Thank you to the readers of the Arkansas Times who voted in the annual “Best of Arkansas” readers poll.  This blog was recognized as a runner up for Best Local Blog behind the Times own “Arkansas Blog,” which took home the winning prize.

Thanks for voting and thanks for reading.

Mark Elrod, a political science professor at Harding University, is taking his interesting blog private.  His new blog will be set up this way: “my blog is going to transformed from a public blog that requires registration to make comments to a private blog that can only be read by registered/invited users.  I intend to make both the posts and comments section available on a case-by-case basis for individuals I know and trust and I no longer be importing Eppur Si Muove to Facebook and I’ll be removing it from Flog Blog. Starting today, I will begin deleting all 631 registered users from the blog and I’ll ask you to re-register with a real name and I real e-mail address.  I’m going try to limit that list to about 100 people.”

His rationale:  “I made this decision on my own as the result of the general frustration I have with members of our fellowship who want to make a spiritual judgment about me based on my political views. One of those views is my public support for Barack Obama for president. In the last few days, much of that angst has been directed toward my employer and, as a result, toward me as well.”

Sorry to hear it, Mark.

“Federal regulators says they’ve closed ANB Financial National Association banks after discovering “unsafe and unsound” business practices there,” reports the Associated Press.  Roby Brock has more on the deal at his blog.

“A multi-year investigation leads federal agents to search the Office of Special Counsel’s building. Employees have alleged the agency was misused for political purposes.  Neither Office of Special Counsel head Scott Bloch nor anyone else has officially been charged with a crime. But the FBI secured a separate subpoena for Bloch’s home,” reports NPR.

The story continues: “The Office of Special Counsel is in charge of investigating whistleblower complaints by federal employees. Late this morning, the entire office’s email system was shut down — a fact that the San Francisco field office confirmed.”

This story is still developing . . .

                                                            
Ellen McGirt has a very interesting article in the April issue of Fast Company about Barack Obama as a brand, and the lessons businesses can take from his campaign.  She concludes, “Barack Obama may not win his party’s nomination. And even if he is nominated, he may lose at the polls. If that happens, pundits will be quick to point out strategic or tactical missteps, and some will say America just isn’t ready to elect a black man as president. Such a pat analysis is to be expected. But there is no question that the brand of Obama — what he represents to the next generation of Americans — is important. A business that ignores this message does so at its own peril.”

Friends from Wal Mart tell me that the famous (and once required) weekly Saturday morning management meetings instituted by Founder Sam Walton have been changed to monthly meetings—no doubt the result of a diverse and international workforce and an expanding leadership team—not all of whom are based in Northwest Arkansas.

In a bold move to counter Google’s online pre-eminence, Microsoft said Friday that it had made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo for about $44.6 billion in a mix of cash and stock. If consummated, the deal would redraw the competitive landscape in Internet consumer services, where both Microsoft and Yahoo have both struggled to compete with Google. The offer of $31 a share represents a 62 percent premium over Yahoo’s closing stock price of $19.18 on Thursday. It would be Microsoft’s largest acquisition ever,” reports The New York Times. 

“The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut a key interest rate for the second time in just over a week, reducing the federal funds rate by a half point. It signaled that further rate cuts were possible,” reports AP.

On Senator Clinton:

Her ideas, her comeback in New Hampshire and strong showing in Nevada, her new openness to explaining herself and not just her programs, and her abiding, powerful intellect show she is fully capable of doing just that. She is the best choice for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain the White House.

On Senator McCain:

In 2006, however, Mr. McCain stood up for the humane treatment of prisoners and for a ban on torture. We said then that he was being conned by Mr. Bush, who had no intention of following the rules. But Mr. McCain took a stand, just as he did in recognizing the threat of global warming early. He has been a staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, working with Senator Russ Feingold, among the most liberal of Democrats, on groundbreaking legislation, just as he worked with Senator Edward Kennedy on immigration reform.

That doesn’t make him a moderate, but it makes him the best choice for the party’s presidential nomination.

We not only court online influencers with our services, we inhabit the blogosphere ourselves offering opinion, insight and commentary on an array of issues. I’ve given you a link to Chris Kindrick’s blog “Monkey Bulb.” Emily Reeves is now in the blogosphere with “Ms. Adverthinker.” And our man Clint Ecker, who keeps us all in line and online from Chicago, is commenting about everything tech and cool over at “Officially Lucky.” I’m hearing rumors SW public communications guy Kyle Riley’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” blog is coming this week.

You can find continuous links to these blogs and many others over on the right hand side of the site under “My Community.”

“Former British prime minister Tony Blair is expected on Thursday to join U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc (JPM.N) as a senior adviser, according to a person familiar with the situation,” reports Reuters.

Stone Ward creative man and all around good guy Chris Kindrick announces his presence with authority in the blogosphere.  “Monkey Bulb”  is a blog about the “evolution of big ideas and accidental brilliance.”  It’s an ambitious and exciting topic, and I’m looking forward to reading his thoughts.  I hope you will all check it out.

“A man with a rifle opened fire at a busy shopping mall Wednesday, killing eight people before taking his own life, police said. Five more people were wounded, two critically,” reports the Associated Press.

Only a few days after Merrill Lynch parted ways with CEO L. Stanley O’Neal over billion dollar losses related to the subprime mortgage business, Citgroup CEO Charles O. Prince announced that Citi would take “additional $8 billion to $11 billion write-down related to subprime mortgages, on top of the $5.9 billion reported in early October,” reports The New York Times.

Citigroup promptly named former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin Chairman, and his immediate task will be to find Prince’s replacement.