Just a quick update on the silence here ... well, we've had internet issues that completely knocked us offline for the past 24 hours or so. We've just been restored, so we'll try to get back in the swing of things.

Why do we take Matt Towery seriously anymore?

Under the guise of informed analysis, Towery has delivered a piece full of subjective opinions and lacking in actual data. Granted, it's a column which is where opinions are encouraged, but there's little work done by him to actually validate why he holds such opinions.

As a result, it's a pathetically weak argument.

So, Towery claims that he's never seen anything more unususal in his life than Democrats pursuing a much-needed reform of the nation's broken health care system. In his eyes, what makes this unusual is that all of the polls he's seen suggest the proposal is widely unpopular.

This is a surface criticism that is patently shallow, and Towery knows that.

- Doug Heckman: The Awakening will be coming our way shortly. I've got nothing against Heckman, but it would be nice to see some other folks jump into this on the Democratic side.

- This is somewhat encouraging news, but it's going to be difficult to see how enough funding can be raised by modernizing the fee structure.

- I don't disagree with the sentiment of this editorial, but I think the larger point should be that it's OK to be compensated in the public sector and that the work done by public sector employees is vital to our society. The more responsible way to handle this problem is through a combination of targeted spending cuts and revenue enhancements.

- Shorter Rep. Brian Baird: 'Gosh this bill is long, and I just don't have time to read all the facts and numbers.'

There's a good read in the Sunday paper today, with Jim Thompson taking legislators to task (using frequent chicken analogies) for their posturing on UGA's proposed budget cuts.

What the legislature is doing, as JT points out, is blatant political posturing, accomplished by sanctimoniously accusing the Board of Regents of, well, political posturing. But as Thompson points out, in this Regents vs General Assembly battle, the legislators made the rules, and the Regents followed their instructions for budget cuts to a T.

Don't hate the player, hate the game. Except that in this case, the General Assembly was both the opposing team and the referee and they still managed to end the first quarter down by a touchdown and a safety.

Thompson:

Ok, so he may or may not be a birther. I really don't care; President Obama has more than enough people to handle the spittle-laden ravings of the birther crowd.

You know who doesn't have people to defend them from people like Paul Broun? Um... kids who live in poverty.

Yeah, Paul Broun was one of 13 House members who voted "no" on a resolution which expresses the House's support for the National School Lunch Program. The NSLP, by the by, helps folks in a couple of different ways. First, obviously, it provides free or low-cost meals to needy kids - around 30.5 million a day. Secondly, it provides a way to keep American farmers in the black by providing a market to absorb farm surpluses.

Awesome ...

During an interview with radio host Pete Dominick yesterday, Broun questioned whether Obama is even a legitimate President, saying he “doesn’t know” if Obama is an American citizen:

DOMINICK: You think he’s an American citizen and a Christian?

BROUN: I’m not gonna get involved in that.

DOMINICK: You can’t say that he’s an American citizen?

BROUN: Well —

DOMINICK: You can’t say the president’s an American citizen?

BROUN: I don’t know.

Also, via Blake, he's gotten into a public feud with a cast member of Jersey Shore.

Be proud 10th Congressional District. Hold that head up high.

Sara Bickerton has announced her intentions to run for the soon-to-be-vacated District One seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission.

Bickerton is a program coordinator for the Athens-Clarke Literacy Council, as well as the assistant program director for the Jack R. Wells Boys & Girls Club.

Current District One Commissioner Doug Lowry, who had been mulling a possible mayoral run, opted to not seek re-election.

Sen. Seth Harp is starting to push forward with a proposal to cut salaries of high-ranking administrators and faculty in the University System of Georgia as a means of staving off some of Chancellor Erroll Davis's proposed cuts ...

Harp also suggested a way the university system might make up some of the budget shortfall: Cutting compensation for the highest paid administrators and faculty members.

"Some things that are not being used by the chancellor are things that are very, very strongly favored by the people of Georgia. I'm specifically referring to cutting income, cutting salaries of high-paid employees," Harp said.

Harp is conceding this is being done for political reasons, but it's important to note that it's not a plausible course of action if you actually want to address the budget crisis. I spoke with a contact in the administration at the University of Georgia familiar with the budget preparation process, and he said the amount of savings were overblown.

- OK, I'm trying to understand the problem here. The developers - who, in full disclosure, attend church with me - are seeking to sell 25 acres to raise capital to develop the rest of the project. The Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission, in a rather reasonable request, want to see a potential buyer identified prior to approving any zoning changes. The developers don't like that idea because it could take a year to sell the property and craft plans for use. Um ... wouldn't it take time to do so anyway?

- Right. Listen, selling health insurance across state lines isn't something you can just set up and do tomorrow. There are going to be serious cost increases to cover the necessary investments in network development at the outset, and there are tons of concerns regarding consumer protection. Sure, it sounds like it's a common sense plan, but it really isn't.

Some Rowdy Women by Shooter Jennings

Pencil Thin Mustache by Jimmy Buffett

Got A Little Crazy by Kenny Chesney

Gimmie That Girl by Joe Nichols

Sinners Like Me by Eric Church