15 FEB 09: InTown Out of Bounds?

An online invitation? That's nothing unusual. But three invitations in three days, to join the same web site? Now that's unusual. And none of them are offering millions of British pounds from a lottery drawing....

A feud is erupting this weekend in the cyber-world of Columbus social groups. We base this on the following two e-mails:

Tired of all the egomania drama of these other local "SBLOGS"? Well, join a drama free environment, where you are free to talk about any topic at any length. No Banning and No Limiting Your Speech....

http://columbusgeorgia.ning.com/

Nothing is forbidden on this site as long as you treat everyone with respect. All topics are allowed. It started last night and already has 16 members. Advertizing is free.

Egomania drama?! In Columbus? I thought that only happened at school board meetings....

If you're not familiar with the term, an "S-Blog" is a local version of Myspace or Facebook -- with blogging, chats, picture-sharing and more. InTown Columbus has offered this sort of social blogging since last June. A check Saturday night showed it has almost 800 members -- although I have to admit that man from St. Charles, Illinois smells like an interloper to me.

But based on our InBox, there's a revolt under way against InTown Columbus. Our top link leads to the new "Columbus, Georgia" social blog -- where the creator named "Simon" claims ITC has banned some members, while "limiting speech." The Ledger-Enquirer probably hears that complaint all the time, because "Sound Off" has a two-sentence limit.

One person who says he's been banned from InTown Columbus is a local political/AIDS activist. Jeremy Hobbs writes on the Columbus, Georgia blog he's not sure why he was banned, but he's "not a play by the rules kind of guy." Announce you're running against Red McDaniel for Columbus Council, then back out and support him for re-election, and you'll get that reputation.

Other newcomers write at the Columbus, Georgia S-Blog they've been banned from InTown Columbus simply for joining the new group. You'd think people on the Internet would improve on the social graces of church splits....

Simon promises the Columbus, Georgia S-Blog will "believe in freedom of speech," with no worries about being banned. Yet it already has a blog post with the title: "Any ITC Administration Will Be Banned." Isn't this a little like leaving the oppressive dictatorship of North Korea to set up one in Cuba?

Simon explains in that blog post he's barring InTown Columbus administrators because "they will only work to destroy the harmony of this group...." In other words, don't interrupt our grumbling about you by trying to set the record straight.

As of Saturday night the Columbus, Georgia S-Blog had 25 members. The most familiar name on the list is Fife Whiteside, the former Muscogee County School Board member. There's also a misspelled name of Richard Hyatt - yet his mysterious "columnist" Mirabeau B. Lamar still is an InTown Columbus member. Wow, maybe they ARE two different people.

So what does InTown Columbus have to say about this breakaway? If there's a response, I couldn't find one. But I noticed a November explanation of the S-Blog's "no personal attacks" policy. Did someone on that new S-Blog go too far, and declare someone's mother wears Army boots?

A close look at the two groups' current forum topics suggests we could have a classic political division here. InTown Columbus has plenty of Republican conservative topics. Columbus, Georgia has one challenging fundamental views of the Bible. Not to mention the home page picture, suggesting Columbus could use a few new skyscrapers.

You may recall the ultimatum this blog received two weeks ago from an InTown Columbus member [1 Feb]. Given what's happened this weekend, I'm now looking like a stinkin' genius. I'm glad I didn't join - and I plan to stay neutral in this blog battle. At least until the bidding war starts for "free agents" like me....

E-MAIL UPDATE: Our InBox also has a comment about local sports coverage....

Perhaps I'm just being sensitive,but I think it is in poor taste to refer to the two young athletics at a local high school as the "twin towers."..I think those words together have been retired out of respect for the thousands who died there and a sad time in US history.

This apparently refers to a Thursday headline in the Ledger-Enquirer: "Northside's Twin Towers Take Over." Of course, some are hoping they win a state basketball title in March - to prove some towers can keep standing, no matter what the opposition.

The phrase "Twin Towers" was used in basketball well before 11 September 01. They referred to Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, two seven-foot-tall stars with the Houston Rockets. Olajuwon won N.B.A. titles. Sampson's career faded, but his son now plays college ball for Tubby Smith at Minnesota. At six-foot-11, Ralph Sampson III is Daddy's little boy.

But "Twin Towers" still is a widely-used phrase in Georgia state government. They refer to two tall state office buildings near the Capitol. That sounds more honorable than calling one of those structures by its other name - the "Sloppy Floyd Building." [True!]

And this disclosure by e-mail came as a big surprise:

Richard, A friend called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me about a new drive-in movie theater being built in Salem, AL. I listened but frankly I didn't believe it. Then yesterday I received my copy of The Citizen of East Alabama in the mail and there it was (a photo of the new drive-in on page B1). For you and your readers info it opens this weekend. Of course I realize that some of your readers are probably too young to remember drive-in theaters. They might want to visit to see how us old folks (when we were young) used to watch movies before VHS, DVDs, computers,etc.

The online version of The Citizen doesn't have this story -- but I'm old enough to remember drive-in movies. You actually stopped the car to watch them, as opposed to "drive-through" lanes at restaurants.

The drive-in theatres in Kansas City operated year-round, by offering customers "in-car heaters" during the winter. Who knows how many teenage couples on dates turned them down, and (ahem) produced their own heat on a weekend like this one?

This announcement prompts an idea - why don't Sonic Drive-Ins offer movie screens, while you wait for your order? The servers are so slow some evenings that you could watch a full-length Bugs Bunny cartoon before the meal comes out.

Thanks for all your comments! Now let's see what else is worth discussing this weekend....

+ Muscogee County Sheriff's Deputy Linda Warren was suspended without pay. She's blamed for running a red light and causing a crash downtown last week, on her way home from work. But look on the bright side - she could have jumped out with a drawn gun and stumbled.

+ Muscogee County eighth-grade students had "magnet exam day," as they applied for various high schools. The smartest teenagers may wind up at Columbus High. But the ones with the best chance at college scholarships may wind up at Carver High - you know, the football and basketball players.

+ An official with the Humane Society of the U.S. visited the main Columbus library, to discuss key bills in the Georgia legislature. One of them would ban cockfighting across the state - which would make Michael Vick's time in a halfway house a lot more challenging.

+ National Public Radio interviewed a retired Auburn University history professor about efforts to rewrite the Alabama Constitution. Wayne Flynt noted the state document is 40 times longer than the U.S. Constitution, and has more than 700 amendments. So? Think about how many attorneys it's kept in business in Montgomery.

+ An Ohatchee, Alabama recycling center received a crate containing a 15-foot-long missile. Some conservative must have misunderstood - he's supposed to wait for President Obama to order the confiscation of all weapons.

+ The Associated Press reported Birmingham-Southern College students took a course in which they toured 18 barbecue restaurants in six states. If that's not sad enough, the students were NOT required to take a physical education course to work off the extra pounds.

(The barbecue tour included Byron's Smoke House in Auburn, but did NOT stop in Columbus. Talk about an insult! Just because Country's dares to serve a beef platter along with pork....)

+ The Columbus Cottonmouths humbled Huntsville 3-2 in overtime, after starting the extra period with a two-man disadvantage. For a change, the Huntsville crowd had no one to boo except its own team.

+ Instant Message to all local NASCAR fans: I hope you're praying for nice weather today. No, not at the Daytona 500 - around here, so severe weather warnings don't interrupt the race again.

SCHEDULED MONDAY: President's Day in Columbus.... assuming we can find any....

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