Leave it to a bunch of asswipe researchers and lawmakers to screw that UP.

This is my evening rant for February 1, 2012…and boy am I pissed!

Sugar should be considered a toxin and regulated like tobacco and alcohol…AND TAXED!  This according to researchers in California.

One key word:  TAXED.

This is just another way to steal from the people who keep this country going.

Moderation is the key to just about every thing, (strychnine being one thing that is not included) but using the reckless behavior of over eaters and over sugarers to garner more cash for 536 people in Washington to waste is not the answer.

If sugar is a toxin, you just might have to buy your Coca Colas at the liquor store, and they will cost more.

You can’t bake correctly without sugar…oh, yes, I know there are sugar free diets and cook books for cakes, candies, and such…but they all taste like crap.

Wake UP people.  This is not about health.  This is about stealing more of your money for worthless, egotistical, holier than thou politicians to spend on programs that will continue to get them elected.

The second key word:  TOTALITARIANISM.

These are people who think they know what’s better for YOUR life than you do, and want to control YOUR behavior by pricing things THEY don’t like off the market.

Well, they can all kiss my sweet ass!

Here is one article:    http://news.yahoo.com/sugar-regulated-toxin-researchers-180605186.html

Here is another one:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16822533

The second article compares sugar banning and taxing to condoms, smoke free restaurants, and designated drivers.

Frankly, I think they are all suffering from low blood-sugar, and need a freakin’ mint!

I don’t stay UP to watch the ball drop any more, and watching Dick Clark breaks my heart.

Plus, the music sucks, and the ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest is wearing a tad thin on me.

But, the other day, a friend of mine said, “Happy Tet!” on the way out the door.

Really, Happy Tet.

I’ll pass.

When I hear Tet, which is the Vietnamese celebration of the new year, I think of one thing:

The Tet Offensive.

The US was caught with their pants down on this one.

Tet Nguyen Dan is the celebration of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, and usually coincides with the Chinese New Year.

On January 30, 1968, after a mutually agreed cease-fire, the forces of the People’s Army of Viet Nam launched a surprise attack against the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) and the United States.

Its purpose was to use the element of surprise to attack civilian and military commands in South Viet Nam.

We, the allied forces of the United States of America and South Viet Nam, were not ready.  The National Liberation Front, aka Viet Cong, launched an attack of 80,000 communist soldiers, striking more than 100 towns and cities.  It was well planned, well thought out, and well executed.

In the city of Hue alone, more than 2,000 civilians are still listed as missing.  Thousands – THOUSANDS – were killed there by the Viet Cong and the National Liberation Front.

The initial attacks stunned the Allied forces of the South and did major damage to command, life, and the South’s cause. The world and most importantly, America realized that North Viet Nam could launch a devastating attack, and could possibly…and eventually…win the war.

Technically, it ended in a defeat for the Viet Cong, but it changed the American Psyche, turned the tide of public opinion of the war in the United States.

In the offensive, there were 45,850 casualties:  9,078 killed, 35,212 wounded, and 1,530 missing.

Some of those are still missing.

Today, the Tet Offensive is barely mentioned in the US.  Oh, they study it in school, there’s a paragraph or two about it in the US History books, and it’s mentioned in passing.

Frankly, we should remember it more often.

So, forgive me if I pass on the Happy Tet thing.  I don’t remember it as happy at all.

Yeah, I’ll pass.

I find it odd…

…that people who are supposed to believe the same things and are members of the same political party can rip each other apart for months on end, and then come back together like nothing has happened.

… that most plus size clothing is blowsy and flowery rather than dark and slimming.

…that rather than embarrass her lover, Potemkin, Catherine the Great passed a law that said no one was allowed to blow their nose on her drapes.

…that Warren Buffet really cares what people pay in taxes.

…that Michael Jordan and Nike haven’t done something to prevent the mall mess and violence caused by each release of Air Jordans.

…we consider any country in the world an ally.

…that we think we can win in Afghanistan when the Greeks, Persians, Romans, British, and Soviet Union couldn’t when each were at the height of their power.

…we continue to pour money into places that hate us, steal from us, and trash us to the world.

…that Brad Pitt left Jennifer Anniston for Angelina Jolie.

…that “Friends” lasted as long as it did.

…and kept the same cast.

…that more people don’t feel the same way I do.

But, headlines galore, a math teacher at Beaver Ruin Elementary School, which is across the street from ‘that place where I work’, has been front page news for several days here.

Doing what the school board has encouraged them to do, a teacher gave a math test which combined a social studies lesson with math.

The result was a brouhaha that enraged parents, prompted protests, calls to the Principal, school board, and picketing.

Really getting to work was a bee-atch, and well, in the end, it’s all about me.

After teaching the kids about slavery – which, I might add was a reality – and following direction of integrating (no pun intended) courses, a teacher created a math test with questions such as those pictured below.

Parents were outraged.

Furious, UP in arms, on the phone, in the faces of everyone who would listen.

The social studies lesson was about Frederick Douglas, a former slave, who was beaten, and if not cotton, I’m sure picked something.

Slavery was and remains a horrid thing.  It should be taught as a lesson of what not to do, and the teachers (there were four who used the test) were doing their job by combining lessons as directed, and reinforcing both math and social studies.

Now, one of them as resigned.  Luis Rivera, left his/her (I’m not sure as to the gender of the teacher) job on January 18 amid a personnel investigation.

I would venture to guess, and this is merely an educated guess, that Rivera had a choice, resign or get fired and lose his/her teaching credentials.  It’s happened before.  Teachers rarely get fired, they chose to resign.

The other three are still under investigation, and we…shall see.

The school board is using the old saw that the test “failed to undergo a content review”,  I say, caca del toro.  Tests are made UP every day and very few of them are reviewed.

Frankly, I have in the past made UP test on the fly, asking the questions as I went.  There was no review.

In an elementary school where 88% of the students are either Black or Hispanic – which leads us to the conclusion that fewer than 12% are Caucasian, allowing for Asians, of which in that area there are many, it isn’t the usual Black/White discrimination story.

More than 50% of the faculty and staff at the school is ‘non-White’ as well.

This isn’t a race thing.

It is just an ill-advised plan being implemented in an ill-thought out way, by dedicated teachers who were trying to balance all the balls and dance as fast as they can at the same time.  It was bad judgement, not maliciousness, as some parents would have us believe.  One angry couple, featured in the AJC, were scowling in the picture while their happy, smiling child showed them the paper.

I’ll admit, beating and picking cotton aren’t pretty things, and better examples could have been used, but they happened.

Get the hell over it!

Slavery existed, math haunts us today, and kids need to learn both.  So, if you want an integrated curriculum, plan it better or live with what you get.

SOPA and PIPA, (not the sister of the Duchess of Cambridge) are proposed laws in the Senate and Congress that are designed to stop rogue websites and internet piracy.

This is what Redneck Latte Ravings will could look like if they pass.

Every blogger and webmaster in the world should be UP in arms about this attack on freedom.

Call, write, email your lawmakers today*.  It’s apparent they have no conscience, maybe they’ll listen to yours.

However, after 13,000,000 – that’s 13 MILLION calls to lawmakers, the bills are “under review”, on hold – we’ve made an impact.  We must keep doing so.

I can’t imagine my life without Redneck Latte Ravings, could you?

*I heard back from two of my lawmakers, both US Senators from Georgia, I was not pleased with what I heard!

Katy Perry’s parents have decided that Tim Tebow is just the guy for their pop star daughter!

Oh, HELL no!

The not even rid of Russell Brand completely yet singer who kissed a girl and liked it is the object of an arranged meeting between the Denver Bronco QB and herself by her less than realistic mom and dad.

Again, Oh, HELL no!

They are trying to set UP the meeting at their  - you guessed it – California Church!

According to a source at OK Ragazine, Katy as “mentioned on more than one occasion how much she likes Tim.”

She thinks he’s charming, intelligent, and good looking.

Who doesn’t?

And above all else, he’s a good Christian…er, I hate to point this out again, but she’s married to RUSSELL BRAND!

BTW, rumor has it that she’s leaving him because she doesn’t want her kids to go through an awkward stage like their dad did.

Yes, that’s our Little Russell years ago.

Or maybe she’s leaving him because she thinks her future might turn out like this…

But, I digress once again.

Keith and Mary Hudson are ministers of the ‘evangelical’ variety…which I might add, is a misunderstood term, and viewed as a larger umbrella than it really is.  The Bowster is a Baptist…which the last time I checked was both Christian and Evangelical…really Evangelical.

ABC News requested a comment from Tim, and were immediately blown off ignored.  Ms. Perry’s spawners were contacted, but didn’t comment.  They said something earlier in the week about the marital rift being a motivator for church attendance recently, but how the heck would they know?

This is just about the worst match since John and Yoko, Frank and Ava, Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky, Mike Tyson and ANYONE!

And besides all that, we all know Tim’s just waiting for the right moment to ask this girl out…

Seriously, Tim, get with the program!  Shoot me an email…I’ll set it UP!

Back in the day when Timmy was merely a Florida Gator and not a professional ball player, he put a Bible verse on his eye-black.

John 3:16 as a matter of fact.

The practice has since been banned by the NCAA, who are apparently Godless infidels worried that it might offend some of their contributors and cost them some cash someone out there.

As a Baptist Preacher’s kid, that was probably the first Bible verse I memorized.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

It is the cornerstone verse of the Baptist faith.

Well, Sunday night while Tim was quarterbacking his backside off for the Broncos, there were some interesting stats.

He had 316 passing yards.

The average yards per pass was 31.6.

The final quarter hour TV rating was, that’s right, 31.6.

So, as shocking as it seems, maybe God does like Football, and if so, He’s a Broncos fan!

As I’ve said often before, one of the things I like most about my job is getting to meet people, finding out a little about them, and finding new places to eat, go, do, see, etc.

Well, as luck would have it, a customer came in before Christmas and I was the one who got to wait on him.

In the course of the conversation, I asked what he did for a living, and he replied that he was  a restaurateur.

He, and his wife own Another Broken Egg Cafe at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center in Atlanta’s Buckhead district.

As a breakfast junkie, I had to check it out.

So, this Sunday, again, as luck would have it, I was actually off from work, and decided to take that special someone along for brunch.

Now, as you all know, I’m a Waffle House kinda guy, and fancy breakfast food is usually something I don’t do.  Seriously, one egg, one piece of toast, and seventeen gallons of coffee, and I’m good.

But…this place is just way too cool to pass UP.

And apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so.  There was a 35 minute wait.  Now, for Atlantans, that’s nothing, for folks like me who live in the suburgatory we call Gwinnett County, Georgia, that’s a life time.  Just like most places, the weekends are the busiest.  The wait during the week isn’t so long.

But, again, it was worth the wait.

Every thing there is charming and beyond.  The Copper Top table, the rustic floors, the French attitude, and why not, one of the owners is named Mignon, and frankly, the only thing Frenchier than that is, well, not much really.

But, back to the restaurant.  They have “starters”, translation:  appetizers.  We tried the Black Berry Grits.

“Black Berry Grits!”, you scream, “Grits are for butter, salt, and pepper.”

Well, not any more, Buford, so get with the program.  They were AWESOME.  Creamy, HOT, and covered in steaming Blackberries, they were a filling “starter” that has to be shared.

With over 100 items on the menu, I was hard pressed to settle on one, but waistline, workout, and walking in mind, I did.

I had Eggs Benedict Blackstone.

Again, AWESOME.

Their menu describes it this way ” An English muffin topped with grilled tomatoes, two medium poached eggs, creamy Hollandaise, and a baked bacon crunch and chives.”

I describe it as delicious.  Two perfectly poached pullet pellets smothered in a rich and yummy sauce and covered with BAKED bacon.  (BTW, Baked Bacon is THE only way to go, less grease, no splatter, easier clean UP, better taste, etc.)

There were home fries on the side as well.  The best thing about the taters was that they weren’t greasy, didn’t leave a pool on the plate, and were perfectly done.

Yes, I know, I need a better camera…hello Ricoh and the rest, where are you?

Seriously, the pictures don’t do them justice, but the menu does, so click HERE if you want to see it.

There’s lots of meat on the menu, but all the crazy-assed, pork and beef eschewing scary people vegetarians out there need not worry, they have a menu section for you as well.  It’s an all inclusive restaurant!

I’m sure many of you are thinking, “Why is he talking about a local restaurant, when his blog is an International phenomenon?”

Well, Just Another Broken Egg isn’t only in the ATL.

They have locations in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, and soon to be in Tennessee and North Carolina!

So, all my fans in Austin can check it out and let me know what they think.

The restaurant is open from 7AM til 2PM, seats at least 100 people, has a FULL BAR, so Sam can bring his mom and dad! They also have a room that looked like the perfect place for a Bridal Shower luncheon.  There’s a giant screen TV showing Tom and Jerry cartoons, so it’s kid friendly, and the playoffs were on the tubes over the bar.

Parking isn’t too bad…for Atlanta…and I recommend that you park as far away as you can, since you’re gonna need to walk it off anyway…the portions are healthy – or maybe my Cardiologist would say un-healthy!

Frankly, if you don’t go away full and happy, there’s just no hope for you!

Check it out.

*I am NOT being compensated for this post, I paid the check, left a tip, and was glad to be there!

The gym, LA Fitness on Sugarloaf, opens at 5 AM Monday through Friday.  Saturday and Sunday, it’s 8 AM.

Let’s face it, even the buff, toned, sexy staff at the gym like to party, get liquored UP, dance the night away, get lucky, hook UP, make the walk of shame sleep in on a Saturday!

But this Saturday AM, while the clock in the gym said 7:57, one impatient customer was of the opinion that her watch was correct, and started pulling on the door, banging on the door, and screaming at the poor child behind the desk.

The staff member was logging into the computer, bringing UP the data base, getting things ready, and waiting for the lights to come on.  They’re on a timer.

When the lights come on, she opens the door.

Not good enough for said patron.

She was pitching a hissy like none I’ve ever seen.

Screaming, (and I wish I could type with a Korean accent) “You open UP!”, “You late!”.  ”Let us in!”

Really, she was apoplectic.

Stroke ready, craaaazzeee, crazy.

Just off the chain.

As I sat in the car, patient man that I am, watching this display of childishness, I wondered what the hurry was.

Once the door opened, she pulled it from the staff member, rushed by her, nearly knocking into her and ran, I mean ran to the locker room.

When the gymette said, “Wait, you need to scan in!”, she replied, “I scan in on way out, bitch!”

Really now, was that necessary.

And honestly, I’m not sure which UPset me most, the bad behavior, the rudeness, or the botching of English Grammar!

Use a noun and a verb together once in a while!  Emily would have slapped her, I’m sure!

So a guy wants to pray on the sidelines, big deal.

Did anyone care if Ali prayed before a fight?  He did, BTW.

How about every boxer from South America who crosses themselves before beating the crap out of their opponents?

And there are many other football players who point to heaven or cross themselves when they make a touchdown.

And what about other public prayers?

No one disses the Pope when he blesses the masses in front of St. Peter’s.

And Billy Graham, he prays in public.

All those Ayatollahs all over the world?  That seems to be OK.

People in Congress pray – and shouldn’t we all be doing so simply because of them?

I thank The Lord for my food in restaurants. I whisper a quick quiet prayer,  It’s not like it’s a big scene.

So, when I hear the fuss about Tim Tebow seeking God’s guidance during a game, really, it’s not all that big a deal.  Frankly, I doubt that God watches football, something tells me He’s a tad occupied UP there making sure we don’t blow the place UP.

And which is worse, a decent Tim Tebow who prays before, during, and after a game, or these guys:

Billy Cannon’s doing five years for counterfeiting.  I thought they made a bunch of cash!

Ray Carruth, 24 years for conspiracy to commit murder.

Darryl Henley is doing 41  years for drug trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder.

Cecil Collins, burglary, 15 years.

I could go on.

Oh, heck, I will…

Hiroshi Ogawa, a baseball player, life for murder.

Pete Rose.

And those are just a few base ballers.

And don’t get me started on Basketball.  I don’t think WordPress could hold a post on the NBA!

He’s a seemingly decent guy with a clean reputation.  When did that become wrong?  So, let Timmy pray.  And the last time I checked, free exercise of religion was still on the books!

I think we could all do a little prayin’ these days!

It could be worse.