Archive for April 19th, 2008
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
I thought it was bad enough that Obama got pinned down in the recent debate by the sniper fire of that idiotic woman’s videotaped question that suggested he was not patriotic because he doesn’t wear a flag pin, but it’s even worse to realize that neither Hillary Clinton nor John McCain wear flag pins, either! So, why pick on Obama and suggest he is unelectable in the fall because of this?
Mark Nickolas does a nice job of tracking down the evidence on McCain, complete with photo fact-checking. This photo is from April 17. Too bad McCain doesn’t realize he could be throwing away the presidency by not pinning a flag on his lapel!
The most egregious hypocrisy concerning this manufactured non-issue is the fact that John McCain (R) does not wear one either.
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Posted in Media, Politics | Tagged: debate, flag pin, john mccain, Obama | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
OK, I constantly have to remind myself that perfect is the enemy of good (if you haven’t heard that before, give it some thought). So, I’ve just finished 56 new posts to this blog and each one is about something I’ve read, heard or seen that I want to recommend to others. I completely cleaned out my backlog of articles I had been meaning to link to from this blog.
Since I find far more of such items than I have time to write about, I just slapped these into the blog. In fact, the fastest way to post them Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Blogs, Recommended Reading | Tagged: articles, news, Recommended Reading | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
Jon Stewart does what he does best and demolishes ABC debate moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos for the pathetic questions they asked on Wednesday.
This is a funny video clip. Stewart’s best line is the one where he objects to the ABC moderators being sillier than he is: “That’s my job! Stop doing my job! I’m the silly man!”
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Posted in Media, Politics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
Barack Obama was greeted by the largest crowd of his campaign Friday night in Philadelphia. Some 35,000 people jammed into Independence Park to see the Democratic presidential candidate, four days before this state’s crucial April 22 primary.
Personal Update: My daughter took the train to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon and wondered why the normally quiet little train station was packed with people. Turned out Barack Obama was holding a rally at the Paoli train station as part of a day-long whistle-stop train trip from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, so she passed close by him as she got on her train. She thought this was so cool that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
Obama’s “bitter” faux pas has been flogged to death (except the controversy hasn’t died, yet). At the time, I cringed at his choice of words, as he really did mangle his point in a way that left him vulnerable to vicious distortions. But I thought he had essentially gotten it right and spoken truth.
This article challenges that conclusion and cites research showing Obama got it wrong — not wrong for his poor choice of “clinging” but wrong in understanding what motivates what kinds of voters.
Small-town people of modest means and limited education are not fixated on cultural issues. Rather, it is affluent, college-educated people living in cities and suburbs who are most exercised by guns and religion. In contemporary American politics, social issues are the opiate of the elites.
I’m not sure I agree, but I enjoyed reading an intelligent, informed Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Human Interest, Politics, Research | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
It’s old news that Obama is popular with younger voters. But this article on Search Engine Watch by Liana Evans explains how much more effective Obama’s use of social media websites has been than his competitor’s.
No longer is it just a TV advertisement, a radio ad or a full-page ad in the local city newspaper that is influencing the youth vote. Heck, it’s not even MTV that is affecting the youth vote anymore. It is the world of social media that is having the greatest effect on energizing that youth vote.
It’s a good case study of how to market effectively using social networking sites — and how not to, in the case of Clinton’s campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Marketing, Media, Networking, Politics, Strategy, Technology, Trends, Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
I usually respect David Brooks’ reasoning, even though he’s much more conservative than I am.
Furiously courting Democratic primary voters and apparently exhausted, Barack Obama has emerged as a more conventional politician and a more orthodox liberal.
Well, duh. How could anyone possibly get elected today without having to toe the line and do what conventional politicians have to do? He doesn’t walk on water and he doesn’t get to re-write all the rules.
Yet he’s certainly challenged the status quo approach to running for president and has managed to change the process in positive ways, and in doing so he’s energized millions of people to get excited about a candidate, for a change.
I wish he were perfect. I wish he never waffled or said things that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo will speak Thursday afternoon at the TED conference about parallels between his infamous 1971 “prison experiment” at Stanford and prisoner abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq more than 30 years later. Wired.com has an exclusive video from Zimbardo’s talk, featuring Abu Ghraib photos he says are previously unseen.
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Posted in Ethics, Leadership, Learning, Research, Science | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
If you been dreaming of picking up roots, living on the edge, or literally going out on a limb in terms of eco-lifestyle possibilities, then Finca Bellavista: A Sustainable Rainforest Community might be just the thing for you.
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Posted in Costa Rica, Environment, Travel | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on April 19, 2008
With 1.6 million people in prison, the incarceration rate is now the highest in American history, a new report says.
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Posted in Ethics, Human Interest, Research | Tagged: prison, rehabilitation, society | 2 Comments »
