Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Politics Herman Cain's new video is a rollercoaster of emotions, all-around uplifting addition to otherwise depressing day
Posted by Thomas Wheatley on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Herman Cain, the businessman and former radio host who's the most interesting Republican presidential hopeful thus far, has managed to pack the following into four minutes: Joe the Plumber; Alveda King, Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s conservative niece; yearbook photos; and lots of puns centered around his last name. All to the tune of a country song about him. Well done.
Sports Well, Thrashers, we hear Winnipeg's real nice this time of year
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 12:33 PM
Despite Mayor Kasim Reed's last ditch phone-hitting this morning, It's offishies: the Atlanta Thrashers are history.
ESPN.com reported a few minutes ago:
True North Sports and Entertainment has completed its deal to purchase the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers, clearing the way to move them to Winnipeg, a source tells ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun.True North has scheduled a news conference for noon ET on Tuesday at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, at which a "significant community announcement" will be made.
Fun fact: this makes Atlanta the first city in the NHL's "modern era" — not sure what that means — to lose two teams (Calgary swiped the Atlanta Flames in 1980).
Crime Weirdest weekend news: 'Grandma Bandit' actually a man
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 12:18 PM
On Friday, the person police had been referring to as the Grandma Bandit — a middle-aged woman who robbed several Atlanta-area pharmacies in May — died from gunshot wounds after leading police on a chase.
Between May 12 and 24, police say 57-year-old Roxanne Taylor entered at least four local pharmacies — three Rite Aids and a CVS — and apologetically demanded money from cashiers with a rusty handgun, explaining that she was terminally ill.
Taylor, who was known to wear dark sunglasses and a UGA ball cap, led police on a chase up I-85 Friday morning after she was spotted at a Wendy's drive-through. When they heard a gunshot, police returned fire, hitting Taylor several times.
The DeKalb medical examiner hasn't verified whether Taylor was, in fact, terminally ill — but they did disclose that Roxanne was actually a man.
The AJC printed this release from DeKalb Police:
Greetings,
Positive identification has been made on the person involved in todays incident on North Druid Hills. After further investigation detectives have determined the person believed to be a female suspect in fact is a male.
His name is Roxanne Taylor, a 57 year old man.
No additional information is available.
When an AJC reporter asked if there was "any further explanation on how they determined Taylor was a man," and a DeKalb police spokesperson said simply, "it wasn't until further investigation that we determined he was a man." (Do they really have to "explain further" how Taylor's sex was determined?)
News Morning Newsdome: World's biggest military contractor hacked
Posted by Bobby Feingold on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 11:15 AM
- http://bit.ly/jKhUup
- Lockheed Martin Center in Maryland
>> Sexually assaulting hotel maids: so hot right now. Police arrested Egyptian banker Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar yesterday for trapping and groping a New York hotel maid. Learn from Dominique Strauss-Kahn's mistakes and hire an all-male cleaning crew. (NY Daily News, NY Post)
>> Could this be why the banker felt entitled? An Egyptian official admitted that female protesters in Tahir Square earlier this year were subjected to "virginity tests" to prevent them from making false rape claims. Besides claiming rape of a "virginity test." I would have gone all Monju Begum on their ass. (CNN, NY Daily News)
>> National home prices hit a new low in March, including in Atlanta. I hate double-dippers. (Chicago Tribune)
>> And finally: Of the counterprotesters to the Westboro Baptist Church at Arlington Cemetery on Monday were the KKK. The Klan was there to object to Westboro's anti-troop message. God that is twisted. Only Westboro would make the KKK look less evil. (CNN)
Events Spoleto Update: Corella Ballet and Taylor Mac shine opening weekend
Posted by Andrew Alexander on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 10:00 AM
- Rosalie O'Connor
- Dancer Angel Corella (left) is the founder of the Corella Ballet of Spain. His performance with his sister Carmen (right) was a highlight of opening weekend at Spoleto.
Transit Georgia's high-speed rail blues
Posted by Thomas Wheatley on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 9:25 AM
Halimah Abdullah of McClatchy Newspapers updates us on Georgia's behind-the-pack position when it comes to high-speed rail. (CliffsNotes Version: Not much has changed.) Among our woes:
Georgia now collects fuel-related taxes, but those funds can only be used for road or bridge projects. That means items such as high-speed passenger rail, aviation, shipping and other aspects of transportation are sometimes denied needed funding.If a referendum on the August 2012 ballot for a 1-cent sales tax that would last 10 years is approved, the money would provide matching funds for federal dollars designed to improve high-speed rail and other transportation needs.
But that’s a mighty big if. Lawmakers such as Macon Mayor Robert Reichert worry that a lack of will at the state level, coupled with voter aversion to higher taxes, means that Georgia will continue to lag behind.
“We need to get a groundswell of support,” said Reichert, who is co-chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ task force on high-speed rail. “You cannot build enough lanes on the interstate to satisfy the transportation needs of this country over the next 50 years. And you can’t fly everybody. You have to have the third leg, and that’s high-speed rail.”
She also reports that one of Georgia's congressman — Republican freshman Austin Scott &mdsah; says his pachyderm brethren have mulled eliminating future federal funding for the projects. (sigh) If only we'd started sooner.
Events 5 things today: Okkervil River, R. Kirby Godsey
Posted by Amber Robinson on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 7:23 AM
1) Okkervil River plays Variety Playhouse.
2) Relapse Theatre hosts Automatic Improv.
3) Yvette plays 529.
4) R. Kirby Godsey discusses Is God a Christian? at First Baptist Church of Decatur.
5) Kelly McFarling plays Eddie's Attic.
Events 5 things today: Tuesday
Posted by Amber Robinson on Tue, May 31, 2011 at 7:23 AM
1) Okkervil River plays Variety Playhouse.
2) Relapse Theatre hosts Automatic Improv.
3) Yvette plays 529.
4) R. Kirby Godsey discusses Is God a Christian? at First Baptist Church of Decatur.
5) Kelly McFarling plays Eddie's Attic.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Photography Photo of the Day: 'Is this better?'
Posted by Dustin Chambers on Mon, May 30, 2011 at 6:31 PM
Recap City "Game of Thrones," Season 1, Ep. 7
Posted by Curt Holman on Mon, May 30, 2011 at 3:05 PM
- Courtesy of HBO
- IT'S NOT THE SIZE OF THE FINGER... Aiden Gillen as Littlefinger
This week, Jon Snow’s white direwolf Ghost found a hand, which not only provides evidence of the violence “over the Wall,” it doesn’t bode well given that Jon’s father’s title is The Hand of the King. Also, this week we hear (but don’t see) that King Robert was gravely wounded while hunting a boar. On hid deathbed, the King boasts of killing the beast and insists that at his funeral, “I want everyone to taste the bear that got me.” Can it be a coincidence that House Crakehall, who swear loyalty to the Lannisters, has a boar as their sigil? (I looked it up.)
