Today the Cobb County GOP hosted a breakfast at Williamson BBQ in Marietta, Georgia.

It was a good time for conservatives from the county to get together and meet each other and discuss issues and the number one topic on everybody's lips this morning was how to get the Republican party to return to it's conservative roots.

At least that is what everybody was talking about that were seated at the tables and while waiting in line to get breakfast. The turn out was better then I expected with about 50 to 60 people in attendance on a very foggy morning.

The program began with a pledge to the American flag and the Georgia state flag followed by an invocation.

Scott Johnson, Chairman of the Cobb County GOP, took to the podium to introduce the first speaker Rep Phil Gingrey (GA-11).

Consider this a public service announcement. On Saturday, January 3, 2009, the Cobb County Republican party will be having a breakfast meeting that is open to all interested parties. I plan to attend for the purpose of networking and talking to some of our local GOP members.

If you are interested I urge you to attend and take the oppurtunity to talk to people who are responsible to the state GOP committee and then by extension to the RNC itself.

Let's see how far the words of those guys running for the chairmanship of the RNC like Michael Steele and Sal Anuzis really carry. They have been preaching about a return to the grass roots and I would like to give them some tall grass to walk in.

This guy, Kem Kimbrough, sounds like the real deal and something that is badly needed in the most dysfunctional county in Georgia. His predecessor, Victor Hill, was a complete joke and I hope the people of Clayton have elected somebody who will finally get to work restoring confidence in at least one sector of their local government.

They still have to deal with the loss of accreditation of their school system, and the guy they hired for that job does not sound too promising.

Quite often I write about the traffic and transportation woes in the metro Atlanta area, and it is with good reason. In the past the discussion always revolved around building more highways as an answer to resolve our traffic congestion in the Atlanta area with very little attention paid to other considerations.

One thing the recent spike in oil prices did was to introduce people in this area to mass transit.

The term mass transit has always conjured up images of dirty smelly buses or rail system train cars and dark, dank, and dangerous way stations that the commuter would have to traverse like some modern day Indiana Jones.

Phil Gingrey (GA-11) has a column inour local paper, Marietta Daily Journal, in which he warns us of one more massive bailout headed our way.

When all is said and done, there will be one more big bailout - the biggest bail out of them all - one that will be proposed by the Obama Administration and supported by the Democratically controlled Congress - the bailout of the federal government in the form of a massive tax increase on American taxpayers and their businesses. Especially considering that for all the campaign promises of scalpels and line by line reviews, President-elect Obama seems more likely to need a shovel so that he can pile on more spending.

 

He is right. We have already seen how other liberal areas of this country are trying to make up shortfalls by taxing everything that falls into the 3 basic categories of matter, liquid, solid and gaseous. Whether it is New York, that wants to introduce somewhere in the neighborhood of a 100 new taxes or in Oregon which plans to reward it's citizens for conserving gas by imposing a new tax based on miles driven, Democrats only have one page in their economic playbook.

Somebody on their side needs to think outside the box, but for a party in which group identity is everything and anybody who dares to stray outside of their designated circle as defined by them is to face immediate ostracization and excommunication from the larger body.

Colin Powell was roundly savaged by Democrats for working as Secretary of State for President Bush. When he came out and endorsed Barack Obama suddenly he was once again allowed back into country club with warnings not to leave the plantation again.

The same holds true for any African American who dares to express any allegiance to anything conservative. Don't even think about being gay and saying anything remotely complimentary of a conservative. We have seen how the gay community can make you public enemy #1.

To get back on point however, Rep Gingrey is not the only one who is sounding the alarm, it just seems that the inside the beltway crowd is about 6 months behind the rest of America in realizing what the end game here with all of this economic bailout nonsense was going to be. There is however 52% of Americans that either don't get it or plain don't care.

US Representative David Scott (D-GA), could just as easily be (D-CA), is sending out his end of the year, "hey look at me" newsletter.

This one is especially ironic in that first he brags about and then lists all of the earmarks he got for his district and then in a touching personal message talks about how much the Democrat led congress has done for us especially in regards to the implementation a "pay as you go" program for the budget.

He goes on to ask that you trust the incoming congress, who under the leadership of that bronze Adonis, that citizen of the world, the arugula connoisseur, and master of all things changy, with handling the economic problems facing the country.

Gee I don't know Mr Scott, something about this little newsletter just strikes me as, oh I don't know, disingenuous.

  

A recent story on our Atlanta Journal Constitution, AJC, headlined a story this way.
 

Middle class in Georgia fits into Obama's plans

Census numbers show income gap growing as the middle shrinks

The story tries to paint a picture of how the middle class is struggling in Georgia, just as it is elsewhere and it uses arbitrarily picked numbers to make it's case.

For instance it chooses those making more then $200,000 and then jumps to $75,000. What about those folks who make in between those two figures? The article then makes one statement that seems to refute the point of the rest of the article.

By now we are getting just a little bit tired of all the stories at all levels of government involving Democrats and their corruption. From Chris Dodd and his Countrywide deals, to Charlie Rangel who is tax law impaired, to the Ohio attorney general, who is a double dipper, to any Illinois politician you care to name and of course here on the local level we have state legislators and now comes word of city council members in Atlanta that are also participating.

I am also getting real tired of playing the mass market media's game of name that party.

Anyway here is the story from Atlanta. Some city council members are soliciting donations from businesses and then turning around and using the money to entertain constituents which amounts to vote buying. Of course the businesses that "contribute" often just happen to have business pending before the city council.

I know I seem to be writing about such a trivial thing, garbage removal, but it is the principles behind it that matter.

To bring people up to date, Gwinnett county had attempted to pass an ordinance that in effect would have awarded all garbage collection to 2 companies of their choosing, thereby denying the residents of any choice. In other words yet another example of nanny state government.

Well the good people of Gwinnett got enraged and they got involved. They gave the county commission a big piece of their mind earlier this week and now a court has sided with them.

Judge Michael C. Clark ruled the county plan, which was to begin Jan. 2, violated state law by delegating governmental functions to a private entity, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Services. The nonprofit corporation had been tapped by the county to administer a new waste program that expanded and mandated recycling and that consolidated service by contracting with two haulers.

On first read you would think that the government handing over services to a private entity would be a good thing, but the devil was in the details of this handover. This move would in effect shut out many small garbage collection companies and the mandates for recycling really did not sit well with the people. There is even a big fine if you don't recycle.

What is interesting in the article is that they mention the attorney who was working with the people, but they left off one key piece of information. The attorney is Roy Barnes, as in former governor of Georgia and a Democrat. You see down here we have Democrats who also believe in limited government. They are a little different breed then the far left liberal Democrats we see on the national stage.

I am willing to bet that many of the people who fought against this would rail at the assumption that they had just embraced what is normally a bedrock principle of the Republican party and conservatism. Just like in California where there was majority support in opposition to the Proposition 8 bill being approved, it has been proven over and over again that the core Republican principles of limited government is a winning issue.

The task now is to convince these people to not be bowed by peer pressure and left wing branding of conservatives, and point out to them that while they may consider the word Republican to be among the list of 7 words you can never say in polite company, they do in fact support the basic tenets conservatism. If it makes them feel better they can consider themselves Independents.

The audience is out there, it is up to the Republicans to live up to the principles they espouse to bring these people into the fold.

Yesterday I wrote about how the Gwinnett County Commission hearing had been Twittered live and now today I found a follow up in the local paper, Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC).

The article is a summary, like I surmised yesterday with the comments of the residents lumped into a generic statement about them being outspoken.

What is good in the little piece in the paper is the summary at the end by some of the council members.

"Believe me," said Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, "your comments are being heard."

Commission Chairman Charles Bannister went further.

"This has been quite an experience," he said to the crowd. It is vital, he added, that the county get this right.

"You may see changes," he said.

I hate that word, may. When politicians say may they normally mean ain't no way we are moving off of our position.

I am pleased to see that a small group of people however can make their voices heard.

Tonight my county, Cobb, will be holding their meeting. It begins at 7 PM so there is no way I can attend in person, however we have a channel on television dedicated to airing the meeting. For those in the metro Atlanta area it is carried on channel 23. I will be tuning in.

I have already reviewed the agenda which they post on line on the Cobb county government web site and there doesn't appear to be anything of significance on the agenda, but it should be educational for those interested in how their local governments work.

In the wake of post election analysis, a lot has been said about getting folks engaged at the local level, especially among conservatives, and I believe it is one of the biggest things we can do to somehow regain control of our lives and get away from the nanny state, big brother control we have succumbed to. If only the liberals have their voices heard during these type of meetings, then they are the only voices the elected officials will listen to.

We don't need people in goofy outfits staging street theater, which is all the rage among the liberals. We only need to make those who are supposed to be responsive to us to be aware that we are out here, watching, listening, and they really don't want us to come down there and straighten them out. Those that can make personal appearances should make the effort, but I know everybody has their priorities and I would hope family is at the top of that list.

One other thing those that have children in government schools can do is to suggest to teachers that it might not be a bad idea to make watching or attending a commission meeting a homework assignment. They can certainly assign all sorts of other stuff, but I think teaching good citizenship needs to be inserted back into the curriculum. 

For you liberal educators dissent really isn't always the greatest form of patriotism, nor is it the only form of patriotism.

Let me start by explaining what Twitter is. Twitter is a web application which allows people to post comments, links to stories, or send messages to multiple contacts at once provided you can do it in 140 characters or less. It is a wonderful tool and there is a great grassroots effort to get our politicians to use it. Several members of congress do, although not enough, but it also has another very useful function which is demonstrated below.

Recently Gwinnett County, GA passed an ordinance which not only mandated recycling but also made garbage pick up by a designated collection agency mandatory. Well that isn't sitting real well with the residents, and last night they went to the county commission meeting to let them know just how they felt.

An intrepid citizen, through the use of Twitter posted updates and minutes from the meeting. It got pretty heated. Compare the excerpts below with what will no doubt be the local news coverage tonight, if they even cover it. They will probably make some sort of generic statement about citizens being upset without giving the comments or the flavor of the meeting.

Through this real time medium you get it.

This is true citizen journalism if you will. This is how this tool can be a powerful weapon in the hands of ordinary citizens to get beyond the smoke and mirrors of the mass market media.

You can follow me on Twitter as well as a collection of conservatives here.

You have to read the thread from bottom to top since the most recent comments are always on top, but here is a sample of what went on last night.

Unfortunately, Barnes and Noble is closing so I have to wrap this up. 6 minutes ago from web

Nasuti also notes that when you call and attack he is not likely to respond. 7 minutes ago from web

He notes that they had good intentions to solve a problem and created a problem. The problem is Republicans should have known better. 7 minutes ago from web

Nasuti is right - he never heard complaints about this until the bids came out. He noted this has been going on for a couple of years. 11 minutes ago from web

He says he used to get bombarded with people complaining about multiple haulers in a subdivision. That is such a trivial complaint. 13 minutes ago from web

Nasuti is speaking: saying he took notes & there are things they did not think about. I hope he is sincere. If so, I admire him for that. 13 minutes ago from web

The Red Oak owner talked about the how the county RFP burdened small businesses. 14 minutes ago from web

An owner of Red Oak Sanitation is speaking now. 18 minutes ago from web

Gotta love some "old-timers:" "I thought Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful made things beautiful." Asks if they are going to get hauler a bailout! 18 minutes ago from web

An employee of Southern Sanitation claims that they were told they would get a chance to negotiate and they did not. Is that accurate? 25 minutes ago from web

I wonder if Lorraine Green is at home watching this and quietly glad she does not have to deal with it. 28 minutes ago from web

Beaudreau making excuse that iabsentee homeowners & foreclosed homes and the risk of not paying is why it is on the bill. Go after THEM!! 29 minutes ago from web

Lady notes that empty homes will be billed but not use service. The companies gets paid for no service. 30 minutes ago from web

I hope the commissioners are listening. People might calm down before the next election, but if not, their jobs are in serious jeopardy. about 1 hour ago from web

She says she read the Republican creed and she said she would not have known it with them - said it was more like socialism. about 1 hour ago from web

"In 67 years of my life I have never been surprised by politicians.." She says socialized garbage has changed that! about 1 hour ago from web

If your bill is currently lower than what you will paying under socialized garbage, fax your bill to 770-822-7097. about 1 hour ago from web

There is a lady who apparently lives in Kenerly's district and she is talking recall. about 1 hour ago from web

Here is a man who disposes of his garbage at his business...now the government is making him pay. about 1 hour ago from web

This man is READY to FIGHT! Calling it stupidity. They are getting RIPPED tonight. But they earned it. about 1 hour ago from web

I only reprinted a portion of the total report, but I think you should get the idea that this is wonderful. It is great that others got involved in the workings of their local government, involved enough to make their concerns known and that somebody knew how to use technology to get the word out.

This is something that I wish more people would embrace. When politicians learn that they can no longer hide from the people who elected them maybe they will become more responsive to them.

Merry Christmas

There I said it. It wasn't so hard.

How is it we have reached a point in our history and society where that simple phrase can now invoke a series of apologies and nervous glances from those that hear it?

Let's be clear here, Christmas is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. If you are not Christian what does it matter to you that Christians choose to celebrate it?

Christians certainly don't get their hackles up over Hanukah or Kwanzaa or Ramadan or any other holiday celebrated by different ethnic groups or religions so why is it, that those primarily led, by folks with no religion have placed Christmas in the crosshairs?

What is it about Christmas that causes so much anxiety as opposed to Eid al Fitr or even Easter for that matter?

I am not what most people would consider a devout Christian, meaning I don't go to church every Sunday. That is by choice, but I still consider myself Christian.

I take no offense at the various Jewish holidays, and in fact respect them actually and have tried to learn about them.

Until 6 or 7 years ago I doubt many in America knew what Ramadan or the hajj was, but there are no concerted efforts to diminish these days or make a spectacle out of citing any sort of infringement of rights at the mention of them. In fact in the case of Islam the exact opposite may be in effect. We have gone to the other extreme to make people aware of them, while cloaking it in the mask of being multi-cultural, but in reality it is out of fear. Christians do not threaten violence for besmirching their religious icons like Muslims will.

So why has it become fashionable, to deny Christmas exists in this country and it has become such a symbol of our pop hero culture to obstruct the recognition of Christmas and in fact one can be elevated to hero status for getting any acknowledgement of Christmas banned in the public eye?

This year it has reached real heights of silliness by the Governor of Washington actually entertaining the idea of a Festivus display. Festivus for those that don't know is a made up holiday created for an episode of television sitcom "Seinfeld".

The real goal in recent years in regards to all of these organizations promoting "holidays" to coincide with Christmas is very simply to attempt to have Christmas get lost in the forest of all of these other holidays.

A distinction must be made that Christmas and Hanukah, also known as Chanukah, are religious holidays, whereas things like Kwanzaa and Festivus are cultural movements.

For the history of Kwanzaa go here. Learn more about the creator of Kwanzaa in this country and his ties to the Black Panthers. Quite a contradiction huh? By the way if you ask anybody from the African continent about Kwanzaa expect to get a blank stare for your curiosity.

So to my Christian friends and non Christian friends I challenge you to take pride in the Christmas season, remembering what the day represents. Do not be afraid to express your recognition of it. If one of your Jewish friends wishes you a Happy Hanukah in return for a greeting of Merry Christmas be sure to return the sentiment.

Christmas can not be taken away from you, it can only be given away by you. If you allow others to define how you express your recognition of what this season is about, you are in effect giving it away.

Merry Christmas.

Georgia's most dysfunctional county, Clayton county, just continues to slide down the path of self destruction. They didn't get this way overnight, no it was a long, constant, steady adherence to failed liberal and Democratic policies that got them to this point.

The problem is they think even more of the same is the way to get out of the hole they have dug for themselves. The county has been solid Democrat for as long as their as been a Democrat party and now they are nothing but a drag on the rest of the state.

They have the highest rate of crime in the state, the highest percentage of foreclosures, and with the recent loss of accreditation for their school system they have condemned their kids to having to fight even harder to make it in this world.

Every thing they are suffering right now they brought upon themselves by electing unqualified and dysfunctional people to office, whether it was school board or sheriff. They have indeed become the laughing stock of at least the metro Atlanta area if not the whole state. If people mention them at all it is in the same manner you would talk about crazy Aunt Edna at family gatherings.

David Scott (D) who is my representative is also the representative for that county. Recently county residents and leaders came to him asking for their share of federal money to help them out of their plight.

At least Mr Scott was able to tell them that there just some things he couldn't do for them and that they need to clean up their own act first.

Clayton county is facing a $23 million loss of federal funds because of the loss of accreditation of their schools. Their are a lot of funds funneled to local communities that are tied to that one issue, and this should serve as a warning to everybody to be involved in their communities.

"We're going to have a $23 million shortfall because we lost 3,000 kids. We can't wait to educate children," state Sen. Gail Buckner (D-Jonesboro) said. "This is clearly, clearly a major need for this county."

Scott said he can't help the 50,000-student district with those cuts. Instead, he offered to help ROTC students land scholarships and schools get anti-gang grants of about $150,000.

In perhaps one of the most insightful comments came from a state representative, although the editors of the article edited out something in the middle, it pretty much sums it up.

"We are not getting things going to other counties because we are a democratic county," state Rep. Mike Glanton (D-Ellenwood) said. "We need ... things that put people to work immediately."

The rate of foreclosures, while certainly made worse by the current market meltdown, has always been an ongoing issue in this county. When the schools lost accreditation naturally people who could moved out and nobody who was aware of the situation was moving in. The flight out of this county will no doubt and of course since these folks are Democrats they think the only solution is to throw money at any problem.

Let this also be a warning to anybody moving to the metro Atlanta area to avoid Clayton county.

The Gwinnett County government is facing some serious financial issues, like so many other municipalities across the country are, and like so many they are having to make some tough decisions. Well nothing helps you make those kind of decisions like taking $15,000 of taxpayers money and heading to a retreat in the mountains of north Georgia.

You read that right. 27 county employees went on a taxpayer funded retreat to discuss what budget cuts would be needed to allow the county to continue operating and meet all of it's responsibilities.

There is a story within a story here however, and should be one of encouragement for those who labor away in the blogosphere wondering if you make a difference.

I caught this story last night on my local late news. They picked it up because a local blogger who writes at a site called GwinnettBuzz wrote about it. In the news report they even mentioned it.

But there is more. On the tv station's website where they have a video of it, which I can't get to play, I noticed the byline on the article included a name I am familiar with, Michael King.

I know Michael King first from a personal standpoint, his daughter and my daughter were friends in high school and he used to be associated with a group known as Project 21, The National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives. We had not been in touch for a couple of years but I came across him on Twitter and started following him. Michael now works for channel 11 (11 Alive) news. In the past he has also been a guest on Hannity and Colmes to talk about the Project 21 group.

The blogger himself has been mentioned before in regards to the series he did about the mandatory recycling program Gwinnett county implementated by the guys over at Red State.

So while the point of this story is to bring forth yet another case of idiots in governement positions, it is also a lesson in how the power of networking and leveraging the tools of the internet can make your voice heard.

Well I called his office yesterday urging him to vote against the automotive bailout (HR 7321), but of course he did exactly what Nancy Pelosi wanted him to do. He is like a dog on a leash and only does what she says, not what his constituents want.

Well after the calls I followed up an email this morning, which of course he will also ignore.

Dear Mr Scott, I see once again you have chosen to ignore the voices and concerns of your constituents and have instead once again voted in the manner dictated by the house speaker Nancy Pelosi. Your Aye vote HR 7321, The Automakers Bailout Bill, shows your disdain for those who blindly reelected you back to congress. There are dozens of businesses in your district that have gone bankrupt or out of business, none ever receiving a government bailout with our taxpayer dollars.

This was not a vote for the automakers as much as it was a vote for the UAW, United Auto Workers union and in effect an attempt to hamper the auto makers we have right here in Georgia, including the pending Kia plant.

The difference for the next couple of years is that there is a grassroots online presence that is watching and reporting on how our elected officials act.

There is a pending bill proposed by Rep Gohmert of TX that would gives us 2 months relief from federal taxes. Do I even have to guess how you would vote on this bill?

The other two representatives from Cobb county, Rep Tom Price and Phil Gingrey, voted against the bailout.

This bill now goes to the Senate for consideration. There is a group of Republican Senators who are considering staging a filibuster of the bill, but alas the two spineless senators from Georgia, Isakson and Chambliss, are not among the group. Funny how these two only join bi-partisan groups and never seem to stand up and be counted among the Republicans.

So now the fight is in the Senate. I encourage people to call and write their Senators and urge them to vote against this UAW bailout and to join the filibuster. More then joining the filibuster make their intentions known publicly.

On another matter I caught parts of the congressional committee hearings that questioned Kashkari yesterday about the $350 billion under his control for the financial institutions and Rep Price once again asked the most simple of questions that was met with the most lamest answer from Mr Kashkari.

Rep Price asked him for examples of how that money had been used to grant loans to small businesses or average people. Mr Kashkari answers was he would call him tomorrow with the answer.

It is just as feared, and warned about. Our tax dollars are disappearing into a black hole over at these financial institutions, it is not being used for what it was intended to be used for, and after all of the fear mongering by Treasury Secretary Paulson that most congressional critters described as "facing into an abyss", it is all too obvious that rather then helping to lift the economy all that it has done is slow our descent.

Personally I want to get to the bottom economically rather then this slow drip, drip, drip. The sooner we hit bottom we sooner we can go about work in earnest climbing back out.

"That seems to be how we govern these days, ask the president-elect."

So says Atlanta councilman Howard Shook.

That was his response to the news that President - elect wants to implement his version of the New Deal.

Local municipalities are now lining up with their Christmas wish lists to present to the Obama folks for their share of the "free" money the federal government is promising to hand out.

It isn't just Atlanta though, the cities of Marietta and Acworth in Cobb county also have their eyes on the money.
 

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, a national lobbying group, has compiled an 803-page report detailing needs by city and state. Six Georgia cities -- Atlanta, Marietta, College Park, Acworth, Athens and Savannah -- are included in the report.

Together, they've requested billions of dollars for projects, such as $2.5 million for a water line extension in College Park; $1.5 million for street repaving in Acworth; and $1 million to dredge a water treatment plant in Athens.

All across this country, in cities big and small, they seem to be all too willing to bow down to the federal government, for everything related to running their communities. In a day and age when we should be asking the federal government to get out of lives, elected officials are basically handing over any sort of sovereignty they have to Big Brother.

We need to return to the ideals of handling local problems locally. By begging for these federal funds and if they do in fact get them, they are also agreeing to any sort of federal oversight and intrusion into their local lives that will no doubt accompany it.

Will the federal government appoint a whole new group of federal oversight folks to monitor the use of these funds, not just to see that they are spent as they were intended, but also in a manner in this politically correct world that they deem appropriate?

If there is one thing we should have learned by now is that there is no way that the myopic denizens of DC can manage any sort of program down to the local level. For all of the grief that the Bush administration got for it's Katrina recovery effort, I would think the stories of FEMA handing out debit cards to "victims" which resulted in people using them for everything from big screen tv's to liquor would still resonate. In every program which involves federal oversight, greed and corruption quickly take hold, and it would be no different with the Obama adminstration and the Democrat led congress handing out money in return for votes.

These sort of free handouts are no different then what Gov. Blagojevich is accused of doing in Chicago, except that in this case lawmakers will give it a seal of approval by passing legislation making it legal.

We need to cut out dependance on the federal government, not increase it.

There is a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson but in actuality was made by President Gerald Ford, when he was a representative,  "A government big enough to supply you with everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have...."

On the one hand there is the attitude that if they are handing out money I might as well get in line, but on the other hand if you are like me, you realize nothing in life is free. It is the same tactic drug dealers use to build a customer base. They give a free sample knowing that they will then have a customer for life.

Today in my class, in AP calculus, they were working on an AP exam and looking at a question. I was roaming around listening to them, but I was not directing anything."

Smith and others argue that this less-lecture approach also gives students the opportunity to discuss a problem and "justify" how they got to an answer, even if that answer is not correct.

Are you freaking kidding me? Sadly no, and this method of teaching is being endorsed by the Cobb county school board and has been implementated.

First off when I was in school and you were taking an exam and decided to discuss it, it was called cheating. It normally resulted in the teacher collecting your paper and giving you a zero.

Now it is encouraged, and not only that wrong answers aren't necessarily a bad thing.

With teaching like this I think the job market will remain strong for my generation and the unemployment offices will be filled with young people who can hold their head high, with their self esteem intact while collecting their unemployment checks. Provided that is, that they are ever able to get that first job.

It isn't like math is an especially critical skill or anything right. Remember a few years ago a multi million dollar space probe shot right past Mars because the folks that worked on it forget to do some conversion from our system of measurements to the metric system? To quote Maxwell Smart, "Missed it by that much".

Hey we got computers to do all of that stuff anyway. Well computers have to be programmed. Trust me when I say computers are dumber then humans. They have an annonying habit of doing what they are told to do, not what you want them to do. A lot of programming revolves around having a good foundation in math.

Thank goodness my child is no longer in government schools. Algebra kicked her tail, and it took some tutoring along with extra help to help her get the hang of it, but at least she can make change without relying on a cash register to give here the answer. In fact she likes to play one of my favorite games which is to wait until the sale is final and the cashier has completed the transaction to hand the cashier the odd change just to watch them get all flustered because they can no longer depend on the answer provided.

In Smith's guest column, she writes, the new method features "the fact that if Johnny answered 2+2 as 5, it might hurt his self-esteem and turn him off to math forever...Now it all depends on how you try to get the answer.

Like the article says, this isn't California we are talking about but rather Georgia.

 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention this. South Cobb High School will be marching in the inaugration parade for Barack Obama. I went to school, way back when dinosaurs roamed the planet, at the other school on this side of the county which made us natural rivals, but I still extend my congratulations to them.

The band was selected by the Presidential Inaugural Committee from more than 1,300 applicants and will represent the Cobb County School District, the state of Georgia, Cobb County and the city of Austell in the parade.

Under the direction of Zachary Cogdill, the band will march down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the Presidential reviewing stand while performing "Georgia On My Mind" by Hoagy Carmichael, and "Summon the Heroes", a tune composed by John Williams for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

It is ironic that they got this honor considering that Cobb county is such a solid red county and normally these type of honors go to schools in Atlanta.

Make us proud, I know you will.

 

Chip Rogers (R) represents Cherokee county and parts of Cobb county in the state legislature and during the past week he was elected to be the majority leader. He is strong on cutting taxes and also on getting the governor and legislature to look at different ways of generating revenue other then raising property taxes.

And here is something really refreshing to see in this world of too many professional politicians.

Rogers announced several months ago that he would pursue the position as majority leader, after deciding not to make a bid for lieutenant governor.

Rogers said the responsibilities of that position would take him away too often from his wife and four young children.

Rogers said at that time he was not ruling out a bid for higher office at some time in the future.

The legislative session for Georgia will start in January and wish Mr Rogers all the best and I look forward to seeing what issues are put forth this year in the Georgia legislature. We are facing some big issues from the drought to the economy and it will be interesting to see just what their priorities are.

 

I am going to link to the full story of how people in the Chambliss campaign and indeed probably Saxby himself shunned the Georgia Republican Party chairman and others associated with the GA Republican party during the visit by Sarah Palin and in the post election victory party.

Basically Chambliss' people would not allow any members of the GA GOP to be on stage with him. I do not blame Sue Everhart for being mad and for those in the GA GOP to be equally upset.

Those people worked their tails off to get not only you elected, but all other Republicans in the state and they did it without losing a single seat.

This is from an email making the rounds.

The blight on this Victory was when Tom Perdue, Campaign Manager and another Saxby employee physically blocked our State Party Chairman from going on the stage to share in this great Victory for Georgia Republicans.

Go here to read the full story.

It hasn't been a good year for now former state Senator Regina Thomas, who represented Savannah in the state legislature.

First she quit her seat to run for the US House of Representatives and got beat in the Democrat primary. The guy that beat her eventually lost to Republican John Barrow, who was the incumbent.

Well now the State Ethics Commission has some questions for her about her financial disclosure statements that she was late in filing.

The State Ethics Commission plans to begin talks with former state Sen. Regina Thomas on fines she must pay for failing to disclose her personal finances for 2005 and 2006.

Thomas, a Democrat who represented Savannah, did not file disclosures for those two years until April of this year, many months after they were due, according to the commission.

None of this is dampening her spirits however and she is looking forward to the 2010 elections.

This is just priceless. Vernon Jones is shooting off his mouth blaming the media for the fact that the Democrats were not able to beat Saxby Chambliss for the senate seat.

Of course the inference here is that if he had been the candidate instead of Jim Martin he would have won. Martin beat Jones in the primary.

DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones blamed liberal media bias -- and a Democratic Party that listens too much to the media -- for the Democrats' poor showing in Tuesday's high-profile U.S. Senate race in Georgia.

"The Democratic party has to stop putting up these liberal candidates who tend to win in the in the primary but not in the general," Jones told a Wednesday afternoon press conference. "They keep recruiting candidates who are consistently out of touch with mainstream Georgians."

Now the fact that Vernon Jones while head of Dekalb county was involved in numerous investigations for corruption and that nasty little investigation into rape allegations, which mysteriously went away without the woman ever recanting her charges didn't have nothing to do with it did it Vernon?

The liberals accuse Vernon of being a Republican in Democrats clothing. He did vote for Bush, but this guy is far from being a Republican.

Dekalb county is also the home of another well known moonbat Democrat, Cynthia McKinney.

U S Representative Tom Price (GA-6) is urging all Georgians to send Christmas cards to the service members stationed abroad and he is opening up his office to assist in the effort.

U.S. Rep. Tom Price is inviting Georgians to send holiday greetings to American troops by bringing cards -- with handwritten messages -- to his congressional offices.

The Roswell Republican plans to distribute some of the cards in person to Walter Reed Army Hospital patients and arrange to have the rest sent by the Army to soldiers stationed abroad.

Christmas, Hanukkah or nondenominational cards are welcomed and should have a few words of personal appreciation added by the giver, his spokesman said.

The cards should be in unsealed envelopes and brought or mailed to one of Price's offices: 3730 Roswell Road, Suite 50, Marietta, GA 30062, or 100 North St., Suite 150, Canton, GA 30114.

Price is asking that the cards be delivered to his office by Dec. 10.

More information can be found at his web site.

Thank you

I have not made it any secret that I do not like Saxby Chambliss and that I had hoped Republicans instead of just spouting rhetoric about changing the party and trying to get it to move to a more conservative slant would have used this runoff election to make that point, but alas that was not to be.

Saxby won by a good margin with his challenger Jim Martin only winning in those counties that would vote for a cartoon character as long as it had a D behind it's name.

Saxby scored big in rural Georgia, largely due to his active support of a huge farm bill recently that was laden with "incentives" also known as earmarks and pork to most of us. Consider it the farm version of a bailout bill. I don't blame the farmers so much, hell if the government is going to redistribute the wealth might as well get in the receiving line, while all the while the giving line gets smaller and smaller. Soon they too will be in the giving line.

The next big test for the Republican party is going to be it's selection of the head of the RNC.

Right now two names are making the biggest push for that job. They are Michael Steele, former Lt Governor of VA, and Saul Anuzis, Michigan Republican Party Chairman. It is important for people to get involved and quit just paying lip service to the powers that be of the Republican party. There are only two things professional politicians respect, money and votes. If you can't deliver either of those they have little time for you.

So while I can look forward to another 6 years of form letters from Saxby office to any email, letter, or phone call I make on pending legislation and 6 months worth of correspondence begging for money prior to his next campaign for reelection, I can always look to 2010 when Johnny Isakson, my other senator is up for reelection and see if the tune stays the same or not.

Oh and about that super majority that everybody was scared about just because Jim Martin was Democrat, don't be too sure you aren't getting that with Saxby in the Senate anyway.

There is not much in the way of spending by the federal government that I agree with, but in matters of national defense, one of the few items that the federal government is required to provide funding for in the Constitution, I allow some latitude. That being said looking at the price tag for the F-22 Raptor Jets does make me pause, but it is the state of the art aircraft and part of the reason that we continue to be the worlds only superpower.

The total dollar figure on this defense/finance bill that the funding for the F-22 contains is also staggering, $611 billion.

It is imperative that we continue the production of these planes, and I applaud our local legislatures for getting involved in the fight to keep this money available, arguments about the economy aside.

It does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that Barack Obama may have the final say on whether or not the funds that were originally allocated for this project, which were subsequently reduced by an under-secretary at the Pentagon, will be restored or perhaps cut completely.

In the past the defense budget has always been the favorite target of budget cutters on Capitol Hill while at the same time being the favorite playground for politicians to park their favorite pork barrel earmarks in.

In late September, Congress passed a $611 billion defense-finance bill, which included $140 million to be made available immediately for advance procurement of parts for 20 new F-22s, thereby keeping manufacturing lines open.

Weeks later, Pentagon officials said they would release only $50 million, securing assembly of only four new planes.

The final assembly of these planes is done in Marietta, and it is because of the jobs this work secures for the local community that the legislatures are fighting for it. While they lobbied hard to restore the funding they only gave a passing mention of the importance of having these planes in our inventory.

"It makes no sense in a time when our economy is suffering - when talking about $25 billion to automakers - to cut something like this that would cut 70,000 jobs and take away our air superiority," Gingrey said. [Phil Gingrey R-GA 11]

With Obama under pressure from the far left, anti war wing of his progressive supporters this may be just the sort of thing he can use to soothe the Code Pink contingent.

Obama will take the oath of office Jan. 21. The authorization act requires that he submit a decision on the spending to Congressional defense committees by March 1.