Newspaper Page Text
February 2, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Here's what I have
learned on bitcoin
I think I finally understand why there is opposition
in Forsyth to the “bitcoin/cryto mining ” operation:
you know how coins jingle and jangle in your purse
or pocket and you know what noise—dynamiting,
explosions—when a mining operation is underway
Bitcoins must make a lot of noise when they are being
mined and that is one of the
reasons some people in For
syth are opposed to the mining
operation in Forsyth.
I have to admit, I still don’t
understand crypto currency
mining although several readers
have attempted to crack my
ignorance barrier. They have
failed. Dena Wheeler of Forsyth
tried to explain, so here is her
attempt: “How do bitcoins come
into existence? All the addi
tional bitcoins have to be gener
ated through a computational
process called mining. You do
it by letting your computer hardware calculate complex
mathematical equations which can be done at any given
time of the day...” Okay Dena I give up. Thanks for your
attempt it is just beyond my comprehension.
AND since Dena gave the first attempt to try to explain
cryto mining and bitcoins, she gets the goodie certificate
good for a Big Peach car wash, a dozen Dunkin Donuts,
Dairy Queen Blizzard, Whistle Stop fried green tomato
appetizer, Slice of Shoney s strawberry pie, Scoops single
dip, Reporter and Forsyth Main Street t-shirt.
As a footnote, don’t go to Georgia Hardware and ask
Mac or Lee for a shovel because you are going mining for
bitcoins.
LAST WEEK, one of the most interesting meetings I
have attended was when County Commissioner George
Emami joined by Commissioners Eddie Rowland and
John Ambrose met with a large group of High Falls resi
dents to explain a proposed county ordinance that would,
in essence, require builders—emphasis on builders—to
conform to a very strict building code not affecting exist
ing residences.
It was obvious some of those in attendance were loaded
for bear simply because of rumors and innuendos about
the proposed ordinance that could have, if passed/ad
opted, drastic home-owner consequences. But, kudos
to the three commissioners, they calmed the crowd and
were very open and honest with the questions asked. All
three commissioners were opposed to the “ordinance” and
Commissioner Emami pulled a “Nancy Pelosi”, ripping a
copy of the ordinance for great theatrics effect followed by
crowd approval with yells and clapping.
Of course, the commissioner chairman was an absentee
along Commissioner Lamarcus Davis.
HERE’S THE Question for this week: what is name
of the U.S. representative seldom seen visiting Monroe
County? Wonder if he even knows we are in his district.
First correct answer after 12 gets the goodie certificate.
A SPOKESPERSON for Union Pacific Railroad com
menting in The Wall Street Journal on how their trains get
burglarized said “We just don’t see the criminal justice sys
tem holding those people accountable”. That assessment
is not only scary but very evident as we see crime rates at
an all-time high often committed by those who have been
let out on immediate bail by the leniency of a majority of
criminal prosecutors and judges.
I just had to write that because there are many of you
who totally agree.
OVER AT the county, it was check writing time. Our
firefighters got 22 sets of turn-out gear from Bennett Fre
Products for $68,200. Our Monroe County Development
Authority got $6,495.85 for November GAP Financing.
Don’t knowwho Jerry McMillian is but he got $135,135.64
for South Water Division III. $8,976 went to pay Krown
Sports for 2022 basketball uniforms. Replacing a leachate
tank cost us taxpayers $47,197. Making sure our county
employees were/are properly dressed cost us $7,897.85
and included shoes.
A total of 74 checks were written for a total $652,181.25.
HOPE THE newspaper reports the publisher’s phone
call from the commission chairman. From what Will told
me he did a lot of listening to what he has called a tirade.
See the chairman’s photo with his “awards” at a recent
county commission meeting below.
Contact Don Daniel, the founder of this newspaper, at
tullaybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Hey, Joe, what about OUR
V 'V ecall the 2012 presi-
J dential campaign;
during a televised
^debate, when asked
about foreign policy, Mitt
Romney said that Russia
is our greatest “geopolitical
foe.” He made that assess
ment because Russia still
has thousands of
nuclear weapons,
they interfere in
foreign govern
ments (elections),
and Putin wants to
re-constitute aver
sion of the old
Soviet Union.
To Romney’s
answer, the
haughty
Obama, disdainfully replied,
“The 1980’s are calling to ask
for their foreign policy back.”
My, how the world turns?
Just two years later, Russia
invaded Ukraine, occu
pied, and annexed Crimea.
Romney was correct; Obama
with his Biden were wrong.
In 2019, Madeline Albright,
Clinton’s secretary of state,
admitted as much when she
apologized to Romney for
criticizing him and under
estimating Russia. (Note
- Obama has not apolo
gized.) Not only has Russia
interfered with our elections
to sow discord (They’ve done
an excellent job because most
Dems still wrongly believe
Trump got elected because
the Russians colluded and
not because Hillary is totally
corrupt.) but they seized the
Crimea, and now threaten
all of Ukraine with further
invasion - at least that’s what
Obamas Biden is saying.
Wait, this can’t be happen
ing. Obama mocks you for
thinking Russia’s a threat. Is
Russia a threat and should
we care? Yes, Russia’s a threat
to Ukraine, especially with
troops and tanks at the
border, guns pointed toward
Kiev. We should care to the
extent that Russia is a threat
to us, to Europe and to
Ukraine. However, Western
Europe doesn’t seem to care
much. They’re silent. Actual
ly, they’re speaking with loud
Euros and paying billions to
Russia for oil and gas. Why
are they buying energy from
Russia? One reason - Ger
many is so “woke” (stupid)
that they early mothballed
three nuclear power
plants, voluntarily
shutting down 7% of
their energy capacity.
No, Germany doesn’t
care if Russia invades
Ukraine; they’ve said
as much by
saying nothing
while Putin
threatens to
invade. Europe
doesn’t care as long as they
get their natural gas; after all
it’s winter and it gets cold if
you run out of fuel.
For several weeks now,
Biden has been screaming
about Russia’s troop build-up
on Ukraine’s border. If Ger
many and Europe don’t care
about the Russia-Ukraine
border dispute, why should
we? Why should we put U.S.
troops in harms way? Simply
put, we shouldn’t. What
national security interest do
we have in Ukraine? Answer
- none. But why is Germany
buying oil and gas from
Russia, instead of from us?
One reason, on Biden’s first
day in office he shut down
the Keystone XL pipeline
that was scheduled to deliver
800,000 barrels/day from
Canada. With Biden’s single
pen stroke, the United States
went from energy indepen
dent, and net petroleum
exporter, to importing from
other countries. Not only
did Biden cancel Keystone
XL, he lifted sanctions on the
Nord Stream 2 pipeline from
Russia to Germany. Europe
buys much of its energy from
Russia and is dependent on
Russia for energy needs. And
Dems, such as Senators War-
nock and Ossoff, say nothing.
If a single Dem had high
lighted the stupidity of lifting
sanctions on Russias pipeline,
likely, Ukraine wouldn’t be in
the position it is. We wouldn’t
be worried about Russia
threatening Ukraine’s border.
Our entire Marxist media is
pushing for war with Russia.
If you question the wisdom
of doing so, they accuse you
of being a Russian agent.
Sound familiar? It should,
because anyone who ques
tioned the “Trump collusion
with Russia” narrative, to
defeat Hillary, was accused of
being a Russian agent. (Now,
the same media calls you a
Russian agent if you’re against
forced vaccines.) Whatever
the crisis of the moment, our
Leftist media (CNN, MS
NBC, NY Times, etc) belittles
anyone who questions “the
Narrative.” Right now the
“narrative” is you must want
war with Russia, otherwise
you’ll be mocked, just like
they mock you for question
ing the effectiveness of Covid
vaccines.
Get this, Ukraine President
Zelensky doesn’t seem overly
worried about a Russian in
vasion. He said as much at his
press conference last week
He accused Biden of “creating
a panic.” What gives? Biden is
terrified of a Russian invasion
of Ukraine, while Ukraine’s
president shows little con
cern? Could it be that Biden
is deflecting from real issues
and the media goes along?
No, no, no - that would
be too cynical of Biden, of
our government, and of the
media. They demand the
truth, hahahah, as they deny
the truth.
Sadly, deflection is exactly
what’s happening. Biden and
his media insist that Russian-
Ukraine is a more imminent
threat than record opioid/
drug deaths (100,000 dead
in 2021), more of a threat
than the racism taught by
Democrats in our public
schools, more of a threat than
the crime wave in dozens
ofDemocrat run cities, and
more of a threat than the
border?
Biden inspired invasion on
our southern border. If you
define a national border as a
boundary that restricts move
ment, cannot be crossed
without proper authority, and
crossing it illegally is a crime,
then the U.S.-Mexico border
no longer exists. Biden has
removed all restrictions on
crossing the border, legal
or illegal. Actually, the only
people who aren’t allowed to
openly cross the border are
unvaccinated truck drivers.
Unvaxed illegals - let ‘em in
by the millions.
I don’t care about an inva
sion of Ukraine when were
being invaded by illegals. A
month after Biden’s inaugura
tion, illegal apprehensions
spiked to over 150,000/per
month, and have remained
there ever since. In 2021,
there were close to 2,000,000
illegals apprehended, a 300%
increase from 2020. Under
Biden, those illegals are sim
ply released into the country.
Every day, Mexican drug
cartels smuggle thousands of
illegals across the border. The
cartels actually tell the illegals
to turn themselves in because
they won’t be deported. The
illegals turn themselves in
and, because of Biden, are
not deported, even if they
have criminal records. It
gets worse, in the dark of the
night, and without notify
ing local officials, Biden flies
the illegals to all parts of the
country. Last week, under
cover video at Westchester,
NY’s airport proved exactly
that. Where are Georgia’s
senators? They’re completely
silent.
Final Thought: Why doesn’t
Biden show as much concern
for our border as he does for
Ukraine’s?
Sloan Oliver of Boling-
broke is a retired Army office
who writes each week in
the Reporter. Email him at
sloanoliver@earthlink. com.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
A Report from The General Assembly
By Sen. John F. Kennedy
iohn.kennedy@senate.ga.gov
After a week of appropriations hearings in which we
discussed how to make smart investments for Georgians
with our over $3 billion budget surplus, the State Senate
turned its attention back to working on legislative
solutions to some of the most important issues facing our
state. The most significant event of the week
occurred on Tuesday, when I, along with
other members of the Majority Caucus,
outlined our priorities for the 2022
legislative session.
Our caucus spent months creating and
honing this agenda, and as Majority
Caucus Chairman, I am excited about
working to get these priorities across the
finish line. While there are many pressing
issues that we will be addressing this year,
we believe these four concepts are worth fighting for and
are committed to seeing them become law. The package
includes legislation that stands up for our workers, our
students, our online security, and our public safety.
Throughout the pandemic, we worked hard to ensure
that Georgia retained its title as the best state in which
to do business for eighth year in a row. With unemploy
ment in our state dropping to a historic low of 2.8%, we
must continue to find innovative ways to connect poten
tial workers with high-demand careers. Senate Bill 379
does exactly this, by incentivizing and expanding
apprenticeship programs to fill the gap that currently
exists in the high-skilled job market.
Career opportunities are only a piece of the puzzle. In
order to prepare students to be workforce-ready, it is
vital that they receive a quality education. The goal for
Georgia’s schools and universities should be to teach
students how to think, not what to think. Senate Bill 377
would address this situation head on by eliminating
divisive concepts, like Critical Race Theory, from being
taught in our schools, especially over the objection of
parents.
In our jobs, our education, and even our personal lives,
we are more and more dependent on technology. The
internet, particularly social media, now serves as a
necessary forum to share news and exchange ideas. In
recent years, we have seen Big Tech companies start to
censor certain opinions, while still making big profits off
the personal data of their users. SB 393 would stop this
unjustified censorship of Georgians across all social
media platforms. And SB 394 would ensure that big data
companies cannot sell our information without user
consent.
Security is certainly a theme of our agenda: job
security, data security, and the protection of intellectual
freedom, online and in classroom. However, we can’t
fully enjoy this security, if we cannot maintain safety and
order in our streets. The past few years have been hard
for many Georgians, but no group has been challenged
more than our first responders. Public safety
officers have been consistently asked to go
above and beyond in their service. They are
often placed in difficult situations and
expected to complete their duties flawlessly.
In an effort to back up our law
enforcement community, our Majority
caucus is in unanimous support of Senate
Bill 171, known as the “Safe Communities
Act.” This bill helps define and punish acts of
reckless, unacceptable behavior that our
officers have witnessed firsthand. This legislation cracks
down on assaulting first responders, inciting a riot,
destroying property, and obstructing roadways during an
unlawful assembly. It also holds local leaders accountable
for damage when they force law enforcement to stand
down instead of stopping criminal activity.
As I mentioned before, while the specific legislation for
these four priorities was only recently introduced, we
have been working on the ideas behind them for some
time. I look forward to engaging with the lead sponsors
of each bill on your behalf. We will continue to perfect
the language and help them advance all the way through
the legislative process. These are truly solutions worth
lighting for and important to get right.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about
these bills or any other currently under consideration by
the general Assembly, please do not hesitate to reach out
to my office.
Sen. John F. Kennedy serves as Majority Caucus
Chairman. He represents the 1 8th Senate District which
includes Upson, Monroe, Peach, Crawford, and portions
of Macon-Bibb and Houston Counties. He may be
reached at 404.656.0045 or by email at john.kenne-
dy@senate.ga.gov
Sen. John F. Kennedy
404-656-0045
42 1 -D State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
john.kennedy@senate.ga.gov
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