Couple of things

- States McCarter explains (again) why he opposes the widely popular Neighborhood Notification Initiative, and at least he's more honest toward the end of it. Quite frankly, he dislikes it because he wants to be one telling you about these things ... and, with that type of control, he has the ability to spin the proposed rezonings in a direction consistent with his personal views (i.e. La Puerta del Sol). Again, I'm glad he's open about it, but his rationale should make constituents think twice about him.

- I'd agree it's silly to question who can support a team, but let's be honest here ... it ain't like John Barrow is exactly a tried-and-true Democrat based on some of his campaign stances the past two years. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but he's easily one of the most conservative Democratic congressmen out there.

- OK This is an odd editorial. It's criticizing the president of the Georgia Association of Educators for being factually correct and for offering the, well, rather true statement that attractive higher salaries for teachers can attract more and more candidates to teach in this state. Whether or not you think our teachers need a raise isn't important in this discussion to me. Instead, this editorial uses a false argument to offer (rightly or wrongly) criticism it could have done under other guises.

- This is a like a weird nothing happened story to me (though it's a tad offensive to suggest that gays apparently aren't consumers in the marketplace). The American Family Association won't protest, and Wal-Mart will continue with its negotiations to provide better benefits to its gay employees. All save face I guess?

- How do you follow a good man like Charles Worthy with this moron? The fact he's still at Cedar Shoals is incredible to me.

- There's a fundraiser for Heidi Davison on Monday at The 40 Watt, with former standout from the ole musee William Tonks on hand to play. Good deal.

- The intro music is back in this week's edition of The Cover Two podcast.

- This teacher pay thing is still bugging me.

This is, of course, a simplistic way of looking at the issue of teacher pay. There are any number of variables that can explain the difference in average SAT scores between Georgia and North Carolina, including such factors as the number of students taking the test and the demographics of those students.

But if Hubbard and the GAE are going to make simplistic arguments in favor of a pay hike, they shouldn't be surprised to find themselves fending off similarly simplistic arguments against an increase.

I don't think it's a terribly simplistic argument - higher salaries can attract more candidates for teaching - and relating it to an incredibly complex series of problems and issues which affect student performance is peculiar to me.

- Here's what I'm thankful for.