Today is the birthday of front page contributor Saba Long.  We will not ask how old she is, but she’s still younger than most of us.  Poor girl has lived her entire life with her birthday being overshadowed by a groundhog. That ain’t right. So say hello and wish Saba a happy Groundhog birthday.

And, of course, OPEN THREAD.

Facebook tells me it’s House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams Birthday. Please take a moment and wish her proper birthday salutations.

Also, Friday OPEN THREAD:

It’s a Conference Championship Weekend. Will UGA beat LSU? Jeff Shultz thinks not. Who will win in the ACC? Clemson or VT?

315,000 left the workforce and unemployement fell to 8.6%. Wait, what?

The final playoff spot is up for grabs this weekend in the Peach Pundit football league. The Head Shrinkers have the inside track even though I cruelly defeated him by less than a point last week.

Discuss these things, or anything else on your mind in this Open Thread.

So familiar. Yet so refreshing.

It’ll likely be quiet around here for the next few days. Our contributors are mostly spending time with family and friends, as are those we cover. Feel free to use the space below to talk among yourselves. I’ll have my usual column posted this afternoon with my new and improved outlook on Thanksgiving. I’ll be taping a segment for 11Alive news tonight to discuss last night’s Presidential debate, then I will be taking tomorrow off.

I wish all of you and yours a safe travels and a happy Thanksgiving.

OPEN THREAD:

Behave yourselves and discuss the topic of your choice.

Here’s an open thread for most topics of your choice.  One Caveat:

I realize a lot of you want to discuss the Mark MacPhail/Troy Davis case and/or the Death Penalty in general.  That didn’t work so well in previous threads, and I’m going to ask that it not be a topic for today.  Let’s give the issue a 24 hour cooling off period before we try again please.

Enrollment is booming in Decatur schools. Add that to an increase in ITP population and it would appear that a city to busy to stop the sprawl is beginning to curl in on itself. In a good way.

As in-town schools swell, it includes parents that work and shop, keeping the economy of Atlanta viable in very trying times.

Talk amongst yourselves about good things that are coming out of this bad economy.

Obviously this guy was playing Charlie’s “Constitution” drinking game at a Ron Paul 2012 rally.

Consider this an Open Thread.

I’m busy. Have an open thread.

Until we can find something to blog about, here’s an Open Thread. Discuss whatever is on your mind as we live our last 5 days here on earth.

I’m still mostly out of pocket, but I’m sure there’s stuff you guys want to talk about.  Here’s an OPEN THREAD to tide you over until one of our other contributors updates the front page.

Programming Note: I’ll be tied up most of this week with the day job, so other than posting my column, my presence where will likely be scarce. Please don’t let that tempt you into major threadjacking or posting links without appropriate context.

In the mean time, here’s an OPEN THREAD to get you through a Monday morning.

It’s Buzz Brockway’s Birthday. All. Day. Long.

In fact, probably something to make a 3 day weekend out of.

Happy Birthday Rep. Brockway. Here’s an OPEN THREAD in your honor.

Here’s your chance to discuss all those pressing items we don’t yet have on the front page. Make the most of it.

Open Thread:

James Williams, a/k/a Griftdrift, is blogging again.

Please give him a warm welcome back to the internets.

And, FRIDAY OPEN THREAD:

We know it’s the first day back in the office for many of you. Some of us too. Take it slow, have an extra cup of coffee, and talk among yourselves for a bit.

OPEN THREAD:

Talk amongst yourselves.

You might enjoy Luckovich’s cartoon today but since the AJC won’t let us embed it you’ll have to click here.

Yeah, I know the calendar says it’s Tuesday, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me and I would guess the other few of you who are in your usual office today, instead of being at the beach like most of the free world.

We’ll get a few new items posted in a few. In the mean time, for those of you who are around, have an OPEN THREAD: