Quick Roundup (Part Deux)
Hillary comes back from vacation next week, so I'll only two days of doing this, but here is your poor man's Hobbyhorse:
• If you ever wanted proof the Athens-Clarke County Commission was obsessed with the triviality of our community, Carl Jordan is more than happy to step to the plate in the name of 'potty parity.'
Commissioner Carl Jordan, who now frequents downtown establishments since the commission passed a ban on indoor smoking, noticed another problem at a restaurant recently: long lines for the ladies' restrooms.
Jordan is calling for a new county law that would make businesses build twice as many women's toilets as men's. The standard one-to-one ratio is an inconvenience for both genders, he said.
"If you're with a woman and she says 'I'll be back in 10 minutes,' well, I'll be back in one minute," Jordan said Thursday.
Listen, I'm a Democrat. I believe in the power of government to be an agent of change, justice, reform and general good in the world. But some things are just silly, and this is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard of in my life. There isn't always a government solution to a real-world problem, and bathroom waiting time is something the market should be allowed to sort out. I know this commission is all for the 'Nanny State' type of government, but the sheer fact this is even up for discussion is lunacy.
Just imagine the logistics of this thing - where in the world are some of these downtown businesses supposed to put these extra toilets? Lots of places downtown are pretty cramped as it is. The cost of renovations necessary to come into compliance with this ordinance would be staggering, and potentially force some businesses to close up shop. And those that didn't would be losing space they could use to seat customers or stock their shelves.
So let's be clear here about the agenda of this commission (particularly Jordan) .... pointing lights upward to limit 'light pollution (check), restricting signage in downtown Athens (check), enacting a cruising ban which commissioners admit doesn't do much (check), and now considering to mandate the doubling the number of women's toilets in all Athens businesses (check).
However ... seriously addressing affordable housing (nope), finding a way to reduce the near 30 percent poverty rate in Athens (nope), developing a plan for a historic designation for downtown in a timely fashion (nope ... three-plus years and counting ... though we do have, oh joy, another moratorium in sight), developing a better and more efficient to handle road renovations and constructions (nope), and actually developing a smart growth plan rather than talk about developing one (nope).
Is it 2006 yet? I'd like to have my government back please.
• Woo-hoo! Georgia football loves thugs! This Kearney kid shouldn't be anywhere near Sanford Stadium, and it sorely disappoints me Richt is letting even practice while the investigation goes on.
• This is true.
• Matt Chastain's letter to the idea refuting the 'Bush lied' argument is full of its own half-truths. He cites President Clinton in 1998 on the eve of his ordering of bombing of strategic sites in Iraq designed to disrupt Saddam's WMD search. And, as it turns out, Clinton's actions then - according to both the U.N. inspectors and the independent U.S. inspectors sent in by President Bush following Saddam's fall - ultimately were the straw that broke the WMDs back. Those precision air strikes destroyed what, if any, stockpiles Iraq had left and were a primary reason Saddam opted to not work to make more WMDs.
And Chastain's logic is still faulty. Simply because some Democrats said that Saddam had weapons means it's OK we went to war? The guilt-by-association argument is weak, at best. If anything, many Democrats and a handful of Republicans at least recognized that after the discovery of no WMDs (and no links of Saddam to al-Qaida) that perhaps this wasn't the best course of action ... that perhaps our intelligence was faulty.
I, for one, don't think Bush lied. Guy saw some crappy intelligence and decided to invade. I didn't agree with his prescription to remedy the problem, and I do think he had made up his mind to go to war very early in the process, but for Chastain to attempt to derail a 'Bush lied' argument by merely saying 'well, some guys on your (presumed) side agreed' is foolish. It implies the letter's author is automatically agreeing with everything the Democrats did in the run-up to war.
• Bob Novak gets suspended by CNN. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
UPDATE: My friend ATL's Finest helps a brotha out by reminding me that I forgot to mention the naked pitchfork wielding dude who assaulted an 81-year-old man. If I got home and there was a naked pitchfork wielding dude in my yard, I'd just let him be. Call the cops? Sure. But attempt to address the situation myself? Not likely.
Of course, nude farming could lead to some sort of awful rash methinks.
• If you ever wanted proof the Athens-Clarke County Commission was obsessed with the triviality of our community, Carl Jordan is more than happy to step to the plate in the name of 'potty parity.'
Commissioner Carl Jordan, who now frequents downtown establishments since the commission passed a ban on indoor smoking, noticed another problem at a restaurant recently: long lines for the ladies' restrooms.
Jordan is calling for a new county law that would make businesses build twice as many women's toilets as men's. The standard one-to-one ratio is an inconvenience for both genders, he said.
"If you're with a woman and she says 'I'll be back in 10 minutes,' well, I'll be back in one minute," Jordan said Thursday.
Listen, I'm a Democrat. I believe in the power of government to be an agent of change, justice, reform and general good in the world. But some things are just silly, and this is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard of in my life. There isn't always a government solution to a real-world problem, and bathroom waiting time is something the market should be allowed to sort out. I know this commission is all for the 'Nanny State' type of government, but the sheer fact this is even up for discussion is lunacy.
Just imagine the logistics of this thing - where in the world are some of these downtown businesses supposed to put these extra toilets? Lots of places downtown are pretty cramped as it is. The cost of renovations necessary to come into compliance with this ordinance would be staggering, and potentially force some businesses to close up shop. And those that didn't would be losing space they could use to seat customers or stock their shelves.
So let's be clear here about the agenda of this commission (particularly Jordan) .... pointing lights upward to limit 'light pollution (check), restricting signage in downtown Athens (check), enacting a cruising ban which commissioners admit doesn't do much (check), and now considering to mandate the doubling the number of women's toilets in all Athens businesses (check).
However ... seriously addressing affordable housing (nope), finding a way to reduce the near 30 percent poverty rate in Athens (nope), developing a plan for a historic designation for downtown in a timely fashion (nope ... three-plus years and counting ... though we do have, oh joy, another moratorium in sight), developing a better and more efficient to handle road renovations and constructions (nope), and actually developing a smart growth plan rather than talk about developing one (nope).
Is it 2006 yet? I'd like to have my government back please.
• Woo-hoo! Georgia football loves thugs! This Kearney kid shouldn't be anywhere near Sanford Stadium, and it sorely disappoints me Richt is letting even practice while the investigation goes on.
• This is true.
• Matt Chastain's letter to the idea refuting the 'Bush lied' argument is full of its own half-truths. He cites President Clinton in 1998 on the eve of his ordering of bombing of strategic sites in Iraq designed to disrupt Saddam's WMD search. And, as it turns out, Clinton's actions then - according to both the U.N. inspectors and the independent U.S. inspectors sent in by President Bush following Saddam's fall - ultimately were the straw that broke the WMDs back. Those precision air strikes destroyed what, if any, stockpiles Iraq had left and were a primary reason Saddam opted to not work to make more WMDs.
And Chastain's logic is still faulty. Simply because some Democrats said that Saddam had weapons means it's OK we went to war? The guilt-by-association argument is weak, at best. If anything, many Democrats and a handful of Republicans at least recognized that after the discovery of no WMDs (and no links of Saddam to al-Qaida) that perhaps this wasn't the best course of action ... that perhaps our intelligence was faulty.
I, for one, don't think Bush lied. Guy saw some crappy intelligence and decided to invade. I didn't agree with his prescription to remedy the problem, and I do think he had made up his mind to go to war very early in the process, but for Chastain to attempt to derail a 'Bush lied' argument by merely saying 'well, some guys on your (presumed) side agreed' is foolish. It implies the letter's author is automatically agreeing with everything the Democrats did in the run-up to war.
• Bob Novak gets suspended by CNN. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
UPDATE: My friend ATL's Finest helps a brotha out by reminding me that I forgot to mention the naked pitchfork wielding dude who assaulted an 81-year-old man. If I got home and there was a naked pitchfork wielding dude in my yard, I'd just let him be. Call the cops? Sure. But attempt to address the situation myself? Not likely.
Of course, nude farming could lead to some sort of awful rash methinks.
posted by Jmac at 8:23 AM
5 Comments:
Wait, what do we actually know about the Kearney incident? We know what Ms. Penn said happened, but the University already cleared Kearney on the cheating charges.
If he grabbed and twisted her wrist, then that is unacceptable. You don't treat ladies that way, obviously. But it isn't clear to me that he should be kicked out of school, or that he should never be allowed to play football because of it. Especially if he was falsely accused of cheating (who knows any more?). If he was falsely accused of cheating, and then his teacher took his phone from him, perhaps he got a bit emotional and felt like he was getting railroaded. Doesn't excuse what he did, but it does make it seem less "thuggish," as you called it.
But we have to consider the allegations and the sources. Penn had reason to believe Kearney was cheating - he had his phone out and students were gathered around his desk - and she, rightfully, took his phone.
He was cleared of cheating, but there was enough reason to think he was cheating so the T.A. took action. And, as other witnesses corresponded in the police report, Kearney did grab her wrist (Will Thompson, for instance, grabbed Kearney and told him to 'chill out') and did forcibly take his phone back.
That is unacceptable, and I don't think he should be playing at Georgia if that's the case. Kearney, though, now is claiming that he hasn't done anything. So it's his word against her word ... and the words of other students (and teammates) in the class.
The fact that he cheated doesn't make him a thug (it would have made him a cheater). What made him thuggish is his attitude and alleged assault of a T.A.
I don't know. If the University has done its own investigation and has deemed his action to be unworthy of any major discipline (probation, essentially), I don't see why his football punishment should be so much worse (annhialation).
I want to go "above and beyond" in terms of class, so I understand your sentiment I think, I really do. But at the end of the day, 18 year old kids do stupid things in the heat of the moment, and twisting a wrist to recover something that is yours anyway is hardly the worst thing I've ever heard. He should have "chilled out." He didn't, and so there should be consequences. But I'm just not sold that those consequences should be never playing football at Georgia.
"Yeah. That's what it means."
"Okay, well...agree to disagree."
Oh, rock! I don't have to do a full catch-up on the news. You are most excellent, JMac.
Also, I'm with Xon on this. People get more than one chance, especially depending on the situation. And it ain't because he's a football player.
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