THIS TIME A SUNSET: After a sunrise last week, check out this sun descending. It’s from Ashley Herndon of Oceanside, Calif., and was made 10-15 years ago at the Athens YMCA Camp near Tallulah Falls, Ga. Note the life guard’s chair as the sun descends.
TODAY’S FOCUS: How you can be aware of what’s going on in the world
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Democrats need not worry; Biden will prevail
SPOTLIGHT: The Piedmont Bank
ANOTHER VIEW: Artificial intelligence will be key part of 2024 campaign
FEEDBACK: Benjamin Franklin on first nonsectarian college
UPCOMING: April 1 is deadline to apply for homestead exemption
NOTABLE: Sensory Tree House enhances life for the disabled
RECOMMENDED: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Georgia’s “second founder” was man of distinction
MYSTERY PHOTO: What story is associated with this lighthouse?
LAGNIAPPE: Colors of spring
CALENDAR: Norcross plans two Easter Egg Hunts on March 30
How you can be aware of what’s going on in the world
By Raleigh Perry
BUFORD, Ga. | If you are getting your national news from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (AJC), the Marietta Daily Journal, the Gwinnett Daily Post, the Gainesville Times or any other local newspaper, you are basically unaware of what is going on in this world.
Perry
The same is true of the local television news shows, both the Atlanta news and the evening news from any affiliate like CBS, NBC, ABC or FOX. If you want that news, you will have to hunt for it.
I suggest that you look for news magazines, where you will get a more well-rounded accounting of what is going on. I suggest that you look at The New Republic, The Hill, Huffington Post, Salon, Politico and The Daily Beast, among others.
Some of them expect you to subscribe, but the prices are not high. I pay only for The Daily Beast. The annual cost is $35 for the standard, but there is more to it than that and they have a price that I find well worth it.
I have home delivery of The New York Times and the AJC. The Times is not available for home delivery in some areas, but you can buy an online subscription. As for news commentary, both CNN and MSNBC are good and you might have access to BBC. Not to be political, but there is always FOX. Other good sources are Google News For You, which is a more or less local focus but there is also a U.S. part of it. Yahoo News is pretty good and both Yahoo and Google News get their material from a variety of sources but Yahoo has many ads that are no more than “ClickBait.”
When, in the newspapers (other than the NYT), have you seen anything about the windup clacking-mouth of Marjorie Taylor Greene? A person could publish a weekly newspaper with nothing more than the inane statements she has made.
I was raised in a newspaper family. My grandfather was the Managing Editor of the Chattanooga Times for a while and an uncle was City Editor of the competing Chattanooga News (Before the New Free Press).
I graduated university with a major in European History and a minor in journalism. I am truly a news hound. I go through every day all of the sources that I recommend and others, and there are plenty of them, to stay apprised to the national and international news.
I was a traveling salesman for 35 years and when I stopped for lunch or dinner on the road, I bought the local papers and read them through, even the classifieds. From about the time I was six years old, at my grandfather’s, we literally read the morning or evening paper, depending on which meal we were eating.
I have been told recently that I read the news too much. That might be true. But I am physically disabled and cannot work in the yard and I send what I think are salient articles to a long list of people and, for some, I am about their only source.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Democrats need not worry; Biden will prevail
Biden. FEMA photo.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MARCH 26, 2024 | The way we see it, the Democratic Party should not be worried about the coming presidential election. President Joe Biden should trounce ex-President Donald Trump this fall.
Of course, even with a lopsided defeat, Trump will insist that he won the 2024 election, and that it was stolen from him, just as he did in 2020.
There’s one big reason why Trump will go down to an inglorious defeat. Lifelong Republicans are disgusted with the way Trump has ruined their Grand Old Party. It is no longer the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Robert Taft, Dwight Eisenhower, the Bushes or even Richard Nixon. Republicans can look fondly on their days with Ronald Reagan and John McCain, but they don’t look happily on the four years of Donald Trump.
And since Trump left office, these stalwarts of conservatism have seen even more crumbling of their long-held thoughts of the way the party should be run. In effect, Trump’s continual outbursts on even the most sacred of Republican viewpoints have caused these traditional Republicans to shake their heads in disgust. “Why is the man doing this to our party?” they wonder.
A big reason that what was once the Republican Party will fail (if it insists on nominating him), is that Trump has never been disciplined. He’s much like a cur dog, who has no master, and will pay attention to no command. He can’t understand that those who know him, people within his business ranks, people who he has had long supporting him are tired of his bullying ways.
Another reason that Trump is facing hard times: he simply can’t keep his mouth shut. Words spurt out with no thinking behind them. He’s in a constant uproar, frustrating people around him, chasing away people who want to follow him. When followers get to know him, they can’t understand his awful ways.
And though many followers continue to send him money, much of it often goes for his legal bills. We suspect the average person would also question these followers. After all, the reason they give him money is to get something out of him. In 2024, he won’t be able to deliver what these people want.
He thinks his self-centered ways will work wonders. He is not in touch with reality.
Now simply do this.
Compare the activity and decorum of Donald Trump against Joe Biden. You will note that there is a vast difference in the way the two contenders operate.
Biden is a product of 36 years in the Senate (plus eight more as its presiding officer as vice president.) He knows that to get things done, you must get people to cooperate with you. Do you see this in Trump? Of course not. He only wants to ram his way through in all matters.
Compare, too, what Biden has done in the three-plus years as president. First, he intelligently attacked the pandemic. Then worked his way with Congress to help save America’s infrastructure. Finally, by taking reasonable steps, he has halted inflation, leading the business community to having the best economy in the world today.
Small wonders. Donald Trump never accomplished as much as president.
These are some of the reasons why President Biden will prevail in the November election. And he may lead the Senate and House to a Democratic majority, too.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
The Piedmont Bank
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Artificial intelligence will be key part of 2024 campaign
“The Biden administration, and their master, Barack Obama, continue to overhaul the country’s demographics with their intentional, country crushing border policies. Tucker Carlson breaks it down further in a video showing how said replacement works and how it signals the end of America if we are not proactive. Plus, RFK Jr. slams big government and warns against the World Health Organization pandemic treaty and much more.”- Rumble, a right wing newsletter.
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Many Americans write off the Democrats and Republicans as being the same. Having been active in both parties, I understand this tendency by swing voters. However, in reality, both parties as currently constituted are clearly not alike.
The GOP is no longer the “bring down that wall” party of pro-democracy Ronald Reagan. While a nice guy with a good sense of humor, President Reagan was also a strong supporter of freedom, saying: “We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak. It is then that tyrants are tempted.” By looking back at Hitler and Mussolini, and the lack of early reaction by the U.S. and European democracies, Reagan formed his views.
Reagan would have felt that we would have to strongly support our ally, Ukraine, and provide them with any arms needed to fight off Putin, a dictatorial aggressor. Reagan would not have told the Ukrainian President Zelensky that the only way he would get military aid was to do Trump a “favor” and investigate Joe Biden. Trump was impeached for that offense, but not removed by the Senate, as he should have been.
In 2024, Donald Trump’s unethical MAGA supporters are willing to think, do or say anything to get their cult leader re-elected. When combined with the advancements in Artificial Intelligence, and the Russian intelligence service, which has been shown in the past to favor Trump, this is a deadly combination.
In 2020, Trump lost the Presidential election, period. Every court case, even those before GOP-appointed judges, proved the election was fair and honest. However, regardless of the facts proving he lost, Trump has been moaning about a “stolen election” ever since.
Trump has a longstanding strategy of turning truth on its head. Trump quite simply never, ever, believes that he is wrong or can lose. His problem is always caused by something else.
In the 2024 Presidential election, be prepared to have fake phone calls and videos “leaked.” They will show Biden and Obama plotting to take over regardless of the votes cast. It will be A-I that will help Putin and Trump put this narrative out there.
Social media right wing radicals are already setting up this scenario via outrageous statements like that above. Since extremists do not get their news from mainstream media, they will read these outrageous posts and believe them 100 percent. This is the same way they did when they stormed the Capitol to hang Mike Pence for not anointing King Donald.
The only remaining question is “Will democracy survive Trump and his MAGA hordes”?
The answer is up to all of us.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Benjamin Franklin on first nonsectarian college
Editor, the Forum:
Your recent item on who founded colleges brought this to mind. In 1749 Ben Franklin published a pamphlet on “Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania.” It was not to be religiously like the four existing colleges, Harvard, William and Mary, Yale and Princeton. The academy opened in January 1751 as the first nonsectarian college in America. By 1791 it came to be known as the University of Pennsylvania.
– John Titus, Peachtree Corners
Lutherans’ academic tradition does not include athletics
Editor, the Forum:
Once a reporter… always a reporter. Loved the very well-researched article on faith based colleges. You certainly did your homework to collect the facts that made the story.
Our Lutheran Schools have to be satisfied boasting about their fine academic achievements, NOT our championship athletic teams!
– Gary Christensen, Chamblee
- 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, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net.
April 1 is deadline to apply for homestead exemption
The deadline is approaching for Gwinnett homeowners to apply for homestead exemption. That deadline is April 1. Homeowners who have a homestead exemption do not need to reapply.
According to Tax Commissioner Denise R. Mitchell, eligible homeowners who apply by the deadline will see the tax savings on their 2024 property tax bill. “The fastest way to apply is online at GwinnettTaxCommissioner.com/apply,” Mitchell saye.
To be eligible for a homestead exemption on a home in Gwinnett County an individual must own and live in that home by January 1 of the application year.
Eligible Gwinnettians can apply year-round for a homestead exemption, but they must apply by the deadline to receive the savings that same year. Individuals who apply after the deadline will see the savings on their 2025 property tax bill.
Mitchell said having a homestead exemption is a great benefit for homeowners in Gwinnett County. She said everyone who has a homestead exemption in the county also receives the Value Offset Exemption, known as the VOE.
The VOE holds the taxable value of the property constant for the county portion of the tax bill, even if there is an increase in the property’s assessed value. School and city taxes increase as property values increase, but the county portion of the bill remains constant when a VOE is in place. Mitchell said the VOE applies to homes and up to five acres of land.
Individuals can also apply in person at the main property tax office at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville or one of five tag offices around the county. Locations can be found on their website.
GC&B needs volunteers for April 27 Earth Day event
As it prepares for one of its most popular annual events, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful is needing volunteers for its Earth Day and recycling event on April 27 Day at Coolray Field from 9 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers will help direct traffic and transfer recyclable items from hundreds of attendees’ cars to corresponding stations for processing. Items that can’t be collected via curbside recycling – like paint, tires, electronics, clothing, and sneakers – will be accepted during the event. Paper will also be accepted for secure shredding. Enhancing the event for the first time, the Gwinnett County Police Department will be on hand to collect expired and unwanted medications for proper disposal from Gwinnett County residents as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative. Volunteers must be 16 or older.
Items accepted during the event include:
- Electronics – $35 cash fee per projection or console TV, $15 cash fee per computer monitor or TV, and $5 cash fee per printer’
- Tires without rims – Limit eight; no dealer tires;
- Paint – both latex and oil-based – Limit 10 gallons per vehicle; cans must contain 25% wet paint;
- Clothing and sneakers;
- Paper for shredding – Limit five copier boxes; and
- Prescription medications can be dropped off directly to representatives of the Gwinnett County Police Department in the exhibit area at their event table.
The Earth Day Recycling Event will also include face painting and touch-a-truck activities for kids, a chance for Gwinnett County neighbors to meet their haulers and local law enforcement, and refreshments. Questions about the event can be directed to the Solid Waste Call Center at 770-822-7141.
Sensory Tree House enhances life for the disabled
Gwinnett officials last week unveiled the new Sensory Tree House, designed to enhance access to enrichment opportunities for residents and visitors with disabilities. The tree house is located on the grounds of the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center in unincorporated Buford.
The 20-foot-tall treehouse sits central to the 340-foot-long accessible steel walkway with three nodes, surrounded by a viewing and activity platform and a high-hanging hammock. Inside the treehouse, visitors can enjoy a circular audio-visual experience with a domed ceiling, used for various teaching and entertainment experiences.
The entire structure is ADA-accessible, allowing for those in a wheelchair to reach an area in the forest that wouldn’t be possible with conventional footpaths. In addition to its existing activities, collaborations with the Gwinnett County Public School System will offer exhibits displayed along the forest trail, providing multisensory environmental experiences for all ages with a focus on habitat, pollinators, animal adaptations, and other outdoor life. Gwinnett County used $4.5 million in SPLOST funds for the project.
A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: When Blanche DuBois, a penniless and homeless Southern belle, shows up on the New Orleans doorstep of her sister, Stella, and Stella’s macho working-class husband, Stanley, the clash of cultures begin. Still trying to invoke a bygone era, Blanche wears the veneer of her plantation-owning family’s long-lost privilege, but we soon learn that the plantation is gone – as are Blanche’s dwindling illusions of her past. What follows is her struggle to convince her sister to leave Stanley and her manipulative and desperate attempt to find a lifeline to save herself. When some of her sordid exploits unexpectedly come to light, Blanche is pushed yet another step closer to madness. Filled with imagery and symbolism, this sizzling play has a lot going on just beneath the surface. You can get a great deal out of reading the play, but there are also stage versions, plus a good movie, available online.
- An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Georgia’s “second founder” was man of distinction
Henry Ellis, the second royal governor of Georgia, has been called “Georgia’s second founder.” Georgia had no self-government under the Trustees (1732-52), and the first royal governor, John Reynolds(1754-57), failed as an administrator. Under the leadership of Ellis (1757-60) Georgians learned how to govern themselves, and they have been doing so ever since.
As a teenager Ellis left his irascible father in Monaghan County, Ireland, to take to the sea. Gifted with intelligence and ability, Ellis learned the science of navigation and the art of mapmaking, and at the age of 25 was offered the position of scientific observer on a ship bound for Hudson’s Bay in a search for the Northwest Passage.
His subsequent book about the voyage and his maps earned for him an audience with Frederick, Prince of Wales; the patronage of Lord Halifax, president of the Board of Trade; and membership in the prestigious Royal Society.
From 1750 until 1755 Ellis carried cargoes of enslaved Africans to Jamaica. He reported that none of the 312 enslaved persons he carried in 1754 died on the passage from Africa.
As head of the Board of Trade, Lord Halifax hoped to make Georgia a model colony. A chorus of complaints from Georgia about Governor Reynolds caused Halifax to remove Reynolds and send Ellis in his place. Georgians greeted Ellis with enthusiasm when he arrived in February 1757. With tact he quieted the vicious factionalism that had wracked the Reynolds administration and guided the members of the legislature in the rudiments of government. In 1758 he sponsored legislation that divided the province into eight parishes, each with delegates to the assembly.
Realizing the weakness of Georgia in the ongoing war against the French and French-allied Indians, Ellis cultivated the friendship of the heads of the Creek Nation.
Poor health forced Ellis to leave Georgia in November 1760. Lord Halifax rewarded him with the governorship of Nova Scotia. Ellis never went to that province, however, because his presence was needed in London. Lord Egremont, who replaced William Pitt as the cabinet minister for America, relied on Ellis for information and advice on American affairs. As a result Ellis played a key role in formulating American policy.
Ellis planned the successful British conquest of Cuba. He advised giving Cuba back to Spain in exchange for Florida in the peace settlement, thus removing a Spanish threat from Georgia’s borders. Ellis was responsible for the order summoning four royal governors to Augusta to conclude a treaty with the Creeks in 1763 and wrote a draft of the historic royal proclamation of 1763 that transformed British North America. The proclamation established governments modeled after Georgia’s in East and West Florida, Canada, and Nova Scotia. It drew a line down the Appalachian mountain range, forbidding settlement to the west of the mountains, to protect Indian lands and trade. The proclamation benefited Georgia by extending its boundaries to the St. Marys River in the South and the Mississippi River in the West.
Ellis was rewarded for his services by receiving several lucrative government positions guaranteeing a comfortable future. After Egremont’s death in 1763 and a change in administrations, Ellis entered retirement as a gentleman of the Enlightenment. He died in Naples, Italy, in 1806, at age 85.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
What story is associated with this lighthouse?
There’s a story connected to this lighthouse that many may not realize that they have seen. First identify the lighthouse whereabouts, then see if you can remember what the element of the story is. Send your answers to elliott@brack.net, and tell us your hometown.
Some people had the last statue identification correct, but missed the location because of a recent development.
As Stew Ogilvie, Lawrenceville told us: “Richmond (Va.) National Battlefield Park has loaned its bronze statue of Abraham and Tad Lincoln to the Valentine Museum for a temporary outdoor exhibition. New Market Corporation, which owns the historic Tredegar campus where the National Park Service maintains a visitor contact station, is preparing the site for a proposed amphitheater that requires the relocation of the statue.” The photograph came from George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
Others getting it right included Jay Altman of Columbia, S.C.; Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Albert Castillo, Rio Rancho, N.M.; Virginia Klaer of Duluth; and Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. ,told us: “The statue depicts Lincoln and his son sitting on a bench during their historic visit to Richmond on April 4, 1865 to tour the burned-out Confederate Capitol, just 10 days before his assassination. The statue captures a moment when Lincoln is explaining to his son, who is listening intently, as to what happened and why the Confederacy burned the city to the ground as they retreated just before it fell to the Union forces.”
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: elliott@brack.net and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
The colors of spring are bursting out all over Gwinnett. Look at these colorful photographs. It makes you want to get out in the yard and plant more colorful shrubs and bushes. Yet at the same time, we always remember; have you checked another aspect of spring? Yep, it is pollen time, as it brings its own bit of yellow covering to us all.
Norcross plans two Easter Egg Hunts on March 30
The traditional Easter egg hunt at Rossie Brundage Park in Norcross will be Saturday, March 30. There will be two hunts, the first at 10 a.m. with surprises and photo opportunities. The second will be an Eggs-tra Special Needs hunt at 1 p.m., offering an inclusive experience with assistive devices and beeping eggs. Both events are free and sponsored by the City of Norcross.
Snellville Commerce Club will meet Tuesday, April 2, at noon at the City Hall. Speaker will be Nick Masino, president of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and of Partnership Gwinnett.
Nutrition for a Healthy Life Series will be April 9 at 11 a.m. at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Learn about healthy lifestyle changes and healthy recipes to cook. This program will have Korean translation available.
Authors to visit: Bestselling authors Denny S. Bryce and Eliza Knight discuss their new book, Can’t We Be Friends, a novel that uncovers a friendship between Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe. This will take place on Tuesday, April 9, at the Snellville Branch of Gwinnett Public Library at 7 p.m.
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