Daily Archives: 09/29/2008

(Community Matters) I’m wrapping up my Highlands Abilities Test. Steven loved it. It’s intended to help students plan their studies and careers and to help adults achieve greater satisfaction in their work. Not sure I imagine finding any greater achievement than I currently enjoy, but Steven’s enthusiasm for the instrument and process made me want to share the experience.

Good gosh, it’s teaching me I have so little patience and have to work hard to keep my attention focused. Though, that’s news to no one.

(Community Matters) I’d forgotten to post. It was a terrific concert; Jill Gronquist and I had much fun. Many thanks to Ken Stein and Paramount staff for making it happen and for offering such killer tickets!

David Byrnes

(Community Matters) I thought the graphics in the AAS story had to be miscalibrated when I read the story, so I wrote to AAS and they wrote to their source at Bloomberg. But, they heard back from Bloomberg and confirmed to me the approaching $600 trillion figure is the “total notional amount of all the derivatives markets.” Mind boggling – our government estimates 2006 US GDP at $13 trillion.

(Community Matters)

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown September 29,
Yom Kippur begins at sundown October 08

The Jewish High Holy Days are observed during the 10 day period between the first day (Rosh Hashanah) and the 10th day (Yom Kippur) of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar.

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated the first and second days of Tishri. It is a time of family gatherings, special meals and sweet tasting foods.Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn day of the Jewish year and is observed on the tenth day of Tishri. It is a day of fasting, reflection and prayers.

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most important of all Jewish Holidays and the only holidays that are purely religious, as they are not related to any historical or natural event.

(Community Matters) We had an interesting morning at St. James Episcopal yesterday. Very dear friends have a very strong and heart-felt perspective on the middle east tensions between Israel and Palestine. They’d invited in a minister living in East Jerusalem to share his story of missionary work among Palestinians during our sermon. And, understandably, his perspective isn’t balanced. Many parishioners felt uncomfortable about the skewed perspective, so we offered a bit of balance during the announcements. Had no idea one of our guests was Jewish. Received an email after services acknowledging the discomfort and expressing appreciation for the supplemental information. I’m so appreciative for the practical perspectives Steven and I gained while traveling Israel last year and from our friends who connect so passionately with each side of this issue.

(Community Matters) Congrats to Bryan, Bill & Chris. Lori’s featuring their startup, Moximity, in today’s AAS.

(Community Matters) The polls keep coming in and they overwhelming report a material lead for Obama/Biden. It’s ours as long as our voters show up at the polls and we fully fund the final 44 days of the campaign!

fivethirtyeight.com

It won’t be stolen because our people have been on the ground in the states and at the court houses since June (vs Oct in the ’04 election). Please, please contribute one more time to help make sure this happens. Contribute here