Yaicha

Ted’s take on the world, one topic at a time.

Archive for April, 2008

Assessing Strength of Contenders in Swing States

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 24, 2008

Intelligent, insightful, research on the key issue facing Democratic super-delegates — all you super-delegates who read this blog, be sure to read this NYT article!

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is best positioned to win in the fall, but exit polling shows that Barack Obama could do just as well.

read more | digg story

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Hillary’s Smackdown

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 24, 2008

Gail Collins’s column is tongue-in-cheek amusing, and a nice alternative to the doom-and-gloom pronouncements concerning the ongoing Democratic primary election. Clever and funny, as well as reassuring.

It’s O.K. by me if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton keep running against each other. Just as long as they keep it personal.

read more | digg story

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Just Go, Go, GO!

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 23, 2008

Maureen Dowd re-writes Dr. Suess this morning in her column, Wilting Over Waffles:

“The time has come. The time has come. The time is now. Just go. … I don’t care how. You can go by foot. You can go by cow. Hillary R. Clinton, will you please go now! You can go on skates. You can go on skis. … You can go in an old blue shoe.

Just go, go, GO!”

read more | digg story

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Why Bother Dealing with Climate Change? – Michael Pollan

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008


As a rule, you should always read NYT Magazine articles by Michael Pollan. They are long but worth it.

There are so many stories we can tell ourselves to justify doing nothing, but perhaps the most insidious is that, whatever we do manage to do, it will be too little too late. Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule.

(Photo: Thomas Hannich)
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Posted in Environment, Ethics, Human Interest, Science, Trends | Leave a Comment »

Hokey Pennsylvania Obama Video

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008

This guy in Pennsylvania wrote and performed a song about Obama and the campaign used it as the soundtrack for a new video. It’s kind of hokey, but it’s also kind of fun to watch.

Posted in Politics, Video | Leave a Comment »

Still with Stupid? Why We Need a Smart President.

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008

Meghan DaumMeghan Daum’s insights echo, in some ways, Nicholas Kristof’s column, ‘With a Few More Brains …’ that I wrote about previously.

With political discourse reduced to screaming contests and actual news eclipsed by exclusive and shocking footage of celebrities without makeup, we’ve become not only impatient with but downright opposed to the kinds of ideas that can’t be reduced to a line on a screen crawl or a two-sentence blog entry. Have you fallen into this trap?

read more | digg story

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Adios, Sound Bites & Fat Cats – Obama is Changing Politics

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008

See the original image at newsweek.comI’ve been wondering whether Obama is succeeding at changing the rules of the political game, so I found this analysis interesting.

The ecosystem of political media has changed, with sound bites losing their authority. Consumers of news are less easily manipulated by the 24/7 barrage of bites and images (Hillary Clinton doing whiskey shots, Obama bowling), which are dissected endlessly on cable. Voters search for their own context.

read more | digg story

Posted in Media, Politics, Trends, Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment »

Obama Wins Pennsylvania: Primary Election Prediction

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008

I’m not a pollster, nor a pundit, and I don’t have any inside information. But I’m going to offer my prediction about tomorrow’s Democratic Party primary election in Pennsylvania. I figure I can’t be any more wrong than anyone else . . .

So, here it is: Obama is going to win this highly-contested state. My head says he can’t do it, though. Hillary has campaigned too effectively (that includes negative and smearing tactics, since they do work often) and already had a large lead when campaigning here began in earnest six years, I mean months, I mean weeks ago (just seems like longer when you have to see all the TV ads, I guess).

But I’m hopeful. I’m optimistic that the people of this state will Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »

On the Branding Edge – INSEAD Knowledge

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008

Ken Cato

Australian branding and design guru Ken Cato is known for his deep-seated fondness for black-and-white monochrome minimalism. Yet he has a less than black-and-white approach to helping his clients build their own brands, advocating a focus on defining the objectives and being open-minded in achieving them.

read more | digg story

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The Brand Is the Business – INSEAD Knowledge

Posted by Ted Hopton on April 21, 2008

Shelly Lazarus

“Today more than half of the total stock market value of corporations lies in intangible assets such as brands … The brand is the business.” This statement by Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide at the World Effie Festival 2008, sums up why brand building is important for companies.

read more | digg story

Posted in Marketing | Leave a Comment »

 
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