Monthly Archives: December 2014

(Community Matters) the two are more congruent than immediately apparent

AAS (Dec 20, 2015) Austin home sales, median price set record for November

ABJ (Dec 19, 2015): Austin home prices most overvalued in the country, key ratings agency says

(Community Matters) This fun. Hat Tip: tweet from cousin Dave Tomlinson, a soon-to-be-published writer.

http://raconteur.net/infographics/the-worlds-greatest-storyteller

(Community Matters)  Pres Obama’s response to Russia in Ukraine is looking pretty deft these days.

We’ve got to inoculate ourselves against the neocon & military industrial complex spin. I’m noticing lots of conservative, especially neocon pundits launching their attacks on the Pres with quick citations of foreign policy failures as a given. Question the assumptions on which they launch their supposed analysis. Look at the slow and steady. In Ukraine, realize we would never have sent in troops. Pres O has rallied Europe (against their own short term interests) and imposed surgical sanctions which have the ruble spinning. In Syria, the red line was a mistake and what a great recovery with chemical weapons disarmament. You had neocons screeching that we should better arm the rebels, literally standing with some who have become ISIS. The President & everyone else remains cautious and mostly distrustful of Iran, yet we are finally in substantive, ever-so-slightly hopeful, negotiations re: nuclear stand down. Cuba: well, finally . . . . after 50+ years we’re gonna try something else – bold, strong & finally leadership.

AP: Putin: West wants to defang, declaw Russian bear

BBC: Manufacturers face ‘bloodbath’ in Russia, says Renault Nissan boss

Matthew Yglesias: Obama’s foreign policy isn’t very exciting, but it is working

(Community Matters) HeForShe: a solidarity movement for gender equality – the movement for gender equality was originally conceived as a struggle led only by women for women. In recent years, men have begun to stand up in addressing the inequality and discrimination faced by women and girls. more here

wow – just stumbled across this spectacular “movement”.

It’s a project of UN Women, the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls. UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. I haven’t donated just because I’m not convinced all UN programs are responsibly run; nevertheless, I sure love the ambition and hope to learn more about the program’s efficacy and finances. 

(Community Matters) really proud Austinites  from every precinct, every corner of Austin came together for Steve- laying to rest the campaign rhetoric of East – West divide. And . . . no doubt we have real issues to deal with in this city. One of Steve Adler’s first comments last night: “We’ve shown we can bring lots of high-paying jobs to this city, but are we clever enough and smart enough to bring enough middle-class jobs for the people that live here?”

(Community Matters) It’s a great time in Austin. So pleased so many trusted so many of us. For those who haven’t gotten to know Steve Adler, you’re gonna be really pleased. Hard work ahead and great man at the helm of this fantastic city.

Austin American Statesman: Steve Adler posts decisive victory over Mike Martinez for Austin mayor

(Community Matters) Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tanisha Anderson and Michael Brown . . . real reasons to question procedures and responses, the deployment of deadly force, because of someone’s race. There are real issues of race in America and in Austin – too many real ones for irresponsible cries of wolf. We should be hyper vigilant about squandering our attention to this issue.

I’m furious that Mike Martinez’s surrogates are sounding the race card against my friends Marc Winkelman, Tom Meredith, Dan Graham, Adam Loewy and Mickey Klein – implying that their mailer (a completely independent expenditure by their outside PAC) is racist for “dollar bills, shadowy figures and ominous fonts.” We could have and didn’t cry this false alarm when the same motiff was deployed in the mailer against Steve Adler – despite this imagery too often being deployed against Jews.

And, it’s not racist to question whether voters should desire that the mayor of their $3 billion city have a college degree. We require degrees for many mid managerial level jobs, even graduate degrees for executive positions. It’s an honest question to consider when putting together a list of criteria for someone to run your city (with a range of answers among many, obviously) – no reason for unnecessarily reactive & incendiary responses. Certainly shouldn’t be exploited to cry wolf.

There are real race problems to deal with. Let’s elect the best mayor capable of guiding our city and solving so many & mounting problems including race, economics, traffic . . .