NEW BOARD MEMBERS: Governor Brian P. Kemp has named Northside Hospital Dr. William Bostock, at left of Lawrenceville, as a member of the Georgia Composite Medical Board. Dr. Bostock is director of osteopathic education with the Northside Hospital Gwinnett Family Medicine Residency Program. He has practiced family medicine in Lawrenceville since 1986. He graduated from physician’s assistant school at the Medical College of Georgia, earned his medical degree at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, and completed his family medicine residency at the Medical College of Georgia. Another Northside physician, Dr. J. Jeffrey Marshall, was also named to the Composite Medical Board. Dr. Marshall is an interventional cardiologist and chief of the Northside Hospital Cardiovascular Institute in Midtown Atlanta.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Finally Recognizing That Not All Learn around a Family Supper
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Do You Have a Continual Tickling Cough? Here’s One Solution
ANOTHER VIEW: Doesn’t See Right-Wing Thinkers Changing Minds Any Time Soon
SPOTLIGHT: Lail Family Dentistry
FEEDBACK: Here’s One Who Is Applying for Membership in the Royal Family
UPCOMING: Every Gwinnett Fire Station Now Has at Least One Ambulance
NOTABLE: ARC Recertifies Peachtree Corners for its Green Communities Program
RECOMMENDED: BLOWOUT by Rachel Maddow
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Communities of Lichen Occupy Depressions Over Georgia Granite
MYSTERY PHOTO: Lots of Brick Went into Producing This Scenic Mystery Photo
CALENDAR: Start, finish, sell your book workshop is Feb. 1
You see signs sometimes saying “Pardon Our Progress.” This time, it’s “Pardon our lack of progress.”
The person who formats GwinnettForum and sends it out had bypass surgery last week. That’s why the Forum did not get to you Friday. We apologize.
The next GwinnettForum will be sent to you on Tuesday, February 4. —Elliott Brack
Recognizing that not everyone learns around a family supper
By Jim Freeman
LILBURN, GA. | We senior citizens are at an advantage when comparing our youthful reflections on life. The passing years have allowed us to rehash, embellish and perfect many of those earlier experiences.
Freeman
As parents, grandparents and now great-grandparents, I passed along a “nugget” to them I learned as a child: “Growing up is one of life’s most difficult challenges.”
Yes, I still believe that to be true and I am now enjoying a most senior life. I have always enjoyed engaging young people in conversations, not to find fault or condemn their thoughts and ideas, but to learn from them. They view life differently from us older folks. They are advanced in technology and are often exposed to experiences that make them “street smart.”
As the founder of Task Force Patriot, a veteran-to-veteran outreach that assists military veterans and their families, we reached out to Parkview, Duluth and Stone Mountain Junior ROTC cadets. Based on leadership recommendations from their advisers, we grant college scholarships each year. These scholarships in the amount of $1,000, give the student a nest egg to begin a college career. The scholarships are presented during an annual end of the year awards dinner provided by Task Force Patriot.
The Task Force Patriot mission ended in 2018. One of our distinguished members, U.S. Marine Corps General Raymond Davis, a Korean Medal of Honor recipient, always reminded us that we have a responsibility to mentor and support our young people. Until his death, he steadfastly stressed the need he saw for us to fulfill this mission to young people.
An annual awards dinner was attended by over 200 members and JROTC guests. A young cadet, probably 15 years of age, seated at one of the tables motioned for me to come closer. He said, “Sir, I want to thank you for providing me this honor tonight. This is the first time in my life that I have sat at a table for a full meal.” I was overwhelmed by his statement. I came to realize there were probably other young people in the room who were also having a “first experience meal” that evening.
As I reflected back on my own earlier years, I could not wrap my head around what I had just heard from this young cadet. I could still see the family dinner table, where we not only ate, but shared precious time with the entire family gathered there.
Growing up in mountainous Western North Carolina, in the Tom’s Creek section of McDowell County, we shared a table with an oilcloth cover, a kerosene lamp in the middle of the table, with an icebox to the side. The table was filled with tasty but simple country food, with chicken only on Sundays.
This was also the setting where family problems and difficulties were often discussed and resolved. It was here that I received my much-needed discipline and life’s guidance. I learned to treat my neighbors as equals around this daily supper table. I also learned what I would need to guide me through the next 80 years of my life. Humility prevailed around that table.
How sad it is for me to realize that today’s young people do not have and will not have the same reflections that I have seen. Let’s get them back to the dinner table.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Do you have a continual tickling cough? Here’s one solution
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JAN. 28, 2020 | For over a year, I have had this continual cough. It’s not a cough from a cold, but an occasional tickling of the throat that brings on a cough. Sometimes it erupts into a “coughing fit,” with the best remedy a cough drop. That lubrication somehow stops the cough. It could happen two or three times a day, and even awaken me at sleep.
On two occasions I mentioned it to my doctor, though there was no obvious suggestion.
Then reading a newsletter to which I subscribe, there was a small paragraph from another reader, who had the same problem. Her remedy: stop taking one of her medications. It is Lisinopril. This person said her cough stopped in a couple of days upon her stopping taking it.
The medication is for high blood pressure. After talking to my doctor, he suggested stopping it, and see what would happen. Sure enough, the coughing stopped. By the way, cough is one of the systems the medicine says can occur. Another blood pressure medicine seems sufficient for me now.
From Germany, we hear once more from Larry Zani, in Kaiserslauten:
‘The Army Community Service office in Kaiserslautern, Germany, has a coupon program to help benefit U.S. military families in the area on their purchases at the local military commissary. Coupons are sent in from individuals and organizations back in the U.S. to help the families save money on their food and other purchases. The commissaries benefit too by receiving a processing fee on all redeemed coupons (and that potentially saves all taxpayers).
“Plus, most coupons are good for up to six months after their expiration dates in the U.S. So, no need to throw away expired coupons back home, just send them along for the ACS program over here.”
The mailing address is:
COMMANDER, USAG Rheinland-Pfalz
Army Community Service (Coupon Program)
Attn: IMRP-MWA
Unit 23152
APO, AE 09054-3152
Washington Newspaperman Robert Semple Jr., commentating once about the late newspaper columnist Russell Baker, who wrote about President Richard Nixon on the campaign trail, quotes Baker: “There were darknesses in his (Nixon’s) soul that seemed to leave his life bereft of joy. He was a private, lonely man who never seemed comfortable with anyone, including himself, a man of monumental insecurities for whom public life, I thought, must be a constant ordeal.”
Semple adds: “In those two sentences lie a good part of the explanation of Watergate.”
Makes you wonder what someone years from now will write about Donald Trump.
No one has asked, but you may realize that there are three types of stories that you never see in GwinnettForum. It might relieve some publicity chairman to know of this, which we have never mentioned before.
Don’t expect to see in this publication stories concerning a promotable day, week or month, no matter how good the intention. (Such as, “It’s National Donut Day!”) And do not expect to see stories either about upcoming golf tournaments or beauty contests. There are so many of them. Mainly, to us and we suspect to our readers, these are events of interest only a limited number of people, so we choose not to publicize them.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Doesn’t see right-wing thinkers changing minds soon
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Most of my male friends are right wing, as are the majority of white Southerners. I recently had lunch in Gwinnett County with a very conservative close friend, a very kind-hearted gent that I have known for decades.
He mentioned in passing how divided the nation is and I agreed wholeheartedly. I was pleasantly surprised, thinking that after three years of constant political and social drama, maybe he was coming around on the Divider-in-Chief in Washington.
But he immediately followed up his statement with “electing Obama did it; I can’t believe we were that dumb.” In other words, if we had been stupid enough to elect a black President, we would not have nearly the level of divisiveness we currently have. I saw his comments as blaming the victim versus the perpetrator.
I mentioned Trump exacerbated the division with his “birther” conspiracy comments about Obama long before Trump was president. But then the both of us dropped it because, despite our long-time political differences, we are very good friends and could see that we would continue to disagree.
Unlike most social liberals, I receive right-wing newsletters and watch TNN (Trump News Network, otherwise known as Fox). I believe that I know what conservatives think and why. Here are a few of their incorrect myths about Obama:
- He openly favored black people in his policies, discriminating in their favor. (Factually untrue);
- He was more favorably oriented towards Muslim nations than other presidents (He wasn’t; both Bush and Trump favor Saudi Arabia and Arab oil producing nations);
- He’s Muslim. (No, he’s always been Christian);
- He disliked whites (ridiculous, he was raised by his white mother and grandparents); and
- He’s a socialist. (Incorrect again; he agrees with Biden on policy, not Bernie Sanders).
The “alternate facts” promulgated by biased media should be named for what they are: lies. However, the underlying problem is that conservatives will not find the facts on TNN (Fox), right wing radio, much social media, or in right wing newsletters.
So, regardless of the truth, the chances of right-wingers changing their mind based on verifiable facts are minimal. And, I do not see that changing anytime soon.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Lail Family Dentistry
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Lail Family Dentistry has been serving the community in Duluth and Gwinnett County for 50 years. Being the longest serving dental practice in the county, our roots run deep within our community and will continue to do so for generations to come. The doctors at Lail Family Dentistry are all members of the Lail family and are here to provide for you and your family. If you are looking for a traditional, hometown dentist with convenient hours that utilizes the latest dental techniques and technology, then we would be glad to welcome you to our practice. For more information please visit our website at DRLAIL.COM. Or phone (770) 476-2400.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here
Here’s one who is applying for membership in the royal family
Your Majesty, the Queen:
I am available for adoption. Unlike the American who lured your grandson away with great-grandson with a lovely Scottish name, I am overwhelmed to learn of my English ancestry down to towns and dates. I thought I knew basic English history, but I knew nothing from American schools.
History is the great dividend of my ancestry search. I have even learned the songs of England and Scotland to a basic level. I may or may not be related to all buried and honored on the windows, walls, and floors at Tewkesbury, but I do know who they were. My English is from all of the island, but most are from Staffordshire in different towns and in the Welsh Marshes. Gilbert’s have history in that part of the island. The man I favor now was born in Wednesdayshire.
I have had all my vaccinations and shouldn’t live too much longer. If you provide an email address, I will invite you to my 23and me account and my Ancestry account, so you can see my 124 lines of genetic code and my 27k people in my family tree. Sorry about the revolution folks.
Let me, available for video interviews. Wouldn’t it be grand to add some English to the family.
— Bryan Gilbert, Duluth
Supports President Trump; Didn’t like Forum comments
Editor, the Forum:
My husband and I support President Trump for his policies on abortion and immigration, his success with negotiating treaties and trade agreements, and his support for law enforcement and our military. We didn’t elect him to bring more of the “same ole, same ole” to the office. He is not our religious leader nor do we care about his personality and personal foibles. We like his results. We didn’t like your remarks in the GwinnettForum.
— Sheila C. Adcock, Elizabethtown, Ky., formerly Stone Mountain
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
Every Gwinnett fire station now has at least one ambulance
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners have approved a $735,273 contract to provide Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services with two additional ambulances and to refurbish an existing unit.
The ambulances will help the department keep pace with the increasing number of medical emergencies and medical transports in Gwinnett’s growing population.
The 2017 SPLOST program will fund 29 percent of the contract, which will purchase two new ambulances at around $261,000 each and recondition one ambulance for about $213,000. To refit the existing ambulance for continued service, the existing patient compartment module will be remounted on a new chassis.
Gwinnett County Fire Chief Russell Knick says: “The increasing number of ambulance transports and the high number of miles being placed on the vehicles takes a toll. The remounting program allows us to reduce costs and extend the life of our vehicles. We appreciate the voters, who give us the resources we need to provide a high level of service while taking care to spend their tax dollars wisely.”
Last year, commissioners approved the purchase of two ambulances to allow Fire and Emergency Services to staff every fire station with at least one unit. Maintaining one ambulance and adding two more will provide crucial backup to the existing units.
ARC recertifies Peachtree Corners for green program
The City of Peachtree Corners has been certified through the the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Green Communities Program for demonstrating leadership in sustainability practices. Also certified were Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Woodstock.
ARC developed the Green Communities Program in 2009 to recognize local governments that invest in programs and policies that lead to a more sustainable region. The nationally-recognized program showcases the many ways that local governments can reduce their environmental footprint. Peachtree Corners was recertified at the Bronze level. The Commission noted that Peachtree Corners provided single-stream, curbside recycling to all residents and hosted an annual electronic waste disposal events for residents to safely and properly dispose of electronic appliances and devise.
In metro Atlanta, 20 local governments — 13 cities and seven counties — are currently certified under ARC’s Green Communities program. This is the first program in the country to promote sustainability through a green certification program for local governments.
BLOWOUT by Rachel Maddow
From Raleigh Perry, Buford: This is one of the most interesting books that I have read this year. The single most interesting part of the book centers in Oklahoma, where “fracking” began. Fracking pumps liquids into the ground to fracture shale rock and release natural gas. It can cause small earthquakes as it interrupts ground activity. So the major oil companies are fouling oceans, gulfs, lakes, rivers, and streams around the world. They’ve induced man-made earthquakes; strewn radioactive waste around the landscape; killed off family pets and farm animals; sickened school children; turned state governments into impotent little quisling servants that rip off their own people to make sure the industry gets everything it wants, and more. They are the chief drivers of global climate catastrophe. This is an international story, not just local to Oklahoma and Texas and Rachel Maddow is the only person who has researched it and to let us know.” The full title is BLOWOUT: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth.
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Communities of lichen occupy Georgia granite depressions
(Continued from previous edition)
Lichen–annual herb communities occupy depressions over granite where soil depths reach four to six inches. In the spring these areas are dominated by such annual plants as sandwort (Arenaria uniflora), toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis), and bentgrass (Agrostis elliottiana). In the fall these communities are dominated by the Confederate daisy (Viguiera porteri). More constant, but rarely dominating these areas, are lichens.
Annual-perennial herb communities occur on soils seven to sixteen inches deep. An important soil builder in these areas is the haircap moss (Polytrichum commune). On thinner soil the Confederate daisy and the succulent perennial rockpinks (Talinum mengesii or T. teretifolium) may dominate.
Toward the center of the depression, on deeper soils, such perennial herbs as wooly ragwort or cottony groundsel (Senecio tomentosus), sunnybells (Schoenolirion croceum), crow poison (Nothoscordum bivalve), and broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus) hold sway. An interesting aspect of the vegetation development on these soil islands upon bare rock is the displacement of earlier colonizing species to the outer edges, where the soil is shallowest. This produces concentric rings of vegetation, with the perennials at the center and the diamorpha limited to the shallow soil on the periphery.
The extremely hot, dry conditions in certain microenvironments on granite has led to a number of adaptations by the characteristic plants. Some perennial herbs—for example, prickly pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa) and rock pinks—tolerate drought by storing water in succulent stems or leaves. A number of annuals, including diamorpha, also have succulent tissues. Many plants on outcrops are significantly more hairy than their counterparts growing elsewhere. It seems likely that a dense covering of white hairs acts to increase the reflectivity of the plant’s leaves and thereby decrease the heat load. The hairs may also help to reduce evapotranspiration. The conspicuous livery-white hairpoints of the dominant moss on bare granite surfaces, Grimmia laevigata, may similarly work to increase albedo (the ability to reflect light) and reduce water loss.
Perhaps the most common solution to the stress posed by microenvironmental deserts on granite outcrops is drought avoidance. Poikilohydric mosses and lichens are natural resurrection plants that, following a drought, can photosynthesize soon after rehydration. The quillworts that occupy rock-rimmed pools, Isoetes melanospora and I. tegetiformans, are able to go dormant when the pools dry up in late spring, then resume growth whenever rainstorms refill the pools, regardless of season.
Most of the endemic flowering plants on the outcrops have evolved to survive the extremes of summer and winter. Seeds germinate after late September or early October rains to produce rosettes of frost-resistant leaves. When temperatures begin to rise in late March or early April, the plants bolt and flower profusely. By early May, when the shallow soil depressions have become bone-dry, the winter annuals have already matured their crop of seeds, which typically require an after-ripening period of four to five months. Thus they are able to survive the extremely hot, dry summer months as dormant populations of drought-resistant seeds.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Lots of brick went into producing this scenic Mystery Photo
Here’s a beautiful scene for today’s Mystery Photo, which we will add in advance, is not in Gwinnett County. Figure out where this photograph was taken, and send your answer to elliott@brack.net for your reward. Be sure to include your hometown.
That pastoral scene with the last Mystery Photo was identified almost immediately by George Graf of Palmyra, Va. He said: “It’s the Dordogne river bridge from the town of Domme, France.” The photo came from another expert Mystery Photo spotter, Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. Peel wrote of the scene “The photo is a picturesque view of the Dordogne valley with an elevated view of the Dordogne Bridge that crosses the Dordogne river, just outside of the fortified walled-city of Domme in France. The shot was taken from a panoramic viewpoint along the ancient walls on the western edge of the town, just outside of the Le Belvédère Restaurant.”
Also recognizing the photo were regulars Jim Savadelis of Duluth; Susan McBrayer of Sugar Hill; and Lou Camerio of Lilburn.
Start, finish, sell your book workshop is Feb. 1
“Your First Book, Start It, Finish It, Sell It” is the title of a Writer’s Workshop to be February 1 at 1 p.m. at the Suwanee Branch Library. Learn strategies to find time to write, motivate yourself to keep going, overcome obstacles, and finish a draft from Atlanta Writers Club President and Author George Weinstein.
National Book Award nominee Jericho Brown will speak at the Suwanee Branch Library, 361 Main Street, on Sunday, February 2 at 3 p.m. Brown is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His books, Please and The New Testament won the American Book Award and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, respectively. His third collection is The Tradition. Autographed books will be for sale.
Ribbon Cutting and Renaming: The Gwinnett Voter Registrations and Elections office will be renamed the Beauty P. Baldwin building at a ceremony on February 4 at 4 p.m. at 455 Grayson Highway. Ms. Baldwin has been a member of the board for 23 years, since 1997.
I-85 Study Public Meeting will be February 4 at 6 p.m. at Best Friend Park in Norcross. Tell about your commute on I-85. The Georgia Department of Transportation and Gwinnett County are partnering to conduct a comprehensive corridor study along I-85 between I-285 and I-985. The study will propose solutions for the corridor to reduce congestion, enhance traffic operations, and improve safety. These alternatives will be analyzed, and recommendations will be developed for implementation. The program will also be on February 8 at 9 a.m. at George Pierce Park, 55 Buford Highway, Suwanee, and February 11 from at 6 p.m. at Lilburn Activity Building, 788 Hillcrest Road, Lilburn.
Black History Showcase will be February 5 at 6:30 p.m. at OneStop Norcross, 5030 Georgia Belle Court, Norcross. Commemorate Black History Month by enjoying a historical presentation on the civil rights movement and participating in a stimulating conversation about this time in history. Light refreshments included.
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