Livin' In America

I'll never depend on MARTA.

Some news about Atlanta that doesn't involve the murder of young innocents, NASCAR, or traffic.

Maureen Dowd is unhappy that American women aren't living up to her expectations.

Ho hum.

Trumpet this. Soft-pedal this.

Thanks God I don't have to go to school in Atlanta.

I guarantee you: Hillary will run for President.

I used to think she'd lose badly. However, the Republicans are proving themselves so pusillanimous, the Democrats deserve to win - by default.

Atlanta's attempt to brand itself isn't going too well.

The first stab at it, "The Three O's" has been massively mocked as the "The Three Ho's". Those who remember Stewart Avenue - I'm sorry, Metropolitan Avenue (what a difference a name change makes) know exactly where that's going.

Part of the problem is the focus: a battle that's been won and is old news (civil rights for black people), professional (black) athletes, (black) rap musicians, and an on-the-skids soft drink manufacturer. Nothing about, oh, say, nanotechnology, software systems, telecommunications, biotechnology, business schools. No, the advertising campaign is firmly rooted in the past, and in minority interests. No wonder it can't get traction.

I wouldn't mind so much, but this weekend I saw a presentation by a (black) software developer called Kito Mann, who's probably contributed more to advancing civilization than Michael Vick ever will. He's not "black" enough because he's an intellectual.

So long as Atlanta advertises itself in terms of professional sports, thug culture, and the civil rights movement, the rest of America is going to shrug and move on.


UPDATE: For example, the city of Atlanta will never talk about this.

Georgia's law requiring photo ID to vote was struck down as a poll tax.

So, the state set up a program to give out free (i.e., subsidized by actual taxpayers) photo IDs to "the less fortunate" (i.e., those who've decided to do nothing with their lives).

Result? Well, nobody came.

Let's face it: those who can pay the poll tax will, and then vote. Those who can't won't vote anyway. Daytime TV and a bottle of ripple are much more compelling when you're the recipient, rather than the forced donor, of government largesse.

First the dolphins are taken out of tuna.

Now they're suing the U.S. Navy.

The Simpsons were prescient.

What was Bush thinking?

Miers should withdraw.

Yesterday was the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafagar.

I'm glad Atlanta's mayor is feeling optimistic. Meanwhile, the sewers are collapsing under the weight of city corruption.

I used to write software to control these sorts of devices. For Hitachi telecom, rather than Fujitsu.

Anyway, it's interesting that Atlanta's airport is getting this sort of infrastructure. It hints that the amount of automation at the airport is about to skyrocket.

I'm sort of a never-surrender, never give in kind of guy, so I like Delta's plans.

Just look at the lineup! From Atlanta, I'll be able to fly direct to Tel Aviv, Israel, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Nice, Athens, Venice (Venice!), and Moscow. This in addition to Delta's current offerings.

I just love this city.

What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday's Al-Jazeera Constitution headlined with "Iraq holding its breath". The Iraqis were voting on a new constitution, and the bed-wetters at the AJC were hoping for massive bombings, thousands dead, voting disrupted, black eye for Chimpy Bushitler MacHalliburton, etc., etc. This after Thursday's headline "Constitution could destroy Iraq".

Today, it's obvious the voting was pretty much peaceful - less violence than on 30 January, when the Iraqis had national elections, the Sunnis participated, and *they* voted for the constitution. In other words massive success.

The AJC's response? Well, of course, today's headline is about the untimely death of a professional athlete, and Home Depot's lack of civic involvement. The Home Depot story was repeated in the business section, so Bernie Marcus must have pissed off somebody in the Cox family. The Iraqi Constitution? Page 3. With a title ("Little Violence as Iraqis Vote") that suggests the 'Yes' vote doesn't mean all that much.

Let's see. Three years ago Saddam won with 99.9% of the vote. Now he's in jail. Thirty months after the US invaded, the Iraqis are voting on their own Constitution. During the vote, most of the security was provided by an increasingly confident and competent Iraqi army and police force. Just for comparison, the US Constitution was about 13 years in the making.

I think that when the history of this is written, we're going to see that GWB changed the course of world history, despite the NYT, ANSWER, MoveOn.org, Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan, and all he rest of the watermelon left. God bless him.


UPDATE: "Iraq Charter Seems Assured of Approval".

Money Quote: "Sunni Arabs, who controlled the country under Saddam, widely opposed the charter, fearing it will break the country into three sections: powerful Kurdish and Shiite mini-states in the oil-rich north and south, and a weak and impoverished Sunni zone in central and western Iraq."

You can rest assured that if the Sunnis happened to be sitting on the oil reserves, they'd tell the rest of Iraq to go to hell.

This whole process is so perfect. The Sunnis - normally the overlords in every Arab country - have to accept that they'll have to play well with others, because they've got nothing. The Kurds and Shi'ites are willing to go in with the Sunnis to preserve the borders of Iraq, but are reserving the right to go their own way if the Sunnis keep up the Zarqawi bit. There's a really delicate dance going on here, and the end - I think - will be a situation not unlike the US: three fairly-independent regions with a federal apparatus over them all. The rest of the Muslim world may eventually get the message that states can be constructed that don't require maximum leaders.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The Sunni nightmare: Iraqi security forces that don't depend on Sunni leadership.

I blame the Federal Government.

There's a lot of talk going around about how this will be China's century.

I doubt it. In fact, China in its present form will be lucky to survive the century.

Living in Atlanta, you tend to forget the impact an international airport has on your community.

The people of the Quad Cities are now one connection away from direct flights to Tokyo. How great is that?!??!!

Up and down Shallowford Road, I see more and more signs in Spanish. There are Spanish radio stations in Atlanta.

Most of these businesses serve a fast-growing illegal immigrant community. My prediction: in 15 years Atlanta will be like LA is today.

Among other things, it's because the INS is a complete shambles.

Actually, scrap that comment about Atlanta turning into LA. It'll be gone under an al Qaeda mushroom cloud long before then.


UPDATE: Yes, the mushroom cloud is increasingly likely.

Today's political shows are full of the DeLay indictment.

NPR is referring to DeLay as the "former" House Majority Leader. Eleanor Clift has him going to jail for years.

Mind you, none of the shows comment that a grand jury is a one sided proceeding where the defense does not get to appear, present evidence or cross-examine witnesses. Hence, the old saying, a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich.

Interesting, isn't it, that people as diverse as the Clintons and Michael Jackson get the "would indict a ham sandwich" treatment, while DeLay, on the other hand, is a zealot who's already been tried, judged, and dispatched to jail by the mainstream media.


UPDATE: Whoops! It turns out the original indictment covers conduct that wasn't a crime at the time.

Yes, a prosecutor can in fact get an indictment on a ham sandwich. Or an indictment on conduct that wasn't a crime. The mainstream media are downplaying this screw-up, saying it's a mere technicality. My ass. It's the difference between criminal and non-criminal behaviour. Technicality? I think not.

Mind you, it's good news for DeLay. A prosecutor this incompetent really ought to be working in Atlanta. And probably soon will be. Trying, oh, say, Ray Lewis.


UPDATE: News you won't hear on NPR, or read at the NYT: Let's give 'im a fair trial, and then hang 'im!

It's a sad day for Atlanta when a drug addict has more presence of mind than the entire Fulton County Sheriff's Department.


UPDATE: Man! That was one expensive breakfast.

This is one kick-ass article about how a photograph can be taken completely out of context.

It's also just great that citizen journalists are able to point out how the mainstream media manipulate images to tell the story *they* want told.