Some quick suggestions:

• Missing father, 2 kids found safe in Congaree National Park — So, if there are so many fallen trees across trails and such that it’s hard to search for missing people, should members of the public be allowed to explore them? Especially with kids? Is the swamp inherently unsafe?
• Questions swirl about DSS actions in latest Richland child death — John Monk tells story of child who died after DSS response delay of almost two months.
• Kerry apologises for Israel ‘apartheid’ comments — Has the SecState contracted foot-in-mouth disease from the Veep?

Or… whatever y’all want to talk about…

I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do, so y’all find something, or somethings, to talk about.

Some suggestions:

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens calls the court’s recent campaign finance rulings “a giant step in the wrong direction,” which have created a situation in which “The voter is less important than the man who provides money to the candidate. It’s really wrong.” Discuss.

New leadership in the Midlands. I was intrigued by this piece pointing out how many new people are in leadership positions in Columbia, in both the private and public sectors. Will it make a difference? Let’s hope so. (Blast it! I can’t find the story at thestate.com! Well, here’s a picture of it from my iPad that should be legible. The above link is to the mobile version, which is a bit confusing since the pictures aren’t paired with the corresponding text.)

With Stone brewery likely lost, lawmakers are working to change SC law to make it easier to recruit the next Stone — and maybe even this one. FYI — for some reason, this Greenville News story waits until the 23rd graf to tell you what the legislation will do, which is to allow brewpubs to produce up to 500,000 barrels per year instead of being limited to 2,000.

And in the big news so far of the day — which I’m tempted to hold in case I do a VFP, but what the hey — Michigan’s ban on affirmative action is upheld.

But go ahead and choose your own topics…

Special because it’s on Saturday, not because there’s any world-shaking news going on. I just figured since I didn’t post all day Friday (busy taking care of grandchildren), I should provide a forum today.

From my perspective, the topical pickings are slim, but maybe there’s something on your minds. Here are a couple of suggestions:

• Clemson considers total tobacco ban — As you may recall, USC already instituted one. I liked Harris Pastides’ communitarian approach to enforcing the ban: “This isn’t about how many people we catch,” he said. “It’s about how many behaviors we could change.” Lots of times libertarians don’t want to ban things because enforcement can’t be perfect, or because trying to enforce perfectly would require an unwise reallocation of resources. But it’s best to look at these things in terms of the gain — in this case, less smoking going on than previously — rather than in terms of absolutes.
• Amid crisis in Ukraine, U.S. to deploy troops to Poland — And if that doesn’t worry you enough, NATO moves to ease mounting worries in Baltic. Cold War 2.0 is getting kind of hairy. (I keep seeing that construction, “Cold War 2.0.” Somehow, that feels really late-90s to me. The kind of expression that would have seemed cool back during the dot-com bubble. Kind of retro now. Anyone agree?)
• U.N. envoy: Palestinian Christians kept from holy site — Just to give you something kind of Easter-weekend related.

But as usual, talk amongst yourselves about whatever…

Some possible topics:

• Cindi’s followup column on the Harrell case: Today, she puts Circuit Judge Casey Manning on the spot, big-time, for even “entertaining the idea of ruling that the attorney general and his State Grand Jury lack jurisdiction to investigate allegations that House Speaker Bobby Harrell has converted campaign funds to personal use.” In its way, it’s as strong a column as the one yesterday, which is really saying something.
• Girl Fight! Nikki Haley goes after her erstwhile friend Katrina Shealy on Facebook, over rumors she claims Sen. Shealy has been spreading about Lillian Koller: “Dir. Koller is not an Atheist. I wish you and Sen. Shealy would quit spreading that lie. She is Jewish and the daughter of Holocaust survivors.” Shealy denies spreading such rumors and says, “Someone owes me an apology!!!”
• Things just keep getting worse in Ukraine. Putin says he won’t rule out sending in troops. I guess he meant to say, “more troops,” to reinforce the Spetsnaz special ops people already there.

Or, as always, pick your own topics…

Talk amongst yourselves about whatever you like. If you have trouble thinking of a topic, here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Tax Day. The WSJ provides a look at where all that money goes. Meanwhile, I have a question: How many of you actually wait until today? We paid ours last month… (This is really, truly a case of me trying to suggest a topic that will interest others, because as you know, paying taxes bores me rather than getting me worked up. I’ve always been reconciled to the fact that there’s a price for living in civilization.)
• Boston bombing, one year later. Here’s coverage of the anniversary from The Boston Globe, which won a Pulitzer yesterday for its coverage of the Tsarnaevs’ attack.
• Ukraine starts military operations to retake areas seized by pro-Russian forces. And the world watches with bated breath.

Some possible topics:

• Fresh pro-Russian attack in Ukraine. More than that, I’m worried that the Ukrainians are taking military steps now to confront this provocation. Not that they don’t have every right to — in fact, I’ve been wondering when the new government would step up and defend its interests, starting with its territorial integrity. But I worry — how well do you think regular Ukrainian troops are likely to do against Spetsnaz? But wait — the new Ukrainian president now says he’s open to more secessionist referenda. Which is worse — war, or caving in to Putin’s latter-day Anschluss?
• Authorities say hate motivated Kansas shooting. Do ya think? It certainly was more than mild dislike. But I mention this to object yet again to the whole idea of “hate crimes.” Anti-Semitism is one of the nastiest impulses in human history. But in this country, to paraphrase Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Departed,” we don’t prosecute people for holding disgusting ideas. Murder is enough. Punish the crime, not the opinion.
• According to research by Pew, most Americans agree with me — they don’t think of Barack Obama as “black” either.

I tried to find something local, but it’s looking kinda slow around here. I think we’re all stupefied by antihistamines. I certainly am.

But you know what? It’s not my job to come up with topics for an Open Thread. That’s up to y’all…

Y’all seem to enjoy these, so have at it.

Some possible topics:

• What’s happened to the photography standards at The State? They posted the above photo with a story about strippers complaining they don’t get paid an hourly wage, and I can’t really see anything.
• I’m all for protecting expectant mamas, but do we really need to specifically include pregnant women in our “stand-your-ground” law?
• What to say about Kathleen Sebelius resigning?

Or pick your own danged topics…

OK, after a nice, lively discussion at the end of last week, comments are thin on the ground today.

So maybe I’m not giving you what you want. Pick a topic and have at it.

Some possibilities:

1. The movement to have Russia take over ever more of Ukraine continues apace, as Russian troops kill a Ukrainian soldier in Crimea.
2. Columbia City Council will take its final vote on the baseball contract tomorrow.
3. The NYT remembers that 20 years ago, experts were saying society was disintegrating to the point that we were headed toward an era of ultraviolence committed by teenaged “superpredators.” But it didn’t happen.

Or whatever you choose…

Scott Carpenter, during a water egress test in 1962.

Hey, y’all — sorry about not posting yesterday. Busy.

To get things kicked off, here’s an open thread — Silence likes them, if no one else does.

Possible topics:

Obama and the Republicans are finally talking. Are you thrilled? Didn’t think so…

The State had a piece this morning about how seedy Finlay Park has become, according to many. Thoughts.

I see Nancy Mace has sold her share of the blog to Will Folks, as she continues her bid for the U.S. Senate. I need to give her a call and learn more about what she’s up to.

Godspeed, Scott Carpenter. I can’t believe he was 88. The second American in orbit, he was John Glenn’s straight-arrow ally in trying to get the other Mercury astronauts to behave themselves — according to Tom Wolfe.