I know this is a hot button issue for Clarke County and Athens in particular. I would also like to understand why the court system is set up to make money by incarcerating the poor who face increasingly punitive traffic fines. It seems like the fines are out of touch with the ability to pay. In the end, the rest of us pay. I don't think it makes economic sense, and it amounts to a "debtor's prison" system.

@gman129:

I'm tired of the police running roughshod over their employers.

One more reason to avoid facebook

@ghostwriter: Why bother? Because although the English language is mutable, that is no excuse for poor grammar or bad spelling. And no, I don't have an opposing opinion, I think poor spelling is a consequence of our inadequate school system. If it's any consolation to you I also edit printed books for typos and misplaced words and paragraphs.

@ghostwriter: "incites"

I wonder what Sheldon will say when he finds out!

A much worse intersection is just this side of the Caterpillar plant at the junction of 78 and 29. It is almost impossible to turn from 78 toward Bogart during much of the day. We had a light there, but someone in planning decided it was unnecessary. Wrong!

@STATE OF DENIAL:

And I would guess there's less chance of voter fraud in Athens, than voter apathy. I remember a recent election when about 30% of the electorate even bothered to show up at the polls, and the election was decided by less than 3% of registered voters.

@STATE OF DENIAL:

I vote in a small town just outside Athens, and I am required to display my driver's license not once, not twice, but three times before casting a vote. How is there ANY voter fraud in Georgia, or Arizona for that matter?

Why would a U.S. citizen for fifty, sixty, seventy years be required to provide documentation that their status is unchanged? Stupid is right.

@emanon: I'm not sure how vigilantism got into the issue, but my dad was a special policeman whose sole job was to enforce and issue tickets to those parked illegally in handicapped spaces. This was in Tulsa, OK. home of right wing conservatism. Somehow people are equating disability with laziness here in sunny Athens, and it just ain't necessarily so.

I want to take my guns to family picnics, to church, to school, to the grocery store, to the liquor store, to the park, to the beach, to bed, to the shower, the toilet, or wait, did I go too far?

Why aren't police called when necessary, not for stolen doughnuts, or as in another reported incident in the paper, when someone throws out a cigarette butt? There are real crimes here in Athens, let's make certain those are the priorities.

@Tewise: I'm saying that if I promoted a White Entertainment Network, all hell would break loose, and I would be charged as a racist, yet no one, no not even one person finds the opposite to be the case. It's just a matter of perception or lack thereof.

@Colonel McCheese: I'm just saying if I started a network called White Entertainment Network, it would be sure to cause a lot of flack from politically correct folks of all ilk.

@melquiades: It always seems to be with you

You don't know me or what I believe. In fact, you don't even know what race I belong to. Why you would make an ignorant comment on my post is beyond me. When we don't have racists of either color I will be happy.

And with the rate Medicare pays they got what they paid for. It is grossly underfunded. That is why it is difficult for the elderly, the poor, and the underemployed to find health care.

@helligater69: Not jealous at all. Just wondering why reverse racism isn't ever an issue?

@YoungSarge: I've often wondered the same. What if I had a lot of money and wanted to start a new television network and called it simply: White Entertainment Network?

Wait til he has to figure out interstate treaties.

@harrumph: I didn't say I was a proponent of a fallacy, I just asked if anyone knew statistics. Don't be thin skinned, man. Just a truth seeker here, not out to make a point, just curious.

@E.J.:

It costs more to incarcerate these pestilential irritants than most hard working people make working for third world wages.

harrumph, I wonder if there are any statistics about how many homicides are committed by card carrying members of nra, and/or with legally obtained weapons?

@swhitney: Just think of how much lower the rate of burglaries would be if these bugs were actually made to serve their sentences.

I, for one, don't really want to support his sorry self for twenty five more years.

@E.J.: Only at an airport.

Funny you should mention that. The last time I flew from Atlanta to Mass. I had it in my pocket the entire flight. That was in 2005