<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Sat, 14 Feb 2026 08:52:47 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>Senator Obama</category><category>Democratic Primary</category><category>Senator Clinton</category><category>Senator McCain</category><category>Advertising</category><category>Barack Obama</category><category>Presidential Election</category><category>Hillary Clinton</category><category>Media Coverage</category><category>David Brooks</category><category>economy</category><category>John McCain</category><category>global warming</category><category>Gas Prices</category><category>President Bush</category><category>War in Iraq</category><category>Iraq</category><category>Obama</category><category>Al Gore</category><category>Alternative Energy</category><category>John Edwards</category><category>congress</category><category>George W. 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Ben Affleck</category><category>Satan</category><category>School Shooting</category><category>Secretary Gates</category><category>Security Checks</category><category>Sexual Misconduct</category><category>Smart Car</category><category>Sports areanas</category><category>Stadium Constructions</category><category>Statue of Liberty</category><category>Stein Rogan + Partners</category><category>Submissions</category><category>Sue Simmons</category><category>Summer Blockbusters</category><category>Super Mario</category><category>Supreme Court Rulings</category><category>Taliban</category><category>Teleprompters</category><category>Television News</category><category>Texas Debate</category><category>The American President</category><category>The F-Bomb</category><category>The Pope.</category><category>The Real News Network</category><category>The Simpsons</category><category>The Surge</category><category>The V List</category><category>Theater</category><category>Thomas Malthus</category><category>Tomas Young</category><category>Traveler&#39;s</category><category>Truth Through Action</category><category>VW</category><category>Vice Presidential choices</category><category>Viral marketing</category><category>WWE</category><category>Walter Reed</category><category>West Virginia Primary</category><category>Whitey</category><category>Will Ferrell</category><category>William Kristol</category><category>Wind Power 2030</category><category>Women&#39;s Rights</category><category>X-Files Movie</category><category>body of war</category><category>cabs</category><category>climate crisis</category><category>credit crisis</category><category>endangered species</category><category>guerilla marketing</category><category>housing crisis</category><category>idiots</category><category>martin luther king</category><category>middle class</category><category>new deal</category><category>newspapers</category><category>reader opinions</category><category>running mates</category><category>steroids</category><category>subprime loans</category><category>veterans</category><category>youtube</category><title>Thinking about policy over politics</title><description>A blog dedicated to bringing news, insights and analysis of both Politics and Policy.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>488</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-4826711909298909528</guid><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jul 2013 13:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2013-07-18T09:43:49.719-04:00</atom:updated><title>Mailing List From Website: You are now unsubscribed</title><description>BEGIN:VCARD&lt;br&gt;VERSION;TYPE=WORK:3.0&lt;br&gt;FN:James Bedell&lt;br&gt;N:James Bedell;;;;&lt;br&gt;PROFILE:VCARD&lt;br&gt;ADR:;;2231 36th Street;Astoria;NY;11105;USA&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;mailto:EMAIL%3Ajp@jamesbedell.com&quot;&gt;EMAIL:jp@jamesbedell.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;ORG:JPB Lighting&lt;br&gt;URL:&lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.com&quot;&gt;http://jamesbedell.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;END:VCARD&lt;br&gt;&lt;center&gt;          	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;20&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;100%&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; id=&quot;bodyTable&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #eeeeee;&quot;&gt;              	&lt;tr&gt;                  	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                      	&lt;!-- // BEGIN CONTAINER --&gt;                          &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; id=&quot;templateContainer&quot; class=&quot;rounded6&quot; style=&quot;-moz-border-radius: 6px;border-radius: 6px;-webkit-border-radius: 6px;background-color: none;&quot;&gt;                          	&lt;tr&gt;                              	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                                  	&lt;!-- // BEGIN HEADER --&gt;                                      &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;600&quot;&gt;                                      	&lt;tr&gt;                                          	&lt;td&gt;                                              	&lt;h1 style=&quot;font-size: 28px;margin-bottom: 15px;padding: 0;margin-top: 0;&quot;&gt;Mailing List From Website&lt;/h1&gt;                                              &lt;/td&gt;                                          &lt;/tr&gt;                                      &lt;/table&gt;                                  	&lt;!-- END HEADER \\ --&gt;                                  &lt;/td&gt;                              &lt;/tr&gt;                          	&lt;tr&gt;                              	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                                  	&lt;!-- // BEGIN BODY --&gt;                                  	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; id=&quot;templateBody&quot; class=&quot;rounded6&quot; style=&quot;-moz-border-radius: 6px;border-radius: 6px;-webkit-border-radius: 6px;background-color: #ffffff;&quot;&gt;                                      	&lt;tr&gt;                                          	&lt;td align=&quot;left&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot; class=&quot;bodyContent&quot; style=&quot;line-height: 150%;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 12px;color: #333333;padding: 20px;&quot;&gt;                                                    &lt;h2 style=&quot;font-size: 22px;line-height: 28px;margin: 0 0 10px 0;&quot;&gt;We have removed your email address from our list.&lt;/h2&gt;  &lt;div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;padding: 0 0 10px 0;&quot;&gt;We&#39;re sorry to see you go.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;/div&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;padding: 0 0 10px 0;&quot;&gt;  Was this a mistake? Did you forward one of our emails to a friend, and they clicked the unsubscribe link not realizing they were in fact unsubscribing you from this list? If this was a mistake, you can re-subscribe at: &lt;br&gt;  &lt;a class=&quot;button&quot; href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=997e36e778&quot; style=&quot;color: #ffffff;display: inline-block;font-family: &#39;Helvetica&#39;, Arial, sans-serif;width: auto;white-space: nowrap;height: 32px;margin: 5px 5px 0 0;padding: 0 22px;text-decoration: none;text-align: center;font-weight: bold;font-style: normal;font-size: 15px;line-height: 32px;cursor: pointer;border: 0;-moz-border-radius: 4px;border-radius: 4px;-webkit-border-radius: 4px;vertical-align: top;background-color: #336699;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;display: inline;font-family: &#39;Helvetica&#39;, Arial, sans-serif;text-decoration: none;font-weight: bold;font-style: normal;font-size: 15px;line-height: 32px;cursor: pointer;border: none;background-color: #336699;color: #ffffff;&quot;&gt;Subscribe&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;padding: 0 0 10px 0;&quot;&gt;  For questions or comments, please contact us at:&lt;br&gt;  &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:jp@jamesbedell.com&quot; style=&quot;color: #336699;&quot;&gt;jp@jamesbedell.com&lt;/a&gt;  &lt;/p&gt;                                              &lt;/td&gt;                                          &lt;/tr&gt;                                      &lt;/table&gt;                                      &lt;!-- END BODY \\ --&gt;                                  &lt;/td&gt;                              &lt;/tr&gt;                          	&lt;tr&gt;                              	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                                  	&lt;!-- // BEGIN FOOTER --&gt;                                  	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;20&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;600&quot;&gt;                                      	&lt;tr&gt;                                          	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                                                    &lt;div&gt;                                                      &lt;span class=&quot;poweredBy&quot; style=&quot;display: block;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mailchimp.com/monkey-rewards/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=monkey_rewards&amp;aid=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;afl=1&quot; style=&quot;color: #336699;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/monkey_rewards/MC_MonkeyReward_15.png&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp&quot; title=&quot;MailChimp Email Marketing&quot; width=&quot;139&quot; height=&quot;54&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;                                                  &lt;/div&gt;                                                &lt;/td&gt;                                          &lt;/tr&gt;                                      &lt;/table&gt;                                      &lt;!-- END FOOTER \\ --&gt;                                  &lt;/td&gt;                              &lt;/tr&gt;                          &lt;/table&gt;                          &lt;!-- END CONTAINER \\ --&gt;                      &lt;/td&gt;                  &lt;/tr&gt;              &lt;/table&gt;          &lt;/center&gt;      </description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2013/07/mailing-list-from-website-you-are-now.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-924831566645339387</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:08:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-12-07T11:09:01.364-05:00</atom:updated><title>December News - Happy Holidays from James Bedell</title><description>&lt;center&gt;          	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;100%&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; id=&quot;backgroundTable&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0;padding: 0;background-color: #DDDDDD;height: 100% !important;width: 100% !important;&quot;&gt;              	&lt;tr&gt;                  	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                          &lt;!-- // Begin Template Preheader \\ --&gt;                          &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;10&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; id=&quot;templatePreheader&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #991B4A;border-bottom: 0;&quot;&gt;                              &lt;tr&gt;                                  &lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                                    	&lt;!-- // Begin Module: Standard Preheader \ --&gt;                                      &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;600&quot;&gt;                                      	&lt;tr&gt;                                          	&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; class=&quot;preheaderContent&quot; style=&quot;padding-right: 20px;color: #FFFFFF;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 9px;line-height: 100%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;Psst. After a year of vistors to my website submitting email addresses and days combing my address book, this is my very first email newsletter. In it you&amp;#39;ll find out what I&amp;#39;ve been working on, find out about a special discount and see some project highlights. I hope you enjoy.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;                                              &lt;!--   --&gt;  											&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; class=&quot;preheaderContent&quot; style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 9px;line-height: 100%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;                                                  Is this email not displaying correctly?&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=917b50d314&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; style=&quot;color: #FFFFFF;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;View it in your browser&lt;/a&gt;.                                              &lt;/td&gt;  											&lt;!--   --&gt;                                          &lt;/tr&gt;                                      &lt;/table&gt;                                  	&lt;!-- // End Module: Standard Preheader \ --&gt;                                    &lt;/td&gt;                              &lt;/tr&gt;                          &lt;/table&gt;                          &lt;!-- // End Template Preheader \\ --&gt;                      	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; id=&quot;templateContainer&quot;&gt;                          	&lt;tr&gt;                              	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot; id=&quot;templateHeader&quot; style=&quot;padding: 20px;background-color: #F5F5F5;border-top: 0;border-bottom: 0;&quot;&gt;                                      &lt;!-- // Begin Template Header \\ --&gt;                                  	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;600&quot;&gt;                                          &lt;tr&gt;                                              &lt;td width=&quot;400&quot; class=&quot;headerContent&quot; style=&quot;padding-right: 20px;color: #303030;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;padding: 0;text-align: left;vertical-align: middle;&quot;&gt;                                              	&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://gallery.mailchimp.com/c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b/images/image_13499837624091349983762.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Lighting Design by James Bedell&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;height: 56px;width: 600px;margin: 0;padding: 0;display: block;margin-top: 0;margin-bottom: 0;border: none;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; height=&quot;56&quot; id=&quot;headerImage campaign-icon&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;                                              &lt;/td&gt;                                              &lt;td valign=&quot;middle&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; class=&quot;headerContent&quot; style=&quot;color: #303030;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;padding: 0;text-align: left;vertical-align: middle;&quot;&gt;December 2012 &lt;/td&gt;                                          &lt;/tr&gt;                                      &lt;/table&gt;                                      &lt;!-- // End Template Header \\ --&gt;                                  &lt;/td&gt;                              &lt;/tr&gt;                          	&lt;tr&gt;                              	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot; id=&quot;templateBody&quot; style=&quot;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;background-color: #F5F5F5;border-top: 0;border-bottom: 0;&quot;&gt;                                      &lt;!-- // Begin Template Body \\ --&gt;                                  	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot;&gt;                                      	&lt;tr&gt;                                              &lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;380&quot; style=&quot;padding-right:20px;&quot;&gt;                                                  &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;                                                      &lt;tr&gt;                                                          &lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot;&gt;                                                              &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;10&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot; class=&quot;contentBlock&quot; style=&quot;background-color: #FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;                                                                  &lt;tr&gt;                                                                      &lt;td class=&quot;bodyContent&quot; style=&quot;padding-top: 10px;color: #303030;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 13px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;                                                                          &lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=9756a79226&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://gallery.mailchimp.com/c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b/images/IMG_3574.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;Christmas Lights&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border: px none;border-color: ;border-style: none;border-width: px;height: 360px;width: 360px;margin: 0;padding: 0;max-width: 360px;line-height: 100%;outline: none;text-decoration: none;display: inline;&quot; width=&quot;360&quot; height=&quot;360&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;                                                                      &lt;/td&gt;                                                                  &lt;/tr&gt;                                                              	&lt;tr&gt;                                                                  	&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; style=&quot;padding-right:20px; padding-bottom:0; padding-left:20px;&quot;&gt;                                                                      	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;                                                                              &lt;tr&gt;                                                                                  &lt;td class=&quot;bodyContent&quot; style=&quot;padding-bottom: 20px;color: #303030;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 13px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;color: #991B4A;display: block;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;  	&lt;a name=&quot;Happy Holidays!&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Happy Holidays From Lighting Design By James Bedell&lt;/h2&gt;  2012 has been a wild year for many of us. The tragedy of Hurricane Sandy should give us all pause and help us to reflect on what&amp;#39;s truly important. Personally, I couldn&amp;#39;t be more thankful for my family, friends and all of the wonderful&amp;nbsp;opportunities&amp;nbsp;2012 has brought my way.&amp;nbsp;It&amp;#39;s been a big year for my little venture. My first complete calendar year as an independent lighting designer has seen some incredible high points. This year I was fortunate enough to...  &lt;ul&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		Light &lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=060d5ced90&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;The Jersey Couture Pop-Up Beauty Bar&lt;/a&gt; for MKG Productions.&lt;/li&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		Light the Google / Hollywood Reporter Party for the White House Correspondent&amp;#39;s Dinner&lt;/li&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		Go To London as &lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=a6cca3b509&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;part of BlogTour&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/li&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		Light the Halloween Room of Holiday House NYC&lt;/li&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		Release&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=be4f3beb3f&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;Lightstagram&lt;/a&gt; - a collection of instagram photos that inspire my work.&lt;/li&gt;  &lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;/td&gt;                                                                              &lt;/tr&gt;                                                                              &lt;tr mc:repeatable=&quot;repeat_1&quot; mc:repeatindex=&quot;0&quot;&gt;                                                                                  &lt;td class=&quot;bodyContent&quot; style=&quot;border-top: 1px dotted #AAAAAA;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;color: #303030;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 13px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;color: #991B4A;display: block;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;  	&lt;a name=&quot;Lightstagram&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Lightstagram!&lt;/h2&gt;  &lt;img align=&quot;right&quot; alt=&quot;Burned the bacon one morning...this is what emerged. &quot; height=&quot;150&quot; src=&quot;http://gallery.mailchimp.com/c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b/images/IMG_4178.JPG&quot; style=&quot;height: 150px;line-height: 13px;margin: 10px;width: 150px;border: none;outline: none;padding: 0;text-decoration: none;display: inline;max-width: 360px !important;&quot; width=&quot;150&quot;&gt;Just in time for the holidays, I&amp;#39;ve together a coffee table book full of photos that I took with Instagram. It&amp;#39;s called Lightstagram and the idea behind it is simple. When I&amp;nbsp;design projects I try to draw on inspiring lighting I encounter in the real world. Whether that&amp;#39;s the sunlight reflecting off skycrapers or the shadows leaves cast in the early morning.&amp;nbsp;  &lt;div&gt;  	&lt;br&gt;  	The book is &lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=1778517591&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;available at blurb&lt;/a&gt; as either a print on demand soft/hardcover book or a downloadable PDF. I hope you consider it for yourself, or as a gift for the interior designer, architect, or creative in your life.&lt;/div&gt;  &lt;/td&gt;                                                                              &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr mc:repeatable=&quot;repeat_1&quot; mc:repeatindex=&quot;1&quot;&gt;                                                                                  &lt;td class=&quot;bodyContent&quot; style=&quot;border-top: 1px dotted #AAAAAA;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;color: #303030;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 13px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;h2 style=&quot;color: #991B4A;display: block;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;  	&lt;a name=&quot;Project of the Month&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Project of the Month - Press Event for the Carlton Hotel&lt;img align=&quot;right&quot; height=&quot;236&quot; src=&quot;http://gallery.mailchimp.com/c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b/images/IMG_6668.1.jpg&quot; style=&quot;width: 315px;height: 236px;margin: 10px;border: none;line-height: 100%;outline: none;padding: 0;text-decoration: none;display: inline;max-width: 360px !important;&quot; width=&quot;315&quot;&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;  The Carlton Hotel is a revered NYC institution. Like all great organizations it&amp;#39;s always in a state of renewal, so when it came time to announce the creation of four themed suites throughout the hotel, the team at &lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=ec53538cce&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;DKC Incite&lt;/a&gt; looked to me to &amp;quot;punch up&amp;quot; the existing lighting and help create a lasting impression for editors and members of the press. The event was an&amp;nbsp;enormous&amp;nbsp;success as visitors entered the amazing billiard suite, then snuck away into the speakeasy before meeting a broadway diva. On a tight timeline we put this event together to rave reviews.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/td&gt;                                                                              &lt;/tr&gt;                                                                          &lt;/table&gt;                                                                      &lt;/td&gt;                                                                  &lt;/tr&gt;                                                              &lt;/table&gt;  														&lt;/td&gt;                                                      &lt;/tr&gt;                                                  &lt;/table&gt;                                              &lt;/td&gt;                                          	&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; valign=&quot;top&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; style=&quot;padding-right:0;&quot;&gt;                                              	&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;100%&quot;&gt;                                                  	&lt;tr&gt;                                                      	&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; class=&quot;sidebarContent&quot; style=&quot;padding-bottom: 20px;color: #505050;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 12px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;h4 style=&quot;color: #303030;display: block;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;  	In This Issue&lt;/h4&gt;  &lt;ul&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		&lt;a href=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=c35a3fa9ca&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;H&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;#Happy Holidays!&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;appy Holidays from Lighting Design by James Bedell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		&lt;a href=&quot;#Lightstagram&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Lightstagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;  	&lt;li&gt;  		&lt;a href=&quot;#Project of the Month&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;Project of the Month - Press Event at the Carlton Hotel&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;  &lt;/ul&gt;  &lt;br&gt;  &lt;br&gt;  &lt;/td&gt;                                                      &lt;/tr&gt;                                                      &lt;tr&gt;                                                      	&lt;td valign=&quot;top&quot; class=&quot;sidebarContent&quot; style=&quot;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;color: #505050;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 12px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;h4 style=&quot;color: #303030;display: block;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 100%;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;  	Let&amp;#39;s Work Together&lt;/h4&gt;  &lt;h4 style=&quot;line-height: 14px;color: #303030;display: block;font-family: Verdana;font-size: 14px;font-weight: bold;margin-top: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 0;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;  	&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 12px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;&quot;&gt;With over a decade&amp;#39;s worth of experience spanning flagship retail, high-end residential, corporate events and NYC theater - Lighting Design By James Bedell has the skills and knowledge necessary to create inspired lighting for your next project on-time and on budget. Whether you need some simple consultation or you&amp;#39;re looking for a complete lighting design, please &lt;a href=&quot;mailto:jp@jamesbedell.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; style=&quot;color: #991B4A;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: none;&quot;&gt;feel free to contact&lt;/a&gt; me any time. 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                         &lt;!-- // End Template Footer \\ --&gt;                      &lt;/td&gt;                  &lt;/tr&gt;              &lt;/table&gt;          &lt;/center&gt;      &lt;img src=&quot;http://jamesbedell.us6.list-manage.com/track/open.php?u=c0abf9af8e458e03ceb22050b&amp;id=917b50d314&amp;e=972e11ce62&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; width=&quot;1&quot;&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2012/12/december-news-happy-holidays-from-james.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-2867744528316723347</guid><pubDate>Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:31:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-20T17:56:53.513-04:00</atom:updated><title>A Public Service Academy</title><description>&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;Students from across the county were recently in &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jul/09/students-push-for-new-public-service-academy/&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;Washington&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt; in July lobbying Congress for &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s960/show&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;legislation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt; that would establish a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;public service academy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt; that wold work in much the same way as the military academies. The purpose of such an institution would be to &quot;build a more perfect union by developing leaders of character dedicated to service in the public sector.&quot; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;The necessity for an outlet to serve one&#39;s country, and being trained and prepared to do so effectively, is absolutely greater than it has ever been given our lack of leaders in Washington who can get anything done on behalf of this nation and is thankfully getting some support both in congress (by the likes of PA Sen. Arlen Specter and NY Sen. Hillary Clinton) and on the campaign trail.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;Obama: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;line-height: 16px; &quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&quot;Loving your country shouldn&#39;t just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July...Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it.&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;line-height: normal; &quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;McCain:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;line-height: 16px; &quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&quot;I think after 9/11 we made a mistake...I think after 9/11, instead of telling Americans to take a trip or go shopping, I think we had an opportunity to call Americans to serve.&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot; line-height: 16px;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot; line-height: 16px;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;Though neither are co-sponsors of the bill, the idea of reengaging the American people, especially the young generation, with their country through public service is prevalent in their campaigns. This was also a main point in Bill Richardson&#39;s campaign, which suggested that college be free for those who will serve their country for at least two years following graduation. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot; line-height: 16px;font-family:&#39;times new roman&#39;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;  style=&quot;font-size:small;&quot;&gt;In order to solve the large issues we face as a country it is a good idea to start producing leaders and public servants who will be able to tackle them - leaders who will put policy over politics, much like this blog. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/public-service-academy.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (NickTroiano)</author><thr:total>4</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-2645626054683697689</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:30:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-16T13:30:48.763-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Jib Jab</category><title>It&#39;s Time For Some Campaignin&#39;! (Jib Jab)</title><description>&lt;div style=&#39;background-color:#e9e9e9; width: 425px;&#39;&gt;&lt;object id=&#39;A593980&#39; quality=&#39;high&#39; data=&#39;http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/client/zero/ClientZero_EmbedViewer.swf?content_url=http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/files/production/tentpole_config.xml&amp;service=sendables.jibjab.com&#39; pluginspage=&#39;http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer&#39; type=&#39;application/x-shockwave-flash&#39; wmode=&#39;transparent&#39; height=&#39;319&#39; width=&#39;425&#39;&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;wmode&#39; value=&#39;transparent&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;movie&#39; value=&#39;http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/client/zero/ClientZero_EmbedViewer.swf?content_url=http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/files/production/tentpole_config.xml&amp;service=sendables.jibjab.com&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;scaleMode&#39; value=&#39;showAll&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;quality&#39; value=&#39;high&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;allowNetworking&#39; value=&#39;all&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;allowFullScreen&#39; value=&#39;true&#39; /&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;FlashVars&#39; value=&#39;content_url=http://aka.zero.jibjab.com/files/production/tentpole_config.xml&amp;service=sendables.jibjab.com&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&#39;allowScriptAccess&#39; value=&#39;always&#39;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div style=&#39;text-align:center; width:435px; margin-top:6px;&#39;&gt;Send a JibJab Sendables&amp;reg; &lt;a href=&#39;http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables&#39;&gt;eCard&lt;/a&gt; Today!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;&quot; border=0 width=0 height=0 src=&quot;http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/CIMP/bT*xJmx*PTEyMTYyMjkzNjgzMzMmcHQ9MTIxNjIyOTM5Njg5NyZwPTE5MTEzMSZkPSZuPSZnPTI=.jpg&quot; /&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/its-time-for-some-campaignin-jib-jab.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Michael)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-4263905285814235415</guid><pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:40:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-11T15:57:09.849-04:00</atom:updated><title>Give me a Break!</title><description>&lt;a href=&quot;http://myapologies.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/mccain_obama_0329.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://myapologies.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/mccain_obama_0329.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/07/mccain_obamas_p.html&quot;&gt;The Hotline posted an item about the focus that the Presidential candidates have taken lately to women&#39;s issues&lt;/a&gt;. McCain is touting how Obama&#39;s policies are bad for women. He tries to say that Obama will make it harder for women to open small businesses and manage the family budget. Meanwhile, Obama supporters shot back that McCain has not been a big fighter for equal pay in the workforce. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;First of all, may I say that the last thing I need is a man telling me what is going to hurt &quot;us women&quot;. Secondly, these are not policy issues. Neither of these men are going to enact policies that significantly shift the status of the well-being of women because there are larger things to attend to at this moment in history. Frankly, Sen. McCain, if Obama&#39;s policies make it harder for women to open businesses and manage the family budget, they will do so for men as well...leaving the gap largely where it is now. This is all lip service to try to win over a vote that they perceive to be swayable. What politicians all too often forget is that women are a broad group that come from varied economic, cultural, and professional backgrounds. Therefore, the issues that are most important to us vary just as widely, and influence our vote differently.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;And the last thing that women who care about equal opportunity and representation in society want or need is another man trying to tell them what to do.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/give-me-break.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Raquel)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-489405161179259902</guid><pubDate>Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:06:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-05T23:26:10.350-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Barack Obama</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">John McCain</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Patriotism</category><title>Patriotism as a Political Football</title><description>Have we allowed political discourse in this country to fall so far that we need our candidates to defend their patriotism? The answer is yes.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Apparently we need Senators Barack Obama and John McCain to actually come out and discuss their patriotism as a political issue. Because apparently it&#39;s not a given that people running for president are patriotic.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Have we become this paranoid about our politicians that simply because we don&#39;t agree with their political views we question their loyalty to this country? Have we really allowed ourselves to become so divided as a nation that political strife and discourse has turned us into camps that question each other&#39;s PATRIOTISM. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;This line of attack is bi-partisan. Barack Obama looked particularly vulnerable to this attack because he didn&#39;t wear a lapel pin. Apparently all you need to do to prove you&#39;re a patriot in the days of mass media is wear a lapel pin. Obama&#39;s desire not to emulate other politicians, his race, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004474447_smear13.html&quot;&gt;a series of scurrilous rumors&lt;/a&gt; have put him on the defensive about his patriotism. This despite his record as a community organizer, his work in government, and his truly american story. This embodiment of the American Dream has to defend his patriotism because a small few of those who disagree with him politically have used the megaphone of the the internet to claim he doesn&#39;t say the pledge of allegiance, he doesn&#39;t sing the national anthem, and he was sworn into the senate on the Koran. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The left in seeking to defend Obama, has it&#39;s own lunatic fringe. A fringe actually trying to attack &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11429.html&quot;&gt;the record of John McCain&#39;s war service&lt;/a&gt;. For those who have never served to impugn the record of a man like McCain who has not only served but was captured and tortured  is a little like me telling Oscar De La Hoya he&#39;s not a very good boxer. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;These men have spent their lives growing careers and skills that have gotten them this close to becoming the next president. They have sacrificed time with their families, personal lives, and submitted to constant public scrutiny. They could not have risen to this level in American politics if their patriotism could ever have been seriously questioned. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Let&#39;s put down the rumors and pick up the questions on real policy. One of these men will guide the future of the nation. Let&#39;s agree they love America, and move on. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/patriotism-as-political-football.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-1669499557623539803</guid><pubDate>Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-05T21:56:39.345-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">policythought</category><title>V: List Cross Over--Come Write for Policythought</title><description>When not blathering on about how Kinko&#39;s should meet the same fate as old yeller, and rambling on about how man-cards are won and lost, I blog on politics and policy over at policythought.blogspot.com (see widget), of course I don&#39;t work alone. Marc V (of the list) and Mike Ruby are also policy-thinkers of great renown. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;But we can&#39;t do it alone. Policy Thought is looking for more bloggers to join our team. And so I decide to pen a list of the top five reasons YOU should start blogging on policy thought. Once this list entices you to join the team, drop a comment or shoot an email to policythought@gmail.com&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;#5. Because You&#39;re Smart. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We love a good debate over at thinkPOP, and we need smart people to spur new ones. We strive to avoid the kind of numbskull yelling you find on the comment boards at Politico or Washington Post. We want point and counter, thought and counter thought, you get the idea. Whether is a &lt;a href=&quot;http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/gitmo-supreme-court-rules.html&quot;&gt;debate topic&lt;/a&gt; or an &lt;a href=&quot;http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-dont-wanna-grow-up-were-toys-r-us.html&quot;&gt;observation about our culture&lt;/a&gt;, we want diverse, interesting conversation. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;#4. Because you HATE politics&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;You care about the environment and taxes and energy, and the economy. Not if Hillary wore a pink pantsuit on national breast cancer day. You don&#39;t care about the horse race or the latest polls. You care about the country and world, you read or watch something and you want to talk about it, and get others to do the same...that&#39;s why you write for Policy Thought. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;#3. You have a Specific Interest&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Marc V. is a teacher so &lt;a href=&quot;http://policythought.blogspot.com/search?q=No+Child+Left+Behind&quot;&gt;our debates on education&lt;/a&gt; are robust. Mike R. is an ad-man so our &lt;a href=&quot;http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/05/weve-forgotten-how-important-hillary-is.html&quot;&gt;discussions on media&lt;/a&gt; are always engaging. I work in lighting, so I talk energy efficiency. None of us are limited to our area of expertise, but it drives how we work. Maybe you&#39;re a teacher, or a cab driver, or a nurse, or lawyer, or a college student. Whomever you are we want to hear you talk about how national policy effects YOU. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;#2. You&#39;re a Karl Rove Loving Neocon/You&#39;re a Ralph Nader loving Greeny&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We like minority points of view. Not because we always agree, but because our debates are too often on the one hand and on the other style, we don&#39;t offer enough variety of opinion and thats no good. Got a Rush Limbaugh Bumper sticker, we want to hear from you. Think Nader should be included at the debates, lets talk. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;#1. We may actually make money!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Our readership is growing steadily month to month and the addition of more voices only adds to the potential pool of readers and &quot;viral&quot; spread. Once we reach a critical mass of readers, and ad revenue starts coming in, the wealth will be distributed to all Policy Thinkers. I don&#39;t recommend blogging as a path to riches, but if those riches come, we&#39;ll share the wealth! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/v-list-cross-over-come-right-for.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-8784405906049295800</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:30:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-09T04:08:41.745-05:00</atom:updated><title>Happy 4th</title><description>&lt;p class=&quot;mobile-photo&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91NGXzOvEjWgqVnb9v3SqeHvP0DptD0LM6I3T12V6jkO_VvSYyb48VIASbuGs9bNV3fQtE7v8YULF30GPXU1-RMpOnOjlmaqiM8pnwxGfVKyAKItfNSygNudxeywwRRDjwZlIHUN8Aow/s1600-h/photo-783241.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91NGXzOvEjWgqVnb9v3SqeHvP0DptD0LM6I3T12V6jkO_VvSYyb48VIASbuGs9bNV3fQtE7v8YULF30GPXU1-RMpOnOjlmaqiM8pnwxGfVKyAKItfNSygNudxeywwRRDjwZlIHUN8Aow/s320/photo-783241.jpg&quot;  border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219274681389300642&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/happy-4th.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91NGXzOvEjWgqVnb9v3SqeHvP0DptD0LM6I3T12V6jkO_VvSYyb48VIASbuGs9bNV3fQtE7v8YULF30GPXU1-RMpOnOjlmaqiM8pnwxGfVKyAKItfNSygNudxeywwRRDjwZlIHUN8Aow/s72-c/photo-783241.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-8482204922981366219</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-04T10:31:20.716-04:00</atom:updated><title>Happy Birthday America!</title><description>Patriotism is a funny thing it means such different things to  &lt;br&gt;different people.&lt;p&gt;I won&amp;#39;t attempt to thumb type the definition of patriotism while I  &lt;br&gt;wait in an airport terminal.&lt;p&gt;But what I will say is America has its faults. But its faults lie in  &lt;br&gt;policies we choose. Not in the concept of America. America is still  &lt;br&gt;struggling to define itself and perfect itself after 232 years, but  &lt;br&gt;the truth is our definition is in the struggle.&lt;p&gt;America to me is the most human nation on the planet.&lt;p&gt;Happy Fourth! Eat some BBQ drink a Beer and if you have any thoughts  &lt;br&gt;on being a patriot, leave a comment.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/happy-birthday-america.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-5247465601016442528</guid><pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:46:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-03T21:47:10.202-04:00</atom:updated><title>Correction: obama on Iraq</title><description>Still mobile. But I watched the Newshour and after seeing the video  &lt;br&gt;Obama has not yet reversed his position on Iraq. He simply opened the  &lt;br&gt;possibility that the operational plan might change after consulting  &lt;br&gt;with generals.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/correction-obama-on-iraq.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-932546718852726882</guid><pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:26:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-03T17:27:17.271-04:00</atom:updated><title>Quick hit: obama shifts on Iraq </title><description>Hey Policy Thinkers,&lt;p&gt;Follow the link below to see Politico&amp;#39;s coverage of Obama&amp;#39;s shift in  &lt;br&gt;postion on Iraq. Pardon my formatting and the lack of a hyper link. I  &lt;br&gt;am on the move for the holiday weekend. Keep thinking!&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mobile.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11517.html&quot;&gt;http://mobile.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11517.html&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/quick-hit-obama-shifts-on-iraq.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-2317509027077861956</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:27:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-09T04:08:41.877-05:00</atom:updated><title>Keep the parks public!</title><description>&lt;p class=&quot;mobile-photo&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjT6gprH_YuJUdFcAu5d9C08L7iedwPa0BnrUPiNeAJH6xBa1fCHDr0Oj-METvNvG-XfgU9L_d_LIaFFDFNCpBlpRvh2XIaf3zvXT73I2Y_xvAX_BxkJFtN0b3pkoGswvhEZZDQaPRiEM/s1600-h/photo-716388.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjT6gprH_YuJUdFcAu5d9C08L7iedwPa0BnrUPiNeAJH6xBa1fCHDr0Oj-METvNvG-XfgU9L_d_LIaFFDFNCpBlpRvh2XIaf3zvXT73I2Y_xvAX_BxkJFtN0b3pkoGswvhEZZDQaPRiEM/s320/photo-716388.jpg&quot;  border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218531795529357394&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;Can I get a &amp;quot;park-a-lleulia!&amp;quot;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/keep-parks-public.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjT6gprH_YuJUdFcAu5d9C08L7iedwPa0BnrUPiNeAJH6xBa1fCHDr0Oj-METvNvG-XfgU9L_d_LIaFFDFNCpBlpRvh2XIaf3zvXT73I2Y_xvAX_BxkJFtN0b3pkoGswvhEZZDQaPRiEM/s72-c/photo-716388.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-4008839495867165121</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:51:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-02T09:52:59.410-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Barack Obama</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Colin Powell</category><title>Colin Powell and Barack Obama have a meeting</title><description>The National Journal is reporting that two weeks ago Colin Powell and Barack Obama had a private meeting. What was discussed we don&#39;t know, but apparently it was just an informal chat about issues. Take a look &lt;a href=&quot;http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/07/on_call_exclusi.html&quot;&gt;at the report here&lt;/a&gt;. </description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/colin-powell-and-barack-obama-have.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-3187340202811398103</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-02T09:15:46.182-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Internet Campaign</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">PBS</category><title>More on the game-changing web</title><description>Monday Night PBS&#39;s Newshour did a great piece analyzing the role of the web in controlling a campaign message. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june08/smearcampaign_06-30.html&quot;&gt;You can watch it or give it a read here&lt;/a&gt;.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-on-game-changing-web.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-5124558841917995931</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:02:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-02T09:10:13.684-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Barack Obama</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">campaign finance</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Internet Campaign</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">John McCain</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Senator McCain</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Senator Obama</category><title>The New Spin Room</title><description>There was a lot of talk over Obama&#39;s decision to forgo the public financing system. His privately raised millions will out gun McCain from now until the election. The decision was clearly tactical, but it raises the larger specter of campaign finance reform. In many ways though, the debate is centered around a dying paradigm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Against the backdrop of an unprecedented internet fundraising campaign Barack Obama hurled himself to national prominence and now is one opponent away from the White House. However, the very same viral power of the Internet to spread Obama&#39;s message especially to the young when he needed them most, is also the very power he seeks to combat today. Fightthesmears.com is the Obama campaign&#39;s response to rumors that have swept the web. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All of this stands as background to say that the battle of public relations and spin is moving from television to the internet. Barack Obama announced his decision to leave the public campaign system in a web video, Hillary Clinton announced her campaign online, John McCain is struggling to find his voice on the web, but is already making up ground.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So then the question becomes in this burgeoning internet age, when a candidate can not only fundraise, but indeed control their global message online, why do we need publicly funded campaigns at all? Moreover, why is Senator Obama raising hundreds of millions for the forthcoming fight with McCain? The answer of course is television. Paid television advertising is still the single most costly expense for any state-wide or national campaign. The cost of those 30-second spots all over the nation is what has spun campaign financing out of reach.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But is paid televised political advertising really necessary any more? I think Barack Obama and John McCain would tell you it is. That web video might be the future, but its not the present and plenty of Americans will be introduced to Barack Obama or John McCain via a 30-second spot on their screen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am not proposing a ban on political advertising on television it still holds a place in our media landscape. But with it&#39;s low cost of entry and global reach, plus the added benefit of having a message go &quot;viral&quot; the internet still offers the promise of a true market place of ideas. A place where not only well-monied candidates compete, but any candidate that can launch a website and start posting on youtube, can find a space on the web. All for far less in real dollars cost than television. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;We are seeing the difference between being &quot;good on the web&quot; and &quot;good on tv.&quot; The same way we saw the difference in the 60&#39;s between being &quot;good on the radio&quot; and &quot;good on the tv.&quot; The skill sets are different, the strategy is different, and its the future of campaigning and media. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;So Barack Obama might have smashed the current campaign financing system to pieces when he opted out. But looking at the future of our politics, didn&#39;t it need to get rebuilt anyway?&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/new-spin-room.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-7963940926928671724</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-01T21:54:44.759-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Automakers</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">economy</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Made in the USA</category><title>Built Ford Tough?</title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://flm.dealerconnection.com/library/images/org/1385/Built_Ford_Tough.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;&quot; src=&quot;http://flm.dealerconnection.com/library/images/org/1385/Built_Ford_Tough.gif&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;The American auto industry reported dismal numbers as june sales figures slipped by double digits. While GM retained it&#39;s edge (barely) over Toyota, industry analysts are quick to identify a correlation between rising oil costs and the poor auto sales. These statistics speak volumes about the outdated American way of doing things. Whether we want to accept it or not, the times, they are a changin&#39;. The American auto industry will have to creatively change the way it does business, or suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of Japanese automakers, namely Toyota and Honda. American companies are firmly planted in a paradigm that no longer works, and while Trucks and SUV&#39;s have been the American auto industry&#39;s bread and butter, with rising costs of fuel, that way of doing business will no longer work. I expect we&#39;ll be hearing rhetoric very soon about bailing out the American auto industry with federal dollars to ensure that American jobs are not sent overseas.  Before we start throwing money at these companies (which I&#39;m predicting is inevitable) why don&#39;t politicians sit down with American automakers and open a dialogue about implementing all those wonderful changes we&#39;ve been hearing in McCain and Obama&#39;s platforms. This is the perfect time for America to change the way that we do business and help the environment at the same time. This is the moment for American companies to move forward and utilize technology to combat the innovation already undertaken by foreign companies. The way I see it, either we can change the way we do business, or begin to accept the idea that American industrial and economic might is a thing of the past. Let&#39;s see if Made in the USA still means something.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/built-ford-tough.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-7119724107251177384</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-01T20:08:00.253-04:00</atom:updated><title>Seeking more wonks!</title><description>Readers of policythought unite!&lt;p&gt;Hey guys and gals. We&amp;#39;re looking to expand the policythought team to  &lt;br&gt;include more opinions and more policy wonks. Regardless of political  &lt;br&gt;affiliation, age or geographic location we are looking for writers to  &lt;br&gt;share thief thoughts right here on policythought.&lt;p&gt;If you&amp;#39;re interested in jumping aboard, either leave a comment or send  &lt;br&gt;an email to policythought@gmail.com&lt;p&gt;Much love and happy blogging.&lt;p&gt;James</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/seeking-more-wonks.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-57132536708610146</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:30:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-01T08:30:01.156-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Barack Obama</category><title>The Fix: Obama Idealist, pragmatist</title><description>The Fix over at the Washington Post has a &lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/06/analysis_obama_addresses_patri.html?nav=rss_blog&quot;&gt;fantastic post dated yesterday&lt;/a&gt; on Obama march to the center, and the fight over patriotism.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/fix-obama-idealist-pragmatist.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-8539878602477076993</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-07-01T08:00:02.551-04:00</atom:updated><title>Remember that &quot;other&quot; war?</title><description>Came across this link...MSNBC is reporting that &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25463822/&quot;&gt;Afghanistan is now more deadly that Iraq&lt;/a&gt; for US and NATO troops.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/07/remember-that-other-war.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-7907913001642637461</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-30T22:50:18.356-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Barack Obama</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Patriotism</category><title>Obama on Patriotism</title><description>The simple fact Senator Obama feels that he needs to give this speech is telling. But take a look at this video. Barack Obama lays out what he believes is patriotism, and why he is indeed a patriot.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;movie&quot; value=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/Q9n2-zEbHJo&amp;hl=en&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/Q9n2-zEbHJo&amp;hl=en&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; allowfullscreen=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;425&quot; height=&quot;344&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-on-patriotism.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-2279308506414330162</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:31:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-30T22:41:27.772-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Barack Obama</category><title>Obama Moves to the Center</title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/CARI.Obama.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;&quot; src=&quot;http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/CARI.Obama.gif&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senator Obama once vowed to veto any FISA bill that protected the telecom companies.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Then he voted for one. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senator Obama supported robust public financing of elections.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;Until he opted out of the system.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Senator Obama opposed NAFTA. &lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-style: italic;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, he seems ready to just tweak it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Obama is doing what is pragmatic, he is moving rightward toward the center of the political spectrum so as to appeal to independent voters in the general election. Having gleaned the support of the left he clearly sees a path to center and to victory in November.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Frankly, I am a little ambivalent toward his shift in positions, possibly because they are positions I am not terribly passionate about. But it does make the practical voter wonder, if I elect Obama in November, who do I get in January? Do I get the left leaning liberal who wants to withdraw from Iraq quickly? Do I get the the Obama that opposes NAFTA as presently written?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It&#39;s a fair question and its one that Obama will have to answer as the debates draw closer.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-moves-to-center.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-3534087631863362535</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:43:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-09T04:08:42.071-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Environmentalism</category><title>Thoughts from a Beach</title><description>&lt;a onblur=&quot;try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}&quot; href=&quot;http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGl9kCsijLI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/vR3G6mpN56I/s1600-h/174719949_01dea66906.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;&quot; src=&quot;http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGl9kCsijLI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/vR3G6mpN56I/s200/174719949_01dea66906.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217839701437877426&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;As I sit here on vacation in Wildwood, New Jersey I can&#39;t help but revisit the topic of an archived post on Offshore drilling. For those who live near the shore, there is nothing quite like it. The constant noise of the waves hitting the sand is one of the most therapeutic sounds on earth. I can sit out on this balcony and enjoy nature&#39;s beauty forever. When we politicize a topic like environmentalism, rarely do we truly understand what is at stake. I don&#39;t believe there is any American who wouldn&#39;t like to pay less for a gallon of gasoline, but I believe Joni Mitchell said it best when she sang, &quot;...don&#39;t it always seems as though, that you don&#39;t know what you got till it&#39;s gone...&quot;. Environmentalists get a bad wrap as people who care more for the planet than they do for people. I like to think they care for both by preserving the delicate balance between the two. Perhaps it&#39;s because they have faith in the human ability to think beyond destroying mother nature for all eternity just to save a few dollars on gasoline. Sure Americans would love to pay less to be able to drive farther on vacation, but as I previously stated, where exactly would you drive? Nobody wants to swim in an ocean that has been befouled by Petroleum. Nobody wants to eat seafood that has been tainted by chemicals. I would like to extend an invitation to supporters of offshore drilling to come and spend a week or two here at the beach and only after they have done so, ask, is it worth it? Just something I was thinking about here on the sand.</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/thoughts-from-beach.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGl9kCsijLI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/vR3G6mpN56I/s72-c/174719949_01dea66906.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-8788713652091019890</guid><pubDate>Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:03:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-09T04:08:42.357-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">John McCain</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Public Opinion</category><title>Latinos Lambaste McCain!</title><description>&lt;a href=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGaRuXaOwfI/AAAAAAAAAwI/vivveRXzjXU/s1600-h/mccain.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217017444099342834&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGaRuXaOwfI/AAAAAAAAAwI/vivveRXzjXU/s320/mccain.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;div&gt;Both Republican and Democrats have recently criticized McCain for lacking the ability to energize audiences, and for appearing old when compared with Obama. McCain silenced that group of critics today when a crowd of Latinos seemed quite spirited and roused while being addressed by McCain. Unfortunately for McCain, these emotions took the form of jeers from hecklers who railed against his proposals for the Iraq War. I am somewhat torn on this outcome, because I don&#39;t think any dignitary deserves to be interrupted when he has been invited to lay out a platform. While this is not the first appearance of hecklers (Obama has had to deal with his fair share), I certainly hope that it is one of the last. I understand that people want their voices to be heard by government, but I seriously doubt that is the motivating factor in such cases. These people generally seem to be seeking their fifteen minutes of fame, for if they really cared about the issues they would behave in a more dignified and appropriate manner. I also realize these are troubling times and the economy is in shambles, however what will yelling at a candidate truly accomplish? McCain understands just as much as Obama that people are hurting, he doesn&#39;t need to be berated and quite frankly as an elder statesman and former war veteran he deserves your attention and respect. Do not go to a public event to dishonor his service in a pathetic attempt to derail his speech. I find myself disagreeing with McCain more often than not, but as a presidential candidate he deserves respect, regardless of how I feel about his policies. Not to sound like an elitist, but recent aggravated verbal assaults provide rationale for the Electoral College. While that is a long debate for another time, let me say that occasionally I am happy that we have a system in place to protect us from emotional voters, who are either misinformed or only vote on one issue. It appears that politics in this country is degenerating into boxing-style press conferences where anybody with a ticket instantly thinks he/ she is an expert in democracy and governance. When the Founding Fathers created a government based upon the voice of the people, I don&#39;t think displays like today are what they had in mind. Citizens have every right to be heard, but you have to do something before you get to debate McCain. He&#39;s up there on stage, and you&#39;re getting escorted by security out the door. There is a reason why. He knows his stuff, and you&#39;re an ignorant fool. Enjoy your spaghetti!&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/latinos-lambaste-mccain.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGaRuXaOwfI/AAAAAAAAAwI/vivveRXzjXU/s72-c/mccain.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-4118053025181924510</guid><pubDate>Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:13:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-12-09T04:08:42.889-05:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Air Force One</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Dr. Strangelove</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">JFK</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Primary Colors</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">The American President</category><title>V List Crossover: Hail to the Chief!</title><description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWQq-WmLTI/AAAAAAAAAuo/rOCR6VRrsAo/s1600-h/seal-presidential-color.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216734811345268018&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWQq-WmLTI/AAAAAAAAAuo/rOCR6VRrsAo/s200/seal-presidential-color.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Perhaps one of the most persistent and recurring roles on television and film is that of the President of the United States. While Hollywood&#39;s portrayal of the executive office may be far from the truth, it way more entertaining and revealing than any press release or declassified document. Hollywood remains light years ahead of reality, having already portrayed a female and african-american president, something we still grapple with here in the &quot;real-world&quot;. Hollywood presidents don&#39;t just create policy on terrorism, in some cases they roll up their sleeves and kick a little ass too. Here are the top five films featuring our fearless Commander in Chief.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5. Air F&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;orce One &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;This fil&lt;a href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWQwiPrqUI/AAAAAAAAAuw/yHjbPQwTvUo/s1600-h/Air_force_one.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216734906879289666&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWQwiPrqUI/AAAAAAAAAuw/yHjbPQwTvUo/s200/Air_force_one.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;m makes the list purely because it transforms the President (played by Harrison Ford) into an ass-kicking terrorist fighter. I can&#39;t think of many films where the Commander and Chief interprets his title literally by donning an MP5 aboard a hijacked jumbo-jet. While there are many moments in this film where you will yell &quot;Bull Sh&amp;amp;%&quot; at the outlandish feats that are accomplished mid-air, you will certainly get a good laugh in the process. Additionally, the casting of this film will surprise you, since William H. Macy, Gary Oldman, and Glenn Close provide outstanding supporting roles in this Wolfgang Petersen cheezefest. This is yet another cinematic steal you can find in the five dollar Wal-Mart bin that isn&#39;t as heady or as preachy as the next few films.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. Dr. Strangelove&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGVfkr_aTfI/AAAAAAAAAuA/3KqT3WXjINg/s1600-h/dr-strangelove-1-1024.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWQwiPrqUI/AAAAAAAAAuw/yHjbPQwTvUo/s1600-h/Air_force_one.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;While Kubrick uses comedy to liven up the Cold War, he somehow reminds us of the delicate balance between preservation of humanity and total annihilation. I have always thought Peter Sellers was one of the most under-celebrated actors of the last generation, having been so much more than Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther films. Any student of film history simply must go out and buy this film in order to appreciate its artistic splendor, and for satirically capturing the spirits and sentiments at the height of the nuclear age.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. Primary Colors&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGVft2wVnfI/AAAAAAAAAuI/CyuusmcDXnc/s1600-h/primary+colors.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;IMDB.com joking quips that this movie should be called &quot;Hillary and Bill: The Movie&quot;. While I have never read the novel that this film was based upon, it encapsulated many of Clinton&#39;s shortcomings that have become the basis of so many Oval Office jokes in the past eight years. This film was also beautifully cast and adds a new dimension to the myriad of roles played by fictional presidents, that being the inspirational and morally bankrupt slime-ball.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. The American President&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;After watching this film I am convinced of many things, one of which is that Michael Douglas should run for President of the United States. He has wonderful hair, even more s&lt;a href=&quot;http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWR7MKf-_I/AAAAAAAAAvI/FNK_iIz1Vsc/s1600-h/american_president.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216736189442161650&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWR7MKf-_I/AAAAAAAAAvI/FNK_iIz1Vsc/s200/american_president.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;o&lt;a href=&quot;http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGVf0Xs9RJI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/bW91s7Jw9ps/s1600-h/american_president.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt; than John Edwards. Secondly, Michael J. Fox is a hell of a press secretary, it&#39;s shameful that George W. Bush didn&#39;t make use of his talents to spin his public relations disasters. The American President is the movie that has something for everybody. It&#39;s intelligent enough to not be considered quirky, yet endearing enough to qualify as a romantic comedy. While The American President can never be classified as a &quot;chick flick&quot; it would rank high on the &quot;list of guy movies that women will watch&quot; for it&#39;s love story between Douglas and Annette Bening. The American President could seriously make a run at number one if not for the strength of our final film.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. JFK&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGVf8loDYeI/AAAAAAAAAuY/jIfT_Jg8Xxo/s1600-h/jfk1.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While m&lt;a href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWRKwfm2-I/AAAAAAAAAvA/CB3o7ts9dQ8/s1600-h/jfk1.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216735357380778978&quot; style=&quot;FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWRKwfm2-I/AAAAAAAAAvA/CB3o7ts9dQ8/s200/jfk1.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;any of the facts of this film are distorted and/or created purely for Oliver Stone to make his epic film, it does not diminish the movie&#39;s obvious brilliance. I once asked a colleague what percentage of the facts did he believe were correctly represented in Stone&#39;s film. He guesstimated about 40 percent of the events of the film have historical backing and are &quot;irrefutable&quot;. If this percentage holds true, then Stone has made a compelling argument for conspiracy theory that will be debated until the National Archives are completely declassified in the coming years. I have always believed that JFK was more like a religious experience than a movie. I was very young when I watched this film for the first time, yet it had a profound impact on my understanding of the workings of government and its relationship with its citizenry. I&#39;m not saying I took this film at face value, but it certainly impressed upon me the need to constantly search for the truth, something that our Founding Fathers stressed approximately two centuries ago. That&#39;s what I call a powerful film. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;There&#39;s more lists just like this one over at &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thevlist.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;The &quot;V&quot; List.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/v-list-crossover-hail-to-chief.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhv8aEi_e-U/SGWQq-WmLTI/AAAAAAAAAuo/rOCR6VRrsAo/s72-c/seal-presidential-color.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-279511551247964089.post-7199513558138753782</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2008-06-27T09:00:03.985-04:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Best of Clips</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mad Men</category><title>Mad Men: Best Moments Season One</title><description>Here&#39;s a montage of clips from Season One. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;embed src=&quot;http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1119352258&quot; bgcolor=&quot;#FFFFFF&quot; flashVars=&quot;videoId=1604920085&amp;playerId=1119352258&amp;viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&amp;servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&amp;cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&amp;domain=embed&amp;autoStart=false&amp;&quot; base=&quot;http://admin.brightcove.com&quot; name=&quot;flashObj&quot; width=&quot;440&quot; height=&quot;373&quot; seamlesstabbing=&quot;false&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot; swLiveConnect=&quot;true&quot; pluginspage=&quot;http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&quot;&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;</description><link>http://policythought.blogspot.com/2008/06/mad-men-best-moments-season-one.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (JamesBedell)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item></channel></rss>