Fresh Loaf

— Our buddy over at ATLmalcontent delves into the outrage over the satirical cover for this week’s New Yorker, which depicts Barack Obama as a Muslim terrorist and his wife, Michelle, as a ’60s radical complete with an assault rifle and ammo belt. He also whips off my favorite line of the day: “Must we always play down to the audience, sanitizing cleverness so as not to confuse the stupid?”

— What does it take to be a male feminist ally? Glad you asked because over at Being Amber Rhea, the burning question is answered. And, as it turns out, it’s not so easy. In fact, there’s a whole list of qualities it takes to be a proper male feminist ally, and giving mere lip service isn’t nearly enough.

— Can the quest to become a male feminist ally cause an existential crisis? Perhaps. But Maigh’s existential crisis seems caused by a move to the burbs. Her hope is that her purchase of a new loft/condo in Downtown will make her feel whole again. I hope so, too, because she has the best mission statement I’ve ever read: “I ramble. You read it. It’s a clean and simple relationship.” Ah, if only all relationships were so simple.

— Juliana at Blog For Democracy takes a break from politics to note the passing of the world’s oldest blogger, an 108-year-old woman from Australia.

— Over at the Bitchslappin’ blog, there’s a theory that calculating our Carbon Footprint is already yesterday’s news. The new catch phrase here in Georgia is our Water Footprint, self-sufficiency vs. dependency, as in: Hey, we’re running out of the stuff.

With the once mighty ATLBloggers.net seemingly kaput, many of the local bloggers who fed it with their content have migrated to APWBWGTTD.com.

Local bloggers and blog readers are encouraged to join the site and attend the group’s monthly happy hours. APWBWGTTD stands for Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink.

Before I get to those other bills, let me briefly talk about the plan to reduce the commission from 7 members down to 5. One of the reasons I believe that legislation hasn’t been introduced yet is the legislators behind it haven’t found a way to get the bill written as a general bill in order to by-pass the Atlanta-Fulton delegation.

— Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered provides a succinct summary of legislation at the Capitol that will most impact Fulton County.

1. Take my little, yippy dogs to a children’s playground after dark and let them run around off-leash.

2. Get stupid drunk at Shawn Mullins’ 40th birthday bash and, with his family in the audience, yell out “You went to college Shawn?!”

— Decaturite at DecaturMetro weighs in on two things he witnessed this weekend and, upon reflection, wouldn’t do himself.

Over the years, as I built up a good clientele and found myself spending more and more time in the space, I have been working to make this room warmer, more inspirational and better organized. Right now, the space is cozy (dimensions to come) and the walls are what could best be described as a putty color. As a result, I find myself throwing open the blinds, turning on the lights and begging the sun to move just a little bit that way, no…that way…yes, that’s it…to liven things up in here.

— Paige at the Avery Lane Experience gives us a glimpse into her freelancer’s lair and asks for suggestions as to how she can improve it. (My advice is on the way, Paige.)

Yet the [Buckhead] library is a likely casualty of the ongoing movement to transform Buckhead into Alpharetta. Seems you can’t have enough mixed-use developments.

– ATLMalcontent has an excellent piece about Atlanta’s stagnant architecture scene posted at his wicked den of diatribes. He, like several others, bemoans the possible loss of the Buckhead Library.

I just don’t get it. We’ve got the Republican leadership wanting to raise taxes on 174 services, increase the sales tax and essentially nickel and dime us to death. Imagine being a small service business owner and having to deal with collecting taxes now. What a mess. I see NO focused opposition to this from the DPG, caucus or the county parties.

– sndeak at Tondee’s Tavern wonders why the Democratic Party of Georgia and local parties haven’t shown a little outrage and backbone over the outlandish tax hikes businesses and customers across the state would see with the More-Subpar-Than-GREAT tax plan, the mutated dungeon baby of House Speaker Glenn Richardson.

Even if you are not an avid biker looking to further personalize your dangerously cool lavender fixed-speed vintage bike, this will probably be a neat place to pick up tiny original works of art for your desk or elsewhere!

– Christa at Pecanne Log spreads the word about a call for art from Octane, a great coffee shop and office-away-from-the-office for one editor of a local alt-weekly. The java joint will auction off “spoke cards” April 12 to raise money for a bicycle-maintenance shop on a coffee farm in Rwanda.

People, be careful. Especially women. Which I really hate saying because fear really sucks. Just be smart and be careful and maybe you can avoid being afraid.

– Christa at PecanneLog writes about a friend of hers who was robbed outside her Kirkwood home. The police officer who responded to the call told her friend that there has been a “rash” of these types of crimes, including break-ins and robbers forcing people to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Remember this budget is about choices. If we can give Delta a 30 million dollar tax break on jet fuel, we can restore 30 million in education cuts to our poorest counties.

– FlackAttack of Tondee’s Tavern points out Gov. Sonny Perdue’s recent reductions in education funding. Update: The House Appropriations Committee reinstated the funds.

Least shocking statement of the day:

I have high regard for Limbaugh.

Of course you do, dear. After all you are brothers in the belief that facts matter less fury.

– James at Drifting Through The Grift, writing about Jim “WootDawg” Wooten, Atlanta’s most favorite Orville Redenbacher impersonator.

Contrary to a blog rumor we read earlier today, the Plaza Theatre is not on the brink of closure.

“We are definitely not closing,” says Jonathan Rej, owner of the 69-year-old art deco movie house on Ponce De Leon Avenue. “We’ve had a couple of slow months, but it’s gonna take more than that for us to close up shop.”

Rej says he suspects the closure rumor might have been started by a disgruntled former employee. He also says the bloggers who’ve repeated the rumor have neither telephoned nor e-mailed him. Rej’s e-mail address is on theater’s website.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)

It also makes you wonder, if they were looking for a viable excuse to get rid of the festival in the first place, and the drought made for the perfect scapegoat?

— Duane Moody wonders if the mayor’s decision to keep Pride out of Piedmont Park this year because of the drought might simply be a convenient excuse to thwart the GLBT community’s biggest annual party.

Duane may be on to something.

The mayor also told the Dogwood Festival people that they couldn’t have their festival in Piedmont Park. What color are Dogwood blossoms? WHITE! Think about it.

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The Speaker claims the Senate “shirked” its responsibilities today. I say we did exactly what we were sent here to do – to carefully and thoughtfully decide which actions benefit the people of Georgia.

— Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, blogging for Peach Pundit, calls B.S. on fellow Republican Speaker Glenn Richardson.

Long story short, the House voted yesterday to override 12 of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s vetoes from last year. The Senate is constitutionally required to “immediately consider” the House vetoes. Speaker Richardson is claiming “immediately consider” means vote now. Sen. Johnson says “immediately consider” means start reviewing it carefully.

CL’s Scott Henry explains more here.

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I think that shows the difference between Clinton and Obama. Bill & Hillary Clinton have displayed an interest in civil rights as well as the larger African-American community even when they weren’t running for office. Obama on the other hand, well…he needs the black vote…enough said.

— Andre at Georgia Politics Unfiltered thinks Clintonic interest in civil rights and African-Americans is sincere, but Obamanian interest is just political.

I wonder if he laughed when he wrote that, because I laughed when I read it.

Dale, come down. I know you want high name identification so you can beat Snuggles. But when people talk “high name id,” they don’t mean 300 feet in the air. They mean the number of voters who know who you are.

— Erick at Peach Pundit jabs at former TV reporter and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Dale Cardwell. Cardwell is drumming up publicity for his campaign by perching atop downtown’s 300-feet-tall Corey Tower. Voters interested in learning more about the three stages of human hypothermia can watch Cardwell on his live webcam.

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Now, yes, I know her kids have been involved in some nasty stuff, but it’s time for the Mayor to stop skiing and get back to being a leader for Atlanta. She can overcome any negative publicity her family may bring her by being the kind of Mayor she was in her first term!

— Bloglanta would like Mayor Shirley Franklin to pay a bit more attention to the city in 2008.

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The difficulty of being a micro in Georgia is actually one of the reasons why we feel compelled to do it.

— Monday Night Brewery amens a recent AJC story about the challenges of brewing in Georgia.

I know everyone has better things to do these last two days before Christmas, so why don’t we all take a two day time-out from politics and spend some quality time with our families. At this time of the year, family comes first.

— Georgia Politics Unfiltered’s Andre Walker, writing at Peach Pundit, and requesting a cease-fire on all things politique in the run-up to Christmas.

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My two-year-old threw a kaleidoscope at Santa Claus today.

The holiday misanthrope in me is somewhat proud of that.

— Paige at the Avery Lane Experience, remembering that one of the true joys of Christmas is letting your babychild just be a babychild, eyeballs of part-time shopping mall elves be damned.

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Late last night in the Ponce Kroger parking lot, a white-haired man approached me and told me Shirley Franklin would arrest him if he asked me anything. When I told him I didn’t have any cash, he told me he could have found me a better black mayor in 1969. He then said some other things I couldn’t really understand but I think implicated me in Mayor Franklin’s ascendancy to office and her subsequent vendetta against this man. “She ain’t my mayor,” he said a few times as he wandered off.

— Christa at PecanneLog. The white-haired man — we hope — was not Jim Wooten.

Nothing in the Atlanta blogosphere has been more enjoyable this week than Duane Moody’s 31 Best of 2007, his daily December countdown of his favorite albums of 2007.

Some highlights.

31. Some Mad Hope by Matt Nathanson:

I downloaded it before a trip, and was determined to give it a go while I was traveling. Unfortunate choice or not, the first song on the record is Car Crash, which isn’t really something one wants to hear while flying (the imagery was just too uncomfortable). So the CD went on my back burner.

30. Tangled Up by Girls Aloud:

When the first single, Sexy No No No! was released, my suspicions were confirmed; this was going to be a record that moved fast, and rocked the pop . . . It is masterfully produced, and the manufacturing couldn’t be more pristine, which must have you wondering why I couldn’t give it a perfect 5 star rating. The fifth star is missing first and foremost, because of the strength of previous Girls Aloud hits that unfortunately, greatly overshadow more than a few of the tracks on Tangled Up.

29. Katharine McPhee by Katharine McPhee:

Given what is going on throughout the rest of the world with regards to pop music, I have to say it: America doesn’t have a great track record for doing proper pop. Fortunately for us, Katharine McPhee’s debut is a huge check in the plus column of what good pop should be.

27. Wincing the Night Away by The Shins:

For whatever (stupid) reason, the Shins’ latest album initially wasn’t even in the running for my favorite records of the year; but then I listened to it again, and was like, “WTF? It totally should be!”

And the best one so far . . .

26. Dignity by Hilary Duff:

. . . she doesn’t seem interested in the parties and paparazzi like other stars her age, and she is here to sing about why . . . She seems more intent on finding love, living her life, and just having a good time; all without the flash bulbs, problems, and pitfalls that afflict other girls her age that experience the same fame that she has found. . . Hilary hasn’t been to rehab, and isn’t flashing her cooch on the cover of a magazine, and that is because she has made a conscious effort to avoid it (unlike many of her Hollywood peers). Making it a main theme of her record is her way of saying how she feels about the whole thing, and I say good for her.

A report created for the U.S. Conference of Mayors shows that Atlanta’s GMP (Gross Metropolitan Product) will decline 0.6 points to 3% (a loss of $954 million) thanks to the current correction taking place in the real estate market.

– Decatur Metro on the drag real-estate and mortgage markets are having on the local economy

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This is a good AJC article showing Doraville as more than a good-ole-boy haven and immigrant wasteland, which is how we’re usually depicted.

– BubbaRich at Dora-Blog on an AJC story about new Doraville Councilman Brian Bates, the state’s first openly gay Republican elected official

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Five skinny women tell you how to stay thin during the holidays. If they’re skinny, they must have all the secrets, right? Not just skinny parents.

– Christa T at pecanne log is less than pleased about an obnoxious feature on AJC.com about staying skinny during the holidays.

The sad truth is that there probably is no solution that can be put into effect in time to solve the problem unless the rain returns and soon.

– Wilson R. Smith on What Is Goin’ On? summarizes his radio interview with James “GriftDrift” Williams.

Smith isn’t on the radio in Atlanta, but, fortunately, he podcasts.

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I’m also curious about where the people who voted for Tom Hart will go — will they vote in the run-off election at all, or will they swing their votes one direction or another?

– Joseph G at Dora-Blog mulls the results of yesterday’s election.

Among the losers yesterday was Tom Hart, who was featured in last year’s Atlanta’s 11 Least Influential People issue.

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Lillian reports that The Pipettes are playing a free in-store show at Criminal Records this Friday at 7PM. Woo!

– Rich at Cable & Tweed makes me very happy.