‘101 Days’ Open Thread

Though the swine flu– now being referred to by its scientific designation, H1N1 Influenza– still progresses, we want to get back to discussing news of the world.  We will still be posting news relating to the possible pandemic, so please do check back.

In the meantime, let’s talk about politics.  We’re at 101 Days of the new administration, and we want to hear what you think has gone right and wrong.

Readers, we want to know what you think.  We hope you’ll take the time to comment on our Quorum’s posts or, if you prefer, get involved right here in the comment section of our Open Thread!  Registration is required for commenting, a painless process requiring no more than a valid email address to which we can send your password, or if you’ve got one you can use your OpenID.

Please, jump on in and give us your opinion.  The conversation best happens when you get involved.

Map of the Swine Flu outbreak

Here’s a great map to keep an eye on the Swine Flue outbreak. It puts it into perspective very well.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=32.639375,-110.390625&spn=15.738151,25.488281&z=5

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

Not Swine Flu Update, Day Dos

So Skye is off to school today.  And before any of…

French travel agents have suspended travel to Mexico and are reporting 150 confirmed deaths. http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/French-travel-agents-halt-all-Mexico-trips-_52084.html

More countries are concerned that the United States is not screening the border with Mexico, and feel that there will be more Mexicans will cross the border for medical care instead of staying in Mexico.

In the light of this Do we feel that we have handled the outbreak as well as we could have or do you feel that we should have hit this harder right at first?

Update, Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Good Morning, all.

We’re altering our course a little bit today, and we’re going to continue our coverage of the Swine Flu epidemic.  We’ll be back to our regular format very soon.

The New York Times has an Update this morning, and they are reporting the first death outside of Mexico to be associated with the disease.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday in an interview with CNN that the first American death of the disease was a 23-month-old child in Texas. He gave no other details about the child. President Obama said his “thoughts and prayers” were with the child’s family.

I believe all of our thoughts and prayers are with the child’s family today.

The Obama administration has recommended that all schools with confirmed or suspected cases be temporarily closed.

Reuters is reporting that yesterday the President asked Congress “for an additional $1.5 billion to fight swine flu as the confirmed U.S. caseload jumped to 65 people in six states.”

Obama, in a letter to Congress, said the $1.5 billion would

…

Chuck E. Cheese and Microbiology

My son is 5 years old and my daughter is 3.  This age group is the target consumer of pizza, cake, videos games, cake and ice cream laced birthday extravaganzas at Chuck E. Cheese.  My wife and I have made every effort to avoid taking our children there for many reasons.  Primarily because you can’t un-ring that bell.  Once they know such a place exists, they want to go there for everything from birthdays to thirdrate holidays like Flag Day and Groundhog’s Day.

Last week one of my son’s class-mates had a birthday there and we could not avoid going.  This was my first trip to Chuck E. Cheese as well, so I didn’t entirely know what to expect.  It was a MAD HOUSE.  Hundreds of kids ages 1 to 12, many with little or no parental supervision, running around cranked up on pizza and sugar, blowing through their parent’s pocket money like drunken little Tzars.

Now, I am not the stickler for cleanliness my wife is.  I make sure my kids wash after they use the bathroom and before they eat, but otherwise, they are allowed to pretty much spend the day coated in what they have gotten…

Update 11am PST, 28 April 2009

The Los Angeles Times is reporting, unsuprisingly, new cases of Swine Flu outside of Mexico.

In an age of widespread air travel, it is difficult, if not impossible, to contain a newly emerged infectious agent, and that is proving to be the case with swine flu, as isolated outbreaks continue to be confirmed around the world, with new cases reported today in Canada, Israel, France, New Zealand, Costa Rica and South Korea.

The total in the United States has now reached 67 and worldwide has climbed to more than 100, not counting the still-unknown number of cases in Mexico. At least some of the new cases, moreover, appear to have risen from human-to-human transmission outside Mexico.

Such community transmission is one of the early earmarks of a pandemic, and if it continues to be observed, experts predicted, the World Health Organization is likely to raise its alert to Level 5, from the currently elevated Level 4. Such an increase might involve more travel restrictions and stronger efforts to control the spread of the virus.

While authorities are being cautious in sounding optimistic notes, there is some reason for hope.  New cases in Mexico seem to have leveled out:…

To Go or Not to Go

I love that both my daughter and I started to get sick a few days ago, before the world really started panicking.  (i.e. before the media started reporting).  I woke up in the middle of the night last night, sure that someone had broken into my house and was scraping my throat with a shard of broken glass.  And today I have no voice, luckily the searing pain is still there.  Skye wouldn’t get up this morning, and when that kid says she thinks she should stay home from school (also said in a raspy voice) - it’s time to call the attendance…

Repost: Swine Flu: What We Should Do for One Another

The following is a REPOST of a Guest Post posted by Hilzoy at Washington Monthly in the names of Ruth A. Karron and Ruth R. Faden.  I do not normally gratuitously re-post like this, without comment of my own, but there is some absolutely germane advice and it deserves to be read in its entirety.  I hope that you will visit the excellent blog run “by Steve Benen and Featuring Hilzoy“– probably the blog I personally read most often– or visit Hilzoy at her other home base, Obsidian Wings.  Thank you, Hilzoy, for sharing this information with us.

Everything after the line is credited to Hilzoy and her guests.

===========================================

Swine Flu: What We Should Do for One Another

What follows is a guest post by Ruth A. Karron and Ruth R. Faden. Ruth A. Karron is the director of the Center for Immunization Research and Johns Hopkins Vaccine Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Ruth R. Faden is the executive director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

***

At this point, it is impossible to predict whether we are on the brink of an influenza pandemic….

As Steve has pointed out the initial Bill would have been a help in the future detection and preparation for just such a Flu outbreak. Remember this is the second time we have seen a version of Swine Flu. The first was back in the 70’s. At that time we had TV and Radio adds teaching people how to not get infected and how to limit the spread of the infection.

Question: Is this going to effect anyone’s travel or entertainment plans. My kids are wanting to see the new “Wolverine” movie that opens on Friday. I am not so sure about this and told them we need to see what the outbreak does.

From Forbes.com: “Experts Say Panic Over Swine Flu Is Premature“

Reiterating our earlier assertion that we are still in the early stages of this outbreak, and a “Pandemic” may not be inevitable, Forbes.com has a great piece this morning (worth reading in its entirety):

Transmission, death rate much lower than SARS, and true severity of outbreak still unknown

TUESDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) — As the death toll from swine flu in Mexico rises and new cases appear in the United States and elsewhere, it’s easy to get caught up in a sense of mounting dread.

But experts in influenza and infectious disease say the exact level of danger from the virus is still far from certain.

“This is something of concern [but] I think we should hold back on calling it a real threat,” said David Topham, co-director of the New York Influenza Center of Excellence, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center. “We always have to take these things seriously, but we have a very good system in place to respond.”

Absolutely right.  It’s going to be easy to attribute every sniffle or cough in the next few days to something more sinister than the more probable spring cold or allergy…

Graphic provides an update of swine flu outbreaks worldwide. (AP) (via the San Diego News Network)

Confirmed Cases So Far (as of 7am PST, 28 April 2009)

“We are closely monitoring the emerging cases of swine flu in the United States and this is, obviously, a cause for concern and requires a heightened state of alert. But it’s not a cause for alarm.” –Barack Obama

Agreed.  It is not the time to panic, despite our perhaps tabloidesque headline, but we believe it is a time to be aware.  Flu pandemics are no laughing matter.  Under eerily similar circumstances– a flu virus that could jump from animal to human and sustain human to human transmission– a flu pandemic was responsible for the deaths of more than 100 million people in 1918.  Agencies believe that we’re better prepared now to battle and contain, but that means being aware and taking precautions as necessary.  We’re hoping to help with the awareness part, but only you can decide what is necessary at your local level.

We’re going to do our best to monitor the emerging news and post it here throughout the duration.  As such, you may see a minor interruption to the flow of the Topics on the Thresher.  If you see this topic on the page and hope to post to another, it is still possible.  Simply click on the topic…

‘Generational Marketing’ Open Thread

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Please, jump on in and give us your opinion.  The conversation best happens when you get involved.

Weekend Open Forum XV Open Thread

Welcome, one and all. We value your input, so please jump right in. Registration or OpenID is required for commenting, but it’s an utterly painless process. requiring only a valid email.

In case you missed them, here are the Topics from Friday through Monday.

This week’s topics:

Your Money or Your Strife

Imagining a World Without Chrysler

Bartering Environmentalism

TARP Fraud

Islam Reconsidered

Dr. Jane Chin Photo and Bio

Dr. Chin will be joining the voices here at the Thresher, and we are thrilled to welcome her to our Quorum.  We will have her photo and biography up in the list by Monday, but we wanted you to have the opportunity to get to know a little more about her today.  That said, here she is:

And her Bio:

Dr. Jane Chin is a pharmaceutical industry veteran who has multifunctional experience ranging from analytical R&D, sales, and medical affairs. She is Founder and President of Medical Science Liaison Institute LLC (www.mslinstitute.com), an advisory firm that advocates the ethical use of field-medical science teams by biopharmaceutical companies. Jane is widely recognized for her thought leadership, high degree of integrity, and authentic concern for the best interests of medical science liaisons (MSLs) and pharmaceutical leadership. She has authored numerous articles in industry publications as well as peer-reviewed journals, and was a frequent speaker and chairman at medical affairs related conferences. For her contribution to the support and evolution of the MSL Profession, Jane was named one of Life Science Industry’s Most Inspiring 100 People in 2006

…

Industry: 1, Ethics: 0 (the environment: -14 years)

It seems to me that the topic of the day, the question of whether to support you company (and thus maintain the sense of security that comes with gainful employment) or to stand up for what you believe in, is one that is presented with nuance and degrees quite often, and not everything is black and white.

Granted.

In others, it’s quite obvious and the self-deception or group-think that must go into choosing to ignore the evidence for the benefit of the company is egregious.  Think: cigarette companies claiming that the science was out on lung cancer year after year after year, despite their own science being quite clear.

Today, the NY Times has a piece where they make a justifiably similar comparison.

For more than a decade the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming.

“The role of greenhouse gases in climate change is not well understood,” the coalition said in a scientific “backgrounder” provided to lawmakers and journalists through the

…

‘Your Money or Your Strife’ Open Thread

Readers, if you’re joining us today from the ES Radio Show (and we HOPE that you are!), this is the first stop to getting involved.  If you have a question for Dr. Chin, you can leave it for her right here.  If you get it in while the show is live, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll get to it while she’s on the air.  If you drop by afterwards, no worries… we’ll make sure that she gets your question, and she’ll get you an answer.

.

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‘Imagining a World Without Chrysler’ Open Thread

Will Chrysler go the way of the dodo, or perhaps the DeSoto?

Readers, we want to hear what you have to say.  Our Open Thread is one great place to chime in.  Registration or OpenID are required for commenting (you probably have an OpenID, and just don’t know it), but registration is an easy, painless process requiring only a valid email address to which to send your temporary password.  And no, we don’t sell/rent/trade or spam your email address.  Not ever.

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Inhabitat

I also came across these guys today who make a very valid point.  Inhabitat contributors blogged about what they are doing today.  Many said they aren’t really doing anything out of the ordinary.  They lead their lives as though every day is Earth Day.  Making a concious decision to care about their environment in every thing they do makes today seem a little like Valentine’s Day.  One great show everyone puts on for 24 hours about how much they care and love you. Come tomorrow though everyone is back to tossing those chocolate kiss wrappers out the window.  Pretty cool people, pretty cool ideas, check them out.

We Should all Be Keeping up with Mr. Jones

Picture this:

You’re driving over the bridge from San Francisco to Oakland.  Behind you is a clean sunny world filled with fresh produce, hybrid cars, solar panels, bicycles and organic tofu as far as the eye can see.  Staring you in the face is the complete antithesis of that - run down houses, bare lots with rotting Fords, boarded up windows on grocery stores, etc.

And you realize that each side will continue to grow that way.  The land shining in your rear view mirror will keep getting cleaner and healthier and the land before you will continue to devolve.

Unless you do something that is.

Van Jones, as reported in this month’s ‘O’ Magazine, had this wake up call.  For years he was involved in the Bay Area’s local social justice movement.  The injustice and deaths of inner city youths finally began to take their toll on him.  Completely burnt out and exhausted, he had a need for healing and rebirth.  While immersing himself in things like yoga, Buddhist retreats and ecstatic dancing in drum circles (woo hoo), he met Julia Butterfly Hill, an activist who spent two years (yes,…

‘Bartering Environmentalism’ Open Thread

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‘TARP Fraud’ Open Thread

Readers, as always, we invite your comments on this Topic.  Here is one great place to get started.  And, of course, the dialog exists best inside our Contributor’s posts, so please comment if you see something that interests you.  Registration or OpenID is required, but it’s a quick and painless process and you don’t even have to give your real name (though a valid email address is required to receive your temporary password).

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I am probably unique among our quorum in actually having the privilege of living in a Muslim culture.  And though the Gambia is not an archetype of Sharia law (their primary source of revenue is European tourism, so it would be difficult to maintain the strict standard and keep planes full of holidayers flying in), it has given me some insight into both the moderate and devout (though not militant) Islamic mindset.

Now, this back in 1996; way before the tragic events of 9-11, and before we responded by (in my opinion) going off the deep end.  Anti-Americanism was on the rise throughout the world during most of the past decade, and many of those countries that were moderate before took a hard turn right in response to what they perceived as an attack on their faith from the west.

On Taxes…

I wanted to touch on the topic of Taxes. I heard the other day that “congress” actually gets very little communication about taxes from there constituents. They receive much more faxes, calls, email, snail mail about many other issues. Stuff like gay marriage, stem cell research, bail out funds, immigration, boarder issues etc. I was very surprised to hear this. I would suggest that you make your congressman aware of your feelings.  How else do they really know what we think?

‘Islam Reconsidered’ Open Thread

Readers, as always, we invite your comments on this Topic.  Here is one great place to get started.  And, of course, the dialog exists best inside our Contributor’s posts, so please comment if you see something that interests you.  Registration or OpenID is required, but it’s a quick and painless process and you don’t even have to give your real name (though a valid email address is required to receive your temporary password).

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‘In Pursuit of Your Life’ Open Thread

Readers, here is a great place to get started.  In the Open Thread, you can talk about the Daily Topic, and you can leave questions for Nick Valencia, our guest on today’s ES Radio Show.

We want to hear from you, so please jump in!  Registration or OpenID are required for commenting (this cuts down on the spam), and since registration is about a 20 second process requiring only a valid email address, it should have you back here and writing up a storm in NO TIME!

Governor ‘Good Hair’ Goes Fishing in the Tank

This is so clearly a desparate ploy by a flailing and failing politician that it almost doesn’t deserve response, but it makes for dramatic news coverage, and fodder for blogs (including, of course, well…) and the good Governor– Governor ‘Good Hair’, as the late, great Molly Ivins used to refer to him– was just ignorant enough to bring it up, so…

So, some quick data out of the way:

Governor Perry does fear for his job.  The Fox-sponsored fringe-fest that Perry addressed yesterday, like it or not, makes up what is left of the Republican base, a number dwindling even in Texas.  If he is to have any chance of defeating Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary he’s going to have to energize a whole host of crazies.

Now, I will admit that, during the Bush administration’s darkest years, as a denizen of California– a state whose populace actually pays out more in taxes that it receives in services (at least pre-stimulus, I have no current data and feel not at all inclined to go find it)– I wondered aloud a time or two about the possibility of California going its own way.  We’d still…

Okay, how ’bout this…

We get Austin and The Montrose and they get to take Limbaugh.

‘Secession?’ Open Thread

Readers, jump on in and let us know what you think?  Should Texas have the right to secede from the Union?  Should a State Governor be fanning these flames?

Jump in here in the Open Thread to get the game started!  Commenting requires an OpenID or registration (this cuts down on the spam), but registration is quick and painless, requiring only a valid email address.  If you promise to share your thoughts, we promise never to sell/rent/share/trade your email with anyone.

‘Tax Day I’ Open Thread

Readers, here’s the first place to get involved in The Thresher. Each day, we open up a portion of the site to you and your ideas.  Please, jump in; the conversation best happens when YOU get involved!

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As a Cuban-American who has never visited Cuba, I can assure you this is a delicate matter amongst Cuban-Americans. To understand the delicacy, you must first understand the dilemma. Both my parents fled Cuba in the early 1960s as children and have never returned.  The history behind my mother, her sister and so many Cuban children like them coming to this country through the Peter Pan Program (US Catholic Organization) without their parents (who were not allowed to leave Cuba) is one difficult to comprehend. Just imagine entering a foreign land at 13 years old without your parents, being sent to live with strangers in Wisconsin in the dead of winter (Cuba is in the Caribbean) not speaking much English or understanding the customs. The hardship and suffering of the Cuban exiles is one that you can only grasp if you too have had to flee your country and all that symbolizes: your language, family, culture, roots.  It seems incomprehensible yet injustices both political and economic are obviously seen throughout our world today.

Fortunately, I have had no reason to visit Cuba. My entire family was able to enter the United States decades ago. That being said, I have always felt…

‘Normalizing Cuba’ Open Thread

This is a topic that can ignite real passions on both sides of the argument; and there are valid cases to be made by all camps.

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Well, unfortunately I fear space exploration may go the way of art and music in schools.  Extras are becoming extra again: extraterrestrial, extracurricular, extra car, extra home etc.

Not saying I agree with this.  But when art teachers are let go and music is just something you have on in the car, things like space seem to turn back into just amusement park rides and retro kiddie cartoons.

On the other hand, President Obama does seem committed to furthering the U.S.’s education and getting us back on top in the science and technology arena.

As far as harvesting resources from other planets.  How egotistical can we be?  ‘Hey, we’ve trashed this place where can we get our next fix?’  This isn’t a frat party people, it’s the damn Earth.  Researching and developing the technology for exploration and possible future colonization is one thing (even that has problems - can you imagine the wars over who gets to claim Mars? and beyond that what if there were ever border disputes, sheesh!).  But rooting around the universe for the next pristine planet (never ruined by man’s touch) to turn into the newest cesspool, drained of all potential before it’s time…are you kidding me?  I feel…

Keeping with the Spirit, if not the letter, of the Topic

I’m going to get back with a post on the topic of Space at some point today, but I wanted to share an article from this morning’s LA Times that seemed pretty-freakin’-cool: ‘Female mammals may not have finite number of eggs, study finds.’

Scientists have produced strong new evidence challenging one of the most fundamental assumptions in biology: that female mammals, including women, are born with all the eggs they will ever have.

In a provocative set of experiments involving mice, Chinese researchers have shown for the first time that an adult mammal can harbor primitive cells in her ovaries that can become new eggs and produce healthy offspring, they reported Sunday.

Much more research is needed to confirm and explore the findings, but the work raises the tantalizing possibility that it could someday lead to new ways to fight a woman’s biological clock, perhaps by stockpiling her egg-producing cells or by stimulating them to make eggs again.

Does this have anything to do with colonizing the moon?  No, not directly.  But what it does speak to is what I think Glenn Llopis would call the ability to employ ‘broadened observation.’  In this…

‘Shoot the Moon’ Open Thread

Space; inspirational and achievable, or the stuff of candy-land fantasy?

Readers, we want to know what you think.  We hope you’ll take the time to comment on our Quorum’s posts or, if you prefer, get involved right here in the comment section of our Open Thread!  Registration is required for commenting, a painless process requiring no more than a valid email address to which we can send your password, or if you’ve got one you can use your OpenID.

Please, jump on in and give us your opinion.  The conversation best happens when you get involved.

…

My Little Girl

Well, let me start this off with shameless bragging about my little girl.  Skye (5 1/2) just received her begginer yellow belt last week.  She has been taking for about a month and was one of two white belts testing (and the only girl for all belts around her age).  The belle of the ball as usual, she stole the hearts of all the black belt friends her teacher (the amazing Mr. Dan Pribble) brought to show off his kids for.  And show off he should.  All the kids are so well behaved, practiced and respectful to not only their teachers but themselves and their classmates.  So I guess shameless bragging for all involved in Mr. Dan Pribble’s Kenpo classes in Twin Peaks, CA.  Keep up the great work!

‘Shameless Self Promotion Day I’ Open Thread

Hi, all,

Welcome to the first installment of ‘Shameless Self Promotion Day,’ a new irregular feature we’ll be rolling out occasionally.

Here we invite you to get involved, let us know what you’re up to, leave links to your site, send us pictures of your grandkids.  We want YOU to tell us about YOU (and let’s face it, there’s no more interesting subject in the world than YOU).

Registration or OpenID is required to comment on posts or in the Open Thread (this cuts down on the spam and, no, unfortunately we can’t turn it off for just one day).  Registration, though, is a painless process requiring only 20 seconds of your time and a valid email address (which we never sell/rent/share or trade).

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They didn’t use Parlay did they

Update: FBI Called in to Assist in Negotiations

While I hope that our discussion goes further than just this story, touching on the issue of modern piracy in general, this is still a developing story.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the US Navy has requested assistance from the FBI in determining how best to negotiate for the release of Captain Richard Phillips, still being held by 4 remaining Somali pirates that escaped with the Captain in a lifeboat (the lifeboat’s motor, reportedly, subsequently failed and the lifeboat is adrift).

The assault on the U.S.-registered Maersk Alabama freighter, loaded with food for Africa, far off Somalia’s coast marked the first attack against a U.S.-flagged vessel off Africa since the days of the Barbary pirates more than 200 years ago, a maritime official said.

At the FBI, spokesman Richard Kolko described the bureau’s hostage rescue team as “fully engaged” with the military in strategizing ways to retrieve the ship’s captain, 55-year-old Vermont resident Phillips, and secure the Maersk Alabama and its roughly 20-person U.S. crew.

The FBI was summoned as the Pentagon substantially stepped up its monitoring of the hostage standoff, sending in P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft and other equipment and securing video footage

…

‘Pirates!’ Open Thread

Unarmed Americans retake a ship from a band of armed pirates?  You’ve got to love a story like that!  We are, of course, all praying for the safe release of Captain Richard Phillips.

Piracy is an increasingly difficult problem in that critical shipping region off the Somali coast.  Let’s take some time today to reflect on the root causes of the issue, and what we might do to put it to rest.

Readers, here’s a great place to start telling us your opinions. We’re anxious to hear. Comments require Registration– a 2 minute process requiring only a valid email address– or OpenID.

Get involved in the conversation today!

Follow-up on the Army PTSD tapes

Salon.com has a follow-up piece to yesterday’s story.  It discusses the chain of events that went into the Arny’s decision to clear itself of wrong doing.

It, like the story that preceded it, is something of a horrifying read, if you’re of the mindset– as I believe almost all Americans are– that the young men and women who put their lives and minds on the line for our country deserve the best continuing care we can possibly give them.

Whatever you think about the military campaigns in which we’ve engaged, there’s no disparaging the military personnel that have volunteered to carry out these campaigns.  They risk their lives in unknown territory, believing that they are making a difference to the security of our nation.  These soldiers deserve to know that we will stand behind them should they become casualties of war.

‘Our Obligation to Our Soldiers’ Open Thread

Readers, as always, we invite your comments on this Topic.  Here is one great place to get started.  And, of course, the dialog exists best inside our Contributor’s posts, so please comment if you see something that interests you.  Registration or OpenID is required, but it’s a quick and painless process and you don’t even have to give your real name (though a valid email address is required to receive your temporary password).

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Holding on to that Thread

I’m encouraged by the fact that President Obama’s approval rating is continuing to climb.  It means people on the whole are still holding on to that thread of hope he so eloquently wove during the campaign.  With 57% of the country willing to pay extra taxes for universal heathcare and 71% saying they would increase regulations on banks, someone’s doing something right.

The article explaining the poll on CBS.com states:

Most Americans - 60 percent - agree with the argument articulated by the president at the G20 summit last week that the United States needs to work with other countries to fix the problems facing the global economy in order to fix the economic problems back home.

Thirty-seven percent disagree with the argument that the United States should be working with other countries to fix its economy.

I’m with the 60%.  We are no longer respected around the world (also a question: 36% respected to 52% not) and it is time we humbly reach out to our neighbors and let them know we understand we are not the only country in the world.  And certainly not the only country with problems.  We are not (nor should, or could be) the…

‘Optimism on the March’ Open Thread

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‘Mark-to-Market’ Open Thread

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Weekend Open Forum XII Open Thread

A note to new readers: we require Registration or OpenID (you probably have an OpenID, and just don’t know it) to post on the Thresher.  We do this because it helps dramatically cut down on the number of offers for discount Viagra that you find in the comments section.  Registration takes about 20 seconds, we ask only for a valid email address to which to send your password (well, we ASK for more than that by default, but it’s all that’s required), and we’ll never sell, rent, share, or trade your information to any other site.

So, please, get involved.  Suggest a topic, post a diatribe.  Help break us out of the mold of our conventional thinking by exposing us to some of yours.  We look forward to hearing what you have to say.

The Peter Shankman Experience

If you aren’t following these guys, you need to be.  They are so creative and I don’t know where they get their energy…I hear Peter sneezing now so maybe it’s the meds he’s always on these days?  Anyway, they are doing wonders for start ups and well knowns alike.  Keep up the great work!  We are enjoying it!!

‘Great Marketing/PR Ideas’ Open Thread

Today’s topic was inspired by the ‘Giveaway Day’ being run by Peter Shankman’s crew.  All day long, until 6pm EST, they’re using Twitter to give-away prizes from vacations to vitamins.  You can watch two of Peter’s friends posting the questions live at Shankman.com, where they are streaming their antics and eating of donuts.

Since we were inspired by this rather clever PR trick that has grown their Twitter follower base to almost 35,000 (and counting), we thought that we’d repost how to get involved.  You need to be a Twitter user (you can follow us at Steve takes @EarnSerendipity, Micki handles @MelissaBrownPub, and Glenn is now online and actively tweeting at @OpportunityExpt), and you need to follow Peter Shankman at @skydiver.

Then, watch for the questions coming from skydiver and be the first to give the correct answer.  It’s like a day-long game show with 35 thousand contestants, so you’ve GOT TO BE QUICK!

Now, tell us clever ways, new and old that YOU’VE seen marketing done!  We want to hear from you!  Registration, for new readers, requires Registration or OpenID (this cuts down on the comment spam).  Registration is a painless 20 second process requiring only a…

Well I Guess I Walked Right into That Title

I get what you’re saying.  And, of course, I would like to see us selling to the Chinese.  As my 5 year old likes to say, (and I quote) “everything is just made in China!”.  And it seems to be.  All I’m saying is I don’t want to see another decade of everyone sitting around twiddling their thumbs and “strategizing” on how to be dominate in the world and cripple progress for the world people as a whole.  Nothing gets done that way and we get a few inches deeper into the oceans.  That is all, g’night

You’re unpatriotic, Micki

Listen, I get what you’re saying, but I think that it does matter; at least to Americans accustomed to a high standard of living.

We have the opportunity, through shrewd investment now, to be a part and party to a transition of the world fleet to cleaner, more sustainable transportation.  By making that investment, we can lead rather than follow and continue to reap the benefits of our innovation for years and decades to come.

I agree, sharing of technology is inevitable but I, for one, would rather we be selling said technology to the Chinese than buying it on the tail end.

I don’t think I’m being unpatriotic by saying this but, does it matter who does it first?

We (the world) need something new.  We get it.  Okay, China wants to be the big super power…who doesn’t? But instead of holding up progress by trying to figure out who gets what credit when and where, why can’t we help each other and just get it done?  Think of it in the broader sense of what can they bring to the table, what can we, what can any other country capable and willing?  Work together.

A global assembly line is I guess what I’m getting at.  We already have the factories built..they are becoming ever closer to being empty but there must be something we are good for.  I’m reminded of teaching my daughter to share when she was around, wait for it, 2.  Mine mine mine mine.  That’s kind of the way I view government officials when I start hearing market monopoly and superpower this and that.  And yet as “grown-ups” we teach our children that teamwork works but don’t exercise it in the world and workforce.

I know it’s pie in the sky.  Tell you this much, I prefer my sky blue and…

‘Who will build the electric car?’ Open Thread

Readers, this is a great place to get the conversation rolling.  Registration or OpenID are required to comment on the Thresher (this helps us cut down on the spam).  Registration requires only a valid email address, which we do not rent/sell/share.

So drive on in!  We want to hear from YOU!

Bountiful Spaghetti Harvest and More

Remembering an April Fools Joke that my parents told me of after returning from Europe when I was a kid, I was going to go looking for this bit from the BBC… however, the Huffington Post beat me to it, calling it the number 1 best April Fools Prank of all time.  Apparently, the ignoble media monopoly thought so much of it that they re-aired it year after year.  Original date, according to HuffPo, was 1957.  My parents saw it in England in the late-70’s/early-80’s.

So, I cribbed it from their great piece on ‘The History of April Fools’ Day Plus the Top Five Pranks of All Time’ (they cribbed it from YouTube).  Totally worth the read, and here’s an excerpt that should take you into the article as a whole:

The origins of April Fools’ Day are murky, but the likeliest explanation is that it began as a way to mock French people who were slow to switch to the Gregorian Calendar which changed New Year’s from April 1 to January 1. These folks were labeled “fools” and some were sent on “fools’

…

Okay, I’ll bite

Back in my dance studio days, we decided to all show up to ballet class in jeans sweatshirts (needless to say a major no-no).  We had our leotards and tights on underneath just in case our teacher wasn’t in the “catcha” mood.  So we are milling about around the barr when our teacher walks in in the same get up.  “Well okay then,” she says, and we all learned why denim really isn’t the best material for grande jete’s.  T’was fun

‘April Fools Day’ Open Thread

April Fools Day brings out the mischevious in many; the puckish sprite clawing at our insides, itching to break free and create playful mayhem.

So, tell us about your favorites, here’s the place to start!  We’ll be updating throughout the day with some of the best (or cheesiest) from the web.

New readers, we want to hear from you too!  Either registration or OpenID is required for commenting in the Open Thread (this cuts down on the spam we have to sift through), but it’s a simple 20 second process requiring only a valid email address.

So Jump In Now or the JOKES ON YOU!