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opinion
Thursday, December 2, 2021 • Page 4A
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B. Waine
Kong, Ph.D., JD
Waine's World:
Why Would Georgia Tech
Invite The Dawgs to
Their Homecoming?
At the invitation of my old
friend Dr. Mahfouz El Shahawy,
a cardiologist with whom Step
hanie and I have had the pleas
ure of traveling the seven seas,
he came up from Sarasota, Fla.
for the game and invited a group
of us to accompany him. So,
seven of us sat in the bleachers
of Bobby Dodd Stadium watch
ing (enthusiastically celebrating
is more like it) the Georgia ver
sus Georgia Tech football game
yesterday (11/27/21). It didn’t
disappoint.
What a spectacle! It was
Georgia Tech’s homecoming, so
the alumni came back in mass,
the senior players as well as the
senior cheerleaders and their
parents were honored and the
Ramblin’ Wreck (1930 Model A
sport coupe) led in their team to
great fanfare. I would rec
ommend that they stop having
the players run through all that
smoke before the game. I am
just saying.
The half-time extravaganza
was spectacular, including the
sole majorette who performed at
the Georgia tech end of the field
to her own enthusiastic au
dience. She ended her perform
ance by throwing fire ignited
batons in the air and catching
them doing a perfect summer
sault and split. Personally, I to
tally enjoyed the Yellow Jackets
mascot who vigorously con
ducted the band and then dra
matically fell off the podium and
down the stairs at the end.
Whoever it is, that’s one tal
ented performer.
That was as good as it got for
the Yellow jackets. (By the way,
we were amused when a real yel
low jacket actually tried to bite
my neck while I was sitting in
the stands). The joy and jubila
tion for the Dawgs and their fans
could not have been much fun
for Georgia Tech’s head coach
Geoff Collins, players and fans,
who have gone down to humili
ating defeats in their last four
contests against Georgia.
The score was 45-0 (with
quarterback Jordan Yates
throwing for four touchdowns)
as the Dawgs celebrated their
12th victory this season (amas
sing 463 yards with no turn
overs or penalties) and
becoming the only undefeated
team in college football. In just
the last two games, they out-
scored their opponents 100-7
and according to head coach
Kirby Smart (who used to work
for Nick Saban), they are still
getting better.
I am now convinced that
Georgia will have their first per
fect season since 1982. Maybe
Georgia Tech should have tried
harder to recruit Trevon Walker.
Whenever Georgia Tech tried to
score, the refrain: “In on the
tackle was Trevon Walker” was
heard over and over again.
Number 44 could be seen (like a
laser) seeking out and destroy
ing the ball carrier.
He is the son of Stead (an ex-
Marine) and Lasony (former
track star who works for Super
intendent Dr. Larry Derico).
They continue to live in Thom
aston. Trevon is a talented 6’ 5”
speedster who also happens to
weigh 275 pounds with tremen
dous explosiveness. He was a
hometown hero from his birth at
Upson Regional Medical Center
as the apple of his mother’s eye
to become the star of our many
Upson-Lee High School winning
seasons and championships in
basketball (71-0) and football.
But he has come into his own
and a standout on the number
one college football team in the
country. Although he is a junior,
he has two more years of eligi
bility because of the absent
COVID-19 season. But I predict
he will be a first round draft pick
to play in the NFL.
After the Georgia game, we
continued the party at an At
lanta hotel where we enjoyed a
late lunch and watched The Iron
Bowl played at Jordan-Hare
Stadium when Auburn (6-5)
kept Alabama scoreless for three
quarters. This was unheard of!!!
But my money was still on Nick
Saban. Somehow, someway (like
a magician) he was going to pull
this out of the hat and finally
prevailed after four overtimes
(24-22) as Auburn saw their 10-
o lead after three quarters slip
away.
Yes, the man is a magician. I
hope his magic fizzles by next
week.
So, next Saturday is a na
tional championship game of
sorts pitting Georgia (12-0)
against Alabama (11-1) and this
time, I am going with Georgia. I
am taking all bets. After much
fireworks, Georgia will win 21-17
and they will just have to do it
again in January because all the
other nationally ranked teams
have lost at least twice. My big
surprise yesterday was that both
Oklahoma and Ohio State fal
tered.
So, exactly why did Georgia
Tech schedule Georgia for their
homecoming game? There was
n’t much for the alumni to cele
brate. But go Dawgs!!!
Chris &
Jolee Benton
Thank You,
Mr. President
Many of us have neither the
time nor inclination to stay in
formed on every single political
or economic issue. We will, ho
wever, notice issues that affect
us like our grocery bill being
higher, or when filling up our
gas tank hurts our wallets more
than usual.
It’s times like these when an
issue like inflation captures our
attention. Just the mention of
the word inflation evokes mem
ories of the late 70s and early
80s in those of us old enough to
remember them. Should you be
worrying right now? Are we
headed toward an ugly time of
forced deflation through rising
interest rates or is this just a
temporary blip caused by an
easily correctable mix of circum
stances?
Depending on the bias of
your news source, the headlines
are declaring the current infla
tion to be “transitory” or the
major issue that defines the next
decade. It’s important that we
dig deeper than those headlines.
If we can identify the likely
cause of this current bout of in
flation, we’ll be in a better posi
tion to understand its roots and
its potential impact on us.
Are we experiencing slightly
higher than normal inflation?
Yes. Is the inflation as bad as
some would have us believe?
Definitely not. Inflation is most
often told in a narrative of year
over year percentage. Headlines
right now are attempting to
scare us by proclaiming an infla
tion rate of 6.2 percent. This
number is comparing this year -
in our post COVID reopened
economy - to the low numbers of
the deflated, pandemic affected
economy of 2020.
When compared to 2019, we
see that inflation is around 3.6
percent. It’s this type of forced
perspective that created the
cliche that there are “lies,
damned lies, and statistics.”
Still, 3.6 percent is above the
two percent benchmark that
Federal Reserve considers ac
ceptable inflation. What is caus
ing it? Some of the issue is
demand from a fully reopened
global economy. We also see the
effects of global stimulus bills
(of which the U.S. was among
the lowest per capita direct to
citizen stimulus in the world).
The effects of increased demand
from these are temporary, and
therefore many pundits dismiss
the current inflation as transi
tory. However, channeling our
inner Paul Harvey, it’s time to
hear "the rest of the story."
Our current issue with infla
tion has another source that
must be addressed. Our country
is having supply chain issues.
Design caused some of this as
seen in world oil supply to sta
bilize prices during the pan
demic. Only recently has supply
ramped up by oil producers to
meet demand. As supply catches
up with that demand, we’ll see
better prices at the pump.
However, we also have
supply chain issues COVID ex
posed regarding imports. Our
harbors are full of merchandise
that needs to be moved on to its
destination. Why? To hear some
tell it, it’s on purpose - an at
tempt by private corporations to
limit supply during the holiday
season to raise prices. Is it a
cash grab? It’s an issue that will
need investigation, and if so,
rectified through law.
It is telling that in October
the Biden administration intro
duced a container storage fee at
the ports, after which it reduced
significantly the backlog over
the last few weeks. Some of it is
a lack of investment. Because we
import so many real goods, we
need more capacity to move
goods through our ports. It’d
sure be nice to have more of that
manufacturing at home, would
n’t it?
One thing is for sure though,
we don’t solve inflation by ig
noring it. Even though this
period of heightened inflation is
temporary, and it is, the Ameri
can people need to hear that
from our leaders. When it hits
our bank account, it matters to
us. We need to know the Pres
ident and his staff are paying at
tention and that they focus on
solutions.
It’s why the Biden administra
tion working to increase oil
supply though releasing a por
tion of our national strategic re
serve matters. It’s why the
administration’s efforts to solve
the backlog of goods at our ports
matters.
We know by their actions
that this administration hears
us, and that they are working
hard to solve this issue behind
the current level of inflation. We
appreciate an administration
willing to respond to the needs
of average Americans like you
and us.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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