It is not clear to me where Mr. Loux is getting his "facts" from since he doesn't cite the source of his data. Is he just using statistics from John Lott's study to support his argument? Dupuy claimed that study was bunk and unsupported by any other source. It seems to me if you are going to defend Lott's study, you should be able to cite corroborating evidence from some other source. But since he provides NO information on the source of his "facts", we have no way to evaluate whether we can believe them or not.

Given Tom Lowe's comments, I'm thinking someone might want to take a look at his records to see what sort of special perks he might have arranged for himself. . .

This story gets even more interesting when you read this article:

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/fulton-tax-chief-may-face-pay-cut/nQQ4g/

Gasoline prices should be coming down even more than they have with all the extra oil being produced in this country. But they are shipping the gasoline over to China and other countries in part to keep prices high here. Is it any surprise they want to do the same with natural gas? On the other hand we have been burning other countries resources for years, so maybe this is just payback.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/12/183346907/u-s-gas-prices-...

[quote][b]dudeintown67[/b] - Good thing the donnybrook didn't escalate into a brouhaha.[/quote]

Thanks for the laugh! That was FUNNY!

[quote][b]grove600[/b] - I know you guys and gals at the ABH just cut -n- paste the AP stories, but seriously, does anyone with a high school diploma work for the AP? [/quote]

The writing for the story was probably out-sourced to someone in another country.

There seem to be a lot of unsubstantiated statements and Monday morning quarterbacking by Hicks in this article.

If you've ever driven down from beautiful Tennessee and into Georgia along I-75 you understand just how ugly billboards make this state.

Advertising masquerading as an article. Not quite kosher in my opinion, but it is their paper.

Conservative Harvard economists just can't catch a break. First you have the austerity study by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff debunked by a graduate student, and now this guy.

"Denson, 73, said she aims to keep pushing for jobs and a sidelined effort at freezing property taxes for elderly residents should she be re-elected."

It doesn't seem appropriate to me for a politician to be advocating for a tax break that will benefit themselves at the expense of others. I'm not sure it makes sense at all (what are the income levels of the elderly in Athens?), but I would feel better about such a proposal if it was coming from someone in their 20s, 30s, or 40s.

[quote][b]fixit[/b] - @Jerry NeSmith: Media Matters is an organ of political pimp George Soros. That it's unabashed propaganda is evident in this bold lie[/quote]

That is just too funny. You provide a link to an article on Ann Coulter's website to support your position, and then you castigate Jerry for posting a counter article on Media Matters. Hilarious.

[quote][b]Tewise[/b] - @sweept: my tv never killed anybody or was part of a mass murder.[/quote]

Oh come on Tewise. You know perfectly well that if these guys had not been caught they would have used that TV for their next job. I can see it now: "Give me all your money or I'll bash you over the head with this flat screen TV!"

This is just like the unwanted F-35 jet engine mess that John Boehner and others tried to force on taxpayers. I hope the Tea Party Republicans will help save us from this unwanted tank as well.

Can't these factories be repurposed to something we DO need?

"Let us hope that time will convince mankind that hate, no matter the damage it brings, will never be victorious."

Given the history of the human species to date, I'm afraid this is a false hope. Good article though Mr. Smith.

It seems to me the human species goes through cycles of crazy every so often, and we are currently on the upswing. It may take another World War to get the pendulum moving in the other direction again.

[quote][b]melmarino[/b] - @helligater69: @johnbg: So, both of you two both went to high school and grad school in Athens as well as currently own property in Athens? Hmm?[/quote]

Not high school, but college and grad school. And yes I own property in Athens. And I am living in Athens (unlike you). In fact, I've been here since '76.

All that is irrelevant. And I don't care that you are currently living in Germany, and you have a perfect right to comment on what is going on here. But it annoys me when you try to bully someone else into silence by claiming they are not "Athens enough" to have an opinion.

[quote][b]melmarino[/b] - @E.J,: Well, that all sounds fabricated. Also, if you lived in Atlanta recently enough that everyone had email, then you really aren't part of Athens. [/quote]

My, my. Now that is a pretty arrogant statement, especially coming from someone who, by their own admission, has been living in Germany for many years now. Perhaps you are the one who is not really a part of Athens anymore.

[quote][b]Eastville[/b] - Won't bother me any. I'm not coming out of the bunker until the Y2K riots stop.[/quote]

Y2K might not be the best analogy to use to support your position. While you are correct that there was a lot of noise and thunder that eventually signified nothing (your main point I think), I have to point out that companies spent a huge amount of time and money making sure the problem was mostly fixed before it could happen.

@Man_Of_The_Mountain: Really? I couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from as I live in a quiet neighborhood normally. I was looking at the online ABH and there was an article talking about the "concert tonight". Since the noise was coming from that direction I assumed that was it. My bad. Now I'm REALLY wondering where it was coming from. . .

People who went to the concert must be deaf by now. The noise is shaking the windows in my house all the way at the top of College Station.

People can continue to vent if they want, but the fact is this plan is here and it is not going away any time soon. The previous health care system was not working for a sizable portion of the population. Republicans had 8 years to figure something out and they did nothing but talk. This plan may not work and may eventually have to be scrapped or changed, but at least it is an attempt to fix a bad system. Continue to tilt at the windmill if you want, but at this point I'm willing to wait and see how it works out.

Hmmm, no mention of how olive oil is often illegally adulterated with other oils.

"More people are raised with the power of the Internet in their pocket, and don't know or care that you can pull TV signals from the air for free."

I'd probably go for this option, but the last time I checked (admittedly the pre-digital age) you can't get any signals in Athens without a monster antenna. And it seemed questionable if you could get signals even with that antenna. I tried the over the air digital system in Atlanta when it first came out, and it was pretty nice even though there were a few bugs with the new system.

I gave up my satellite dish years ago partly because my box broke down and I didn't want to buy a new one, and partly because, as johnthebrewer said, I found I was wasting far too much of my life in front of the b-tube. Also, there always seems to be more commercial than show these days. I've never looked back. Plenty to see and do on the internet. Of course now I'm wasting time on the internet anyway, just a lot less expensive.

The only drawback I could see is if you are a big sports fan. You don't get the live feed with the internet only option (although you might be able to find a site where you can pay for that option).

I've visited all the Athens parks in my years here, and there is only one that I would consider as relatively safe for a woman to walk alone at just about any time of the day. The others are probably ok if you go at certain times of the day (like after work) when there are a lot of people around.

I'm sorry that there are members of my gender that behave this way and cause such problems.