POPCORN!

Tasty, yellow, salty, buttery goodness.
A dream in a bucket. Movie theater magic.
Popping, snapping, reminding.
Smells of joy.
Popcorn. Popcorn.

If you like popcorn, you're gonna love POPCORN.

Pappy Korn, the self-proclaimed (and delusional) inventor of popcorn is rocking the house with his massive all-about-popcorn blog! Check it out as soon as humanly possible.

From "how does popcorn pop" to "which popcorn pops the fastest" and all points in between. It's POPCORN.

The Marketplace of Ideas Online

I'm a big freedom of speech advocate and my support for open discourse is primarily based in a strong belief in the marketplace of ideas. In an unfettered marketplace of ideas, all positions can be heard and the best conclusions will be reached. At least that's the way it works in theory.

In practice, it's tough. The playing field isn't level and the marketplace is controlled to the point of creating unavoidable bias. Not everyone is heard (or heard to the same degree). In fact, some viewpoints don't get enough "airplay" to be heard at all.

The Internet creates the opportunity for a truer marketplace of ideas. The playing field can be leveled and people can exchange ideas and perspectives freely without restriction. Vigorous debate and argumentation can forge stronger arguments, change minds, and produce better thinking (and results).

A perfect example of that concept in operation are the Argue With Everyone Discussion Forums. This forum for political debate is operated with the objective of promoting open and free discourse in mind. Unlike many forums, moderation is limited. Members are able to create the discussions and arguments of their choosing.

If you're an opinionated person--or are someone who's interested in learning more about the opinions of others and/or broadening your own personal outlook, a trip to the Argue With Everyone Discussion Forums is warranted. If you're craving vigorous and productive debate, joining the forums is almost mandatory.

Clergy Notes Value of Cord Blood in Reaction to Hybrid Stem Embryos

Researchers in the UK received regulatory approval for the creation of hybrid human/animal embryos. While they lauded the decision and looked forward to untold scientific advances, others lamented the decision as a transgression of deeply important religious and ethical principles.

Catholic clergy, for instance, argue that the ethical controversies created by decisions to make the hybrid embryos are avoidable--and that their avoidance may actually produce better results.

They maintain that stem cell research using umbilical cord blood can provide benefits similar to those achieved via embryonic research without treading on sensitive moral/ethical/religious terrain.

According The Independent:

But the Archbishop of Cardiff, Peter Smith, said: "Instead of promoting ethically problematic research into hybrid embryos, why do we not simply encourage more research into the proven and uncontroversial area of adult stem cells?"

"The Catholic Church is not against all stem cell research, and strongly supports such research using adult and cord blood stem cells."

About Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse

After mentioning Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Banks in my previous post, I noticed that their site mentioned this one. Unfortunately, their assessment of Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse is inaccurate. I thought I'd take a moment to explain the nature of this blog and my intentions in order to clear up any misunderstandings.

Parent's Guide to Cord Blood describes the blog like this:

"A blog where all content is written by an anonymous Resident Expert who clearly works for a bank."

Well, they're right about the "Resident Expert" thing. They're wrong about the rest of it.

"Resident Expert" shows up as the post author because I actually operate a series of blogs with the same account and needed a author tag that made sense for all of them. I don't utilize my real name due to privacy considerations and other issues related to the content and topic matter of other ventures and the desire to keep elements of professional life separated.

Does the lack of a name and/or specific qualifications damage the credibility of this blog? Perhaps. On the other hand, I always cite referenced source material and try to make it clear when any of my own opinion creeps into discussions.

I am not employed by an umbilical cord bank. I have no direct affiliation with any cord blood bank, storage facility, etc. It is true that this blog accepts advertising, particularly in the form of Google Adsense ads. This may result in ads for various banks appearing on the site. When those ads are clicked, I am paid a small sum. I'm not, however, beholden to any outside firm or corporation and the presence of those automatically-served ads has no impact on editorial content.

The site does feature links to sites that may include cord blood banks. These links are reciprocal and were established in an effort to assist in search engine indexing and search optimization. They were built early in the blog's history as a means of putting the blog "on the map". The accompanying text may create a sense of advertising, but I don't personally endorse or recommend any linked entity.

I am paid for some posts. A full disclosure statement is located at the bottom of the blog. I am yet to be paid for any post directly related to umbilical cord blood banking or storage and doubt that situation will ever arise.

So, if I'm not cashing a check from a cord blood bank and I'm not affiliated with any of the companies in the industry, why am I blogging about it, right?

To be honest, the project started as an experiment in generating advertising revenue via blogging. That's right, it's basically a for-profit endeavor. I was experimenting with keyword research and relatively high-paying contextual advertising topics when I found that umbilical cord blood banking seemed to have potential. The private firms out there are in a heated competition for clients and they are willing to pay a fairly substantial sum for targeted advertising.

I built the blog with that in mind. I hoped to drive traffic to this site and to generate earnings via the contextual advertising. The topic area, initially, was chosen purely as a matter of financial potential.

Unlike some other experiments, Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse was not particularly successful. Traffic totals were lower than expected and earnings suffered. I basically shelved the blog for awhile, not necessarily planning to return to it.

In the meantime, any chance I had of making Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse a top performer in its niche had passed. Others with more SEO skills and content acquisition talents had focused their attention on the subject matter.

Then, a few things happened. First, I started reading more news about the topic and realized I had developed a genuine interest in it. That coincided with the birth of my daughter and a decision to donate her cord blood. That decision was spurred, primarily, by what I had learned as the author of this blog. Second, I discovered additional means of monetization in the form of paid postings. I returned to the blog with greater regularity to provide updates, etc.

Today, Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse is operated as a for-profit endeavor. I earn via the contextual advertising and sponsored postings. I don't earn based on the politics or commercial implications of my content to the cord blood industry.

This blog is less of a research project or personal attempt at swaying public opinion than it is a news aggregation site. I look for stories and information about cord blood and umbilical cord blood banking and comment on them, supplying readers with direct links to those resources. As noted, I try to separate personal opinion and make those moments crystal-clear to the reader.

Is Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse the perfect resource for the subject matter? Not even close. I think that sites like The Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Banks offer far superior original content and can be a great resource. I also believe that some of the information coming from cord blood banks and those with direct financial ties to them can be useful. There are also incredibly biased slams of banking operations, statements released purely to generate business for banks, misinformation, wrong information, outrageous statements of medical potential and enthralling stories of medical and technological breakthroughs. Cord blood is a fascinating topic. It combines the most personal aspects of life and decision making with politics, science and ethics.

I have my opinions, which are always subject to change as I learn more. But this is less about my opinions than it is providing a variety of perspectives and exploring different aspects of the topic. I do make a little money from the project, but probably not enough to justify the limited time I spend on it.

The Cord Blood Banking Clearinghouse is what it is. It's a small site that aggregates and comments upon cord blood-related news and opinion pieces. It's not a mouthpiece for banks or any other entity.

I hope everyone who visits finds something interesting on the topic of cord blood and/or is inspired to learn more.

Yours truly,
Resident Expert