Yesterday, voters in five of our counties voted to extend a one-cent on the dollar sales tax. Proceeds go to fund school construction projects. Now, I think the voters’ hearts were in the right place, but this is going to raise up to an estimated 2.4 billion (yes, you read that correctly) dollars.

I do realize that there is an overcrowding problem in many of Atlanta’s school districts. That being said, if there is this much money being thrown at our area’s students, how in the hell are we lagging so far behind in national education rankings? Oh, yeah . . . because having a large, airy, shiny new classroom building does not necessarily mean that the students inside that building can read.

Literacy, however, doesn’t bestow power on anyone but the kids themselves. Construction contracts on the other hand? I am thinking that there is a whole lot of power involved in wielding 2.4 billion dollars worth of yet-to-be-awarded construction contracts.

Maybe I am cynical, but maybe – just maybe – we have our priorities a little messed up. What if we were to use half of this money to fund literacy programs for our illiterate students and their illiterate parents? In my opinion, that would be the best use of this massive amount of taxpayer’s money.

Something to think about anyway.

via AJC

With apologies to Disney’s Bambi, I’m feeling “twitterpated” today.

For whatever reason, I’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole (another Disney movie reference, natch) of Twitter.

If you’re not already addicted, don’t click the link above. If you’re in the same boat, enjoy my “twitterings”.

Basically, it all boils down to web/mobile/IM-enabled proto-blogging and people who are already on the internet 24/7. It’s just one big social experiment answering the questions “What are you doing right now?” OR “Who cares?”

I mention this technological timesuck here because the process is both highly distributed and also collaborative and local. You can see local twitters here or here or search all of them. UPDATE: Metroblogging has an official Twitter channel/account.

I find the brief window into people’s private lives fascinating. Much like very personal blogs or journals, it’s a glimpse into the person and personality that is different than the stuff we do here. I think.

In any event, I find it interesting, so I thought I’d pass it along.

In other internet behavioral news, people in Atlanta are searching the internet for information on Spring Break quite frequently and this fact means something to the folks at Ask.com. Me? I saw a dude in a “Freaknik ’97″ hat over the weekend.

Happy Twittering/Blogging/Searching!

Local blogger ManUnderStress posted some pictures he took at the abandoned psychiatric hospital on Briarcliff Road. You can see the whole set here on Flickr. Very creepy! Metblogs field trip, anyone?

i don’t normally write about politics. i can’t stand the inevitable name calling, screaming, accusations and histrionics that follow. but every now and again something comes up that i at least believe needs some comment.
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this came in via the suggest a story link and is definitely worth a mention. as part of marathon weekend for the georgia marathon there will be a one-time showing of the documentary runner’s high on friday, march 23 at the plaza theatre on ponce in poncey-highland.

the documentary, which has been an official selection at multiple film festivals, chronicles the story of several teenagers from one of california’s worst neighborhoods, east oakland, as they train for the los angeles marathon. check out a trailer here

tickets are $10 and all proceeds benefit the ing run for something better program which provides free running programs to middle school kids in the cities ing sponsors races in, including atlanta. i’ve written about this program before here and really believe in the cause.

you’ll also have the opportunity for q&a with the filmmakers and get a pair of the run for something better’s iconic orange shoelaces.

check it out. more info here.

The DJ Drama case (previously on the Atlanta Metroblog) gets a mention in a House committee meeting.

I’m not the number one authority on this case, but the hearing concerned some of the craziness surrounding new internet radio costs/legislation.

Maybe james will grace us with a local music post and some links/discussion on that topic (and this one) in the near future.

You know that jagazz that parks like a buffoon at the office every day, taking up a corner and two spots of the parking deck to avoid a ding on his daily driver – or the brainiac at the grocery store who’s too busy yapping on the phone to notice the painted lines?

Inspired by my co-worker Kelly who sent me a link to You Park Like An Asshole, I’ve created a new flickr group: You Park Like An Asshole – Atlanta for which the first post is actually a driver, not a parker, but whatever.

Fellow Atlanta MetroBlogger Seth pointed out that BoingBoing just covered this as well, how ya like that timing?

Membership is open, so shoot / join / post.

from the ajc today -

Ed Wall, MARTA’s outspoken board chairman, has been charged with public indecency for receiving oral sex and fondling himself in a bathroom at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to police reports.

Wall, a married father of three, apparently met a 25-year-old man from Indianapolis on the Internet and arranged to meet at the airport, police said. The two men engaged in oral sex in a handicapped bathroom stall late Tuesday afternoon, but they left the door slightly ajar and were seen by an undercover officer, according to reports.

now here is my question. i would imagine that if you are the chairman of marta you have to have a few dollars in the bank. now a quick check of expedia shows a room available today at the econo lodge at the airport for $44. so assuming that the marta chairman is guilty he shouldn’t really lose his job for engaging in the activity itself in my opinion (i’m a laissez-faire, live-and-let-live kinda guy,) but rather for doing it in an AIRPORT BATHROOM. geez, couldn’t he have waited 15 minutes and made his way to a hotel?

perhaps he was motivated by the humpty-hump and wanted to out do the guy who ‘once got busy in a bruger king bathroom.’

of course he vigourously denies the allegations, or at least his attorney does -

Wall’s lawyer, Steve Sadow, said Wall has been “falsely accused.”

“He is innocent and did not commit any crime,” Sadow said. “This false and malicious allegation is a direct affront to chairman Wall’s good reputation, and he intends to vigorously defend himself in the court of law and the court of public opinion.”

then again his attorney is also the guy who described steve kaplan of gold club fame as “a legitimate, hard-working businessman.”

ah yes, should have known steve sadow would show up in this case. it has everything he looks for; sex and important or famous people. oh yeah and lots of media coverage. the only real question is how did he block bruce harvey out?

oh and where did the alleged perpetrators of this crime meet?

Wall and Pettry both said they met a day or two earlier on craigslist.com, a free Internet advertising service

ah, craigslist. your gifts to society are so vast we should build you a monument

And now a one-shot (potentially) post, It Came From “Suggest A Story”, because:

1) I don’t have anything else to blog about
2) The “Suggest A Story” queue is getting full
6) There is no rule six

So, without further adieu, I present It Came From “Suggest A Story”

1. Event tonight: “Art and Tomorrow’s Empowered Worker: A Discussion”

2. The Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund is presenting a forum titled “Art and Tomorrow’s Empowered Worker: A Discussion” on March 13 at 6:00PM at the High Museum. Tickets are $12. The speaker, Philip Yenawine, is the former education director of MOMA and is a leading speaker/author on the subject of the arts as preparation for a creative workforce. He will discuss how, through arts education, we can guarantee that we have a labor force that is able to communicate easily, think both in and out of the box, collaborate with others, adapt to change, and solve complex problems. This is part of a 20-city national series. The reports from each forum, including audience discussions, will be published together.

   [Via Josh Phillipson]

3. Google maps has added Atlanta Traffic

4. [Via Richard]

5. Tech kids win $50,000 Dr. Pepper Contest

6. [Via "George Burdell"]

Tune in never to find these and other exciting Atlanta Metroblogging links!

I’ll go ahead and warn you: This is a little bit informational, and a little bit tooting my own horn.

I occasionally check out other Metroblogging cities’ sites, along with their Best Of and Active Discussions pages. Part of this is purely egotistical – I like to see if my posts have been actively discussed – but part of it is simply because the posts in those categories are usually great reading. For instance, Metblogs L.A. just completed a week-long series called L.A.’s Top 25 Legends: The Guide. Good stuff.
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