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Monday, December 03, 2007
Backers to outfit blimp with Paul logo
By JOHN HENDERSON
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Staff Writer
One of the largest blimps in the world will be launched in Weeksville on Monday promoting Republican Ron Paul’s presidential bid.
The blimp tour supporting the Texas congressman’s presidential campaign is slated to formally kick off next week out of Airship Management Services’ office in Weeksville.
Ronpaulblimp.com states that the inaugural launch of the ship is slated for 8 a.m.
It will cost Paul supporters $350,000 a month to lease the blimp from AMS, a Connecticut-based company with a satellite location in Weeksville, where blimps are stored and maintained. Company president George Spyrou said this is the first time a presidential campaign has been promoted on a blimp.
Spyrou said the blimp has been used in previous advertising campaigns including Pepsi, Fuji film and Ameriquest mortgage services. A company sister ship was flown over the Olympic games in Athens in 2004.
Spyrou said that Paul supporters have the blimp reserved on a month-to-month basis, and could be leased out up to a year, if necessary.
“Ron Paul supporters seem to be from a very enthusiastic part of the world,” Spyrou said.
The blimp is 200 feet long with a volume of 240,000 cubic feet.
“The cabin part is the largest in America,” he said. “The balloon part is the same size as the Goodyear blimp.”
Paul’s supporters have been soliciting contributions to sponsor the aerial campaign. Their web page, ronpaulblimp.com, states that $51,875 has been collected as of 2:33 p.m. on Monday.
Some of the sponsorship terms include flight benefits.
For instance, for a $5,000 sponsorship, donors can travel on the “Ron Paul Blimp Tour” for three to five days, the page states. Organizers are asking for amounts between $25, for 2.7 minutes of sponsorship, to $1 million for 10 weeks of sponsorships.
The Web page tells supporters that they can “buy as much blimp (sponsorship time) as you want without having it count toward your current campaign contributions.”
Officials from Paul’s campaign office and his congressional office said they had nothing to do with the Ron Paul Blimp movement.
However, the blimp will promote Paul’s presidential bid in several ways.
Decals are going to be stuck on the side of the blimp. One design is slated to read: “Who is Ron Paul? Google Ron Paul.” Supporters are tagging the other side as the “Love revolution,” and it reads Ron Paul R”evol”ution.
The blimp will be flying over the northeast and critical primary states. Key dates include:
— 2022(unknown) —Dec. 12, a flyover over Wall Street is planned.
— 2022(unknown) — Dec. 14, tea will be dumped from the blimp into the Boston Harbor.
— 2022(unknown) — Dec. 15, a New Hampshire and Boston flyover is planned.
“Why is the blimp spending so much time in New Hampshire during the election season? That is where the cameras are,” the Web page reads.
(Contact John Henderson at jhenderson@coxnc.com)
Source: YouTube; July 8, 2007
"Global temperatures have been warming since the Little Ice Age. Studies within the respectable scientific community have shown that human beings are most likely a part of this process. As a Congressman, I've done a number of things to support environmentally friendly policies. I have been active in the Green Scissors campaign to cut environmentally harmful spending, I've opposed foreign wars for oil, and I've spoken out against government programs that encourage development in environmentally sensitive areas, such as flood insurance."
"I strongly oppose the Kyoto treaty. Providing for a clean environment is an excellent goal, but the Kyoto treaty doesn't do that. Instead it's placed the burden on the United States to cut emissions while not requiring China - the world's biggest polluter - an other polluting third-world countries to do a thing. Also, the regulations are harmful for American workers, because it encourages corporations to move their business overseas to countries where the regulations don't apply. It's bad science, it's bad policy, and it's bad for America. I am more than willing to work cooperatively with other nations to come up with policies that will safeguard the environment, but I oppose all nonbinding resolutions that place an unnecessary burden on the United States."
When asked by Bill Maher if he thinks the Federal Government should be involved in stopping Global Warming, Ron Paul replied:
"Then you have to deal with the volcanoes, and you have to deal with China... so what are you going to do, invade China so they don't pollute? ... But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do what we can to slow up the emissions and stop subsidizing big oil companies. I don't like subsidizing oil companies. They've been doing that for years. We go to war to protect oil, so that we can buy more oil, and burn more oil. So I say our foreign policy contributes to global warming -- by subsidizing a policy that is deeply flawed. And that's why we're in the Middle East, to protect oil interests."
When asked if efforts to slow down Global Warming should be increased, Dr. Paul replied: "Yes."
Because he does not support any piece of legislation not specifically authorized by the Constitution, Paul votes against most bills that involve government spending or expanded government initiatives; thus he does not seek legislation to combat the global warming. Instead, he advocates reducing emissions, halting subsidies to oil companies, and altering a war-for-oil foreign policy that in itself contributes to global warming.
