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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2011
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Revisiting a couple of old subjects
TIME: Is that all
we have? Morning,
noon and night —
just time? We mea
sure it in hours, days,
weeks, months, years,
decades, centuries and
millenniums. No mat
ter how we measure
it, that’s all we’ve got.
We can’t add to it or
subtract from it.
Sitting on the deck
the other day, wasting time, I
jotted down these rather somber
(depressing?) thoughts about this
mysterious vapor:
By the time we are ready to go
to school, we are ready to enjoy
being a kid.
By the time we get out of
school, we are ready to be a
student.
By the time we reach adult
hood, we are ready to be an
adolescent.
By the time we retire from a
job, we are ready to go to work.
By the time we are ready to
die, we are ready to start living.
But by then, it is too late.
Ah, time! What in the world
are we waiting for? Waiting for
time while it’s already here,
all around us, enveloping us,
embracing us? Why are we wait
ing?
No wonder we don’t under
stand time. In my New Collegiate
Dictionary there is the word
“time,” followed by 42
definitions. I’m sure I
missed a few.
Following the word
time are 58 (prob
ably missed some of
them, too) time-related
words.
Time takes up
two columns in my
Dictionary.
The first definition
makes a lot of sense:
“the measured or measurable
period during which an action,
process or condition exists or
continues.”
Think life. Think a lifetime.
“Whereas ye know not what
shall be on the morrow. For what
is our life It is even a vapour,
that appeareth for a little time,
and then vanisheth away.” —
James 4:14.
Several of the time-related
words caught my attention:
Time-consuming, time-honored,
time immemorial, timeless,
timely, time-out, time-saving,
time-sharing, time-tested.
Good time-related words,
those.
But why did Mr. Webster have
to go and throw this one in there:
“time killer?”
We can’t kill time. But time
can kill us. And it will if we
abuse it and misuse it. Let us
embrace time and be thankful
for every second, and understand
that this brief, vanishing vapor is
our ally in achieving the purpose
for which we were created.
I believe it was Emerson who
left us with this encouraging
note: “Every time is a good time
if we know what to do with it.”
❖ ❖ ❖
Eat less, exercise more.
If I’ve written that once, I’ve
written it a hundred times. It is
an inexpensive, sure-fire way to
solve the problem of obesity in
America.
But it isn’t working. It isn’t
working because too many of
us choose to ignore it or don’t
have the will or discipline to
follow it.
According to the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention,
“one in three adults and 17 per
cent of all children are over
weight to the point of obesity.”
There is no telling how many of
us are just simply overweight,
one more burger with fries from
fat.
I know what some of you are
thinking. “What business is it of
yours, Virgil, how much we eat
and how little we exercise?”
Good question.
I have no more business tell
ing you that you are eating too
much than you do telling me that
three packs of cigarettes a day
are destroying my lungs.
Why do I think it’s all right
to tell Bubba he’s drinking too
much beer and resent him telling
me I need to drink more water
and get more sleep?
I am not responsible for you
and Bubba. And you and Bubba
are not responsible for me. We
value our freedom to choose. We
don’t want government or any
individual or group taking that
away from us. What are they
thinking — that we are their
brothers and they our keepers?
But wait a minute. Maybe
they are serious and altruistic,
devoted to the welfare of others.
Maybe they believe if one of us
suffers, we all suffer. Maybe they
feel that when Americans need
each other, Americans are there
for each other — like we were
right after 9-11-01.
Now, I need to do some soul
searching. Do I really care if you
eat less and exercise more, or am
I just throwing words together
to come up with stuff to fill my
allotted space in a newspaper?
I guess the motives of all of
us are blurred occasionally, but
I should take no comfort in that.
I alone am responsible for my
sincerity — and insincerity.
I sincerely hope that your
motives are always clear, and
that you don’t have to waffle and
wrestle with yourself like some
of us do.
Virgil Adams is former edi
tor and owner of The Jackson
Herald.
Nuclear plants in Georgia should make you nervous
THE NUCLEAR
Regulatory Commission
began its hearings last
week on a request from
Southern Co. for a license
to build and operate two
more nuclear reactors at
Georgia Power’s Plant
Vogtle.
It appears likely the
NRC will grant the licenses
for the Vogtle units either
later this year or by next
January, which would give
Georgia the distinction of having
the first new nuclear plants to
be authorized in this country in
more than 30 years.
I’m not sure that is something
we should celebrate. This is
the most expensive project ever
undertaken in this state - Georgia
Power now estimates the cost of
building the reactors at nearly
$15 billion, a total that will most
surely go up after the inevitable
cost overruns occur.
Consumers and small business
es even now are paying higher
rates - six years before the plants
even begin operating - just to
cover the financing costs of this
massive project (the large indus
trial users lobbied the Legislature
to exempt themselves from pay
ing the higher rates). These
rate hikes are being imposed on
the average homeowner in the
middle of the worst economic
downturn since the
Great Depression.
There’s noth
ing to be done
about the finan
cial aspects of this
project, of course.
The Public Service
Commission(PSC)
voted to authorize
the higher rates and
that decision will
not be reversed.
There is another
factor, however, that makes me
very nervous about these nuclear
reactors and should make you
nervous as well.
Six months ago we saw the
horrific meltdown of a nuclear
plant in Fukushima, Japan, after
an earthquake hit that part of
the country. Japanese residents
will have to deal for years with
the high incidence of cancer and
other health hazards associated
with the release of all that radio
activity.
The vigilant members of our
PSC aren’t worried that such a
calamity would happen here. I
have yet to hear any of them
express the slightest concern
about the possibility of a melt
down at Plant Vogtle.
“Our leadership in Georgia in
building these two new reactors
is important for America to be
able to increase its carbon-free
nuclear capacity,” Commissioner
Tim Echols remarked when I
asked him about safety aspect. “I
don’t have any hesitation about
moving forward with these proj
ects.”
I’m sure the commissioners
and their good friends at Georgia
Power would tell you not to
worry, because earthquakes just
don’t happen in Georgia. Except
that they do.
When an earthquake hit
Virginia in August, the trem
ors were felt in Atlanta and
other parts of North Georgia.
Fortunately, they were not strong
enough to cause significant phys
ical damage.
If you go to the website of the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
you will learn that other earth
quakes have hit Georgia harder
than the Virginia quake.
Georgia felt tremors from the
New Madrid series of earth
quakes in 1811-12. There was
an earthquake in Milledgeville
in 1872. An earthquake cen
tered near Tybee Island shook
the Savannah area in 1903, an
earthquake happened southeast
of Atlanta in 1916, and an earth
quake was recorded northeast of
Macon in 1964.
Here’s some more information
from the USGS files:
“The great Charleston, South
Carolina, earthquake of 1886
caused severe shaking experi
enced in Georgia. On August 31
at 9:25 p.m., preceded by a low
rumble, the shock waves reached
Savannah . . . Ten buildings in
Savannah were damaged beyond
repair and at least 240 chimneys
damaged. People spent the night
outside. At Tybee Island fight sta
tion the 134-foot lighthouse was
cracked near the middle where
the walls were six feet thick, and
the one-ton lens moved an inch
and a half to the northeast.
“In Augusta the shaking was
the most severe (VIII on the
Modified Mercalli scale) in the
state. An estimated 1,000 chim
neys and many buildings were
damaged.”
Keep in mind that the Plant
Vogtle reactors will be located
not that far from Augusta, a city
that has had some experience
dealing with quakes in the past.
It is true that Georgia is not
situated on a fault line, like San
Francisco, so the possibility of a
severe earthquake here is a small
one. But even if that small pos
sibility doesn’t bother the public
servants at the PSC, it makes me
very nervous.
Tom Crawford is the editor of
The Georgia Report, an internet
news sendee atgareport.com that
covers government and politics
in Georgia. He can be reached at
tcrawford @ gareport. com.
City of Nicholson
CALL FOR ELECTION
The City of Nicholson will hold a General Election
on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 in the Nicholson
Community Center located at 129 Lakeview
Drive. The polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at
7:00 p.m. The purpose of the election is to elect a
Mayor and two (2) councilmen.
The last day to register to vote in the general
election will be October 11, 2011
FISH DAY
Now Is The Time
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6-8” Channel Catfish $55.00 per 100
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Wednesday, October 12 • 4-5 p.m.
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Election Superintendent
September 26, 2011
Maddox Feed & Seed • Jefferson, GA
Thursday, October 13 • 8-9 a.m.
To pre-order call Tommy’s Arkansas Pondstockers 1-800-843-4748
Walk-Ups Welcome
ACTION thanks volunteers
Dear Editor:
ACTION, Inc. would like to thank all of the volunteers who
helped with the bagging and distribution of USDA commodi
ties on Sept. 14-15 at the Sardis Presbyterian Church.
Without the assistance of our volunteers, the distribution
would not have been possible. In addition to the volunteers, we
would like to thank Sardis Presbyterian Church for use of their
space for the bagging and actual distribution of the products and
Jackson County Correctional Firefighters
Sincerely,
Gwen Maxey
Prank call leads to hotel
evacuation early Tuesday
A PRANK call at a Banks
Crossing hotel at 4 a.m. on
Tuesday led to an evacua
tion.
Someone apparently
called one of the guest
rooms at the Best Western
and told the person who
answered the phone to turn
on the sprinklers because of
a gas leak. This turned out
to be a prank call and led
to the room being damaged
and the hotel being evacu
ated.
The Banks County
Sheriff’s Office is inves
tigating the incident, and
Sheriff Charles Chapman
reports that criminal felony
charges will be filed if the
offenders are caught.
The Banks County 911
center received a call from
an employee of the hotel
who reported that the sprin
kler systems were going
off in one room. The 911
operator asked if there was
a fire and if they were able
to evacuate. The employ
ee reportedly said that the
supervisor had checked and
there was not a fire. The
911 operator reported that
fire service personnel would
be sent to make sure that
everything was O.K.
The Banks County fire
unit investigated the report
and found that it was an
apparent prank caller who
contacted several rooms and
said there was a gas leak and
the sprinkler head needed to
be knocked off. One of the
guests at the hotel followed
the instructions, which led
to the problem.
911 operators called sur
rounding hotels and told
them of the prank so that
they could notify their guests
about the issue. The sheriff,
EMA director and board of
commissioners were also
notified of the problem.
911 director Deidra Moore
reported that this kind of
prank had been reported
at hotels in other states,
including Alabama, Florida
and California.
“Safety is important,
but patrons should always
check with the front desk
of the establishment if they
receive a call from someone
on their hotel phone direct
ing them to take any action
that is suspicious in nature,”
Moore said. “Employees
should also be cautious of
prank calls and if it is out of
the norm, check it out. Each
hotel has protocol they will
follow for safety. Check
these protocols when you
check in as it will help you.
It is also important to note
that as a community, we
should not and won’t allow
pranks of this nature to
incite panic or cause harm
if we can prevent it.”
Fire chief Brian Eubanks
said that his department
has checked with local
hotel management in Banks
Crossing and have found
that typically the manage
ment will inform guests to
evacuate if necessary.
“They will not typically
tell you to do damage that
isn’t required to get you to
safety,” he said. “Fire units
will be dispatched to calls
relating to the sprinklers
and fire alarms for safety
precautions and patrons
and hotel employees should
always follow directions
from the uniformed Banks
County Emergency Service
personnel on the scene to
ensure safety.”
Banks County board of
commissioners chairman
Milton Dalton reminds all
citizens, visitors and busi
ness owners and employ
ees to also be conscious of
surroundings and aware of
those that may wish to dis
rupt services in any attempt
to cause harm to people
or property and to always
report anything suspicious
by calling 911.
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