Monthly Archives: June 2010

(Community Matters) Quick chat with Lawrence Kocurek this morning at the Downtown Farmer’s Market.  Thrilled to hear he & Lee Ann are looking for shop space north central.  Kocurek Family Charcuterie is intent on preserving (returning) the fine art of charcuterie using local, free-range, hormone-free meat & game.  Scored a  duck rillette this morning, and I really really eyed the rosemary honey bacon.

(Community Matters) so glad she’s back

(Community Matters) You gotta love these world cup guys

Benny Feilhaber in Vanity Fair

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters)

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(Community Matters) Huge, huge, huge – passage of financial regulatory reform in this morning’s conference committee.  Meaty consumer protection agency, curbs on derivative trading, limits risk at taxpayers’ expense, substantial new tools for regulators.

President Obama has now delivered on 4 key legislative initiatives – economic stimulus, education (within stimulus), healthcare reform & financial regulatory reform.  Four down, two to go (energy/environment & equality legislation). A home run track record for first half of first term. And, we’ve gotta create jobs.  (I say this within the context that of jobs lost, almost all within the last months of GWB’s admin & first three months of 2009. I know we’ve made great progress by preventing further economic collapse and an improving economy; and, people need jobs – jobs, jobs, jobs)

That Republicans are fillibustering the extension of unemployment benefits to 1.2 million Americans is . . . is (fill in the blank)

(Community Matters) Gov Perry’s campaign spokesman denies any involvement or awareness by the campaign of Mike Toomey’s funding the Green Party’s initiative to get on the ballot. Let’s clear the air – calling on the district attorney to take Mark Miner’s & the Governor’s statements under oath and conduct a quick, impartial investigation into this matter.

Mike Toomey’s bio

major clients cited on their website:

Liberty Mutual, AT & T, Union Pacific, State Farm Insurance

(Community Matters) after 3 days w/ Nico (11), Dio (12) and Gabel (10), I had to catch up with popular culture & finished The Lightning Thief last night. Loved it.  The Greek gods are real, alive and poised to feud because one has stolen Zeus’ thunderbolt.  Percy Jackson, a troubled (mischievous) kid in school learns he’s a half blood – the offspring of a Greek god & a mortal mom. This series is today’s Harry Potter

Mt Olympus has moved to America – over the ages, it’s always been located in the economically & culturally leading part of Western civilization. Mt Olympus is actually reached by going to the 600 floor of the Empire State Building. Hades is in Los Angeles.

Kids today know more about Greek mythology because of these books. Dio & Gabel have chosen Greece for their (& Sonya & Reid’s) vacation because of this.  I can’t wait to start The Sea of Monsters – book II in Rick Riordan’s series (a former school teacher in San Antonio who first made up the story to tell his kids)

(Community Matters) Too funny, Steven was just imagining this while we were exiting the Tube

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(Community Matters)

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(Community Matters) Politico’s inside view of McChrystal decision from Mike Allen’s Playbook:

Good Thursday morning. HOW OBAMA TOOK COMMAND — INSIDE THE WEST WING: Vice President Biden was the first top administration official to know about the Rolling Stone article. He was flying back from Chicago after a campaign event when Gen. Stanley McChrystal called him on Air Force 2 around 5:30 p.m. to apologize for comments in the article. The vice president had no idea what he was talking about, so the call was brief, and Biden asked his aides to get a copy of the story. Shortly before, Tommy Vietor, the assistant White House press secretary who handles national-security issues, had been e-mailed a PDF of the article by a colleague in the U.S. government. Vietor forwarded the PDF to a few officials who tried in vain to read the tiny type on their BlackBerries. So Vietor printed out a bunch of copies for the national-security inner circle. He walked one into Robert Gibbs’ office and handed him a copy, with key passages marked.
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(Community Matters) http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/democrats-head-to-court-in-effort-to-stop-765678.html

I don’t begrudge Perry & his campaign for this not-surprising move (all’s fair in . . . ) but their bold face lies denying involvement are so indicative of the dishonesty & corruption now ruling our state from the governor’s office

Update: busted – Tommey behind this; no surprise at all

btw, Toomey makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each year pimping the governor’s office

(Community Matters) Thinking of my dear, late friend Tom Henderson today, his birthday. Also thinking of Melissa and Michael. I miss Tom