Morning Reads for Thursday, Dec 27

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Good morning, sweet cheeks.

I went to see Les Miz Christmas Day.  The standout performance (to me) was Anne Hathaway’s I Dreamed a Dream.  It was gut-punching with the dispair of her situation.  Hugh Jackman was awesome; Russell Crowe was ehh; Amanda Seyfried pulled off some legit opera; the Marius character quivered his lips like Christina Aguilera or Whitney Houston, so I couldn’t take him seriously for most of the movie.  It brought in $18M on opening day.

The “work” days between Christmas and New Year’s are always a hodgepodge.  Many take the days off, some are frantically closing out year end books, and some zombies technically go to work, but only the fires will be addressed for the next few days.

As you get ready for 2013, do any other PPrs start their year with a 21 Day Daniel Fast?  It’s no joke, but it gets your head and heart in the right place.  As we collectively come down from our high of gluttony this holiday season, consider consciously denying yourself  something to show your gratitude for our pretty easy lives.

Links to the reads are below the fold.

Georgia

• Federal mediators hope to avoid a walkout of dockworkers (add’l link) including the port of Savannah. Their contract extension expires December 29.
• Breaking: Secret money fuels Georgia political campaigns.  “Very smart lawyers have found ways around the law that allows you to be politically active and remain anonymous.”
• Cobb man accused of killing ex-wife arrested this morning.  He had been stalking her.  Would a firearm in the house have saved her life?
• Wifi: you’re off the grid without it – nyuk nyuk nyuk.   Convention centers try to keep up with technology.
• Google giving free Wi-Fi to Douglasville.  I assume D’ville gets preferential treatment because of the huge Googleplex in Lithia Springs?  Come to Cobb County.  We’ll make room for you in the office parks around McCollum airport.
• Local 15yo activist plans to run for president in 2046
• High five for science and engineering: Tellus Science Museum, 3M raise $200K for museum campaign
• Georgia 2012 layoffs down 42 percent from 2011
• Downtown Atlanta 45th best New Year’s party spot according to Priceline.  When you consolidate spots within the same cities, we’re actually even further up  the list i.e. five different spots in Orlando were ranked separately.

I know, I know – I’ve posted details about the last two Cobb GOP breakfasts although PP really isn’t a forum for event information.  BUT they’re honestly newsworthy.  We had Governor Deal, then Senator Chambliss, and now multiple state legislators will have a panel discussion on the upcoming session a week before it convenes.  Saturday, Jan 5, Cobb GOP HQ, 8am.

Inter/national

• Starbucks cups to come with a political message
• BBC’s Top Gear Host: “It took us 40 yrs to get rid of Piers Morgan. Please don’t send him back.”
• Anti-Piers Morgan petition tops 80K signers
• From 2004: Piers Morgan sacked for publishing fake photos of British troops torturing Iraqi prisoners.  Way to employ top talent, CNN.
• Benghazi penalties are bogus and GOP senators won’t confirm Kerry until Clinton testifies on Benghazi.  Thought: our current Secretary of State has been incapacitated with a head injury for two weeks and there’s hardly any news about it.  Does this strike anyone else as weird??
• Dub Senior’s fever has worsened  Wishing him a speedy recovery.
• Charles Schwab: Still a Chance for a Fiscal Cliff Deal.  A Reuters Update. Fiscal cliff deal increasingly unlikely.  Everyone is completely guessing.
• Obama’s gift to al-Qaida, support for tyranny, and FBI monitoring of dissent.
• Head of Syrian Military Police Defects
• VA finds sexual assaults more common in war zones.  Nearly ONE in FOUR say they were sexually assaulted. 25 effin percent.  ”But Bridget, they chose to go over there.”  Friendly fire, ladies.  Friendly fire.

Whatevs

• It’s another awkward conversation, parents, but you need to have it.  If your teenage girls have Snapchat or FB’s new Poke app on their phone, you need to explain yet again that nothing is private in cyberspace.  The apps send “expiring” texts, photos, and videos.  Exactly what kind of photos and texts are kids sending these days that they’d want to beat the system by having them self-destruct in 10 secs?  Speaking of secs.
• 5 shopping trends that came out of 2012.  I think Try-on Technology is the coolest.  I’m 5’2″ and healthy; I do not buy clothes without trying them on.  It would be awesome to use existing tags in my closet to cross-reference the closest fit to what’s online.
• Fiftysomething Diet: The 5 Foods Men Need To Eat
• Video: Disney is re-branding what it means to be a princess.  I like it.  ”I have heard I am beautiful; I know I am strong.”
• OK Go Fans: they’re giving away 12 free downloads
• Parents who use the tv to babysit their kids are doing this, not Google: The internet is leaving children brain-dead: Inventor warns ‘Google generation who spend life in front of screens are losing creativity and skills’.  Google isn’t making them fat either, Mr. Baylis.
• Video: Miley Cyrus’ cover of Jolene is pretty popular right now.  Wowsers – ol girl looks couhntry.
• Video: a TED Talk. Marc Goodman: A vision of crimes in the future

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