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Issue 10.28 | Tuesday, July 6, 2010 |
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TODAY'S FOCUS ATLANTA,
Ga., July 6, 2010 -- Vacation rentals can be a great way to save money
when traveling on a tight budget. Many travelers are foregoing the mint-on-the-pillow
experience for more reasonable and less cushy accommodations. Better Business
Bureau advises vacationers to do their research before booking rentals,
since sometimes the properties are not as advertised.
In a tough
economy, a vacation rental is one way to save if you're willing to forego
some of the luxuries. According to a summer 2009 survey by TripAdvisor.com,
43 percent of respondents said that they were planning to stay at a vacation
rental in the coming 12 months. On average, the price per square foot
for a U.S. hotel is more than twice the price per square foot of a vacation
rental according to a report by HomeAway, an online vacation rental company.
Fred T.
Elsberry, Jr., president and CEO of the BBB serving Metro Atlanta, Athens
and Northeast Georgia, says: "Many travelers have shaved hundreds,
if not thousands, of dollars off of their vacation costs by renting a
house or condo instead of paying for a hotel or resort. A vacation rental
can seem riskier than booking a hotel, but if you do your research and
pay attention to the fine print, it can be a safe way to save money." There are
many different Web sites that travelers can turn to for finding a vacation
rental. Some companies specialize in connecting renters and vacationers---and
take a cut for their efforts---while other sites cut out the middleman
and potentially some consumer protections like money-back guarantees. BBB offers
the following advice to travelers looking to save money with a vacation
rental:
More tips for the budget-savvy traveler can be found at http://www.bbb.org/us/consumer-tips-travel/. EEB PERSPECTIVE JULY 6, 2010 -- Technology is ruining the movie business.
What was once a tremendous medium for telling a story is speedily eroding into a billboard for special effects, outlandish possibilities, expanding fireballs and weirdo blue morphing of people, all at the loss of storytelling. Today's modern movie-goers get continuous explosive action of unreal possibilities. You wonder do they want their minds cluttered with visual effects? What's the use of any meaningful dialogue anyway, except for "Golly-Gee," "Look-at-that!" and "Wow." Subtlety is out the window. Perhaps it's the background of today's generation of so-called script "writers," who were trained on hand-held action games and computer generated warfare, where every next moment presents nothing short of catastrophe. It makes you think we are raising a generation who need continuous frenzy. In the meantime, this generation's reading of decent books has plummeted. They seem to be hooked on continuous action, with little contemplation possible. It reminds us of modern weaponry of the military. You give a general or an admiral a new weapon, and what do they want to do? They want to shoot it. No wonder we and other nations are continually involved in war. "Wow!" goes the general. "Can you shoot down another?"
Same for movies. Today's modern-makers and writers use an approach built with continuous and unrealistic action. They figure this is what is needed to keep the movie-goers returning to the screen. After all, they are competing with television, which also suffers from a void of good writing, itself hooked on action, adventure, exploits and out-of-the-world possibilities, too. Reality TV is no replacement of good plots and good writing. These misplaced antics allow you to understand why a few of the television channels have built a solid following by presenting movies from their earlier days....those with sound dialogue in writing surrounded by a reasonable plot line. The verbal communications between the actors, sometimes highlighted by the sound and scenes, and produced successful motion pictures. And today AMC, the Movie Channel, TNT, A&E and even once thriving local stations devoid of few good network programs, are filling their air time with old movies. How many times have you heard: "These old movies are the best thing on television!" When you look at their competition, you can agree. Today's movies are replete with computer-generated special effects. The result is less memorable movies. We can't image people 50 years from now watching today's movies. They may even be watching what we love today, such movies as "White Christmas," "The Best Days of Our Lives," "Stalag 17," "A Christmas Story," and our longtime favorite, "Bad Day at Black Rock." All had superb writing, memorable characters and believable action. It's sad
to say, but the movie industry, truly, is not making them like they did
before. Action does not beget quality. ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Among the underwriters is CAB Incorporated, an international supply chain and quality management company specializing in components for wind towers, pipe flanges for waterworks and industrial piping and castings and forgings used in mining, industrial, agricultural, rail and other industries. CAB is headquartered in Buford, Ga. and has a manufacturing facility in Nacogdoches, Tex. and offices in Shanghai, China; Busan, South Korea; Johannesburg, South Africa; Delhi, India; and Hanoi, Vietnam. CAB employs 75 people around the world, including more than 20 engineers with expertise in metallurgy, castings, forgings and quality assurance. Visit the web site at www.cabinc.com.
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum: Early voting is not new to us in Northern Virginia. As a user of this option, I take exception to those who oppose having this electorate choice. Twenty days out from election day is a small amount of time for candidates to substantially change voter turnout in their favor. Rather, voters appreciate the opportunity to cast their ballot when they've made up their minds on a timetable that works better for them. Employers
appreciate the fact that, on election day, their workers aren't forced
to choose between standing in line for hours to do their civic duty or
be on the job. Gwinnett County is living in the 21st century and should
do everything it can to accommodate commuters, family schedules and employers
by making voting hassle-free. Any candidate running on that platform is
sure to pick up support for advocating flexible voting days.
UPCOMING The State
Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) has awarded the Gwinnett
Village Community Improvement District (CID) a $1.5 million grant
to be used toward their intersection improvement project at Jimmy Carter
Boulevard and Singleton Road. Gwinnett
Village CID will be using its grant to help fund a $4 million pedestrian
safety and congestion relief project at the intersection. Improvements
will be funded through this SRTA grant, CID funds, Gwinnett County SPLOST
revenue and federal dollars.
The new
design will include pedestrian and vehicular safety enhancements as well
as congestion relief benefits at the heavily traveled intersection. When
compared to the existing intersection configuration using projected 2032
traffic volumes, the proposed improvements will reduce overall delay experienced
at the intersection by approximately 35 percent during the peak AM periods
and approximately 48 percent during the peak PM periods. Brian Allen,
director of Gwinnett County Department of Transportation, says: "This
is yet another great example of the strength of partnerships among local,
regional, state and federal entities. The much-needed project at Jimmy
Carter Boulevard and Singleton Road, once completed, should greatly improve
safety in this area for both pedestrians and the motor-traveling public." Deadline today for second summer camp at SE Rail Museum The Southeastern Railway Museum will host its second section of its 2010 Summer Camp from July 112-16. The camp will extend from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., with the theme of "I've been working on the railroad." During the camp, children will be involved with educational activities, including exploring over 50 historic trains. Each day they will learn more about railroad jobs, how to make a railroad craft, and be involved in rail-themed activities. Included will be a ride in a caboose. The camp will conclude with a presentation of a railroading certificate. Camp costs are $145 per child, which includes a snack each day. Children ages 4-10 may attend. For more information, call Beth Kovach at 770 495 0253, x 2. Deadline for sign up is July 6. The Southeastern Railroad Museum is located in Duluth. Sierra Club plans meetings on attracting bees to your garden The Thursday, July 15 meeting of the Sierra Club will hear Carol Hassel of Suwanee on bee pollination gardening. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Berkmar High School. Hassel,
former Suwannee city council member and executive director of the Georgia
Piedmont Land Trust, will tell of ways to select the best bee-rewarding
plants that you can attract to your flower and vegetable gardens or backyard.
For more information, contact Tom
Morrissey or call 404-513-4069. NOTABLE The Salvation Army reports that Captains Cameron and Paula Henderson are the new commanding officers of the Lawrenceville Corps Community Centers. The captains, who began their duties on June 23, 2010, will oversee The Salvation Army's spiritual and social services programs throughout Gwinnett County.
Cameron Henderson grew up as a child of officers in The Salvation Army and lived all over the southeast with his family (in Mississippi, Oklahoma, Atlanta, Wilson and Charlotte, N.C., and Cumberland, Md.). He graduated with a BA in history from Frostburg State University, in Maryland. Paula Henderson is also a child of officers of The Salvation Army and spent most of her youth growing up in North and South Carolina and Virginia. She graduated with a BA in Christian Education from Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky. The two met during various Salvation Army youth ministry outings in the Carolinas division as teens and served on Salvation Army summer camp staffs together. As young teens, after sensing a call from God to each other and to become officers in The Salvation Army, they married in the fall of 1995 and entered The Salvation Army's College for Officer Training in Atlanta in 1996. Captains Paula and Cameron were commissioned Salvation Army officers and appointed to Arlington, Va. from 1998 - 2003. They served as corps officers responsible for Lawton, Okla. in 2003 - 2005; in Enid, Okla. 2005 - 2007, and in Salisbury, Md. from 2007 - 2010. The Hendersons have two children, Cameron, 9 and Ellison, 7. Captain Cameron enjoys theological studies and teaching, golf and Duke basketball, while Captain Paula enjoys teaching, reading and scrap-booking.
Hudgens Center for the Arts presents three with Gwinnies Two individuals
and one firm are the recipients of the 2010 Gwinnie Awards of the Hudgens
Center for the Arts. The Award Winners were Art Vedejs, for his work transforming
the pond and the subsequent revitalization of the Sculpture Garden at
The Hudgens; Bill Brogdon, for his unwavering dedication and support of
The Hudgens; and the Gwinnett Daily Post, for their public support of
the arts and coverage of the arts. The awards came at the annual Appreciation
Evening and Member Meeting recently. Stan Hall, left, chairman of the
board, presents Art Vedejs with his award.
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
During the antebellum period, Georgia and the rest of the South relied heavily on slave labor for farming and jobs that required hard labor. But with emancipation and the passage of the 13th Amendment, slavery as an institution and a form of labor became illegal. After the Civil War (1861-65), landowners had a difficult time finding, and controlling, a labor force. Some Georgians saw the prisoners at the state's penitentiary in Milledgeville as the solution to their problems-a workforce that could be firmly controlled. Georgia leaders were also concerned about the costs associated with operating a penitentiary, as the prison population increased and included many more African Americans. In an effort to resolve these issues, officials during Reconstruction (1867-76) approved the leasing of prisoners to private citizens. Provisional Governor Thomas Ruger awarded the first convict lease to William A. Fort of the Georgia and Alabama Railroad on May 11, 1868. Fort was given 100 African American prison laborers for one year at the price of $2,500. Fort was responsible for taking care of the prisoners' basic needs during the year that they were in his possession. Sixteen prisoners died during that first year while working for private entities. From the government's point of view, the program was successful. In 1869 the state decided to lease out all of the 393 prisoners in the penitentiary for no fee to the contracting firm Grant, Alexander, and Company to work on the Macon and Brunswick Railroad. Although it was agreed that the convicts would be treated humanely, reports to then-governor Rufus Bullock indicated that leased convicts were being overworked, brutally whipped, and killed while under the care of Grant, Alexander, and Company. Within five years, (by 1874) convict leasing was a major source of revenue for the state. Over a span of 18 months in 1872 and 1873, the hiring out of prison labor brought Georgia more than $35,000. With this success, the state legislature passed a law in 1876 that endorsed the leasing of the state's prisoners to one or more companies for at least twenty years. Three companies took on these convicts at the price of $500,000 to be paid at intervals over the 20-year span of the lease.
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© 2010, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. |
TODAY'S QUOTE "If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."
For the 2010 primary season, GwinnettForum asked all candidates facing primary opposition in Gwinnett County to provide answers to a few questions. You can read their answers below by clicking on the links. Candidates with no primary opposition are noted. They'll be asked in the fall by us to fill out issues surveys, which we'll publish before the November election.
PROFILE KEY
2010 FEDERAL CANDIDATES U.S. Congress, District 4
U.S. Congress, District 7
2010 STATEWIDE CANDIDATES Georgia Governor
Georgia Lieutenant Governor
Georgia Attorney General
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture
Georgia Commissioner of Insurance
Georgia Labor Commissioner
Georgia Secretary of State
Georgia State School Superintendent
Georgia Public Service Commission
2010
LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES Republicans
State Senate, District 40
State Representative, District 51
State Representative, District 88
State Representative, District 95
State Representative, District 96
State Representative, District 98
State Representative, District 101
State Representative, District 102
State Representative, District 103
State Representative, District 104
State Representative, District 106
2010 GWINNETT COUNTY CANDIDATES Gwinnett County Commissioner, District 2
Gwinnett County Commissioner, District 4
MORE RECENT COMMENTARY
ABOUT US GwinnettForum.com is a twice-weekly online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. Contact us today. © 2001-2010, Gwinnett Forum.com is Gwinnett County's online community forum for commentary that explores pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. PHONE: 770.840.1003 |
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