‘Weekend Open Forum XX’ Open Thread

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We’re going to be re-posting a few of the best posts from the week, so check those out too and please comment on what you see!

Featured Post: From Thinking, again, about energy

Foreign Oil

How do we wean ourselves of foreign oil?  This is a complex question with a simple answer; however, one which is nearly impossible to enact politically.

Since most of the oil usage in this country (I believe above 80%) is used to power transportation– mainly automobiles– making the entire auto fleet more efficient is the fastest and cheapest way the greatly reduce oil consumption.  The auto industry can now manufacture fuel efficient cars.  Many are currently available or could be rapidly brought to the marketplace; however, there is…

‘Thinking, Again, About Energy’ Open Thread

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Featured Post: from California Prop 8 Upheld

No New Tale to Tell

First thing I did Tuesday morning (because the dark day was Tuesday not yesterday…oops Steve) was get my “I support gay marriage” sticker from Facebook.  My good ol’ buddy Adrianne signed up first and I followed suit.

We say we…

California Prop 8 Upheld Open Thread

The discussion of gay marriage still inflames passion in a lot of circles.  Beyond that question, though, is the issue of minority rights.  Does a simple majority have the right to strip a minority of its granted civil liberties?

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I currently own 2 GM trucks. I will not be buying another one. I have had trouble with these 2 for the past few years and they are under warranty. I feel that we have moved past GM and that they had there chance. I think that this is the time for new ideas and new car companies to stand up.

General Motors Bankruptcy Open Thread

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I think it’s a good fit. We as a nation need the view and interpretation of the constitution that I think she will bring. She has been working in the federal court system for quite some time as it is.

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor Open Thread

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Memorial Day ‘Weekend Open Forum XIX’

We’re packing up for our extended weekend of Open Forum, with our special Memorial day edition of Weekend Open Forum.  Feel free to discuss ANYTHING you wish!  The week’s timely topics are listed to the right, but don’t limit yourself!

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A Farewell to the ES Radio Show

Our contract ends this week with Voice America, and we are bidding a fond adieu to the Earning Serendipity Radio Show, which has aired for the past 2 seasons on their Business Network.

We’re pursuing golden opportunities for our next media endeavor, but we hope you’ll join us today at 8am PST as we say ‘good bye for now’ to our audience.  We’ll be taking questions right here, so please consider this the open thread for the show today.

Thank you to all of our loyal listeners; we’ve had a great time bringing you this hour every week.  We hope that you’ll join us in our next incarnation, wherever that may be.

GLENN AND STEVE

We spend twice what most other industrialized companies spend per capita on health care and we don’t have better health outcomes.  It seems to me that all the posturing, rhetoric, and turf battling is rendered pointless by those embarrassing facts.  Only someone with a vested interest could defend a system that doesn’t work as well as the others.  The Republicans huff and puff about socialized medicine and the government coming between you and your doctor, but no one’s suggesting that, and what about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance?  Their issue is getting care, not worrying about the government.

So it’s time that all parties took a deep breath, stopped posturing, and started trying to offer real solutions.  Fortunately, it looks like many of the participants are doing exactly that.

My humble suggestion:  take a look at the French system.  It’s less expensive and works better than ours.  And, it’s based on a combination of government and private programs, insurance, and medicine — not all that different to our approach.

We’re going to end up with some kind of combination of public and private programs, so let’s get over the rhetoric and get it done.  The scandal that nearly 50…

‘Financing Health Care Reform’ Open Thread

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“‘Missing Link’ Found” Open Thread

Got to admit, the only reason we’re visiting this topic today is because I just thought that this was SO darn cool.  What do you think?

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For those that want more information, the links in the Daily Topic are to a variety of excellent sources, including this one: Ida’s Official Site.   Thought that it might deserve having a little extra attention drawn to it; it’s definitely worth exploring.

I think that they can bring both a fresh new look of the entrepreneur spirit. I think many of us still don’t really have a feel for the opportunity that American can offer.

‘Immigrant’s Advantage; Spicy Style’ Open Thread

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‘Retooling Credit Cards’ Open Thread

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On ‘And He Shall Be Judged’ Open Thread

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Just a cool article I found on Yahoo

‘Weekend Open Forum XVIII’ Open Thread

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“Serendipitous” timing.  Today we heard a talk by David Lampton, who is a Professor of China Studies at Johns Hopkins (and Dean of Faculty). He has a new book just out called The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money and Minds .    He addressed the issue of CO2 emmisions and the fact that China feels like it is their turn right now.  They have moved so rapidly that many unfortunate results haven’t been dealt with yet.  They haven’t dealt with environmental issues yet OR regulatory ones (ie. lead paint in toys), because they have gotten ahead of themselves.  The environmental issues will be difficult (China and US are the two big offenders), but perhaps global pressure will help.  They want to keep their consumers (the world) happy with them.   He discussed how, to this end,  they play down their military might.  They are quietly building a Navy, nuclear power, etc., but they aren’t saber rattling.  Prior to 1840, China had about a 25-30% share of the world GNP!!  Then they came upon hard times and it shrank to about 3 %. That lasted untiol the late 1970s.   In the last 30 years, they have increased their share to about 16%.  They…

‘Confronting the China Problem’ Open Thread

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Electric cars are great for in town shorter trips of less than 150 miles. The car companies are going to be trying to hit this market first. Will all of us be driving electric? Not for a while. It will be quite a while before an electric motor can replace my truck engine. But for the vast majority of people it could be a great alternative.

‘The Future of Fill-Ups’ Open Thread

Sorry about the late-start this morning.  We were rushing to finish a project this morning, and the topic was delayed.  We’ll try not to let it happen again anytime soon.

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On a closer to home point for using technology to improve business. Though I really want to get this warp speed figured out. I loved the new movie it was great. There are many ways that information technology can both improve a company. Particularly in these hard times when every dollar needs to be justified. I have been kicking around some ideas to help create a really good low cost very competitively priced data warehousing offering. Many smaller companies could benefit from this technology. The big boys just charge way to much for what they are offering and this prices them outside of the real for smaller companies who actually need the information quicker. Just a thought.

Beam Me Up Scotty!

I’m always reminded of Star Trek or any other ’space age’ theme when I hear anything about video conferencing.  And then plagued by my fear of subconciously picking my nose (the fear of course being played in my mind on the huge wall screen on the other end).  I’ve been on my share of conference calls and Skype calls but try to shy away from the little circle at the top of my screen.  Now if we could only get the beaming me up thing down - now that would save so many economic problems…Gas? don’t need it! Long lines at the airport? A thing of the past!  I suppose you’d have a few years of someone else’s arm ending up on your body or, of course, your luggage being beamed to Barbados.  But only until they worked out the kinks.  Can ya tell I went to the movies last week? yes.

‘Using Technology to Cut Costs’ Open Thread

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‘Online Protection vs Freedom of Speech’ Open Thread

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This topic reminds me instantly of my grandmother.  She was the most brand loyal person I’ve ever known (my mother is a close second).  It would never occur to her to use or even try a different brand, even if the price was lower.

Store brands? Forget it!!  To her, store brands meant lower quality.  In some cases she may have been right, but she would never know because she would venture off her well worn, tried and true path, even if she had to pay a premium to remain so loyal.  My mother is the same way, a creature of habit and predictability.

And that is what she wants in her products.  she wants to know what she is getting and what it will and will not do.

My wife on the other hand is the consummate bargain shopper.  She is the deal hunter.  She thrives on getting a bargain and she brags to all her friends and family about her most noteworthy triumphs.  In college, she and I were Zestfully clean for several years thanks to a perfect storm of store sale and double coupon that actually paid us six cents for ever bar of Zest we purchased . . ….

“The Story of Stuff” is becoming viral in classrooms across the country.  We all know Al Gore’s one and a half hour “An Inconvenient Truth,” Annie Leonard’s 20 minute video is much more accessible to younger minds.  Stuff is a look at human consumption and waste that teachers are using to supplement out of date textbooks and connect with youth about the environment.  Very cool, here is the article from which I found it.

We try to buy organic products whenever possible.  Where we live, for most things, the only organic option is the store brand organic.  Which, turns out, is pretty good.  On our mountain we have a Stater Bros. and a smaller regional specialty (way over priced) grocery store.  For meat and odd products we can’t find at SB we go to the smaller store.  And, of course, these days the amount in the account determines what you buy at the store.  We have fallen off the organic wagon on occasions when we simply couldn’t afford it.  But there are some things we absolutely refuse to sacrifice, like organic milk (trust me, drink it for a while and all you taste in ‘regular’ milk is chemicals.)

I have found that making the switch depends on the person and that person’s preference.  Yes, store brands (organic or not) are normally cheaper.  But - they are not always the same quality.  So, let’s say you were used to buying a certain brand and decided to try the store brand to save money.  If the store brand tasted the same to you, you might switch.  If not, would you try switching to a cheaper product for…

‘Buffing-Out the Brands’ Open Thread

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Palace of Depression

Just read this on the NYTimes.  The Palace of Depression was started by George Daynor as a 70 year old in 1929.  Deemed an eccentric in his time, he started walking from NY City to South Jersey and bought 4 acres ($1 per acre) sight unseen…creating his own little moment of serendipity.  Pretty cool article - now if the darn vandals would just leave them alone!

Welcome to the Open Thread in our Open Forum.  Please jump in on any topic that’s on your mind.  Registration or OpenID is required to post comments, but it’s an easy 20 seconds of your time requiring only a valid email address.  Be a part of the conversation today.

Since someone didn’t put a link to Adlai’s article - here you go folks!  Adlai, thank you so very much for spreading the word.  You made our day around here!

And Don, thank you for being on the show i miss you and your girls!

‘Getting Started Now’ 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 Don Daniel, 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 he’s on the air.  If you drop by afterwards, no worries… we’ll make sure that he gets your question, and we’ll make sure to get you an answer.

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I read the article from the beginning of the week and my first reaction was something like, “WHAT!…WHO… WHY would anyone EVER say those words to someone - much less a child - and think they didn’t mean any harm!”  This was after I read the “carve deeper next time,” etc. crap from a teacher.

I’m going to brag about my mom a little here:

I am the daughter of two teachers.  My mom was an elementary school teacher and my father was a college math and computer professor.  I can spot a bad educator from a mile away.  Luckily, I was blessed with wonderful teachers (with the exception of…

Education is a very hot button.   I have many teachers in my family so I get a lot of first hand experience with my ideas. Teacher performance review process.   Teachers that fall below a basic standard should be reprehended by taking small group training classes.  We all know there are some “bad” teachers out there. Second. Parents must be held accountable for there child’s behavior. Period end of story.   I have seen this first hand that Parents want the “school” to correct behavior/attitude problems.   The single largest factor in a students progress through school is the parents involvement. Third some kids can be left behind. Not all kids have the desire, home, motivation to contribute to a classroom.  I have seen first hand a school’s inability to deal with troubled children.  We are the only western system that does not separate the child by ability.

‘A Look at Local Education Reform’ Open Thread

Readers, education reform is one of those issues we’ve tackled before, but we’re taking a slightly different tack at today.  It is also one that affects everyone that has ever had to interact with someone short-changed by the system.

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‘Brainstorming Maximum Exposure’ Open Thread

Conventional, online, guerilla, viral, or other… we want to hear how you’ve gone about maximizing the exposure of a product or service, or an idea you might have had someone asked you!

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‘Stress Tests’ Open Thread

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Thank you Janelle Wang and Spencer Christian from ‘View from the Bay‘

Janelle gets the credit for really pursuing this story, and Spencer was a gracious and inquisitive co-host for this segment.  Our ‘Thanks-a-Million’ goes out to both of them, and to the whole crew that made Glenn’s appearance such fun to do!

Thank you, Mekahlo Medina!

Mekahlo Medina, Host of NBC’s ‘Raw News’ had Glenn on for an on-air discussion

of his book.10 Glorious Minutes!

Thank you, Mekahlo! We couldn’t have been happier with the way it went!

(In the event that you can’t view the above video, here’s the link:

Click Here
)

That’s a great review.  What’s the best way for our audience to get the book?  Ask at our local Barnes & Noble or Books a Million? I would suggest asking at your local retail outlet.  I think that’s also a great way to get the word out.

Book Screening!  These guys are great…Twitter works again!  Their site BookScreening.com is awesome.  They post book trailers (yes, books have trailers too) of all sorts!  Including Earning Serendipity here! I’m all about exclamation! points! today!!! (T-A-M (Thanks-a-Million!))

Another big ‘Thanks-a-Million’ goes to MyShelf.com.  Their reviewer Deborah Adams wrote a wonderful review of Earning Serendipity.  We really appreciate her voice.  MyShelf has so many reviews! There were almost 150 new ones this month.  Thank you guys and gals, keep up the great work!

I think I’m going to do this in spurts:

My first ‘Thanks-a-Million’ today goes to the lovely RJ McGill.  RJ operates 3Rs Reading Den.  RJ and I have communicated over the last few months and she is just the nicest person you will ever meet.  3Rs Reading Den has added a beautiful link to the Earning Serendipity Workplace Quiz.  Check out her site.  Not only does she have reviews, there is a wonderful Parents and Kids resource page along with current events.  If you’re on Twitter follow her there as well, she’s swell!

Okay, yeah, sorry that was cheezy…back later!

Tom H. C. Anderson

First up on the hit parade of our grateful thanks today is

Tom conducted and posted what we consider to be a first-rate interview with Glenn on “Earning Serendipity and Social Media Marketing.”  The entirety is available here (so go over and give it a read!), and we have presented a brief excerpt below:

Tom: Glenn, what does serendipity mean to you?

Glenn:  Positive Happenstance.  When good fortune comes your way, unexpectedly / uncontrollably.

Tom: How did you decide to write this book, what kind of research was involved?

Glenn:  My father had been telling me for years that I needed to write a book.   I have had a unique professional career and personal life and my father felt that I could change a lot of lives if I shared my story with others.   I certainly hope Earning Serendipity will inspire others to do the same.

Tom: You’ve outlined four major steps in Earning Serendipity, and following these steps help us assess opportunities, situations and people as well as avoid potential landmines. Can you briefly explain these?

Glenn: We all have control over the path to prosperity. Progression

…

“Our Thanks…” Open Thread

I personally wanted to take a day here at the Thresher to say ‘Thank you’ to the people/sites in the online world that have helped make ‘Earning Serendipity’ a success.  If you know of a site or person that we’ve missed, please feel free to jump in here on the Open Thread!  Or, like we said above, shoot us an email with the link and we’ll make sure the post gets made!

Thank you, all!

Well I think this was a great radio show this morning. Good job getting this author, very good choice.
Second. Great release of the book. The momentum should build as the book moves through the market.

‘Facing Down Adversity’ Open Thread

Have a question for Karen Salmansohn?  Have your own story of woe defeated to tell?  Here is a great place to get started!

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