"I don’t hate REM", but…
"Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate REM. I’ve just long grown weary of them. The one thing that really summed them up wasn’t “trailblazingness” or “sonic melding of quasi-poetic mumbling and Byrds-influenced arpeggios.” It was their Southernness. As surely as Billy Bragg captures Britishness, or the Velvet Underground seems innately New York, the truly interesting thing about REM was that they were the musical equivalent of Flannery O’Connor, or at least presented themselves as such. (Personally, I’d argue that the Rock-A-Teens are the true musical version of Southern Lit, but I’m trying to go with a theme here, so work with me)."
— Blake Aued, in a post on his Athens Banner-Herald blog that includes a number of other examples challenging Athenian’s progressive self-image.
"There literally are hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Athens-Clarke County. Yet it seems as if new organizations crop up daily, run by sincere people who are outraged by what is - or is not - going on in the community. These folks have supposedly uncovered a problem that must be addressed, and, in turn, they mobilize.
Lost in this well-intentioned fervor, in many cases, is any research into the efforts of existing nonprofits. This can lead to chaos - duplication of services, increased competition for dwindling funds, and the loss of longtime supporters of existing nonprofits who move to work with newer efforts."
— Johnathan McGinty, in an Athens Banner-Herald op-ed column, suggesting that people might want to consider joining existing organizations before creating new ones.
"Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate REM. I’ve just long grown weary of them. The one thing that really summed them up wasn’t “trailblazingness” or “sonic melding of quasi-poetic mumbling and Byrds-influenced arpeggios.” It was their Southernness. As surely as Billy Bragg captures Britishness, or the Velvet Underground seems innately New York, the truly interesting thing about REM was that they were the musical equivalent of Flannery O’Connor, or at least presented themselves as such. (Personally, I’d argue that the Rock-A-Teens are the true musical version of Southern Lit, but I’m trying to go with a theme here, so work with me)."
— Officer Killjoy, posting at The Day Jobs, explains why he or she doesn’t hate REM.
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"Many Athens residents pride themselves in being a blue island in a sea of red, and our Republican minority delights in castigating the supposedly anti-business, tax-and-spend commission at every opportunity. But the response to the bag tax – a progressive policy that would move this city toward sustainability, albeit in a small way – is further proof that Athenians’ image of themselves, when the rubber meets the bike lane, is pure B.S."— Blake Aued, in a post on his Athens Banner-Herald blog that includes a number of other examples challenging Athenian’s progressive self-image.
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"Um, I think the farmers' market's existence is great, but does anyone else think it's ironic that its accountant said, 'I hope that this body of commissioners is not so hypnotized by economic development that they don’t see the equal value of holistic development, which does not value everything in dollars.'"— Hillary Brown, reacting to a quote in an Athens Banner-Herald article about opposition to potentially moving the popular farmer’s market at Bishop Park to make room for the new tennis center.
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Hundreds of nonprofits organizations in Athens-Clarke County"There literally are hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Athens-Clarke County. Yet it seems as if new organizations crop up daily, run by sincere people who are outraged by what is - or is not - going on in the community. These folks have supposedly uncovered a problem that must be addressed, and, in turn, they mobilize.
Lost in this well-intentioned fervor, in many cases, is any research into the efforts of existing nonprofits. This can lead to chaos - duplication of services, increased competition for dwindling funds, and the loss of longtime supporters of existing nonprofits who move to work with newer efforts."
— Johnathan McGinty, in an Athens Banner-Herald op-ed column, suggesting that people might want to consider joining existing organizations before creating new ones.
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