Let's Make A Deal

How about this? We'll stop running home-businesses in residential districts if you'll stop putting homes in business districts. Deal?

Guest Post : The Mitzvah And The Mensch

The relates to a recent event in Dunwoody. It is presented in its entirety [changed only for anonymity] but without further comment or context.

Last June/July, before I got sick, one really hot day, I took bottles of water down to the trash pickup crew.

Today, I figured out if I took my time, I could get down to the street using my walker, then fold the walker up, place it on top of the empty cans and roll back up the driveway slowly.

I had done round 1 with the recycling can and the mail when the trash truck came down the street. They were at the [end of the cul de sac] when I folded up the walker to start back up the hill. The truck stopped a second time in front of our house. The same crew from the summer. They stopped the truck, and one of the guys off the back insisted on pulling the empty can up the driveway for me. I shook his hand and then the driver rolled down the window and told me "God bless."

It is a very simple thing, but it's made me cry.

There are still people out there who just want to do something good.

Sharing is caring, so I wanted you two to know.

Putting The "A" In CCRPI

To the casual observer the Guv appears to be right--many of our schools do suck. In fact, they suck even more this year than last.

But opponents will not stand idly by. The AJC reports on a report from an Assistant Professor in UGA's College of Education who looked at three other states finding them less harsh in evaluating their schools than Georgia is of hers. That the AJC mentions only three indicates that only three states even make such assessments (explaining the sad state of US education in global terms) or someone somewhere along the line may be cherry picking.

Now there are gut rumbles from the Legislature indicating once again that for education their motto is "When all else fails, lower your standards" and they appear poised to do just that in an effort to cover up a failed system.

You can probably guess where they're going to put that "A."

Sokal Affair

President-elect Donald Trump [as of this writing he is still PEOTUS] has a lot of nerve making disparaging remarks about Representative John Lewis. Or any remarks for that matter. If he would stop with the tweeting long enough to read the Wikipedia entry on John Lewis he just might learn of all the legislation authored, sponsored and passed by Representative Lewis on behalf of his constituents, the State of Georgia and indeed the entire country. One would be hard pressed to find any legislator who has accomplished as much over the last thirty years as Representative John Lewis and we should all hope that President Trump aspires to accomplish a tenth as much.

Surcharge Or Tax?

The Atlanta airport, run by the City of Atlanta is making honest operations of Uber and Lyft but requires a $2.35 "Security Surcharge" for the honor. The publicly aired propaganda claims this is for those services that "use private background checks instead of a state fingerprint check."

This is kind of BS that only a government bureaucracy can toss out and one must wonder if they think the public will believe it or they just don't care. Probably the latter because the lie is so easily exposed.

During the negotiations it was revealed that medallion wielding cabbies don't have these state checks either but somehow they don't represent sufficient security risk to warrant this "surcharge." And just what additional cost is incurred by the airport when the Uber driver does a pickup? And why is that cost based on the number of passengers? And how is that risk mitigated when it is a drop-off? The answers to these questions make no sense because the fiction around justifying this "surcharge" is just that. A fiction.

And politicians wonder why there is so little public trust in government.

Red Necks, White Socks And Blue Ribbon Beer

Back in the day when bicycles were a kids' stepping stone to freedom because they actually got you somewhere we all mowed our grass at least once a week, usually with a push-behind blade mower. Pastoral. Bucolic. And in the bone-sucking heat of the dog days of summer just enough of a reminder of hell awaitin' to make you really consider going to church tomorrow. But tomorrow is another day and after sweating off about five pounds what you really want is an ice cold PBR. Just make sure you're done with all the yard work and cleanup before you pop that top because in your dehydrated state it will knock you on your ass.  Squirrels will laugh at you.

Things have changed. These days we pay for someone else, with brown skin but lacking the red neck to mow our lawns and then turn around and pay someone else, with blond hair and a bodacious bod to force us to exercise on a bike that goes nowhere, often with only one wheel. Thankfully indoors with A/C and TV's. But after spinnin' up a sweat we still want that cold brew. And right here in DaVille we have a biz hoping you'll finish up your exercise with a cool down of eight ounce curls. Normally this would require a pour license but when a member of council is a member of the club, well you know, this IS Dunwoody where rules don't apply to the well-connected. Consequently someone is floating the idea of a special dispensation, a properly priced indulgence to allow hosting a Friday night "Spin and Sin." That's right, Friday--amateur night for drinkers everywhere.

City Attorneys object, hopefully strenuously, but only on the basis that this action would undermine city licensing and enforcement. Indeed. But no one is asking how smart it might be to get folks sweatin' out electrolytes, have them hammer down a brew and should they survive the "hot tub heart attack" pour themselves into a car to slug it out in DaVille's renowned Friday traffic. Because this is THE Smart City and the smartest of the smart are sitting on Council and are convinced this is a Smart Idea. And a done deal.

Trump's Military

After the Ferguson shooting Obama took a break from funneling military equipment to local yokel police, a policy Trump is expected to reverse before his first tweet from the oval office. In anticipation of a renewed opportunity to abandon serving as a community police force in favor of joining a local army of Dukakis-like posers Dunwoody intends to ante up for a mobile SWAT command center. Not to worry, the Dunwoody taxpayer share is only $42K hardly putting a dent in the City's recent tax hike and now you know what they needed that money for.

Dunwoody was an early trendsetter in police shooting citizens so it is little surprise that their ambition extends beyond onsey-twosey open field plinking. Now that Dunwoody is a joint task force with the other li'l cities aspiring to re-create Milton County maybe they can get all their military regalia  together for our parade on the 4th. With this new command center, everybody's bearcats and maybe a few of Trump's MRAP's we can put on an inspirational display the likes of which are not seen outside of Tiananmen Square. Given the city has delegated neighborhood protection to neighbors you may find yourself inspired to get a Georgia Weapons Carry License. While you can.

How Can They Do This?

Remember back in the day when Brewster's first came to town? The franchise owner plopped down the standard Brewster's Building all red and modern with a pre-build aspect to it. The locals were so angry they pulled out their metaphorical pitchforks and axes forcing a Williamsburg makeover with brick veneer and a faux mansard roof. Oh, and beige. Lots of beige. Now it is a burger joint with a deck out front that looks like dock on Lake Lanier washed up in the parking lot.

But it fits the mandatory Williamsburg of the Village Overlay.

Then there is this:

That's right. Painted brick. Not painted beige, painted white. And the bad actor is right beside an office that still respects All Things Dunwoody.

And in case you thought that was white siding, not unusual in DaVille here's a closer look:

Light the torches and break out the pitchforks!

Work-Shopping Ideas

In retracting the ill-conceived attempt at expanding government opacity the Fulton County Attorney who proposed to limit the public's access to the public's records dismissed it as "merely work-shopping an idea." One has to wonder how many bad laws, destructive to public welfare are slipped past a blinded public as a "work-shopped" idea. More than the public needs and less than the governments want.