Fresh Loaf

Huffington Post reported this afternoon that former Veep Al Gore will campaign here Sunday for Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin. I’m sure Young Thomas will be getting us more details later.

Meanwhile, here are details on former President Bill Clinton’s visit tomorrow (or today by the time you read this) at Clark Atlanta University on behalf of Martin. For those keeping score, John McCain and Mike Huckabee have campaigned for Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, while this gun-totin’ man joins him Wednesday and investment banker Mitt Romney stumps for him Friday.

The AJC’s reporting that both candidates aren’t planning to participate in a debate the Atlanta Press Club was to tape on Sunday — Martin because he’ll be campaigning with Gore, Chambliss apparently just because he’s a big ol’ scared-y-pants.

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My friend, former Scene & Herd Recurring Character Matt Gove, reports he’s been waiting in line for more than 90 minutes this afternoon to vote at the Fulton County government building downtown.

From the look of the line, he says he expects to be in line for another hour or so.

Our democracy is prepared for all challenges — except voter participation.

UPDATE: Mr. Gove says he waited in line for three-and-a-half hours before he was able to vote.

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1. Early voting becomes advanced next week By Scott Henry

2. Why early voting scares Eric: The untold story By Scott Henry

3. DA’s flawed Troy Davis argument By Mara Shalhoup

4. Bishop’s Eddie Long commits sin of pride on Real Housewives of ATL By Andisheh Nouraee

5. Freaks and veeps: The L5P Halloween Parade By Andisheh Nouraee

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Since Russia invaded neighboring Georgia two weeks ago, Atlanta’s been the target of several cyberattacks from unidentified hackers who are allegedly operating out of the former Evil Empire.

There was this barrage against Tulip Systems Inc., an Atlanta-based hosting company whose CEO, Nino Doijashvili, was born in that other Georgia. Tulip offered to host Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili’s website after it was overwhelmed by hackers traced to Moscow and St. Petersburg (that’s Russia, not Florida.) According to a domain lookup, the company is still hosting the site.

Tulip Systems wasn’t the only Atlanta outfit to face a cyberattack. The Atlanta Regional Commission’s website was attacked on Friday, causing Google to post a warning to visitors.

(more…)

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GOLD RUSH: American swimmer Michael Phelps wins his third gold medal of the 2008 Olympics, his ninth overall, which ties the world record for most career gold medals in Olympic history. He has a chance for two more golds Wednesday morning.

RUSSIA VS. GEORGIA: Russia announced today that it will stop attacking Georgia, but Georgian leaders say they’re still being attacked. An Atlantan and native of the country Georgia is hosting governmental websites from here during the siege, and says those sites are still being cyber-attacked by botnets on the U.S.-based servers. The Times of London lays out the historical context of the war.

WATER USE: In metro Atlanta and North Georgia drops 20 percent, which Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch says is a sign that conservation efforts and watering restrictions are working.

GUNS AT AIRPORT: Won’t fly, says a federal judge.

ESCALATING TENSION: In response to frequent “shoe entrapment,” Hartsfield-Jackson begins announcing, at five-minute intervals, the dangers of wearing soft shoes such as flip-flops or Crocs on escalators.

NBAF: Federal officials seem to be favoring a Mississippi site over Athens for the National Agro- and Bio-defense Facility, which will study foot-and-mouth disease and other highly infectious diseases, even though the Mississippi site scored the lowest numerical evaluation among all contenders.

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— As Clayton County tries to rebound from four years of chaos, B. King over at Terminal Station writes a thoughtful analysis on how Eldrin Bell borrowed from his experience in Atlanta politics to put together a successful coalition of candidates.

— After a long absence, DriftGrift offers up yet another “Morning Wooten”. Fortunately, he saved up all those lost Morning Wootens and combines them all into one.

— Over at Going Through The Motions, Sara treats us to a few of her random thoughts. Most notably, she’s not happy with John Edwards. Especially because he was cheating on his wife as she battled cancer. Sort of like a former Georgia politician of note handed his wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer. Call us, John; we’ll put you in touch with Mr. Gingrich so the two of you can commiserate.

— Mingaling is getting married in a DIY ceremony, and she’s sharing with us. Today’s topic: How to make a Boutonnière for the boys.

— Most have applauded the city’s recent crackdown and people hanging out in Barbara Asher Square at Five Points. But Arc of Time has a different perspective, arguing that it gives the city character and diversity.

— And, finally, it turns out we’re not the only ones confused by this Russian invasion of Georgia. On the Georgia (that’s state, not nation) feed for Lefty Blogs, are such headlines as: “Cheney: Russian aggression must not go unanswered” and “Russia versus Georgia; the reality of Obama’s candidacy” and, our fav, “Is Georgia the last Iraq casualty?” Time to get the hell out of here, ya know?

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The New York Times weighs in with a hilarious take on state Sen. David Shafer’s and Rep. Harry Geisinger’s twin resolutions calling for the citizens of Georgia to rise up and reclaim our God-given land, dammit.

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From the New York Observer:

And so—after all the concept groups, focus groups, guinea pig couples—in August 2005, the first Trojan vibrating ring was given a slow, gentle rollout; except in Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas, Colorado and Virginia, where sex toys are illegal in all-purpose pharmacies.

I’m aware Georgia’s anti-pleasure laws pre-date Republican rule in the state, but no intellectually honest person will ever think of Republicans as promoters of freedom and personal responsibility until they decide vibrators are less of a public danger than firearms. The self-proclaimed party of getting government off our backs needs to get off our fronts.

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Alabama, Florida and Georgia will not be able to meet the Feb. 15 deadline set by the White House and come to a settlement about how water would be shared among the three states, the Associated Press reports. Officials involved with the talks say they need some more time. From the article:

Officials said the states have made progress in recent months after the president sent Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to mediate a compromise as a record drought threatened Atlanta’s drinking supply. But instead of announcing a long-term pact on Friday as planned, they will offer more of a status report.

“I believe there’s a sincere effort being made,” Kempthorne said Thursday on Capitol Hill before entering a budget hearing. “I am encouraged, but I will keep pushing as well.”

Kempthorne, who said he was briefed on the talks Wednesday night, said he would wait to get details on how close the parties are before deciding whether to set a new deadline. If they remain far apart, he said, he will not.

How much more time do we need, Atlanta? I say, “two weeks,” but that’s just me, and my useless talent to remember classic scenes from Arnold Schwarzenegger films.

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From zero to 100, Georgia’s overall state grade for public education: 80.2

Mississippi’s overall state grade for public education: 68.9

National average grade for public education: 75.9

Average dollars spent annually on each student in Georgia: 8,658

Rank of Georgia in United States for per-pupil spending: 27

Georgia’s grade for K-12 achievement: 68.1

K-12 achievement grade for Massachusetts: 85

Percentage of Georgia high school students who graduate: 56.1

Number of states with higher high school graduation rates than Georgia: 48

Source: EPE Research Center 2008 Quality Counts public education survey

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What does 270 miles of traveling south and a day in Tallahassee get you? According to today’s meeting of the governors of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, just some more time.

Gov. Sonny Perdue trekked down to the Sunshine State’s capital to meet with Governors Charlie Crist of Florida and Bob Riley of Alabama and, according to a statement from Crist’s office, agreed to send high-level staff members to Washington, D.C., in mid-January to hammer out a deal between the three states regarding reduced water flows in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa, and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basins. The governors said they would then meet again in February to conclude the 17-year-old tri-state dispute over the precious resource. That deal would then be presented to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. FWS officials would have the right to object to any changes in releases that may be harmful to endangered marine life located downstream, such as the mussels that have played such a prominent role in the entire water shortage drama.

The governors also decided today to move up to March 15 a June 1 deadline imposed by the Corps for the states to agree to a water-sharing strategy.

According to the statement from Crist’s office, “representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service also participated in today’s meeting to provide factual information on current conditions of both the ACF River Basin and the ACT River Basin.”

No word yet if David Ratcliff, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company, was in attendance, as he was at the Nov. 1 D.C. sit-down between the governors.

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While folks were waiting for next year’s big federal court battle over the state’s harsh new sex-offender law, the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday quietly ruled a big chunk of it — the residency restrictions — unconstitutional.

What’s surprising about the case is that the plaintiff isn’t someone who committed a technical violation of the law and got unfairly lumped in with child molesters, as was the case with federal plaintiff Wendy Whitaker. (See CL’s cover story.) No, this plaintiff, one Anthony Mann of Hampton, is a genuine convicted child molester. Yet he managed to convince the court that the state law is so restrictive that it effectively doesn’t allow him to buy and occupy a home.

Quoth the ruling:

It is apparent that there is no place in Georgia where a registered sex offender can live without being continually at risk of being rejected.

Some would say that was the idea when the law was written by state Rep. Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons. But that doesn’t make it legal.

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TRIP, a nonprofit organization whose initials stand for who-knows-what-’cause-they-sure-don’t-tell-you-on-their-website, released a report Thursday outlining our congestion problems and the transportation hurdles Georgia faces during a time when finances are hard to come by. We’ve got some structurally deficient bridges and well-paved roads, and we better build more of the latter and update all of the former, the report says, lest we face a catastrophe like the crumbling of a Minnesota bridge earlier this year or an economic standstill. Who funds TRIP? You guessed it:

TRIP is sponsored by insurance companies, equipment manufacturers, distributors and suppliers; businesses involved in highway engineering, construction and finance; labor unions; and organizations concerned with an efficient and safe highway transportation network.

In other words: businesses who have an interest in seeing more roads. But what’s that you say, Smart Growth America? A majority of Americans think that transportation funds should go toward maintaining roads and investing in transit alternatives rather than building more concrete swaths that are sure to just fill up in a few years?

Something left out about the “we-must-build-roads” philosophy is how planners and politicians are not addressing the issue of the price and supply of oil and how the added number of motorists will affect Atlanta’s notorious air quality problems. As more and more roads are built allowing more and more development of the city’s outer reaches, more and more people will be driving. Doesn’t the Urban Land Institute already view Atlanta as “chronically overdeveloped”?

Our roads may last a good while, but that’s a worthless superlative when a majority of motorists can’t afford to use them.

What say you, people? More roads or more options? And here’s the hitch … you gotta say why.

Also, click on this link for TRIP’s report. It’s full of juicy factoids and numbers, as well as the state and metro area’s most congested intersections and structurally deficient bridges.

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Indian software giant Wipro is expanding its operations.

From the Guardian:

Wipro, another hi-tech titan, has been on a spending spree, buying up companies in America, Finland, Portugal and Europe for hundreds of millions of dollars. Azim Premji, Wipro’s chairman, raised eyebrows on Wall Street when he talked this year of setting up divisions in Idaho, Virginia and Georgia - US states he said were attractive because they were “less developed.”

Less developed than India.

That’s nice.

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