Top 10 Ideas You Won't Hear at Chicago Ideas Week

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This week, thousands of people will gather at hundreds of events in Chicago to hear bright ideas, and come up with some bright ideas of their own: Chicago Ideas Week.

Not everyone can be at every session -- and some people can't be at any session at all -- and so the organizers are encouraging people to use social media to share more ideas -- e.g. with the Twitter hashtag #CIW.

I thought I'd use social media to make my own contribution -- David Letterman-style. So . . . herewith . . .

(I've updated these entries in light of recent developments, just in time for the 2016 Chicago Ideas Week!)

The Top 10 Ideas 

You Won't Hear at Chicago Ideas Week

Marriage Equality Rally
 Springfield, IL

October, 2013

Idea #1  . . . . . . . .  Let the Church out of the closet

Update February 11, 2016: Yep, they're out of the closet, all right! PROTESTS IN ILLINOIS: Do these people look like they're gonna back down?

Eddie Adams:
The Boat of No Smiles

Idea #2  . . . . . . . .  Extend hospitality to the next wave of immigrants coming to our country

Update February 11, 2016: Gee, are we in trouble .... December 7, 2015: A day that will live in ... [FILL IN THE BLANK]

Minecraft collaborative world

Idea #3  . . . . . . . .  Go dig up the solution to world peace in a video game environment

Update February 11, 2016: Two words -- Hunger Games

The Damascus Accident

Idea #4  . . . . . . . .  Stop engaging in risky behavior

Update February 11, 2016: It's a miracle we're still here ... to observe that it's a miracle we're still here ... Ditching a Beloved Symbol (Rule #1 of Activism: Get With the Times)

Cleared for release . . .

Idea #5  . . . . . . . .  Turn the "global war on terror" on its head

Update February 11, 2016: Now more than ever . . . "The way to respond to ISIS is not through violence."






 

The Mideast
Oilfields . . . and U.S. bases

Idea #6  . . . . . . . .  Figure out what'll be "strategic" when oil no longer is

Update February 11, 2016: And as gas prices drop . . . . The Feel-Good Folly of Fossil-Fuel Valuation

Drones: the Future is Now

Idea #7  . . . . . . . .  Build a foundation for our 3-D future

Update February 11, 2016: Hundreds of thousands of consumer drones were delivered for the Christmas 2015 season -- making the problem even more urgent. See: Boys and Their Toys (Trying to Understand "The Wind Rises") 

Zero Carbon Chicago

Idea #8  . . . . . . . .  Rebrand Chicago "Zero Carbon Chicago"

 Update February 11, 2016: Add "Zdro Nuclear" to that . . . NO NUKES PHILANTHROPY: How to spend $1 billion wisely

U.S Attorney Zachary Fardon

Idea #9  . . . . . . . .  Find a new way to say "Violence will not be tolerated in Chicago"

Update February 11, 2016: Chicago's going to change how it manages its police; the question is whether Chicago's gonna do it smart. #ChiPAC: It's time. (Civilian Control of the Police in Chicago)

"You have to face reality."Chris Chadwick,
President, Boeing’s defense, space and security unit

Idea #10  . . . . . . . .  Unlock the value tied up in a Fortune 100 company

Update February 11, 2016: . . . AND replace Chicago's summer war extravaganza: A Modest Proposal: Replace Chicago Air and Water Show with S.O. Levinson Peace Festival