Atlanta Politics Online

Wow

2010-05-21T12:06:00.001-07:00

Finally some time after all these months. After my major sucesses in healthcare and the economy, I have some time for my favorite thing- posting to this blog.

Cheating on CRCT absolutely rampant!

2010-02-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

This article provides a list of all the schools that were flagged because more than 25% of classrooms had answer sheets with wrong-to-right changes in excess of three standard deviations above the norm. Forty-three Atlanta Public Schools are on the list.

Exceeding three standard deviations is expected to happen only in 0.15% of the cases, so the state has clearly set an extremely conservative rule in order to avoid unfairly tainting any school's reputation. The odds of hitting this rule without there being cheating in at least some of that 25% of classrooms is literally infinitesimal (so small as to be unmeasurable).

And even more astounding, there are schools on the list where 80%+ of classrooms exceeded this amount. ALL FOUR of these were within the Atlanta Public Schools system.

* Frank L Stanton Elementary, 83.30%

* Peyton Forest Elementary, 86.10%

* Gideons Elementary, 88.40%

* Parks Middle, 89.50%

With school rates this insanely high it strains credibility that these were individual teachers acting alone, and with 58% of all elementary schools in Atlanta Public Schools implicated it strains credibility that these were individual principals acting alone. Numbers like this can only point to the top of the system's administration. Either the superintendent Beverly Hall was in on it or she is a blithering idiot of monumental proportions. Either way, she has to go. Now!

The Irresistible Force

2009-11-14T09:17:00.001-08:00

Watching the latest attempt of the liberal juggernaut to pass socialized medicine made me think about both the inexorable march this country has been taking to the left since the Progressive era of 1900-1920 and the ending point of that vision that is Western Europe today.

Liberals always think that they know what's best for us, so they will never give up their relentless push to take over more and more of our lives. No part of the liberal vision that becomes law is ever rolled back.

The Federal Reserve, the income tax, and the direct election of senators were horrible ideas in 1913, but they became law, and nearly a century later they are a permanent part of our political landscape.

The New Deal was a horrible idea in the 1930s, but it became law, and 70 years later most of its components are still with us.

The Great Society was a horrible idea in the 1960s, but it became law, and 40 years later all of its components (and many many more) are still with us.

And on it goes. One can sympathize with William F. Buckley's desire to "stand athwart history, yelling stop." And here we (conservatives) are again, at another crossroad, probably an even more important one than the three big liberal pushes of the 20th century. We must be the immovable object to counter the liberal irresistible force. We must not under any circumstances compromise, thinking that a slight retreat will prevent a rout. All this will do is embolden liberals to take what we offer and begin plotting how to take more. Health reform must not pass, with our without a public option.

Is Obama's Acceptance of the Nobel Constitutional?

2009-10-14T18:58:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, I'm a little late on this, because, well, I've been a bit busy lately with life and it's curveballs.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tell me, Mr. President, Mr. Constitutional Scholar, Sir, is there a precedent on a sitting president's acceptance of awards from foreign interests?

J.P. Feire of the Washington Examiner thinks so...

It looks like the Times editorial page is endorsing the very definition of foreign meddling in domestic affairs. Foreigners validating and then rewarding certain approaches while repudiating others is not appropriate, regardless of whether it's coming from six nations or six Norwegians.

So what is the propriety of a sitting wartime president accepting an award from a foreign committee that is merely an expression of repudiation for the behavior of his predecessor? It is especially concerning because undoubtedly, Obama's partisans will use the credential to grant him greater legitimacy in foreign policy among his own people.

That's an open question. But our democratic system already provides an outlet for such a repudiation, and it is the only kind that matters because it is the will of the American people. All others should be given the Giuliani treatment: Thanks, but no thanks.

This strikes at the heart of what I posted on Friday. The purpose of the discussion of the emoluments clause was to look at the constitutionality of Obama's acceptance of the prize. Even Teddy Roosevelt made it clear there was a discomfort with the legitimating power of the Nobel committee; Roosevelt refused to accept the prize until his term was up, and even then, he jumped through hoops to work with Congress to determine the use of the prize money.

Indeed, taking out your handy little pocket Constitution from The Heritage Foundation (get your free copy here), we read in Article I, Section 9,

"No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

Eugene, founder of the Volokh Conspiracy and a real lawyer (he doesn't just play one on TV) muddies the waters further, like any good lawyer will do. Just read it as a whole - it's difficult to excerpt without losing the intent of the entire argument. He poses some excellent questions.

Of course, we all know that Obama immediately accepted the award, gushing with false humility. His ego wouldn't have allowed otherwise, regardless of any question of constitutionality, propriety, or just good-ol'-American-common-sense. Did the Nobel committee have a vision of future and thus hastened the prize, while they still could?

...this is a preemptive prize, because the Committee looked ahead to the insane nuclear winter and global Muslim/non-Muslim war Obama’s fecklessness is bringing into being and they knew: he makes a desert, and calls it peace. Since the Committee can confidently expect that, once Obama does what he does best, there will be no more prizes, now was the time for a preemptive award.

One unanticipated accomplishment was the uniting of the blogosphere altogether. To date, never has the world heard such a collective cyber-"huh?!?" Making history, anyway he can.

While Obama is Obama's favorite subject, it is too bad he won't talk about other things...you know things that effect our nation, our security, our sovereignty, our economy, our future. Why attack a network or a radio personality when he should be looking at rogue nations that are planning to attack US. Here. Soon. That is so unpresidential. He could stop so much with just a word, or a caution. But he chooses not to, and therein is the rub. He quietly stokes the destruction.

“Prove that you did not do what I said you did,” is not journalism. It is, frankly, the tactic of the schoolyard bully and the fascist. They are often one and the same. And they’ve learned that once a headline is “out there” retractions and corrections don’t much matter, to the narrative.

Camille Paglia (Salon) notes that Obama's trusted circle of advisors are, well, shall we say small-minded?

Obama is approaching a turning point which will define his political future, if he has one. He is surrounded by some mighty small potatoes who need shoveling into the dumpster. The petty provincials need to go, and far more sophisticated and world-savvy analysts must urgently be brought on board.

and that the Nobel timing is just awful for him, personally:

It's true he has accomplished nothing thus far and did not remotely deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, a gift carrying a terrible curse. The Nobel should have been the crown of Obama's career and not the butt of jokes.

But the Office is not supposed to be about the Man, is it? Has anyone told Obama that yet?

Pull out that handy little pocket Constitution again and look at Article II, Section 1, that last paragraph.

"Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: - 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'"

That last part isn't working out so well, either.

Cross-posted at Obi's Sister.

Night of the Killer Peachtrees

2009-10-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

Peachtree Street
West Peachtree Street
Peachtree Road
Peachtree Dunwoody Road
Peachtree Industrial Boulevard
Peachtree Lane
West Peachtree Place
Peachtree Center
Peachtree Center Avenue
Peachtree Walk (?)
Peachtree Parkway

I'm sorry, but this has gone too far, too too far. I know we're all addicted to peaches, you may have even married one, but this has GOT to stop. We passed the cliffs of criminal insanity and deadly peach addiction approximately 1500 miles back and something's gotta give.

So, let's change some of the names.

For starters, there should not be three Peachtrees on the same block (Peachtree Lane to the North, West Peachtree Street to the West and Peachtree Road to the East) so let's change the name of West Peachtree Street to Heisman Bouleveard, to honor John Heisman, one of the most important figures in Modern Football and Athletics in general, and a great Atlantan who coached Tech for years. Peachtree Lane should be changed to Station Street or Midtown Center, as the MARTA Midtown station is right there from the sidewalk. Peachtree Walk can be changed to Scarlett Street, as it is close to both the Margaret Mitchell House and the Federal Reserve Bank Branch.

Oh, and one more thing, why do we have a street called "Boulevard?" Why not call it Robert E. Lee Boulevard in honor of Atlanta's Civil War and Southern History? Bring some soul back in to this city before all them PC people suck it right out.

I am blaming all of this on Jimmy Carter.

Congratulations APS!

2009-10-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

Apparently, even with monster traffic, sky high crime rates, no adequate provision for floodweather, and a smog problem, Atlanta can actually do something right!

The National School Boards Association CUBE Committee selected Atlanta as this years' urban district of the year, according to the AJC this weekend. Justification, according to CUBE: "Atlanta Public Schools has been singled out for commitment to adapting to its needs by creating a strong governance structure, consistent leadership, and dedication to improving student achievement system-wide." (CUBE Finalists Press Release, pdf, dated August 11th) In other words, we're stubborn as an ox! The data considered includes "[five years] test scores, AYP status, drop out rates, minority college attendees, AP class demographics, and any other data that you feel would provide the judges an insight on how your district is successful." (CUBE Award FAQ) For those not in the know, AYP is a measure of how well your school district is complying with the federal guidelines in the No Child Left Behind Act - not a perfect act, but there's something genuinely wrong if you can't comply with it. (Not to say you're good if you can...hohohooo.)

Interestingly, all of the finalists and most of the honorable mentions were Southern schools, in Fort Lauderdale, Raleigh (hm), and Baltimore (hm.)

Of course, something not mentioned in this report is the wonderful involvement of Georgia Tech in the community, sponsoring Math contests, field trips, tours of every kind, Science Olympiad, school sporting events and open gyms, and minority education and volunteer tutoring throughout Bankhead and beyond. Why, almost every weekend you see a group of some school in the area coming to our college for some kind of field trip!

The Sad New Criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sit for 20 years in the pew of a church with a pastor that says "God Damn America" and deny you never knew about his dangerous and subversive hate speech.

Ignore the man you picked to lead a "war of necessity" and endlessly debate whether to unleash a surge of troops or pull out, while the troops who volunteered to defend your way of life die.

Release 78 terrorists from Gitmo, where they couldn't hurt anyone, into the wild so they can turn around and plot evil schemes to kill you and the people you purport to lead.

Give millions to known terrorist organizations, like Hamas.

Go to the U.N. and call for a new world order that ignores nation sovereignty.

Refuse to salute the flag, on stage, in public.

Stop wearing an American flag lapel pin because it has become a "substitute for true" patriotism.

Bow to a muzzie king whose country has secretly funded global jihadist anti-American terrorism for decades.

Sit silent while a murdering Marxist dictator lambastes the United States for nearly an hour.

Stick your head so far up the rear-ends of two other murdering Marxist dictators, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, you taste their food before they do.

Start disarming your country's nuclear stockpile and stop missile defense plans while turning your back against a rogue nation that murders its own protesting citizens and denies the Holocaust and threatens to wipe your ally off the face of the map and tells lies that their uranium enrichment program is only for purposes of nuclear power.

Say your country has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive toward its allies, then turn around and show arrogance and be dismissive, even derisive toward its allies.

Cross-posted at Feed Your ADHD.

Follow up: Violence Begets Violence

2009-10-08T13:43:00.000-07:00

This is just a short follow-up to the Violence Begets Violence posting from the other day. This is the most recent incident in Atlanta.

WSB-TV reported that a Marietta abortion doctor punched a woman in the face in front of her three children in an incident of road rage.

Daniel McBrayer works as an abortionist at a mill in Marietta. This abortion mill is the focus of counseling and praying during the 40 Days for Life in Atlanta until November 1st. Keep up the prayers. Something is getting to this man. . .

The New Malaise

2009-10-07T02:46:00.000-07:00

Obama's aura is no longer adored.

He's become a ghoulish specter, an incarnation of dread that haunts our prospects for progress, infects our anxiety when we balance our checkbooks, clouds our ideal of the future.

After 9 months in office, all he's accomplished is pain ... or ... as my friend Amusing Bunni commented at my blog the other day ... he's "destroyed the economy, sucked up to our terrorist enemies, demoralized the CIA and the military, sent us marching towards Marxism faster than shit through a goose."

He's not the anti-Christ, as some have posited.

He's the antithesis of everything that America stands for: freedom, rugged individualism, (genuine) optimism, truth, compassion, and the unquenchable pursuit of liberty.

His spray-on luster has worn off to reveal at the core what he really is: the quintessential anti-American.

And even liberals don't want to say his name:

Interestingly, there's this eerie silence about Obama. You don't hear a peep about him. Of course, liberals are still foaming at the mouth about Sarah Palin, tea baggers, birthers, and all things conservative.

But adulation for Obama: Missing in Action. A telling sign: the life-sized black and white cardboard doll of Obama in a storefront near my office has been taken down. Where did it go -- to the local recycling center with other discarded Obamabilia?

Jimmy Carter must be breathing quite a few sighs of relief, in between shucking peanuts with his two front teeth down in Plains, Georgia (where, incidentally, the Cracker Barrel serves food that makes shoe leather taste appealing -- coincidence of proximity to extreme awfulness, perhaps?):

In a few years, we'll forget all about his malaise and recognize a new Democrat as the worst president in modern times, perhaps the worst president of all times.

In that case, at least one American will have realized the promise of hope and change.

Cross-posted at Feed Your ADHD.

Delta Airlines - and ATL on a Leash

2009-10-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

Photo Courtesy of Torsten Henning, public domain

Delta was threatening to leave Atlanta-Hartsfield over a disagreement on paying for a new terminal. Front page news yesterday was them finally making a deal. I also checked Delta's webpage, and it seems both ATL and DAL are very happy with the deal so far, or so they say. My guess is ATL probably has its' tail between its legs and a large red sore spot on the rump, but they still have a smile on their face.

Atlanta-Hartsfield is responsible for over "20 billion dollars annual impact" according to the DAL Newsroom - or approximately $4,000 for every man, woman, and child in Greater Atlanta. As Delta effectively owns half of Atlanta-Hartsfields Terminal space, and has Atlanta as its most important hub and corporate headquarters, Delta is heavilly connected to that $4,000. At a time when every one of ole' ATL's pillars is failing below it, from finances to media to Lockheed Martin, that $4000 has become more important then ever before. Unemploymet is now over 10%, and despite vast areas of unused brownfield in the city, especially near Oakland City and East Point MARTA stations and in Bankhead east of Tech, Atlanta continues to fail at attracting heavy industry. With no other possible expansion points in sight, the Airport has become a critical economic stabilizer, perhaps even an opiate, fool's gold telling us we're okay when we're not.

I've said it many times and I'll say it again, we are obviously suffering from taxes, regulation, and inefficient infrastructure, especially in transportation and water supply. Why else would half of Bankhead, in the core of the city and near major freeways, be deserted? Why else would a relatively well-educated labor force find no employment, despite low labor and living costs? And why else would a major rail hub with low land costs fail to find industry? And when we do "develop," it only serves to push out the locals, creating yet more despair and more crime somewhere else! And sometimes we can't even find tenants - we are clearly subsidizing, by one means or another, development that we don't need. Folks, you don't get land valued lower then Idaho Falls in a metro area of 5.3 million by making smart decisions!

So instead of cowtowing to Delta Airlines and depending on one industry for our cities future, let's actually diversify for once.

Setting the Record Straight: Violence Begets Violence

2009-10-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

I would like to set the record straight. Violence begets violence. When James Pouillon was shot multiple times and killed on September 11^th while he was protesting abortion outside Owosso High School in Michigan, it became clear that 36 years of abortion – an extreme form of violence against the babies in the womb – was responsible for his death.

Let me explain. The Catholic bishops in the U.S. noted in 2001 (Pastoral Plan for Pro-life Activities) that legalized abortion has made ours “a society increasingly coarsened by toleration and acceptance of acts that purposely destroy human life.” They continue. “A society which destroys human life by abortion under the mantle of law unavoidably undermines respect for life in all other contexts.” Unfettered abortion has paved the road for more violence.

Pro-life demonstrators have been verbally and physically harassed. They have received death threats. But Mr. Pouillon’s death is the first publicized murder. It is reprehensible as are the deaths of 3,500 babies per day; 90 of them in Georgia.

The Fruits of Abortion

The fruits of the culture of death are a callous disregard for the sanctity of life and the insane promotion of death with lies, distortions, and hate-filled propaganda. Don’t believe it? “Pro-choice” rhetoric has had an effect on our youth culture. Here is a smattering of comments that appeared the day of Mr. Pouillon’s murder. These appeared on NBC 25 Mid-Michigan News:

One way to stop these nuts.
I’m glad this kook is gone.
Just consider it a retroactive abortion on another right-wing whack job. No great loss.
He hurt the pro-life cause [with his signs] and I’m glad he is gone.

These are just a few of the milder comments of some anti-life Americans about this murdered man. We can be sure that the vicious spirit of the culture of death is running deep in our country.

Setting the Record Straight

Abortionists and their supporters are desensitized as they are exposed to so much death. It seems inevitable that they would become more violent outside the abortion mills, too. Detailed documentation shows that pro-abortionists have murdered 1,306 people since 1966. Ninety-two (92) percent of their victims have been women and children. Pro-abortionists have raped, tortured, beaten, strangled, poisoned, stabbed, burned, murdered, and even buried alive pregnant women (many in their last trimester) because they have refused to have abortions.

Pro-lifers have been attacked with guns, cars, acid, hypodermic syringes and baseball bats. Incredibly, no pro-abortion group has ever denounced this kind of violence. In fact, they have applauded and supported these actions. (For more information, see www.abortionviolence.com)

We cannot deny that a handful of individuals, always acting alone, have committed terrible violence in their attempts to stop the wholesale killing that has been abortion in our country. God’s commandment does not say “Thou shall not kill except for abortionists.” And, we are right to quickly condemn such violence. However, you might be surprised to learn that more than a dozen abortionists have been convicted of murder and manslaughter of their wives, their patients, and even other abortionists and the “pro-choicers” never denounce these killings and you never hear about them in the press.

What should we do? Can we do anything? Well, we can fast and pray for an end to all violence. We can stay informed and the next time a person shows you a list of “anti-choice” violence and demands that you apologize for it, tell him (or her) that the apology must be mutual. You will apologize for violence that you were not involved in, if he (she) also apologizes. And we have to end the violence of abortion.

Everyone’s life depends upon it!

A States Rights argument against Federal Aid for Fulton County

2009-09-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Now that the flood waters have lowered a bit, I wanted to take a few minutes on this quiet Sunday evening to make the case that Fulton County NOT get aid from the federal government.

While I understand that many are suffering because of recent events, and they certainly should be helped, it is my personal belief that only the State of Georgia, along with any private charities, should be responsible for helping them through this crisis.

The whole point of a monetary system is to assign value to certain items, places, people, services. The whole point is the correct distribution of assets. It should not surprise anyone that there are certain parts of the country where you would not be flooded even if it did rain like that and it probably wouldn't anyways - my childhood home of Seattle, WA immediately comes to mind. In the Seattle Area, there are very strict regulations that prohibit you from building on flood plains. As a result, only a handful of communities built before these regulations were in effect ever get flooded to begin with. What's even better, the floodprone areas are reserved for farming, keeping local agriculture close to the city center and allowing for easy expansion of railways and classification yards if made necessary by industrial growth.

In addition, as Fargo, North Dakota demonstrated earlier this year, the elbow grease and hardwork of the townspeople, or local government, can be a far more powerful protector and rebuilder then anything that dispassionoate, hardhearted FEMA could ever muster. They saved their town completely, the floodwaters never breached their sandbags.

If Georgia is not willing to regulate its' building, it should either pay the cost of repair work and humanitarian aid like a gentleman, pursue the grace of voluntary donors, or improve the land to handle future flooding, while also picking up its' current bill. Preferably, it should do all three.

When states pay for their own disasters, the natural disadvantages of living in that state are fairly, justly, and correctly measured against the citizens, driving out business to safer states and places, and making states responsible for their own maintenance. What's even better, as states are more responsible for their own maintenance, federal government will have both less mandate and less ability to interfere in their governance. States Rights and States Responsibilities go hand and hand.

Fake video storms web

2009-09-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

First- here's the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8CNa_viKg0

This is video is fake. First off, the uniforms these men are wearing were phased out. Secondly, their boots are "unbloused". Their pants bottoms should be folded up and and held in place by a small elastic band, or should be bloused with the build in draw strings if the elastic bands are unavailable. Secondly, there are no patches on the men's uniforms. If they are Army there should be patches. Thirdly, the drive has his sleeves rolled up like a U.S. Marine, while another rolled his sleeves up as if he was in the army. The third guy doesn't even have his sleeves rolled up.

This film is a preposterous sham- please spread the word.

Interview with Dr. Yaron Brook

2009-09-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was pretty lucky in getting a few moments of Yaron Brook's time. As many of our readers know, Dr. Brook is the President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute. Dr. Brook was kind enough to answer our questions on objectivism, foreign policy and economics.

George Dienhart: My understanding of Objectivism is that reality exists independent of consciousness and that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure capitalism. Today, America seems headed into the opposite direction. No respect for individual rights and a collective mediocrity seems to be what many on the left are pushing as the new American dream. What dangers lurk for the future of America if we continue down this path?

Dr. Yaron Brook If we keep heading down this path, the ultimate result economic collapse and some form of dictatorship. The more important question is: Why are we on this path? What explains today's political trend--and how do we reverse it? That's part of what Ayn Rand addresses in her novel Atlas Shrugged.

In essence, Rand argues that the reason capitalism is under attack is because it has lacked a moral defense. Capitalism is based on the profit-motive and self-interest, and yet our culture views these things as destructive and immoral. The result is the clamor for ever-more wealth redistribution and ever-more regulations and controls.

Atlas Shrugged challenges us to rethink our entire conception of morality. It presents the view that, properly understood, self-interest and the profit-motive are morally noble. In Ayn Rand's view, selfishness doesn't mean doing whatever one feels like--it doesn't mean lying, cheating, and stealing. It means pursuing one's rational self-interest: it means living a rational, productive life and dealing with each other through voluntary trade to mutual advantage.

The reason capitalism is good is because it's the only system that fully protects self-interest and the profit-motive. That's the message Americans need to hear if we are to reverse today's anti-freedom trend.

So while it's true that, as the question notes, the left is pushing greater government intervention into the economy, the conservatives deserve their share of the blame for failing to defend capitalism. Indeed, some of the worst anti-capitalist policies and regulations now in effect were advocated by conservatives--from the prescription drug Medicare expansion to Sarbanes-Oxley. The conservatives are opposed to self-interest, and so they cannot defend capitalism.

George Dienhart: I agree, the right should have done a better job while we were in power. You mentioned defending capitalism- what about defending the nation?. Where does the notion "preemptive" war fit into Ayn Rand's philosophy? Generally, based on what I have read to understand Ayn Rand's role of reason, Objectivists hold that the initiation of physical force against the will of another is immoral, as are indirect initiations of force through threats, fraud, or breach of contract. The use of defensive or retaliatory force, on the other hand, is appropriate. To me the war, though preemptive, was defensive. Was Iraq in your viewpoint a defensive war?

Dr. Yaron Brook: Iraq could have been a proper war of self-defense--if it had been part of a larger effort to crush the jihadists. Iraq was something of a threat, and, more broadly, a free nation has the right to invade any dictatorship. A dictatorship has nor rights, no claim to sovereignty. But, as it was executed, the Iraq war was not in our interest. This is for two reasons.

First, it is absurd that in a fight against Islamic totalitarianism, we would target the secular Iraqi regime, and leave the theocrats in Iran unmolested. Iran was and is a much greater threat to the U.S. and is the moral inspiration of the jihadist movement.

Second, the goal of the Iraq war was perverse. The goal of the Iraq war was not American self-defense--it was, in the words of President Bush, to "sacrifice for the liberty of strangers." As a result, our troops were prevented from crushing the enemy. Indeed, the welfare of Iraqi civilians was often considered a higher priority than the welfare of our troops. (For more on this, see Winning The Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism, edited by ARC's Elan Journo.)

George Dienhart: Leftists would say that the money spent on the war would be best spent building schools and nation- building. This seems to be in total opposition to what you are saying- "Don't crush our enemies, make our enemies into friends". They would spend money that could be used to defend our troops on PR campaigns to show our enemies that "America is not so bad". In your opinion, would this work?

Dr. Yaron Brook: There are many mistaken assumptions in the question. In regard to our national security, we don't need to teach our enemies that America is "not so bad." They don't need to like us--they need to fear threatening us. You can't accomplish that by mending fences and building schools.

The crucial issue is that the government's responsibility is to defend us from foreign threats--not to engage in "nation-building." As I discuss in my article (written with Elan Journo), The "Forward Strategy" for Failure, the only time rebuilding an enemy nation can possibly be legitimate is after the enemy has been defeated. Once they have been thoroughly crushed and demoralized, and realize that they're goal is hopeless, then it may be advantageous to help them rebuild, as we helped Japan rebuild after World War II. Before then, it's suicidal.

Let me add, it's unfair to pin this view exclusively on the left. The right believes the same thing. We went to Iraq, not to crush the enemy, but to spread democracy. In Afghanistan, our soldiers are being used, not only to fight, but to build schools, playgrounds, and sewers. Recall that it was President Bush who saw to it that we dropped food packages on the Afghanis at the same time we were dropping bombs.

The fact is, none of our political leaders support American self-defense.

George Dienhart: Many of our enemies are in the Middle East. Where does Israel fit in here? Should the US spend more or less on defending what many see as our closest ally in the Middle East?

Dr. Yaron Brook: Israel deserves America's support. Whatever its flaws and inconsistencies, Israel is a rights-protecting regime, and therefore has a moral right to exist. Its enemies--the same enemies we face in our fight against Islamic totalitarianism--have forfeited that right. The primary thing the United States has to do with regards to Israel, however, is simply to stop pressuring it to appease the Palestinians and allow it to defend itself.

George Dienhart: Let's move on to the financial crisis. What has American business forgotten in regards to Ayn Rand's works? What would be most helpful to remember today to get us out of this financial crisis?

Dr. Yaron Brook: This issue is not so much what business has forgotten, but what few have recognized and appreciated. Ayn Rand's novels can be read on many levels. Some businessmen I've talked to read the book and see Rand's depictions of productive heroes, her depiction of business as a heroic undertaking, and it inspires them. And they also see her depiction of how government controls and regulations strangle the productive geniuses, and it helps them see that freedom is crucial for economic growth.

But the message of Atlas is much deeper. One of the key messages of Atlas Shrugged is for people--and businessmen in particular--to stop sanctioning their own destroyers. Every time a businessman talks about "giving back to the community," as if by producing goods people want he was taking something away from it--every time a businessman apologizes for his wealth--every time a businessman gives money to a university that churns out anti-business, anti-capitalist propaganda, he is acting for his own destruction.

Above all, however, Ayn Rand's works offer businessmen--and everyone else--an enormous positive: a new, rational view of morality. A view that upholds the virtue of productiveness, of integrity, of pride--a morality that tells the individual to place nothing higher than the rational pursuit of his own well-being and happiness. For those interested in learning more about her views, I encourage them to read her books, The Virtue of Selfishness, and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.

George Dienhart: Regardless of what the administration says, most Americans believe we are still in recession. If the current administration called today and asked for advice, what would you say?

Dr. Yaron Brook: To quote one of the heroes of Atlas Shrugged, "Get out of the way." That is, deregulate, decontrol, slash spending, cut taxes--begin the process of freeing up the economy. Ultimately, the answer is to establish a free society. Indeed, we just launched a new website, Principles of a Free Society, that describes in specific terms what the solution is.

George Dienhart: Interesting, essentially, the institute is advocating the free market ideals that conservatives are supposed to support. What if the Bush administration had asked for advice, what would you have said.

Dr. Yaron Brook: Same answer as before. What's necessary to change this country is a radical departure from the current administration, the previous administration, or any Republican or Democrat who could conceivable get elected in the near future. What's needed is not, fundamentally, political change, but cultural change. What needs to change are the anti-individualism, anti-freedom ideas that dominate the culture. That kind of change doesn't start at the political level--it starts at the educational level.

Yaron Brook regularly appears across the country. To find upcoming events, including panels, with Dr Brook and other intellectuals at the Institute, please visit the Ayn Rand Center's website, www.aynrandcenter.org.

Taliban Blind Dates

2009-09-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

Not sure where this came from- it was an anonymous email.

Batten Down The Hatches

2009-09-21T04:59:00.000-07:00

We've gotten a minimum of 12" of rain since Thursday at our home in Northeast Douglas County. Today our schools are closed and part of I-20 is closed (westbound, past Post Rd.). We've not ventured out to see what other roads are closed as well.

The lightening and thunder has finally settled down - after an almost non-stop light show beginning around 6 p.m. last night.

The entirely too perky Weather Channel girl ominously warned the next batch of storms tracking from Alabama will dump up to 3" today and have WINDS up to 40 m.p.h. Marveeee - as if my basement flooding isn't bad enough, we may have a tree or two down by suppertime.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the rain. You can stop now. The drought is way over on the westside.

P.S. Anybody got an Ark they want to unload, cheap?

Poppin' Pills

2009-09-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Ross Koepke, University of Indiana, public domain

I read in the AJC today that several Georgia pharmacies, including KMART, CVS, and WalMart, have been handing out the wrong perscriptions to people, resulting in a school bus DUI (Gwen Dalley, Loganville), heart problems (unnamed 27-year-old, Cartersville), annoying nausea and neurological misfunction (Allie Fenell, Piedmont Park), and excessive antibiotic use (Canton). Lastly, these have resulted in almost no regulatory effort. Many of the "citations" are delivered privately as letters of concern that the public cannot see.

Before anything else, it might be wise to try a free-market solution. A public Wall of Shame, posted in a prominent place in the city and also on the internet, listing every pharmacy and the total number of registered mistakes found, to discourage shopping at poor quality pharmacies. If we wanted to be really kind, we might post several columns with descriptions of each kind of mistake (handing out wrong perscription, filling wrong perscription to correctly labelled container, improper details on otherwise correct label, et cetera). In any case, a shops direct sales or prices would be directly affected by their performance on our board of shame.

In addition to the board of shame, we would encourage those who received bad perscriptions to call regulators before calling the pharmacy, so that correct process and lawful reporting can be properly handled.

This paragraph is hillarious:

"Some studies indicate that about 3 percent of the prescriptions dispensed by pharmacies have potentially harmful errors. The patient may be given the wrong drug, the wrong dosage or the wrong directions." -AJC, same article.

It's especially funny because they are clearly trying to downplay the danger while, mathematically, you only have to accept 33 perscription refills to get screwed! 3 percent might be a small chance for a once-in-a-lifetime, but for a monthly perscription filling well, let's just say I'm happy to not be on pills. Besides, if it was the kind of pills I need, you probably wouldn't like my stories very much.

Of course, there is another major Healthcare problem in Atlanta. Grady Hospital, a charitable hospital run by state subsidies and private donors for the benefit of the poor, is nearly bankrupt. They're just closing out their Dialysis unit today, and were trying to move patients to other states only to find that three of these (New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia) would not take them, while other states are saying the same. They apparently forgot to tell some that Grady would foot their dialysis bill if they stayed, and 10 have already left. May God be with them.

Strict regulation may work, but it may be more effective to implement a simple device like the Wall of Shame. Grady Hospital has shown that the smaller your efforts, the more fruitful they usually are.

Statement form John Oxindine, regarding ACORN

2009-09-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

"I call on Governor Perdue and Attorney General Thurbert Baker tolaunch a full investigation into ACORN’s Georgia activities.ACORN's office of record is 142 Mitchell St. SW, Suite 240 Atlanta, GA30303 per their official website.In light of the multiple news reports in numerous state offices ofACORN, it is appropriate for Georgia to investigate the activity ofACORN in our state to provide assurances that no criminal activity has occurred involving taxpayer dollars.In other states, including California, Governors are urging theirstate Attorney General to open full investigations. It is my hopethat Governor Perdue and Attorney General Baker will take swift actionin Georgia."- John Oxendine

Nice to see someone getting out in fron of this- God only knows what kind of damage ACORN has done in Georgia...

Peachtree City Soldier Falls in Battle

2009-09-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

SFC Shawn McCloskey has fallen in battle while involved in combat operations in Afghanistan. We will share more information as it becomes available.

Kudos to Clayton BOE

2009-09-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

Finally, there is some good news from the Clayton Board of Education. From the Clayton News-Daily:

In a 9-0 vote Monday, the Clayton County Board of Education turned down the school system's $13.79 million share of the federal government's economic stimulus package, because the district does not have the funds to repay the money.

Accepting the Qualified School Construction Bonds allocation -- which is essentially a no-interest loan to the school district -- would mean the system would have to go into debt. Clayton Schools did not include a provision in 2004's Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST III) to account for such a situation, and does not have the money elsewhere to pay off the bonds, according to Chief Operations Officer Cephus Jackson.

The school system has not been in debt since 1997, Jackson said. "Had we had the ability to incur debt, we could have used these bonds, but our current SPLOST does not allow us to do that," he told the school board members.

Props for showing some integrity, following the rules and not pulling some ACORNesque bamboozle to score the cash. Imagine the example you're setting for the children...

In other Clayton news,

Jonesboro hires an interim police chief. Hopefully, someone will cover the dress code with him before his first day on the job.
Rep. David Scott is crowing about more that $2.5 million in energy stimulus money for Clayton County. Scott's only caveat is the money be spent quickly. What happened to spent well? Or spent fairly? Or ...
C-TRAN may run out of money before summer 2010. It is run under contract by MARTA. Extrapolate amongst yourselves.
The Clayton News-Daily publisher, Triple Media Inc., has filed for bankruptcy. Funny, the online edition doesn't mention it. Maybe it's just not newsworthy?

Whither the Stock Market?

2009-09-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

One of the principle arguments for the ill-fated bank bailout was that without banks, there would be no investment in our economy as companies could not borrow. It is true that companies would not be able to borrow as easily, but this does not mean they could not find financing.

In our economy, investment occurs in two primary ways. One is, of course, banks, and the primary source of funding for large and established businesses, but with large businesses unable to compete, and so much pent up demand not being met, another time honored way of generating investment capital (selling stock in an Initial Public Offering) could've seen a resurgence.

With IPO's investors buy stock with the promise that 1) when dividends are offered they will receive their share and 2) if they manage to acquire more then 50% of the stock, and have money to buy the other 50%, they can force the other 50 to sell and acquire the company in a hostile takeover. Normally, IPO's sell stock for only around a quarter or half a dollar a share, but with a tightly constricted credit market, prices could easilly soar to five dollars a share, and growth rates beyond that. This would help the stock market, and the larger economy, as the big businesses and investment banks could also balance their portfolios with IPO's.

An IPO economy would be an economy built on small investors and small firms, where big firms expand by purchasing small firms or small firms purchasing each other. It would be dynamic and compartmentalized, so if a handful of firms fail, no significant effect on the economy will be recorded, and the chances that the workers involved could find new work quickly, without a Keynesian demand shockwave but instead a mere bumping down of asset prices encouraging supply growth, would be much greater, as firms going under would only encourage existing firms to expand.

But back to liquidity. Lack of liquidity means that asset prices sink. But lower asset prices means that what small business needs to operate (centrally located real estate, machinery, current businesses and production facilities, raw materials and, of course, labor) becomes much less expensive, encouraging further growth. Maybe instead of forcing banks to live, we should allow IPO's to carry our growth for a little while and the growth in their stock to rebuild our bank accounts, which will in turn build NEW banks, perhaps started out of IPO's.

Yes, you lose a little money in the short run, but without all those ineffective banks congesting and polluting a crucial economic sector, this short-term easing of pain will cost our country dearly in the future. We will go from being among the preeminent financial centers to being the sickman of finance, with London, Hamburg and Shanghai doing much of the business that NYC, CHA-town and ATL do today.

A Limited Economy - the Pitfalls of Fulton County's growth

2009-09-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

As I briefly mentioned in the Beltway article, there are five pillars of Fulton County's economy:

Banking
Corporate Headquarters that generally moved here from somewhere else
Selling Weapons to Exactly one Customer
Passenger & Mail Air Hub (Atlanta Hartsfield, Delta & AirTran Airlines, UPS and FedEx)
Mainstream Media, including CNN and Turner Studios

Besides these, there are a few smaller sectors, including being a retailer for nearby rural areas, freight railroads, and research. But the majority of the economy is based on these five. One of these has already hit the ground and won't likely grow for quite some time (Banking). Two of these are flaky (guess which?) One has been damaged by high fuel prices, and many experts believe will continue to decline in the future due to a combination of high fuel prices and competition with high-speed rail (Air travel) and one of these is already on it's deathbed (MSM.) So where do we go from here?

Maybe we should start with research. Georgia Tech is already the 4th best engineering school in the country, tied for that honor with Cal Tech and University of Illinois. Its' Systems Engineering (ISyE) program in particular has been the best in the country, at Undergrad, grad, and PhD, for years, while it's Aerospace, Civil, Biomedical and Chemical programs are also consistently in the top 5, and all but one program (Environmental) are in the top 10 (US News & WR). Our College of Computing is 9th according to US News & World Report, and one of only five that Microsoft recruits from. And we are among the greatest centers of Optics research in the world. What's more, a state of the art Nanotech research institute was built on Atlantic Drive on the north-end of campus, completed just in the last few months. Perhaps Atlanta can become a great center of nanotech research and manufacturing?

Further, freight rail service (a minor contributor to growth) will likely continue to grow as the Southeast grows industrially. This may mean more work for mechanics, warehouse workers, and tracklayers in the Atlanta area, but one would doubt that, even under optimal conditions, this could be a major driver of growth. It might even drive out some growth as the rail lines become too congested to allow Atlanta to be a major distribution center.

The rap music scene has succeeded at establishing Atlanta as a center of tourism. But these fads come and go, and besides the rap clubs, does Atlanta really have that many impressive tourist spots? Especially for long-distance, fly-in tourism?

In industries not yet explored, there is still some potential for manufacturing. Though most manufacturing in Atlanta died years ago, land is still cheaper in Atlanta then almost any other major American city, and the great availability of freight and air transit is a valuable asset. Low taxations and light regulations could help convince factories to move here. But then again, those same railways may simply get too congested here, pushing the factories further out to places like Dalton, Columbus, Athens, and Macon where constructing sidings and bypasses is easier.

Retail is about as far ahead in Atlanta as it can be, and with the growth of Dot Com retailers like Amazon, it is doubtful that it will continue to be a major economic centralizer on the level of what it was in the last century, when entire cities like Seattle, Victoria, and Portland were largely built by outfitting. Today, I doubt any city will be built by that again, except perhaps in very specialized high-end sectors (like farm-equipment) with security issues that have grown as much as they can here in America.

Consulting and business services has grown here, GaTech being first in ISyE and towards the top in Computer Science and Business helps, but these don't employ that many people, though the jobs they do create are extremely well-paid. If sectors like Consulting make up all of our growth, our entire blue-collar class will be left unemployed.

I doubt we can expand our railroads much, but expansion of freeways is politically feasible and can aid in the freight handling of many industries. In particular, I-85 can be rerouted through the Eastern side of downtown (largely undeveloped areas) to provide a partial beltway and carry traffic away from the connector. Also could help expand downtown in size by decentralizing the transit links somewhat.

In all, Fulton County faces a very uncertain economic future. We need to tread lightly in coming years.

A day of Rememberence.

2009-09-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

On September 11, 2001 the world changed. The United States is a young nation. As such, we are not accustomed to German tanks rolling through our cities, Mongol hordes destroying our villages, or living under the yoke of the Roman Empire. Our bloodiest war, the Civil War was self-inflicted. All wars since have been "over there". Our nations collective memory had no real reference for the events of September 11, 2001. As the world unraveled around us, we realized that we were at war.

Today we present the story of the Georgia's bloggers on September 11, 2001. While many of these publications did not yet exist, the people who write for them did. While this is this story- it is also the story of our Nation, and what thrust us into war. It is the story of one day in the life of the American people, it's cost and our spirit. Please feel free to add your own remeberences in the comments.

6:00 a.m.

"I rolled out of bed, like it was any other morning, to start my commute to Sears Corporate." George Dienhart

"Already out of the shower, getting ready for another day." Obi's Sister

7:00 a.m.
American Airlines Flight 11, Boeing 767 with 92 people on board, takes off from Boston's Logan International Airport for Los Angeles. (Foxnews.com)

"Herding cats - that's code for getting kids ready for school." Obi's Sister

7:15 a.m.

"Traffic to Hoffman Estates seemed light that day- I remember hoping that this would be a sign of a good day."- George Dienhart

"Out the door, traffic is moderate, I'll be a little early today! What a beautiful day - the sky is so blue. A perfect early fall day." Obi's Sister

7:21 a..m.
American Airlines Flight 77, Boeing 757 with 64 people on board, takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport for Los Angeles. (Foxnews.com)

7:30 a.m.

"My alarm went off as it usually did every morning so that I could get ready for my PT job that began at 10:00. This morning I was by myself because my husband was working up in Spartanburg, S.C." - Linda Powell

7:40 a.m.
Federal Aviation Administration notifies North American Aerospace Defense Command's Northeast Air Defense Sector about suspected hijacking of American Flight 11. (Foxnews.com)

In the shower, taking my time since I didn't have to share the bathroom this morning. I remember being quite happy about that. - Linda Powell

"Rolling into the parking garage at the Inforum; for once, a non-issue commute." Obi's Sister

7:41 a.m.
United Air Lines Flight 93, Boeing 757 with 44 people on board, takes off from Newark International Airport for San Francisco. (Foxnews.com)

7:43 a.m.
FAA notifies NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector about suspected hijacking of United Flight 175. (Foxnews.com)

"Stop at the cafe to pick up some coffee on the way to the escalators. Check with the husband; kids are at school. My daughter tells me later that day, that the TVs were on all day at school, no classwork at all. She was a high school freshman." Obi's Sister

7:45 a.m.

"I called out 'Hey Owen, I'm going downstairs to get a cup of coffee, if anyone is looking for me' and went to the deli to get a cup of Starbucks." George Dienhart

"At my little cubicle sweet cubicle, on the fifth floor of the Inforum, overlooking the atrium. Stowing my stuff and turning on my computer." Obi's Sister

7:46 a.m.
American Flight 11 crashes into north tower of World Trade Center. (Foxnews.com)

7:50 a.m.

"Sears has TV's all around the building, mostly used to disseminate information to employees. Today was different CNN was on all the TVs. I can't publish what I said when I saw the smoke pouring out of the building and heard the CNN commentators. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that this wasn't an accident. I ran back up stairs to call my wife."- George Dienhart

"The phone is ringing. I figure it's my husband because he knows I should be up. I'm a little bit aggravated that he is calling so early. I'm trying to grab towels, dry off, and still get to the phone in time and stumbling all over myself. When I do pick up the phone, he yells, 'turn the tv on. there's something crazy happening in New York!'" - Linda Powell

"Husband calls, he's on the road home from dropping off the youngest at school. He says the radio news just said a plane has crashed into a building in NYC. See if I can find a TV. We had just moved into this office space a few months ago and the breakroom televisions weren't hooked up to the cable yet. By this time, the computers were booted up; but the news sites were overwhelmed with traffic. My boss continues to walk around muttering about 'all the glass in this place.' Meanwhile, at my daughter's high school, she sees the first plane hit. She doesn't understand what is going on, but there are kids laughing and joking about it. The teacher does nothing." Obi's Sister

8:03 a.m.
United Flight 175 crashes into south tower of World Trade Center.

"I finally got a call through to my wife. She said her friend had called and told her to turn on the TV. As she was asking me if I had heard about the "accident" the second plane hit. She tells me, 'My God a second plane just hit'. I hear the Fox news announcer in the background. He states that this may be intentional. I hear my wife start to cry and ask "Who could possibly do this?" I think back to the USS Stark and answer "Bin Ladin"- George Dienhart

"My son tells me later that day, that his teacher switched the classroom TV to CNN after the first plane hit and left it on the remainder of the day. He was in the fourth grade. Both my babies saw the second plant crash into the tower." Obi's Sister

"I stayed on the phone with my husband and we were just wondering how someone could have such a horrible accident and talking about the poor people on the plane. I guess we were naive, but we never even thought for a second that it wasn't an accident until the second plane went into the tower." - Linda Powell

8:30 a.m.

"We stayed on the phone together, but neither of us could think of anything to say, so we hung up and promised to talk again in 10 or 15 minutes to give me a chance to get dressed. I kept the TV on and would run back and forth between the TV and the bedroom and the bathroom as I got ready for work." - Linda Powell

"The tears are starting." Obi's Sister

8:40 a.m.
American Flight 77 crashes into Pentagon. (Foxnews.com)

"I'm still on the phone with my wife, I can't bring up any news websites on the Internet. She says 'Oh God, they hit the Pentagon"- George Dienhart

"Charlie, my husband, calls back and asks if there was anything on the news about the Pentagon? By this time, I am ready to 'crash' myself as I can't believe my eyes or my ears." - Linda Powell

"Standing the breakroom with about 20 peole, when just moments before a co-worker had gotten a signal on the breakroom tv using a make-shift antenna made from scanvenged aluminum foil from the fridge. We see the smoke billowing out of the Pentagon. More of the women are crying. The men are pacing." Obi's Sister

8:45 a.m.

"I woke up around 8:30am or so with a phone call from my girlfriend, Molly. I worked as a server in a restaurant and had closed the night before. Needless to say, it was a very early day for me. After spending several minutes in bed trying to wake up, I grabbed something to drink and got on the computer, where Molly had sent me about five instant messages telling me to turn on the TV to watch the news. Immediately, I saw video of the second plane hitting. Honestly, I didn't know what to think at the time. One plane hits and you think it could be an accident. A second plane hits, everyone knew we were under attack. I had spent most of the time since hearing of the attacks trying to get in touch with my mother trying to find out what she had heard. All of sudden there was a report of another attack, this one at the Pentagon. I was horrified. I saw in awe for the next couple hours watching the news, switching channels trying to learn more." - Jason Pye

8:59 a.m.
The South tower of the World Trade Center collapses. (Foxnews.com)

"My 3 year old son (having just watched Independence Day) walks into the living room just as the South Tower collapses. He says, "cool", thinking he is watching a disaster movie. My wife, already in tears, has to explain that this is real, and not a movie. To this day, he still looks like he feels guilty every time someone mentions 9/11. - George Dienhart

"I am ready now and glued to the TV set. When they show the collapse of the tower, I figure that I won't go to work; that I don't know how I can work and not know what is happening. I will call in sick, because truly I am sick--in the heart and spirit." - Linda Powell

"I left the office and had just walked into the cafe downstairs. Everyone was just standing, staring at the televisions. In just moments, the tower fell. I felt dizzy and nauseous. One woman started screaming and a man escorted (mostly carried) her out. I couldn't get my breath. How could this be happening?" Obi's Sister

9:07 a.m.
United Flight 93 crashes in a field in Shanksville, Pa., southeast of Pittsburgh. (Foxnews.com)

"My mother begins to call, warning me to leave as soon as I can since we are just across the park from CNN Center, which she thinks is a target as well." Obi's Sister

9:15 am:

"I begin to worry about Atlanta. Yes, CNN, but also the Federal Reserve bank, Dobbins, the beautiful Federal building just a few blocks away, the CDC. I couldn't calm my thoughts." Obi's Sister

9:28 a.m..
The North tower of the World Trade Center collapses. (Foxnews.com)

"I'm still on the phone with my wife, I don't think anything would have surprised us at that moment. We wonder if Chicago is safe today..."- George Dienhart

11:00 a.m.

"Both of my children are OUTSIDE, due to bomb threats at their school." Obi's Sister

"I decided to go to work after all. I couldn't sit around by myself in that apartment and not have other people to talk about everything. All of the people in the office building got together at lunch for prayer. That was comforting, too. It was hard to concentrate but we would pop into one of the accountant's offices where he had a little portable TV that he didn't mind us watching. So we did throughout the afternoon. Throughout the day, I spoke with my husband on and off, and told him to please get home as soon as he could." - Linda Powell

12:00 p.m.

"The reason I had gotten up so early was to pick up a couple records coming out that day (the mind of a 20 year old drummer in a punk rock band). Rumors were flying at this point. A friend worked at the store I was at and he and his co-workers were talking about how police were not letting anyone in or out of Atlanta ." - Jason Pye

"Husband finally gets our son checked out of his school. He's scared. Husband tells him bad people attacked our country." Obi's Sister

1:00 p.m.

"I dropped by the restaurant where I worked. The place was a ghost town. One cook was on the line and only three servers. During any down time, every employee was watching the news in the bar to see the latest. It was one of those rare occasions, outside of a Friday or Saturday night, where more people in the bar than in the dining room." - Jason Pye

2:00 p.m.

"Daughter's school finally releases and she drives home. My boss finally decides to send us home, since no one is working; everyone is glued to the internet and crying. I'm so numb - I go out of the wrong exit and basically get lost in the 2 blocks around my building. It takes me about 10 minutes to get my bearings and figure out which way is home." Obi's Sister
2:30 p.m.

"My daughter is let out of school early that day. She is in Kindergarten. We take her home and explain what happened, and that she is safe. She starts crying. How can we make our children feel safe after this?"- George Dienhart
"Home. The interstate was eeriely empty. Standing in the kitchen, numb." Obi's Sister

4:25 p..m.
The empty, 47-story Seven World Trade Center collapses. (Foxnews.com)

"I'm sitting in the living room with my wife. We are both numb. The building falls as we sit in silence" - George Dienhart

"On the sofa, crying." Obi's Sister

9:00 p.m.

"I showed up to work, filling in for a friend on what was supposed to be an off day. I was cut around 9pm and headed over to the bar for dinner and to watch the latest news. A couple co-workers were talking about what had happened. One of them said, "I don't see why everyone is watching this, it doesn't affect any of us." Customers within earshot were pissed, though no one complained to management. Other employees around quickly apologized. I told my co-worker that this affected all of us because we would probably be going to war." - Jason Pye

September 12th

"A near panic is set off at Sears Corporate (at least on my floor) as a military pilot breaks the sound barrier somewhere above us. What could possibly be happening now?" - George Dienhart
"The next night at church the guy who typically played guitar for the praise and worship band couldn't play, he couldn't stop crying. He had held it in for a while, but he finally let it out. He asked me if I could fill in for him, which I had no problem doing (didn't know any of the songs though and had to wing it). Turns out a close friend of his, and a member of the church, stayed in a hotel near the WTC during the attacks. She was fine, but her friends were still emotional about it." - Jason Pye

"Charlie got home from S.C. and I felt much better. But everytime we heard a plane, we would stop and look up and search the skies. Who knew if Atlanta would be a target or not." - Linda Powell

"My brother's 40th birthday. His wife cancelled the most excellent surprise party she'd planned for him. Instead the family gathered close and tried to sort out what had happened the day before." Obi's Sister

September 13th

"We reach an old friend of mine whose sales territory included the WTC. Thankfully, he was not there that day."- George Dienhart

"The skies are so quiet with the jets grounded. A friend's husband who travels finally gets home - he'd rented a car with three other people and dropped them all off as he worked his way home." Obi's Sister

On September 11, 2001 the world changed for every American, no matter where they lived, how old they were, or how they voted. We became a country at war with a foe that we had underestimated, and often ignored. In the coming days we would learn that we had a strong and resolute president, and that our military has no equal. Many of us would come to understand that this would be a protracted struggle, that would be fought over the course of many years. Our military families felt the sting of sacrifice, as their hearts filled with patriotism, and all our hearts swelled with pride.

Today, after so much tragedy and triumph, the staffsof the Atlanta Politics Online and JasonPie.com would like to pass our condolences to the victims, our thanks, to the troops, and a hearty "God Bless America" to all.

Atlanta Politics Online
Jason Pye
Obi's Sister

Six months in.

2009-09-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while I like to do a little statistical analysis. Being approximately 6 months into the Obama Administrations 4 years, I thought it might be a good time to look at these poll numbers that we keep hearing about, and to compare them to his predecessors. Along the way, I bounced my thoughts off my old liberal buddy Sven. Sven is from Scandinavia, and like most modern Democrats just slightly to the left of Lenin.

I asked Sven what he thought, and he went right into spin mode. "Well, it's gravity, isn't it? When you go in as one of the most poplar presidents of all time, you are also susceptible to a larger nominal drop when the traditional 'reality check' sets in." I wasn't going to beat him up to bad, but this statement just begged to have some numbers attached. Specifically "most poplar presidents of all time". There have been 12 Presidents since World War 2 ended. Obama's start of term popularity puts him at number 6. Dead in the middle, and certainly not the most popular president of all time. Take a look at the numbers:

Obama did out perform every other president by a wide margin in one category. Biggest drop in approval in 6 months. He cam in at whopping negative 17 point swing. His closest competition (Clinton) came in at a negative 11.

Seeing that he started out in the statistical middle, I thought I'd take a look at the averages. The average start was at 65.5 making Obama about average. The average drop was about 3.5. As I stated above, Obama "overachieved" here.

Sven also noted that Obama had a more difficult job than everyone else. This is simply not true. Reagan inherited a worse economy, the cold war and the complete collapse of American prestige. Truman inherited World War 2. Johnson and Nixon both got stuck with Viet Nam. Ford inherited a party and government shaken by Watergate. Many of these men faces daunting personal challenges. All performed statistically better than Obama.

The bottom is still a long way down. I have a feeling we wont find it for quite some time. Unfortunately, I believe that while America is already starting to realize that the Bush years will be compared to modern times as the good old days by most Americans. Obama will soon join this group of envious Americans- when he checks his polls in another 18 months.

The Withered Rose of Spelman

2009-09-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

An exceptional Spelman student (GPA 3.8) Jasmine Lynn was killed by stray bullet walking the campus of Clark Atlanta last week. Not knowing, not understanding, not deserving, not even being involved, simply walking, with the world as a vast stretch of graph paper which she stepped on the wrong square of to her death.

Clark Atlanta's campus is located less then a block away from ramshackle housing. A fight had broken out, according to the AJC between students and non-students to one edge of campus. A shot was fired, and hit none of the combatants but went flying straight to its random point where a non-entity, a non-involved, a speck of dust drifted along the edges, awaiting impact. In no time at all, she was every bit as much of an object as they likely saw her to be.

We all know that these neighborhoods have been through rough times, and much despair has been seen and felt, but despair is a part of life. We all know that the solutions for these neighborhoods are not simple, but that doesn't mean they and City Hall have an excuse not to try. Maybe they should look at their zoning, and maybe consider creating real jobs for these people instead of just giving them housing cheap. Maybe they should consider bringing more heavy industry back in to the city core; there are some good railroads near there - erect a siding and rezone the land. Just because it don't look pretty doesn't mean it isn't needed.

Further, I would say that all who engage in gang violence, and then excuse themselves with previous racial injustice, have salted their peoples wounds and spit in the face of those who have made progress. As long as no one can walk in your neighborhood, business cannot take root, and especially not the pedestrian level Main Street type development most likely to be owned by locals and hire locals and create a real sense of community and place in a neighborhood. As long as you humiliate your people by fulfilling their stereotypes, the stereotypes will continue. I'm not excusing those responsible for the stereotypes, I am merely stating the cold hard facts, and you can't control them, even if such were just. And as long as you make it you versus everyone else, we will continue to wither more flowers in despair, and no peace will be found, as kleptocracy and theft cannot create peace of any sort.

The students at Morehouse University, across the street, have distributed a shirt saying "Brotherhood, Sisterhood, Livelihood, Neighborhood." This action is very kind and graceful, and emotionally supportive, but the message may be too soft and ambiguous to even put a dent in the problem. To dent the problem, and eventually, break it, a clear consensus and ATTACK on the root of the struggle must be made, and what it comes down to is lawlessness, self-righteousness, and the inability of certain malefactors to understand or be responsible for their own actions. They don't even see that they are traitors, claiming to be at war for their side, but stabbing them in the back with their actions.

The love of violence is hated by Christ, as is the love of lawlessness, and with good reason. Authority is to be respected for the love of God and the love of others. Authority doesn't always do what's right, or do what's fair, or do even what is decent, but it will always exist, and the more you try to procrastinate in handing the reigns of government over, the more arbitrary, warlordish, and unjust it will become, until the good sheriff faces three brutes escaped from prison alone, only life doesn't work like a Hollywood Western. It works like Spellman and a beautiful young scholar named Jasmine Lynn, whose works on this earth will never be seen, and whose warmth and love will be unheard of now and forever on this here planet. Rest in Peace my lady. Rest in Peace. And the Lord be with you. And may those who ended your short but beautiful life in some way, either through punishment or through their own words and acts, help bring an end to this bloodshed, division and treason.