Hedgehog & Fox

This could just be chalked up as off-topic Friday fun, but on the other hand, if authenticity is the new coin of the realm, you better watch what you say - and how it is measured. That goes double if you are a politician or any other sort of high-visibility leader.

Over at PolitiFact.com, you can get the a “truth-o-meter“reading on recent statements by the presidential candidates as well as a “flip-o-meter” reading for issues on which they may have flip-flopped. And if you like, you can get all of this delivered to your favorite reader via RSS.

Not quite sure about your own political leanings in this confusing world of historical presidential campaigns? Check out the Political Compass to help - it will tell you where you stand.

Politically (and truthfully) yours,

Jeff Cobb
Hedgehog & Fox

Reluctant blogger Maddie Grant has tagged me with the task of divulging eight things about myself here in plain sight on the web. So, here goes:

1. In spite of the fact that I have made my living from sales, business development, and leading start-up companies over most of the past decade, I am a hardcore introvert according to Myers-Briggs . (So publishing eight things about myself is definitely not something I would ever decide to do on my own!)
2. I have a ten-month old son named Cy, referenced briefly in a recent posting titled The Will to Learn.
3. My wife, Cy, and I live in Carrboro, which is adjacent to Chapel Hill but considers itself to be something else altogether from Chapel Hill. It is the self-appointed “Paris of the Piedmont.” To get the flavor, check out “It’s Carrboro” on YouTube. (Really, it’s worth it–can your town compete with this?!)
4. I wound up just shy of a doctoral degree in comparative literature (a state referred to in the back alleys of academia as “ABD”—All But Dissertation) at UNC-Chapel Hill, mostly as a result of succumbing to my more entrepreneurial side and running off to participate in the whole dotcom phenomenon.
5. Owing to the above-mentioned doctoral work, I have taught Great Books of the Western World, various levels of Russian (though you would never know it from my current proficiency), and Freshman Composition at the university level. My favorite book to teach was probably Absalom, Absalom! . Precisely what that says about me, I’m not sure.
6. In spite of the background in high brow literature, I am a big fan of pot boiler mysteries. Particularly P.D. James and John MacDonald’s Travis McGee series.
7. I play the guitar and have been known to write a song or two.
8. Like Maddie (remember, the one who made me do this;-), I have traveled a lot. I have not made it to Sydney as she has (yet), but I have been to her birthplace Bangkok and have many fond memories of it. Most notable travel memory overall is probably spending the night on the Great Wall of China.

I think at this point I am supposed to tag eight other people. Well, maybe that is a 9th thing to reveal about myself—I need to ponder a bit longer whether I extend the meme, and to whom.

That’s it. If any of this strikes a chord, please share your comments.

JTC