Punxsutawney Trip Canceled

I will not be making my annual trip to Punxsutawney, PA this year.  I had been making the trip the last couple of years since I watched the Groundhog Day ceremony on TV in 2009.  It was then that I noticed that the sky was cloudy and dark.  There should have been no way Punxsutawney Phil would have seen his shadow.  He saw it.  He saw his shadow because of all of the lights that were shining on him.  Those lights came from television cameras.  The media was to blame for six more weeks of winter in 2009.

2010 – I had to do something about this.  I made the trip to Punxsutawney and spent the night before at a local hotel.  My plan was to get there at about 6:30AM and get there before sunrise.  The plan included walking up to the cameras and filtering the lights enough to block the shadow caused by lights but not so much that people watching at home couldn’t see the groundhog.  The only problem was that I was unable to get to the cameras because there were over 10,000 people in attendance.  Phil ended up seeing his shadow.  A few weeks later, my town was hit with 2 1/2 feet of snow.

Shoveling 31" of snow made it hard to place the snow and the banks were over 7 feet high.

Last year I had everything planned perfectly.  I arrived at 3:30AM to a sparse park.  I had the filters for the lights and also brought pepper spray to spray in the groundhog’s eyes.  As I was making my move, I was approached by security.  They asked what I was doing.  I told them I was walking around and trying to get a better view.  They let me go but kept an eye on me.  Fortunately, Phil did not see his shadow.

There are a few reasons why I am not going this year.  The first reason is that winter has been mild this year with little snow.  This is a concern because I am walking distance to a ski resort.  The tourists who come here to ski drive me nuts, but they’re a necessary evil as more skiers equals more money for the town and fewer taxes I’ll have to pay next year.  The second reason is the campaign.  I will be in eastern Pennsylvania on the 1st and Connecticut on the 3rd.  Punxsutawney is too far out of the way.  Gas prices are too high for me to go anywhere but a straight line.

My apologies to anyone who had planned on meeting me this year in Punxsutawney.  It’s not a good year for the trip, but I will more than likely go in 2013.  (Hopefully as President of the United States.)

Video Ad – Take the Money Out of Politics

I had to do a lot more tinkering (more than I wanted to), but I finally was able to finish the video and post it here.  The video shows that I am a fiscal conservative in three ways:  1) I’m not spending money that doesn’t need to be spent (especially your money.)  2) The video quality is proof that I did not spend any money on my campaign.

Starting next week, I will be posting my weekly address via video.

Oh the Agony!

It was a long time coming, but I finally picked up the microphone to make my video.  It had been a while since I made a video from scratch and it took me a while to reacquaint myself with the video making program.

I had to load the images first.  Because I can adjust the length of time the images appear in the video.  It took some tinkering with the images, the effects, and the voice-over, but I was able to make a video that had a strong message that lasts 30 seconds.  I ran some tests in the program and everything went without a hitch.

That all changed when I tried to convert the video from project mode to video mode suitable for downloading.  It wouldn’t convert.  A “Not Enough Disk Space” error popped up.  It was odd because I have 50GB (50,000,000KB)of space available on my hard drive and the file only took up 420KB of space.  I tried tinkering a bit, taking stuff out and trying again.  I got the same message.

I tried closing the program and reopening it.  I ended up with the same result when trying to convert the file.  I tried rebooting my computer.  The program reloaded with no problem and the file was retrieved with no problem.  The attempt to convert it into a file proved to be the most futile attempt yet.  The program hung up.

There is nothing overly complicated about the video.  A few pictures with simple video effects and a couple audio files.  There are no viruses or malware on my computer.  This has been a frustrating day.

If you have Windows Movie Maker (It comes standard with most Windows computers) and you want to try to convert it, then email me at ahmnodtheare-at-politician.com and i will send you the file.

Defending Mitt Romney

DISCLAIMER:  This shall in no way be looked at as an endorsement.  I am still running for President and for the time being will only endorse myself.  

Before I do the dubious deed of defending Mitt Romney, let me point that he still has a bunch of flaws.  He is the architect of ObamaCare and believes in mandating health insurance.  He has changed his position on a number of issues including abortion.  The oil required to keep his hair slick has risen oil prices $.15/barrel.

Mitt Romney is a very rich man.  There is nothing wrong with that.  He made $43 million in 2011 without having to work.  I wouldn’t be honest if I said I don’t envy the bejeebus of him.  People like to point out that he only paid 13.7% in income taxes.  They fail to mention that 13.7% translates to $6 million.  How many of you paid $6 million in taxes?  I didn’t.  I probably won’t pay that much over the course of my lifetime.

He also gave $7 million to various charities.  $4 million went to the Mormon Church.  $3 million went to other charities that help the poor.  Between taxes and charities, Romney never saw $13 million of what he made (or 30% of his pay.)  That is near the highest bracket.  Romney’s 30% comes after deductions.

Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT want Romney to be President.  But with so many other weaknesses to choose from, who much money he paid in taxes shouldn’t be one of the things to nail him on.  I hope to make enough money to pay $6 million in taxes and not sweat.

Here They Come!

Brace yourselves, America!  Last night I received a text from my running mate Albee Thayer that there is a superPAC in the works in Texas that plans to run anti-Ahmnodt Heare ads on television and radio in February.  Their original plan was to run an ad during the Super Bowl, but NBC nixed the ad stating they do not run political ads during the Super Bowl.

If you are looking for an internship with a major media company, Then write NBC, tell them that Ahmnodt Heare does not have an embed for his campaign and that you are willing to be that embed.

Tonight will be the last debate (8:00PM EST – CNN) the Republicans will have until February 22.  This is good news for people who have been playing drinking games during debates because their livers will finally have a chance to heal.  I am the only presidential candidate to play drinking games while debating so I am the only candidate who feels the pain.

I still haven’t gotten a microphone for my computer so production for my video and radio ads are on stand-by.  I am hoping to have them both finished this weekend.

One More Debate

If there is anything worse than the lack of quality Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates, it’s the lack of quality in Presidential debate moderators.  Tomorrow is another chance to be proven wrong.  There will be a debate on CNN tomorrow night at 8:00PM Eastern.  Once again, I will be taking my ever-sharpened debating skills to Twitter.  I don’t know why candidates have so many problems keeping their answers under one minute when I can keep my answers under 140 characters with hashtags added for effect.

I do not know who will be asking the questions on CNN, but here is a guideline they can use to look competent:

• Know the issues that affect the voters – People don’t want to know how many wives Newt Gingrich has had or how much money Ahmnodt Heare pays for a lap dance.  They want the important issues:  Jobs, the economy, and affordable entertainment.
• Realize that Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are not the only candidates on the stage.  Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are there too.  I doubt they are taking time out of their busy schedules to go watch Mitt and Newt debate.
• Know something about the candidates on stage and use questions accordingly.  If you’re going to ask the business man questions about economics, wouldn’t it make sense to ask the OB/GYN questions about health care?  If I was debating, I would expect this former movie theater manager to be included in discussions about affordable entertainment.

If tomorrow night’s debate becomes yet another “Mitt and Newt Show” with a bunch of subjects that have nothing to do with running a country, I will take steps in getting people to boycott Time-Warner (CNN’s parent company).  This includes Time, Warner Brothers (whom I’m already boycotting – damned Cinemafiosos), and Time-Warner Cable.

I anticipate that CNN will remember what professional journalism is all about tomorrow night when they host the debate.  And that they will remember to include Buddy Roemer, Vermin Supreme, and Ahmnodt Heare in future debates so that Americans will have more choices (including a few that don’t suck.)

Watch Me Live Here Tonight!

I will be giving live commentary to President Obama’s “State of the Union” Address tonight.  If it happens to between 9:00PM and 10:40PM Eastern and click the video below, you will be watching me LIVE!.

You can either join the chat where I will also be fielding questions and giving shoutouts or you can leave a comment below.  I will be checking this page from time to time and also after the speech to answer questions and comments.