Monthly Archives: October 2010

(Community Matters) thanks, Tana

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) Participated in a conference call this afternoon about cholera outbreak in Haiti. The outbreak has occurred in the area immediately north of Port au Prince, the Lower Artibonite region of Hait.

To date, Partners in Health is reporting 250 confirmed dead and 3,114 hospitalized due to infection.  Again, this is not in Port au Prince, it’s in the Lower Artibonite.  PiH reports only knowing of 5 confirmed cases of cholera in Port au Prince – though in the densely populated capital, where 1.2mm to 1.5mm are living in tents and other temporary shelter, an epidemic of cholera is a real threat.  They don’t consider a Port au Prince epidemic inevitable; they do consider more cases so, however.

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(Community Matters) It’s mind boggling that we’re unable to stop the obvious collusion and exploitation of this cycle’s congressional races by supposedly independent groups.  People are convicted and sent to prison with less circumstantial evidence.  here

AG Holder, do your damn job.  Investigate and prosecute!

(Community Matters)

Happy Birthday, Steven

(the love of my life, my very best friend)

(Community Matters) Much fun celebrating Luke Hayes’s birthday last night over dinner with several of his friends, including Emmy Ruiz, Amy Everhart, Ian Davis, Michael Wilt, Hector Nieto,Jamie Everhart, Bryn Carlson, Bhu Muhler, Karen Gross and Michael Mitchell.

Sorry Steven was away on business.  He would have enjoyed the evening of story telling, political updates and friendly fire/banter among the closest family Luke’s built in Austin.

(Community Matters) Can’t believe Steven went to Traverse City without me – home of one of my favorite restaurants in the country http://bit.ly/aYnvlz

(Community Matters) Frank Rich has become the articluateness of many Americans

FRANK RICH, “What Happened to Change We Can Believe In?”: “PRESIDENT Obama, the Rodney Dangerfield of 2010, gets no respect for averting another Great Depression, for saving 3.3 million jobs with stimulus spending, or for salvaging GM and Chrysler from the junkyard. … [T]he most relentless drag … [is] the country’s fatalistic sense that the stacked economic order that gave us the Great Recession remains not just in place but more entrenched and powerful than ever. No matter how much Obama talks about his ‘tough’ new financial regulatory reforms or offers rote condemnations of Wall Street greed, few believe there’s been real change. … We can blame much of this turn of events on the deep pockets of oil billionaires like the Koch brothers and on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision … But the Obama White House is hardly innocent. Its failure to hold the bust’s malefactors accountable has helped turn what should have been a clear-cut choice on Nov. 2 into a blurry contest between the party of big corporations and the party of business as usual.” http://nyti.ms/ag2zAl

very insightful analysis.  Americans aren’t voting pro-GOP, many if not most will vote anti-incumbent.  They want us to knock heads, clean out the guys who gamed the system, caused the loss of millions of jobs, and who are overseeing the fraudulent foreclosure system.  Instead of offering olive branches to rogue bankers, we ought to hang their asses from the olive trees – strip them of their ill-gotten profits. Congress is too bought and paid for by special interests – we want accountability and more transparency. We’re pissed off about the decks being stacked. Though a conciliator might have sounded good in 2007 & 2008, that’s not what we want or need today – we want a western sheriff who’ll shoot the bad guys, isn’t afraid of the company boss, and stands up for the townsfolk

(Community Matters) completely forgot to take my camera – too bad, a picture perfect wedding and a scrumptious reception. Lisa Braithwaite & Dwight Peavy were married last night at St. James Episcopal, followed by a sit down dinner, dance & bash for 200+ at the Crowne Plaza.  The bride – always known for her inner & outer beauty – exceeded already high expectations; the groom appropriately in awe that he landed such a great woman and joined such a terrific family.

(Community Matters) Blew me away – the building’s redesign.  From the moment you walk in and glance up the expanse of stairs, even more so the roof top space where a couple hundred patrons paid $1,000 each to drink, dine & celebrate the museum’s reopening, later joined by another couple hundred (at I think $150/person) for the after party.

Big surprise (NOT) that Julie Thornton chaired this super successful event. I didn’t get to connect with John Spong (as in Will Spong) but am delighted to hear they are dating and evidently both smitten.  Too many folks to mention who were at the event so will limit to those I spent time with (Steven was held up in San Francisco so wasn’t able to attend after all): Kip Keller, Michael Barnes, Amy Rudy, Suzanne Deal Booth, Kevin Lelande, Jenny Lebermann & JohnWotowicz, John & Jenn Hamlin, Brian & Stephanie Beard, Alexa & Blaine Wesner, Mary & Howard Yancy, Stephen Jones, Anne Elizabeth Wynne & Joaquin Avellan, Deborah Green, Mickey & Jeannie Klein, Chris Mattson, Eddie Safady, Diane Land & Steve Adler, Graydon Parish and Matt Hovis.  my bad for not taking any pictures – a brilliant & beautiful evening.

and prior to Art House, I stopped by Carolyn & Marc Seriff’s 30th floor Austonian abode (beautiful west & south views) for drinks with them & about 30 friends. Regret wasn’t able to move with the friends to the 50th floor for dinner.  Friends included: Trisa Thompson, Ken & Kendra Gladish, Russell Bridges & Ralph Salinas, Marc & Suzanne Winkelman, Carolyn Gallagher

(Community Matters) I haven’t been to a UT football game tailgate party in a very long time.  Many thanks to Jim French (managing partner) and all our friends at PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers) for hosting the event today – much fun and good food (El Arroyo)

Jim (center) and two new friends from ACU (graduating seniors).  I enjoyed connecting with these two former ACU football players who are serious students and serious about entrepreneurship.

(Community Matters) Good god, one of the most offensive speeches I’ve read in a very long time – Rupert Murdoch accepting an ADL award in New York.

This is a sermon from one of today’s robber barons who’d deny personal freedoms and economic opportunity in order to further enrich his own coffers.  Fox’s distortion of truth and fanning of the flames of hate and intolerance threatens support for the first amendment.

To equate disagreement with Israel with anti-Semitism is horrific and counter-productive.  Frankly, it’s one of the contributors to why Israel has lost so much US public opinion support. As to Israel’s support among the right –  more political posturing and vote gathering than a reliable alliance.  See how well nationalism is serving support for Israel  around the world – NOT.

And, yes, of course, there are important nuggets & reminders herein: such as worries about growing anti-Semitism.

Some naively equate Zionism with Anti-Semitism – fostered in part by the far right, radical West Bank settlement builders and demonstrators.  [yes, the left has its own versions of this to deal with]

As to Murdoch’s opinion whether the Obama strategy is productive or counterproductive – that’s a legitimate debate.  I’m in the camp of productive.

The offensive comments cited by the Swedish mayor remind me of the US rhetoric around the Muslim mosque.  Though, let’s not forget Fox fanned the “muslim mosque” flames of hate, especially against the Sheik who might fund this- when he is Fox’s second largest shareholder – reprehensible.

I’m embarrassed that ADL stooped to such a low as presenting an award to the owner of Fox.

(Community Matters) bummed to see this am that the House predictions have slipped by 2 and 1 seats in the 538 and RCP forecasts.  And, yet, I remain optimistic that the modeling relying on likely voters is undercounting the showing of Obama first time voters.