My alma mater has made a move to bring back intercollegiate sports.  Dalton State College announced the appointment of Derek Waugh as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics:

Atlanta native Derek Waugh has been named Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Dalton State College. Waugh, who currently serves as Assistant Athletic Director for Stetson University in DeLand, FL, will assume duties at Dalton State February 1. Waugh spent most of his career at Stetson as the Head Basketball Coach where he went from the youngest Division I Head Coach in the country in 2000, at the age of 29, to the second winningest coach in school history as he transitioned to administration in 2011.

“This is an historic time in the life of our College,” said Dr. John Schwenn, President. “The introduction of intercollegiate athletics will bring a vibrancy to our campus that we hope will spill over to the community and region. This is an essential step to our becoming the traditional four-year college we aspire to be.”

A nationwide search resulted in more than 70 applications for the Athletic Director position; the Search Committee headed by Dalton businessman Ken White invited three candidates to campus. Waugh was selected by President John Schwenn.

“Derek Waugh is an intelligent, high energy individual who we believe is exactly the right person to launch our Roadrunner athletics program,” said Dr. Schwenn. “We look forward to Derek and his family becoming part of our campus community and also part of the Greater Dalton community.”

“We really liked him very well,” said Search Committee Chair Ken White. “We think Derek’s got a lot of energy and that he shows a lot of intelligence. He’s played at a high level, coached at a high level, and been Assistant Athletic Director at a very fine school. We’re very high on him and think he’ll do a great job.”

I recall tales from my professors of how Dalton State was a basketball powerhouse back during the ’70s and ’80s.  It’s something we’ve been talking about since my time serving in the student government there.  I’m glad to hear it’s much closer to fruition.

Google has changed its algorithm to make searches more relevant to users, at least that’s what their claiming.  The service called “Search Plus Your World” integrates Google+, but it does not search Twitter or Facebook feeds.  Twitter isn’t too happy.  According to Zack Christenson over at the American Consumer Institute, Twitter took their beef with Google’s new search algorithm to the public:

“For years, people have relied on Google to deliver the most relevant results anytime they wanted to find something on the Internet.

Often, they want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million Tweets every day on virtually every topic.  As we’ve seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results.

We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone.  We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.”

Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission may look into the issue.  In the Bloomberg article, the heart of the matter is whether or not Google has violated antitrust laws.  I’m a Google user, a Google+ user (occasionally), a Twitter user, and a Facebook user.  Frankly, I don’t care whether or not they include Twitter or Facebook feeds on my search results.

Here’s the thing:  Google owns their proprietary search algorithm, so they should write it the way that they want to.  If they want to skew the results, then they should feel free to, but they should be concerned about losing users if those users believe the search results are inaccurate or misleading (and who’s to say that things you see on Twitter and Facebook, much less the Internet in general, are the gospel anyway?).  Besides, if folks don’t like how Google operates, then maybe they should check out a few of Google’s major search competitors.  The Internet does reflect a free market that allows companies to make dumb decisions that could hurt them (see Netflix and Qwikster).  If Google starts to see a decline in the number of users (and a subsequent decline in ad revenue), then I’m sure they’ll change course if users believe it’s a big enough of an issue.

Google has good products and services.  It’s simple, fast, and efficient.  I will say that there are a few issues as of late that have concerned me that make me wonder if Google is trying to skew the results in their favor.  If this is the case, then I’ll just start using something else.  I believe the decision on where to search for information made by millions of users would have a greater impact on Google than a ruling from the Federal Trade Commission.

MLK Day events around town.

Billye Aaron (as in Mrs. Henry Aaron) spoke at UGA’s MLK Freedom Breakfast Friday.

“Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, made Governing magazine’s list of 12 state legislators across the nation to watch in 2012.”

Beware insolent campus muggers – Georgia Tech students may be packing heat soon.

Congrats to the two Georgia kids recognized during the third quarter of the Ravens-Texans game Sunday as Punt, Pass & Kick National Champions: Jadon Hollins-Reno of Richmond Hill (age group 10-11) and Pete Derkay of Acworth (12-13).

Rep. Rob Woodall really doesn’t like President Obama’s recess appointment.

The Daily Show visited Romney supporters at Poole’s BBQ in Ellijay last week. The segment may air this week during South Carolina sweeps.

Robins AFB is losing more jobs. In the meantime, the base is scheduled for a (tentative) Tuesday visit from Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Maj. Gen. Jim Butterworth, adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard.

Peach Pundit isn’t on this list, at least not yet.

Famous former Albany resident, Food Network star Paula Deen has been diagnosed with Diabetes II. Media snickers. No pun intended.

From all of us at Peach Pundit, happy new year to you and your families! May the new year bring each of you many blessings.

Make 2012 a great year!!

Not Georgia specific, but a great story nonetheless.

Rod Dreher writes at The American Conservative. His post on moving back to his hometown in Louisiana strikes a cord in all of us blessed to grow up Southern. You may leave the South, but the South never leaves you.

Happy New Year!

The tech community has been a-buzz about Congress’ legislation, “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) in the House and “PROTECT IP Act” (PIPA) in the Senate, to address online piracy and intellectual property rights.  I’m not an IP lawyer, or any sort of lawyer for that matter.  Constitutionally, one’s intellectual property is protected for a limited time so that it allows him to exploit his findings as well as encouraging people to make advances in the arts and sciences.

These two pieces of legislation are supposed to combat the problem of online piracy, but many tech and political pundits are starting to have questions about these pieces of legislation.  I’ll go ahead and establish that there really is a problem with online piracy.  Now, some out there are of the believe that online piracy isn’t as big of a deal as some make it out to be and that intellectual property (IP) owners should just come to grips with the fact that some of your property will be stolen no matter how hard you try to protect it.  That might be true, but that shouldn’t prevent an IP owner to protect his content.

The stripped down explanation of SOPA and PIPA is that it would allow IP owners/copyright holders to take legal action to shut down the avenues to get pirated content that is hosted overseas.  IP owners have legal recourse right now to get copyrighted content that is illegally hosted on servers in the United States via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  I’m not a big fan of the DMCA since it tends to lock down content to where the consumer can’t use it to the fullest extent, but SOPA would have greater ramifications.  SOPA/PIPA would affect how consumers get content (and possibly make it more costly and less accessible) and reminiscent of China’s Great Firewall.

Think back to the 2000′s…Napster (in its Peer-to-Peer file sharing form) played host to millions of users using it to share music.  One of the arguments was that the content providers a.) didn’t provide digital forms of the music like they wanted and b.) an album normally was priced around $15 to $20.  The RIAA started to crack down on illegal file sharers, but a movement began within the industry to start selling music online (enter iTunes Store).  Now, you have multiple vendors that either sell downloadable music to your mobile media device or sell a subscription that allows access to a vast music catalog.

Now that broadband is widespread, consumers are demanding to see videos online…for a reasonable price.  I believe that video content will go through the same evolution, albeit a bit more quickly, as music.  EBooks will probably suffer the same way with people sharing books purchased on the Kindle Store (of course, how is that any different than me allowing my friend to borrow the dead tree version of a book?).  People desire content that is easily accessible and affordable.  I’m not defending piracy, but it is a symptom of a problem that can be solved with free market economics…provide content that is easily accessible and affordable, and most reasonable, law-abiding citizens will pay for it.  I believe Netflix and Rhapsody are good examples of that.

So, that’s the consumer side…what about those of us that do provide content.  Believe it or not, Peach Pundit is a content provider.  Those of us here take what’s bouncing around in our minds about Georgia politics (or sometimes not), organize it into something fairly readable, and then release it to the Interwebs for your enjoyment.  Although we do synthesize a lot of the material in our punk’in heads, we do use various media outlets around the state (and sometimes country) to link to stories.  We give props to those folks by linking to and citing them as our source.  There might be a day in which we put something up here that someone doesn’t like and demands that we take it down because we don’t have their explicit permission to post it.  We might get in trouble for it…which means we would have to be *extraordinarily* careful to make sure we didn’t post something we weren’t supposed to lest we get fined or jailed for posting “illegal” content.  It could make it more difficult to be a blogger under the SOPA law.

Not to mention, how would search results on engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo be affected?  Would those search engines start to filter out search results to some blogs “just to be on the safe side” in order to avoid potential lawsuits from the RIAA and MPAA (the two largest backers of SOPA)?  The Internet is a trans-national entity.  It’s an entity that has allowed for people in oppressed regimes to have a free voice, so how can we as a country based on the idea of freedom allow for a law that would stymie both freedom of speech and the creation of new content?  Sure, there’s a problem with online piracy, but it would seem like this “remedy” would ultimately kill the patient.  Let’s not take the shotgun approach to treating the symptom of a headache.  We need to introduce a little bit of common sense into the way we handle our intellectual property.  Perhaps the OPEN Act will be a viable alternative that has a dose of that common sense.

Some further information about SOPA/PIPA:

this WEEK in TECH – Episode 332 – Bad News Bearers – TWiT.tv (good debate on SOPA)

Politico article on how SOPA could affect the blogosphere featuring Erick Erickson

A short synopsis of the OPEN Act by the Electronic Freedom Foundation

25 Things You Need To Know About SOPA – List25.com

To all the men and women who have served in uniform defending our country and our freedom:

Thank you.  We owe you all a debt that we can never repay.

2011 has been a wild year for weather.  Snow, sleet, rain, severe thunderstorms, strong winds, tornadoes, drought, and wildfires have plagued Georgia and the rest of the South this year.  The question among weather prognosticators is whether or not 2011 is just an anomalous year for weather or if we should batten down the hatches and prepare for more severe weather in the future.

The Great Plains has the moniker “Tornado Alley”, but an area of the South, what’s termed as “Dixie Alley”, sees a significant amount of strong tornadoes as well.  As National Weather Service meteorologist Greg Carbin says in an interview with the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, Tornado Alley has taken on more of an “L” shape that has been creeping into the Southeast for years.

Man-made or not, our climate and weather patterns are changing.  You can discuss the politics of global climate change in the comments below, but I believe the most effective thing to do right now is just to be aware.  Be aware and prepared for more severe weather in the future.  Spring for a programmable NOAA weather radio to get weather alerts for your county.  They’re about $30 and can get them either from a local store or online.  The alarm might be annoying, but it’ll alert you soon enough to seek shelter immediately.  There was at least 20 to 30 minutes of lead time for when a tornado warning was issued and when the tornado touched down for a certain area on April 27th.  Those minutes can (and did) save lives.

We can’t control the weather, but we can do our best to be as prepared as we can be for whatever comes our way.

Today is Chevrolet’s 100th anniversary.  On November 3, 1911,  Chevrolet was started up in Detroit by race car driver Louis Chevrolet joined with then-ousted GM Founder Billy Durant.  Although it’s not produced in Georgia, it’s American as apple pie and baseball.  Not to mention, Chevy dealers are scattered throughout the state as well.  You can read more of the history of Chevrolet in this article from BusinessWeek.

Consider this an OPEN THREAD.

Then: 1911 Chevrolet Series C

Now: 2011 Chevrolet Corvette

Yesterday, the FBI arrested four North Georgia men…

…relating to plans to obtain an unregistered explosive device and silencer and to manufacture the biological toxin ricin for use in attacks against other U.S. citizens and government personnel and officials.

Those plans included releasing ricin in Atlanta and other cities, possibly blown from a car traveling the interstate(s). Read the rest.

Have a nice commute home.

Warren County head football coach David Daniel is recovering from reconstructive facial surgery with inserted metal plates and over 100 stitches after a violent altercation between his team and the hometown Hancock Central team Friday night. Several bones around Daniel’s cheek, nose and eye were “crushed” when a Hancock Central player allegedly struck Daniel in the face with a helmet. Doctors believe there was no brain damage caused by the blow.

Warren County Schools Superintendent Dr. Carole Jean Carey said that the incident occurred after the game. According to Carey, the visitors’ locker room was locked and it appeared that a large group of Hancock Central players and fans were waiting for the Warren County players and staff. While the Warren County team was waiting for someone to unlock the door, a Hancock Central player struck a Warren County player from behind with a helmet. Daniel stepped between the players and was then hit in the face. Multiple Warren County players were attacked by the group during the brawl. The story in The Augusta Chronicle provides the details:

The incident occurred, Carey said, as she was walking with Daniel after the game. After the Screaming Devils reached their locked locker room, they were “caught off guard,” she said.

Carey said Daniel saw a Hancock Central player hit a Warren County player from behind with a helmet. According to Carey, Daniel stepped in and said something to the effect of “What are you doing?” The Hancock Central player, who has not been identified, then struck Daniel with a helmet.

Daniel was released from the Medical College of Georgia Hospital on Sunday night but will go back as doctors decide what’s next.

Warren County High School Principal Kaveous Preston has stated that several Warren County students were also sprayed with pepper spray at the game. The Georgia High School Association is investigating the incident and Preston is urging fans and players to focus on this week’s game and to give the system an opportunity to work.

The rival schools are less than 30 miles apart and to add to the drama, the Hancock Central defensive coordinator Marleau Blount had been the Warren County head football coach until August. Blount resigned after some players were allowed to practice before passing their physicals. Daniel was the defensive coordinator under Blount at that time.

With the Coach Daniel on the mend, though several more surgeries will be required, the focus is now on what Hancock County Sheriff Tomlyn Primus will do regarding the incident. Carey has requested that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation look into the events, but the Hancock County Sheriff has declined to do so. He also declined to tell The Augusta Chronicle if he was investigating the allegations though he has reportedly told other news outlets that he is doing so and that the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office is capable of handling the investigation.

So is this event an indictment of organized sports, our culture or just a group of idiots who should wind up in jail? Warren County school officials are stating that they will not play Hancock Central again this year in any sport. Have they overreacted to this one incident?

If anyone cares, Warren County beat Hancock Central 21 – 2. It was Hancock Central’s homecoming.

Additional sources:

Hancock County School Calendar
WRDW-TV Sports
WJBF News Channel

For the past few days, we’ve been talking about the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Atlanta crowds.  Time to change gears (briefly) and give a little bit of recognition to the talented young lady from Rossville, GA (the Catoosa County side) who made herself known to the rest of the country on American Idol earlier this year.  Lauren Alaina’s debut album was released yesterday, and apparently has already garnered some good reviews:

Lauren Alaina, this year’s “American Idol” runner-up, opens her debut album with a country-rock stomper, “Georgia Peaches.” The song establishes that this 16-year-old from the Peach State may come across as sweet and delicate, but vocally, she packs a punch.

Preternaturally confident, she sounds best on the most playful tunes, including a jaunty summertime ode (“Tupelo”), a challenge to a suitor (“I’m Not One Of Them”) and a backwoods romp reminiscent of Gretchen Wilson (“One Of Those Boys”).

Although she was runner-up, I’m sure her music career will do just fine.  We wish her the best of luck.

If you’ve followed me on Facebook or Twitter, you’ve probably seen the regular updates over the last several months — since the gallbladder surgery I had back in March — regarding my diet.

Anyway, I’m pretty stoked this because as of this weekend, I have now lost 100 pounds; from 342 pounds to 242. I don’t have a good picture from the last few days, but here is a comparison from a pic taken in mid-February at CPAC to a more recent one taken on September 3rd at a Braves game. I think I’d lost approximately 87 pounds when the picture on the right was taken.

During this time I’ve gone down at least two jeans sizes (I’ve been wearing 38″, but I could probably fit in a 36″ now), my old XL t-shirts are loose on me, and three wedding ring sizes.

The first 90 came almost entirely through diet changes. I stopped eating junk (no more pizza, hamburgers or anything like that). I haven’t had beer or liquor since before I went in the hospital (I couldn’t drink until mid-Summer anyway per my doctor’s orders due to “resolving pancreatitis” from the gallbladder infection) and it’s been two years since I’ve had a soda.

My diet now consists of two servings of Honey Nut Cheerios, a chargrilled club sandwich and a large fruit cup from Chick-fil-a for lunch, and either a Healthy Choice meal or a chargrilled chicken salad from CFA for dinner. And I’ll have a 100 calorie snack or two during the day. On the weekends, I tend to eat more liberally, but I still keep it within 1,600 to 1,900 calories. I also started walking nightly back at the beginning of September, though I started out slowly for the first week, doing only a mile at a time. I’m up to four miles a night as of last week.

I’m not quite done yet. I think I’m going to try to lose another 20 pounds or so by the end of the year. I still won’t be the athlete I was in my high school days, but I’d be content.

The Savannah Morning News reports that the Savannah Economic Development Authority has been awarded a license to form a World Trade Center. The announcement was made Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil, by the World Trade Center Association. From the story:

Representing the new World Trade Center Savannah in Sao Paulo were SEDA board chairman Tommy Hester, board member Eric Johnson, SEDA vice president Brynn Grant and consultant Kevin Werntz.

“This was just approved (Sunday) and the connections we are already making are amazing,” Hester said Monday. “The World Trade Center people are so open and anxious to establish relationships. We’re developing new Asian and South American contacts — Brazil alone is a booming economy.

“This affiliation will be so good for us. It really puts Savannah on the world stage.”

As a World Trade Center, Savannah is now one of more than 330 such centers in nearly 100 countries, all working to help businesses conduct profitable international trade.

This designation is a good development for the entire state. Savannah’s new foreign connections should help bring many additional business opportunities, particularly in job-deprived South Georgia.

Congratulations to Savannah. Now, if we can just gain access to the port of Savannah for the larger freighters.

I wrote some time ago on my personal blog that I’d all but stopped listening to talk radio; though I still listen to the morning news on WSB. It’s become too reactionary for me and dishonest on certain issues in some cases. While driving home last weekend, I can’t remember when specifically, I caught part of this lady (I didn’t catch her name at the time) on the radio discussing a couple of issues that caught my attention. Her approach was interesting and I completely agreed with her.

A friend who was listening to her tonight texted me and asked me what I knew about her. So I tuned in to hear what she was saying on my ride home from Atlanta. A breath of fresh air, especially from a station that broadcasts the pseudo-libertarian, Neal Boortz. Anyway, her name is Monica Perez; here’s a little information on her:

Monica Perez has an undergraduate degree in economics from Harvard University, a law degree from Stanford Law School and a masters in business administration from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She recently passed the third and final exam to become a Chartered Financial Analyst. Monica has worked as a commercial banker and an investment banker. As an anarcho-capitalist (i.e., extreme libertarian), Monica is a proponent of Austrian economics and an unyielding devotee of personal liberty.

The show is aptly named The Monica Perez Show. WSB doesn’t have any information on it on their site — I’m assuming the show is only on Saturday evenings, but hopefully she’ll be a permanent addition to the station.

The baseball season has come to an end for the Atlanta Braves.  It was the first season they were without Bobby Cox at the helm.  They had a 10-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals at one point, but squandered it to become tied with them on Tuesday night.  Ultimately, the Bravos lost 4-3 versus the Phillies in a 13-inning game.  Nuts.  No post-season action for us.  Sometimes it’s tough being a Braves fan, but you can’t help but love the team.

So, take this time to discuss your sorrow about being let down by the Braves (again) and who you’ll be pulling for in the NLDS and the ALDS.  If anything, I hope the Cards beat the Phillies.  I’m just saying.

::OPEN THREAD::

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a leading contender for the Republican nomination for president, will speak at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation‘s annual policy briefing on Friday:

Governor Rick Perry of Texas is among the speakers who will address attendees of the second annual Georgia Legislative Briefing on Friday at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.

Governor Perry’s topic is, “Taxes, Torts and Texas: The Key Policies Supporting the Growing Texas Economy.” The Georgia Public Policy Foundation has highlighted the tax, tort and criminal justice reforms in Texas and invited a panel of Texas criminal justice experts to the first annual Legislative Policy Briefing last year.

The Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s annual Legislative Policy Briefing, hosted in partnership with the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute, is modeled after the annual briefings by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a sister think tank.

More information about the briefing is available here. You can register for the event here, but keep in mind that the deadline is tomorrow.

At least for R.E.M. fans.  The band from Athens, GA have announced they are breaking up.  Jim Galloway linked to an article over at the Athens Banner-Herald on the band.

I don’t care to engage in a debate about the execution of Troy Davis because, frankly, I’m tired of watching the worst come out of both sides; however, my views on the death penalty have changed a lot in just the last week. As Todd Rehm said earlier today on Facebook, I’ve come to “oppose it because I believe in limited government and a government that can put its citizens to death is the antithesis of limited government.”

I’m praying for the families of Troy Davis and Mark MacPhail this evening. I hope you’ll take a moment out of your time and do the same.

Avast ye mateys!  It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day today.  So, eat a few oranges (peaches, too) to stave off the scurvy, raise the Jolly Roger, and start bantering back and forth like the sea dog scallywags that ye be!

ARRGH!!!!

::OPEN THREAD::