Pat Loughery

We were able to track down the presentation that Sequoia Capital gave to its portfolio company CEO’s earlier this week (and so did VentureBeat). It’s a long, 56 slide Powerpoint message of doom and gloom in Silicon Valley that we covered yesterday along with an email that angel investor Ron Conway sent to his 130 active portfolio companies. The final text slide reads “Get Real or Go Home.” - Pat Loughery

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Pat Loughery

An excellent guacamole recipe - Pat Loughery

Love motorcycles? Love photography? This edition of The Big Picture is for you (and me). - Pat Loughery

The mood in this country regarding Obama is getting scary. - Pat Loughery

As technology rapidly increases and the information age expands, our identities are at an increasing risk for being stolen. But it’s not a hacker trying to steal your social security number that should be causing you to lose sleep. It’s the ownership of your mind that’s at stake. Most of us work at boring jobs, doing the same thing day in and day out. We’re trying to liberate ourselves from these dead-end pursuits (that’s why you’re here right?) but it’s not always easy. The answer society has given us is to buy more things: The answer we’re given is not a change of attitude or perspective, but a product. What they’re really saying is: “If you have this thing you’ll finally live up to the image of who you think you should be, or rather, who we think you should be.” - Pat Loughery

Statistics and trends about charitable giving (of finances) in the USA. Lots of analysis of these trends from a variety of perspectives. - Pat Loughery

Todd collects an excellent set of resources on living in suburbia - Pat Loughery

Marsh has some good thoughts on the story of the adulterous woman about to get stoned to death. - Pat Loughery

Sequoia's the premiere venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. What they have to say about the economic future is sobering. - Pat Loughery

King County's resource page on rain barrels - Pat Loughery

Hat tip Eliacin. I'd like to set up rain catch barrels this year, partly because it would help me to not have to re-dig the lower parts of the drain spouts in our house that our dogs attacked and ate out of boredom. But also to green up a bit. Though - this year, we only once watered our lawns with a sprinkler. Rain worked fine this year. - Pat Loughery

Let’s establish a few ground rules for what we are going to be doing. First, this isn’t an ETTL, CLS, or any other kind of electronic exposure control in the flash unit. We are talking about manual settings. Manual is where the power is. - Pat Loughery

Days from becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, Lehman Brothers steered millions to departing executives even while pleading for a federal rescue, Congress was told Monday. As well, executives who feared for their bonuses in the company's last months were told not to worry, according to documents cited at a congressional hearing. One executive said he was embarrassed when employees suggested that Lehman executives forgo bonuses, and cracked: "I'm not sure what's in the water." - Pat Loughery

"Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat at a luxury resort and spa, the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, Congressional investigators revealed today" Ladies and gentlemen, are you happy with how your tax dollars are being spent? - Pat Loughery

Using Remember the Milk for your GTD app? Here you go, for notifications on your desktop. - Pat Loughery

Last week, Evergreen’s John Lang and Justin Vander Pol met with Washington State Parks and Mountain to Sound Greenway (MTSG) to begin work on the design of the Olallie Mountain Bike Trail. Based on a feasibility study completed in September, the finished trail would consist of approximately 8.6 miles of single track, including 4 miles of new trail and 4.6 miles of road-to-trail conversation. The trail will be constructed to include easy (5% maximum sustained grade) and moderate (8%) sections, with shorter, more difficult sections (10%) requiring a little more fitness and/or suffering. - Pat Loughery

We are called "Common Root" because, together, we are rooted in the life of Christ. The word "radical" comes from the Latin word "radix" which means "root." A radical movement is one that seeks to challenge the status quo by seeking change by getting to the root of the issue. This movement is made up of denominational Anabaptists (like Mennonites, Brethren in Christ, and Church of the Brethren), neo-Anabaptists, peace-minded liberationists, Catholic Workers, and other theological exiles and refugees. We aim to be a diverse mix of people whose common "root" is the radical way of Jesus Christ lived out in a post-Christian, post-colonial world where the Church is slipping into the margins and is, we hope, able to regain its prophetic voice. These our our convictions: - Pat Loughery

The next step of this panic could be the mother of all bank runs, i.e. a run on the trillion dollar-plus of the cross-border short-term interbank liabilities of the U.S. banking and financial system, as foreign banks start to worry about the safety of their liquid exposures to U.S. financial institutions. A silent cross-border bank run has already started, as foreign banks are worried about the solvency of U.S. banks and are starting to reduce their exposure. And if this run accelerates--as it may now--a total meltdown of the U.S. financial system could occur. The U.S. and foreign policy authorities seem to be clueless about what needs to be done next. Maybe they should today start with a coordinated 100 basis points reduction in policy rates in all the major economies in the world to show that they are starting to seriously recognize and address this rapidly worsening financial crisis. - Pat Loughery

“I had been photographing an area of Cairo that was host to a number of pottery factories. They weren’t actually factories but rather mud hovels where workers made clay pots. I had spent months gaining access and befriending the workers. Child labor was rampant but many of the children working at the site were related to the men working in the factories. These families had no other choice but to have their children work at the site. If the children didn’t work, earning valuable income, then there would not be enough money to put food on the family’s table. One afternoon I was shooting and saw this little girl bathed in the late afternoon sun. At first she just stared at me but then she slowly looked off camera with eyes full of sadness.” - Pat Loughery

“This image is from Kuropaty, the former killing fields on the outskirts of Minsk. Every year people come to memorialize the up to 250,000 people killed there in Stalin-era purges. Bodies are still being found. The event is seen by authorities as a rallying point for the opposition, so the KGB usually tags along and films everyone. Like most demonstrations in Belarus, there is risk for those who attend. It was taken on the last day of my first visit to Belarus in 2000. I was exhausted and almost didn’t go, especially considering that it involved a 15km march from the city center to the site. I remember towards the end the light was fading fast, my young fixers were urging me to leave with them. I’m glad I hung around a little longer, for me the image reflects the stoic nature of the people there and their deep sense of history and memory.” - Pat Loughery

I just ran across this. Online Monastics, and 7 vows that they live under. - Pat Loughery

Today’s NPR - This American Life program was a follow-up, exploring the bailout bill passed into law on Friday. “Another Frightening Show About the Economy” again tries to demystify the current financial crisis, explaining why the bailout is needed, and what it intends to do. - Pat Loughery

Bill Simmons writes one of his best stories in a long, long time - about how Manny Ramirez left Boston for the Dodgers, but Scott Boras was the villain behind the scenes. I just hope Bill's wrong about Manny being a Yankee next year. Anywhere but NY. I'd take him in Seattle before you could say the 'h' in 'heartbeat'. - Pat Loughery

HT: SteelerDirtFreak/Paul Oyler I'm using Lightroom almost exclusivelythese days, but I'm putting Photoshop back on my Macbook Pro so it's available more easiy. I'll use it a lot more often, I suspect. - Pat Loughery

Grace revies Robbymac's book, "Post-charismatic?" - with the superb news that it's now shipping in the US and not just Canada. if you've been through charismatic and pentecostal faith worlds, Rob provides a very helpful trip through history and into the near future. - Pat Loughery

Bart Campolo's response to the series on race and new monasticism: "His message to the New Monastics then, is that they shouldn’t beat themselves up for living in monochromatic—and more importantly mono-class—communities, as long as they are actively pursuing meaningful, authentic relationships with friends and neighbors beyond those communities. In his view, the goal is authentic interrelation—not integration—so that it’s OK to maintain predominantly white and predominantly black institutions, churches, and communities, so long as all of them relate meaningfully and authentically with one another." As much as I'd like that to be the case - because it would be simpler and easier for me - I think that's blarney, and that the world of cultural integration and immersion must be done life-on-life, not from the safety zone of peer groups which relate together only as collectives. But what are your thoughts? Wayne Park, I'm looking at you. Same with you, Echohawk-Hayashis. - Pat Loughery

Just what kind of pork was attached to the bailout bill that was passed today? Here ya go.. Congrats to the rum, wool and wooden arrow manufacturers; you and the illiquid banks are getting my grandkids' money. - Pat Loughery

Very nice. I am pretty lazy in my bw conversion in Lightroom, but need to fix that... - Pat Loughery

Good tips on making the most of international travel in a less-stressed way. Of this list, the one I'm definitely doing in my upcoming Orthodox Trail trip is staying in hostels. Three nights in a hostel in Istanbul, dorm-style, will cost about $13US/night. In Athens, $25/night. I'm really only worried about how my allergies will do in a highly smoking-friendly environment. - Pat Loughery