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Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Page excellence
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
2019 winner: Best Layout and Design
2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
A deathly solution
to fantasy problem
A ^Then the temperature in Denver hit 90
% / degrees last week, many families were
1/ 1/ surprised to discover that their power com-
T T pany had locked them out of being able to
turn down their thermostats.
According to Fox Business News, Xcel Energy
declared an “energy emergency” that left 22,000
customers unable to lower the thermostat below 78
degrees for several hours during a rare Colorado heat
wave.
Xcel was quick to point out that all 22,000 of its
Denver-area customers had voluntarily signed up
for a rewards program that gave them a discount on
their energy bill in exchange for giving the company
some control over their smart thermostats.
Customers receive a $100 credit when they sign up
for the program and $25 annually. The company says
the program helps make the system more reliable.
“So, it helps everybody for people to participate in
these programs. It is a bit uncomfortable for a short
period of time, but its very, very helpful,” Romine
said, adding that this week was the first time in six
years that customers could not override their ther
mostats.
“A bit uncomfortable.”
Have you noticed how the elites in government and
corporations are always minimising the pain and
suffering they dole out. When we
complained the COVID shut
downs were destroying children,
or that vaccine mandates could
force people to violate their
consciences, we were always just
^ v- ^ A being selfish to complain about
“a minor inconvenience”. Its like
someone coming up to you in the
v _ p. street and gashing you with a
knife and demanding you quit
whining about your little flesh
wound.
And so this is what I mean when I say that environ
mentalists are watermelons — green on the outside
and communist red on the inside. In the end, all their
plans turn into government or corporate force over
the individual.
In California, which of course has swallowed the
green agenda hook, line and sinker, power companies
are warning residents of impending “brown outs”
due to an energy shortage. Undeterred by their power
failures, the state has now announced plans to ban
gas cars by 2035. “Quit whining and buy a $200,000
Tesla that you can’t charge because fossil fuels are
bad,” they will surely say.
In Europe, which has adopted the full gamut of
the ridiculous green agenda, they’re preparing for
— literally — a winter of death. That’s because they
shuttered most of their coal and nuclear plants for
wind and solar. Germany forgot to consider that they
would then be totally dependent on natural gas from
Russia, which has now cut off supplies. As one wag
lamented, millions may die because a Swedish teen
ager (environmental activist Greta Thunberg) didn’t
want to go to school.
Well, you may say, thank God we live in Georgia
where we haven’t succumbed to such insanity. Oh,
don’t we wish.
It’s been reported in this newspaper how Georgia
See ON THE PORCH . Page 5A
& EDITORIALS
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
www.MyMCR.net
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President • Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-T reasurer
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
HALF OF THE
POPULATION
REECE’S PIECES by Sieve Reece
The implosion of the Big Bang theory?
Wi
rile it might seem
that most Americans
are somewhat knowl
edgeable of science,
according to a National Science
Foundation study, 25% do not know
that the Earth revolves around the
sun and an even larger percentage
have no idea that the Earths core is
hot. A market research firm found
that only 66% of millennials firmly
believe that the Earth is round.
Research also shows that 40 percent
of Americans believe the Earth was
created some 6,000 to 10,000 years
ago, in direct contrast to the evi
dence scientists have been giving us
for decades.
Raised in a Baptist church where
my mother made my
brothers and me sit in the
front pew where the good
Rev. Lemmon could keep
an eye on us, I was early
educated on how the earth
was formed. In the Bible
that I had earned for
never missing a Sun
day School class for an
entire year, I read that
“In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the Earth.”
And He saw that it was good and
that was good enough for me.
Then along came my 6th-
grade science class teacher at Will
Rogers Elementary School who sur
prised the class by telling us that, no,
the truth was that everything in the
universe began with a huge explo
sion called the Big Bang. At that age,
I was fascinated by explosions, and
I figured God probably was too and
it made perfect sense in my ado
lescent mind. My devout Christian
mother didn’t think it made one
bit of sense. She gave me the Big
Bang on my young behind when I
repeated to her what I had learned
in class that day. She also made a call
to the school administrators, but as
I remember all that did was increase
her anger.
The Big Bang theory was devel-
oped around 100 years ago by a
Catholic priest named Georges
Lemaitre. In a nutshell, Lemaitre
theorized that the entire observable
universe was compacted into an
infinitely tiny speck that grew to the
size of a grain of sand at the begin
ning of time. Then roughly 13.8
billion years ago that grain of
sand suddenly exploded with
an unimaginable force. No
one can say exactly where this
explosion took place or why
it ignited in the first place.
Scientists agree that before
this occurred everything was
just empty space with a
temperature of almost
absolute zero. They
have never explained
how all the empty space
got there or how that tiny speck of
sand came to exist in the first place.
The Big Bang theory reigns as the
top explanation for the history of the
cosmos. At least until recently.
Even with abundant ignorance
running rampant, somehow civi
lization has managed to achieve
wonderous achievements over
the past few decades. Less than a
century ago no one knew there was
anything past the Milky Way. We
knew nothing of other galaxies. Now
we have the James Webb Space Tele
scope that can see what the universe
looked like around 250 million years
ago to the era when the first stars
and galaxies started to form. NASA
says the telescope is orbiting the sun
1 million miles away from Earth. It
took 30 days to reach its destination.
Some scientists who are studying
the awe-inspiring images received
from the Webb tele
scope are extremely
surprised that many
images show many
things that don’t quite
fit into the accepted
theory of history’s
beginning. Things like
the number of galax
ies, galaxies that are
extremely smooth and
surprisingly old. Much
older than what was predicted by
the Big Bang theory. Reportedly, the
hypothesis they have defended for
decades as unquestionable truth is
now being overturned by new un
questionable data. One theorist said,
“Right now I find myself lying awake
at three in the morning and wonder
ing if everything I’ve done is wrong.”
There has always been dissatisfaction
with the Big Bang theory and now
the James Webb Space Telescope has
contributed to the debate and could
change everything.
If you ask an atheist how creation
occurred, they will inevitably point
to the Big Bang. It’s a convenient
answer for non-believers in God.
If the theory is disproved, I’m sure
they’ll be content to wait for the new
explanation that will be presented to
us as truth and will be taught to our
kids in the sixth grade as such.
You don’t see me in church much,
but I believe God made the universe
and everything in it including us. If
He started it all with a huge explo
sion I wouldn’t be surprised. What
better way to begin such a beautiful
creation?
I’m a regular guy. I can’t wrap my
head around the fact that the uni
verse is infinite and goes out into the
vastness of forever. That it has always
been infinite and always will be
infinite. Just thinking about it makes
me feel smaller than the tiny speck
of sand that scientists say started the
whole thing.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Report
er and a known crime fighter. Email
him at stevereece@gmail.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
God
peace
[ for the super-
transcends understandin
I am so thankful tor the super
natural peace of God, because I
really needed it last week! I was
feeling drained and my
emotions were in turmoil,
because my email had been
hacked. Plus, the aggravat
ing steps it took to get the
problem fixed was taking its
toll on me.
It was a pain trying to
get an AT&T represen
tative to call me back
about my situation, I
finally had a represen
tative return my call for assistance.
Unfortunately, due to his heavy
accent, I could not understand what
he was saying during most of our con
versation. He was getting annoyed,
because I had to keep asking him to
repeat what he was saying.
I finally gave up. It was late and I
decided to call again the next day.
After hours of waiting for a return
call, I was finally able to speak with
a representative I could
understand. This person
was very helpful, and he
assisted me in setting up a
new password and other
safeguards to protect my
email account.
I had no idea that my
email had been hacked
until some of my
friends contacted me
about the scam emails
they were receiving.
Some of the emails were asking for
help to purchase a gift credit card.
Thankfully, all my friends and family
knew that the emails were bogus, and
definitely did not come from me!
The email fiasco was very frustrat
ing, and I needed to have my peace of
i
mind restored. As I sought the Lord
in prayer, I started reading every Bible
verse I could find on the peace of
God. As I did so, I kept coming back
to Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to
God; and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus.”
God is not blind or unfeeling to
wards the suffering and injustices we
experience in this life. God promises
that if we turn to Him, we will experi
ence a peace that transcends all un
derstanding. Thank you Lord Jesus for
your faithfulness and unfailing love!
Carolyn Martel of Forsyth is the re
tired long-time advertising manager for
the Reporter. Email her at carolynmar-
tell@bellsouth.net.