Beer in the Headlights

In the battle of the sexes, women's magazine editor Cynthia Good said this was a skirmish she had to fight.

Across Atlanta they stood, orange signs with black letters that read "Men At Work" or "Men Working Ahead."

Sometimes, the signs stood next to women working alongside the men.

Good demanded Atlanta officials remove the signs and last week, Atlanta Public Works Commissioner Joe Basista agreed.

Score one for gender equality, Good said Wednesday.

"They get it," Good said about the city in a telephone interview.

Public Works officials are replacing 50 "Men Working" with signs that say "Workers Ahead." It will cost $22 to cover over some of the old signs and $144 to buy new signs, said Public Works spokeswoman Valerie Bell-Smith said.

Fine. I have an idea. How about we force the city to change the wording on the signs to "SOME Workers Ahead?"

If Ms. Good can whine and get her way, then I think my point is more than valid. Think about it... How many times have you passed a work zone and seen all or most workers toiling away?

Then I got to thinking... Is this a feminist stunt or a Marxist stunt? It's that whole worker thing.

For some odd reason the marvel of the United States Postal Service's juggernaut of logistical efficiency somehow managed to lose then find my copy of Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man by author, blogger, shooter, and self-styled tool hoarder Steve Graham. So I'm a little slow on the uptake here and my review of and plug for Steve's book is behind the curve, so to speak.

In a few ways Steve Graham and I are kindred spirits. We both love food and take a strong disliking to the folks in the federal government's They Bureau of Research and Wisdom and their tyrannical influence on our eating habits.

What? You don't know about that government entity, you say? Sure you do. They are the folks from the oft-spoken phrase, "They say." It's a small yet powerful agency created under the Johnson administration to augment LBJ's grandiose social engineering boondoggle of the Great Society. So powerful and influential is the They Bureau of Research and Wisdom that even agents Mulder and Scully declined to investigate their nefarious affairs.

They say you shouldn't eat such fatty food. They say you shouldn't consume so much refined sugar. They say you should incorporate more soy into your diet.

Feh. If you do what they say you'll be a full-fledged gelding under the control of the modern day nanny state. And maybe even the Skull and Bones Society.

Don't bother trying to find them on snopes.com. That Web site is a front for the They Bureau of Research and Wisdom. It's a virtual clearing house for the urban legends and wives' tales that support the They Bureau's agenda.

One man, and one man alone has the gumption to take on the elite and powerful members of They Bureau of Research and Wisdom. That man is Steve Graham. He's done so with a potent arsenal of humor, wit, third party aliases and giant container of bacon grease.

(Click on the image above to order.)

Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man isn't really a cookbook, although over two dozen recipes adorn its pages. Rather it's a collection of essays railing against the effete control freaks that attempt to dictate our diet, reflections on family and life experiences as well as some humorous jabs at some well-deserving celebrities. Think of Steve Graham as a contemporary Patrick Henry of dietary liberty. Or is he more of a food-centric Ambrose Bierce without the bitter aftertaste?

Regardless, Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man is a terrific read with humorous references ranging from popular culture to fictitious Biblical passages and consistent doses of self-deprecating humor. Having tried some of the recipes prior to the book's release, I can attest to both their delectable nature and life-threatening attributes.

Go ahead and order the book. Read it. Share it. Enjoy the recipes. Buy a copy for your wealthy parents so that trust fund money kicks in sooner.

When will the morons running the City of Atlanta ever learn? State Rep. Tom Bearden set the trap and the gun-grabbing leftists stepped right into it.

Guns were the issue. But words and federal lawsuits became the weapons of choice Tuesday as Atlanta officials declared Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport a "gun-free zone," and gun advocates immediately retaliated by suing them.

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta issued a memorandum declaring Hartsfield Airport as a gun free zone. (.pdf file in that link)

By stating verbally and in writing their stance on the issue, Mayor Franklin and Ben DeCosta set themselves up for failure.

"This is a matter of national significance," Mayor Shirley Franklin told reporters at a news conference. Permitting guns inside an airport, even weapons carried by permit holders, would create an unsafe environment that "would endanger millions of people," the mayor said.

Franklin vowed Tuesday to lobby Congress and federal officials to mandate that any public facility receiving federal money be declared a "gun-free zone." That would affect airports nationwide.

Franklin's comments followed a vow by city officials to arrest anyone carrying a gun at Hartsfield-Jackson. The city drew a line in the sand on the very same day a new state law easing gun restrictions in public places took effect.

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said the city's legal team has studied the new law and determined the airport still falls under a "public gathering" exception in the Georgia Code.

"Therefore, firearms are prohibited on airport property," he said.

Here's a memorandum from the Georgia Attorney General's office stating that a "public gathering" is the gathering and not the place:

In State v. Burns, 200 Ga. App. 16 (1991), the Court of Appeals, when faced with this very question, held that the focus should be on the "gathering" rather than on the "place." Thus, the Code Section applies when people are gathered or will gather for a particular function, but does not apply simply because a weapon is otherwise lawfully carried to a public place where people may be present.

Here's the GA Code definition of a public gathering:

For the purpose of this Code section, "public gathering" shall include, but shall not be limited to, athletic or sporting events, churches or church functions, political rallies or functions, publicly owned or operated buildings, or establishments at which alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises. Nothing in this Code section shall otherwise prohibit the carrying of a firearm in any other public place by a person licensed or permitted to carry such firearm by this part.

While a publicly owned or operated building does fit the description of a public gathering, certain publicly owned or operated building are now open to CCL holders to carry firearms. Here is the section of the bill that passed and went into effect as of July 1, 2008:

A person licensed or permitted to carry a firearm by this part shall be permitted to carry such firearm, subject to the limitations of this part, in all parks, historic sites, and recreational areas, including all publicly owned buildings located in such parks, historic sites, and recreational areas and in wildlife management areas, notwithstanding Code Section 12-3-10, in wildlife management areas notwithstanding Code Section 27-3-1.1 and 27-3-6, and in public transportation notwithstanding Code Sections 16-12-122 through 16-12-127; provided, however, that a person shall not carry a firearm into a place prohibited by federal law.

Federal law does not prohibit the carrying or possession of firearms in airports outside of the security checkpoints.

Done deal.

In his own words...

Marxist bigot.

Sierrahome

You could call it the Atlanta version of "High Noon."

Top city officials will announce Tuesday that despite a new state gun law that went into effect at midnight, they will have anyone carrying a weapon at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport arrested. The state lawmaker who sponsored the new gun law says if they do, the city will immediately be sued. And state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) said the plaintiff in the lawsuit could be himself.

"I have a permit, and I have family I have to pick up at the airport tomorrow [Tuesday]," Bearden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. "I'll have one [a concealed weapon] with me at all times."

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said if Bearden shows up at the world's busiest airport with a gun, he'll be busted.

"I can identify him, and I'll have him arrested," DeCosta said Monday. "We're not fooling around. This is a post-terrorism environment."

The new law, which Bearden sponsored, permits licensed gun owners to carry concealed firearms in parks, on public transportation and in restaurants that serve liquor. The law takes effect Tuesday.

Federal law already bans guns past the security checkpoints at U.S. airports. The new state law, however, apparently would permit guns to be carried on the non-secure side of Hartsfield-Jackson by people who have gone through a background check and have been certified to carry a weapon. Licensed gun owners would be permitted to carry weapons on public transportation coming into the airport, its lobby and in restaurants outside the security checkpoints.

DeCosta said he will use the first day the new law takes effect to declare Hartsfield-Jackson a "gun-free" zone.

It goes beyond the airport, but at least the folks at MARTA had enough sense to know where they stand and decided back down.

Opponents, however, blasted the proposal, (to allow concealed carry on public transportation - TC) saying it has the potential to spark more violence than it stops. DeCosta wrote to Gov. Sonny Perdue asking him to veto the bill, and Mayor Shirley Franklin and MARTA officials publicly lambasted the idea. MARTA bus drivers gathered more than 1,000 signatures on petitions demanding bulletproof shields.

Wow. A whopping 1,0000 signatures.

Think about this for a moment: CCL holder have gone through background checks. They've proven to be law abiding citizens. And MARTA bus drivers, the intellectual juggernauts that they are, have demanded bulletproof shields to protect them from these folks. Never mind the gangsta thugs, some of whom are convicted felons, who have already violated the law by carrying on MARTA buses and trains.

There are two types of people who oppose law abiding individuals from carrying firearms; those who hold an irrational fear of firearms and those who wish to exert power over others.

Stop the occupation of Afghanistan!

Militants killed more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in June than in Iraq for the second straight month, a grim milestone capping a run of headline-grabbing insurgent attacks that analysts say underscore the Taliban's growing strength.

So what does this mean? Are our efforts in Iraq turning the corner to becoming an unqualified success?

I will say this about Afghanistan - It wasn't going to be easy. The enemy there is a determined and resourceful lot. The same folks drove out the Soviets. Granted US and NATO troops are better trained, better equipped, more resourceful and far superior in general than their 1980's era Warsaw Pact counterparts, but the Afghan Mujihadeen really put a hurting on them.

Something really needs to be done about controlling or eliminating the poppy and heroin production in Afghanistan. The Taliban and al Qaeda's bases in Pakistan have to be hit pretty hard, too.

Patience... Things will change for the better in Afghanistan within the next year or two.

Anything like changiness?

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday he will never question others' patriotism during the race and blames his own "carelessness" for some criticism of him so far.

Maybe he's correctly interpreted one passage of the Bible - that one about those without sins castings stones or something.

Obama said he chose the topic in part because of his experience during the race, even though he has always considered his love of country a given and his inspiration for running for office.

"I have found, for the first time, my patriotism challenged — at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears about who I am and what I stand for," he said before a crowd of a few hundred people at the Truman Memorial Building here. "I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine."

Carelessness isn't attending a church preaching Marxism and bigotry for twenty years. Carelessness isn't associating with leftist domestic terrorists. Carelessness isn't having cozy ties to Tony Rezko. Carelessness isn't being married to a bitter woman who's deeply resentful of white people.

It's all about judgment. It's something he's consistently fallen short on when it comes to his personal, religious, political, and business associations. Barack Obama has a pattern of relationships that demonstrates a certain degree of contempt toward the United States.

If he's careless enough to make the decisions he's consistently made then that's enough to preclude him from making the decisions he'd have to take great care in making as president?

What it all boils down to is this: If he has to go on a "patriotism" offensive in the campaign to establish himself as patriotic, then he's left the door wide open for legitimate criticism. Why is it that Obama and his campaign feel the sudden need to tout his patriotism? Simple. It's because enough folks have enough reason to believe he's seriously lacking in that arena.

And another thing... To have Wesley Clark play the role of "bad cop" and criticize John McCain is pretty darn pathetic. I'd love for someone to ask Clark why he was relieved of his command and to see him dodge that one. The decision to fire a four star general in command of all NATO forces is a serious one. Wesley Clark is certainly not anyone to criticize another a former officer's conduct while in uniform.