Dear David,

I would like to take the opportunity to invite you to the IAOP meeting in Guatemala next month, that you are already well aware of.

Your contribution as a speaker/panelist on this event would be much appreciated. I am envisioning a presentation titled something like:
"Central America: How it all got started - Plus, the Costa Rican Story"

It would be really great to hear your stories about setting up the Acer call center in the 80s in Costa Rica, and just your viewpoint of the last 20, then 10, then 5, and perhaps just the last 2 years of what's been going on in all the countries and the region as a whole. Your bird's eye view of it all is something that very few of the conference attendees has, and I think they will benefit plenty from hearing about it.

We can only offer that you come pro bono, but we hope that it is an opportunity that leads to other opportunities for you. We are hoping to have another very succesful chapter meeting like the innagural one in Managua that you attended.

in hopes of your response,

Estuardo

PS: Chris Disher, the Chair of our Central America Chapter, is copied on this email.

--
Estuardo Jose Robles
Business & Economic Development

This is quite an honor. I will be sitting on a panel with some real industry heavyweights. The meeting is April 23rd in Guatemala city. Hope to see some of you there.

More on my Business Blog

Crossposted to my business blog

CALGARY, Alberta - Former President George W. Bush said he won't criticize President Barack Obama because Obama "deserves my silence," and said he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office. Bush declined to critique the Obama administration Tuesday in his first speech since leaving office. Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said that Obama's decisions are threatening America's safety.

"I'm not going to spend my time criticizing him. There are plenty of critics in the arena," Bush said. "He deserves my silence."

Bush said he wants Obama to succeed and said it's important that he has that support. Talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has said he hoped Obama would fail.

"I love my country a lot more than I love politics," Bush said. "I think it is essential that he be helped in office."

And what's interesting is that I believe he is 100% sincere.

Kinda...

"Obama just created what's called the "White House Council for Women and Girls". Most certainly a noble effort,"

But they could not help themselves...

Continuing the same comment with this...

"which just happens to reek of political pandering."

They followed up that strong retort with this brilliant commentary...

"I wonder, will he hold up George W.Bush as an advocate for women, considering the women of Afghanistan and Iraq are now free to pursue schooling and employment without fear of governmental punishment? Will he present him with an honorary award?"

Interesting question. Lets see, the women of Iraq and Afghanistan, free of fear from Government punishment for higher aspirations. NOT free of being blown to hell while shopping for the weeks veggies. Free from rape by Saddams officials... NOT free from honor killing by their own relatives for BEING RAPED by some Shia or Sunni Militiaman. We'll have to do the math on that one...

Kim Priestap

Are these people on...

Now I will admit that Bush showed a lot of class in the waning months of his Presidency. But what kind of fantasy life are these people living if they actually believe this crap.

The day after Madoff was thrown behind bars, investigators returned Friday to the arduous task of piecing together one of the largest frauds in history - and trying to determine if anyone else was involved.

The FBI has refused to discuss the status of the investigation. But experts say it's certain Madoff's closest relatives and associates are high on authorities' list of people who may have known what was going on.

Madoff pleaded guilty Thursday to 11 charges, including fraud, perjury and money laundering. He faces a maximum sentence of 150 years in prison, and the judge immediately jailed him - a decision his lawyers asked an appeals court to reverse on Friday.

One has to wonder, if this guy were black, latino and/or poor... Would he have been able to spend all that time in a luxury apartment paid for by his victims money.... Would his wife still be able to live there? Justice for this guy would be to send him and his whole freakin' family to an Alabama chain gang, sell all their assets and return the poor victims money, and have him and his "frau," and his kids work the rest of their lives to pay back these people...

Future Plans

George Wedding
An open letter to Apple, Steve Jobs and staff:

"...Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter..."

- Thomas Jefferson, 1787

As a former newspaper editor and photojournalist, I am increasingly worried about the sudden collapse of the newspaper industry across America during this sobering economic downturn. In Democratic societies, the free press, long referred to as the "Fourth Estate" for its essential role as an unofficial fourth branch, serves as a watchdog on the three other branches of American government: the executive, legislative and judiciary, as well as on society itself.

Sadly, we may be on the verge of a democratic society without the vibrant free press that Jefferson once described as so essential. Print journalism is failing -- and it is an industry that is desperate for a modern delivery system.

I believe an affordable, 10-inch tablet iPod (the iTab if you will) might save professional journalism. A new generation of citizen journalists may fill some of the void being created, but a democratic nation needs trained, professional journalists as well.

Of all the media outlets, including television and radio, magazines and books, it has been printed, daily newspapers that have dominated this oversight role since 1776, largely due to their size, and (until now) the sheer number of local reporters, photographers, graphic artists and editors employed to produce and deliver the news. By comparison, local radio and television news outlets employ relatively skeletal staffs, and largely, can't do much more than rewrite stories that appear in daily newspapers. Of course, there are many exceptions to this reality, but until recently, it is daily newspapers that have provided the real manpower that ensured the Fourth Estate's oversight role in society.

As I watched a young couple buy a printed newspaper while in line at the grocery store the other day, I couldn't help but think that all this is changing. With readership and subscriptions in decline, print advertisements collapsing and hundreds of news professionals being laid off nationwide, this industry is facing a crippling failure. Americans are losing a generation of reliable and essential professional journalists.

At the same time, we're hearing scuttlebutt on a long-rumored new tablet product that may (or may not) be coming from Apple (I'm betting it is coming). Like the iPhone/iPod Touch, Amazon Kindle and to a lesser extent, Windows-based "netbooks" -- a larger, tablet Mac could be the ground-breaking computing device that holds promise to save what's left of the local news industry.

A low-priced tablet computer in a scaled-up, iPhone/iPod Touch form factor paired with appropriately designed news Web sites could be the "next Killer App" in computing -- and the heir-apparent to desktop publishing and laser printing technology of the 1990's. I like the name "iTab" because it fittingly combines the concept of the modern tablet computer with the traditional heritage of the crusading "tabloid" newspaper of a past era.

Interesting Open Letter...

Much more on my Business Blog

There are some very nice titles available. Here is a sample of my reading list.

Pro Blogger - Chris Garrett
Million Dollar Consulting - Alan Weiss
Who Stole My Cheese -Ilene Hochberg
Morals and Dogma - Albert Pike 33o
On Writing - Stephen King

I gave up my iPhone a couple weeks back and moved to a Blackberry, but I bought a 32 GB iPod Touch while in Guatemala back in November of last year, so I am all good. Love the Touch.

More on my Business Blog

Yeah.... She has got this completely down.