PRX Racism Scandal Part Two
PRX Racism Scandal was featured at chamblee54 this past wednesday. It is about Palace Shaw, a young lady of color. Until recently, PRX employed Ms. Shaw. The employment ended badly. Ms. Shaw was not quiet about it. The alleged racism got the non profit agency a few minutes of unwanted attention. There is nothing like woke silliness for cheap amusement.
The bad boss letter featured complaints of hair touching, pay inequality, and insufficient concern over social issues. The hair touching incident was a purple prose classic: “… our CEO, Kerri Hoffman … saw me from outside working late at the Podcast Garage, and came in to touch my hair, put her fingers into my top bun, immediately after she commented on my “distinct profile.””
A white man, like PG, can be confused by hair touching hysteria. It might be more of a woman thing. PG has been told many times, in angry tones, never touch a black ladies hair. This is despite the fact that PG has absolutely zero desire to touch a black lady’s hair. Apparently, this is a big thing with black women. Palace Shaw left a $48k job, in large part because someone touched her hair.
Salary inequality is as old as working for wages. Sometimes it is justified, but usually it is not. Ms. Shaw mentions that co-workers, doing the same job, were paid more. The race of these co-workers is not specified. In the Podcast Garage website, staff pictures are displayed. (Ms. Shaw models the distinct profile.) The other “Community Manager” is Se’era Spragley Ricks, a lady of color.
“Everyone at PRX should know that each characteristic on the list of White Supremacy Culture Characteristics is fully expressed in the workplace …” The WSC document is curious. It lists many so-called sins of management. It is tough to see how exactly this becomes white supremacy. In fact, the WSC document states “Organizations that are people of color-led or a majority people of color can also demonstrate many damaging characteristics of white supremacy culture.” Does PRX express every characteristic on the list? Who knows.
Palace Shaw used to co-host a podcast. “The Whitest Cube is a podcast about the exclusionary history of art institutions from the perspective of people of color.” The motto: “Museums are really sensitive to critique. We decided we don’t care.” The show lasted seven episodes.
The PRX story is playing out. Top bun enthusiast Kerri Hoffman sent out a heartfelt letter, promising to do better. This prompted a reply, saying this is not good enough. There was also a survey sent out, to anyone who cared to participate. One of the questions is a crowd pleaser: “For current donors/financial supporters: How much would you be willing to increase your current pledge if PRX makes necessary changes to address its white supremacy culture?”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Part Two
Part Two of the 2020 chamblee54 report on The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is here. Part one is there. Pictures for this affair are from The Library of Congress.
In Gertrude’s experience lovemaking was always bittersweet, or at least it had been until one fateful night when Chaz, the seductive man behind the concession stand blessed her with the salty-sweet bliss reminiscent of both true romance and quality kettle corn.
Julie Winspear, Washington, D.C.
Gasping for breath as she lay in the dew-laden lakeside grass, Rifka Lieberman’s chest heaved with rising passion as Saul Cohen approached with the inhaler she had left behind at the assisted living facility. Leo Gordon, Los Angeles, CA
Farmer Bob, unlucky in love and life in general, received yet another Dear John letter, this time from Bubbles Magaggaggey, the last blind woman in town, so here he was, alone and penniless; so penniless, in fact, that he neglected to make the payments on his tractor and soon received a John Deere letter, coincidentally from Bubbles, who ran the Tractor Emporium.
DJ Hicks, Jr., Manchester, NJ
The quantum flux field of the post-Einsteinian hyperdrive has gone asymptotically and we are in danger of approaching singularity as described by the Schrodinger equations!” cried Captain Quirke, having no clue what he said, only knowing it sounded sciencey, secretly crossing his fingers behind his back and hoping there were no physicists reading because he didn’t want any pedantic letters saying it was nonsense. Sue Doenim, England
As the angry mob of poets filled the National Mall, a group of sonneteers and ballad-mongers surged toward the Capitol Building, but it wasn’t until the Japanese poem enthusiasts stormed the White House that I realized this was a genuine haiku d’etat. Bart King, Portland, OR
As sheriff, I had handled most of the Dwarf gang, having shot Sleepy, Bashful and Sneezy, strung up Grumpy and Dopey and disemboweled Happy, but Doc, since you got away, I’m sending Happy’s entrails to you, until we meet again. Arlen Feldman, Colorado Springs, CO
As Professor Quinter surveyed his students, his gaze was drawn to their scrappy sets of cookware and their bemused faces staring stupidly at the history professor’s presentation on Carthage, and with a sigh, Quinter realized that the students had misread the day’s agenda, which was “Hannibal Lecture. Savannah Carmichael, St. Charles, MO
She swept into the ballroom, expensively dressed, coiffed, and bejeweled, her opulent display most obviously done for the same reason that a baboon has a red butt, both saying, “Pay attention to me!” Jack Ciotti, The Villages, FL
“Dilly, Dilly,” Nelda sobbed, “Tell me you still care, Dilly,” as his blood spurted rhythmically onto her freshly-starched, pink pinafore—the one given to her on her 16th birthday by her maternal grandmother, Nana Gertrude, the one she had worn the previous Sunday to the witch dunking, the one she swore never to stain— which was now permanently stained, but she mused that it didn’t matter since it was in the same color family. Pat DuVal, Arlington, VA
Her breasts heaving like the 50-pound sacks of grain thrown over the shoulders of sweaty dock workers, Karen stepped up to the counter and demanded to see the manager, as only a Karen would. John W. Engle III, Houston, TX
Having lost part of her left ear while working in a circus knife-throwing act during the summer between her junior and senior years, Karen felt all the more reassured about her decision to major in statistics, but she couldn’t help but to ponder the probability of regaining physical symmetry were she to return to the circus for one more summer after she graduated. Steve Cormier, Slatington, PA
She Always Carries Jonquils
PG found Archival Atlanta: Electric Street Dummies, the Great Stonehenge Explosion, Nerve Tonics, and Bovine Laws : Forgotten Facts and Well-Kept Secrets from Our City’s Past at the Chamblee library. There are always more stories to be heard. This repost has pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. It is written like Margaret Mitchell.
In the 1840s, the Western and Atlantic railroad wanted to hook up with the Central of Georgia railroad. The spot for the meeting was called Terminus. One idea was to name the town for William Lumpkin, a former Georgia Governor and a railroad executive. Lumpkinville sounded bad in the mouth, and the new town was named “Marthasville”, after the daughter of the Governor. (Martha is buried in Oakland Cemetery.) Few people liked this name, and someone decided that the feminine form of Atlantic was Atlanta. Unlike the state flag, this is unlikely to change.
The new town prospered, and recovered from the unpleasantness of 1864. In 1875, there was a problem with stray cows. The answer was the “1875 Cow Ordinance”. The law required that cows be kept in a pen at night. A fine of two dollars was assessed for every stray cow that was caught.
About this time, there were a few very busy railroad tracks going through downtown. People were getting tired of waiting for the trains to go through. One by one, viaducts were built over the tracks, creating a forgotten ground floor. This was built up into Underground Atlanta in the sixties, which was red hot for a while, then cooled off, and is now so so.
In 1897, J.W. Alexander was the first person in town to own a “horseless carriage”. One day, he decided to take a ride to East Point. A mule objected, and kicked man and machine into a ditch.
It is a rule that all history books about Atlanta have to discuss Coca Cola and Gone With The Wind. There are only so many stories to go around. This book tells of an Alpharetta farmer who bought the Tara set from MGM. He stored in a barn, the location of which was a secret. Betty Talmadge wanted to buy it, and the price went from $375k to $5k. After a while, the sale was finalized. There was only one problem…the farmer died, and never told anyone where the barn was. Mrs. Talmadge got the money from her husband’s overcoat, went to Alpharetta, and found the barn. The set was moved into another secret location, where it was in 1996, when Archival Atlanta was published, at an undisclosed local location.
Sam and William Venable owned Stone Mountain, and had a quarry there. (The Ku Klux Klan held meetings on the mountain.) (The spell check suggestion for Ku Klux is Kook Klutz.) Sam built a large granite house at 1410 Ponce de Leon Avenue, and stocked it with ammunition. He thought a race war was on the way, and wanted to be prepared. One night, a chimney overheated. The roof caught on fire. The explosives in the attic exploded, and took the roof off. The house was repaired, Mr. Venable died, and the house became part of a Lutheran church.
One of the few ante bellum houses in Atlanta is near Grant Park. It was once owned by Lemuel Grant, who donated the land for the park. He stays in a large marble house in Oakland Cemetery now. The Grant Park house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. John Marsh, in partnership with Boyd Eugene Taylor. After the death of Mrs. Marsh (also known as Margaret Mitchell), she was known to visit the house. “Margaret just wanders through the house, looking things over. She never talks, and she always carries jonquils. The first night she came I was very shocked. I went out to her grave at Oakland Cemetery the next day. I’d never been to the house before. But I was almost certain of what I’d find. The plot is covered by a bed of jonquils.”
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2020
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has announced the results of the 2020 competition. Every year, B-LFC solicits opening sentences for bad novels. The “winners” of this competition receive heartfelt condolences from all concerned. Chamblee54 uses B-LFC as an excuse for text to go between pictures every year, like this. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. There is a possibility of milking two posts out of this thing, in which case a link will be presented here.
As a “value added service,” chamblee54 compiles a list of noteworthy author names and locations. This years notables: Lisa Kluber, San Francisco, CA, DJ Hicks, Jr, Manchester, NJ, Jarrett Dement, Eau Claire, WI, Pete Zenz, Middleton, WI, Gideon Gordon, Boston, MA, Edward Covolo, Menlo Park, CA, Candy Mosely, Hydro, OK, Connie Kleinjans, Honolulu, HI, Sue Doenim, England, Gregory Feeley, Hamden, CT, Amy Torchinsky, Chapel Hill, NC, Jack Ciotti, The Villages, FL.
One of the contestants is from Georgia. Before the beginning God leaned forward from the Empyrean Throne and gazed at the heaps of OED fascicles littered in layers across the cloudy carpet, still uncertain just which Word was the perfect one with which to begin and seriously annoyed that She had decided to do the whole damn thing in English . . . Art Feenan, Kennesaw, GA
2020 Grand Prize Her Dear John missive flapped unambiguously in the windy breeze, hanging like a pizza menu on the doorknob of my mind. Lisa Kluber, San Francisco, CA
Sally loved Geoff so deeply that if he were a pirate on a dread pirate ship (and not an insurance adjuster), snarling and drinking, murdering and raping his way across the Caribbean (well, maybe not raping, it was the sentiment that counted) and he had a peg leg, she would have gladly sawed her own leg off and sewed it to his stump with silken threads, so he could dance again, holding her up since she was now a sudden amputee. David Lourne, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
None of us, not a single jack-tar of the ten poor souls consigned to the only surviving None lifeboat from our torpedoed freighter, the “S.S. Walter Jacob,” the noblest vessel that ever hauled the weapons of war across the Seven Seas and back again, had a nickel’s worth of life insurance.
John Hardi, Falls Church, VA
As the large wild turkey soared over him, propelled by the twin blasts from David’s shotgun, Michael gazed up at the cornbread-colored sky and thought, “What a blessed day to be a Christian!” Ed Buhrer, Louisa, VA
As Charlotte meticulously finished her egg sac on the lonely rafter at the county fairgrounds, she thought about the future day when her children would burrow into Wilbur’s flesh to consume him from the inside-out, and hummed her favorite song about the wheel of life rolling on.
Robert Greer, Gilbert, AZ
Dorothy and Toto got kicked out of Kansas just before that group had several hits back in the day but at least Toto achieved some success with his band, while poor Dorothy, penniless and insane, lived under a bridge, prostituting herself and screaming about rainbows.
DJ Hicks, Jr, Manchester, NJ
When she walked into my office on that bleak December day, she was like a breath of fresh air in a coal mine; she made my canary sing. Yale Abrams, Santa Rosa, CA
She sauntered into his smoke-filled office with legs that, although they didn’t go quite all the way to heaven, definitely went high enough for him to see that she was a giraffe.
Jarrett Dement, Eau Claire, WI
The Bulgars (Bulgaris), a 17th century semi-nomadic Turkic tribe, are often unfairly compared to the Vulgars, who invented the leather bikini in honor of Princess Urskika from Pacific Palisades.
John Holmes, St. Petersburg, FL
PRX Racism Scandal
@yourpaljonathan“I was angry, frustrated, and frankly embarrassed to read a letter from a Black employee of PRX who was not treated with the respect that she deserved while working there. I don’t work for PRX, but they are the company that owns Radiotopia, which distributes my show.”
PG has never met, much less become pals with, @yourpaljonathan. PG is not sure what PRX is, except that it has something to do with podcasts. It probably involves financial support, which makes one wonder why podcasters would publicly call out an organization that gives them money. The tweet above was retweeted by one of these shows, @TheTruthFiction. This is how PG found out about this.
The sensible reaction to seeing a racism tweet is to ignore it, and move on. Unfortunately, PG had a weak moment, and sent a reply. @chamblee54 “are you going to share the letter with us? how do we know that BEOP is not the problem, and conveniently blaming her own issues on racism? it would not be the first time” Before you can say 240 characters, there was a reply. @evantessuraea “I’ve read the letter, you can find it”
@rvanroon “For now Jonathan and Helen are talking shit. Prove what the former employee writes is the truth.” @HelenZaltzman “It has been confirmed to me by several sources, and some of what the employee mentions is racially specific. Other things are statistically demonstrable. We’re “talking shit” until proven otherwise to you? Fuck off yourself.” @HelenZaltzman has a very fine show on PRX, The Allusionist. In an ironic touch, the last episode was “Allusionist 120. Shine Theory.” Shine is sometimes used as a derogatory term for African Americans.
At some point, we should ask, what is PRX, aka Public Radio Exchange? “The PRX Exchange is a nonprofit Internet-based service for distribution, review, and licensing of radio programming.”
Radiotopia is the arm of PRX that PG is most familiar with. “Radiotopia, from PRX, is a curated network of extraordinary, cutting-edge podcasts. Radiotopia empowers independent producers to do their best work, grow audience and increase revenue. … is a partnership between PRX and Roman Mars, creator of 99% Invisible, supported by the Knight Foundation.”
Radiotopia, and all of her shows, conducts fund raising drives. The tip jar is always on the counter. Some people wonder why @HelenZaltzman is so eager to wash nonprofit laundry on twitter. @chamblee54 “If this matter is not publicly resolved to your satisfaction, will you continue to take money from @prx? Or will you look for a more “woke” source of revenue?”
Finally, curiosity got the best of PG, and he decided to read the letter. After consultations with Mr. Google did not uncover the letter, PG found a twitter thread. Here are four tweets from the thread. The first is the introduction. The next three deal with specific grievances by BEOP. They are presented in order of appearance, which is presumably the order of importance.
@freepublicradio “A Thread… Recently, a black woman who worked for @prx sent an email to her colleagues to let them know why she was leaving the organization. Here are some highlights:”
“-CEO Kerri Hoffman touched a this black womans hair without her permission making her feel violated. This issue was brought to HR and they did nothing, but defend Kerri Hoffman and tell the offended woman “I am sorry if that made you feel othered.”
“-PRX refused to pay this black woman more than 48K a yr in her position. She later found out that co-workers who have the same position & responsibilites as her, & who have less experience, & who she trained, both started their positions 7K & 5K more than the cap she was told.”
“-She knew she could no longer be a part of PRX after an all-staff meeting following George Floyd’s murder. “There was no organizational acknowledgment of George Floyd’s murder or the uprisings until over a week past his death despite having a large office in Minneapolis..”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. UPDATE: The actual letter has turned up. The ladie’s name is Palace Shaw. The letter has a few more details.
The Hair touching story is like something out of a bad romance novel. “Early on into my time as the Community Manager our CEO, Kerri Hoffman, touched my hair without my consent, it was a total violation. She saw me from outside working late at the Podcast Garage, and came in to touch my hair, put her fingers into my top bun, immediately after she commented on my “distinct profile.” That moment deeply disturbed me. I brought it to HR and they chose to defend Kerri by not acknowledging the obviously racialized nature of the interaction, which I was very clear about. I was told, “I am sorry if that made you feel othered.” UPDATE: PRX Racism Scandal Part Two is now available.
Drawing Criticism For Appropriation
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Barkada Wine Bar Will Change Its Name After Drawing Criticism for Appropriation
12-year-old shoots themselves in the foot, police says
The Better of the Two Big Antiracism Bestsellers
NYC shootings rage as East New York, Queens endure bloody Sunday
Man lied about his girlfriend’s shooting death, now facing murder charge
J.K. Rowling and the White Supremacist History of “Biological Sex”
White Fragility: A Conversation on Race and Racism, perspectives from Christian leaders.
Leaked police bodycam video shows new details of George Floyd’s fatal arrest
Meet The 19th*, a new gender and politics news organization by women and for women
Nearly half of Germans in favor of US military withdrawal: survey
Half of Oklahoma Is Indian Territory. What Does That Mean for Criminal Justice There?
Yes, mathematics can be decolonised. Here’s how to begin
Talk to your dogs: Their brains process speech the same way yours does
Questions we get about the GCC Elders’ Statement
APD recruit charged with street racing as neighbors say dangerous stunts are problem
USPS Workers Concerned New Policies Will Pave the Way to Privatization
Black Americans Want Police to Retain Local Presence
Brooks Falls – Katmai National Park, Alaska powered by EXPLORE.org
Therapy And The Hermeneutics Of Oppression
Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project
England to wipe thousands of coronavirus deaths from toll due to tracking method change
Beer brand and leather store unwittingly named after Māori word for ‘pubic hair’
Trump-Loving Anti-Mask Pastor Threatens Dunkin’ Donuts Employee With Assault
Cancel Culture Checklist: you’re not just being criticized; you’re being canceled.
Going to National Parks Is Racist, Declares ABC News
America’s national parks face existential crisis over race
Buy Sell Trade OG Twitter Usernames / OG Accounts / OG Names
Tulane Cancels Talk by Author of Acclaimed Anti-Racism Book After Students Said …
Jeff Bezos, Amazon are taking notice of faith-based investors
Jordan Peterson’s daughter reveals he has coronavirus & talks woke movement
‘Sorry to burst the magic bubble’ … hydroxychloroquine as he battles COVID-19
Fight on bus leads to shooting in DeKalb County; 1 critical
New judge will preside over George Zimmerman case
Sen. Kelly Loeffler to remain co-owner of Atlanta Dream: ‘They can’t push me out’
The Faerie Phenomenon in Folkloric and Modern Experience
Mailed ballots in Georgia will be counted, even without a stamp
Supreme Court Precedent Killed Breonna Taylor And it will kill again
Celebrating KKK Leader’s Birthday Was Just Start of Alabama Lawmaker’s Problems
Jerry Falwell Jr. explains what was going on in that now-deleted Instagram photo
NYPD Banged On BLM Organizer’s Door, Shut Down Street, Stayed 5 Hours, Left
Depictions of AI are overwhelmingly white — and that’s a serious problem
Why Dolly Parton “Will Always Love…” That Song
How to Pronounce “Kamala Harris,” Once and for All
Rape suspect who was freed due to coronavirus kills his accuser in Virginia, police say
2-year-old boy accidentally shot in head in northwest Atlanta, police say
Two men found dead on boat at Lake Lanier
Stand Up to Brian Kemp … has made it clear that he’s not equipped to lead Georgia.
COVID Tore Through NYC Homeless Shelters. But Residents Were Kept in the Dark
Bears alert scientists to secret salmon streams
The extraordinary life of Pablo Escobar’s secret son
‘Squeezed out?’ Warnock races to rally Democrats in Georgia U.S. Senate bid
Conflict grows between Charleston area beach visitors and barrier island residents
Phoenix Cops Kill Man after Responding to Noise Complaint over Video Game
Is the mainstream media ignoring whites who are killed by police?
Combinatorics ~ payne lindsey ~ mae west ~ parrotroom ~ Hiroshima
Nelson Sullivan ~ junkie ~ core testing ~ ossoff ~ buckhead war story
Nelson Sullivan “Twenty-five years ago this month, on July 4, 1989, video artist Nelson Sullivan suddenly died of a heart attack, leaving behind almost 1,200 hours of footage of the now iconic and heavily romanticized Downtown New York scene.” Mr. Sullivan, a native of South Carolina, had friends in Atlanta. Many of his videos are set in Atlanta. If you view one of these videos, the algore rhythm will direct you to many more.
Going Shopping with RuPaul at Lenox Square in Atlanta in 1989
Nelson Goes to a Grocery Store in Atlanta in 1989
Going to a Soul Food Restaurant in Atlanta in 1986
Nelson Sullivan discusses the joys of being in Atlanta
Nelson in Atlanta 1988: The Pop Tarts’ soundcheck at Club Rio
Nelson in Atlanta 1988: Picking up Michael Musto at the Airport
Nelson in Atlanta 1988: Picking up The House Fairy
Taking RuPaul to the Colorbox in Atlanta to do a show in 1989
Returning from Thrift Store Shopping in Atlanta in 1989
Going to the Value Village Thrift Store in Atlanta in 1989
RuPaul Goes to a High Society Party in Atlanta in 1986
At Home with RuPaul in Atlanta 1986 ~ RuPaul & Wee Wee Pole ‘TARZAN”
RuPaul debuts his Wee Wee Pole band at The Nitery in Atlanta
RuPaul sings “Who Wants Gum” & “The Pizza Song” with Wee Wee Pole at 688 in 1983
RuPaul & Wee Wee Pole at 688 in 1983 doing “Funky for a Honky” and “Body Heat”
All-Nighter at RuPaul’s Midtown Atlanta Apartment in 1986
RuPaul & Wee Wee Pole at 688 in 1983 doing “Funky for a Honky” “Body Heat”
RuPaul’s Encounter with some Homophobes at the Kevin Larmee Gallery Show
RuPaul’s “Sex Freak” Interview on Atlanta TV in the mid-1980s
RuPaul’s “Give It To Me Revue” with Lady Bunny at Atlanta’s 688 Club in 1984
The 8 Most Controversial Moments on The American Music Show
Tom Zarrilli’s Live Report from the Inman Park Festival 1984
Running into Elouise on North Avenue in Atlanta circa 1984
Police bodycam footage shows moment-by-moment arrest of George Floyd for the first time – from terror on his face when officer points gun at his head, sobbing before he’s shoved into squad car and begging to breathe as his life drains away ~ I bet #BarackObama is very happy #COVID19 did not happen when he was in office ~ Karen is an insult defined by race and gender. A Karen, in the pejorative usage, is a white woman. ~ Los Angeles Coronavirus Update: Mayor Eric Garcetti Says DWP Will Shut Off Water And Power At Homes That Throw Large Parties ~ Manley Pointer aka Luther Mckinnon he/him pronouns I consent to be recorded I agree to stay for the entire mic I would like screen share to be enabled, so I can present a graphic poem. ~ @chamblee54 @robertwrighter @kausmickey How did you choose the Parrot as your patreon muse? Has anyone considered the Parrot as the spirit animal for cultural appropriation? Why does Parrot only have one t? you can always do another dna test on Elizabeth Warren ~ A writing prompt was to write the screenplay for a scene in your life: Scene: Interior of vehicle driving into parking deck ~ Man turns into lane, going into parking deck. He stops, lowers the window, reaches out and pushes green button. The machine spits out a parking ticket. Man takes ticket, and puts it down on the console, in front of the gear shift lever. ~ The bar goes down, and the vehicle goes forward. Man takes a right at end of row of cars. We see the man turning a steering wheel, until the car goes forward in a right hand turn. When the vehicle starts to go forward, man releases steering wheel long enough for the steering wheel to spin back into the forward position. There are no empty parking spaces in this row. ~ Camera goes back to clock on dashboard. It is twenty minutes before the hour, which should yield enough time to get to the appointment on time. ~ Since there are no empty parking spaces, the man turns right again. ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah
Trayvon Martin Judge
Joe Rogan had a dandy show the other day. He featured two big dogs at the Innocence Project This description gives a few more details: “Josh Dubin is an Innocence Project Ambassador Advisor & President of Dubin Research and Consulting, Inc. He also hosts a podcast called “Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science.” Jason Flom is an Innocence Project Board Member, CEO of Lava Media, and host of “Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom”
Innocence Project works with people who are in prison, and probably innocent. The show discussed some of the dirty tricks police use, like lying to suspects being interrogated. Questionable science is used, especially with bite marks, blood splatters, and arson investigation. The record of former prosecutor Kamala Harris drew sharp comments.
Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin gets special attention. A Honduran refugee, Mr. Aguirre-Jarquin was convicted of a gruesome murder. He was given the death penalty by the jury. After a while, the innocence of Mr. Aguirre-Jarquin became apparent. It is a powerful story.
Someone felt the need to embellish the story. The killing, and trial, was in Sanford FL. This is the town where Trayvon Martin was killed. There seems to be a connection between the two cases. “I find out that she (the judge in the Aguirre-Jarquin case) was the judge in the Trayvon Martin case, whose husband represented George Zimmerman, and wouldn’t recuse herself.”
PG had never heard this detail, and was curious. When the guest mentioned the judge for the third time, much later in the show, PG decided to do a bit of digging. First, you had to find out the name of the judge. Her name is Jessica Recksiedler. What role did she play in the George Zimmerman trial?
Associated Press April 18, 2012 ORLANDO, Fla — “The judge presiding over the Trayvon Martin shooting case has removed herself after George Zimmerman’s attorney said she had a possible conflict of interest. Florida Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler recused herself Wednesday because of a potential conflict that relates to her husband. He works with Orlando attorney Mark NeJame, who was first approached by Zimmerman’s family to represent the neighborhood watch volunteer. But NeJame declined and referred them to Mark O’Mara, who is now representing Zimmerman. NeJame has since been hired by CNN to comment on the case.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Hiroshima 75 Years Later
At 8:15 am, August 6, 1945, Hiroshima got nuked. It was the start of a new era. Since Japan is 13 hours ahead of Georgia, and standard time was used, the literal anniversary is 8:15 pm, August 5.
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was working in Hiroshima when the bomb hit. He survived, and found a train to take hime to his home town, Nagasaki.
The device dropped on Hiroshima, the Little Boy, had an estimated force of 13 kilotons of Trinitrotoluene, or TNT. A kiloton of TNT is roughly a cube whose sides are ten meters. This device is fairly tiny compared to many of the warheads developed since. Many of the modern appliances are measured in megatons, or millions of tons of TNT. The Soviet Union had a bomb with a capacity of 50 megatons, or 4,000 times the size of the Little Boy.
The largest weapon tested by The United States is the Castle Bravo. This device destroyed Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The two piece swimsuit was named for this island. The Castle Bravo device had a yield of 15 megatons of TNT. This is roughly 1,000 times the power of the Little Boy.
The decision to drop the bomb has long been controversial. There are a lot of factors and gray areas, and the issue does not lend itself to sound bite solutions. The conventional wisdom is that Japan surrendered because of the nuclear attack. This meant the war was shortened by at least a year, there was no invasion of Japan, and many lives were saved. PG is scared by the moral calculus involved in a decision like this….do 100,000 civilian deaths prevent the deaths of 500,000 soldiers? PG suspects that even G-d herself would lose sleep over that one.
There is also evidence that the bomb was not needed. Japan was whipped in August 1945. The air raids were conducted in daylight with little resistance. A debate was going on in the Japanese government on whether to continue the fight.
An event happened the day between Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, which influenced the Japanese decision to surrender. The Soviet Union had agreed to help the United States with the war against Japan. On August 8, The Soviet Union invaded Japanese occupied Manchuria. There are indications that Japan knew the fight was hopeless at this point, and would rather surrender to The United States than The Soviet Union. This is one of the gray areas that never seems to be mentioned.
The United States wanted the war to end quickly for obvious reasons, and a few subtle ones. America did not want to share the spoils of Japanese war with The Soviet Union. There were already tensions between the two allies, and the cold war was not far off. Many felt The United States used the Little Boy as a warning to The Soviet Union.
When you get your moral software out, you might want to figure in the effect of opening the nuclear Pandora’s box. Would the nuclear bomb have been developed by other countries if America had not led the way? The science is not that complicated…after all, America hit paydirt with the Manhattan Project fairly quickly. Nonetheless, there is karma involved in using a terrible new device on a civilian population. The United States started the wind of the arms race, and has yet to feel the whirlwind.
This is a repost. The pictures are from The Library of Congress. Ansel Adams took pictures of Japanese Americans, in a World War Two internment camp. The ladies in the bridge game are Aiko Hamaguchi, Chiye Yamanaki, Catherine Yamaguchi, and Kazoko Nagahama.
Chamblee54 
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