WMCC News

You thought we’d gotten rid of him, didn’t you?  Thought that those never ending eight years had finally ended, didn’t you?

Well, as Gomer used to say: surprise, surprise, surprise.

Until we ferret out all that is hidden away in all the nooks and crannies of City Hall where the Jackster swept away things to be dealt with by those who followed him, he is still with us.

“Mayor Reichert to offer $100K in Ellis-era probe” macon.com 7/25/08

I should have mentioned this sooner, but don’t forget about Bragg Jam 2008.  Here are some quick links:

A list view of Bragg Jam events (courtesy macon.com): List view (by band)

A map view of Bragg Jam events (courtesy macon.com): Map view (by location)

The Bragg Jam website: Bragg Jam Website

And the Saturday, July 26th Bragg Jam Pub Crawl schedule.

(I tried to find some music online by Brax Bragg to post here.  If you know where, let me know.)

“Police captain’s transfer continues to create sparks at Macon City Hall” macon.com 7/23/2007

Actually, the video presented here will not be Obama on McCain on Iraq.  The video previously presented was apparently a McCain On Obama on Iraq because that video included a www.JohnMcCain.com credit.

But this one has been made by an Obama supporter which is a part of a whole industry of so-called smear videos out there.  It’s included here because it’s also on the subject of McCain on Iraq and has been produced along the same lines as the Obama on Iraq video presented earlier.

It’s also on the long side.  Get another jawbreaker and sit back.

Captain Tooey White of the Macon Police Department was conducting a training meeting with the members of MPD who were going undercover to participate in the second phase of Operation Massage Parlor.

“Gentlemen, we’re going to be discussing the techniques you are going to be using when you go into a massage parlor and try to get sexual favors,” Tooey began.

A hand was raised in the back. “Captain, am I supposed to tell my wife I’m doing this?”

“Bubber, that is not a concern of the MPD although we wish you well in your determination.

“As I was saying, Sergeant Jones is passing out a sting operation checklist. The first thing you do when you enter, say, the Slippery Hands Massage Parlor is to ask if there is a ’special’ today. You’ll wink at the girl at the front desk and hand her a ten dollar bill.

“Now don’t wear your police uniform. Wear something casual. When she … Well, who do we have here?

(Ten men walk into the room.)

“Hello, cap’n. We’re from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department. We were wondering if we could get a little training in this sting operation we hear you’ve got going on.”

“Well, well, didn’t want to be a part of the City of Macon but want to be a part of our little police ops, huh? Well, OK, have a seat.

“As I was saying, the girl at the front desk will more than likely walk to the back to talk to whoever is in charge and then come back to get you. She’ll come back and take you to a ‘massage room’ and introduce you to your ‘masseuse’ who will … what’s this?”

(Another group enters the room.)

“We’re from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. Can we get some trainin’ on this massage parlor sting thang?”

“Good heavens, I never saw as much interest in police work in my life. All right, find a place.

“Where was I? Oh, the maitre d’ will introduce you to your ‘masseuse’ who will ask you to strip down to your underwear. Now, here’s where we have to start being careful, gentlemen. This is a sting operation for the criminal. We don’t want you to wind up getting a little sting, too.”

A hand goes up in the back in the back. “What is it, Bubber?”

“Captain, I’m sort of having a problem with this. How are we going to catch them doing the “m” thing unless they actually do the “m” thing?”

“Well, Bubber, it works like this … Hey, not again! Who the hell are you?”

(More people enter the crowded room.)

“Captain, Sheriff Modena sent us over to see if we could monitor Operation Massage Parlor in the spirit of inter-governmental cooperation.”

“Oh, I’ll bet that’s right. At this rate we’ll have to turn each visit to a parlor into a threesome. Well, you’ll have to stand against the wall.

“Now back to your question, Bubber. Georgia Code Section 16-6-16 defines the ‘m’ thing for hire as erotically stimulating the you-know-whats of another by manual or bodily contact or by instrumental manipulation for money. Now I know you guys aren’t going to put up with that ‘instrumental manipulation’ stuff, so we’re back to hands on, so to speak. That’s more than talking about it, Bubber.

(Low murmur of voices throughout room.)

“What’s all the racket?”

“Sorry, captain.” One of the Monroe County deputy sheriffs spoke up. “We’re just calling all out buddies on sheriffs departments to tell them they better get their butts down here real quick!”

From time to time I’m going to offer for your comment a video that one of the presidential campaigns has produced.  We’ll start with the McCain campaign’s attack on what it claims are Obama’s ever shifting convenient views on the war in Iraq.  (I wish it was a little shorter but it’s an important subject.)

So grab a jawbreaker, sit back and take it all in.

Next time: Obama on McCain.

From an article by Matt Barnwell posted on today’s macon.com:

Meanwhile, (Macon City Council) has been luke warm at best to the idea of privatizing garbage collection…

(Council member Ed) DeFore told administration officials they still do not have enough votes on the council to pass privatization.

“They’re not going to do it,” he said. “And y’all can put that in your pipe and smoke it.” DeFore and other council members said shifting Macon’s trash to a private landfill is the best option because it preserves the jobs of city employees and could provide financial help in closing the city dump. (Emphasis added.)

Preserving the jobs of city employees.  Now be thoughtful, not just caustic.  If you were a city councilperson, should you consider preserving public employment as a legitimate concern of city government?

“Council committee wants mayor to close Macon’s landfill, pay company to take city trash” macon.com 7/21/2008

To heck with the serious stuff. All I want to know is, what is (or was) your dog’s name, past or present?

Ours was … Freckles. (That’s Freckles on the right.) He was a great dog, a Springer Spaniel. He was a roamer, always with a big grin on his face. He liked to walk in the front door at Alexander IV and go to each of the classrooms where all the kids knew him by name.

And yours?

P.S. You’re welcome to share a little of your dog story, too.

UPDATE: Patrick Goff shared this image which he says comes from macon.com under a section where they asked the public to post pictures of their pets. Patrick says, “Either this woman has photoshop or she is feeding her dog HGH.”

I’m a big fan of The Telegraph and its online version, macon.com. It has its television and radio news reporting counterparts, but The Telegraph is the news source for Macon and Middle Georgia. When it gets deeper than the first level of reporting an event that is available to everyone, that’s when we depend on The Telegraph.

Newspapers are struggling right now. We’ve seen The Telegraph cut back on staff, outsource services, and trim the number of hard copy pages delivered to our front doors. It may also have experienced a decrease in hard copy circulation and advertising dollars, although that’s speculation on my part based on my understanding of national trends.

Here’s what the editor of the online edition of the News Tribune newspaper in Tacoma, Washington, had to say:

As readers of this blog, you are hopefully well aware that the newspaper industry is in a state of disruption…The bottom line: print subscribers will be getting less product for the same price because advertisers are spending less to appear in the product.

I thought I should take the opportunity to explain what these changes will mean for online readers. Since we don’t have to pay for newsprint, ink or trucks to distribute the online news, we aren’t under the same pressure to save costs. In fact, the online product will be growing and improving. As advertisers shift their spending to digital products, it’s our mission to publish the best local digital news and information product possible, which means more attention and resources for the web site (not less).

It also means you will be seeing more advertising on thenewstribune.com, because we can’t make more money to offset those print advertising reductions in revenue without increasing the advertising offerings. You have probably already noticed pop-under ads that appear on your computer when you visit our site. They are set to show only one time per user per 24 hours - if you’re seeing more than that, let me know. (Emphasis added.)

I take that to mean that online newspapers are being expected to pick up the advertising income slack that their hard copy counterparts are losing. Translate: more pop-under ads and the like.

I’m seeing a lot more than one pop-under ad on macon.com per 24 hours but maybe that’s a small price to pay if The Telegraph can stay healthy and Travis Fain and Matt Barnwell and Liz Fabian and Ed Grisamore and Charles Richardson and everybody else can keep telling us what is really going on beyond the car wrecks and tornadoes and convenience store robberies.

One plea, however: No more ads like the one Charlie Bishop ran on macon.com during his primary campaign where you couldn’t log in without the thing automatically running. That will drive me away pronto.

From a letter to the Used-To-Be-Macon Telegraph this morning from George Couto:

Macon City Council may look different, but it still acts the same. After the last election I feel the people of Macon made their thoughts pretty clear. But, once in office the council takes on a mind of its own.

The city is shrinking; Macon’s population is now estimated to be down to 92,000. With shrinking resources come hard choices, like the privatization of the sanitation department. In all, more jobs at the city will have to be shed. The city has a staff that at one time serviced a city of more than 100,000 people, which is no longer the case.

All city departments should shed positions, including the police and fire departments. The private sector sheds jobs to keep pace with the economy; the city government should be no different. One good place to start cutting back would be City Council. There is no need for 15 members; seven or five would be more than enough. There are too many chiefs and not enough Indians in city government, and a bad case of political gridlock has been keeping Macon from moving ahead.

No one is guaranteed a job for life with a great benefits package, and the taxpayers’ pockets are getting pretty bare.

“… too many chiefs and not enough Indians in city government….”

How large are other city councils in Georgia and what’s the recent history of attempts to reduce city council’s size?  Go to the How many city council people does it take? post.