THUMBS UP: For the state of Washington for hosting a visit this week by the president of China, Xi Jinping, that brought a Who’s Who of CEOs of major corporations from both the U.S. and China to the area. Chief executives of Microsoft, Boeing Starbucks, IBM, Ford and DuPont attended, along with other U.S. leaders, were part of the U.S. contingent. In addition to Xi, Chinese included Peng Liyuan, Xi’s wife; members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China; the governors of Zhejiang, Shandong and Shanxi provinces; and the mayors of Beijing and Chongqing. Here, too, were what Hong Kong’s The Standard called “a historic line-up of China’s business heavyweights.” An additional plus: China companies announced orders for 300 Boeing jets at a list price of about $38 billion. All-in-all, an amazing event.

THUMBS UP: For Kam Chancellor and the Seattle Seahawks for an end to his holdout and return to the practice field Wednesday and, we hope, the playing field Sunday at home against the Chicago Bears. Go ‘Hawks, all of them now.

THUMBS DOWN: For Volkswagen for rigging its diesel vehicles to switch to cleaner mode during official emissions testing and then, when done, switching to a more powerful setting that emits as much as 40 times the legal pollution limit. The company’s stock dropped 17.1 percent after admitting the scam. That may be the least of its problems: VW is facing $18 billion in fines and the Justice Department wants to hold individual executives accountable for corporate wrongdoing.

THUMBS DOWN: For those candidates at the recent GOP presidential debate last week who waffled or outright perpetuated the fallacy that vaccines for children are linked to autism. As the Autistic Self Advocacy Network said in a statement: “Autism is not caused by vaccines — and Autistic Americans deserve better than a political rhetoric that suggests that we would be better off dead than disabled.”

Craig Groshart, Interim Editor