Category Archives: Uncategorized

(Community Matters) AAS reporting on Pres Power’s Committee on Business Productivity. Stephen Rohleder (Accenture) noted as chairman. Other committee members are:  Jason Downie (HM Capital Partners, Dallas),  Stephen A. James (Accenture, Spicewood), Paul Kinscherff (The Boeing Company, Chicago), Gary Kusin (TPG Capital, Dallas), David Moross (Falconhead Capital, New York), Ben Rodriguez (Management and Business Advisors, San Antonio), Hector Ruiz (Bull Ventures, San Francisco and Austin),  Sam Susser (Susser Holdings Corp., Corpus Christi), Charles Tate (Capital Royalty, Houston), Larry Tu (Dell Inc., Round Rock), Lynn Utter (Knoll Inc., East Greenville, Pa), Marcie Zlotnick (StarTex Power, Houston)

(Community Matters) Potential, future supreme leader (Bo Xilai) ousted, wife (Gu Kailai) being investigated for  murder of a British businessman (Neil Heywood) – vice mayor (Wang Liju) flees to a U.S. consulate.

Chinese communists prepare to name their next leadership team, as their President (Hu Jintao) retires and the current Vice President (Xi Jinping) is expected to succeed him. Reformist Premier (Wen Jiabao) is said to be battling hard line conservatives.

Bo re: truth? Who knows. Some speculation consequences of his fight against organized crime in the province (mega-city, Chongqing) he governed.

(Community Matters) Yesterday was Brackenridge’s luncheon honoring Clarke Heidrick, a friend and force for good in Austin. Clarke is the founder of the hospital district, as well as current Chamber Chair, long time chair of the Shivers Cancer Foundation and has headed many other civic institutions.

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(Community Matters) the good news, the teen birth rate declined nationally. “the lowest reported since record-keeping began in the 1940s. . . rates also fell across all teenage ethnic groups the report says.” Less good news, Texas is no. 4, though I believe I’m reading that all states but Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.

1. Mississippi 55
2. New Mexico 52.9
3. Arkansas 52.5
4. Texas 52.2

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(Community Matters) Don’t think I’ve considered water capturing technology as part of the answer to meeting Austin’s future water needs. Reading the Culture Map article on Imagine Austin, I noticed my friend Robin Rather’s comment

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(Community Matters) Bill Sheldon was an AIDS activist, volunteer & supporter as well as a classic car enthusiast. He died on March 24.

There are rumors that Bill died violently in a downtown parking garage – only rumors, I can’t find any information on the circumstances of his death. I’m sure there’s nothing to the rumors but since gay bashing hasn’t always been publicized, I’d like to track this down. If anyone knows anything, I’d love to be filled in.

(Community Matters) our friend Todd Hanna runs this awesome group, Explore Austin. Leadership, Mentoring, Adventure – the cadillac of life mentoring programs for at risk kids. Ha!, come to think about it, I’m not sure it isn’t a program for privileged and blessed men & women and happens to benefit at risk kids. We should all be so lucky to learn from these young people

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) way fun

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Hat Tip: Kip Keller

(Community Matters) We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. . . . As Austin continues to grow and thrive, as programming at Auditorium Shores, the Long Center, the Palmer Center, downtown and elsewhere becomes even more dense – traffic and parking will become more challenging. Saturday’s complaints are understandable, and perhaps there can be more thought to optimizing scheduling but mass transit, carpooling and walking across the bridge are the best, most likely solutions. It’s gonna take some getting used to and the inconvenience is understandably frustrating . . . and, it’s a problem of riches

(Community Matters) An insightful, plausible and speculative perspective on current Supreme Court decision making

like others, I’m floored by the strip search decision

(Community Matters) We’re one of the fastest growing, most desirable markets in the country, we shouldn’t be making deals as if we’re Detroit.

I remain a fan of strategic incentives to attract the most desirable employers (only because that’s how the market works today). Kudos to Travis County for requiring Apple to hire local unemployed & economically disadvantaged. As well, the Green Water Treatment Plant is a unique and extraordinarily valuable site. The City of Austin shouldn’t buy poor boy arguments. If Trammel Crow can’t at least deliver on its original affordable housing promises, we should let them out of their letter of intent and reopen bids for the development. I’m not sure we shouldn’t reopen the project for new competitive bids, anyhow. It’s a new time in the market.

AAS, this morning “Austin-area Growth Rate 2nd in Nation,” “Affordable Housing Plans for Green Redevelopment,” and “Travis County Was Wise to Seek Share of Jobs for Locals.”

(Community Matters) a moving story about a teen coming out to his mom – it could have gone the other way. Too many other kids have chosen suicide instead.

I have been so scared of them finding out that I’m gay because I know that they would hate me and would want me out of their life and at the same time I can’t keep this secret anymore because it is not something I asked for, never in a million years would I ask to be gay in a town like this where everybody would hate me. And anyways I can’t keep this secret anymore because I’m about to do something crazy like run away or hurt myself or something. I just want to be dead sometimes. story

I still remember when two family members told us we couldn’t encroach on their religious beliefs which held that we lived in sin. Yeah, and this sort of justification was once used to support slavery, to support discrimination against anyone who wasn’t white, who wasn’t male, even bi-racial couples.

this is the original post referred to in the story – I’m Christian, Unless You’re Gay.