The other week, I and several other people went to the gold dome to lobby our legislators in favor of common-sense bills such as SB 114 and SB 115 and against HB 1033, which would require a referendum on commuter rail projects.

At one point, those of us who were there were all told that transit is coming. We were told some things we already knew, like the formation of the Transit Services Board and what that will lead to (MARTA will become GRTA), and the Congestion Mitigation Task Force and what that will lead to (presumably, more transit, even if that’s not really true).

The brains behind these initiatives are, as it turns out, misleading Georgia voters. When they say “transit,” they may not really mean transit. In the final report of the Congestion Mitigation Task Force (PDF), there is, buried deep within, a definition of transit. It’s easy to find. All you have to do is execute a search for the word “transit.” You’ll find the word used exactly five times in the whole document. This is what you’ll find:

Transit including bus rapid transit, high-occupancy/toll lanes, truck-only toll lanes

Since when does laying down more asphalt mean building more transit?

A recent column by Ann Coulter (which I won’t quote or link) would make you think Arabs react to art through violence and Westerners react to art through more peaceful means.

If you assumed that, you would be wrong.

Art has long had the power to stir up the masses, even in the West:

Art is one of the most potent tokens of currency in the marketplace of ideas. If you ever doubted that, just look overseas, where Muslims are rioting over cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Depending on your perspective, they’re either satire or blasphemy.

It’s easy to distance ourselves from what’s happening over there. After all, some say, you didn’t see Christians torching buildings and storming embassies when Andres Serrano displayed his infamous “Piss Christ” Ñ a photograph of a crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist’s urine.

But Westerners aren’t immune to getting violently worked up over art.

Perhaps it’s not “Arabs” or “Muslims” who are prone to violence, as Ann would have us believe. Maybe it’s really right-wing fundamentalists, a group of people marked by an attitude that’s independent of culture: a morbid love for the clash of cultures.

As though there weren’t enough bills and resolutions to pay attention to already, there is another one up on the table we should pay attention to.

The Arts Leadership League of Georgia’s top legislative priority for this session is HB 1129, a resolution that acknowledges the importance of the arts in public education. This is a good time to let your state rep know that you believe arts education is important for a stronger Georgia.

Currently, the bill is in the House Education Committee, whose members include the hot-tempered art gallery owner Jill Chambers.

Like Rusty says, Valentine’s Day is a bit over-commercialized. But that won’t stop a worthy 501(c)3, like the one I work for, from holding an online auction fundraiser. You can get a Valentine card signed by one of nearly a dozen celebrities, local, national and obscure.

Of our member organizations, many of whom are also worthy 501(c)3s (others are worthy for-profits), Georgia Ensemble Theatre and Savage Tree Arts Project decided to participate.

On a side note, yes, I know I’ve been quiet lately. Once blogging stops for a while, it’s a little difficult to get back on track. What I’d really like to write about is some of the interesting things I’ve learned about over the past couple of semesters, some of which was in-class learning, and some of which was my own research.

To whet your appetite, at some point, I’ll be posting my own take on how Atlanta’s Urban Regime has evolved since 1988.