Morning Reads for Thursday, February 14th

• 

Gooood morning from Colorado!  Ain’t no party like a Breckenbridg party… and Happy Valentine’s Day.  Here’s hoping you’ve already made reservations for tonight.  Maybe Open Table can help the stragglers? OR Waffle House Offers Annual Candlelight Valentine’s Dinner.

From wiki, St. Valentine’s Day began as a liturgical celebration of a Christian saint named Valentinus. Saint Valentine was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians. During his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius. Legend states that before his execution he wrote “from your Valentine” as a farewell to her.

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”).

From what I can tell, today’s translation is roughly “Is THIS what I mean to you?!”  A quality make-up experience is probably gonna be highlight of your day, gentlemen  Good luck.

Pucker Up Facts

• The average woman in the world has kissed 29 men by the time she gets married. In the U.S., the average is 80.
• Men who kiss their partners before leaving for work average higher incomes than those who don’t.

Morning reads are below the fold…

Georgia

• Georgia Legislature hazes freshman senator
• Obama to visit Decatur today
• Kasim Reed says he was wrong on gay marriage
• Elite Agribusiness unit returns from Afghanistan
• Bill to arm school employees passes committee. There’s a high likelihood this has already been posted, but I haven’t been reading everything on PP this week.
• Georgia lawmakers look at rescinding road-tax penalty
• Georgia legislators headed toward pain clinic regulation
• Olens part of amicus brief in 2nd Amendment case
• Ga. deputies bust big meth lab in Effingham County
• Augusta: Goodwill-operated restaurant set to open Tuesday
• Cobb: KSU football plan approved, hopes to field team in 2015. The BofR approved the university’s financial plan to support football and other Title IX initiatives.
• Cobb commutes are better than the average in Atlanta
• John McNeil released from prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter
• C’mon – it’s sort of funny.  Man swipes Krispy Kreme truck, leads cops on chase
• Clayton woman charged with trafficking teens for sex
• I checked out Judson Hill’s Twitter after a commenter mentioned it.  I can only assume a staffer has started hyper-tweeting and status’g on his behalf, and it’s not actually the Senator sending the updates.  Either way – I’m ok with it.  It feels a little forced and shotgunned, but I’d rather our guys relay too much information than not post anything for weeks/months at a time.  My kindest constructive criticism …your Twitter background is painful and makes me want to immediately navigate from the page.  High five for hopping on the social media train though.

Inter/national

• #watergate is pretty ridiculous
• Christopher Dorner Cabin Fire Not Set On Purpose, Sheriff Says
• Daryl Hannah arrested at White House protesting Keystone pipeline
• GOP Rep. Brags He Was The First To Call Obama A Socialist
• Hiring freeze redux: Obama pushes minimum wage hike; small biz owners say ‘will put me out of business’
• Supplies reach befouled cruise ship

Whatevs

• Awe.some.  Vince Vaughn And Owen Wilson Movie About Life As A Google Intern
• The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament Just. Got. Real.
• Only 38% of couples engage in retirement planning together
  
• Lady Gaga has been forced to cancel four concerts due to a crippling injury
• This Valentine’s Day in New York, Thinking Outside the (Chocolate) Box
• 11 Surprising Things that Affect Your Dreams
• Lessons Learned From HMV’s Very Public Twitter Meltdown

•