Boss Shumba doesn't have a shark head on his wall, but Rep. Paul Broun grilled the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration, the federal agency that regulates fisheries, at a committee hearing Wednesday over rumors that the NOAA plans to ban fishing.

The rumors stemmed from an online ESPN column and other blogs, according to the New York Times.

Team Broun provided a transcript of the House Science and Technology Committee hearing:

BROUN: As an individual who got involved in politics, I began my political activism because of my conservation ethics and because I am a hunter and fisherman, and your agency Ocean Policy Taskforce is apparently talking about instituting a policy that would lead to a ban of recreational angling in the United States.

NPR has an article about the massive strike in Athens over austerity cuts. Athens, Greece, that is.

But, given Athens, Ga.’s fondness for protesting, what if we were to take to the streets?

(Cue wavy lines and dream-sequence music)

The Georgia National Guard fired tear-gas and stun grenades at masked protesters in the heart of Athens on Thursday, as thousands of workers went on a city-wide strike that closed schools, shuttered bars and left hospitals staffed for emergencies only.

University of Georgia faculty and staff, teachers and other government employees are protesting harsh new austerity measures imposed by the government to try to cut the state's massive budget deficit.

Via Tim Bryant:

“Athens Area Habitat for Humanity director Spencer Frye says he'll have an announcement one way or the other within the next two weeks on whether he is a candidate for Mayor. Frye has been considering a campaign to replace a term-limited Athens Mayor Heidi Davison.”

All signs point to Frye running, but the wait continues. At this point, I'm halfway expecting Pozzo and Lucky to stop by.

In other news, potential Commission District 1 candidate Sara Bickerton said her campaign is not official yet, but she is seriously considering running. Beyond the Trestle has a brief interview with her, and look for more info here as soon as I get the final word that she’s in.

From a brief break to attend a wedding at a drive-through chapel in Las Vegas. Here’s what we missed over the past four days:

• The budget went from worse to worser.

Via Beyond the Trestle, a candidate announced for Athens-Clarke Commission today.

Sara Bickerton, 28, is program coordinator for the Athens Literacy Council and assistant program manager at the Jack R. Wells Boys & Girls Club. She has a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Georgia. Her Facebook page describes her political views as liberal/progressive. She is also listed as “special commandante for charitable outreach / sign making czar” in the Washington Street Liberation Army, a group of young political activists who describe themselves, tongue-in-cheek, as breaking the "Republican ... monopoly on fear-mongering, macho-posturing, and willful ignorance."

Sorry for the Paul Broun double post, but this is just too good to resist.

Boss Shumba, ever ready with a quip, made a reference to a cast member on the MTV reality show Jersey Shore while dissing President Obama’s efforts to include Republican ideas in his health care bill.

“Snooki, from the Jersey Shore, has more substance than President Obama’s offer,” he said.

Well, Snooki Polizzi fired back during an appearance at James Madison University, according to the school’s newspaper, The Breeze.

The night took a turn once Ester shared one of Wednesday’s headlines. In response to Obama’s health care bill, Rep. Paul Broun quipped that Polizzi contains “more substance than President Obama’s offer.”

By now, you’ve probably heard that Rep. Paul Broun, R-Darkest Africa, introduced a bill Thursday that would require congressmen to undergo ethics training.

“Ignorance of the law is not a valid excuse for accused criminals, and it cannot be an excuse for members of Congress,” he said in a news release. “The American people expect their Representatives to play by the same rules, but in order to do so, they must first learn them. The House rules already require senior staff to complete ethics training, it only makes sense that their bosses should too.”

Or, I Didn’t Know This Was Coming Up for a Vote Because the Feral Cats Ate My Newspaper

Not only do pawn shop owners not read the paper, they’re apparently either senile or prone to blackouts.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, pawn shop owners claimed they only heard about a police proposal for new regulations a day ago. But one of the speakers, Joe Thornton, was interviewed for an ABH story on the regulations that ran last Thursday.

It was a classic case of Athens Politics Disease: A group of people shows up to voice their opposition at the last possible second, claiming nefarious forces kept them in the dark about a vital issue and asking to delay a vote until they get it together. The commission, as they did on Tuesday, falls for it every time.

The Washington newspaper Roll Call ran a feature today about the unusual décor – a stuffed lion, bear and other big game trophies – in Rep. Paul Broun’s office.

Broun makes a point of eating all of his kills. He says it is a way of showing respect for the animal in addition to having a great meal. The hunt doesn’t always translate to tasty eating, though. On a hunting trip to Zimbabwe a few years back, Broun shot, killed and, yes, ate the lion that now stands beside his desk.

“After eating this animal, the natives called me Boss Shumba, which means Boss Lion,” he says proudly. “They’d never seen a guy come and actually eat a lion. It’s not very good.” In fact, Broun says, lion meat was too chewy.

The House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing where lawmakers are discussing UGA budget cuts is streaming live on the Internet, if anyone wants to watch.

Right now, state Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, is giving University System Chancellor Erroll Davis the business.

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