Money still corrupts us
Some observations of a 28-year resident of Beaver Ridge: We enjoyed a rather secluded area – songbirds, wildlife, with easy access to shopping.
Then came the new U.S. 64. We endured loggers, trucks, etc., followed by winding detours and a constant trail of trucks, dust – noise from dawn to dark – as they moved much of Morgan Mountain to transform a series of 30- to 40-foot ravines from useless property into valuable real estate.
Now, because of greed and indifference, we are faced with this crypto mining operation. We must accept the fact that too much money has changed hands to reverse this operation.
We residents are ignored and powerless. The “noise abatement” fence is an eyesore and not very effective.
The ones who sold this land, set all the power poles and are profiting from the vast amount of power have put profit above any consideration of our environment and property values.
Sad how money blinds and corrupts.
David Bock, Murphy
Why allow crypto here?
I was born and raised in Andrews. I get the Cherokee Scout each week and love it.
I am really concerned about the crypto mining around Murphy. It is none of my business, but it breaks my heart to read about how this is affecting people and wildlife.
My question is, why would they put that mess in the beautiful mountains? They could put it in Atlanta or some big city that is so noisy no one would care.
This is a real mystery that should be investigated.
Thank you so much for your newspaper and the work you all do.
P.S.: I live in Georgia, but love the mountains.
Margaret Gee, Georgia
Trash excuses by the bagful
I live close to the state line, and since 1996 I have picked up trash. I pick up on Murphy Highway, and people do not even change lanes as I am working. Many people have thanked me, but no one has helped.
Some people actually complain to me.
A real estate agent said the pile waiting to be picked was trashy looking. One man thought I put my own trash in the pile. People think that I am scrapping or doing community service.
I had one man stop and hand me his trash. I have had them drive by me and throw trash out. People think I work for the state or county. People will stop and tell me where trash is.
Now a new one. A man stopped me yesterday. He thought that the trash pile waiting to be picked up, encouraged other people to add their trash to it, without proof. Then he wanted to know how much of it was Georgia trash. He did not think that it was right that the N.C. Department of Transportation was picking it up.
I do not ask where the trash comes from. I do both sides of the state line. Today, I picked up a hot tub.
If you are not going to help, just stay out of my way.
Thomas J. Shaffer, Mineral Bluff, Ga.
Fox damaging all Americans
It’s time to tell the truth about Fox “news.”
The analysis comes from Punditfact, a partnership between the Tampa Bay Times and Politifact.com, which maintains scorecards on the accuracy of major television news networks.
As of January, about 60 percent of “facts” reported by Fox News were false. Punditfact divides Fox’s on-air falsehoods into categories, from claims that are mostly false (21 percent), those that were completely false (31 percent) and the most blatant lies, which are termed “Pants On Fire” (9 percent).
A month by month detailing of Fox “news” lies and conspiracy theories is available at mediamattersdotorg.
Fox News has caused many millions of Americans – most of them Republicans – to believe things that simply are not true. For example, Yahoo News reports that 73 percent of Republicans blame “left-wing protesters” for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Of course, that is ludicrous. All one has to do is look at the pictures or videos of the attack to see that the violent mob was comprised of President Donald Trump’s supporters. Similarly, a poll by SSRS in late April found that two-thirds of Republicans either believe or suspect that the election was stolen from Trump – 60 percent saying there is “hard evidence” that the election was stolen.
As noted above, this ridiculous notion has been thoroughly refuted. But millions of Americans believe these falsehoods because they have been drilled into their minds, night after night, by Fox News.
I am not a Democrat nor a Republican. I detest both political parties. I believe in truth/ facts.
Fox does not. Their lies and conspiracy theories only drive us apart as friends and neighbors.
Fox is doing real, serious damage to America.
Jim Grazis, Young Harris, Ga.
Thanks from nursing home
On behalf of the staff at Murphy Rehabilitation & Nursing, we would love to extend a grateful “thank you” to our
community.
When we started planning the Spring Fling event, we never imagined the response our community would have toward our initiative. Our goal was to plan an event that both our residents and staff could enjoy. Though our goal is always to offer our residents an opportunity to have fun, enjoy themselves and have some form of normalcy, we also wanted to shift some emphasis on to our staff to help them feel supported and appreciated. To say we succeeded in that effort is an understatement.
Businesses in our community helped us create that kind of event. The kind of event that celebrates our staff, and we can not thank them enough for their contributions, so a thank you goes to:
Glitz & Glamour, Rib Country, Pizza Hut, El Maguey, Legends, Burger Boy, The Henn Theatre, Main Street, Burke’s Outlet, Volt Nutrition, Black & White Market, Rare Bird, Julie’s Place, Shannon Shipley, Anna’s Attic, Comfort Grub’s Crafter “Farm Charm Décor,” Wag-a-Bag, Papa’s Pizza, NC Nails, The Parson’s Pub, Farmhouse Diner, Ken Marasco, Downtown Pizza, Brasstown Community Civic Center, Carolina Crafting, Little Brasstown Baptist Church, Murphy Presbyterian Church, Boiling Springs Baptist Church and Jordan Witt.
Thank you is not enough, but our sincere gratitude is immeasurable.
Amy Jones, Emily Fulford, Murphy
The writers are activities director and activities assistant respectively at Murphy Rehabilitation & Nursing.
Clean energy better than gas
We have seen a huge increase in gas prices very quickly. The Russian invasion of the Ukraine has worsened this and has also shown us how vulnerable the world is to terrorist states like Russia that depend on oil revenue to try and destroy us. So, what can the U.S. do now to lower gas prices and also to stop funding terrorist states?
There is a big debate now about whether to do this by increasing our domestic supply of fossil fuels or by increasing rapidly our deployment of clean energy and EVs and by increasing energy efficiency – or to do both.
Though it would seem on the surface that we could lower gas prices by increasing domestic production, it is not that simple. The United States is already a net exporter of energy, yet oil is a global commodity and our energy prices are affected much more by the world energy market and key players like OPEC, Saudia Arabia and Russia than by our own production.
Yes, we might be able to lower gas prices marginally in the short term by increasing domestic production, but it would increase our dependence on fossil fuels and would make us more vulnerable in the long run to terrorist states and world volatility in oil prices, not to mention worsening the climate crisis.
The only way to make us truly independent of fossil fuel prices is to speed up our conversion to 100 percent clean energy and increasing energy efficiency. Study after study has shown that for every dollar spent on conversion to clean energy we will save $2-4 in the long run. This would lower domestic energy prices – including gas – and stop funding terrorist states that aim to destroy us. Clean energy would mean that our domestic energy prices are stable and affordable, freeing us from the volatility of fossil fuel prices.
Russia is incredibly unimportant in the world economy except for oil and gas. We need to remove that from them as soon as possible.
Vernon Dixon, Hiawassee, Ga.
The writer is a retired psychiatrist. His biggest interests are in climate change and a deep prayer life.
Blame Biden for gas prices
Let’s be frank here, President Joe Biden (or whoever is running this country) is responsible for the high gas prices and record oil company/producer profits. Not Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Gas prices started rising shortly after Biden came into office in 2021. Putin started his war on Feb. 24, 2022. It is a supply and demand issue.
Gas prices are based on: 56 percent crude oil, 14 percent refining costs, 15 percent marketing/distribution and 15 percent federal/state taxes. Obviously, crude oil has a large impact on the price of gas. Oil companies do not control the price of crude oil and gasoline.
Oil is traded on the worldwide commodities exchanges as futures contracts by speculators and hedgers. The key here is the word “futures” and market sentiment. If oil traders think the supply will be limited in the future, the price goes up and vice versa.
The Biden administration’s 25 detrimental policies on energy have and will continue to raise the cost of petroleum-based energy due to purposely limiting supply and raising the cost of production. The traders know these poor energy policies are limiting supply, so bid up prices for a barrel of oil and thus, gasoline and diesel. Investing in oil/energy is not just for the wealthy.
If you have a 401K or IRA that includes mutual funds, you are probably invested in oil/energy in some form or another as a lot of mutual funds have an energy component. The Biden administration’s poor energy policies need to be reversed so America can once again be energy independent and not go begging to buy oil from despots. Their oil is dirty, funds worldwide terrorists and they absolutely do not care about the environment.
Don Reynolds, Murphy
Who are true conservatives?
I recently read in the local newspaper a letter written by D.L. Wright of Murphy titled, “Wanted: True conservatives.” I agree completely with his letter; however, I only wish he would have added Jan Griggs’ name as a true conservative, as she is the only true conservative on the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners.
Griggs, who is retitred from the U.S. Marine Corps, is a true conservative and American who believes in our Constitution and lives by it. She is not a politician – she votes for the people. She is not like Dan Eichenbaum, Gary Westmoreland, Cal Stiles, Randy Phillips and Steve Jordan.
County commissioners need a standard operating proceedure to recuse a commissioner’s votes where general interest is involved. Study our county system. In my opinion, we are fast approaching “woke” status supported by Marxism.
Jerry Shira, Murphy
Justice for sale or trade
Some say justice is blind, but in Cherokee County if you have enough money, are positioned correctly in the drug trade or can generate positive votes, “justice” can somehow see clearer – at least in your favor.
I was in the Cherokee Scout in 2017, along with what I was charged with. I was sentenced to 20-plus years. When I was in the county jail, a man with similar charges as myself was let go. He was ordered to register for 30 years.
We had the same attorney; however, he had more than 50 arrests and numerous convictions. I had never been in trouble before. Now this man may be responsible for someone’s death.
Another individual I was in the county jail with was accused of murder. He was released one time, rearrested and charged with attempted murder. He was sentenced to eight years.
In the March 9 edition of the Scout, two men were shown convicted and sentenced for numerous sex offenses. One man accused of assaulting a close relative received 17-30 months. The other man got less than eight years. (I got 240-300 months.)
If I was a liar, I would not be in prison. What I did was wrong. However, I told the truth and got 20-plus years.
The hypocrites at the Cherokee County Courthouse are letting killers and repeat offenders go with little, or nothing, because they have money or land.
Robert DeFore, Spruce Pine
The writer, a former resident of Andrews, is an inmate at Mountain View Correctional Institute in Spruce Pine.
China attacks our currency
There is so much noise in the news these days that some seemingly innocuous events have a way of sneaking through unnoticed. Often these events fester and have ramifications for our lives.
Recently in Saudi Arabia, there was a discussion between China and the royal family about the Saudis taking settlement for at least part of China’s oil purchases in yuan instead of dollars. Shortly thereafter, when President Joe Biden called to talk to the Saudi crown prince about pumping more oil, no one picked up the phone.
The Chinese are better at the long game than any other country. Perhaps it is the perspective of a country that has been around for millennia. China has a willingness to accept incremental progress toward very long-term goals.
For those of us born in the 1940s, we have had the benefit of growing up during a period known as the “PAX AMERICANA.” Several things have contributed to this era of relative peace. Our national values, coupled with a robust economy and a strong military, have given us this luxury.
Unfortunately, it is all many of us know, so we often take it for granted. But we also take for granted our strong currency, and this is the end game for China.
China wants to unseat the dollar as the world reserve currency. For the average American, this translates into higher prices for just about anything made overseas.
This is one reason why “Made in America” takes on more significance. It also makes our government bonds (debt) less attractive overseas, which is key to the lifestyle we all enjoy.
Make no mistake, our reserve currency status around the world is one key to the lifestyle we enjoy each day, and attacks on it are as serious as an invasion on our West Coast.
Robert Whitehead, Sautee Nacoochee, Ga.