Fresh Loaf

Names of state legislators who failed to file or pay state or federal taxes — 22 at last count — are now rolling out. Chief among them: Senate Minority Leader Rob Brown of Macon.

The Macon Telegraph’s Travis Fain has the news — and even makes Drudge:

Nearly 10 percent of Georgia state legislators are late filing or paying their state taxes, and state Sen. Robert Brown is apparently among them.

Brown, D-Macon, said Wednesday he’s not sure whether he actually owes the state or federal government any money because he hasn’t filed tax returns. He said he’s gotten extensions, but he declined to give more information or say for what years he received filing extensions.

More info at the Telegraph’s site. Pay no attention to the raging commenters, a hallmark of every Drudge-linked article.

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Online newshound — and self-styled gumshoe — Matt Drudge continues to scare the hell out of office lackeys and far-right keyboard commandos with today’s giant headline reporting a Russian analyst’s comments that the United States is in the throes of collapse and will eventually dissolve into six parts.

[Russian political analyst Igor Panarin] predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts – the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that “we could claim Alaska – it was only granted on lease, after all.”

We’ll see what the governor says about that on Monday, Mr. Panarin.

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The regional water crisis story is stepping more into the national spotlight, with links to articles on Drudge Report and now some attention from the New York Times. Click here for the Times‘ overview of the drought, what has — or hasn’t — been done and what still needs to be.

For an in-depth look at the water-supply crunch in the West, read Jon Gertner’s piece from this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. It’s a lengthy, solid read and worth printing out and poring over later.

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