This Falcons team has proven—to the city, to the league, to the nation—that it's for real. (Full article and comments)

You can have your Britney Spears comeback. The beautiful and talented Christina Aguilera is 28 on Dec. 18.

(Full article and comments)

The Big Three should file for bankruptcy and we should expand the workers' unemployment benefits. It would be taxpayer money much better spent. (Full article and comments)

Seemingly lost in last week's news about the City of Atlanta eliminating 222 jobs: its impact on the Atlanta Jazz Festival. (Full article and comments)

Today only (Friday Dec. 12), Georgia Ensemble Theatre is offering half-price tickets to upcoming 2009 shows. (Full article and comments)

The last time Madonna provoked anything approaching an enthusiasm of "lustful thoughts," was, oh, 1985. (Full article and comments)

Today, even as I write this, the Senate is, in essence,  trying to force you and I to buy an American-made car that we will never drive. The $15 billion bailout they seek for the Big Three automakers in Detroit is nothing more than a fat "Thank You" check to the United Auto Workers union for getting Obama elected--and that check is being drawn on my account and yours. We, the taxpayers, are being asked to pay Detroit's manufacturers some sort of gratuity check that frankly we don't owe them. If you want to keep your car manufacturing business in business, here's an odd little idea that seems to have fallen out of fashion: Build a decent product and sell it for an affordable price. 

(Full article and comments)

Draft Magazine just put out a fun lineup of its 9 essential holiday cocktails in its November/December issue. Try some of these for your Christmas/Hanukkuh/Kwanzaa festivities, and be bored with your drink no more.

Snowflake
2 ounces Leblon Cachaça
2 ounces coconut milk
2 ounces canned lychee syrup
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously, and strain into a martini glass.

Yule Berry Tini
1 ounce DeKuyper Pucker Berry Fusion Schnapps
2 ounces VOX Vodka
splash of sweet and sour mix
splash of cranberry juice
squeeze of lime
Pour all ingredients over ice and mix thoroughly.

Peppermint Froth
1 1/2 ounces Grey Goose Vodka
1 ounce peppermint schnapps
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce cream
Candy cane or peppermint patty, for garnish
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted and beaded with sweat. Strain into glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with candy cane or peppermint patty.

Eggnog White Holiday
1 ounce White Chocolate Godiva Liqueur
1 ounce Navan Cognac
eggnog
Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with gold flakes.

Poinsettia Cocktail
3 ounces cranberry juice
1/2 ounce Cointreau
Champagne
orange peel curl
Combine Cointreau and chilled cranberry juice in a flute. Add orange twist and finish with a splash of Champagne.

Chocolate Eggnog Martini
2 ounces Ketel One Vodka
1 ounce Amsterdam Chocolate Liquor
1 ounce eggnog
Combine ingredients in a shaker; shake with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with nutmeg and chocolate syrup. Serve in a chilled martini glass.

Baked Apple Pie Cocktail
1 1/2 ounces Cruzan Coconut Rum
½ ounce apple juice
dash Apple Pucker liqueur
whipped cream, for garnish
Set aside whipped creap; pour remaining ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake thoroughly. Strain into a glass and top with a dollop of whipped cream.

World Peace Cocktail
1 1/2 ounces Bombay Sapphire Gin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
¼ ounce elderflower syrup
¼ ounce almond syrup
3 drops blue curaçao
Pour ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish, as the World Bar does, with a white chocolate dove on the rim.

Cranberry Sauced
2 1/2 ounces Grey Goose L’Orange
1 segment fresh orange, muddled
1 tablespoon organic cranberry sauce
Shake ingredients eight times over ice, and garnish with a rosemary sprig and three fresh organic cranberries.

(Full article and comments)

"...Blagojevich obtaining a lucrative job with a union-affiliated organization in exchange for appointing a particular Senate Candidate whom he believed was favored by the President-elect..." (Full article and comments)

Allow the Big Three to die and America may well witness the rebirth of the spirit of Henry Ford, innovation and competition, unfettered by unions. (Full article and comments)