(AP Photo/Paul Abell) 

Atlanta’s never earned a reputation as a ‘sports town.’  Sure, we’ve got teams in every major pro league (at least until the Thrashers bolt for Canada), but the stadiums rarely fill to capacity.  When they do, half of the crowd we… Read full post »

Trouble is brewing in Black Sea Georgia yet again. According to embattled president Mikhail Saakashvili, a group of Russian-backed mutiny-minded Georgian Army officers attempted to overthrow the government yesterday. They wanted to get rid of the president prior to today's scheduled NATO… Read full post »

There's going to be another killing tonight. The soon-to-be dead man goes by the name of William Mark Mize. The state of Georgia will murder him. The state will use my taxes to do it.

The prosecutors said that Mize killed a man named Eddie Tucker… Read full post »

The situation off of the Horn of Africa remains so much more complex than what we’re reading about in the American press.

I've written previously on OS about the roots of the Somali piracy problem -- a fairly simple and straightforward story that somehow eludes most of the press and… Read full post »

Perhaps you've already heard, but for the first time in three years, Iranians living within their home country's borders can now access and use the social networking website Facebook.

This interesting article from Radio Free Europe speculates as to why the change in policy has occurred. Tho… Read full post »

I spent the past week (and every Tuesday and Friday of the past three months) watching Georgia high school basketball. And I loved every minute of it.

The Region 5-AAAA tournament wrapped up Saturday at Lithia Springs High School in Douglas County. It lasted all… Read full post »

Well, it is official.

Russia announced earlier this week that it would be opening two new military bases in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia. The former Soviet vacation province has been under de-facto Russian control for about 15 years, but this summer's Russia-Georgia War allow… Read full post »

An interesting and mostly ignored tidbit showed up in the fringe of yesterday’s overwhelming media coverage of President Obama’s inauguration.

A bulletin was issued late Monday night to state and local law enforcement agencies concerning a possible D.C. terrorist threat. Intelli… Read full post »

Marley Safer and David Browning apparently dislike Julian Schnabel.  This “60 Minutes” segment from last night tries extremely hard to paint the artist/filmmaker Schnabel in the worst light possible.

I gathered two things from these tasteless 12 minutes: first of al… Read full post »

This started out as a response to Frank Stein’s OS post about piracy off the Horn of Africa, but as my comment grew to dwarf Franks’ original piece in length, I decided to make it a blog of my own. Frank’s full post is included below in italics (or you… Read full post »

The election season is over, our man won!

Well, not quite… 

 In Georgia, we still have a Senate race. 

 Apparently, in Minnesota, the election laws are different. 

But here in the Peach State, a runnoff occurs when a… Read full post »

As Atlanta Journal-Constitution sportswriter Sekou Smith put it today, “Let’s talk about some change that you can believe in.”

 For those of you who allowed your campaign addictions to keep you from noticing the start of the 2008-2009 NBA season, allow… Read full post »

Twenty-five years ago today, two suicide bombers drove a pair of explosives-laden trucks into the two separate buildings housing American and French peacekeeping forces in Beirut.  The blasts killed 241 American servicemen, 58 French troops, six civilians and the two suicide bombers.&nb… Read full post »

Last week, self-described sex hotline operator Ellie Lumpesse published an Open Salon (“Editor’s Pick”) commentary about the conflicting, but not mutually exclusive views that she feels feminists cling to concerning the sex industry.

If you have not read her piece, do check it out.… Read full post »

For those who missed it, CBS’s Evening News with Katie Couric featured another almost completely meaningless segment with Barack Obama and John McCain last night.  

Couric, the heir-apparent to Tim Russert’s brand of easy, power cooperative mainstream television “journalism,&rdq… Read full post »

While trudging through the comments section of Sandra Miller’s “Good without God” post, I offered some criticism of so-called “Hard Athiests” and tacitly defended the vast majority of Americans who (according to a U of M study) would never vote for such a person if he/sh… Read full post »

As reported in various mainstream news sources, the European Union brokered a "solution" to the Russian-Georgian Conflict yesterday. According to the Christian Science Monitor's Fred Weir, the peace deal was hammered out between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Dmitry Medvedev… Read full post »

The mainstream media obviously picked up the Cindy McCain jet set to Tbilisi this week, but as Glenn Greenwald points out on his blog, a genuine thoughtful discussion of John McCain's foreign policy stances has yet to materialize in the press.

Cindy's compassionate visit, along with her husband's "We… Read full post »

Phelps may have won 8 gold medals, but he is not the star athlete of these Olympic games. Watch the video of this man walking away with the 100-meter gold and the accompanying title of world’s fastest man, ever.

Usain "Lightning" Bolt is a phenomenon; a once in two lifetimes… Read full post »

As Washington spews anti-Russian rhetoric and the mainstream media dutifully rubber-stamps the pro-west, pro-Bush administration spin, Russian soldiers continue to ruthlessly occupy Gori and other areas within once universally recognized Georgian territory.

Decent media outlets like the George Soro… Read full post »

Less than a year ago I stayed in Gori with my ex--a Peace Corps volunteer who was stationed in the western Georgian region of Adjara.
I had just recaptured my freedom from the U.S. Navy, and rather than return home, I spent… Read full post »