Former Press Secretary to Sen. Ted Kennedy and current University of Texas lecturer Bob Mann describes his 30 year friendship with Garry Mauro with a husky laugh and ear-to-ear grin often displayed by those who share a common bond from shared nostalgia.

“I’ve worked with him three to four different times,” Mann said to his students Wednesday night, most of whom were too young to understand a pre-Inconvenient Truth era when global warming was little more than a budding theory, “he made history with the land office.”

Mauro, the longest serving Land Commissioner in Texas history, is credited by many for taking the lead on important environmental issues and pushing legislation in Texas to reduce air pollution during his four terms.

In 1998, Mauro ran unsuccessfully against George W. Bush, who was the incumbent governor running for re-election at the time.

“My greatest political disappointment was not communicating what a sorry governor Bush would be,” said Mauro, “he doubled the budget but there’s nothing to show for it. He was a lousy governor. He just managed the status quo.”

“Mark White was a great governor,” said Mauro, who credits White for the influx of technology based jobs, “there are four times as many tech jobs than in the oil and gas industry. With the amount of money Bush had, he’s got nothing to show for it.”

Mauro got his own political start while he was still attending law school at the University of Texas when his political hero at the time, Sen. Ralph Webster Yarborough, a progressivist Democrat from Texas, offered him a job with his campaign for governor of Texas in 1970.

“I dropped out a semester to work for him,” said Mauro, “Yarborough was a total non-conformist with a very long view of politics.”

Though he admired Yarborough, he was not hesitant to tell the students where his views differed from his mentor, “He was more concerned with his place in history than winning the next election, but if you don’t get elected you won’t have a place in history.”

Now sixty years old, Mauro’s long political career includes campaign work with other well known public figures.

While working with an advocacy group to register student voters in 1972, Mauro got a call from a young woman working with Democratic Sen. George McGovern in his bid for president against incumbent Richard Nixon during the 1972 election.

“I got a call from the DNC from a woman saying that I was the person to talk to about registering voters,” said Mauro, “her name was Hillary Rodham.”

The two met for lunch when the woman who would eventually become first lady and a senator from New York came to Texas to manage McGovern’s campaign with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, after Mauro was named chairman of Young Texans for McGovern.

Mauro has been friends with the couple ever since, and has even visited the White House, where Hillary Clinton had a six-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper waiting for him.

“I couldn’t believe she remembered that I always drink Diet Dr. Pepper,” said Mauro, who never understood the hostility toward the former first lady and the attacks that she was a “bitch”.

“Bill is always late,” Mauro said of his friend and former president, but then said, “The main thing you need to know about Bill Clinton is that he likes people so much.”

“It was 12:30 in the morning and Bill would be on a pay phone with Chelsea helping her with homework,” said Mauro, “He stood and talked to the lineman at McAllen Airport for forty minutes, thanking the light guy for signaling the plane.”

“I don’t know of another person in public life who would do that-and like it.”

Despite his friendship with the Clintons, Mauro had no bitter words toward President-Elect Barack Obama, who fought a long and exhaustive battle for the democratic presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton.

“I am very impressed with him, when I grew up in Waco we had segregated drinking fountains. The civil rights movement is why I got involved in politics,” said Mauro, who described Obama’s success as “almost unimaginable.”

Mauro met Barack Obama for the first time after a chance encounter with friend Arthur L. Schechter, former ambassador to the Bahamas, in Houston.

“I was on my way to the Texas Democratic Convention,” said Mauro, but on the way he bumped into Schechter.

“He begged me to come to a fundraiser for Barack Obama,” said Mauro, “Six people showed and we talked to Barack Obama for an hour and a half. After that, I volunteered my house for a fundraiser. It was the biggest traffic jam my neighborhood in Tarrytown had ever seen.”

Nearly 700 people came to Mauro’s home that night, most of whom did not know who Barack Obama was.

“This guy is a visionary,” said Mauro, “I hope he learns how to push the buttons of government.”

Though he raised money for Obama’s campaign for the United States Senate, his choice for president was clear during the democratic primary.

“How many people have had Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in their living room?” said Mauro, who went on to say “It was never a hard decision for me, I knew in my heart that she was better equipped to be president.”

“There are some things that are acquired through experience,” explained Mauro, “his resume’s a little light, but so was Abe Lincoln’s. I am a great supporter of Barack Obama, but I don’t think he would’ve been a better president than Hillary Clinton. It’s a shame that she has all this talent that she won’t get to use.”

Talks between President-Elect Obama and Sen. Clinton about the possibility of Clinton becoming Secretary of State have surfaced in the news recently, but Mauro is unconvinced that accepting the offer would be in her best interest.

“The reality is Senator is an independent power, a cabinet officer works for the president, but if she became Secretary of State and created a synergy around Barack Obama with Bill Clinton, the kind of things she could get accomplished-”, mused Mauro, who believed such a partnership would relieve some of the “arrogance and stupidity perceived around the world” of America.

However, Mauro said, “Why would you make her secretary of state but not vice president?”

With the presidential election over and the press continuing to publish papers with headlines hypothesizing the impending doom of the global economy, Mauro expressed his frustration with the national news media.

“There’s no competition, no one is finding the story no one else has got,” said Mauro, “and the 24 hour news cycle has the press manufacturing stories out of nothing-I think they’ve aggravated the economic crisis. I bet the Dow would be 20 points higher,” if it weren’t for all the coverage.

The proposed automotive bailout for Detroit’s Big Three-General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford-was a more complicated issue for Mauro, who paused carefully before answering.

“If we force the Big Three into Chapter 11 they would be forced to reorganize and throw out pension plans, arbitrarily choose what part of the contracts you’re willing to maintain,” said Mauro, “I can’t decide whether that’s good or bad. I don’t know if America can stand that. It could signal everyone to walk away from pension plans and benefits. Pension plans are all we’ve got until we get public health care.”

Mauro was less hesitant to place blame for the failure of the industry.

“Their management teams stink,” he said of the automotive companies, “So are the leaders of the unions. When you let a 70 year old run things it ain’t gonna be as good as a 30 year old. They’ve done everything the wrong way and have had all the wrong incentives.”

Mauro published a memoir, Beaches, Bureaucrats & Big Oil: One Man’s Fight for Texas in 1997 and currently practices private law in Austin, Texas.

“I was here 44 years ago when my father was elected president,” said a radiant Luci Baines Johnson, the sound of her voice periodically muffled by the cheers from the crowd at the historic Driskell Hotel in Austin, Texas as they watched swing states cross, one by one, to the blue side of America.

“My father knew when he signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 that he would hand over the nation to Republicans for the next generation, but he said if that’s what it takes it’s worth it.”

The daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson wore an impeccable blue suit with a button on the lapel that read “America’s Next First Family” above a serene picture of Barack and Michelle Obama with their two young daughters.

“Tonight, his dreams are coming true. Tonight society has justice. Congratulations to all of us.”

The party, held by the Obama for America Campaign, began like an electric Super Bowl game-the massive crowd, almost impossible for one trying to get to the bar to navigate through, booed as the opposing team won the reliable Republican states.

The booing, however, was heard only occasionally.

As states that went red fours years ago swung over to Obama, the crowd, which could not be characterized by any race, age, gender or income demographic but did distinctly smell of sweat and alcohol, cheered so loudly that the $8.50 Blue State Martini glass in the hand of a young woman near the smokers’ balcony began to vibrate; its contents seemingly trembled with excitement.

Blue Austinites watched intently as several large screens displaying CNN and MSNBC revealed the decision made by each state, their eyes shining as Obama’s electoral college count took off and left John McCain far behind.

The exhilaration could not be dampened by the results from Texas which, as expected, flashed red on the screen displaying the CNN broadcast.

Right before 10 p.m. CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer finally conveyed the news they had been waiting for through a well fought election, an intense primary and eight years of what Obama referred to as “the failed policies” of President George W. Bush.

Though opinion polls had already placed the democratic candidate in the lead and depicted a McCain path to the White House as a strenuously steep climb, the reaction to the long awaited news was still truly memorable.

Cheers rang out to a pitch so loud it seemed to dissolve into silence and slow the passing of time, and in that moment there was only joy-strangers became family and embraced each other, grown men jumped up and down like jubilant children, a tall, elderly African-American woman stepped backward into a corner and wept-as the United States of America elected its first black president.

“I remember the 60’s,” said Katherine Taylor, a 56 year old computer software writer seated near the bar, “I remember the Kennedy assassination; I remember the riots in the streets.”

Her voice began to shake, but she let the emotion flow through without attempt to stop it, “It’s an exciting time to be alive; I’m so proud of him, I’m so proud to be an American.”

In the immediate months and years following this historic election, our attention will be fixed on the many issues that divided the country for so long-issues that need not be reiterated to any American who has felt the blow of this economic downturn, pumped gas, or sent their loved one away in uniform-all will be the subject of immediate scrutiny for both disappointed Republicans and astute Democrats.

However, beyond the actual performance of the man so many have trusted to redirect the country, we all can rejoice, Democrats and Republicans, at the progress the country has made since the struggles of LBJ, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and countless others only a few decades ago.

This is a night not only for black Americans, but for all America, despite the nasty, ignorant remarks that have already surfaced in these few hours after the election.

This is not the country of the Bush Doctrine, this is not the country of wealthy, campaign contributing lobbyists and this is not the country of intolerance, and though the energy was high and the opponent clear, hate and deeply negative feelings did not present themselves at the Driskell.

“I think he really loved his country,” said 50 year-old Tamara Miller about McCain, “but he thinks the only way we can get things done is through a war.”

“Our country has to make a change,” said retired Braniff Airways flight attendant Sally Lorenz, 75, “We can’t go on the way we are.”

The influence of the old, narrow-minded, backward thinking population could not be seen in the landslide victory of a black man who many thought did not stand a chance, who thought so little of the American people that the idea of the country electing such a man was ludicrous.

Obama said it best in the speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention that first brought him into the national arena, “There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.”

As if we didn’t have enough evidence that Bush has taken America back into the dark ages, Nicholas D. Kristof, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, wrote an interesting piece about U.S. foreign policy failure in Somalia. Though I had heard briefly about what went on, I am ashamed to admit the circus that is this ever-lasting presidential campaign has distracted me from following up on the story. Kristof manages to insert the Somalian tragedy in a story supposedly about Sen. John McCain’s recent endorsement by Al Qaeda, so that yet another article is written about the election.

During the past two years, has anyone heard anything about those two little wars we’re in? When did they stop being important? All I’ve been hearing is something about mavericks and Joe the Plumber and socialism…but I digress:

Read about the endorsement, the failed Somalian policy, and an analysis of America’s Islamophobia here–> The Endorsement from Hell - Nicholas D. Kristof

“Mr. Baker did they call your cab already?” asked co-owner and manager Regina Estrada of Joe’s Bakery and Coffee Shop on East 7^th Street in Austin, Texas, her voice loud enough to be heard over the robust lunch crowd by the elderly black man slowly walking with a cane to the exit.

Estrada, whose grandparents, Joe and Paula Avila, founded the bakery in 1962, quickly and gracefully slid out of the corner booth, put her hand on Mr. Baker’s shoulder and walked him to the door.

Giving personal attention to customers, especially to the elderly, is typical of Estrada, who attributes her personable demeanor as being based in Mexican American culture.

“To us, it’s not about getting bigger,” said Estrada, who graduated from Texas State University in 2002 with a business degree, “it’s about doing the best with what we have and taking care of family, employees, and customers and making people feel at home,” said Estrada.

27 years old with a generous serving of red lipstick and just an inch or two above five feet, Estrada hardly comes off as the shrewd businesswoman that she is.

“To get ahead in life, nothing is beneath you,” said Estrada, who believes when there’s a job to be done, whether it’s replenishing the bathrooms with fresh toilet paper or taking out the trash, there’s no hierarchy in the small, family-run restaurant.

Estrada, an efficient multi-tasker, seemed to respond to non-verbal cues from the wait staff that signaled her to put out various fires with customers or the kitchen; these mere glances frequently took her away from the corner booth, mid-sentence.

“My grandparents had an elementary school level education. They taught themselves,” said Estrada, who began working for her grandparents when she was a freshman in high school, “It wasn’t something I wanted to do when I was in college, but I realized the significance of the business…” she slid out of the booth again, mid-sentence, to answer the phone.

She slid back a few minutes later, picking up exactly where she left off, “the customer comes back to something like where they come from.”

The pastries and cuisine of Joe’s Bakery and Coffee Shop is distinctly Mexican American, as is the décor of brightly colored walls covered with family photos, including a few faded photos of a young Joe Avila during the Korean War placed beside new, autographed photos of Mack Brown and Darrell Royal.

Overlooking Mack, Darrell and the lunch rush hangs a gigantic portrait of the Virgin Mary.

The customers, who ranged in dress from business casual to torn T-shirts and jeans, seemed to know each other and frequently hopped from table to table to greet other patrons while an older, seemingly exhausted waitress wearing a T-shirt that read “You’ve tried the rest now have the best”, placed two glasses of water and a single straw on a table but was gone before the customer could ask for another for the man seated beside her.

“It’s hard to be perfect all the time,” said Estrada, mother of 11-month-old Izabella, “I try to remember that in my professional and personal life.”

Many patrons of Joe’s have suggested the business open another location, but Estrada is concerned about the future of the economy and the changing dynamics of East Austin.

“The way the economy is right now-paper goods are going up, the cost of corn is up-flour has risen dramatically. If things skyrocket, it’s not sensible to stay in business,” explains Estrada, visibly frustrated, “We can only pass so much on to customers.”

There have already been complaints.

Napkin dispensers are noticeably absent from the tables and the restaurant has begun charging customers for to-go cups of water, attributing the charge to the rising cost of paper goods and a 40 percent increase in utility costs; a large cup of water now costs $1 and a small cup costs 75 cents.

“We’ve had to tighten the reigns,” said Estrada. “We’ve had to increase the price of bakery items because of the cost of flour.”

As the economy takes the lead as the imminent concern among voters, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain both have emphasized the issue on the campaign trail, but Estrada was skeptical about the upcoming presidential election and if it would change the current small business environment.

“Quit talking, do what it is that you’re going to do,” said Estrada, whose husband, Felipe Estrada, works for Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, “My husband gets calls all day from people asking if their money is safe.”

Despite the new charges and slowing economy, Estrada has not noticed a drop in customers.

“Loyal clientele makes the difference,” she said, “Even when times are tough they still come to eat.”

Estrada was less optimistic about the “gentrification” of East Austin.

“It’s hard for families to accept changes in the neighborhood,” she said, “East Austin was the only place for the minorities.”

Estrada says the media doesn’t represent the effect on families who have been living in East Austin for decades.

“The news media puts their spin, they don’t realize how personal it is,” she said, “Every where you used to see an empty lot, now you see condos.”

Though she begrudgingly adjusts to the new look of the neighborhood, Estrada resisted blaming the new, higher income families that have moved in.

“What was neglected for so long, now people feel they’re being driven out of their homes,” she said, “How do you tell an old woman who was born in her house that she’ll have to leave because she can’t afford the property taxes?”

Whether one regards the new developments in East Austin with contempt or as a revival of the city-and pending the ominous outlook of the global economy- Regina Estrada at Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop seems to have the right formula for maintaining the longevity of this East Austin staple.

Even if they did run out of chicken today.

Though technology issues is a slight deviation from normal subject matter here at Unassocited-Press.com, my fiance over at ZenCollegeLife.com posted an article on keeping your computer clean that I’m sure will be of benefit to many.

Check it: Keep Your Computer Clean

Young Muslim American voters are an untapped reserve available to the presidential candidate who can appeal to them on important issues like healthcare, foreign policy and the economy, but many in this emerging voter demographic feel ignored and avoided by the presidential campaign.

Some, like University of Texas student Zignat Abdisubhan, claim the fault lies within the Muslim community. “We don’t have a large lobbying group,” she said, “If we say something the ball doesn’t get rolling.”

Aasiyah Baig, a senior in high school and first-time voter, agreed, “I don’t think we have a big presence when it comes down to voting and things like that. Not many Muslims go out and vote. It’s not the government’s fault.”

Others claim that the silent treatment stems from negative public opinion about their faith.

“It’s almost a hindrance if, like, the Muslim community supports a candidate,” said Sabina Mohammed, who gets her political information online at CNN.com.

Many young Muslims at Nueces Mosque last Friday plan to vote for Sen. Obama, but worry a vocal endorsement for the Democratic presidential candidate could become loaded gun for Republican campaigners who might twist their support into somehow allying him with terrorists.

“Becoming Muslim is such a bad thing now, everyone tries to avoid anything that has to do with Islam,” said Sonia Qureshia, who is also a student at the University of Texas.

For this reason, many chose to keep their political affiliations quiet. One young woman, whose family is originally from Kenya, asked that her name not be printed after stating that she admired Sen. Obama for “the way he portrayed change.”

The apprehension at Nueces Mosque was echoed by young Muslim Americans in South Houston at the Abu-Bakr Siddque Mosque who gathered Saturday for the evening prayer. “At first I was offended when he [Sen. Obama] so strongly denounced that he was Muslim,” said Baig, “Now I kind of see how you have to do that when it seems like the majority of the population hates Muslims.”

A battle over young Muslim votes, even if unpublicized, would have to answer their entreaty for a change in foreign policy.

“How they handle the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan is of course a big issue,” said Moska Noor, a UT student who plans to vote for Sen. Barack Obama in November.

Noor’s family originated from Afghanistan and was active in Afghani politics, but that action didn’t translate into political involvement in America.

“With my family it’s more of a fear of getting involved,” she said, “They’ll talk about politics but they won’t vote.”

There were many at Nueces Mosque and Abu-Bakr Siddique who faced similar situations of politically inactive family members. “My mom will vote if I make her go vote,” said Abdisubhan, “but my dad always votes.”

Though most of the young people interviewed claimed they are concerned with who will have a better foreign policy, they don’t feel the decisions they make are linked to their religious beliefs or that they should be unanimous in their choice for president like their conservative Christian counterparts, who seem to vote in a more unified fashion.

“In general I think we are united, but I don’t think we really need to be,” explained Qureshia, who believes that politics and religion should be separate entities.

“I think people should vote on what they think is right,” said Abdisubhan, “There are certain things that don’t concern the religion at all and then you need to decide based on what you believe and what you learned growing up. I vote by issue, it just happens that I lean toward Democrats.”

Though many young Muslim voters plan to vote for Sen. Obama, they claimed that his time in Indonesia as a child with Muslim step-father, Lolo Soetoro, does not play a role in their decision. A few even claimed that it affected him negatively.

“He’ll say he’s pro-Jew but he’ll never say he’s pro-Muslim,” said Noor, who believes Obama especially avoids Muslim voters because of the allegations that he is secretly Muslim.

In the end, most Muslims voters at the mosque were more concerned about Sen. John McCain, citing his advanced age, stance on the war, and vice presidential pick as reasons for their lack of support.

Baig, a former Clinton supporter, said, “Honestly, Sarah Palin was a bad choice, but I think Biden was a really good decision because he counteracts Obama being so young.”

“Sarah Palin isn’t qualified to lead the country at all,” said Noor, “who knows when McCain is gonna die! He’ll probably get elected and the next day have a heart attack.”

Maureen Dowd, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, became a columnist on The New York Times Op-Ed page in 1995. In her piece for the Sept. 10 issue, she cuts into Republican vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin.

Palin, now both affectionately and smugly known as “Trophy Vice”, is currently under scrutiny for having little political experience and no national political experience. The moral conservative and pro-life activist is also being attacked for having a pregnant, unwed 17-year-old daughter.

Dowd, in her typical witty, irreverent style, brings up some important questions regarding the new it-girl in town.

My Fair Veep - Maureen Dowd

In Japan a cafe that exists to provide sweets, tea, and royal treatment is attracting customers and recruiting white, western males as servers. In an attempt to escape the largely unromantic culture provided to them by Japanese men, Asian women are seeking out the comforts and indulgence characteristic of western men. Being a westerner myself I’m wondering why I haven’t seen more of these men, but I applaud the idea even if it is based on an untrue stereotype.

Watch the video here: Asian Women Seek White Men

During my senior year of high school and freshman year of college, I managed to pack on about 50 pounds. Lack of exercise and poor diet–very poor diet actually, one really shouldn’t have queso and chips with every meal–caused my gut to expand like it was on a mission to take over the world. I knew I needed to do something about it when I couldn’t fit into the largest size at my favorite store (Express only carries pants up to size 12, and my thighs were not cooperating with a size 12 anymore), but sticking to an exercise and diet regimine is truly a complete lifestyle change that doesn’t happen overnight. It took years for me to develop the horrid eating habits that led me to a whopping 191 pounds on my medium 5′8” frame. I was a mere four pounds away from having a BMI of 30 and being clinically obese, so to turn my life around was going to take continued effort and sustained motivation.

One person who really helped in the beginning stages of my weight loss was a friend of mine who was a health food junkie and exercise enthusiast. Before I decided to lose the weight, I thought she spent too much time counting calories and jogging, but when my relationship with my boyfriend of 3 years began to suffer because of my lack of self-confidence, I knew she had the right idea about getting fit and staying fit. Brittany was my height and about my build, but was slender and athletic. Seeing what someone of my body type could look like helped me visualize my goal, and having her around when we went out to eat with friends helped remind me to make the right decisions when placing my order (which had previously been difficult because my boyfriend’s choices–his favorites are burgers, hot dogs, and pizza–had heavily influenced my eating habits). Having a diet buddy was probably the number one reason for my success because it turned the knowledge of how one should eat into real, tangible changes in my day to day routine. My new lifestyle has helped me to lose almost 40 pounds in one year.

The importance of social support and interaction when trying to instill diet and lifestyle change has been supported by the scientific community. Ethel Frese, a professor of physical therapy at Saint Louis University and board certified cardiovascular and pulmonary specialist said,”The nice thing about doing a group activity is that you get the social interaction, which is also part of general health”. This knowledge has led to the development of old school P.E. programs for adults, complete with dodgeball and someone blowing a whistle on a lanyard. These programs, like the one in Newport, New Hampshire, could make a real difference for adults who find it hard to remain entertained while peddling away on a bike or running on a treadmill. If you’re having trouble staying fit as you get older and don’t have your own designated diet and exercise buddy, try starting an adult P.E. program near you. Something tells me you’re not the only one in town who can’t stand the elliptical machine. Playing games like red rover and freeze tag while socializing with others might help you forget that you’re actually exercising and help you achieve lasting success.

Read more about the adult P.E. programs at \”Adults rush to play dodgeball, duck-duck-goose\”

I saw it at work, so I didn’t have the volume on. I have no idea what it sounds like, but I still loved it enough to share with you.

Enjoy!———> Where the Hell is Matt?