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BEWARE THE IRISH TRAVELERS
WITH REP. TERRY COLEMAN'S ELECTION as
Speaker, hardline Democrats (or what passes for
them in Atlanta) will maintain control of the
Georgia House. Coleman's Democratic opponent,
"bi-partisan" Perdue lackey Larry Walker threat
ened to take the post, and had Republicans
helping him lobby for Dem votes. Even our own
Democratic Rep. Keith Heard’s vote was in doubt
until the last minute. When contacted on Friday,
January 10, Heard said he wouldn't announce his
decision until the day of the House vote. At dead
line, it was too early for City Dope to discern who
voted for whom, but either way Heard's fence-sit
ting should send his stock with real Dems plum
meting. Et tu, Keith? Et tu?
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, the debut meeting of
the new Mayor and Commission featured calls
from both sides of the rail for a moratorium on
so-called "conservation subdivisions." It seems
JIH HIGHTOWER
Tfie fiflan QeMTfie (Curtain
The eight most frightening words
coming out of our nation's capitol these
days are: "The Bush administration has
announced revised standards for..."
It doesn't matter "for what"—you just
know that it's going to be awful news,
because the Bushites are zealously taking
their ideological, pro-corporate chain saws
to every rule on the books that protects
us regular Joes and Janes from the over
bearing greed of corporate power. Whether
it's a rule to protect our health, our jobs,
the purity of our air and water, our pen
sions, our privacy, our natural resources,
our citizenship rights—you name it, Bush
& Co. are ripping up the current legal
standards so it will be easier for corpora
tions to get their way.
After all, these special interests have
pumped millions of dollars into Bush's
campaign coffers, so George has a big
debt to pay. Going to Congress to get
these special favors-can be too iffy, too
public, too messy—so Bush's preferred
way of delivering to his contributors is
through executive orders and the back
room rewriting of regulatory standards.
There are so many of these anti-democ
ratic "revisions" of regulations that the
media does little more th?n announce
them, but the overall impact is to rewrite
the terms of our democratic sovereignty,
further enthroning a few profiteers to rule
over us.
Of course, in the Brave New Language
of Bushspeak, such removal of our public
, protections is done in the name of "pro
tecting" us. For example, a recent Bush
ruling sets new standards for the horren
dous pollution being caused in rural
America by huge factory farms. "This is a
major step forward to protect our nation's
waters," declared a Bushite. But far from
protecting the public, Bush's new stan
dards protect the polluters—under revised
standards, the corporate operators of
these factories get to write their own pol
lution-control plans... and keep the plans
secret from the public!
Pay attention to the man behind the
regulatory curtain—he's a fraud.
Jim Hightower is a political columnist,
radio commentator and former Texas agri
culture commissioner.
someone finally figured out that we're doing it
wrong—something Flagpole has been yammering
about ever since cons sub guru Randall Arendt
told the Commission as much over two years ago.
HOWEVER, CITY DOPE ASKS ALL YOU true
believers to take a pause for the cause. Right now,
"conservation subdivisions" should be the least of
our concerns. They already depend on Mayor and
Commission approval, and can already be
accepted or rejected on a case by case basis. No,
what we need is a moratorium on the devastating
and horrific development going on right now all
over Athens-Clarke that's already nice and legal
under our present ordinances—mistakes we don't
even know have been made until the fake win
dows are staring us in the face.
WHY DEVOTE PRECIOUS TIME AND ENERGY to
that which we already control when another
Garden Springs could happen any day? When
acres of green space can be reduced to such an
eyesore that we'll accept any development that'll
cover it up? When the rental market is cannibal
izing itself while the builders are laughing all the
way to the bank?
IF CITY DOPE WERE THE CYNICAL TYPE (heel),
we'd say this whole "conservation subdivision"
moratorium idea is a big, fat red herring—a dis
traction to keep our eyes off the prize. Put it this
way: when the new Planning Commission supports
anything unanimously, and then Tom "Martin
Meadows" Chasteen backs it up, watch your step.
Someone might be taking you for a sap(p).
"WE FACE THE PROSPECT OF AN IMMINENT war
against Iraq, fought alone." So says a broadcast
email from anti-war group Move0n.org. But
thanks to organizations like MoveOn and individ
uals of like mind, Martin Luther King Day
(Monday, January 20) promises a number of
opportunities for public speech and public ser
vice. In Athens, several private groups have
teamed with the ACC departments of Leisure
Services and Human and Economic Development
to help out with local community service pro
jects (call HED at 613-3155 for more info). In
Atlanta, the Georgia Peace Coalition is partici
pating in an MLK Day march, starting at 12 noon
at the corner of Peachtree and Ellis (contact the
GPC at (404) 522-4500 or see georgiapeace.org).
As for City Dope, we'll be celebrating the day by
writing next week's column. It ain't much, but
it's what we got.
IF TAKING IT TO THE STREETS isn't your thing,
just pick up the phone. The White House is
taking public comment on the "War On Iraq"—or
"Showdown In The Gulf," depending on your net
work of choice. (We offered "Kickin' Ass For
Cheap Gas," but even MSNBC shot us down.)
Anyhow, we're told all you have to do is call
(202) 456-1111, wait for the live operator, and
say "I oppose (or I support) war with Iraq." FYI:
City Dope tried this a couple of times, but the
line was busy. Guess if the "President" doesn't
like what he hears he can take the phone off the
hook—just like us regular folk!
RESPONDING TO MAYOR HEIDI DAVISON'S state
ment on poverty in Athens (see "Behind The Rail,"
p. 6), AthensLivingWage is holding a planning
meeting on Thursday, January 16, at 7 p.m. at
UGA's Tate Student Center, room 145. Following
the meeting will be a "session with the mayor,"
according to ALW, which says "Interested folks are
urged to attend."
IT TOOK THEM ABOUT SIX MONTHS, but the
Athens Area Chamber of Commerce has come out
against throwing additional public moneys toward
a privately developed and owned Classic Center
hotel. According to a statement recently received
by Flagpole, the Chamber board of directors
CITY DOPE WENT TO NASHVILLE to see the Steelers/Titans playoff game, and all we got was borderline frostbite, a couple of
blown calls, and this stupid picture. And we’d do it again
believes the ACC government "should offer no
incentives (direct, indirect, or implied) to any
hotel developer on this property." The board fur
ther resolved that "[t]he government should not
take any type of financial risk in this project and
should make clear that any developer will have to
accept the risks of the free market..." City Dope
agrees—and what a relief it must be for the
Chamber to finally be able to take a position.
TALK ABOUT UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCES. Here
the Classic Center Authority is offering to help
handicap private industry, and the only company
to publicly express interest in the deal is the
employer of the Chamber's own chairman
(Morris Communications and Athens Banner-Herald
publisher Jeff Wilson, respectively). Over the past
year, Athens' incensed hoteliers were all alone
together as the former Mayor and Commission
cleared the way for the Authority while the
Chamber was forced to hold its tongue. With
Wilson's term expired, the COC can speak freely on
the issue. There's a moral in here somewhere
about the "free market" and the "free press," but
City Dope is too busy thinking about MLK and Joe
Nedney to ferret it out.
SOMETIMES—WELL, MOST TIMES, REALLY—it's
best to let someone else do the talking. City
Dope got this release from the Athens-Clarke
County Police Department the other day, and
there's just no way we could improve upon it:
"WILLIAM NOLAND of Ohio was arrested at the
SunTrust Bank on Prince Ave after he attempted
to cash an altered check. Investigation revealed
the check had been written by an 89-year old
male in Chamblee who had paid subjects a small
amount to pressure wash his residence. After the
check was written, the suspects altered the orig
inal amount to make it for several thousand dol
lars. This activity leads investigators to believe
the Irish Travelers are back in our area. In the
past, the Irish Travelers have used various
schemes such as roof repair and driveway repair to
flim flam citizens out of money. In this recent
scam, they offer to pressure wash a residence for a
small amount of money. When the check is written
or possibly only signed, the amount is changed to
an amount in the thousands of dollars. Several
incidents have been reported in north Georgia.
These have involved white and black males using
a variety of names and driving various pickup
trucks. Although no incidents of this type activity
have been made in Athens-Clarke County, citizens
are advised to be extremely cautious when
approached about having any type of home
repairs made by unknown persons. Citizens are
also advised to never give blank checks, or credit
card numbers, to strangers. If suspicious persons
or activity are seen in a neighborhood, call 911
and provide as much information on the subjects
or activity as possible." See?
Brad Aaron
Send your city dope to bradaaron@flagpole.com.
THIS MOfthBM VMM by TOM TOMORROW
THE. PRESIDENT MA<ES A STARTLING ■ DONALD RUMSFELD BEGINS A ‘ CHARM ■ AVERAGE CITIZENS GROW INCREASINGLY
ANNOUNCEMENT.' ■ OFFENSIVE .' ■ALARMED.'
BECAUSE THE MOON MAY SOME
DAY BREAK OUT Of OR8IT AND
CRASH INTO THE EARTH—
-I HAVE DECIDED TO USE OUR
NOOKYALUR ARSENAL TO DESTROY
IT HOW!
THE MOON'S COMPLETELY INHOSPITABLE
TO HUMAN LIFE, YOU KNOW.' WHY,
If WE INEP THERE, WE'D ALL BE
OEAD!
IT'S LIKE SOME SORT Of
HUGE PS1CHO KILLER
IN THE SKV.
THE DAMNED THING COULD COME
CRASHING DOWN ON OUR HEADS
AT AWT MOMENT!
THE SOONER WERE RID Of
THAT STUPID HUNK Of ROCK,
THE HAPPIER XLL BE.'
SOON THE DESTRUCTION OF TME
MOON SEEMS LIKE Tm£ ONLY
SENSIBLE OPTION.'
--but OF COURSE, NO ONE CARES
WHAT TN£Y THINK.
[THEY WHINE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT
DESTROYING THE MOON—BUT DO
|nr£Y HAVE ANY SOLUTIONS?
CRAZY MOON-LOVERS
1 : •!
JANUARY 15, 2003 • FLAGPOLE.COM 5
www.thlimodefnwortd.com BRAD AARON