It’s COW-EAT-a, not cuh-WEET-a
Thinking Right’s weekend free-for-all. Pick a topic:
- When Atlanta traffic cameras produce 49,322 citations in one year at one intersection (Freedom Parkway and Boulevard), you’ve got to wonder whether the real problem’s motorists, designers or a quick camera. Second-most citations (19,101) are issued at Cobb Parkway and Windy Hill Road in Marietta. All intersections with traffic cameras should have a timed count-down warning to approaching motorists. While that law’s being drafted, a section should be added to prohibit the use of mobile radar cameras, which have triggered road rage in other states.
- First lady Michelle Obama, following in the footsteps of predecessors who took up causes, appears to have settled on improving D.C.’s schools. A better idea: Promote marriage.
- The Sad State of Children in America, 2009: A Smyrna woman moved to Norcross, leaving behind a 7-year-old son, with whom she had no contact for two weeks, police said. The single woman who gave birth to eight children on Jan. 26 — she now has 14 — signs a contract with a European company for a reality TV series. In Knoxville, 29-year-old Desmond Hatchett, working minimum wage, has caused at least 20 children with 11 different women.
- When taxpayers own 60 percent of General Motors and are guaranteeing 90 percent of a restaurant loan in Sandy Springs, the latter as part of the stimulus effort, there’s no hope of putting this government-private sector relationship back in its proper place. A 90 percent taxpayer loan guarantee for a startup in an inherently risky industry? That’s a flat-out giveaway to banks — no-risk profit.
- Japan’s ambassador to the U.S. apologizes for the Bataan Death March that left some 11,000 POWs dead 57 years ago. Meaningful apologies require two elements: an actual perpetrator and an actual victim. Death march survivors are the victims, but Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki’s government had nothing to do with the inhumanity.
- The great mystery of the subprime mortgage debacle is how reform, however structured, can both protect people from themselves and make loans “affordable” to people — whatever their income — who have been irresponsible with money and credit. The left’s solution is to force lenders to write-down debt and to force responsible borrowers to subsidize the irresponsible. AJC reporters Carrie Teegardin and John Perry nail it with this observation in Sunday’s analysis : “Subprime borrowers and investors bet heavily on rapidly rising home prices and cast aside the basic rule of lending: making sure the borrower could afford to repay.”
- Ever notice how many bad things happen to people acting or driving recklessly between midnight and 4 a.m.? The lake at Piedmont Park at 1:45 n the morning is no place to
be. - New cars may be losing their allure, as some urban-dwellers suggest. But it’ll probably take more than one San Franciscan selling her 2006 Toyota Corolla and using a car-sharing company to make the argument convincing. Much of what passes for prognostication is people wishing-in their agenda.
- I don’t know which new chain stores coming to Atlanta to go ga-ga over. AJWright opened its first three stores here and nobody gushed breathlessly at the prospect of cheaper clothing, as they’d done for Ikea’s cheaper furniture and Trader Joe’s cheaper wine.
- USA Poultry & Egg Export Council Vice President Toby Moore, formerly of Wadley, is among those speakers of native Georgian “distressed to the point of insanity” about those who mangle the pronunciations of our beloved towns, cities and counties, especially those in the metro area. His guide to newcomers: “McDonough is pronounced MAC-DON-uh. It is not MIC-DUN-uh or mic-DUN-uh. … Coweta County is a matter of inflection: COW-EAT-a. It’s not cuh-WEET-a.”
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131 comments Add your comment
jon
June 4th, 2009
7:34 pm
Actually, it’s KY-EAT-uh to old timers. No COW.
Jeffrey in Grant Park
June 4th, 2009
7:49 pm
That’s a hungry cow! Get it…? COW-EAT-a county? I crack myself up.
Road Scholar
June 4th, 2009
7:56 pm
” A better idea: Promote marriage.” Jim ,I’m sure you included gay marriage in that idea!
Sp Ed Teacher
June 4th, 2009
8:05 pm
When I lived in Newnan, I saw a car that had a creative tag. Someone had taken the county sticker and rearranged it to show EAT A COW.
Most people can’t even pronounce ATLANTA.
Mrs. Norris
June 4th, 2009
8:23 pm
Thank you Jim. I would also like to remind everyone it’s McDonna, not McDunna. That really annoys me. Thank you.
John
June 4th, 2009
9:03 pm
Opening a whole can of worms on Ky-eat-a Jim! I lived their all my life and anyone who knows, will tell you the same. BTW Senoia is Si-Noy…. This is fun, I think i’ll go to “ALL-Benny”
jt
June 4th, 2009
9:08 pm
The Sad State of Children in America, 2009: A Smyrna woman moved to Norcross, leaving behind a 7-year-old son, with whom she had no contact for two weeks, police said. The single woman who gave birth to eight children on Jan. 26 — she now has 14 — signs a contract with a European company for a reality TV series. In Knoxville, 29-year-old Desmond Hatchett, working minimum wage, has caused at least 20 children with 11 different women.
I’m sure the goverment can stop this, Right Jim.
You invited them in with your child support crap.
JD
June 4th, 2009
9:10 pm
The government has no place owning anything in the lending industry, the auto industry, the investment sector, the banking sector or any other sector. Oh wait, I’m sorry I was back in a time when the USA was not a socialist nation with a Muslim president and socialists leading Congress.
When ALL of the Chrysler dealers who lost their franchises were donors to the Republican party in 2008 and none donated to the Democrats, save one Texas dealer who gave $200 to Democrats, the time has come for the revolution. Hopefully the revolution will not include violence but the nation was founded by those who felt government had become oppressive and that government was nothing compared to the Facist in the White House.
AND NOW, for all the liberal wimps who populate this blog, I offer the following:
So how did a young man who arrived in New York in early June 1981, without the price of a hotel room in his pocket, suddenly come up with the price of a round-the-world trip just a month later? And once he was on a plane, shuttling between New York , Jakarta , and Karachi , what passport was he offering when he passed through Customs and Immigration? The American people not only deserve to have answers to these questions, they must have answers.
It makes the debate over Obama’s citizenship a rather short and simple one.
Q: Did he travel to Pakistan in 1981, at age 20?
A: Yes, by his own admission.
Q: What passport did he travel under?
A: There are only three possibilities. 1. He traveled with a U.S. Passport, 2) He traveled with a British passport, or 3) He traveled with an Indonesia passport.
Q: Is it possible that Obama traveled with a U.S. Passport in 1981?
A: No. It is not possible. Pakistan was on the U.S. State Department’s “no travel” list in 1981.
Conclusion: When Obama went to Pakistan in 1981 he was traveling either with a British passport or an Indonesian passport.
If he was traveling with a British passport that would provide proof that he was born in Kenya on August 4, 1961, not in Hawaii as he claims. And if he was traveling with an Indonesian passport that would tend to prove that he relinquished whatever previous citizenship he held, British or American, prior to being adopted by his Indonesian step-father in 1967.
Whatever the truth of the matter, the American people need to know how he managed to become a “natural born” American citizen between 1981 and 2008.. Given the destructive nature of his plans for America, as illustrated by his speech before Congress and the disastrous spending plan he has presented to Congress, the sooner we learn the truth of all this, the better.
Count me in as one of those inquiring minds who’d at least like to know the answers to these easily answered (by Obama) questions.
gagirl
June 4th, 2009
9:29 pm
I think if we could get the anchors and reporters from the local news to go back to pronouncing things the way the locals do, it would be fantastic. I say “go back to” because they used to. Now, it’s like they all went to the same weird vocal coach. Ick.
gagirl
June 4th, 2009
9:31 pm
Oh and regarding whether our President is a natural born citizen, get over it. If it was possible to prove he is not the repubs would have happily done it before now.
1965
June 4th, 2009
9:40 pm
Mrs. Norris: He addressed the McDonough issue in the original article. Didn’t you read it?
Deanna
June 4th, 2009
9:46 pm
One of my dad’s favorite rhetorical jokes was to ask, “Have you ever seen a Cow-et-a girl?”
Tall
June 4th, 2009
10:08 pm
GAgirl…
Why won’t he produce it? If Obama is not an American citizen by birth, all that he has done, becomes undone. Get it? This is a serious issue that the Democrats are trying to make go away. The Democrats will do everything they can to make this go away.
Jay
June 4th, 2009
10:18 pm
JD: U need to get a life. U can whine all you want. Obama is our president. I voted for him and very proud of all he has accomplished in 4 months already. In 4 months, he has surpassed 8 years of republican mismanagement. In 2012, he will be re-elected and he will get my vote again. I wish the constitution allowed for three terms. He would get my vote for any election he contests.
Linville
June 5th, 2009
12:05 am
I don’t know about three terms. But he made a great speech today.
Chris
June 5th, 2009
1:02 am
The problem is not how newcomers pronounce things; the problem is that dumb rednecks never learned how to pronounce words properly way back when. And they just pass on their ignorance from generation to generation. The sad part is, they’ll never learn because they resent anyone that’s smarter than them and they protect their dumb-ness like it’s a badge of honor.
Barry
June 5th, 2009
1:07 am
Jay: What “all he has accomplished in 4 months” is so great? His budgets are so out-of-line, our great-great-great grandchildren will be paying the bill. In 4 months, he has led the greatest mismanagement of the executive office, exceeding that of even the Bush administration, since FDR. Oh, and the Constitution requires the President to be a native-born American citizen.
clyde
June 5th, 2009
5:06 am
I always defer to the locals on matters of pronunciation.They live there.They should know what to call it.
I don’t understand the stimulus package backing of the restaurant loan in Sandy Springs.Is it possible that there really is a free lunch?
Chris,Redneck Convert is gonna git you.
Reader
June 5th, 2009
5:30 am
The Republicans place their focus on things that don’t make sense. That’s why this country is the way it is today. Why do you care if the President goes on a date, nobody cared when Bush spent all his time on that ranch Crawford. Why do keep looking into his records to make sure he’s natural born citizen. If he really wasn’t, it would have been taking care of by now. Ask one of your own, Clarence Thomas. Why certain people try to change the name of the Democratic Party? How is that going to help America??! Why is the leader of your party now a Black man? Ummm…Hello Black people are not going to vote R. because the leader is black. That is just downright offensive, believe me they did not vote for Obama because he’s black, some did, I admit, but most didn’t. That’s the biggest JOKE! Common sense is not common. You don’t care about this country and you don’t care about what happens. All you care about is if your good ole boy network stays in tact. Look at this state. First thing that get’s axed is Education. Stay away from Taxes, rather cut education and help keep this state in the bottom 5 in the nation when it comes to Education. You worried about a flag and voted out Roy Barnes only to have one of your own, stab you in the back. And put a total different flag that you still don’t like. Just like Bushy did, stab you in the back. That man made bigger fools out of yall than I’ve ever seen Get over it Republican party.
Jim
June 5th, 2009
6:38 am
Jay-
I just plain feel sorry for you.
Lynn
June 5th, 2009
6:57 am
Loved the pronunciation. When one of Coweta high schools came to Valdosta several years ago, I was forced to call the local radio station to tell them how to pronounce it. Gave them the Ky-eeta and COW EET a pronunciations. Told them not to embarrass themselves by pronouncing it wrong!
GayGrayGeek
June 5th, 2009
7:05 am
Ah, I love the smell of fulminating WingNuts in the morning…
John OTC
June 5th, 2009
7:29 am
However you want to say it, my house is for sale in Senoia. You can call it Sen-oy, Sen-o-ah or Sen-oy-a. Just check out 158 Willow Dell Drive!
gayblackcripple
June 5th, 2009
7:31 am
my my my, the crazy folks don’t hold anything back here do they?
it is my sincere hope that when Obama is re-elected in 2012, all of you have sudden massive heart attacks…
please keep feasting on your typical diet of deep fried bacon and moonshine, your country needs you!
DX
June 5th, 2009
7:43 am
I am sure you are appalled that a mixed race child born in the early sixties, who by your warped sense of values should have been scorned and hidden, is now OUR President. Look what unconditional love and acceptance can do for a child.What qualifies you to criticize any of God’s creations ? Oh, I forgot, you are the result of a right wing gleam in the eye, that led to the Church sanctioned , missionary position conceived, holier than thou elite middle class.At least your parents didn’t dance !!!!
Mom
June 5th, 2009
7:49 am
While we’re on the subject, it’s not “Ponce duh Lee-on”! It’s “Ponce day Lee-Own” with the accent on “own”! And it’s not “ol”, it’s “oil”! And it’s not “ske-ul”, it’s “school”. And it’s NOT OKAY to go around somebody when they are turning! This means you!! Thanks!
Aquagirl
June 5th, 2009
7:53 am
Mr. Moore should be grateful he’s not from Cairo, (”kay-ro”) GA. He’d be insane by now.
And a guy “caused” 20 children by 11 different women? Jim, that’s some of the best descriptive language you’ve ever used.
Churchill's MOM
June 5th, 2009
7:59 am
Even the lefties atr CNN write about our next president but not you. Get with the program, are you pulling for the Huckster?
From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
Sarah Palin spoke in Anchorage on Wednesday.
(CNN) – Alaska governor Sarah Palin let loose Wednesday on the Obama administration for enacting fiscal policies that “fly in the face of principles” and “defy Economics 101.”
In a speech introducing Michael Reagan — the son of former President Ronald Reagan — to an audience in Anchorage, Palin warned that the government is planning to “bail out debt ridden states” so it can “get in there and control the people.”
“Since when can you get out of huge national debt by creating trillions of dollars of new debt?” Palin asked. “It all really is so backwards and skewed as to sound like absolute nonsense when some of this economic policy is explained.”
“We need to be aware of the creation of a fearful population, and fearful lawmakers, being led to believe that big government is the answer, to bail out the private sector, because then government gets to get in there and control it,” she said. “And mark my words, this is going to be next, I fear, bail out next debt-ridden states. Then government gets to get in there and control the people.”
“Some in Washington would approach our economic woes in ways that absolutely defy Economics 101, and they fly in the face of principles, providing opportunity for industrious Americans to succeed or to fail on their own accord,” she said. “Those principles it makes you wonder what the heck some in Washington are trying to accomplish here.”
Though the bulk of her remarks focused on government encroachment into the private sector, and praise for former President Reagan’s views on limited government, the former vice presidential candidate briefly touched on national security. She told the crowd that “the terrorists are still dead set against us” and that her son Track is still deployed in Iraq.
“It is war over there, so it will not be war over here,” she said. “And it had better still be our mission that we win, they lose.”
She also pointed to the recent dismissal of another ethics complaint against her, one that accused the governor of having a conflict of interest for wearing a jacket to the opening of the Tesoro Iron Dog race in February that feautured the logo of the sponsor of her husband’s team. Palin has been forced to set up a legal defense fund to help pay for fees related to an onslaught of ethic complaints.
Palin said of the people who have filed the complaints: “Those are the folks who want to tell me, they want to tell you, to sit down and shut up. We will not do that. I just can’t, because I love my state. I love my country”
**********Handel 2010*****Palin Mccain 2012***************
Nikita
June 5th, 2009
8:05 am
Palin’s a joke. She was a joke when she was running and she’s a joke now that she’s struggling with the iother wackos to control a party that is struggling to define itself. It’s a fairly sad moment in history for republicans.
And it’s “Ky-ee-ta.”
Patrick
June 5th, 2009
8:05 am
My former boss always pronounced the town I live in as “brimmin’” when it’s pronounced “BRIE-men”. Men who sell brie: a rather cheesy job.
I remember watching one of those police chase video compilation shows, and the narrator pronounced Dekalb County as “De-COB”, when everyone knows it’s “De-CAB”. It’s hard to remove a cob from corn, but it’s easy to remove a cab from a street.
Tom Davis
June 5th, 2009
8:08 am
Actually, it’s cyow-eat-a.
catlady
June 5th, 2009
8:16 am
Let’s quit giving Alaska all that money that they then disburse to their citizens. After all, we don’t want to “control” them. Then, let’s see how “good” a governor Palin appears to be! Give her, say, the budget per capita of Alabama (and its problems).
Palin’s party wrote the book on preying on people’s fears.
And talk about backward policies: what about cutting taxes while waging a terribly expensive war (kept off books, of course)? Or taking a surplus and turning it into a huge (without counting the war expenses) deficit?
The woman just CAN’T stay out of the news, can she? And everytime she speaks, she looks worse and worse–more and more of a laughable buffoon.
Bill
June 5th, 2009
8:17 am
I believe the Bataan death march was 62 years ago , not 52. Lest we forget.
catlady
June 5th, 2009
8:19 am
Hey, Sarah! Sit down and shut up!
Love,
Your country
Bill
June 5th, 2009
8:19 am
OOps!! My bad. Make that 67 years ago instead of 57, if anyone really cares anymore.
Reality Check
June 5th, 2009
8:20 am
These cry babies on the right are sooooo funny to me!!! Get with the progam! Obama is the POTUS and all of you whinning is not gonna change that! He is making eevry effort possible to undo the Bush / Cheney mess, so to quote amember of the right( Herman Cain) ” Get on board, or Get out of the way!)
JATL
June 5th, 2009
8:34 am
I can’t believe I’m agreeing (with a few points actually) with anything over here. I usually never read Wooten, but I was so excited to see something about the mispronunciation of our towns and places in Georgia! I cringe all over when people say “Mc DUN Uh”, or “Cu EET a” and I especially hate hearing “ALAtoona” instead of “ALtoona” -forget the way it’s spelled, we say it differently here! Glenn Burns, I’m talking to you!!!! And kudos to another poster -it IS “Si-Noi” NOT “Si Noi Ya”. Ahhhh that feels better.
LOLO
June 5th, 2009
8:45 am
What about HOW-ston instead of Hugh-ston? (Houston County)
Also, some locals have mispronounced placed over the years until the wrong is right…i.e. lake Alatoona.
Danny
June 5th, 2009
8:48 am
Hope all the new residents learn to properly Senoia properly.
williebkind
June 5th, 2009
8:51 am
So Wooten–Are we out of topics that we have to guess how to pronouce a proper noun?
Since the murder of Tiller, who has stepped up to continue the onslaught?
Is the murder of the Army Recruiter a hate crime too? Why is no one here discussing it? Remember, the government killed Tim McVey for his murder of innocent citizens. Will this guy get a pass because his is muslim.
Why is Eric Holder not being called a bigot in DOJ?
Why does Obama blame America so much? Was it from his earlier associations?
These are talking points–things that many Americans want to discussed
Gimmeadollar
June 5th, 2009
8:53 am
How do you pronounce Lithonia? I am not from these parts and I can’t imagine that it’s pronounced LIE-thonia, instead of LITH-onia
"Charles", The Original
June 5th, 2009
8:53 am
Japan’s ambassador to the U.S. apologizes for the Bataan Death March that left some 11,000 POWs dead 57 years ago. Meaningful apologies require two elements: an actual perpetrator and an actual victim. Death march survivors are the victims, but Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki’s government had nothing to do with the inhumanity writes Jim Wooten.
On May 30th, 2009, at the sixty-fourth and final reunion of Bataan Death March survivors in San Antonio, Texas, Japanese ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki gave a meaningful apology to the assembled survivors for the Japanese treatment of Allied prisoners of war, on behalf of the Japanese government. 11,000-18,000 POWs were marched to their death 57 years ago.
Barack H. Obama and his government directly inherited the legacies, successes and failures, of the preceding administration and president when he became the 44th President of the United States. And Obama indirectly inherited the legacies, successes and failures, of former administrations. Therefore, the Barack H. Obama administration directly inherited the legacy of the George W. Bush Presidency. And Obama indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The George W. Bush administration directly inherited the legacy of the Bill Clinton Presidency. And Bush indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Bill Clinton administration directly inherited the legacy of the George H.W. Bush Presidency. And Clinton indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The George H. W. Bush administration directly inherited the legacy of the Ronald Reagan Presidency. And H. W. Bush indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Ronald Reagan administration directly inherited the legacy of the Jimmy Carter Presidency. And Reagan indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Jimmy Carter administration directly inherited the legacy of the Gerald Ford Presidency. And Carter indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Gerald Ford administration directly inherited the legacy of the Richard Nixon Presidency. And Ford indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Richard Nixon administration directly inherited the legacy of the Lyndon Johnson Presidency. And Nixon indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Lyndon Johnson administration directly inherited the legacy of the John F. Kennedy Presidency. And Johnson indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The John F. Kennedy administration directly inherited the legacy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidency. And Kennedy indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower administration directly inherited the legacy of Harry S. Truman Presidency. And Eisenhower indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations.
The Harry S. Truman administration directly inherited the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidency. And Truman indirectly inherited the legacies of former administrations etc.
The criminal conduct of a government is descendible, and the victims of governmental criminality may be direct and or indirect. Therefore meaningful Apologies should be forthcoming by latter administrations buttressed by Reparations.
Hmmmm
June 5th, 2009
8:56 am
AMEN AMEN AMEM!!! It is indeed Mac-Don-ah not mic-Dun-uh.
M. D. Cain
June 5th, 2009
8:59 am
Will someone please tell Clark Howard that it is Du-cu-la and not Dak-u-la.
catlady
June 5th, 2009
9:00 am
Then we have AYY rab, Alabama, and Ar MUR chee for Amurchee, Georgia. And is it Missurah or Missouree? FlOR i dah or Flahh ri dah?
JD
June 5th, 2009
9:01 am
Jay and Reader – Two non-thinking sheep who only want a government to “take care” of them.
Freedom and a free, capitalist economy made the US a great country and now the Socialist Democrats (that is a political party, apart from, but also part of the Dem Party) is sending their Congressional members to Cuba and with a life-long socialist in the White House, oops that is until he decided to become a member of a Christian church and make other false claims for political expedience, the ruin of the US under an unmanageable level of debt is near at hand.
There is no market for the debt the government is selling into a cash-less market place. Where will the money be taken from to fund this joke of a government? From the equity markets!
What will that do to private sector industry? Destroy American business!
What does the destruction of America business do to the American economy? Places all control in the hands of the government!
AND THAT IS THE END OF THE UNITED STATES!
Copyleft
June 5th, 2009
9:11 am
What does a capitalist economy have to do with America’s greatness? Where is capitalism, or a free market, even MENTIONED in our Constitution?
Capitalism is simply one option among many for structuring an economy that supports our Constitutional republic (I use that term because so many are allergic to the word “democracy”). We don’t have a “free market” anyway; like most western democracies, we have a mixed economy that we’re always fine-tuning and adjusting as conditions vary.
None of which matters to the hysterics among us, of course.
Redneck Convert
June 5th, 2009
9:13 am
Well, I’m for a diffrent kind of Marriage Act. Everybody that ain’t married now ought to be made to get married at the point of a gun. That would put a stop to all these women that have kids in bunches like cats have kittens. We just get roving bands of police and Baptist preachers and when they come across some thug hanging out on a street corner they marry him to a single woman with kids right then and there. Then we can cut the kids off of Peachcare and welfare and save a bundle of money. Maybe even throw the man that was just married to the woman in jail for not supporting the kids he just got.
I know this is a awful Conservative solution to a problem, but if you think about it, well, it might could work. Have a good day everybody.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 5th, 2009
9:14 am
General Motors has agreed to sell its Saturn brand to Roger Penske, a
major auto dealer, and a deal is expected to be announced on Friday, a
person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The move is the latest by G.M. to sell off assets as it reorganizes
itself in bankruptcy. Saturn, which was part of G.M.’s bankruptcy
filing on Monday, had drawn 16 bidders over a months-long sales
process, G.M. said earlier this week.
Under the terms of the deal, Mr. Penske, a former race car driver whose
Penske Automotive Group is one of the largest dealerships in the
country, will initially buy Saturn vehicles from G.M. But he is
expected to eventually buy cars from other carmakers like Renault,
through its Samsung Motors Unit in Korea.
Big Bucks GOP doing the Lords work
June 5th, 2009
9:18 am
The F.D.I.C. is said to be seeking a shake-up of Citigroup’s top
management, including replacing Chief Executive Vikram Pandit,