(Community Matters) Evidently I made a mistake not joining Steven on his business trip to Traverse City, Michigan.  He’s reporting it is gorgeous and very friendly – great parks, walks, people and restaurants.

We’re meeting in Milwaukee tomorrow for a performance of his American Fiesta, plus a reception for Steven with Renaissance Theaterworks board members and donors.  It’s exciting to see one of Steven’s plays performed by others.

(Community Matters) At yesterday’s Anti-Defamation Leagues’ executive committee meeting, lots of super updates on the great work our Austin staff has launched.  And, a presentation from national staff on their work in helping law enforcement fight & monitor hate groups.

Patriot Movement – I didn’t really know what this means.  It includes three groups: 1) militias, 2) sovereign citizens and 3) tax protesters.  As I understand it, militias believe our government is at risk of falling and they are preparing to defend it.  Sovereign citizens believe government has already fallen; they don’t recognize the government in power, don’t believe they must obey “illegitimate” laws, often issuing their own arrest warrants and holding their own courts – lots of new world order conspiracy.

I’ve been told before but forget some of the more prevalent jargon/code used by these folks:

14 words refers to the phrase: We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children

88 – eighth letter of the alphabet twice, HH – Heil Hitler

23 16 – White Power

KOTF – Keepers of the Faith

Michigan has the largest number of militia members; Texas is thought to be second.  Scary stuff

ADL site on Extremism in America

(Community Matters) Polls indicating the GOP’s overwhelming support and 50% of Independents supporting the AZ immigration law could help their midterm results don’t anticipate the increase in intensity among the D base, ie., likelihood of turnout.  I haven’t seen polls supporting the latter but suspect it intuitively.

rather not speculate what it means culturally for such strong support of the law

(Community Matters) Joe Jervis posting on his Joe.My.God that Geo (a male prostitute) was hired by Dr. George Rekers, the “virulently anti-gay NARTH* board member and Family Research Council co-founder.  Miami New Times article

It’s *almost always* about some deep, dark secret (closet), about self-loathing.  #Hypocrisy

(Community Matters) I was just at dinner with Michael Mitchell.  We’d run into Kathy Negrel who told us she’d spent the day with Tana Christie, looking over maps of Paris, making certain recommendations.

I mentioned to Michael that Tana was looking for French made objects while we’re in Paris.  He heard French Maid and got a really big smile on his face.  I hated to burst his bubble, though hell, maybe I heard wrong and she does mean maid . . .

(Community Matters) From the Watson Wire

My Really True Secret … Involving Guns and Kittens

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

I have a secret that I’ve been keeping under wraps.  I haven’t disclosed it to anyone – not in public, not in private, not in this weekly email newsletter that’s posted on my web site, Twitter, and Facebook. Not to any of the thousands of people I come in contact with each week.

How could I know that it would actually improve my chances of getting on a Presidential ticket?

Two months ago, I was out for an early-morning run.  As usual, I was carrying a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum (that’s right; the kind that Dirty Harry carried).  I was fully loaded with steel-piercing shells and a sight I designed myself using GPS technology (I’d tell you more about it, but it’s classified). Continue reading →

(Community Matters) Like most Americans, I’ve long been a fan of Warren Buffett and appreciate his colloquial style – even as I’ve come to realize it’s, at least in part, shrewd PR.  He’s the earnest billionaire who’s long lived in the same, modest home in Omaha, with well-raised children and a story-book wife who died in 2004.  And, the story is complicated by the simultaneously same man who spent as much time in his billionaire’s abode near/in Pebble Beach, mostly traveled in this Bombardier Challenger 600 (The Indefensible), and lived apart from Susan Buffett at least half their marriage – the latter years with his now wife, Astrid Menks.

I don’t say all this to challenge Mr Buffett’s revered place in America; it gives me great comfort and satisfaction that he’s a close confidant to our President.  And, I do mean to convey he’s a complicated man, with more dimensions than his public narrative reminds – his $5B investment in Goldman Sachs no doubt influencing his position defending Goldman Sachs and their CDS transactions.  We now know his comments about derivatives constituting financial weapons of mass destruction and how he doesn’t invest in anything requiring more than a calculator to analyze, more metaphorical  than literate in light of $60B plus into derivatives he’s purchased.

NYT Dealbook Column – From Buffett, Thought-Out Support for Goldman

(Community Matters) certainly not making light of the spill underway – just another bit of information from NYTimes article Bad, but How Bad? which helps with perspective

The ruptured well, currently pouring an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the gulf, could flow for years and still not begin to approach the 36 billion gallons of oil spilled by retreating Iraqi forces when they left Kuwait in 1991. It is not yet close to the magnitude of the Istox I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in Mexico in 1979, which spilled an estimated 140 million gallons of crude before the gusher could be stopped.

(Community Matters)  Arianna in to Austin to speak at the Texas Freedom Network’s 15th anniversary celebration.

TFN ED Kathy Miller, Arianna & State Rep. Elliott Nashitat

She gave a super presentation at Agudas Achim, then we co-hosted dinner with Suzanne & David Booth at our place including Arianna, Jeanne & MIckey Klein, Evan & Julia Smith, Alexa Wesner, Luke Hayes and John Thornton – a group of many opinions, perspectives and voices.

(Community Matters) President Obama’s commencement address at University of Michigan (May 1, 2010):

It is great to be here in the Big House, and may I say “Go Blue!”  I thought I’d go for the cheap applause line to start things off.

Good afternoon President Coleman, the Board of Trustees, faculty, parents, family, friends, and the class of 2010.  Congratulations on your graduation, and thank you for allowing me the honor to be a part of it.  And let me acknowledge your wonderful governor, Jennifer Granholm, your mayor, John Hieftje, and all the Members of Congress who are here with us today.

I am happy to join you all today, and even happier to spend a little time away from Washington.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s a beautiful city.  And it sure is nice living above the store; can’t beat the commute.  It’s just that sometimes, all you hear in Washington is the clamor of politics – a noise that can drown out the voices of the people who sent you there.  So when I took office, I decided that each night, I would read ten letters out of the thousands sent to us every day by ordinary Americans – a modest effort to remind myself of why I ran in the first place. Continue reading →

(Community Matters) Today is Lemonade Day – in Austin, over 10,000 kids have registered to host lemonade stands all around the city, launching their entrepreneurial careers.

While these kids are having fun, they’ve also been learning about entrepreneurship without even knowing it – their cartoon-style lemonade stand guide is actually a well-researched, produced curriculum developed with assistance from the Search Institute. As parents or mentors guide the kids in establishing and running their stands, they are learning about planning, budgeting, marketing, accounting (counting revenues, costs & profits) and philanthropy.  The latter is completely voluntary – some parents and partner organizations are encouraging children to share portions of their profits with charitable organizations.

Leigh Christie has done an extraordinary job leading this program in Austin for the Entrepreneurs Foundation.  Andra & Joe Liemandt, their Liemandt Family Foundation and Trilogy are the primary underwriters in Austin joined by Imperial Sugar, HEB, RunTex, Charles Schwab, the Acton Foundation, the Buena Vista Foundation and others.  Peter Frey has been Leigh’s right hand man while simultaneously holding down plenty of EF responsibilities.

Prepare4Life & Michael Holthouse created and launched this program in Houston 3 years ago.  We’re pretty dang proud that our first and second years we’ve met the enrollment and participation figures of the nation’s 3rd largest city.  Additionally, in Austin, we’ve engaged Prof Raphael Travis to help us evaluate outcomes (stands, revenues, profits and philanthropy) as well as help us design and test a possible long term longitudinal study to confirm whether this program impacts future entrepreneurial activity and whether it contributes to participants’ developmental assets.

(Community Matters) I wasn’t familiar with John Kelly or his Joni Mitchell show.  But, of course we attended the artist & volunteer reception at Amy & Kirk Rudy’s home and meet John, Zecca Esquibel, Paul Ossola and Kevin Malony, in town for FuseBox and presenting Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell.  There’s a 2pm show today (Sunday), I HIGHLY recommend it.

John Kelly & Ron Berry

Kirk Rudy, Bijoy Goswami, Ron Berry, Natalie George & Amy Rudy

Luke Hayes, ST & Roger Hayes

My favorite 26-yo godson and his dad (in from NY) joined us at the reception and for a quick bite at Maudie’s prior to John’s show.

The show was amazing – seriously.  Not a drag show, an impersonation which went deep deep deep into roots.