October 6, 2021
Zuck The Book
October 6, 2021
Tag Archives: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
October 6, 2021
Atlanta: The City Not Too Busy To Hate
When coming of age in the metro Atlanta area in the 1960’s the capital city of the Great State of Georgia was known as “the city too busy to hate.” This was reflected upon while reading an online article at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website. As often happens something was unintentionally found:
Four Things You Should Know about Atlanta
Andy Ambrose | Dec 1, 2006
“W.E.B. Du Bois once described Atlanta as “South of the North, yet North of the South.” As this observation suggests, Atlanta is not easily defined by regional characteristics. Geographically, it lies below the Mason-Dixon line and shares important historic, religious, and political ties with the rest of the South. Yet at times in its history the city’s orientation and behavior have been decidedly “unsouthern.”
https://www.historians.org/annual-meeting/past-meetings/supplement-to-the-121st-annual-meeting/four-things-you-should-know-about-atlanta
Inquiring minds want to know, for certain, who coined the term? The only name recalled who was constantly vilified at the time by my wrong-wing Republican relatives was Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen.
Creator: WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
Creator: HERBERT
Title: WSB-TV newsfilm clip of governor Ernest Vandiver and mayor William B. Hartsfield responding to the full-page advertisement “An Appeal for Human Rights” published in newspapers by a student civil rights group in Atlanta, Georgia, 1960 March 9
Date: 1960 Mar. 9
Description:
“In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on March 9, 1960, Georgia governor Ernest Vandiver and Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield respond to “An Appeal for Human Rights,” a full-page advertisement published in each of the Atlanta daily newspapers by the All-University Student Leadership Group, a student-led civil rights organization. The clip’s audio breaks out at several points; comments by individuals may not be completely recorded. The clip begins with governor Ernest Vandiver’s critical response to “An Appeal for Human Rights.” Referring to the advertisement as a “left-wing statement,” Vandiver calls upon “those who would cause hatred, strife, and discord” in Atlanta and in Georgia to stop their actions which he believes will benefit no one. Next, Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield responds to the same document and calls Atlanta “a city too busy … to hate.”
http://crdl.usg.edu/export/html/ugabma/wsbn/crdl_ugabma_wsbn_42211.html?Welcome&Welcome
I thought it nice our city was thought of as “A city too busy to hate.” Unfortunately, there was still too much hate, no matter how busy was the city. Seems there is still too much hatred in Atlanta.
‘Wuhan Plague’ plaques found on Atlanta businesses, streets
By Raisa Habersham, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hodgepodge Coffeehouse owner Krystle Rodriguez received a text from her employee about the sign: a round plaque glued to her Moreland Avenue building outside her restaurant depicting Winnie the Pooh eating a bat with chopsticks below the words “Wuhan Plague.”
The signs have been popping up around East Atlanta on a variety of buildings and fixtures. Atlanta Police Department’s Homeland Security Unit, which investigates bias-motivated crimes, has been notified about the signs but so far no arrests have been made.
“It’s doing nothing but reinforcing really awful stereotypes,” said Rodriguez, who posted a photo of the sign on her social media page to mixed reactions. “I have Asian American friends that said it’s allergy season and they’re afraid to sneeze in public because of all of the hate speech.”
Asian Americans have reported increased harassment around the globe since the novel coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China. Asians make up 4% of Atlanta’s population, according to U.S. Census data.
Advancing Justice-Atlanta, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian American communities in Georgia and the Southeast, called the signs “hateful and dangerous rhetoric (that) has consequences.”
“Chinese Americans and those perceived to be are now victims of violence,” the organization said in a statement. “These plaques are the latest incident to harass the Asian American community and it is important we all condemn it. Hate has no place here.”
For the past week, Atlanta police have received calls about the signs, which appear to be small, bronze-colored plaques that are glued in place. According to three police reports, the first was seen April 13 on an electrical box in front of 188 Waverly Way in Inman Park. Another was found on April 16 on a city lamp post near the intersection of Wylie and Flat Shoals in Reynoldstown. A third was found on the Candler Park Market on April 18.
Owners for One Moreland, the building where Hodgepodge is located, turned in a video of the sign to Atlanta police.
Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos said the department’s Homeland Security Unit has been notified about the plaques, but added they don’t appear to meet the criteria for a bias crime.
“If someone were to be identified as placing them, any charges would have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis, depending largely on whether any damage was done to the property to which the medallion is being affixed,” Campos said.
For the plaques to be considered a bias crime, there must be evidence the crime was committed based on the victim’s race, religion, sex, or another identifier. Because Georgia doesn’t have a hate crime statute, police would have to confer with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office before they could prosecute the case under federal hate crime laws.
Animator and muralist Rod Ben, 35, of Tucker, said the plaques overt Asian metaphors invite people to place blame for the coronavirus on those from Asian countries and Asian American residents.
“No one feels safe,” said Ben, who is Cambodian and Vietnamese. “I’m worried for my parents going to the grocery store. Even older people are being harassed and attack, and if you’re not going to leave old people alone, where is (the harassment) going to stop?”
Ben also took his daughter out of daycare because he was worried about the way people looked at her during the pandemic.
“Yes, we’re Asian, but we’re Asian Americans. I’ve never been to China,” he said. “To make these connections based on what someone looks like is crazy. It’s the first time some of us have considered buying a gun because we don’t feel safe.”
“People have gotten on me for not wearing a mask and some immediately see me and move, which is good because you should be social distancing,” Ben said. “But when I see other people walking past them and they don’t react that way, I can only come to the conclusion that they’re scared of me.”
While no arrests have been made in the incidents, Rodriquez and Ben both hope the culprits get more education about xenophobia and how it affects people.
“We need to have more of a nuanced conversation about what’s really going on,” Rodriquez said. “I think more than anything there needs to be a real conversation about how powerful words and ignorance can be.”
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/wuhan-plague-plaques-found-atlanta-businesses-streets/b9takSWmtKqfqai7wAk8iL/
Coronavirus in DeKalb County, Georgia
Matt and Shannon Blackburn and their children, Jackson and Henley, walk past one of several ‘Everything will be OK’ yard signs along Trailridge Lane in Dunwoody, where a non profit called CREATE Dunwoody is raising money from the sales of the yard signs that will help raise much needed funds for artists and art teachers that are impacted financially during the crisis. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM
UPDATE | Coronavirus in DeKalb County: The latest news from the AJC
By
George Mathis & Mandi Albright, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The coronavirus pandemic has affected daily life everywhere, including DeKalb County.
As of March 28 there were 240 cases and 2 deaths reported in DeKalb, according to the latest information posted by Georgia Department of Public Health.
Statewide, there have been 2,366 (100%) cases with 617(26.08%) hospitalizations and 69 (2.92%) deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Nationally, there have been 85,356 cases with 1,246 deaths, according to information posted online daily by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has issued a stay at home order, ratcheting up the coronavirus-related restrictions he put in place earlier in the week. The order, which goes into effect at 9 p.m. Saturday and remains in place until further notice, bans all public gatherings and instructs residents in unincorporated DeKalb to leave their homes as little as possible unless they’re seeking medical care. Exempted activities include “obtaining necessary services and supplies” and going to work for essential businesses — things like grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, and a number of other retailers. More information can be found on the county website.
With Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler The Beat Goes On
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
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/23/most-americans-dont-have-the-savings-to-cover-a-1000-emergency.html
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.”
Armchair Warrior 