Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) Small dinner last night for St James’ new rector, Rev Lisa Saunders

fun hosting Lisa, Liz & Brad Powell, Tina & Frank Fernandez, Clint Dawson & Troy, and Gina Houston

(Community Matters) Kudos to the House for proposing an extension of the debt ceiling limit during which time progress can be made on deficit reduction. I’m confused by the requirement for a budget from the Senate, however.

reviewing the US Constitution: “All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills”

(Community Matters) part of a series of articles by MBA students at California College of the Arts dMBA program, in Triplepundit: People, Planet Profit

Michael E.Porter, the founding father and leader in this school of thought, pins shared value as the next evolution of capitalism, stating that “incorporating societal issues into strategy and operations is the next major transformation in management thinking.”

Profitability and growth from value sharing are achieved through three facets that are ‘mutually reinforcing’:

1. Re-identifying customer needs by addressing problems in communities and redesigning products and services to serve these needs
2. Innovating value-chains to enhance productivity and efficiencies
3. Enabling local development by taking into account local deficits and/or current offerings that are deemed insufficient

Underserved markets, pollution, large-scale inefficiencies and cultural barriers become opportunities in the world of CSV.  When organizations embrace CSV, they undertake the common goal of improving overall well-being and standards of living; the greatest factor in this equation is community.

HT: Amanda Chiampi

(Community Matters) I woke up slightly on the wrong side of the bed this morning and Steven called me a cinnamon bun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W29Ks98vGQU

of course, he’s a little Jessica this morning

(Community Matters) “In 2011, marijuana possession arrests totaled 663,032 — more than arrests for all violent crimes combined. Possession arrests have nearly doubled since 1980, according to an FBI report.” from a HuffPost article –

Silly allocation of local, state and federal resources. I’m encouraged by Gov Cuomo’s call for decriminalization of 15 grams or less and the President’s statement that recreational use won’t be a priority. Time to decriminalize and save the $10billion in estimated costs of arrests.

(Community Matters) Fascinating: Culture Map: Seeking Arrangements: Texas students are getting tuition help from sugar daddies

I thought about this more while walking Town Lake trail. On many levels it is a disturbing phenomenon. And, I’m planning to talk with younger friends to gain better perspective. Researched this a bit: there are 1,410 women within 50 miles of Austin with profiles seeking sugar daddies. There are 230 men from the area seeking either sugar daddies or sugar moms.

My friend, economist Brian Kelsey says, it “reads like a Freakonomics post: State legislators cut funding for higher ed, force students into prostitution.” Though, a quick browse through several profiles doesn’t support that most are students.

(Community Matters) In less than 24 hours my opinion took a u-turn before I was even able to read the book.

update: a wise friend counseled me within the frame that John is just a true libertarian. Listening to his NPR interview took some of the sting out of the “fascist” characterization since it wasn’t said with animus.

I’m glad John’s taken the word back

(Community Matters) Stumbled onto this gay web series

youtube

(Community Matters) I’m hoping this documentary comes to Austin. It’s about stories and experiences of young, black gay men. Doesn’t only deal with homophobia but also racism within the LGBT community. It’s screen writer and director says it is centered around community and how young black gay men can build community.

(Community Matters) Today was one of those days when I had a lot of interesting meetings with interesting people. The most unexpected was with a freelance journalist who writes for Forbes, Newsweek, the International Herald Tribune and The Wall Street Journal Asia (and author) Ioannis Gatsiounis. Not sure how we were connected (I forgot to ask), but he called Marfa Public Radio to find me. I hope he settles in Austin. He’d  be a good addition to our creative capital.

Ordering his collection of stories, Velvet & Cinder Blocks, and a nonfiction book, Beyond the Veneer: Malaysia’s Struggle for Dignity and Direction.

(Community Matters) I’m encouraged by the enlightened perspective of a House GOP member, Scott Rigell, R-VA.

“After I got into office and heard my Democratic friends make the case from the floor so many times that revenues were not high enough, I thought, well, let me either prove or disprove this,” Rigell said. “That took me on a journey of evaluating our budget and looking at historical data — I’m a data-driven person — and it led me to this conclusion: We have a revenue yield under the old tax code … of 16.9 percent. We have not run our republic on that level of revenue since 1959 — before Medicare and Medicaid were even on the table — so I knew that we had a revenue problem.” http://huff.to/W7fte6

Not surprisingly with this perspective, Rep Rigell has come out against holding the nation’s debt ceiling hostage to spending cuts.

(Community Matters) Over lunch a new friend asked me to summarize my many activities. I quickly answered they were all about building community, said they took many forms but were nearly all intended to make up for the tears in the social fabric as people move away from families and historical support systems. For some, the perspective of community is broad, for others quite small. And, as I think about it, there’s a priority for ensuring equality of opportunity. (Think I’ve gotten over my intellectual struggle with self selection.)

Then, I thought about Christopher Hayes book, Twilight of the Elite, how the contract between the Elite and others in our country seems to be broken. For decades Americans have voted the Elite into public office with the understanding they would work for the greater good. Chris suggests that understanding too often isn’t honored in today’s world. And, there’s another shift – expectations and accountability. In his book he argues that the Elite most often promote from within their own tribe – hire the sons and daughters of other elite, and are often willing to overlook mediocrity while enforcing rigid and exacting standards of accountability on others. We talked about being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple. Just remembering out loud.

oh yeah, this fits into a thought trail I’ve been on lately. It’s definitely not well thought out yet. I haven’t been able to decide on any positions. Just, still thinking out loud. Anyhow . . . people who aren’t actively contributing, for whom doing good in society, contributing to their communities isn’t a priority. First thought: those with children; good gosh, focus it all on them. Then, well . . . they need to see you focus on others too, but mostly focus on them. And, folks with less means and/or for whom life is just too overwhelming. I start thinking, perhaps we shouldn’t expect them to volunteer or donate or help their neighbors. But, can’t help thinking it would be better for them (& society) if they did. Coaching little league, checking on neighbors, teaching Sunday school, answering a hotline, serving meals, raking leaves, donating money, organizing precincts, otherwise volunteering or donating . . . so many ways to contribute.