Community Matters

(Community Matters) though, I do trust Paul Krugman’s analysis

(Community Matters) No doubt, our level of national debt is troubling.  I am not yet of the opinion that it precludes us from making social infrastructure improvements; however, seems likely that it will require broader and higher than originally established tax increases.   NYTimes article

(Community Matters) – This NYT article about the mammogram recommendation controversy is illuminating. I’m immediately struck by wanting to know, what cancers are best left unfound and why? They call it overdiagnosis and say women “are treated with measures like chemo, radiation & surgery for tumors that do not need treating.”  I get this (ie., understand it) just a wee bit as I help a friend in his decision making about his slow-growth lymphoma.  After aggressive treatment for the combination fast & slow growth lymphoma last year, we’ve decided on a wait & see approach to the resurfacing of slow-growth lymphoma this year – an opinion supported by the best lymphoma specialists at MD Anderson

Women and all involved in breast cancer services should read and understand the science behind the earlier recommendations. It is irresponsible to dismiss the recommendations without understanding the science behind them. And, the recommendations specifically excluded high risk groups.  I am not endorsing the recommendations, simply suggesting those engaged understand the explanations.

(Community Matters) Boy meets lobster

Hat Tip: Daily Dish

(Community Matters) I’ve repeatedly told friends at Goldman that I think their level of tone deafness risks their entire franchise.  This the first time I’ve seen/heard a specific proposal for a targeted tax – a windfalls profit tax on bonuses.  I am in no way implying support, and I see it as potentially the first of many franchise threatening shots from a populist uprising.

Other: means a lot that Senator Sherrod Brown is signaling credit toward Geithner for turning his attention to job creation, small businesses and financial regulation

(Community Matters) I’m flabbergasted by the quick-to-doubt press.  Have we become so expectant of grandstanding and bravado by American political figures that we mistake a failure to do so for weakness?

What if Pres Obama decided on another approach to engaging China as an economic partner, as a partner containing Iran/N. Korea, and on their human rights practices. Golly gee, what if he talked about these things in private with his hosts instead of grandstanding for the media. Any chance this might yield different results? We’ve seen the grandstanding and what it’s yielded over the years. And, since BHO was in China, word is leaking out from there that he did bring up human rights issues.

Forwarded by David Gail, a perspective from the Atlantic Post http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/11/manufactured_failure_2_the_pre.php

(Community Matters) I am not a line person – my blood races skyward everytime there’s a line.  ughhh, hardly anything worse.  Hmm, a kiosk at US customs/immigration?  Yep, US testing this at select airports for pre-approved, low-risk travelers – provides expedited clearance.

Currently available at: John F. Kennedy International (JFK); Washington Dulles International (IAD); George Bush Houston Intercontinental (IAH); Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Miami International Airport (MIA), Boston-Logan International Airport (BOS), Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport (DFW), Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Honolulu International Airport (HNL), Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), Detroit Metropolitan International Airport (DTW), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Orlando International Airport (MCO), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU), Orlando-Sanford International Airport (SFB), and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Applications at https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov After approved for this program, you can apply for the Global Entry with FLUX benefits which allows expedited crossing of other international borders, though I think the pilot program is limied to Amsterdam for now.

(Community Matters) in response to my original posting on Secretary Geithner and regulation of financial institutions, economist and UT finance professor Michael Brandl made the two following, illuminating comments:

first: Eugene – the key question to ask is:  why are the banks paying all of these bonuses and yet many (small business and consumers) can not seem to get access to credit?  The answer is the system that has now been set up encourages banks to borrow from the Fed at near zero rates and bring these funds to the commercial paper & currency markets and earn nice returns with defacto zero default risk.  Thus, by not considering the longer term objectives of policy changes we have mis aligned incentives in the financial markets.

second: Thanks Eugene – but I would take it to the next step. Just as Paul Volcker suggests, we need to restructure our financial system: we can offer a safety net to those institutions that perform “basic” banking functions (e.g. take deposits, write loans, etc.) BUT if the institutions gets involved in more risky activities (Volcker mentions trading but this could be extended) then these entities should be on their own – no more taxpayer bailouts for excessive risk taking.

Taxpayer support should only go to those institutions that are providing much needed banking services…and they will be overseen by professional (and well compensated) regulators.

These are the type of discussions that we should be having in Washington…sadly, we are not.

(Community Matters) Reading the letter to the editor in today’s AAS from Ms. Peggy Morse, I was struck by her passion and statement that independent voters who supported Obama would “take them out.”  I wondered whether Ms. Morse was one of those independent voters who initially supported the President so went in search for her on Facebook.

I did find a Peggy Morse in Austin on Facebook.  She and her husband seemed like wonderful people from the pictures and postings on her wall – well loved by family and friends, generous & kind postings by her to others.  They’d recently been in an accident and he’s still recovering.  I sent a message to Ms. Morse asking if she’d written the letter to the editor and asking if she minded disclosing if she was a supporter who had changed her opinion.  She wrote back a nice note that it wasn’t her.

Since the letter to the editor includes an email, I’ve emailed the author directly.  I hope she’ll let me know if she originally supported the president or not.  It helps give context to the comment.  In either case, all citizen’s opinions matter and I feel some responsibility to listen and hear and to reflect these back in my conversations with White House and party officials.

(Community Matters) In a dream I was told to tell everyone to dance for 7 minutes today

(Community Matters) My friend Reid Cramer and I roasted coffee beans last night, and we brewed coffee this morning.  Wow – what a difference.

Wasn’t a controlled test so I’d like to do so with beans commercially roasted, home roasted and of different ages.  But, I absolutely loved the lightness and complex tastes of my coffee this morning.  I actually drank it unadorned by sugar or cream.

Ok, admittedly I did also have a piece of Sonya’s breadpudding with homemade burbon sauce.

(Community Matters) Great news from our friend Laurie Heffron

I know that you guys love Julio’s, and I wanted to tell you about a new business that is going in next to Dolce Vita in your ‘hood. Two fellow Georgetown alums (although Jason and I did not overlap with them at GU), Kendall and John Antonelli, are opening Antonelli’s Cheese right in there – featuring artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, wines, craft beer, etc…

I didn’t know him, but she’s great and has spent the last several years doing great work at American Gateways (formerly PAPA), assisting victims of human trafficking get visas and bringing their families to the US, among other things. We’ve worked together over the years in that field.

Their website is still under construction, but make sure to check them out when they open: http://www.antonellischeese.com/