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AV’s recent inpatient surgery experience - she had a cervical dystectomy (relatively common neck surgery) - reminded of how fundamentally flawed our US healthcare system is. Almost every industry/market that’s “efficient” functions on some basic common principles/dynamics: Customers make purchasing decisions based on cost, quality and service and producers/companies compete on the basis of these 3 core product/service “differentiation” dimensions.

Let’s take the retail industry as an example. Walmart is all about being low cost and has build a business model that continuously wrings cost out of the entire supply chain for the goods they sell. A store like Nordstrom on the other hand tries to be more upscale, so it competes on service and to a lesser extent quality (by carrying brands perceived to be higher quality). And Louis Vitton, Tiffany, and other luxury brands compete largely on quality only (with quality being defined as a combination of style/perception, brand value, material, cut, etc.).

The key to the above tradeoffs occuring, of course, is information (transparency) about the 3 differentiating dimensions, particularly quality and cost….to enable consumers to evaluate different companies and make their decision based on what matters most to them. But none of this is possible in healthcare - an industry that is almost a fifth of US GDP!

In healthcare, you make a decision with no idea of what it will cost you and really no way/system of getting such a cost estimate without significant effort. And quality is an entirely different matter. Where cost is difficult but not impossible to assess, quality is. There is absolutely no data available to consumers to help them understand the experience level and output/performance (aka “outcomes” in healthcare) of the doctor they choose to go with. And did I mention there’s no systematic way of finding a doctor that meets your needs? The whole system of finding a doctor is primitive - you ask around to see if anyone you know (including other doctors one might know) have a recommendation (which is again, largely based on perception/reputation and not facts).

I am definitely a believer that government led investment in infrastucture is a key tool to help get the US out of the current economic crisis (while making sensible investments which will pay off and are required for our long term health). I would love to see the Obama administration address some of the issues above to help get the US healthcare industry more nimble, competitive and no doubt efficient.

A few days before November 4th, the evangelical/right wing proponents of Proposition 8 (the anti-gay marriage ballot initiative) widely broadcast President Elect Obama’s words on the issue of gay marriage to Californian’s. Although Obama was against Proposition 8 and supports civil unions for same sex couples, he does not support gay marriage  and has said on many occasions that he believes marriage is appropriate only between a man and a woman.

So the liberal and generally LBGT supportive Obama’s words were used against the gay community….and likely led to the victory of Proposition 8….a major step back for equal rights.

I am extremely dissapointed by the message President Elect Obama sent to gay American’s this week by picking Rick Warren for the invocation at the Presidential inaugration in January. While I totally understand and agree with listening to all sides of a debate….and speaking politely to those who disagree with you, the Rick Warren selection shows the gay community that their families don’t matter right now.

Rick Warren compares gay marriage to pedophilia, marriage between siblings and polygamy….

I’m dissapointed in President Elect Obama…..and won’t be tuning into the invocation or the inaugration. I’d rather just sit and meditate by myself.

There is widespread agreement among key national political, economic and housing stakeholders (the government and regulators, consumers and Banks among others) on the need to help prevent foreclosures, keep as many people as possible in their homes, and “clear the housing market” of troubled assets quickly and fairly. This would help the housing market find a bottom more quickly - which housing market bottom will mark a turning point in our nations’ economic recovery.

In the spirit of Barney Frank’s statement “Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom”, I have put together this foreclosure prevention vision (including feedback and insight from Ron Garber, CEO of Short Sale Plan and Eric Friedman, SVP of Loss MItigation at Indymac Bank).

The housing market and economy are facing problems larger than any individual or organization….and it is in this spirit that I am publicly sharing this vision. I would welcome feedback from anyone who has experience in foreclosure prevention and any of the related strategies/areas.

I will be pursuing some or all of these strategies for Los Angeles and perhaps nationally in my capacity as CEO of HausAngeles, and in partnership with Ron Garber, who has spent the last 2 years developing and refining systematic short sales knowledge, education/training, processes/documentation and infrastructure….believing that they are the preferred alternative to foreclosures for all parties involved.

3064 North Beachwood Drive, L.A., 90068

MLS#: 08-333707

List Price: $1,267,000

Per the MLS, “Modern tour de force art piece sited beautifully & built in1963 by Robert Lee, AIA. Cutting edge classic modernity & style mixed w/sheets of glass, tongue in groove redwood & steel accents. Floating split level design w/a wonderful outdoor pool & entertainment area w/gas fire pit, outdoor living room adjacent to a private in ground spa & outdr shower area & canyon views. Striking kitchen, bath shower areas flow seamlessly bringing volumes of light & outdoor greenery inside. A rare availability.”  Here’s an awesome property that just hit the market a couple of days ago. In this home, you can spend as much time outdoors as indoors. My favorite feature of this home is that the location of the jacuzzi, pool, and outdoor shower are all different, making for a very “seamless flow.”

I consider myself spiritual but not very religious and don’t have much patience for the bureaucracy of most religions including my own. I just don’t see the need to have middlemen translate the teachings of my religion to me; my grandfather did a fine job of this during the times we spent together on vacation in Punjab, India while he was alive.

He taught me that our religion was about substance not form, that what matters is how you act in real life not whether you visit the Gurudwara (temple) everyday, and that the basic tenets of life and religion are simple. What’s difficult is actually living them fully and consistently.

My family are Sikhs, followers of a religion that I consider more a spiritual philosophy than a religion, and which originated about 500 years ago largely due to the friction between Islam and Hinduism in Northern India when the Mughals (who were Muslim) ruled over the largely Hindu populace.

I love and live by the version of Sikhism my grandfather taught me. It was mostly shared via a bunch of stories about the 10 Guru’s who created and propagated the religion. Tales of their courage, honesty and philanthropy; how they stood up for what’s right even in the face of death…again and again.

He told me that being a good Sikh was simple. All you had to do was live by 6 simple words: “Kirat Karo, Naam Japo, Vand Chako” (Kirat Karo: earn your livelihood by the sweat of your labor; Naam Japo: meditate on the name of God; and Vand Chako: share your earnings with others).

And he told me about “Chardi Kala” (which literally means “Rising Spirits”), the undying spirit of the Sikhs and a mindset and way of being I find myself returning to regularly even today. Here’s what www.answers.com had to say about Chardi Kala: “Chardi Kala indicates the elation or high spirits of Sikhism. Chardi Kala, meaning ‘the positive attitude’ is an equivalence of a mind that never despairs, never admits defeat and refuses to be crushed by adversities.”

I was reminded of my grandfather today, when my uncle Bob sent me a link to an online photo gallery on Sikhs by a photographer who visited India. Many of these images were familiar and comfortable for me: you can check them out at http://www.charlesmeacham.com (under Galleries; Being Sikh).

I liked Mr. Meacham’s description of Sikhs on his website. Here’s what he says:

“For over 500 years the teachings of the 10 enlightened Guru’s have influenced the believer’s of Sikhism to follow the doctrines of honesty, universal equality, fidelity, and meditation on God and his message. Their daily prayers urge peace and wellbeing for all mankind and their religion commands willingness to die in the protection of those who are poor and weak, no matter race or creed. Often described as Warrior Saints Sikhs have more than once taken to the sword in defending their homeland of Punjab and India”.

4415 Dundee Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027

MLS# 08-312197

List Price: $2999,000

Here at Hoodbeat, we like to bring to you the best of the best…… and today we’d like to present to you this incredible find. There isn’t a home like this anywhere else in the world, and that’s because it’s a US Green Building Council LEED Platinum home. What does that mean? It means that this house is 100% eco-friendly, top to bottom! Not only that, but not one accent was compromised in this incredible transformation, maintaining the home’s beautiful majesty it was originally intended to pose. This home features a spacious backyard, with a well-sized salt water pool, solar trees, and edibles and ecological landscaping. Per the MLS, “1926 Mediterranean beauty, transformed in 2008 to Leed platinum Green home. This is the highest rating for a green home, and the first of its kind. 2 story entry to step-down living room w/ F.P. and views. Cutting-edge, eco-friendly kitchen, media/home theater, and master w/ views of city. Amazing reclaimed materials throughout, energy efficient lighting, rain water collection system for irrigation, and solar power. Large backyard w/ native plants and edibles + saltwater pool.”

The Mumbai “terrorist” attacks are a clear message to President Elect Obama, us, and the rest of the world. The problems of the world aren’t just economic….they are equally urgent, social and extend deeply into our homes and places of worship.

The Bombay attacks are highly symbolic in their location/s, organization-level and timing. And they hit home. I definitely feel the significance of these particular attacks personally. The violence was directed at the heart of India’s financial system where my (our) friends hang out, my (our) colleagues stay when they visit India, and our companies establish offices when they enter the Indian market (the 5 star hotels Taj and Oberoi in Bombay have been the India office for many a blue chip multi-national corporation). The targeting of westerners by the attackers is particularly galling since it targets a big source of support and growth for India and it’s democracy, philosophies and people. India is getting more integrated with the west and the global economy, and the attacks sought to strike at the core locations and symbols of this progress.

So what? Since change is in the air, here’s the 2 key changes I’d like to see made immediately in our “war on terror”:

1. Rename it in a way that reflects what it is. In some ways I think we have glorified what is really going on, by allowing this global problem to be named a “War on Terror” fought against Terrorists. Certainly the acts can and do bring terror into people’s hearts. But why not (at least) try to take away this terrible power? There is clearly no moral equality in this war, and the battleground is people’s minds and hearts (not a physical battlefield). The truth is these so called terrorists are generally pathetic (and often unlucky) losers perpetrating violence in the name of God. Calling their movement what it is will go a long way towards accelerating it’s end, in my view…and also helping make it less and ultimately non-violent.

2. Acknowledge that this is not only about Islam and is truly global/multi-national. Violent Islamic fundamentalists are certainly creating massive problems worldwide, but the problems extend beyond Islam. In my (our) lifetime the forces of religious fundamentalism have risen dramatically across the globe in reaction to the forces of globalization, westernization and modernity….and many outside Islam are also perpetrating violence in the name of their God. Broadening the focus beyond Islam will, I think, help address it more quickly in Islam also…as it will remove the ego and pride barrier created by the perceptions of denouncing an entire (and majorly important and large) religion.

I’m glad to see the government is finally using 2 “smart” tools – capital and risk sharing –  to help address the financial institution panic and resulting failures we have seen since earlier in 2008, which have seriously escalated the financial and economic crisis facing the US and global economies today. While these tools don’t comprehensively address the myriad of financial and economic issues facing the US or the world today, they:

·         Help stabilize Banks when no other 3^rd party can/will do so — this is critical to stabilizing consumer sentiment, the markets and economy.

·         Are leveraged in their impact to the real economy — because banks typically lend $10 to $20 for every dollar in capital they hold.

·         Help minimize the tax-payer bill from all this government investing and intervention by acknowledging the uncertainty around where the housing and credit/financial markets will bottom out, and putting a “cap” on the maximum losses a private investor can incur on an investment  

·         Help establish a floor for asset values (by limiting downside risk for investors): and therefore support and encourage the return of private investors into the capital markets

The need for government provided capital was obvious to me months ago at Indymac since such a significant capital infusion would likely have prevented the Bank’s failure and no private capital was available for the job. Every investor who had invested capital into any financial institution in the 12 months leading up to Indymac’s failure had lost all or a big portion of their money by the summer of 2008, so this lack of private capital was a rational market outcome. And risk sharing can and should reduce the size of the loss the government creates by selling Indymac’s assets as it will help mitigate the negative financial impact of the fact that Indymac’s assets are being sold by the government into the worst housing asset market since the Great Depression.    

A wise man once said it was possible to “transform a breakdown into a breakthrough” and I think the tools above can be powerfully applied to the global economy today. After all, no large company is just a “US” company today. All major American companies are generally global in the markets they serve, the organizations they work with, and the workforces they leverage (even “little Indymac” which only operated in the US supported over 1000 employees in India). So by supporting US Banks and Financial Institutions the US government is already supporting the global economy (not just the US economy).

Why not do this more directly and on a bigger scale worldwide? As someone who is optimistic about the global economy’s long term prospects, I think we should. The US taking an ownership stake in a wide array of businesses all over the world could indeed help turn this breakdown into a breakthrough.

I am a strong believer that civil rights issues should be resolved through the legal (not political) process and feel it is only a matter of time until the US Supreme Court strikes all the discrimination that has been “constitutionalized” during the last 8 Bush years on the issue of gay marriage (sadly, fully 30 states now “ban” gay marriage via their constitutions).  I was feeling like a naive optimist after a conversation over brunch this past weekend, where a (clearly very smart) lawyer made a strong argument that the US Supreme court wouldn’t do what I say it will…at least not for the next 20 years!

Then today I saw 2 key arguments/quotes that give me hope that every individual and family will have equal rights and equal protection under the law in the USA sometime soon (despite the recent and unfortunate voter approval of the discriminatory Proposition 8 in California):

I was reading a fascinating article on the Princeton alumni website today entitled: “Her husband bakes, Scalia sings: Ginsburg describes the lighter side of the Supreme Court”. Here’s a direct quote from the article:

As she examined a small booklet with the text of the Constitution, she described her “favorite provision:” the end of section one of the 14th Amendment. She read aloud from it. “… (N)or shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

You can click here for the full article: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S22/48/08A80/

Then, I saw an LA times opinion piece by Brian Gray, a Professor at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, which draws a parallel between the arguments against Prop 8 and a decision made by the US Supreme Court on a Colorado proposition, which had (and I quote): ‘barred the state and its political subdivisions from adopting or enforcing any law “whereby homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation, conduct, practices or relationships” are the basis of a claim of discrimination.’

Here’s what happened on the Colorado issue (and I quote again):

“Following the enactment of Colorado’s Amendment 2, its opponents filed suit claiming that it unlawfully singled out gays and lesbians as a class to deny them rights that other citizens not only possess but take for granted. These rights include access to housing, government services, public accommodations and public and private employment opportunities without regard to an individual’s race, sex, religion, age, ancestry, political belief or other characteristic that defines each of us as a unique human being. Amendment 2, the opponents argued, therefore denied gays and lesbians the equal protection of the laws, which is a guarantee of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

To the surprise of many, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed.”

Click here to read this fascinating LA Times article: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-gray17-2008nov17,0,1425883,print.story

How long do you think it’ll be before all individuals, gay or not, have full equal rights in the USA?