Tea Party racist?????? Give me a break.

You have got to be kidding me. This only further illustrates that the NAACP have become a completely useless instrument. By condemning the Tea Party movement as racist, is the NAACP saying that those its represents don't pay taxes?
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leaders passed a resolution Tuesday condemning racism within the Tea Party during the 101st annual convention in Kansas City, Mo. The original called for the NAACP to "educate its membership and the community that this movement is not just about higher taxes and limited government." It suggested that something could evolve "and become more dangerous for that small percentage of people that really think our country has been taken away from them.""We felt the time had come to stand up and say, 'It's time for the tea party to be responsible members of this democracy and make sure they don't tolerate bigots or bigotry among their members,'" NAACP President Ben Jealous said ahead of the debate. "We don't have a problem with the tea party's existence. We have an issue with their acceptance and welcoming of white supremacists into their organizations."Tea party activist Alex Poulter, who co-founded a Kansas City-area group called Political Chips, disputed the allegations. He said the movement is made up of a "diverse group of folks who are upset with what is going on with this country." Poulter said he has seen no evidence of racism within the movement." It's unfounded but people are running with these accusations like they are true," he said.
A group called the St. Louis Tea Party issued its own resolution Tuesday calling on the NAACP to withdraw the proposal, which won't become official until the NAACP's national board of directors approves it during its meeting in October in Baltimore. Jealous also urged people to attend an Oct. 2 rally in Washington to remind Congress and President Barack Obama about the challenges facing minority neighborhoods.Though not affiliated with either major political party, tea party activists espouse a political philosophy of less government, a free market, lower taxes, individual rights and political activism.The group has faced occasional claims of racism, most notably in March near the end of the bitter health care debate. U.S. Reps. John Lewis, Andre Carson and Emanuel Cleaver said some demonstrators, many of them tea party activists, yelled a racial epithet as the black congressmen walked from House office buildings to the Capitol.Cleaver, D-Mo., also said he was spit on.A white lawmaker said he also heard the epithets, but conservative activists said the lawmakers were lying."They are pulling people together and focusing on the negative, and then it's hard to make anything positive out of that," said Anita L. Russell, president of the Kansas City, Mo., branch of the NAACP, which introduced the resolution. "And then these groups, these extremist groups, are looking for something, and they are latching on to this. The thing is going to grow and grow out of control."

And just when you thought it was safe to go to the bathroom....

July 3 marks 39 years since Jim Morrison, the deep-voiced front man for the band The Doors, was found dead in an apartment bathtub in Paris, France.But that doesn't mean "The Lizard King" isn't still making the rounds in one of his former West Hollywood haunts. As devout fans gather at his Parisian grave this weekend, looking for signs of the brooding singer and poet's spirit, they might be better served if they visited a Mexican restaurant at 8512 Santa Monica Blvd.
Mexico is a Los Angeles restaurant that once housed The Doors' recording studio where Jim Morrison recorded "L.A. Woman"; the bathroom was once the vocal booth."You feel it here almost every day, throughout the entire place, but especially near this spot," says Christina Arena, general manager of the festive restaurant that's been open about a year. And just what spot does Arena refer to? The unisex restroom. You see, the building Mexico occupies was formerly "The Doors Workshop," an office space/crash pad/recording studio used by the band in the late 1960s and early 1970s. And the restroom? It was the actual vocal booth where Jim Morrison recorded the classic "L.A. Woman" in 1970. Today, a framed plaque featuring the album cover, gold record and hand-scrawled lyrics hangs outside the famous john. Fans come from all over the world to pay homage to Morrison at this sacred site, and they may get more than they bargained for.

Transportation solved?????

How was your drive to work and then home today? If you felt the commute was too long and roads too crowded, then join other Americans who think the same way about our state. Spending on transportation in Georgia has lagged well behind the state's explosive population growth, and our state spends the second lowest per capita in the country on transportation, ahead of only Tennessee. Road projects in Georgia are funded mostly with money from the state's gasoline tax, but those revenues have tumbled amid recession. Less revenue means fewer road improvements.

This is a problem that our State legislators have struggled for years to remedy, to end some of the worst gridlock in the nation in Metro Atlanta and in Georgia, the ninth-largest state. Georgia business leaders have pressed hard for a transportation funding plan saying the state's spending has not kept pace with its explosive growth. Supporters say more money is needed to keep and attract businesses to the state, despite critics who say the plans focus too heavily on the Metro Atlanta. Ah, but in rides the General Assembly on a white horse.

The last session of the General Assembly brought us a new transportation funding bill that has been hailed by lawmakers as the solution to our state's transportation woes. The House and the Senate overcame years of struggle and approved an funding bill that would allow Georgia voters to decide whether to hike the sales tax by one cent to pay for roads, bridges and rail projects. Sounds pretty simple doesn't it? Under the plan, Georgians would vote during the 2012 presidential primary on whether to increase the sales tax for transportation. The state would be broken into regions and only regions that approve the sales tax increase would have the money to spend.

Ah, but there lies one of the problems of this much heralded solution, the timing. The 2012 Presidential elections, for most of the counties and communities in this state, is also the time for the renewal of local SPLOST taxes on the ballot. Each election cycle, nervous officials at the local level sweat the outcome of SPLOST votes from a public that increasingly feels it is overtaxed. So now, instead of voting for a simple 1 or 2 cent sales tax increase for a local SPLOST, the voters will also be asked to consider another 1 cent sales tax for transportation. Will the extra 1 cent sales tax be too much for voters to stomach?

This matters to local governments because, in this tough economy, they have a direct need for SPLOST funds to continue to flow in whether its too pay for upcoming projects, or projects that were approved when times were good. For them to even think of losing that revenue could very well mean tax hikes in other areas, or more cuts to services. Not a pretty thought for local officials to face.

And here is, what I consider, the major problem with the transportation bill passed by the General Assembly, a complete lack of backbone. Like everything else, the members of the General Assembly have unburdened themselves of making tough decisions by just passing it down the line to the local level. "You're roads are crappy, the traffic is congested? You should've convinced your voters to pass the sales tax." Where is the spirit of the General Assembly that, in the 1830's, financed a railroad project that gave Georgia more railroad miles than the entire rest of our country combined? Where is the General Assembly that in the 1940's and 1950's financed a transportation construction frenzy of paved roads and bridges that still adorn our highways. When you cross that bridge next time, look at the date on the side.

No, today's legislators don't seem to have the guts of legislators of old. They seem to be too comfortable in their positions of presumed power to take a hard stand on an issue that would completely reinvigorate commercial and industrial growth in our state, as it has in the past. Such a stand might possibly jeapordize their position, and that's just too risky. No, it's much better to just drop the load, like so many other loads, on local leaders. Let them make the tough decisions, and let them take the heat. Is it just me, or does that almost smack of cowardice?

And the trailers return.....

Now here is a good little story. After all the hell that was raised, and blame heaped on President Bush, it seems the Obama Administration is making its own blunders. The FEMA trailers that housed residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina five years ago were banned by the federal government after they were found to have toxic levels of formaldehyde. But they're being used in the oil spill disaster anyway. Disaster contracting firms like Alpha 1 are selling the FEMA trailers to cleanup workers in the Gulf of Mexico, where the demand for cheap, short-term housing has skyrocketed as crews work around the clock to battle the gushing crude. The notorious mobile homes start at $2,500. "These are perfectly good trailers," said Alpha 1's owner Ron Mason. "Look, you know that new car smell? Well, that's formaldehyde, too. The stuff is in everything. It's not a big deal."

You know Ron, that new car smell is pumped into members of my family buried in the red clay of Georgia, but that doesn't mean I want to enjoy its benefits as well. Residents living in the trailers after the Hurricane Katrina disaster had long reported suffering headaches, nose bleeds and difficulty breathing. The government sold the trailers in 2006. And in 2008, tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found hazardous levels of formaldehyde gas in the units. David Paulison, the FEMA director at the time, told NBC in 2008 that the agency "will not ever use the trailers again" to house disaster victims.But now, they're making a debut in the oil spill cleanup. "The price was right," Buddy Fuzzell, of Cahaba Disaster Recovery, a contracting company that bought 15 of the trailers for its cleanup workers, told the Times. And apparently, the gulf is not the only place the trailers are resurfacing. In western North Dakota, where there is an oil boom, there are reports that the trailers are being used to house oil rig workers as well. Instead of selling the trailers, why didn't FEMA just scrap them, or better yet, give them to Palestinian refugee camps.

US to sue Arizona over immigration?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the federal government will sue Arizona, challenging the state's tough new immigration law, which gives police power to stop and question anyone they suspect is in the country illegally.Clinton told an Ecuadorean television station earlier this month that the Justice Department, at President Obamas's direction, "will be bringing a lawsuit." But she did not say on what grounds the U.S. would do so, and the Justice Department declined to confirm that such a case was going forward. But on Friday, a senior Obama administration official told CBS News a federal challenge to the law would be filed when the Justice Department finishes building a case.Clinton's remarks came as no surprise and another government source told the Washington Post "there is no reason to think" that her statement is incorrect. The Obama administration has indicated for weeks that a lawsuit is likely and the president himself has been highly critical of the law, which caused a storm of protest from immigrants-rights groups and various threats to boycott the state of Arizona. The American public, however, is divided on the law. A video of Clinton's June 8 interview was distributed by the ACLU (big surprise there), which has been calling for a federal lawsuit. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said she was "stunned and angered" to hear of Clinton's remarks, CNN reported. If the federal government intends to sue, Brewer said, "the least it can do is inform us before it informs the citizens of another nation."

Gwinnet County corrects payroll error, 16 years later.

There is a limit to what should be done in some cases, and this is definately one of them. Aaron Bovos, Gwinnett County's chief financial officer, has angered a lot of county employees earlier this week when he initiated a project to "clean up receivables and to eliminate outstanding obligations," by asking 180 employees to return bonuses that were overpaid back in September of 1994. Is it just me, or shouldn't there be a statute of limitations for asking for a gift back?
In his defense, Bovos and his office claim they are attempting to "better manage assets and resources, including collecting outstanding advances made to employees." Why did the county wait 16 years to correct an oversight on their part, and how did it happen?

In September of 1994 a new employee pay cycle was instituted in Gwinnett County where there was a shortening of one pay period from 14 to 12 days. The purpose of the shortened pay cycle was to ensure that those employees working reduced hours would receive less pay, but to counteract what might have been a bad financial shortfall for employees back in 1994, paychecks were increased, leading to the overpayment of 509 county employees to the tune of $114,876.55. Why did this generous act of bonus benevolence on the part of the county become a hot button issue all of sudden? Bovos said that the county has been carrying this past due account for 16 years and that it needed to be settled. Since he initiated work on collecting these over payments, 329 employees have already seen the overpayment debts taken out of their paychecks at retirement.
Current employees who still need to return the money have various options for paying back this debt. They can apply it towards vacation leave or a floating holiday or they can make a cash payment on their own. I think Mr. Bovos needs to find a better way to spend his time and resources. $114 thousand in overpayments made 16 years ago will not fix the millions that the county is now short of, and, after all, it was the county's fault, and not the employees.

North Korea threatens war.... again.

First of all, why is this little showdown between North and South Korea over a sunken South Korean warship not gaining a little more attention in the media. It seems that a few tar balls washing up in Key West is more important than the implications involved in this strutting contest in the Pacific. First may I remind readers that North and South Korea have never signed a formal treaty, and are still, technically, at war. Second is the fact that we have a large military presence in South Korea, and are tied by treaty to defend them in war. Thirdly we have a senile dictator in charge of the North who may wish to go out in a blaze of glory. And forthly, we have a weak government in Washington that may not have the stomach or balls to stand up to the North as we should. And now for a little background.

Tensions deepened today on the Korean peninsula as South Korea accused North Korea of firing a torpedo that sank a naval warship, killing 46 sailors in the country's worst military disaster since the Korean War. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation following the release of long-awaited results from a multinational investigation into the March 26 sinking near the Koreas' tense maritime border. North Korea, reacting swiftly, called the results a fabrication, and warned that any retaliation would trigger war. It continued to deny involvement in the sinking of the warship Cheonan.
"If the (South Korean) enemies try to deal any retaliation or punishment, or if they try sanctions or a strike on us .... we will answer to this with all-out war," Col. Pak In Ho of North Korea's navy told broadcaster APTN in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang.An international civilian-military investigation team said evidence overwhelmingly proves a North Korean submarine fired a homing torpedo that caused a massive underwater blast that tore the Cheonan apart. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued from the frigid Yellow Sea waters, but 46 perished. Since the 1950-53 war on the Korean peninsula ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas remain locked in a state of war and divided by the world's most heavily armed border. The United States currently has 28,500 troops in South Korea, and thousands more in Japan which is in range of North Korean missiles. The exchange of war rhetoric raised tensions, but the isolated communist regime - already under international pressure to cease its nuclear weapons program - often warns of dire consequences against South Korea or Washington for any punitive steps against it. Its large but decrepit military would be no match for U.S. and Korean forces. The impoverished country is already chafing from international sanctions tightened last year in the wake of widely condemned nuclear and missile tests. U.N. sanctions currently block funding to certain officials and companies, while North Korea is barred from exporting weapons and countries are authorized to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying illicit cargo. The Obama White House called the sinking an unacceptable "act of aggression" that violates international law and the 1953 truce. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama declared his support for South Korea, calling North Korea's actions "inexcusable." China, North Korea's traditional ally, called the sinking of the naval ship "unfortunate" but stopped short of backing Seoul.