Blake had this item on Rep. Paul Broun Jr.'s concerns over a potential ban of fishing, and it's no doubt an interesting read ... but also a rather depressing one, largely because of this exchange with Jane Lubchenco, the head of the  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ...

LUBCHENCO: Congressman, I firmly believe that both commercial and recreational fishing are vitally important to this Nation, and part of my focus at NOAA has been doing a better job of working with both recreational and commercial fishermen because they are important, their interests are important, and I think as we move ahead to considering all of the activities that are affecting or interacting and competing for open space on the water, if you will, those interests are absolutely part of NOAA’s responsibility to represent.

And I have told recreational fishermen exactly that.

BROUN: Well, they are not convinced at this point and neither am I when you look at the list of organizations that are pushing for this ban that NOAA is listening to evidently very loudly.

- So the budget situation is about to go from worse to horrible ... yet the powers that be still stubbornly shy away from discussing ways to enhance our revenue streams and are more content gutting what remains of the state's infrastructure. In doing so, they're simply perpetuating the sluggish economic conditions that are choking the state.

- And, just as a reminder, not everyone is struggling these days as 31 states added jobs last month, yet Georgia is one of the 18 who did not.

Sen. Seth Harp was on Tim Bryant's radio show yesterday morning, and he raised the possibility of moving Georgia's 4-H program and the County Extension Service away from the budgetary oversight of the University of Georgia and under the state's Department of Agriculture ...

We certainly can express our opinion and say, you know, cutting 4-H is tremendously unpopular. We think it’s a good program. But ultimately, if they want to close 4-H, then they’re going to cut it and then they’ll have to live with it. I personally am deeply opposed to it. In fact, I was talking with some of the other legislators, and there was a thought that what we may do is pull 4-H out from under the university system entirely, as well as the agriculture, and put it in the agriculture budget.

Um, how exactly would that work?

Derek Thompson from The Atlantic had an interesting debate with the Cato Institute's Alan Reynolds regarding the need for an extension of unemployment benefits.

Reynolds thinks benefits should not be extended any longer because they provide an incentive to not seek employment, and Thompson counters by arguing the unwillingness of employers to hire workers negates that principle ...

The primary reason 15 million Americans are still out of work is that employers are not hiring. Employers are not hiring because there is no demand for their products and services. One way to juice short-term demand for their products and services is to put money in the hands of Americans most likely to spend their next dollar and get money churning throughout the economy, which can be paid back to the government in the form of taxes from those transactions, and from future transactions when we've achieved healthier employment and sustainable long-term growth.

Apparently, someone's owed some money ...

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, in an Official Opinion requested by Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, has said that the state owes local governments $18 million in unidentified sales taxes. These funds were collected between January 1, 2008 and May 4, 2009 during a time that a state law had lapsed that allowed the state to distribute the unidentified sales tax revenues on a pro rata formula.

The good news? This will help plug the budget holes for communities across the state.

The bad news? The state isn't anywhere close to having the available revenue to do this.

Via Tim Bryant, Spencer Frye is expected to announce his mayoral intentions in the next two weeks.

I've tried to get a more definite answer from him in the past week, but he's artfully slipped my inquiries. Still, someone who's raised more than $11,000 and had his potential campaign promoted through the billboard at The Georgia Theater ... my money's on him running.

Corey Haim passed away this morning so, in memory, here's the trailer to Dream A Little Dream which continues to rank as one of the worst movies I've even seen (along with Young Einstein).

I intended to write about this sooner, but I'm just getting around to it.

Last week, 11 Alive News put together one of the more insanely nonsensical pieces I've seen in a long time that - following the usual sad meme that exists in the political narrative - suggests a lack of bipartisanship is dooming the country.

Last week, Sara Bickerton announced her intentions to seek the District One seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission currently held by Doug Lowry. In an email exchange to some introductory questions regarding her campaign, Bickerton offered a little more insight regarding her bid for office ...

- Honestly, does Grover Norquist breathe and it warrants media attention? We've got 100 people - out of a state of millions - and it necessitates an Associated Press article and feature from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution? And this comes a day after some state legislators now fear the budget shortfall might be $2 billion, not $1 billion? Taxes are going to have to be raised because identifying $2 billion in spending cuts will absolutely destroy the state from an economic and societal standpoint.