Monthly Archives: November 2010

(Community Matters) The White House (including Pres Obama) is very actively engaged in lame duck passage of DA/DT – Towleroad

(Community Matters) As I’m compiling our holiday movie watch list

(Community Matters) from Mike Allen:

“HILL & KNOWLTON and PUBLIC STRATEGIES to MERGE: International communications firm Hill & Knowlton and business advisory firm Public Strategies, Inc. will merge January 1, 2011 … Jack Martin, founder and chairman of Public Strategies, will become global executive chairman of H&K; Paul Taaffe will remain global CEO; and Dan Bartlett will expand his role to become President and CEO of H&K USA and Chairman and CEO of Public Strategies. … Combined, the entities will have over 2,300 employees and 83 offices in 44 countries. … Each company will retain its brand for the foreseeable future.” Full release http://politi.co/cf5nvZ

–PSI’s Mark McKinnon e-mails: “my deal is: nobody reports to me. i report to nobody. i run the breckenridge office.”

(Community Matters) a couple of excerpts from this Economist article:

IBM employs more people in India than in the US.

For American workers the most worrying thing about all this is the flight of brain-intensive jobs to India. Americans reconciled themselves to the loss of mfg jobs . . .

Indian cos rising on BCG’s list of innovating companies. Especially appealing, “frugal” or “Gandhian” innovation – reducing the price of a product or service by 80% by removing unnecessary bells & whistles.

Half of Silicpn Valley start-ups were either founded or co-founded by Indians. Posted by Blackberry (tiny little keys, pardon typos)

(Community Matters) DeLong says: “Obama’s Problem Is Not that He ‘Focused Obsessively’ on Policy, It is that He Got the Policy Wrong.”

Hat Tip: Arianna Huffington

(Community Matters) I’ve learned to leave a coin in my pocket when going through German airport security – they are really thorough.  Of course, then there’s concerns from the other side . . .

note the source

I don’t think I’d get by as Scottish

(Community Matters) Tina Fey on Sarah Palin

“And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women – except, of course –those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape ‘kit ‘n’ stuff. But for everybody else, it’s a win-win. Unless you’re a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years – whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know – actually, I take it back. The whole thing’s a disaster.”

(Community Matters) Rangel finally!

(Community Matters) Interestingly enough, our conversation last night touched on the topic of today’s column – especially on Brook’s closing about Germany & starting with the fundamentals.

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(Community Matters) We’ve been staying at the Hotel Schloss Edesheim (a castle in the center of Edesheim) but I’m moving us this morning to the Hotel Deidesheimer Hof.  Both are in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate (aka Rheinland-Pfalz) , the serious wine producing state in Western Germany.

Coincidentally, two of Steven’s friends (Reiner & Heidi Mielecki) made reservations at the Hotel Deidesheimer Hof, not knowing we’d be staying there tonight and tomorrow.  Turns out for the better – the hotel’s gourmet restaurant Schwarzer Hahn (1 Michelin star) is one of their favorites and they wonderfully introduced us to the menu and wine list.

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(Community Matters) My friends know I’m an unapologetic enthusiast: I believe a great deal has been accomplished legislatively and perhaps even more through the regulatory system.  I’ve told the story how on election night 2008 after then Senator Obama was declared President-elect, after jumping up and down so damn happy, crying, and hugging each other, most of us had a few minutes of pause, recognizing that it wasn’t gonna be pretty given the economic crisis and after 8 years of gross mismanagement.  We knew there would be hell to pay in just two years and there has been – we can’t bemoan now what we agreed to then.

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(Community Matters) what a courageous 14yo – “a silent Holocaust”

Towleroad: We all have teachers that make a lasting impression on us. It appears as if young Ann Arbor student Graeme Taylor has already found his.

The 14-year-old, who is openly gay, bravely stood up for his teacher, Jay McDowell at a recent school board meeting. McDowell was disciplined on October 20 for removing two students who had made anti-gay remarks in class. During his speech in support of his teacher, Taylor revealed his problems with bullying and a suicide attempt at the age of 9.

Watch young Taylor’s very mature and highly inspiring speech

then, of course, there’s this jerk