Category: Porsche

The turbocharger continues its march across some of our most cherished engines. The next batch of Porsche 911s will get blowers for the mainstream models, Porsche’s engineering chief Wolfgang Hatz told us at the Detroit show.

“You have to respect legal requirements [for lower CO2], so yes we’re thinking turbos for standard 911s. You can’t afford to keep an engine for 10 years any more.”

He had earlier explained that the new 911 GT3 RS, which will be launched in March at the Geneva show, features an all-new very powerful naturally aspirated engine. A version of that engine, with turbos but less power, strangely, will be what’s in the facelifted 911s in 2016.

“Emissions are important for us,” said Hatz, “And we will reduce faster than the industry. Every new model will have lower CO2 than before. There aren’t so many technologies to do it. If you look at euro per g/km then it’s turbo. Then at the end of the decade electrification has to be the next huge step.” Does that mean a hybrid for the all-new 911? “Yes.” With expertise from the 918 and 919 racer, Porsche is in a good position.

via Porsche 911 range goes turbo – BBC Top Gear.

Road & Track has named the 2015 Porsche GT3 as its Performance Car of the Year, praising the speedster’s “emotion and commotion, sense and sensibility.”

The 911-derived coupe, whose base price starts at $130,400, combined the best virtues of a Ferrari 458 Speciale and new Ford Mustang GT – both finalists for the Road & Track award.

“So here’s the brilliance of the Porsche GT3,” the magazine said. “Most of our staffers thought it was better around the Motown Mile than the Ferrari and pretty much everybody thought it beat the Mustang six ways to Sunday as a street car.”

via Road & Track names Porsche GT3 Performance Car of 2015 | Dallas Morning News.

A “Liberty Tree” was planted in Savannah on June 13, 1775 to symbolize support for independence. The first liberty tree was an elm in Boston that became a meeting spot for patriots, but Savannah’s was actually a Liberty Pole. In 2006, a seedling grown from the last of the original Liberty Trees on the campus of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland was planted in Dalton, Georgia. This year, the Dalton Liberty Tree BBQ and Music Festival is held on October 25th.

The Marquis de Lafayette arrived in South Carolina to assist General George Washington on June 13, 1775.

On June 13, 1966, the United States Supreme Court released its decision in Miranda v. Arizona. In Miranda, the Court held that a confession obtained by police without informing the suspect of his rights against self-incrimination (Fifth Amendment) and to the service of a lawyer (Sixth Amendment) was inadmissible.

Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 13, 1967.

As the NAACP’s chief counsel from 1938 to 1961, he argued 32 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, successfully challenging racial segregation, most notably in public education. He won 29 of these cases, including a groundbreaking victory in 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education, in which the Supreme Court ruled that segregation violated the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and was thus illegal. The decision served as a great impetus for the African American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and ultimately led to the abolishment of segregation in all public facilities and accommodations.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals, but his nomination was opposed by many Southern senators, and he was not confirmed until the next year. In June 1967, President Johnson nominated him to the Supreme Court, and in late August he was confirmed. During his 24 years on the high court, Associate Justice Marshall consistently challenged discrimination based on race or sex, opposed the death penalty, and supported the rights of criminal defendants. He also defended affirmative action and women’s right to abortion. As appointments by a largely Republican White House changed the politics of the Court, Marshall found his liberal opinions increasingly in the minority. He retired in 1991, and two years later passed away.

The New York Times began publishing excerpts from the “Pentagon Papers” on June 13, 1971.

After failing to persuade the Times to voluntarily cease publication on June 14, Attorney General John N. Mitchell and Nixon obtained a federal court injunction forcing the Times to cease publication after three articles.Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger said:

Newspapers, as our editorial said this morning, we’re really a part of history that should have been made available, considerably longer ago. I just didn’t feel there was any breach of national security, in the sense that we were giving secrets to the enemy.^[23]

The newspaper appealed the injunction, and the case New York Times Co. v. United States (403 U.S. 713) quickly rose through the U.S. legal system to the Supreme Court.

On June 18, 1971, The Washington Post began publishing its own series of articles based upon the Pentagon Papers;^[8] Ellsberg gave portions to editor Ben Bradlee. That day, Assistant U.S. Attorney General William Rehnquist asked the Post to cease publication. After the paper refused, Rehnquist sought an injunction in U.S. district court. Judge Murray Gurfein declined to issue such an injunction, writing that “[t]he security of the Nation is not at the ramparts alone. Security also lies in the value of our free institutions. A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, a ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know.” The government appealed that decision, and on June 26 the Supreme Court agreed to hear it jointly with the New York Times case.Fifteen other newspapers received copies of the study and began publishing it.

On June 30, 1971, the Supreme Court decided, 6–3, that the government failed to meet the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint injunction. The nine justices wrote nine opinions disagreeing on significant, substantive matters.

Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.

—Justice Black

Pole Position

After earning the first and second slots at Le Mans in early qualifying, Porsche lost the top spot to Toyota, and holds the 2d and 4th positions in the starting grid. Porsche also took the third starting slot in both GTE-Pro and GTE-Am with the 911 RSR.

A special edition 911 will be available with the historic Martini livery, under which Porsche has won Le Mans.

The Martini Racing Edition 911s will come in black or white, and will be powered by a 400-horsepower 3.8-liter flat 6 that can produce a 4.1-second zero-to-62-mile-per-hour time.

Poll Position

A poll by SurveyUSA for 11Alive showed Jack Kingston with an 11-point lead over David Perdue in the Republican Primary Runoff Election for United States Senate.

The SurveyUSA poll of 419 likely GOP runoff voters has Kingston with 52 percent of the vote. Perdue has 41 percent. 7 percent are undecided. The poll was conducted by phone June 3-5. The poll has a margin of error of 3.2 percent.

The same poll shows Republican Gov. Nathan Deal leading Democratic Sen. Jason Carter 44-38 percent. Libertarian Andrew Hunt got 7 percent. 11 percent of respondents said they were undecided.

The poll shows either Republican, Perdue or Kingston, would beat Democrat Michelle Nunn in November. Kingston would win 43-37; Perdue would win 43-38.

An automated poll by Magellan Strategies for the National Mining Association shows a generic matchup in which “the Republican nominee” takes 47% against Michelle Nunn, the Democrat, with 44%. The NMA poll also showed 53% of Georgia voters are likely to oppose a candidate who supports the Obama Administration’s new carbon emission regulations. Note that the survey included several questions criticizing the carbon emission regs before asking that question.

Yesterday, InsiderAdvantage (for whom I work part-time on their website) released a poll showing Kingston with an 11-point lead over Perdue headed toward a runoff that’s still weeks away.

InsiderAdvantage/Fox5 Political Analyst Matt Towery says: “Kingston has a comfortable lead at present but it has the potential to become a precarious lead. Key demographic groups such as female voters and voters age 65 and over are much more evenly split. Also, contrary to some earlier surveys, our poll suggests that there is a larger undecided vote.

“We conducted this survey before and after the defeat of Rep. Eric Cantor in Virginia– and the undecided vote started to increase after Cantor suffered his loss. Whether the Cantor loss will somehow impact the Georgia race remains to be seen. The July 22 primary race has many more weeks to go, so the numbers could change substantially as we get closer to the actual vote.”

Walter Jones of Morris News, writes about the InsiderAdvantage poll in the Savannah Morning News:

The poll represents a big swing in support since the primary when Perdue’s total was about 4 percentage points more than Kingston’s. Perdue, the former CEO of Dollar General and Reebok, benefited then from an expensive television ad campaign with crying babies that was so effective that even his opponents copied it. A new volley of ads from him could swing the support back in his favor.

The poll shows 19 percent of the likely runoff voters questioned still haven’t made up their minds.

After being weighted for age, race and gender to reflect the turnout in past runoffs, the poll shows Kingston with 46 percent and Perdue with 35, given a 4.9 percent margin of error.

Turbo S model now capable of accelerating from 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds

Atlanta. The Porsche model offensive in the anniversary year of the 911 is reaching new heights. Fifty years ago, the 911 made its debut at the Frankfurt International Auto Show – and just ten years later, the first 911 Turbo prototype was at the IAA. On this 40th anniversary of the 911 Turbo, Porsche is now presenting the new generation 911 Turbo and Turbo S – the technological and dynamic performance peak of the 911 series.

A new all-wheel-drive system, active rear axle steering, adaptive aerodynamics, full-LED headlights, and up to 560 hp from a flat six-cylinder engine with twin-turbochargers underscore the role of the new generation 911 Turbo as an ultra performance car, every day car, and technology flagship.Continue Reading..

From the press release:

Sports car manufacturer increases turnover by more than 25 percent – annual press conference in Stuttgart

Atlanta. In the 2012 financial year, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG achieved record levels in sales, turnover and earnings. At 143,096 vehicles, sales were 22 percent higher than in the previous year, and turnover increased by 27 percent to 13.9 billion euros. The operating result grew by 19 percent to 2.44 billion euros. Moreover, the number of employees reached a new peak level, with 17,502 persons at the end of the year. The company also increased the number of trainees – instead of the previous number of 100 young workers, last September 125 employees began their training at Porsche.

Continue Reading..

From the press release:

This is Riley, a black lab who was featured here last week. I met him and took these photos on Friday when I drove him from his old home in Clayton County, where he would otherwise have ended up at Clayton County Animal Shelter, to Forgotten Paws Pet Rescue, where he’ll receive medical attention he lacked before going to a private home. It cost me about an hour-and-a-half, but saved Riley’s life.

Riley is a big boy, probably weighing in at 80-90 pounds, and he has that large, blocky head that is prized among some lab afficianados, but would probably have gotten him classified as a Pit Bull mix at some shelters, and virtually doomed him to being euthanized.

The bad news is that Riley, who is being neutered today, has heartworms, which puts Forgotten Paws on the hook for about $1000 in treatment and will probably delay his adoption. He is also mostly blind, but when I picked him up, he was getting around like a champ, and you wouldn’t know of his blindness except that he bumped into that guardrail behind him a few times.

In addition to needing a foster or permanent home, Riley could use your donations to offset his medical expenses. To apply to foster or adopt Riley or to donate for his medical care, visit Forgotten Paws’ website.

While we’re talking about Labs, 26724 is a young, lab mix puppy who has a scrape on her head but is healing. She’s currently available from the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter, and you can call the shelter at 770-339-3200 for more information. Because there are so many puppies in the puppy pod at Gwinnett, her days are severely numbered and she is likely to be euthanized if she isn’t adopted today or tomorrow. Gwinnett also has about seven adult black or chocolate labs if that’s what you’re looking for.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns & Elections

Walter Jones writes that Congress has banned gifts by lobbyists to legislators, as Speaker David Ralston proposes doing for Georgia.

Polls show that only about 15 percent of the public considers Congress to be doing a good job. Dozens of well-publicized scandals over the years reinforce the idea that politicians are often corrupt.

Generally, public support for members of the Georgia General Assembly has been markedly higher than regard for Congress. But voters still called for a gift ban as at least one of the ethics reforms they want.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, had taken the heat for his colleagues. Ralston’s most frequent warning was that the gift-ban proposal amounted to a gimmick that wouldn’t stop the practice but merely drive it underground. He has also warned that ever-increasing ethics provisions simultaneously expand the opportunities for honest officials to trip over technicalities and “gotcha” allegations by political opponents.

The federal rules prohibit accepting gifts of any value from registered lobbyists and up to $50 in value from anyone else, even other members of Congress.

“Saxby and I used to give Vidalia onions from Georgia to all of the senators, and they stopped that,” he said, referring to the state’s senior senator, Saxby Chambliss, who is also a Republican.

Speaking of food, the ban applies to meals, too. The only exception is “anything on a toothpick,” according to the rule of thumb.

So you’re saying that enacting a ban on gifts from lobbyists to legislators will clean up Georgia politics the way it’s done for Congress? And you call that an improvement? Tell me more.

Melanie Crozier is a Georgia delegate to the Republican National Convention, and she’s writing about her experience in Tampa on her blog, GaGirlPolitics. It’s a good read if you’re interested in a delegate-level viewpoint that you might not see elsewhere.

Patch.com has an interview with State Rep. Lynne Riley (R-Johns Creek), before she headed to Tampa for the RNC as a delegate.

Tea party activists held a unity rally in Tampa to celebrate their role in the primary selection process and ensure that we’re all on the same page heading toward the General Election in November.

Today’s session of the Republican National Convention will be very short, consisting of a motion to adjourn until Tuesday over hurricane concerns. No word yet on whether that will cause a change in time for the speech by Attorney General Sam Olens.

Late this week, Olens still could not disclose precise details on the topic or length of his speech.

“Obviously it will relate to the role of attorneys general and activities we’ve been involved in, and federalism, the role of the federal government compared to the states,” said Olens, who lives in east Cobb.

Translation: The 2010 health care law championed by President Barack Obama that Republicans and other critics call Obamacare.

Olens also chaired the health and education subcommittee for the national party’s platform. The Republican national party took input on its proposed platform via a website.

“We received several thousand proposals,” he said. “It wasn’t even limited to Republicans.

“Some of the bigger differences with this year’s platform compared to ’04 and ’08 relate to the economy. We heard a strong desire that we get our debt and deficit under control. There was a lot of discussion in regard to our fiscal house,” he said.

Sue Everhart, the state party chair, said Olens was selected to speak to a national audience for several reasons.

“He’s a well-respected attorney general,” Everhart said. “He’s been with Mitt Romney since Day 1. He was the Georgia state chairman for Romney, honorary chairman for Romney, and of course he’s gone after Obama against Obamacare and some of those. We’re the sister state, kind of, with Florida, and Florida’s attorney general is going to be speaking.

WTVM in Columbus has some numbers on the Republican National Convention, including:

2,286 – Number of delegates represented, plus 2,125 alternate delegates. This is nearly quadruple the 600 voting delegates represented at the first Republican convention.

15,000 – Number of credentialed journalists in attendance. That’s 6.56 media outlets per delegate.

Georgia delegates who are wondering where Alec Poitevint is, the AJC tells us that if you don’t see him, it’s a sign the Convention is on track.

An invisible Poitevint is good news.

It means that buses are moving 2,286 delegates to the convention hall on time, that air conditioning at hundreds of locales has been properly cranked to “high” so another 50,000 hangers-on can party in comfort, and that 15,000 or so journalists on hand to witness the formal anointing of Mitt Romney as the GOP presidential nominee have been cooed into submission.

A visible Poitevint means trouble is afoot.

The 64-year-old Poitevint, is already the ultimate insider in Georgia’s Republican Party. For the next six days — festivities begin Monday — he will be the ultimate stage manager. Romney is the unquestioned star of the Republican National Convention, but Poitevint and his crew have spent the past 18 months, and $18 million in federal cash, making sure the nominee will have everything he needs for his close-up: lights, stage, audience, cameras and everything in between.

“It’s delegates, it’s message, it’s press, it’s transportation,” Poitevint said in a recent and rare interview — before Tropical Storm Isaac made its debut in the Caribbean. But already, hurricane season and the geography of Tampa Bay had made their way into his calculations.

Also kind of a big deal in Tampa is Eric Tanenblatt, co-chair of the Romney campaign in Georgia.

Tanenblatt’s selection to represent Georgia on the convention’s Credentials Committee is just the latest example of the political influence of Atlanta-based McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, where he heads the national government affairs practice.

“Everyone in our government affairs group has served in government,” Tanenblatt said. “It gives us a unique perspective of understanding from the inside out how government interacts with the world.”

Tanenblatt has been the point man in Georgia for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney going back to the former Massachusetts governor’s first run for the White House in 2008.

Although Tanenblatt’s official role is co-chairman of the Romney campaign’s finance committee, he cut his teeth in politics as a political adviser. After launching his career in 1988 working in the George H.W. Bush presidential campaign, Tanenblatt ran both of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Coverdell’s Senate races in 1992 and 1998.

Florida will be on Georgia Republicans’ minds this fall, as Americans for Prosperity announced this weekend an “Adopt A State” program in which Georgia activists will man the phones to turnout votes in Florida for the General Election. I’ll post more details once I get them.

Former President George W. Bush will speak tonight in Columbus, GA at Columbus State University, where he will be introduced by Governor Nathan Deal. Also appearing at the Leadership Forum will be James Carville and Mary Matalin, who speak on Tuesday morning.

On Friday, Governor Deal appointed Senator Bill Hamrick to a seat on the Superior Court for the Coweta Judicial Circuit. Because Hamrick was unopposed in the General Election, his seat will be filled by a nonpartisan Special Election held the same day as the General. Likely candidates include former Speaker Glenn Richardson, State Rep. Bill Hembree (R-Douglas County), who served briefly as House Rules Committee Chairman before being removed, and Libertarian James Camp.

Karen Huppertz wishes politicians would stop calling her. Or at least stop robo-calling her.

we’d been home a good 24 hours before I even looked at the answering machine.

To my utter delight (please note sarcasm here) I discovered 27 political messages on our machine. Granted we had returned home just before the July 31st TSPLOST vote, but seriously? The ratio of calls to actual decisions I needed to make at the polls was grossly disproportionate. On my Gwinnett ballot I only had three decisions to make. Most names on the ballot were incumbent candidates running unopposed.

So I conducted my own tiny survey. Do voters listen to these messages? Or like me, do they either hang up immediately if they happen to answer the phone, or do they delete them within 3.2 seconds as soon as the message is clearly a robocall? Do these calls sway anyone’s vote?

Every single person I asked hates them as much or more than I do.

Politicians, please read our lips. We delete them. We don’t listen to them. We are annoyed by them.

While voters say they hate them, most political professionals believe they still work, and we’ll keep using them until they stop working.

Former Suwanee Mayor Dave Williams, who works as vice president for transportation with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, discusses the aftermath of the T-SPLOST failure.

Charles Gregory, who beat State Rep. Judy Manning in the Republican Primary this year, also works as state director for the Ron Paul campaign.

Manning, who has served in the state house since 1997, said she and her husband, Aymar, were ill after the Fourth of July.

“We just couldn’t get out in that heat and walk. He (Gregory) had some of his Ron Paul folks that walked neighborhoods and didn’t represent me as I would have thought was a fair representation,” she said. “He didn’t exactly tell the truth. I’m not bad-mouthing him. All’s fair in love and war. You can say anything.”

Gregory views things differently.

“To be honest, regarding Judy, we didn’t even bring her up,” Gregory said. “The only time we brought her up was when they said, ‘who are you running against?’ I wasn’t running against Judy. I was running against the system.”

When voters asked why they should vote for him instead of Manning, he told them they simply have a different philosophy of government.

“I believe that government should be protecting the life, liberty and property of individuals, and following the Constitution and that’s it,” Gregory said. “Not managing people’s money or their lives or all these other things that the government tends to get into doing. That’s it.”

Sabrina Smith has filed an ethics complaint alleging that payments by Gwinnett County to the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce eventually were used to lobby for passage of the T-SPLOST. The County and Chamber denied it. I have the documents and will post more about it later this morning.

 Ends & Pieces

Surely one of the most important economic development announcements was the unveiling of the 2013 Porsche Carrera 4 and 4S models by Porsche Cars North America, which is headquartered in Atlanta.

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is accepting nominations for its 2013 Preservation awards through September 22d.

Collins Hill High School graduate Maya Moore won a gold medal on the women’s basketball team in London’s 2012 Olympics.

In slightly more than 10 months, the former Collins Hill High School star won her first WNBA title with the Minnesota Lynx, earned the league’s rookie of the year honor, won Spanish and Euroleague titles with Ros Casares and won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. Women’s Basketball National Team. Those victories came after a University of Connecticut career that saw the four-time All-American win more games than any player in college basketball history.

“It’s been an amazing year,” said Moore, in town Saturday for a nationally televised ESPN game against the Atlanta Dream. “I couldn’t have dreamed how awesome it’s been, having so many great opportunities within the last year. To do some history-making things, breaking records. It’s just been a whirlwind of a year.”

26397 is a young male lab; he looks out of pen 114 waiting for his family to come get him and save him from being euthanized. They aren’t coming. During a recent four month period, 744 cats and dogs were euthanized at the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter. This young male lab can go home with you for $30 adoption fee and a $60 vet fee. Citizens 55 and older adopt for free and pay half the vet fee for a total of $30. Gwinnett County employees adopt for free and pay only the vet fee. Adopt this dog and email me and I’ll reimburse the adoption fee.

Georgia Politics, Campagins, and Elections for August 201, 2012

Tomorrow is the primary and nonpartisan judicial runoff election. Polls will be open from  7 AM to 7 PM.

A warning to campaigns who are considering a last minute attack based on your opponent’s apparent failure to file a campaign contribution report that was due six days before the runoff — the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission website appears to be lagging in making timely-filed reports available when searched for.

The best story about runoff craziness comes to us from Glynn County, where a magistrate judge had to tell a preacher to behave.

The Rev. Ken Adkins became the only person in Glynn County Friday who can’t call a school board member a fool.

In issuing two good behavior warrants against Adkins, Magistrate Steven Morgan forbade him from using Facebook and other means to call school board member Venus Holmes “a fool” or a “runaway slave” or tow truck driver Robbie Tucker a “child molester” in his work for two local campaigns. It was, however, a mutual good behavior warrant, which forbids Holmes and Tucker from doing anything to harm Adkins.

“Political discourse or not, this has crossed the line,’’ Morgan said before issuing the warrants.

Adkins’ lawyer Robert Crowe argued that he was just expressing his political opinion.

But Morgan stuck with his ruling saying, “You are not to call [Tucker] a child molester unless you’ve got proof of it. You can’t call [Holmes] a runaway slave or a fool.”

But as a result of Morgan’s order, Tucker’s and Holmes’ election opponents both said they are withdrawing from the races.

Republican Darlynne Rogers was running against Holmes for the District 5 seat on the county school board. Tashawnta Wells is in Tuesday’s Republican runoff against Tucker for the District 5 seat on the County Commission. Adkins was advising both in their campaigns.

Also gone off the rails is Loree Anne Thompson, spokesperson for the Doug Collins campaign for the Republican nomination for Ninth Congressional District. At a forum held by the South Hall Republican Club,

The setup of Tuesday night’s forum was different than in the past. Candidates were not asked questions; instead, they were allowed to speak for a set amount of time and follow up with a shorter statement after their opponents had their say.

With or without the format, signs the campaign season is beginning to wear on the candidates’ composure were visible early in the meeting.

The first surfaced when Martha Zoller, candidate for the U.S. House 9th District seat, addressing the video- and audio-recorded statements opponent Doug Collins’ campaign has used against her, said she felt “sorry for the poor little intern” who Zoller said had to sit and watch her talk for “hours and hours.”

Then, Zoller said that the intern only found “two minutes” of ammunition for the campaign. The statement prompted Collins’ campaign spokeswoman Loree Anne Thompson to interrupt Zoller’s speech.

“It was a lot more than two minutes, Martha, I can promise you,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s interjection was immediately followed by a shout from a woman in the front of the room, “Why don’t you shut up?”

As Zoller made her closing statements, Collins’ himself interrupted, saying statements Zoller was making about a vote of his were “not true.”

Earlier in the week, Loree Anne Thompson had emailed out Martha Zoller’s cell phone number asking recipients to call Martha and ask her loaded questions. I consider this a cheap, unprofessional attempt to harass the opponent.

So then, Loree Anne Thompson turned to harassing me because I had the audacity to notice what she did. Thompson sent me a self-serving “response” that I declined to publish or write about. Then after calling me three times, she emailed me this:

Todd, I’ve called you 3 times today with no response. This doesn’t take into account the multiple number of times I’ve called you on this campaign with – wait for it – no response. I’ll be HAPPY to talk with your editor about your inability to communicate with anyone on the Collins campaign, and by the looks of it you probably speak with Martha pretty regularly.

How dare you try to throw me under the bus, and then refuse to update a comment I freely offered you regarding the subject.

When you want to be a responsible journalist and include both sides of the story – give me a call.

The manure spreader and what the Augusta Chronicle calls “a cartoonish splatter of mud” certainly deserve dishonorable mention in any discussion of runoff craziness.

Maybe the runoff fever is understandable when candidates put so much time, money and effort into it.

Dennis Reese was one of three men mired in a contentious Tift County Sheriff election. He says there is a lot of work that goes into it.

“It can be very overwhelming financially, mentally, even physically. A lot of people don’t even realize that it can be very overwhelming,” Reese said.

Between speaking engagements, knocking on doors, and waving from the street, many sacrifices had to be made including a good night’s sleep.

“I probably got anywhere from five to six hours,” Reese said. “I was always constantly going, constantly thinking, preparing the next day if I had a speech, going down my list of who I am going to see tomorrow and the next day. So, it’s really never ending.”

That never ending schedule has kept many candidates with their feet planted on Tift Avenue for long hours.

For seemingly months, candidates have occupied  street corners during their campaigns- so much so that tax commissioner candidates have joked that they should start charging property taxes there.

Dennis Reese lost to Steve Wood and Gene Scarbrough who are in Tuesday’s run-off.

If Cobb County Commissioner Woody Thompson meant to suggest that moms won’t have time to serve in elected office, he might just find out whether they have time to vote in runoff elections.

In recent Marietta Daily Journal article, entitled “Thompson touts experience on job,” Thompson pointed out that Cupid is 35 and he is 65.

The paper stated, “Thompson also questioned whether Cupid, a married mother of two young children, would have time to dedicate to the job.”

Cupid, who graduated with an engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and will graduate with graduate degrees in law and public administration from Georgia State University in December, has two sons and is married to her college sweetheart, Craig Cupid.

Cupid responded to Thompson’s claim of experience as a commissioner, saying “Having a lot of years on the commission board does not equate to having a lot of results or being effective. I think that people want to see more results.”

She called Thompson’s comments that a mother of two young children may not have time to dedicate to the job of commissioner “a slap in the face.”

And she was quoted in the article saying, “While I was in school, I worked, I had children, I was very involved in my community and was more visible than he was. So what was Woody’s excuse?”

On Friday, Cupid’s campaign sent out an e-blast encouraging South Cobb residents to go vote and adding remarks about Thompson’s mother comments.

Governor Nathan Deal recorded a robocall for Doug Collins that has been sent to likely runoff voters. In Hall County, Deal received more votes in the 2010 primary runoff election than were cast for all candidates in the primary itself. I’m not aware of another example of that ever happening.

In the Second Congressional District Republican Primary Runoff between Rick Allen and John House, Dougherty County reports only 29 ballots cast during early voting. Chatham and Effingham County elections officials also report little voter interest.

The Augusta Chronicle examines the voting records of the candidates in runoff elections this year.

Only two – District 5 incumbent Commissioner Bill Lockett and school board member Patsy Scott – made it to the polls every time.

Lockett, retired from careers in the military, U.S. government and board of education, said he was stationed overseas during much of the civil rights era but recalled the sacrifices his parents and others made as a reason to always vote.

“We knew people that lost their jobs because they chose to vote, and there were even people that made the ultimate sacrifice … I don’t want their work to go down in vain,” said Lockett, who – like Scott – is unopposed for re-election and voted in 31 of the 31 opportunities he had.

A strong work ethic also sent him to the polls every time, Lockett added.

“In too many instances we choose not to vote, then complain about the decisions made by elected officials,” he said.

All four runoff slots in Gwinnett County judicial election belong to women, with Emily Brantley and Pam Britt facing off for State Court and Kathy Schrader coming in with a healthy 2-1 margin over Tracey Mason Blasi in the runoff for Superior Court.

My predictions for Gwinnett County: Emily Brantley for State Court and Kathy Schrader will open up her 2:1 margin to win the Superior Court race. Schrader is my client, so there’s that, but watch the margin and see if it doesn’t actually increase.

Gwinnett County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau faces perennial candidate Tommy Hunter in the runoff election for District 3.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer calls Senator Don Balfour the poster boy for the ethically-challenged and misquotes Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams saying that proponents of limiting lobbyist gifts to legislators were limited to “media elites and liberal interest groups.” I’m pretty sure it was Speaker David Ralston who is credited with that last statement.

The seven-candidate Republican Primary for Jackson County Sheriff has been winnowed to  Janis Mangum, a 23 year-veteran of the Sheriff’s office, and Ramone Gilbert, who worked in the Hall County Sheriff’s Office for 24 years before he retired.

Madison County voters will choose between incumbent sheriff Kip Thomas and former sheriff Clayton Lowe; Julie Phillips and John Sartain meet in a runoff for Coroner.

Murray County voters return to the polls on Tuesday for the Republican primary runoff for Sheriff between Gary Langford, a 38-year law enforcement veteran who served with the Chatsworth Police Department, Murray County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia State Patrol and Wyle Keith Pritchett, a patrol officer for the Eton Police Department who also worked at the Resaca Police Department and Murray County Sheriff’s Office. Democrat incumbent Howard Ensley will meet the winner in November’s general election.

In Whitfield, incumbent Clerk of the Superior Court Melica Kendrick was forced into a GOP primary runoff against Susan Miller; no Democrat qualified for the office. More information on that Clerk’s race is available here.

Political Science

Dalton State College President Emeritus Jim Burran will give talks about “Southern Politics” twice this week.

He will speak at a Coffee & Conversation program in Chatsworth on Thursday, Aug. 30, and at a Lunch & Learn program at DSC on Friday, Sept. 7. Both programs are hosted by the Dalton State Foundation.

“Georgia’s 1966 campaign for governor proved one of the most interesting in the state’s history,” Burran said. “This was the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican candidate emerged as a legitimate contender. It was this campaign that thrust future President Jimmy Carter into the limelight. And it was this election that put restaurant owner Lester Maddox into the governor’s chair.”

Apparently, the South is no longer solidly Democratic. Who knew?

The “Solid South” was a political fact, benefiting Democrats for generations and then Republicans, with Bible Belt and racial politics ruling the day.

But demographic changes and recent election results reveal a more nuanced landscape now as the two major parties prepare for their national conventions.

Southern strategists and politicians say results will turn again this year on which party and candidates understand changing demographics and voter priorities.

New citizens, birth rates, and migration patterns of native-born Americans make high-growth areas less white, less conservative or both. There is increasing urban concentration in many areas. African-American families are moving back to the South after generations in Chicago, New York or other northern cities.

Young religious voters are less likely than their parents to align with Republicans on abortion and same-sex unions. Younger voters generally are up for grabs on fundamental questions like the role of the federal government in the marketplace.

Virginia grew from 7 million people to 8 million from 2000 to 2010, according to the census. North Carolina went from 8 million to 9.5 million. Both states were 65 percent white, a drop from 72 percent in each state. Native North Carolinians made up 58.6 percent of the population, a proportion that topped 70 percent two decades ago. Virginia is now half transient or immigrant.

“The North Carolina that Sen. (Jesse) Helms ran in was certainly different than today,” said GOP campaign strategist Brian Nick, referring to the cantankerous five-term Republican senator. Nick worked for Helms’ successor, Republican Elizabeth Dole.

My own mentor, Dr. Merle Black at Emory, discusses negative campaigning and changes in technological delivery of campaign manure.

First up in our Friday Puppy Parade is a little guy called “Fat Boy,” a 9-week old, 10-pound retriever mix with no black on his tongue.

“Benjamin” above and “Bethany” below are tiny 4.8 pound Dachshund/Chihuahua mix puppies.

All three of these, and several other equally-cute puppies are available for adoption from Walton County Animal Services. This is truly the best deal out there in dog adoptions. $40 for your new best friend for life is less than the vaccinations alone would cost from a private vet, and they also come with microchips (optional), discount on spay/neuter, and a free sack of kibble. Take two, they’re small!

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Baker County Sheriff Dana Meade was forced into a runoff, as he took 35% of the vote to 17% for top challenger Tim Williamson.

Former Fort Oglethorpe police chief Larry Black earned 43% of the vote for Catoosa County Sheriff and heads to a runoff against the county’s Chief Deputy Gary Sisk.

Black’s supporters said they voted for him because of his tough stance on drug enforcement and his long time commitment in the community.

“He’s good to everybody; he’s very fair,” said supporter Ronny Land.

Roger and Linda Farley said they appreciate how Black cares about teenagers and wants to focus on fighting drugs from inside the schools.

Sisk supporters said he has gathered a lot of experience during his more than 20 years in the Catoosa sheriff’s office and has been dependable over the years.

“The way things are, I want somebody who you know who they are,” said Stephanie Harvey, a Sisk supporter and Ringgold resident.

Paulding County Chief Magistrate Judge Martin Valbuena was denied a clean win, taking 47.1% and is headed for a runoff against Dan Collins who received 24.7%.

The runoff election for State House District 66 between former State Rep. Bob Snelling and Douglas County School Board member Mike Miller might not be as interesting since eliminated candidate Mickey Thompson was producing all the hijinks.

The tone of the campaign should be different now. In the weeks leading up to the primary, Miller and Thompson engaged in a battle through mailers, YouTube videos and “robocalls” with each calling the other into question.

Thompson attacked Miller’s character, ethics and use of a Teenage Republican in his campaign through a mailer, and later questioned trips he took during his time on the Douglas County school board and his commitment to the Republican party.

Miller later sent his own mailers defending himself and firing back at Thompson. Both Snelling and Miller acknowledged the spat likely hurt each campaign.

“I have had my close friends tell me it did, yes,” Snelling said. “They said it affected the thinking of some voters.”

Miller said the battle hurt him in early voting but he bounced back afterward.

“We tried not to respond in kind, but his continual personal attacks hurt us,” he said.

As the runoff looms, the question of whose campaign Thompson’s voters will support comes into play as well. But for now, Miller is glad the spat with Thompson is behind him.

“We are glad we got the votes from the community,” he said. “We look forward to running a race where we can focus on the issues this time.”

Douglas County Commission Chair Tom Worthan held off a challenge from former Chair Rita Rainwater, whom he sent into political retirement eight years ago. Worthan faces Democrat Romona Jones in November’s General Election.

Columbus, GA Municipal Court and Magistrate Judge Steven Smith faces a Democratic primary runoff election to retain his seat against Cynthia Maisano.

Smith led with 7,060 votes, or 43.21 percent, of the 16,338 votes cast in the race, according to vote totals of the city’s 27 precincts and the absentee votes tallied Tuesday evening by the Columbus Elections & Registration office.

He was trailed by Maisano, who garnered 4,920 votes, or just over 30 percent.Robert Wilson received 4,358 votes, or just under 27 percent.

“As I understand it, the only people who can vote three weeks from today are indeed the people who voted today,” said Smith, who expressed appreciation to his campaign staff and those who cast votes for him.

Smith has incorrectly stated the law and I would vote against him on that basis alone. You can vote in a party runoff unless you voted in the other party’s general primary, so people who cast no vote on Tuesday can vote against Smith in the runoff.

Wayne County State Court features a runoff between Vi Bennett (40%) and Tracy Alan Brown (25%).

Glynn County voters will head back to the polls to finish the job in choosing a Republican nominee for County Commission District 5 between Robbie Tucker (48%) and Tashawnta Wells (29%). School Board district 1 will see incumbent Republican Ray Snow (43%) against Ingrid Metz (35.5%). The field for Glynn County State Court narrowed from six candidates to Bart Gary Altman (45%) and Alan David Tucker (16%), the only three-name candidates in the race.

In Brantley County, Jack Whisenant (48.8%) faces former Sheriff Robert W. Johns in a Republican primary runoff to advance to the general election against Democratic Sheriff Robert Thomas. School Board post 1 will see a GOP runoff between Cindy Jones Morgan (33%) and Van Herrin (28%).

Camden County Sheriff Tommy Gregory won over former Sheriff Bill Smith, whom he beat in 2008. Smith served as Sheriff for 24 years, and before that his father was Sheriff for 34 years. The backstory is fascinating:

Smith said he didn’t get a fair shake in 2008, that his race was hurt by an 18-month federal and Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe into his office and he was getting hammered by the media.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. That investigation cleared me of wrongdoing,’’ he said.

Not exactly.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District declined to file charges and sent the investigative file to Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson.

Johnson reviewed the file — which is enormous — and sent word to Micah Ward, special agent in charge of the GBI’s Statesboro office that there wasn’t much she could do.

Some charges that would have been felonies under federal law are only misdemeanors in Georgia, especially using inmates to work on private property, Johnson told the Times-Union.

Then there was the problem with the statute of limitations, she said.

“The U.S. attorney kept this so long, the [state] statute of limitations had expired on a lot of the charges,’’ she said.

Ends & Pieces

If you’re not on Facebook, or don’t ever drive past Chick-fil-A, you might not know this, but Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was apparently a pretty big deal.

Hipsters and barbecue aficionados were horrified to learn that Atlanta’s Fox Bros. was wrecked by a falling tree, and it’s unclear when they’ll reopen.

I’ve got my tickets to the October 20th Willie Nelson show at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth. Let me know if I’ll see you there with Willie and the boys.

Speaking of the Southeastern Railway Museum, they’ll be having a “Trains, Trucks & Tractors” event this weekend featuring vintage vehicles, an electric car (probably not a Tesla Roadster or Fisker Karma), hayrides and other activities for kids.

Speaking of electric cars, the Porsche 918 pictured above has both a 563 hp conventional engine, and two electric motors that drive the front wheels and contribute an additional 204 hp from electricity generated during braking.

Lenox Square Mall celebrates the 59th anniversary of its opening today.