As suspected, one of the two "religious liberty" bills now pending before the Legislature has become a moot point.
State Rep. Sam Teasley, R-Marietta, has given up on H.B. 218, which has yet to receive its first hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, though it was the first filed. From to the Marietta Daily Journal:
McKoon's bill is likely to be assigned to that same House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, this morning.
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The official motto of the city of Atlanta is "Resurgens," which is Latin for "When knocked on our butt, we got up." But "Westward, ho!" might do in a pitch. From Atlanta Progressive News:
The City of Atlanta's lobbyists at the Georgia Legislature last week circulated a map proposing a major expansion of the southwest quadrant of the city further to the west, through the annexation of a significant portion of unincorporated south Fulton County.
The map would put Atlanta’s city limits up against the Chattahoochee River and Douglasville.
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As the weekend broke, Gov. Nathan Deal gave what amounts to his version of "I told you so" on the state's latest unemployment figures.
The jobless rate dropped to 6.4 percent in January - the lowest in seven years -- a rather sharp drop from the 8 percent it hovered around late last year during the heat of the campaign. Back then, Deal blamed "historically faulty" data and vowed it would fall after the vote.
In a speech Friday, he said his predication came true.
"Even though the press made a lot about our unemployment numbers during the campaign, look at what has happened," he said. "Our unemployment rate is continuing to drop, and our employment numbers are continuing to rise."
Deal also predicted that those high unemployment figures that dogged the last months of his campaign -- they were among the highest in the nataion -- would ultimately be revised downward. That has happened, too. Unemployment rates hovered near 8 percent in September and October, but have been revised to 6.9 and 6.8 percent respectively. Though we're not sure how this affected Georgia's national ranking near the bottom.
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It seems like the plot of a bad episode of CSI: A conservative state Public Service Commissioner takes a busload of legislators on a drive through a gritty red light district.
Tim Echols has already led one "unholy tour" of Atlanta's sketchy dark side back in January. He's planning a second venture on Tuesday and his bus is already booked solid - with a growing waiting list.
The tours are borrowed from a technique used by English abolitionist William Wilberforce to give politicians a first-hand look at the worst part of their culture. They're aimed at shedding a spotlight on sex trafficking, prostitution and other crimes that lawmakers want to halt.
Our AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin went on the last tour. Here's a passage from his story:
During the tour, as the bus lurched through traffic near Piedmont and Cheshire Bridge roads, McClure pointed out clubs where they are welcomed and others where backroom brothels operate.
"Right there, I know there are girls in there right now" who are forced or coerced into prostitution, she said.
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President Barack Obama's speech in Selma, Ala., this weekend is being called one of the best of his presidency -- and an answer to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's contention that Obama doesn't love his country. That part, courtesy of Time magazine:
What could more profoundly vindicate the idea of America than plain and humble people – the unsung, the downtrodden, the dreamers not of high station, not born to wealth or privilege, not of one religious tradition but many – coming together to shape their country's course?
What greater expression of faith in the American experiment than this; what greater form of patriotism is there; than the belief that America is not yet finished, that we are strong enough to be self-critical, that each successive generation can look upon our imperfections and decide that it is in our power to remake this nation to more closely align with our highest ideals?
That's why Selma is not some outlier in the American experience. That's why it's not a museum or static monument to behold from a distance. It is instead the manifestation of a creed written into our founding documents....
The Insider's Daniel Malloy spent the weekend in Selma. While Saturday was a day for dignitaries, the Sunday march across the bridge was for the masses. Malloy's report, on our subscription site, includes these paragraphs:
Outside the church stood nine supporters and staffers of U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Cassville Republican. They had come to pay their respects and attempt to cross the bridge. Loudermilk himself did not make the trip.
Christiana Loudermilk, 24, the congressman's daughter, said she wanted to be there "to come together and show there is common ground."
"There are things said today that I don't necessarily agree with 100 percent, but there are things we do agree on," Louder-milk said.
"We believe in liberty," she added. "We believe in freedom. And we just wanted to take part in honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and, honestly, they were talking about today so many have given their lives for the freedom we have in this nation, and we're very thankful for that. We want to be a part of preserving that."
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Our neighbors to the South at least have plenty of sand to bury their heads in. From the Miami Herald:
But you would not know that by talking to officials at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the state agency on the front lines of studying and planning for these changes.
DEP officials have been ordered not to use the term "climate change" or "global warming" in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.
The policy goes beyond semantics and has affected reports, educational efforts and public policy in a department with about 3,200 employees and $1.4 billion budget.
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Even if you stayed awake to see it the first time, we'll bet you want to see SNL's cold open on Hillary Clinton:
Here's the real news that happened a few hours later, on Sunday morning news shows, courtesy of the Associated Press:
She was the first major Democrat to urge Clinton to fully explain her actions.
The former first lady and New York senator "needs to step up and come out and state exactly what the situation is," Feinstein said. "From this point on, the silence is going to hurt her."
Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, avoided the controversy Sunday morning.
Asked whether his wife was treated fairly, Bill Clinton replied, "I'm not the one to judge that. I have an opinion, but I have a bias."
"I shouldn't be making news on this," he said, in remarks reported on CNN.com.
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