A4 | FRIDAY, MAY 9,2025
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Mining
proponents
still try to
sell bad idea
One of my favorite
quotes comes from the
late Milwaukee Braves
slugger Joe Adcock, who
observed of his teammate
Henry Aaron: “Trying
to sneak a fastball by
Hank Aaron is like trying
to sneak a sunrise by a
rooster.”
That line reminds me
of the current effort by
a group of politicians,
bureaucrats, timber
barons, tone-deaf mining
entities, and deep-pock
eted special interest
groups who are trying to
sneak through an effort
to drag-mine the Okefe-
nokee National Wildlife
Refuge. And in this case,
we are the roosters. And
we are watching.
Georgians across
the state have strongly
expressed their opposi
tion and have made clear
we know what they are
trying to do, and we don’t
approve of mining the
Okefenokee for titanium
dioxide in order that the
world never runs short of
toothpaste whitener.
More than 150,000
comments opposing
the project have been
submitted to the Envi
ronmental Protec
tion Division (insert
oxymoron here) against
issuing permits for
woeful Alabama-based
Twin Pines Minerals to
strip-mine 582 acres of
wetlands it owns adja
cent to the Okefenokee
Swamp.
This is our Okefenokee,
not theirs. Former Secre
tary of the Interior Bruce
Babbitt, who along with
Gov. Zell Miller stopped
a similar effort in 1996,
said it best: “Titanium is
Dick Yarbrough
Columnist
a common mineral, but
the Okefenokee is a very
uncommon swamp.” Tell
that to our politicians.
Senate Majority
Leader Steve Gooch
(R-Dahlonega) says of the
controversy: “Those are
decisions that shouldn’t be
made by political entities.
Those are decisions that
should be made by regu
latory agencies.” Who is
he kidding? What do we
elect these characters for?
Obviously not to protect
our natural resources.
At least Gooch said
something, asinine as it
maybe. As for Rep. Lynn
Smith (R-Newnan), chair
of the House Natural
Resources Committee
— who bottled up legis
lation in committee that
more than 90 of the 180
House lawmakers signed
onto and that would have
stopped or delayed the
project — she is saying
nothing.
It is disappointing that
Gov. Brian Kemp hasn’t
weighed in. He could
make Operation Tooth
paste Whitener go away in
a heartbeat, just like Zell
Miller did when DuPont
MORE MINING »A5
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The last question
John Henry told his
captain
“A man ain’t nothing but
a man
But before I let your
steam drill beat me down
I’d die with a hammer in
my hand, Lord, Lord
I’d die with a hammer in
my hand”
... But John Henry made
15feet
The steam drill only
made nine, Lord, Lord
The steam drill only
made nine
... But he worked so
hard, he broke his poor
heart
He laid down his
hammer and he died,
Lord, Lord
He laid down his
hammer and he died
I’ve always expected that
machines (i.e. computers)
would one day take over for
us; I just thought I would
die before it happened.
Not so sure now.
Our advertising
manager Heather Harris
brought her phone into
my office recently and
showed me how a new
app can look at a few
photos and someone’s
Instagram feed and then
write an insulting essay
about them. In Heather’s
case, the results were not
only insightful and aston
ishing, but hilarious.
My initial reaction to
the app was “Get thee
behind me, spawn of
Satan.” Then, I just felt
depressed.
I mean, dang! What’s
left for a writer to do?
I got so demoralized by
the thought of my own
ti
T. Michael
Stone
Reporter
obsolescence that I asked
Siri how to proceed.
The microchip
miscreant gave me the
number of a barber school.
I liked the world better
when thinking computers
were primarily the stuff of
science fiction books and
films and not lurking in
my pocket disguised as a
cell phone.
I suppose my first expo
sure to the idea of a malev
olent supercomputer was a
film called “Colossus: The
Forbin Project,” in which
a computer takes over the
world.
“Obey me and live or
disobey me and die,”
Colossus tells the people
of the Earth. “Under my
absolute authority, prob
lems insoluble to you will
be solved: famine, over
population, disease.” *
There is no triumph
of the human spirit, just
eternal subjugation.
But not all stories of
artificial intelligence end
in such a gloomy fashion.
Take, for example, Isaac
Asimov’s “The Last Ques
tion” (Asimov’s personal
favorite by the way).
Asimov’s tale begins on
May 14,2061, when an
all-powerful supercom
puter called Multivac (and
later AC) finally figures
out how to power the
Earth entirely with solar
energy.
However, two drunk
but curious technicians
assigned to attend to
Multivac realize that the
sun will eventually burn
away along with the other
stars as the universe
approaches maximum
entropy, the “heat death of
the universe.”
“What will you do
then?” a technician asks
Multivac.
A teletype machine
delivers Multivac’s
response: INSUFFI
CIENT DATA FOR
MEANINGFUL
ANSWER.
Millions of years pass,
and mankind expands
across the galaxy under
the guidance of the super
computer, now called
Galactic AC.
But the same questions
about entropy remain:
MQ-17J asked
suddenly of his [Galactic
Computer], “Can entropy
ever be reversed?”
VJ-23X looked startled
and said, “We both know
entropy can’t be reversed.
You can’t turn smoke and
ash back into a tree.”
The sound of the
Galactic AC startled them
into silence. THERE IS
INSUFFICIENT DATA
FORA MEANINGFUL
ANSWER.
An incomprehensible
amount of time passes
as mankind achieves
immortality and a state
of consciousness beyond
what was once thought
possible. Billions of
galaxies are absorbed
and brought under the
umbrella of the computer
that has become known as
Universal AC.
Yet the same question
about entropy persists.
In the story’s next
vignette, a mind named
Zee Prime learns that
man’s original star is
dead, which leads him
to conclude that all stars
must eventually die when
all the energy in the
universe is gone. Thus, he
will one day die himself.
So, he asks AC how
entropy might be reversed.
Just as Multivac replied
to the technician count
less eons before, Universal
AC answers: “THERE IS
YET INSUFFICIENT
DATA FOR A MEAN
INGFUL ANSWER.”
By now, mankind and
the supercomputer have
merged to become one
entity living off what
remains of the disap
pearing energy left in the
cosmos.
The Universe continues
to cool as Cosmic AC
ponders the question of
entropy reversal.
Ultimately, “space grew
black after 10 trillion years
of running down.”
But it came to pass that
AC had an answer:
And AC said, “LET
THERE BE LIGHT!”
And there was light -
Selah.
* Written by James
Bridges and D.F. Jones
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State and Federal Elected Officials
Gov. Brian Kemp (R)
203 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 656-1776
Web/e-mail:
U.S. Sen. Raphael
Warnock (D)
Russell Senate Office
Building, Suite 388
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3643
U.S. Rep. Mike
Collins (R)
District 10
1233 Longworth House
Office Building
Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-4101
State Rep. Tim
Fleming (R)
District 114
504-D CLOB
Atlanta, GA 30334
Office: (404) 656-0188
tim.fleming@house.ga.gov
State Sen.
Lee Anderson (R)
District 24
325-B CLOB
Atlanta, GA 30334
Office: (404) 656-5114
lee.anderson@senate.ga.gov
Rep. Trey Rhodes (R)
District 124
228 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
404-656-5099
trey.rhodes@house.ga.gov
I U.S. Sen. Jon
Ossoff(D)
/ ■ 1 Russell Senate Office
* T : Building, Suite 455
Washington, DC 20510
(202)224-3521
State Sen.
Brian Strickland (R)
District 42
324-B CLOB
Atlanta, GA 30334
Office: (404) 463-6598
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