Mayor of Georgia coastal town assails governor’s ‘reckless mandate’ to reopen the state’s beaches
By Raja Razek and Ralph Ellis, CNN
Updated 6:23 PM ET, Sat April 4, 2020
(CNN) Tybee Island, one of Georgia’s most popular vacation destinations, depends on beachgoers to keep the town’s economy alive.
But in an effort to curb the coronavirus, the city council voted to close the beaches March 20. The town went so far as to put up barricades and signs to keep beachgoers away.
The town’s good intentions were upended on Thursday when Gov. Brian P. Kemp
issued a statewide shelter-in-place executive order which supersedes all local orders relating to coronavirus — and also opened up the state’s beaches.
The governor put Tybee Island back in the beach business — whether the town liked it or not.
fired back on Saturday, issuing a statement saying she and the town council don’t want the beaches reopened now. “As the Pentagon ordered 100,000 body bags to store the corpses of Americans killed by the Coronavirus, Governor Brian Kemp dictated that Georgia beaches must reopen, and declared any decision-makers who refused to follow these orders would face prison and/or fines,” Sessions’ statement read.
“Tybee City Council and I are devastated by the sudden directives and do not support his decisions. The health of our residents, staff and visitors are being put at risk and we will pursue legal avenues to overturn his reckless mandate.”
In a video posted on Facebook, Sessions asked people to voluntarily stay away from Tybee Island’s beaches.
She said Kemp’s decision caught Tybee off guard and the town hasn’t had time to take down the beach barricades or open up the parking lots.
The town doesn’t have the personnel to enforce social distancing on the beach, she said, encouraging residents to shoot videos if they see people standing too close together on the beach.
“We’re at a very precarious situation,” she said in the video.
Tybee Island is located near Savannah and has a resident population of about 3,000 people.
Kemp has already already been criticized for issuing his executive order so late in the game.
He explained he and state officials were just “finding out that this virus is now transmitting before people see signs,” despite publicly available findings that have circulated for weeks about such risks.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday announced a stay-at home order across Georgia to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus. During the announcement, Kemp also stated he just learned asymptomatic people could transmit the virus.
An incredulous Dr. Sanjay Gupta: “This is inexcusable. My kids, who go to school in Georgia, knew that a month ago.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta discuss remarks by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in which he claims he recently learned that the coronavirus can be spread by asymptomatic people.
Source: CNN
Gov. Admits He Didn’t Know Asymptomatic People Could Pass Virus | Morning Joe | MSNBC
Fact check: Georgia governor says we only just learned people without symptoms could spread coronavirus. Experts have been saying that for months
CNN Digital Expansion 2018
By Tara Subramaniam and Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN
Updated 3:18 PM ET, Thu April 2, 2020
Atlanta (CNN) Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on Wednesday that new information on the spread of coronavirus influenced his decision to issue a stay-at-home order. In particular, Kemp pointed to what he said was the recent discovery that the virus can be spread by people who are not exhibiting symptoms.
“What we’ve been telling people from directives from the CDC for weeks now that if you start feeling bad stay home, those individuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad. But we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours,” said Kemp, a Republican.
Facts First: It’s not true that people didn’t know “until the last 24 hours” that individuals without symptoms could be infecting people with coronavirus. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said in mid-February that asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus was possible. Furthermore, studies from as early as January showed cases of coronavirus spreading amongst people with no symptoms.
Kemp’s press secretary said the governor was referring to an update that the CDC made to its guidance on March 30 that indicated there’s a higher risk of people without symptoms passing on the virus. The updated guidance changed the period of exposure risk for individuals from “onset of symptoms” to “48 hours before symptom onset.”
As more has been learned about the virus, several experts told CNN last month that it’s become clear that transmission by people who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic is responsible for more transmission than previously thought.
Though it wasn’t the first time he acknowledged it, Redfield confirmed that suspicion in a March 30 interview with NPR affiliate WABE, in which he said “as many as 25%” of individuals who are infected with coronavirus may remain asymptomatic. “One of the [pieces of] information that we have pretty much confirmed now is that a significant number of individuals that are infected actually remain asymptomatic,” Redfield said.
In a February 13 interview with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Redfield said asymptomatic transmission of coronavirus was possible and concerning, based on information from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There’s been good communication with our colleagues to confirm asymptomatic infection, to confirm asymptomatic transmission, to be able to get a better handle on the clinical spectrum of illness in China,” Redfield said. “What we don’t know though is how much of the asymptomatic cases are driving transmission.” https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/fact-check-georgia-gov-brian-kemp-coronavirus-no-symptoms-stay-at-home/index.html
Recently appointed new girl of the US Senate Kelly Loeffler
is at it again. She is “fessin” up and “coming clean” as we say down South with new disclosures about the massive amount of money she and her aiding and abetting CEO husband have had someone else make trades for them. Yeah, right. If you believe that after reading the article you are dumber than this blond:
Keep this in mind while reading excerpts from the article:
A $1,000 emergency would push many Americans into debt by Annie Nova and Published Wed, Jan 23
Loeffler reports more stock sales amid insider trading allegations
By
Tia Mitchell & Chris Joyner, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s most recent financial disclosures show that millions of dollars in stocks were sold on her behalf at the same time Congress was dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.
The largest transactions — and the most politically problematic — involve $18.7 million in sales of Intercontinental Exchange stock in three separate deals dated Feb. 26 and March 11. Loeffler is a former executive with ICE, and her husband, Jeff Sprecher, is the CEO of the company, which owns the New York Stock Exchange among other financial marketplaces.
During the same time period reflected on reports filed late Tuesday, the couple also sold shares in retail stores such as Lululemon and T.J. Maxx and invested in a company that makes COVID-19 protective garments. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution got the first look at these reports, covering mid-February through mid-March and shedding new light on Loeffler’s financial transactions during the pandemic. Previous reports — which have put Loeffler in the national spotlight — covered her trading during the first six weeks of 2020.
Loeffler provided the numbers to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and they were more exact than what would appear on a federal campaign finance disclosure.
The newer stock sales came as the broader markets were diving, and they are likely to fuel allegations that Georgia’s new senator used her insider knowledge about the severity of the pandemic to dump holdings while simultaneously releasing statements about the strength of the American economy and complimenting President Donald Trump on his response. The STOCK Act, a law that went into effect in 2012, makes it illegal for senators to use inside information for financial gain.
Chester Spatt, a professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University, said all these senators could have avoided controversy by declining to buy or sell stocks in individual companies. Spatt, who served as an SEC economist from 2004 through 2007, said senators now must deal with the erosion of public confidence as a result of these transactions.
“This is why senators shouldn’t be doing this,” he said. “The burden is on them to demonstrate they were not using insider information.”
Details of individual transactions are less important than the overall perception that senators were making investment decisions at the same time they were receiving private information about the coronavirus pandemic, said attorney Walter Jospin, who for three years served as director of the SEC’s regional office in Atlanta. He said the senators, their spouses and advisers are likely to face questions about whether members shared private information or directed transactions.
Jospin is a donor to Democratic candidates and organizations.
“I have no idea whether these senators violated the federal securities laws,” he said. “I am sure that the SEC will conduct a full and fair investigation. With that said, these trades were, in the context of a worldwide health and economic crisis, certainly unseemly.”
I was born in the back seat of a 1949 Ford convertible on the way to Emory Hospital. By the time we arrived my Mother and I were “we”. I am a Southerner from the Great State of Georgia. I am from Georgia in the same way General Robert E. Lee
was from Virginia. When push came to shove, General Lee went with his state because at that time the states may have been “United” but the state was still paramount. This changed after the War of Northern Aggression. The states became “united.” In order for US to become united the northern people came south, devastating the Southern region, laying waste to any and everything in their path, while perpetuating war crimes against Southern civilians.
I am proud to hail from the South. An article years ago detailed a survey which found that out of all the regions of the United States, people from the South most identified with their region. The survey made no distinction between the skin color. Some years ago I was waiting for an order at Captain D’s. It was Senior day and the music playing was from the era of my youth. The tunes happened to be Motown music. Before rock & roll we listened to the sounds emanating from Motown. I noticed an older gentleman with dark skin, also waiting for his order, tapping his feet. Thing is, I, too, was tapping my feet. The song was:
I said something to the man about the song just as this song, which means more than a little to me, because Otis Redding
is from Macon, Georgia, which we discussed. It was also the song playing in the car as I “made out” for the first time,with the daughter of the Band leader at our high school. Since we were about the same age there was much to discuss, so we sat together and ate our lunch while conversing. We talked about the things we had in common, such as listening to the same music and eating the same food, etc. When finished he said, “Sir, you have made my day.” The reply was, “Back at ‘cha!”
Waffle House is one of the restaurants founded in Georgia. The original Waffle House museum is within a short drive from where I sit. Another restaurant originating in Georgia is Chik-Fil-A. I came of age within a short drive from the original Dwarf House,
located in Hapeville, the home of Delta Air Lines. It would be impossible to count the number of times I ate at that particular restaurant. Favorites were the Steak Plate and the Hot Brown.
At one time or another I have been seated at each and every one of those seats.
Moe’s Southwest Grill originated here, too. The original location on Peachtree Street in Buckhead
was within a very short walk from an apartment shared with the love of my life. There is a Moe’s within walking distance of the apartment in which I currently reside. At the end of Ken Burns
mentions something a young invading soldier asked a boy far too young to be fighting, holding a piece of wood cut in the shape of a rifle, a question. “Why are you fighting?” The reply was, ’cause ya’ll down he’ar.” I am writing this because I’m “down he’ar.”
The article which follows is being printed in it’s entirety, without comment, so you will understand why I will never, ever, set foot in a Waffle House. The ‘thinking’ demonstrated by Joe Rogers Jr., the 73-year-old sole board member of the nearly 2,000 restaurant chain is the reason our United States will be devastated in the days to come. I am willing to wager my life that this Fool In Power is a Republican.
Waffle House chairman criticizes coronavirus limits on businesses
The chairman of Waffle House, a chain known for getting its restaurants back up and running after natural disasters, is worried that many political leaders are headed down the wrong path as they battle the coronavirus outbreak.
Recent mandates, such as banning in-restaurant dining and closing some businesses, are “totally out of proportion,” said Joe Rogers Jr., the 73-year-old sole board member of the nearly 2,000 restaurant chain based in Norcross.
“American leaders have to lead people through ruinous times, but leaders don’t lead people to ruin,” he said later, warning that many large and small businesses might not survive.
Rogers has urged elected officials in Georgia to not adopt tough restrictions similar to those imposed on businesses in other states. His remarks came before a Thursday announcement by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
60th Mayor of the City of Atlanta
that she had signed an executive order temporarily barring in-restaurant dining and closing down nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters, live music venues and bowling alleys in the city.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Rogers also bemoaned “doom and gloom” talk from the White House. “Any leader in the world that was dealt this hand might not have played it any better,” Rogers said of the president, “but we have to play it better going forward.”
Federal, state and local political leaders “are trying to do the right thing,” he said.
The Waffle House chairman said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has shown appropriate restraint.
The governor has asked people to remain home as much as possible and avoid public gatherings. But Kemp hasn’t ordered statewide shutdowns of businesses and events, saying in an interview with radio station Q99.7, “I don’t know that our citizens would buy into that.”
Waffle House, which operates in 25 states, saw sales drop 25% last week, Rogers said. Now, as more states limit restaurants to drive through or to-go business, sales in some areas have fallen 60%. He said the chain will survive, though “we are going to lose money like crazy in this.”
The important thing, he said, is to remain open and keep pay flowing to the chain’s 40,000 workers, most of whom are hourly employees. If Waffle Houses are forced to close across broad areas, the company wouldn’t continue to pay employees who don’t work, Rogers said.
The company has increased sanitization efforts. It also is encouraging social distancing though “we haven’t taken out a tape measure,” he said. “We have let everybody eyeball their own reality.”
Waffle House doesn’t have the flexibility of some other chains, particularly fast food restaurants, such as Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A. Some of those already generate most of their sales via drive throughs. Waffle House has just one drive-through, near Stone Mountain.
My father worked at the AJC before moving to the much more conservative, ill-fated Atlanta Times. I delivered the AJC before moving to the Times. Delivering the Sunday paper was a bitch.
Candidates Tournament opens as Kramnik says it should have been postponed
The 2020 Candidates Tournament was officially opened today in Yekaterinburg, though all 8 players exercised their right not to attend the ceremony to avoid any coronavirus risk. 14th World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik pulled out of commentary on chess24, telling us tonight, “I strongly believe the Candidates Tournament should have been postponed considering the nowadays disastrous humanitarian situation in the world.” The event will go on for now, however, and we have Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler joining for Round 1.
Is this the new normal? Ian Nepomniachtchi in a mask as the players inspect the venue | photo: Lennart Ootes, official website
Did Psychic Sylvia Browne Predict the Coronavirus Pandemic Back in 2008?
March 12, 2020
By Tim Binnall
Amid the ceaseless news coverage of the worrisome coronavirus crisis, a surprising name has emerged from the past to capture the attention of people online: the late psychic Sylvia Browne, who is being credited by some for predicting the pandemic twelve years ago.
This strange turn of events came about in recent days as an excerpt from the self-described medium’s 2008 book End of Days has gone viral online due to its uncanny description of what has been unfolding in America and around the world.
Specifically, Browne wrote that “in around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.” As one can imagine, the matching date and general description of the coronavirus has led many to conclude that the self-proclaimed psychic correctly foresaw the current crisis. The eerie excerpt was even amplified by Kim Kardashian, (https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1237924116486688768?s=20)
Bravo to Italian chess organizer, player and long time member of FIDE’s Fair Play Committee, Yuri Garrett, for bringing this to our attention. Earlier today on his FaceBook page Yuri passionately explained the essence of the coronavirus problem:
For my many friends all over the world: please stop thinking this is an Italian problem: we also started with one patient and look at where we are now…
This is coming everywhere. And it’s lethal. Not dangerous, lethal. And not only for the elderly, as anesthesiologists in Italy are clearly yelling out loud in every possible way (although children seem to be less affected, as with every viral breakout).
Do take precautions as of now: wash your hands properly as much as you can, do not go in crowded areas, keep a distance of at least 1m from other people, protect your elderly by not visiting them.
Your enemy is invisible and very subtle.
AND ESPECIALLY: DO NOT ORGANIZE AND SUSPEND ALL CHESS TOURNAMENTS. To play an international tournament in these circumstances makes no sense at all.
by kevinspraggettonchess · Published March 9, 2020 · Updated March 9, 2020
Last night NM Sulaiman Smith made an appearance at the Ironman Chess Club. In 1995 Sulaiman attended the Million Man March in Washington D.C. (https://www.britannica.com/event/Million-Man-March) and former GCA President Thad Rogers began to call him “Sulamillionman,” and then laugh.
When Mr. Smith extended his hand it was greeted by my fist. Sulaiman grinned while turning his hand into a fist, and we then “bumped.” Ever since Barack Obama gave his wife, Michelle, “the fist bump heard round the world”
it was interpreted by most people as the friendly gesture it was meant to be and politicians were soon fist bumping one another on TV chat shows. Some called it the “fist bump of hope”. The more straight-laced New York Times said it was a “closed-fisted high-five”, according to Leonard Doyle writing in the Independent. Unfortunately Leonard also wrote this: “Millions of people saw Mrs Obama daintily bump fists with her husband last week just before he claimed the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination at a rally in St Paul, Minnesota. More common on the sports field, the gesture was decried as “Hizbollah hand jabbing” on the Human Events blog. On Fox News, the host asked, in all seriousness, if it was, “a terrorist fist jab?”. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/was-this-really-a-terrorist-fist-jab-the-right-says-so-845141.html
I liked the bumping of fists as opposed to the antiquated custom of shaking hands, which only spreads germs, and disease. It has been my experience that every time I have greeted a person of color with the fist a smile has been received. After moving into farm country in Lavonia, Georgia, I made the mistake of offering a fist one time and it went around the mostly white community that I was “one of them.” As in, “You know, he’s from Atlanter.” (The misspelling is intentional) Lavonia is deep in the heart of Trump country. I was like a fish out of water for three years before making it back into civilization.
“The handshake has existed in some form or another for thousands of years, but its origins are somewhat murky. One popular theory is that the gesture began as a way of conveying peaceful intentions. By extending their empty right hands, strangers could show that they were not holding weapons and bore no ill will toward one another. Some even suggest that the up-and-down motion of the handshake was supposed to dislodge any knives or daggers that might be hidden up a sleeve.” (https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-origin-of-the-handshake)
Checking the usual Chess websites today found this article at Chess.com: Coronavirus: Should Players Shake Hands Before A Chess Game? by Peter Doggers. (https://www.chess.com/news/view/coronavirus-shake-hands-before-chess-game) Peter provided a link to the “…upcoming World Senior Team Championship (March 5-15 in Prague)…” and off I went.
MEDICAL SECURITY POLICY AND PROTOCOL FOR UPCOMING FIDE EVENTS
I will not provide everything given as protocol because you can click onto the link and read it for yourself as it is quite lengthy. I would, though, like to share some of the unbelievably insane things, even for FIDE, written, beginning with number
“3. Masks shall be made available for use by participants who have flu-like symptoms”
Now I do not know about you but if I were playing in the World Senior Team Championship this would NOT make me feel better about attending the event. It gets worse, or better, depending on your perspective:
“Participants who are coughing or sneezing are especially encouraged to use these masks to avoid possible spread of the covid-19 virus.”
Yes sir, it certainly would give me a feeling of assurance to know my opponent sitting only a couple of feet across the board was wearing a mask as he was dying of some Wuhan pathogen developed in a not so secret laboratory in China. How about you?
It gets better, or worse, depending…
4. The events rooms shall have proper and well-functioning ventilation and air circulation with fresh air intake.
“This measure will ensure that the air in the meeting rooms is fresh and that the meeting rooms have rapidly circulating air at all times to minimize the risk of transmission of covid-19 virus.”
This did not work well for the unfortunate passengers confined to quarters breathing the “rapidly circulating air at all times” taking a “three hour tour” aboard a cruise ship.
5. Events rooms shall not be overcrowded and there shall be sufficient physical separation between people.
This shall minimize the chances of possible transmission of covid-19 virus between meeting attendees.
Say what?
I love the “sufficient physical separation between people” part considering this headline:
Stand Back: Flu Virus Travels 6 Feet
By Rachael Rettner January 31, 2013
“If you know someone who is suffering from the flu, you might want to keep your distance. Infectious flu-containing particles exhaled by a sick person can travel at least 6 feet, according to a new study.”
FIDE has invariably been a place to go for laughs, but this is ridiculous to the point of absurdity, especially considering the very lives of Chess players are concerned, especially so when it comes to Seniors because professionals know the most susceptible among us are male Seniors. For example:
Why the Coronavirus Seems to Hit Men Harder Than Women
Women mount stronger immune responses to infection, scientists say.
Coronavirus deaths at Washington nursing home show seniors at high risk of contracting the disease
People over age 50 are more susceptible to respiratory illnesses, and related complications
When it comes to the decisions made by FIDE in the Wuhan pathogen matter I am reminded of a now (in)famous scene from the movie Jaws when the possibility of closing the beach on the fourth of July is being discussed with the mayor, who must decide between people dying or losing money:
When it comes to the life of a human Chess player and money which do you think the F.I.P.s (Fools In Power) within FIDE will choose? As my father, a very religious man, was frequently fond of saying during the sixties and seventies, “God save us all.” I will add, “From FIDE.”
Armchair Warrior 