Are bad times a brewing at Big Orange? In recent days, we’ve read countless stories about a couple of the metro area’s major employers undergoing major changes. I’ve wondered to myself if perhaps the employees of said company missed the warning signs …maybe the writing was on the wall ….or in this case on the WOOD:

According to this article Home Depot actually banned a customer for “shoplifting” an used pencil from a store near Boston.

So I’m saying – is this the beginning of the end? How hard up must one be to chase down AND ban a customer over forty nine cents?

Keep your eyes and ears peeled Homers, as evidenced by recent history, you never know!

Just so we’re all clear, it’s five days later and the fabulous Atlanta Hawks are 0-9. But don’t worry, we have the Aquarium and Atlantic Station.

Some plant workers have received some really crappy news just in time for the holiday season (which seems to start earlier every year). Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM, has announced that the company will be closing nine plants, including the one in Doraville. This means that almost 3,000 people who work at the Doraville plant will be out of jobs. It also means that businesses in the area, such as restaurants where employees would eat during the workweek, will suffer as well.

The plant closures are offered as a way to reduce company costs by $7 billion by the end of 2006. Of course the CEO made the necessary ëit sucks that we have to fire peopleí statement, but the bottom line is that in GMís opinion, this is what has to be done to compete globally. To the workers at the Doraville plant (and other closing GM plants), my heart goes out to you, and I hope something really good comes along for all of you.

By the way…. can you buy beer in a convenience store (not a restaurant) on Sunday anywhere in the City of Atlanta or in Dekalb County?

Being in the film and television industry like I am, you just have to have some sort of addiction – I mean you just have too. I choose domestic lite beer because I can’t afford an expensive recovery center in Hollywood.

But, you can’t buy no domestic lite beer up here in the Northwest Territories on Sunday without looking like fire is coming out of the horns on your head. If you do, this lady will come and see you!

Just wondering. Someone told me you can buy beer anytime you want to in Alabama.

P.S., yes, I know to stock up on Saturday.

It is dangerous on the “top end perimeter” – especially in the rain – especially at night – especially, for some reason, going west bound.

Driving back into the area tonight, I had to get on the section of 285 I hate the most – between I-85 and I-75. It’s hard as hell to see what lane you’re in while it’s raining as the reflectors are pretty much nonexistent and the white lane markers don’t really show through the water on the road. I sure wish DOT would fix the problem.

There is a section, just east of the Ga-400 exit, that has been re-paved, re-”lined” and re-”flected”… lol anyway, it’s basically a new section of roadway. Boy, what a difference that makes. You can see the road with no problem, even in heavy rain. I wish it were not the exception.

OH.. and check this out. There’s heavy rain, I can’t see cramp and I’m thinking this tractor-trailer truck is coming up awfully fast on my right side. It’s not a tractor-trailer truck, folks, it’s a MARTA BUS! No, joke, this bus was at least pegging 70-mph – IN HEAVY RAIN! I wish I could have seen the I.D. numbers but, the water mist was too great.

Just a little tale of my travels for ya.

Fri, Nov. 18, 2005. MIAMI – Georgia Tech’s loaded backfield features a lethal combination in P.J. Daniels and Tashard Choice. Throw in mobile quarterback Reggie Ball, who could double as a running back, and the Hurricanes’ top-ranked defense could face its most grueling test on the ground this season. Full story from MercuryNews.com

WELL GET YOUR A** OUT THERE TECH AND GET ON IT BOYS!

“…Georgia Tech travels to Miami Saturday for a nationally-televised (ESPN) battle against the third-ranked Hurricanes that kicks off at 7:45 p.m. at the Orange Bowl…” CollegeSports.com

ALSO…..

“…This Saturday, a reunion of two former teammates will take place between the hedges at the University of Georgiaís Sanford Stadium…” TheRockmartJournal.com

Me and 80,000 drunk fans will report later on the outcome of this crusade.

Excited? I tried. Anyway, I’m posting this notice purely for the sake of providing information. As I’ve never attended any previous Atlanta Comic Conventions, I will imply no actual endorsement of the affair. With that caveat in mind, let us proceed …

The Atlanta Comic Convention will be held this Sunday at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center (which I believe is just off I-85 at the Clairmont Road exit). It is a one-day convention, thus avoiding the usual hassles of arranging hotel accommodations or bathing outside the comforts of your own home. The special guest of this year’s convention is a comic book artist named Craig Hamilton. From what I can dig up, Hamilton was responsible for an Aquaman limited series for DC Comics in the 80s (one in which Aquaman’s orange and green outfit was replaced with a very flashy blue and aquamarine ensemble), a run on The Spectre for the same company, as well as some more recent work as an inker for Bill Willingham’s critically-acclaimed Fables line for DC/Vertigo. See?

So, yeah. Comic books. Sunday. Admission is $4. Who knows … there might be a bargain or two in the dealer’s area.

JONESBORO, Ga. — The street names in suburban Atlanta’s Clayton County pay homage to the Old South and the Lost Cause: Robert E. Lee Drive. Old Dixie Highway. And Tara Boulevard, named for the plantation home in “Gone With the Wind.” Story from the SeattlePI.com

From the story:

“…Now, in a move that encapsulates the county’s changing racial demographics, some residents want to rename Tara Boulevard for the civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. “We need to get off that plantation mentality to honor a woman who changed America like few Americans could,” said Bob Hartley, a black man who is the leader of the group of about eight residents asking the Clayton County Commission to make the change…”

Okay, wait a minute. Isnít this changing an established street name rather than renaming some other generic street for the purpose of a history re-write? Iím not so sure about this.

ìÖGetting rid of Tara Boulevard is a good idea to Bill Perry. “The wind done gone,” the 75-year-old black man said with a laugh. “I am praying that they will change it.” If Tara Boulevard is renamed, it will be another visible symbol of the demographic shift in Clayton County, which has long been white and rural and is now mostly black and suburban…”

I guess when the demographics change, we can just get rid of the past anyway we want to right? Right? Even if the past is of no threat to the present. Since Iíve lived here in the South all my life and have had great relationships with all people, (all people), it seems difficult to understand some of this. Itís a bit of a radical mentality.

I am all for naming streets for great people and Rosa Parks was an inspiration to all of us. ALL OF US! And she could very well deserve a street name or a new building named after her. But, this strikes me as a bit of a removal of history. Seems like something they did in Ancient Egypt and in Afghanistan. (I hated to see those works of religious art get blown away.)

“…Daniel Mulkey, a white man who lived in Jonesboro for 47 years before learning Thursday where the road he has traveled so often got its name, said it makes no difference to him whether they change it or not. He said people in Clayton County generally get along, and he warned against letting the road become a divisive issue…”

I agree with Mr. Mulkey. I don’t really care. I just want people to stop and think about things like this.

The Justice Department yesterday played down the importance of a memorandum that concluded that a Georgia voter identification program would hurt black voters, saying the document was a draft that contained old data and faulty analysis. The full story from the WashingtonPost.com

Whatís the problem with everyone who wants to vote in Georgia be a Georgian and have identification to prove it? Iím a bit lost on this one.

Apparently because Georgia has had past ìissuesî with election discrimination, we have to submit changes to our voting system to the Justice Department. Shame on us! We could very well deserve that one.

The Georgia Legislature (GOP-Controlled) approved a plan to require voters to have a photo ID before they could cast a vote. HmmÖ some people that donít like the GOP might not have photo IDÖ HmmÖ most people that like the GOP have a photo ID. HmmÖ Okay, I can see the thought process in their little mindsÖ But, still whatís the deal here? Objectively, Iíd like to know Georgians are voting in Georgia. Isn’t there a way for any Georgian to get some type of official state photo ID? I don’t know the answer. But, I know how to fake a Ga. Power bill and a Bell South bill. Just asking. I want to be fair.

I know we have a few Techies on here, I wonder what they think about this… Or if they even care.

The NCAA placed Georgia Tech on two years of probation Thursday for using 17 academically ineligible athletes in four sports, including 11 in football.

It is the first time Georgia Tech has been placed on probation. The school had proposed self-imposed sanctions, including one year on probation.

Georgia Tech, which argued the violations were not intentional, is considering an appeal of the penalties.

“We are disappointed by the ruling of the NCAA Committee on Infractions,” said Georgia Tech athletic director Dave Braine. “Yes, mistakes were made, but they were inadvertent and confined to a small number of cases when you consider that we reviewed more than 800 transcripts.”

The NCAA’s Committee on Infractions accepted the school’s proposed scholarship reductions in football and men’s and women’s track. A violation also was found in the women’s swimming program, but the swimmer involved was not on scholarship, so that program was not penalized with a scholarship reduction.

There were no TV or bowl restrictions placed on the football program.

Well, at least it doesnt affect the basketball program.