot find anything that he and I disagree on.  This is indeed a good thing.  The following is a few pieces and parts of one of Dr. Pauls writings that brought some questions to mind.  Tell me what you think.

link to full article

“I would like to draw an analogy between the drug war and the war against terrorism. In the last 30 years, we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on a failed war on drugs. This war has been used as an excuse to attack our liberties and privacy. It has been an excuse to undermine our financial privacy while promoting illegal searches and seizures with many innocent people losing their lives and property. Seizure and forfeiture have harmed a great number of innocent American citizens. …

… For the first 140 years of our history, we had essentially no Federal war on drugs, and far fewer problems with drug addiction and related crimes was a consequence. In the past 30 years, even with the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on the drug war, little good has come of it. We have vacillated from efforts to stop the drugs at the source to severely punishing the users, yet nothing has improved. This war has been behind most big government policy powers of the last 30 years, with continual undermining of our civil liberties and personal privacy.

…The drug war encourages violence. … Many innocent people are killed in the crossfire by the mob justice that this war generates. … But as the violent killers are removed from society, reconsideration of our drug laws ought to occur.

…a better understanding of how drug laws have unintended consequences is required if we want to significantly improve the situation and actually reduce the great harms drugs are doing to our society.

The same is true in dealing with those who so passionately hate us that suicide becomes a just and noble cause in their effort to kill and terrorize us. Without some understanding of what has brought us to the brink of a worldwide conflict in reconsidering our policies around the globe, we will be no more successful in making our land secure and free than the drug war has been in removing drug violence from our cities and towns.

Without some understanding why terrorism is directed towards the United States, we may well build a prison for ourselves with something called homeland security while doing nothing to combat the root causes of terrorism. Let us hope we figure this out soon. We have promoted a foolish and very expensive domestic war on drugs for more than 30 years. It has done no good whatsoever. I doubt our Republic can survive a 30-year period of trying to figure out how to win this guerilla war against terrorism. Hopefully, we will all seek the answers in these trying times with an open mind and understanding. ”

So the logic is that war is not the answer.  I get that. 

The questions this brings to my mind are: 

was the drug epidemic worse before because we had no war on drugs or has our culture just craved escape more and more as the age had pro[de]gressed? 

Can we blame the war on drugs for the voilence of men with altered states of mind?

 What is the alternative to a declared war on terror?