From You
Hip-Hop Silliness
originally published August 6, 2008
Okay. So I’m reading Record Reviews [July 16], which includes Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III. And I’m wondering: at what point do “tha” and “da,” plural z’s, $100 bills, Cristal & Louis Vuitton, 22" rims, 22" platinum medallions, inside-out baseball hats, price-tags-as-a-fashion-accessories, and all the other detritus of hip-hop (the popular stuff, as well as the “good stuff” that we haters - or is it hataz? - are always accused of not listening to) become trite, cliché and just plain stupid? I don’t doubt that this is a good album in its genre, but I gotta admit I can’t take that genre seriously given the layers of formulaic crap that surround it. If this were any other musical genre - white, black, or otherwise - this silliness would have been laughed off stage a generation ago.
Word of Thanks
originally published August 6, 2008
As you may know, the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia has gone through some transitions within the last year. Along with a completely new board of directors and staff, the center is also going through inside and outside renovations to its building and grounds. With the outside renovations, we have had volunteers establish two serenity gardens for the children and adults that visit our center. We hope that these gardens will be places that will inspire hope and healing to our clients.
Ron Deal with the Georgia Green Industry Association has been a generous contributor of all the plants and flowers for these two new serenity gardens. We found this to be a very generous gift from him, especially with the recent constraints on the gardening and landscaping industry. I think it is important that your readers be aware of Ron Deal’s generosity to an Athens-Clarke County nonprofit agency during a financially tough year for his industry.
Sky Lights
originally published August 6, 2008
So, I know everyone is (understandably) skeptical about UFO reports, but I have to tell someone about what I saw in our town tonight.
A couple of days ago my friend Tyler, who works with a guy at Jittery Joe’s, told us that this friend he works with was telling a story about a red light moving across the sky near Athens Regional Hospital. Supposedly this light dropped “orbs of energy” from it as it traveled north. Of course, we all just laughed about it and then changed the conversation.
However, on the way home down Boulevard on the 4th of July we saw the same red light moving across the sky. It looked like a plane but much bigger and brighter. Yes, I had been drinking, but my husband had not, and he was the first to see it. We watched for a few seconds, then it dropped two bright white orbs from underneath it. At first I was very skeptical and I said it must have been a plane dropping fireworks, but the lights fell straight down much slower than a firework would fall. The red light continued on its path for another 20–30, then it just disappeared. I am not one to believe much of the UFO stories that circulate the Internet, and I am still trying to justify it in my head. But when you just heard a similar story it is a little strange. A quick search on the web showed a very similar red light moving across Athens’ sky about a month ago on YouTube. I guess I was just wondering if anyone else had seen a similar thing or had an idea of what it was.
Keep your eyes peeled!
Parrots, Dogs, Chickens
originally published August 6, 2008
I’ve long been in favor of allowing people to have domestic animals normally classified as “livestock” - such as chickens or goats - in small numbers as pets or for family food production. I fail to see the logic in letting people have dogs, cats or parrots as pets, but not allowing them to have chickens. Anyone who has lived in an apartment next to a parrot knows they are noisy, but you are not in danger of being fined for owning a parrot. Dogs are even more noisy, mark their territory by urinating, are often destructive and sometimes bite, but we don’t think anything of having tons of them around. Most of the objections to chickens are based on ignorance of how a small number of hens really behave, or wild “what if” scenarios which hover between unlikely and impossible. My description of dog behavior on the other hand is totally realistic, and coming from someone who actually loves dogs. A move to restrict dogs to certain zones would meet with a huge public outcry, and yet I never heard of someone having to have stitches or rabies shots because they were bitten by a chicken. We have leash laws for dogs and deal with problems on a case by case basis; we can surely do the same for other kinds of animals.
Trash Cans
originally published August 6, 2008
So, after two years of leaving the trash cans at the curb outside, apparently it’s become intensely important that my trash cans only be at the curb at their allotted pick-up time. Leaving them in front of the house isn’t acceptable, either. Does Athens-Clarke County have nothing better to do than make sure no one can see trash cans as they drive through a neighborhood? I don’t need ACC to act like some overblown HOA. Aren’t there bigger problems than the fact that the trash can is in front rather than behind my house? Why is ACC wasting time and money on people leaving trash cans in view of the street?
Corporate Expansionism
originally published August 6, 2008
Here is a question I would like to see being passed around in the political arena:
Do you think that there exists in the world today a power struggle (competition) between the corporate interests of the world and the national interests of the world’s sovereign nations? In other words, is there a corporate incentive to compete with governments of sovereign nations? (If so, who do you think is winning?)
I ask this question because it is my fear that the geographic and geopolitical world is being swallowed up by corporate expansionism and that this corporate expansionism (sprawl) seeks non-accountability to any sovereign government, or people. It does this by buying influence inside the political arena(s) and by exploiting cultures for resource control. It wields a power not guided by democratic principles, but rather by desire for maximization of profit.
It is interesting to note that in the beginning corporate charters were granted for only one year, to be renewed annually by the government entity that awarded them. Now, I understand, charters are granted in perpetuity, easily outliving the individual citizen, and thus ironically allowed to compete for the same civic space and the same civic influence as is cherished by and guaranteed to the citizen. How is this fair, or just, or sustainable?
Corporations are neat and cool ways of doing business where multiple owners are needed in order to get big jobs done; they are an evolution of the simple partnership. But they should not be allowed to usurp the power and influence of the individual citizen. Our elected representatives and our open, astute, and representative government are the only means we have to check and control their power over our lives and our culture.
Hospital Parking
originally published August 6, 2008
They are going to start charging to park at ARMC and St. Mary’s. Great, that should improve the neighborhoods; we need more cars parked in front of our houses.
Chickens Coast To Coast
originally published August 6, 2008
There are chicken ordinances in:
- NYC
- L.A.
- Dallas
- Miami
- Chicago
- Minneapolis
- Denver
- Atlanta
- Topeka
- Baltimore
- Hartford
- Indianapolis
- Oakland
- Boston
- Houston
- St. Louis
- Las Vegas
- Salt Lake City
- Asheville
- San Diego
- Memphis
- Mobile
- New Orleans
- Chapel Hill
- San Francisco
- Madison
- Honolulu
- San Antonio
- Charlotte
- Seattle
- Phoenix
- Tampa
- San Jose
- Portland
- just to name a very, very few.
Hens are less intrusive than dogs, therefore many cities have far more rules regulating dogs than chickens.
If you are having problems with the site, or have questions or suggestions, please contact us here. Thanks!
Care to comment on this article? Click here!
15 people have commented so far.