Monthly Archives: November 2011

(Community Matters) Top 7 cities for migration of 25 – 34 year olds during the Great Recession (2008 – 2010):

1. Denver
2. Houston
3. Dallas
4. Seattle
5. Austin
6. Washington, DC
7. Portland

(Community Matters) Opened at $20, closed 31% higher at $26.11. Good sign for local friends. WSJ on Groupon IPO Millionaires (and Billionaires) Club

Groupon will kick off its first day at a public company at a market value of $12.7 billion, more than Xerox, more than The Gap, more than Netflix (times 2.5)

(Community Matters) Last night’s 5th annual Entrepreneurs Foundation’s Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament was a blast.

Tejas Securities’ John Gorman won the tournament; Donut’s Paul Stahurn came in 2nd, Dachis Groups’ Brian Kotlyan 3rd.  Neil Webber, James Billing from Troux and Tim Klitch from Comerica also made it to the final table.

As the winner, John picked which of three nonprofits would share proceeds from our auction. He heard pitches from ActiveLIFE, the Sustainable Food Center and Theatre Action Project, and he decided they’d share the proceeds. Huge thanks to our co-chairs Jeff Dachis (Dachis Group), Cotter Cunningham (WhaleShark) and Mike Dodd (Austin Ventures), our underwriter, The Dachis Group and sponsors: Ernst & Young, Jones-Dilworth, Square One Bank and Stratus Properties. A fun, six figure evening.

(Community Matters) hugely important report from Huffington on latest Pew polls – especially gauging of enthusiasm among voters. I’ve finally learned, those who change the world and/or make the greatest contributions find the opportunities where others see only problems.

WASHINGTON — A massive new report released by the Pew Research Center has mixed news for President Barack Obama: The age gap in voting that opened up over the last seven years and helped elect him president in 2008 is persisting, but the political enthusiasm and engagement that younger voters demonstrated four years ago is “substantially depleted.”

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(Community Matters) two serious incidents of violence against gays reported just this week in Texas. In San Antonio, two men reportedly beat up a lesbian student at UT San Antonio, “Kristen Cooper said the only thing the men knew about her was that she was gay and during the beating she claims they were calling her anti-homosexual slurs.”

Last week in Reno, Texas, Burke Burnett was stabbed, beaten and thrown into a fire.  Police have arrested & charged two men.

(Community Matters)  Seems the reporter might have scrambled a bit of the interview with Graham Reynolds for the Edible Cooks 2011. Since I especially cared about his recipe for tomato sauce, I asked him for clarification:

Graham does add salt and notes  1 tablespoon of olive oil wouldn’t be enough.  He also clarified it’s good when the sauce sticks, not to avoid it – noting it’s crucial, like when you make gravy from what sticks to the roasting pan, those flavors are intensified.  Don’t omit some of the onions when putting the remnants back from the mill.  Instead, dump the husks back in to intensify the texture and flavor, assuming you don’t mind the bitter seeds.

(Community Matters) What others are calling Perry’s Bizarre Performance.There’s a long history in Texas of our political leaders playing crazy when they are trying to deflect attention from a scandal or about to pull out of a race. just saying . . .

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) Nate Silver in Sun NY Times Mag “Average these four scenarios together and the probabilities [of Pres Obama’s reelection] come out to almost exactly 50-50. A month or two ago, when Perry and Romney appeared about equally likely to be the Republican nominee, it would therefore have been proper to think of the election as a toss-up. With Perry having slumped in the polls, however, and Romney the more likely nominee, the odds tilt slightly toward Obama joining the list of one-termers. It is early, and almost no matter what, the election will be a losable one for Republicans. But Obama’s position is tenuous enough that it might not be a winnable one for him.”

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(Community Matters) Really? Objecting to a woman’s right to choose now extends to her right to choose contraception? Are we really entertaining the right of a religious organization that openly discriminates against women, an organization run exclusively by men to even further limit women’s reproductive rights?

Even though I object to religious organizations’ insinuation into public policy in a way that encroaches on the rights of people outside of their faith, I respect (disagree with but respect) the varied opinions on a woman’s right to choose. This goes too far and is a bad sign for the continued relaxation of separation of church and state.

(Community Matters)  Thrilled AMOA & ArtHouse have agreed to merge

Our mission statement is: “The museum provides rich environments for a wide range of audiences to investigate and experience excellence in modern and contemporary art. The Museum accomplishes this through innovative exhibitions, education, interpretative programs and direct access to the creative process.”

Our vision is best described by a series of goals, characteristics and concepts. Read them here

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(Community Matters) French rugby players – what is it about them?

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(Community Matters) NSFW– Recommend only for gay friends