Community Matters

(Community Matters) Business, art, technology & entrepreneurship – the intersection of many conversations and interests today.

He knew the best way to create value in the 21st century was to connect creativity with technology, so he built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Same?

(Community Matters) Fun issue!

COOKS at home: John Besh, Liz Lambert, Jack and Bryce Gilmore, Shontae Moeller, Mason Arnold, Eliza Gilkyson, Graham Reynolds, Owen Egerton and Will Packwood

(Community Matters) I’m hearing it’s possible Joaquin Castro & Lloyd Doggett may not be running against each other after all. Seems to be a lot of betting that CD-25 (Doggett’s existing district) will regain more of Travis County, a strong 54 – 55% Democratic majority – that is, a safe seat that Lloyd could run & win.

This could leave CD 35 with a sliver of East Austin  extending down to Bexar. This would be best of all worlds – Lloyd able to run in his existing district and Joaquin stepping up as an additional Democratic, Hispanic congressional representative, bridging Bexar and Travis counties.

(Community Matters) “We may be reaching an inflection point, the moment when the terms of the political argument change decisively. . . . [GOP] losing control of the political narrative. . . . efforts to taint Occupy Wall Street as nothing more than a bunch of latter-day hippie radicals haven’t worked. . . . Obama, by sharpening his arguments about what’s fair and what’s unfair, has finally stopped his slide in the polls.”

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(Community Matters) Alisa & Lynn in Culture Map

It is the mission of the L Style G Style staff to create a universally appealing product that will educate the reader about a person’s life without turning all of the attention on the subject’s sexuality. “If you’ve never had an experience with a gay or lesbian person, and then you read one of our stories and think, ‘That person is cool, and I’d like to know them,’ that to me is working to build a bridge and transcend between two groups of people.”

(Community Matters) Loved the movie. It’s pace and tone were more theater-like than cinema – a nice change, though disconcerting. I haven’t read enough to know if it’s Goldman Sachs voyeurism, but from friends, the premise of being first suggests it’s representational.

This isn’t an action movie, not a chaotic, energetic wall street floor scene. It’s nuanced human motivations, trepidation and how we sometimes just take orders to keep a job. If we lobbed a few zeros off the salaries, would we be more sympathetic to the players taking orders? Regardless on which side one lands judging the decisions’ morality, that the first responders move saved the firm must factor into deliberations. I haven’t decided. There’s morality and there’s legal – I fear the gap between the two is wider than our current economic chasm. The film and a defensive essay I read this week from a 21 year old Wall Street analyst have me thinking about this issue as spirited and appetitive souls derailing the rational. Most of these people are young – who else shares responsibility?

I’m an even bigger Zachary Quinto fan today than before, right up there with Jeremy Irons. Paul Bettany is new to me & I like him too.

(Community Matters) The Entrepreneurs Foundation’s auction includes a private suite, catered for 13 to this Cirque du Soleil performance in Houston.

See (&/or bid) our auction here – bidding open to all.

Live auction takes place on Nov 3

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) nice write up by Michael Barnes (his pic posted here)

and congrats & thanks to my friend Dr Declan Fleming too

(Community Matters) favorite style evening, friends over for dinner – Barbara Woghlemuth and Carrie Stapelton have returned from their annual 5 months on Cape Cod; Michael Mitchell & Robert Torian rounded out to five.

(Community Matters)  Please join us

(Community Matters) Once again Congressman Doggett sent voters a misleading video and email. Ignoring subsequent, public clarifications about the testimony cited in his CD-35 boundary video, it’s just another example of an iconic politician losing his way, violating his principles & ethics to hold onto something he now believes is his, rather than realizing we’re all simply entrusted with these positions of responsibility and authority.

The author of the blog piece cited in Congressman Doggett’s campaign email is a friend and important community leader. Regrettably, the posting ignores the clarification and is misleading. There’s an even bigger, more serious issue here, however. The Doggett campaign has been leading, encouraging and using a public payroll external affairs officer tasked with maintaining federal relations  in their campaign, another breach of discretion and principles (if not more serious).

Sad to see Lloyd succumb to these practices. All of us hate the GOP slash & burn redistricting. I’m hoping CD25 & CD35 are both restored to D majority districts and Travis County gains even more representation. But, watching a 40 year elected official trample all over his own principles to hold onto an office  . . . .

(Community Matters) Last night I hosted a dinner for three exceptional women from Haiti, who work for Fonkoze. This morning EF hosted a breakfast at LIVESTRONG for these friends and donors. Carine, Linda and Natalie explained how they help women who’ve lost every sense of worth, every shred of hope . . . . help them rebuild their lives, improve their homes, propel their children toward better lives.

240,000+ women who now save money, 55,000+ women who operate small businesses. Fonkoze knows they must address these women’s children’s health, their schooling, their housing, in order for the families to climb a very steep economic ladder. Even leadership development – one of their participants has risen to government minister, others have become leaders in their community, sought out by other agencies to help in the cholera epidemic, to combat violence against women, to organize during the many times of crisis.

The EF/AV HelpHaiti Fund helped thousands of Haitians immediately after the earthquake. It’s helped many of us who lived thousands of miles away.