Really? Really.

Money quotes:

For the new (old) Milton County:

“The only way to fix Fulton County is to dismantle Fulton County,” said state Rep. Jan Jones, the plan’s chief sponsor. “It’s too large, and certainly too dysfunctional, to truly be considered local government.”

Against:

“If it gets to the floor, there will be blood on the walls,” warned state Sen. Vincent Fort, an Atlanta Democrat and member of the Legislative Black Caucus who bitterly opposes the plan. Fort added: “As much as you would like to think it’s not racial, it’s difficult to draw any other conclusion.”

I’m not a Fulton County resident (yet), but here’s my one thought, via Wikipedia:

Georgia has 159 counties, the most of any state except Texas (with 254). Before 1932, there were 161, with Milton and Campbell being merged into Fulton at the end of 1931.

Clearly, Georgia needs more counties, especially to stay on top of the whole “counties per capita” contest that no other state acknowledges but us.

And I lied earlier, I think I have another thought, one that agrees with Sen. Fort:

[Via Rusty]

UPDATE: Especially interesting local opinion here.

I like to pick a random Metroblogging city every couple of days (click “Visit a Random City” here) and read what people are writing in other cities. Yesterday, I spun the wheel and it came up on this by Portland blogger Jonashpdx.
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I’m not sure this is Atlanta specific (and therefore shouldn’t be posted here) but I’m seeing it all over town and I’m too damn lazy to look up the rules myself so I thought I’d just bear the gaping hole in my chest where a heart should be and ask: exactly how long are we going to fly all these flags at half mast?

According to Variey, Disney is bringing a travelling version of High School Musical to Atlanta:

The diversified scale of Disney Theatrical’s business is evident in the development of its newest franchise property, “High School Musical.” The tuner adaptation of the phenomenally popular telepic and CD will be staged by six professional theater companies this year, starting with Children’s Theater Company in Minneapolis and Theater of the Stars in Atlanta. But those productions will serve primarily to whet appetites for licensed school and community theater stagings to follow.

While there are no teens, tweens or pre-teens in my life, my wife will definitely want to attend. She and my 3-year-old daughter have practically worn a spot on TiVo hard drive watching the original.

If I’m going to go I’d much rather see the original cast (let me hold on to some level of my pride), but I’ll be happy as long as they’re happy.

[Via The Disney Blog]

frequent metroblogging commenter, jim v, wrote in to the suggest this link for a story. the post concerns the death earlier this month of noted libertarian author robert anton wilson.

in writing in to suggest the story, jim noted:

As Neal Boortz and/or Eric Von Haessler are are for many people around here the face of Libertianism it’s interesting to read about a Libertarian who isn’t an ass. I thought about james and Annie when I read this article. The jury is still out on whether or not they are asses.* :) *Although truth be told, they are annoying me less lately, which may just mean that I’m becoming more of an ass.

hah! thanks jim. annie and i want to report we are finding you less annoying these days too. either that means that world peace and harmony are just around the corner or we are all becoming more of an ass these days.

jim is correct though, that atlanta’s two most notorious libertarians are former regular guy, eric von hasessler (warning: myspace link) and ‘talkmaster’ neal boortz both of whom could certainly be described as acerbic in presenting their views.

also both annie and my libertarian leanings have been the topic of much discussion here on the atlanta metroblog (see here and here.)

jim is right though. r.a.w was a cut above the rest. an amazing author, a fiery spirit and a great soul, he will be missed.

take a look at the post that jim refernced in the economist and if you have a chance read the illuminatus! trilogy, its a great story if you can follow it.

thanks for the link, jim.

you have probably heard about this already, since it has been all over the blogosphere (i first read it here on drive a faster car), but in case you haven’t, dj’s drama and cannon of the atlanta-based aphilliates and producers of the gangsta grillz (btw – if you clicked that link you will see that their web site is shut down as well) were arrested by the fulton county sherrifs office and some sort of recording industry of association of america (riaa) task force for selling illegal music.

seems to be some controversy here as supporters of the dj’s claim that the ‘mixtapes’ they were selling are perfectly legal (see the sound of young america here) and endorsed by artists as a way of getting their music out to a wider audience.

you can watch the clip of the news story on fox 5 here.

couple of interesting things; first is the talking head from the riaa sounding dumb-founded that these guys were selling their stuff on the internet. Wow, those master criminals, selling their illegal wares right out there where the riaa could find them; go figure. maybe they didn’t think they were doing anything illegal. either that or they are the some of the stupidest criminals on the planet.

second is the unfortunate insinuation from the fulton county sherrif major that because this involved hip-hop and all they might have found some weapons and drugs. Of course they didn’t, but they often do in ‘raids of these types.’ i am generally not one to believe in or call out code-words, but that’s about as clear as they get.

and finally, i love the guys from the riaa running around in their dea-style, swat team windbreakers. sure enough the riaa hired a former atf chief to head their ‘anti-piracy unit.’ is there an industry that does more to say FU to its consumers than the recording industry? i think you would be hard pressed to find one and of course the folks at pitchfork media agree.

Today’s New York Times contains an article about a Clarkston, Georgia soccer team called The Fugees. The team is made up entirely from refugees who have relocated to the Clarkston area. The article discusses the coach, Luma Mufleh, a remarkable woman who put together the team and who has become not only a coach, but a friend to the Fugees and their families.
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Okay, I can’t afford the seventy-five dollar ticket for this thing, but the gala for the Parks on Ponce sounds like a lovely party. It’s being held at Fernbank and benefits The Olmsted Linear Park Alliance. They are the ones that help to preserve the six parks along Ponce: Springdale, Virgilee, Oak Grove, Shadyside, Dellwood, and Deepdene. All were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted, the father of Landscape Architecture, also designed a little area in NYC called Central Park.

Sunday
January 28, 2007
6:30-9:30 pm

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

It seems that an archivist at the Georgia Archives in Morrow was researching someone’s family and came across a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence, dated March of 1777.
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I’m just hearing about Mike Vick’s brush with airport security over a magical (catch the double meaning) water bottle that had both a hidden compartment and apparent traces of marijuana residue.

From SI.com:

The bottle was found to have a hidden compartment that contained “a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana,” the report said. The compartment was hidden by the bottle’s label so that it appeared to be a full bottle of water when held upright, police said.

I’m no expert, but a hidden compartment seems like it shows some forethought of action and making that leap it seems like only someone habitually partaking might take that step.

I’m just saying.

Also, who doesn’t know about the security restrictions covering liquids and gels on planes these days? Maybe he was too high to remember.

In any event, even though the Falcons have a new coach it seems like Ron Mexico is up to his old tricks.

Any predictions on how the Vick, the Falcons, Arthur Blank, and the NFL will respond? Also anyone want to venture very early guesses for the Falcons record next year? I’d guess 4-20, which is unpossible, but funny.