Fresh Loaf

1. The Cheetah, one of Atlanta’s favorite strip joints, is a patriot (More patriotic than the National Museum of Patriotism? Maybe.)

2. Georgia is South Korea (At least when it comes to sizing up human development. And yes, Georgia ranks above Mississippi and Alabama — and even Florida!)

3. CL’s Thomas Wheatley is a finalist for national journalism award (Wheatly’s on the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ shortlist for “Sober.” Hooray!)

4. Ga. GOP primary: A sad and soul-crushing spectacle (State Rep. Austin Scott apes McCain at the state GOP convention.)

5. Huey Lewis — err, Mike Evans — calls for Pelosi’s resignation (Congressional wannabe issues unexpected and hilarious press release. U.S. House Speaker doesn’t blink.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Yes, this is the only photo of The Cheetah we have in our database

So Monday’s Memorial Day, and everybody’s trying to tie up loose ends and meet early deadlines so they can take the day off work to light sparklers, eat barbecue, and watch Short Circuit on ABC Family.

Turns out we’re not the only ones.

Atlanta’s most beloved family-entertainment megaplex, The Cheetah on Spring Street, has issued a press release to inform field-trip coordinators, sex-positive patriots and wayward frat boys that it too will be closed on Monday.

The National Museum of Patriotism on Baker Street,  however, will be open.

Dancing resumes Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. No cover before 4 p.m. and we’re told the lunch menu is actually quite fantastic.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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STATE CEREMONY FOR FALLEN SOLDIERS: 24 fellow members of Spc. Tracy Smith’s National Guard brigade have died in Iraq. (Photo by Joeff Davis)

On a day when presumptive presidential nominees McCain and Obama sparred over veteran’s benefits, Gov. Sonny Perdue hosted a somber pre-Memorial Day service at Mount Paran Church of God to honor the 137 Georgians who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001.

So many family members of fallen Georgia troops were in attendance that, when they were asked to stand, half the church stood up. Keynote speaker Retired Army Lt. Gen Russel Honoré said the best way to honor soldiers, sailors and Marines is expanding veterans’ benefits.

Not long after the ceremony, a veto-proof Senate majority (including Obama and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, but not including McCain) defied President Bush by voting to greatly expand benefits for veterans of the nation’s current wars.

(Additional reporting by Joeff Davis)

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No Show: There is no Memorial Day to me. I love my country, but am I to memorialize all my brothers I lost? I watched them get shot in front of me. Memorial Day for me, brother, there is none. I got my own Memorial Day in my heart. I’m pretty mixed about Memorial Day. I live and breathe it every day. It’s a delicate situation. The parade I had was getting shit on. That’s Memorial Day.

Bill: A day we honor the people willing to put aside personal interest for their country. It’s become a long weekend for most people. Hopefully this country will realize again that when you send kids to war, you have a responsibility to take care of them afterward. We’re not doing that. Honor the dead by supporting the living. Go to a VA Hospital and visit these guys. I was a paramedic in the Air Force. I had 47 combat rescues in Vietnam.

Professor: I’m not going to a Memorial Day parade. When I came back from Vietnam, the first woman I talked to told me I was a baby killer and an Uncle Tom. If I do anything, I would go to Arlington Cemetery. Twenty-seven friends [there]. I counted. I was in Kilo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine. I was treated pretty bad and I’m still treated pretty bad. I wouldn’t tell anybody for years that I was a Vietnam vet. A parade, I don’t want to participate.

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