The Travis Central Appraisal District (T-CAD) is failing to charge commercial property owners for property tax on the full value of their property, according to two studies. At a time when tax rates are rising and services are being cut for the rest of us, we sat down with Brian Rodgers of ChangeAustin.org to find out how many hundreds of millions of dollars Travis County residents are missing from big business.
We spoke w/ former Jurassic 5 rapper Charli 2Na on Breakdown FMwho is now rolling solo in the aftermath of the group’s breakup.
We covered a number of topics including:
Cuz it's really goin' down! Tonight BERES HAMMOND!
Tuesday the daddy of all Reggae, the genius, the man, LEE SCRATCH PERRY!
And Wednesday night GROUNDATION! A hell of a party.
We sat down with Professor Mario Salas of San Antonio’s NW Vista College and talked with him about the history of Black-Brown unity here in the United States and in Mexico.
Salas who is mixed Black and Mexican and a former member of SNCC gave us a serious lesson that touched upon slavery, colonialism and the back drop behind some of the famous wars along the border of Mexico and Texas.
I get all sorts of shit in my email box from people who want me to post things on AustinSurreal. Quite often these days, I delete those emails before I even look, cuz it's generally some cockamaimy poppycock (I have a 6th Sense, you see).
Anyway, this dude asked me to not say who he is, and honestly I have no idea who he is, except that he still uses hotmail in the age of GMAIL, but um, this looks like the original lyric sheet to Bun B's verse on "Big Pimpin'"
If that's too small to read I'll upload the full size scan when I get home and post a link.
Did he say "Rosario Dawson" in the recorded version? Nope.
It started when Jean Grae said these magic words:
"Ask me bastard if I'm signed, I rhyme sick
But niggas is quick to turn they back on spitters with clits
Hit 'em with this, and ridiculous phrase flow that exit my lips
Hey, yo, I mean my face, though
They still want chicks with tits and ass out
My respect is worth more than your advance cash-out."
One third of the League of Extraordinary G'z (who you can see live in concert, their debut show on Sept. 3rd at Red 7 - flyer below), Da C.O.D. is one of Central Texas's strongest reality rap groups.
You like how I put that?
I know this only because, when it comes to rap, I only listen to Reality Rap these days. And these dudes make some of the finest reality rap in the region. Anyway, boys flipped the Kanye line from his 106 and Park freestyle where he said some shit about buying a loft in Austin (not a bad idea brah, come dine).
ANYWAY CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE NEW JAM FROM Da C.O.D. - "Loftin' in Austin"
And expect like, 50 other Austin rappers to flip the same sample. I'll try to keep you up on the good ones!
And here's some pictures of Da C.O.D. You can see them and more live next Thursday Sept. 3rd at Red 7. Hope to see you there!
Almost every politician likes to utter the cliches of ‘helping’ or reaching out to the young people. Very few do more than roll up, take a few pictures and bounce until the next photo op. Very few have taken the steps to craft legislation that would lead to young people being empowered. The conventional wisdom is that young people don’t vote so why bother doing anything for a segment of the population that doesn’t vote or put much pressure on to move in a particular political direction. Such was not the case with Ted Kennedy. He took that aspect of his career very seriously.
I have had a number of conversations with friends about Castro and Cuba as a model for social justice. I always give credit to the regime for its health care and education systems, but am not as enthusiastic about Cuba as a model as other progressives, leftists, or revolutionaries seem to be.
- I argue that the people’s power for self determination is undermined by a life long leader, but my sparring partners rationalize the need for a strong leader as the only way to fight US imperialism.
When you talk to a lot of elders in the community you hear them remark fondly about the ‘Age of Camelot’ in the early 60s. This was when a young John F Kennedy ascended to the White House against all odds and his two brothers Robert and Edward aka ‘Ted’ came along with him and took high profile seats in the government. Robert became Attorney General and Ted went on to start what would be a 47 year tenure in the Senate.
