In March 1997 a doctor said to me, “Your jeans are going to fit a lot better once we get that out.” So tactful. The that to which he referred was a cyst-morphing-into-a-tumor that had wrapped itself around my left ovary. This was discovered at a post-abortion checkup. I paid cash for the abortion. The removal of both the tumor, which as it turned out had malignant cells in it, and the ovary (the two could not be disentangled) were covered by insurance. Luckily, I required no chemo or radiation. I don’t recall that my jeans fit any different when all was said and done....

Photo by mirsasha on flickr In June an APD officer sped 139 miles/hour through a funeral procession on Mopac; he resigned in November. Ford recalling over a million trucks and SUVs because of a faulty engine sensor. The Austin Energy Alt-Car Expo is coming next October. Texas Legislative Conference (who?) names Lt. Gov. Dewhurst as Texan of the Year. New state law set to go into effect January 1 charges $5 per each strip club......

Senator Barack Obama delivered a rousing speech to thousands of die-hard supporters this past Saturday at the Backyard, touching on just about every hot issue at the core of next year's election debates. Pledging to shut down Guantanamo, restore habeas corpus, and renew the hunt for Al Qaeda, Obama stressed the need for a stronger international agenda and quoted Kennedy's famous inaugural address—"Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear......

Hark! U.S. health care reform cometh, and that right soon! Boston Red Sox win World Series. Homus Neanderthalensis may have been the Earth's first natural redhead. Study suggests that sexual orientation is coded in genetic material. Wired Magazine's review of the new Mac operating system. French president evidently working overtime to reinforce common stereotypes held about the French people. Sacre bleu! New Jersey school proves the true importance of accessories in a Halloween costume.......

The Health Alliance For Austin Musicians (or HAAM) provides local artists with low-cost health care and other related services. This year’s HAAM Benefit Day is here (today), and the organization is presenting numerous shows all over town this evening, along with a Telethon on ME Television. One can offer their assistance in funds by donating online as well. The HAAM Benefit Day is presented with support from a number of entities, including Whole Foods......

Some Austin restaurants are doing their part to help folks in Sudan and Chad. To help raise funds for the American Jewish World Service's work for the people of Darfur, local restaurants are donating a percentage of their proceeds from today's sales. AJWS provides basic health care, water, therapeutic feeding centers, medicine, activities/programs for children, and education to many of the displaced and traumatized refugees who have been violently forced from their homes and are......

Because of a newly promulgated national accounting standard, city governments must now report their long-term unfunded liability for retiree health care in their annual financial statements. This new standard is forcing municipal governments across the country to face their obligations to public sector retirees, and in most cases the debt is pretty darn big. For example, the City of Austin is now looking down the barrel of its own retiree health care debt....all $1 billion......

Whether you like Michael Moore or think he's an anti-American nutjob, the guy's coming out with a new movie. Sicko is a study of America's (failing) health care system. Moore talks to victims (like a man who had to choose which of his two severed fingers to reattach, because he couldn't afford both) and perpetrators (oft-repentant health insurance agents) of the U.S. health care system, then trots (okay, maybe plods) around the globe in search......

Okay, we thought New Mexico guv Bill Richardson had already announced his campaign for Presidency, but guess not. In GOP news, Giuliani isn't polling well in Iowa; Mitt Romney is beating him and McCain in the polls up there. Al Qaeda militants are taking on the military at a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. 71 people have been killed so far. European developers are not amused with soon-to-be-former World Bank Prez Wolfowitz. Former US......

The palm trees on 6th and Lamar couldn't provide enough shade out in the parking lot of Waterloo Records on Sunday, but with breezes consistently blowing 60 degree winds and plenty of beer and music on hand, Austinites helped celebrate the twenty-fifth birthday of everyone's favorite record shop. Six hours of a Texas-packed lineup included Ruthie Foster, Grupo Fantasma, Brothers & Sister, and Eisley (pictured above); the party was headlined by Austin-based blues veterans......

Do we have your attention? We love creating hysterical fear. Not really. Any of the ways…flu season is upon us. We can already fell the achy legs and stuffy heads coming on. The countless calls to friends to bring us soup and leave it with our door man. OK. To help expedite the flu immunization process, the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department is offering flu shots at drive-thru locations, in addition to their......

More summer blockbusters are coming your way, friends. Don't forget your eyepatch! *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest It seems like forever ago that Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl took the world by storm. Depp was nominated for a friggin’ OSCAR, for Jeebus’ sake. We’re almost positive that won’t happen again, but we’re not ashamed to admit we’ll pay full admission price for this fluffy bit of high......

Over at Northcross Mall, outrage has begun to boil over implications that a new Wal-Mart location could take root on this newly-desirable patch of retail property just west of Burnet Road along Anderson Lane......

Wanna support health care, water projects, education, sustainable farming, solar energy, flood control dykes and experimental windmill projects in the village of Kolomiseed (in Az-Zawrat) on the Nile River in the northern province of Sudan but just don't have the time, resources or the money? Good news! Go get yourself some Nile Valley Herbs Hibiscus or Hibiscus Mint Tea and part of the proceeds from your purchase goes towards those projects and more. Ever......

It's just been announced that President Clinton is coming back to Austin. He's scheduled to deliver the convocation address at UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs on May 20. UT President William Powers had this much to say: "The LBJ School was formed as an expression of President Johnson's faith in government to serve democracy by building a more just society. It is fitting that this year's convocation speaker at the LBJ School is a......

We love a good tailgate party every so often, and we're starting to get a little excited about the upcoming primaries in March, which is why we're passing this tidbit onto you: Former assistant county attorney Sarah Eckhardt, daughter of former US Rep. Bob Eckhardt from Houston, announced earlier in the week her intention to run against incumbent Democrat Karen Sonleitner for the Precinct 2 seat on the Travis County Commissioners Court. Running on......

This post is by one of our new writers, Elizabeth... Next Saturday, Sunday, October 22, Austin will hold its annual Stand Down to help the homeless. Stand Down was created by the VA as a way to help homeless veterans, but a lot of programs (such as Austin's), have opened it to homeless non-veterans also. During the day, assistance with clothing, haircuts, health care and legal aid is available. Even care for pets is......

As we were waiting for our daily lift across the bridge to our own personal hell work this morning, we noticed flyers taped to the bench at the bus stop shelter deriding both the Capital Metro Chairman and his general manager for being unfair to organized labor. As you may know, Capital Metro bus drivers and mechanics have been at the precipice of strike now for a few weeks. At issue are wages for......

We are obviously mounted-up and riding high with the Kinky Friedman campaign for governor. (I mean, Why the Hell Not?) But we have the sneaking suspicion that this race will eventually come down to a battle between the two parties of the Establishment. With that said, the Democrats picked up a little bit of optimistic steam this morning as Chris Bell announced his candidacy for governor. In his announcement, Bell brought a breath of......

Hot on the tails of the smoking ban, which took one of life's difficult choices out of the hands of competent personal decision makers and put it into the hands of an unweildy beaurocracy, AUSThIN is on a crusade to make more decisions for you! AUSThIN is dedicated to improving Austin’s health and quality of life by making fat people lose weight and hence stop them from weighing down our public infrastructure and health......

Long before we had to suffer through the bumbling speeches, disingenuous double talk, war mongering and religious-right pandering of George W. Bush, Americans enjoyed two terms of prosperity under the leadership of one of the smartest, slickest and most controversial presidents of the 20th century. Historians and citizens alike may remember President Bill Clinton for his extraordinary successes, think first president to balance the budget in 30 years, or they may remember him for......

Do you remember the days when J-Kwon was bumping while everyone in the club was getting tipsy? When blogging took hold of the nation? There was turmoil in Iraq and suspicion regarding the White House? Well now you can take a trip down memory lane and re-live the glory days of 2004 when current Senator and former Presidential candidate John Kerry visits our fair city on Saturday April 16th. We at the Austinist will be......