Trusting in the wisdom and good graces of our readers, we at cJ have decided open up the seagates of the JoeBlog to one and all.

While anyone pretty much gets to say what they want, we're hoping that we get some good, non partisan-slamming, thought-provoking discussions going here.

So what have you got to say?

For our "Nuclear Fizz" Policy on the Rocks event, held in NYC in April 2007, we took on the light topic of nuclear proliferation and the pros cons of a pre-emptive military strike on Iran.

Justin Logan, an analyst at Cato, led the discussion leaning ultimately on the side of "no strike." To balance out the talk, we also invited a local security consultant, Elad Yoran, to say a few words about why the US might want to pull out the smart bombs.

A special evening of cocktails and coversation with James Hoge, Editor of Foreign Affairs.

Hosted by our board member, Andrew Schorr, and limited to twenty guests, the JoeInclusive is our chance to thank our most devoted supporters with what we know they'd appreciate best - a conversation with one of the country's most eminent thought leaders.

The head of Nokia, one of the richest guys in the world, sends his kid to the local public school.

What's up with that?

Join us as we talk about why it is the world's richest nation (ours) still has some pretty crummy public schools. Is it low funding, low expectations, an over-powerful teachers' union or poor parenting that's to blame? What are our best choices to improve our schools?

Bill Brazell will kick off the discussion, taking Finland as foil - and seeing if it leads us to any answers.

We'll be meeting for our second book ever (!), reading Maggie Mahar's Money-Driven Medicine.

MDM was recommended by Leif Wellington Haase, the former health care fellow at The Century Foundation and now the guy heading up New America Foundation’s California office. So says Leif:

Hi!
This is the groups page for the Manhattan JoeBooks club.

We just started, but the plan is to meet every six weeks, picking off the books that the cJ Brain Trust is recommending one by one. We generally meet on Sundays, 5ish in Lower Manhattan.

If you're interested in joining our group, click the "subscribe" link to the right (or register/login first). As long as we have space for more readers, you're in!