Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2017
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Ireland
BELFAST, Ireland - “Twenty years ago we would not be
comfortable driving you here,” Bryan
MacMahon, an Irish historian and
author, was saying as we were head
ed to Tralee, Derry (or Londonderry
if you prefer), which is roughly 40
miles from the capital city of Northern
Ireland.
Two decades ago there had been
ongoing carnage with bombings and
shootings which had everybody daily
on edge in Belfast. Violence was so
much a part of the country’s fabric
that 3,600 people lost their lives with
no truce ever expected to mature.
However, there has been a lasting
peace since Good Friday 1998, bring
ing about the view that if tension and conflict could be ame
liorated here, why can’t the curbing of violence in Northern
Ireland become a model to be emulated elsewhere?
The subject brought about recall of a comment the late
Dean Rusk, former Secretary of State, made about the influ
ence of religion in world affairs. His quote went something
like this: “When you sit down at a conference table with
everybody purporting to represent God, you have a damn
tough negotiating challenge.”
When there was strife in Northern Ireland in the past,
visitors could still enjoy the history of Southern Ireland, the
golf courses, which are Rembrandts in turf: Ballybunion,
Portmamock, Waterville, Lahinch, Royal County Down
and Portrush where the British Open will be played two
summers from now. Additionally, there are castles, rugged
coastlines, Irish whisky, sheep in the meadow and tales of
diaspora alumni whose descendants now return in over
whelming numbers to celebrate their Irish heritage.
Ireland is one of the world’s favorite destinations with
over seven million tourists coming to the country every
year. Some make an annual pilgrimage to the land of their
forebears. The golf, the food, the weather and the hospi
tality beckon travelers who can easily move on to other
destinations when their Irish sojourn ends. London is only
an hour’s flight away, and in an hour and a half, you can set
down in Paris.
At least a fortnight is required if you want to attempt to
adequately explore the island’s history which reveals a bitter
sweet story. There is an agony to ecstasy underpinning with
history of the Irish diaspora—but for those who remained,
there was the ultimate in hardscrabble living. People were
so badly mistreated, mainly because of religion, that they
would do anything to get away which is why so many Irish
gave up their homeland to move to other shores—prosper
ing and. in many cases given to pacesetting and pioneering
achievement. It was a case of triumph and tragedy—tri
umph for the many who left to start and enjoy a new life
elsewhere but tragedy continued for those left behind.
Getting to America and other parts of the world was made
easier in that the heavy-handed English government had no
reluctance to allow another bundle of Catholics to leave; and
shipbuilding was a critical way of life at that time. With a
sense of adventure, you might find an opportunity to work
your way across the ocean. It was here that the Titanic
left its slipway into the deep harbor of Belfast to steam to
Southhampton. England, and subsequently to Queenstown.
Ireland for on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. The
ship’s builders. Harlan and Wolff, wanted its captain Edward
J. Smith to set a transatlantic record to New York as the
competition for passenger traffic across the Atlantic was
intensifying. After setting the ship’s course, it was full
speed ahead. The captain went to bed.
There were many ships in the North Atlantic that fateful
night. There had been sightings of icebergs, and many
iceberg warnings had been messaged to ships in the area.
Perhaps, it was a case of cavalier arrogance. The ship,
because of its double plated bottom and 16 watertight
compartments had the image with many as being unsink-
able.
Arrogance can lead to throwing caution, in this case, to
the sea. In addition, the greed of the shipbuilders only
had allowed for lifeboats for 1,178 of the 2,224 passen
gers on board. Many who went down with the Titanic
were crew and those traveling in steerage.
When the day ended, it would not be the biggest sea
disaster in history, but it became the best remembered,
especially in film and print. Today the Titanic museum
in Belfast is one of the most visited museums in the
world. Perhaps our empathy for the lives unnecessarily
lost continues to grip our attention, a reminder that the
arrogance of men often consorts with disaster—making
the inevitable unnecessary.
Loran Smith is a columnist for Mainstreet Newspapers.
He is the co-host of the University of Georgia football
tailgate show.
You can count on “The Hound”
mike
rector
Writing is about like anything else. Unless I already
know what I plan to talk about, the hardest part is get
ting started. It is not unusual to go back when I am just
about finished and do away with whatever I started with.
Maybe you will get lucky and
that will happen this time, too.
One of my favorite topics is:
“What would be the odds of
that?”
My brother sent me an email
entitled: “Benefits Question.”
“Many years ago I married
a widow with an 18-year-old
daughter,” the email started out.
“After the wedding, my father, a
widower, came to see us many
times and fell in love with my
wife’s daughter. He eventu
ally married her, without my
approval, at which time my step-daughter became my
step-mother.”
It soon became obvious that this was going to be a
very long joke.
It defined the different relationships and explained
the resulting complications that children born to such
couples would involve. After several paragraphs, it
finally concluded with a memo addressed to someone
by the name of Mohammed, from Gov. Jerry Brown. He
assured him that all the parties involved would get their
rightful childcare benefits as soon as they got relocated
in the State of California.
I took some Tylenol and thought back about some
thing that really happened in the family of a guy I work
with. His mother is originally from rural Kentucky. A
first cousin who lives there married a woman that had a
fairly attractive mother, who was divorced.
My friend’s older brother. Gary, began dating his
sister-in-law’s mother and you have probably already
figured it out: They got married too.
So my friend’s sister-in-law was also his mother-in-
law. And Gary’s sister-in-law was also his step-daugh
ter. This would have to make for some interesting family
gatherings. It really happened and now my headache
has returned.
Before we leave the subject of holy matrimony, I read
somewhere that 4,153,237 people got married in the
U.S. last year. It’s probably not important, but it seems
to me like that should have been an even number. It also
occurred to me how much relationships are like algebra.
Have you ever looked at your “X” and wondered “Y?”
Somewhat scraping the bottom-of-the-barrel this
week, I have come up with a consumer tip that might
prove helpful to you someday. It involves cost-effective
shipment of household goods.
My wife had restored a very small rocking-chair. It
had been given to us by my late sister-in-law so our kids
could use it. It had belonged to her son (my nephew)
who is now a Lt. Commander in the Navy assigned to
the Pentagon. He and his wife recently had their first
child.
When she took it to FedEx, she was astounded that
this parcel, that barely weighed 12 pounds (including
packing), was going to cost over $234 to get delivered to
Arlington. Va. The clerk was somewhat apologetic that
the shipping costs were more than the item was worth,
including sentimental value.
“Greyhound Bus Lines (aka Southeastern Stages)
handles freight like that,” a woman behind my wife said.
“You ought to see what they would charge.”
She brought it back home and packed it in a box her
self. The next day she took it to the bus station and sent
it on its way. Three days later, we received a picture on
a cell phone of baby Lionel rocking away in his dad
dy’s chair. Total shipping costs, delivered to their door,
amounted to $42.
It’s far more fun to write on non-political topics, I
guess because it doesn’t require as much adrenalin. But
it is hard to write about life, in general, without ever
mentioning government, economics and politics because
they are so much a part of our lives.
I was visiting a friend my age last week, who is about
to undergo surgery. He and I served in the National
Guard together in the early 1970s. We were talking
about how much Cleveland, where he lives, has changed
in the last few years. Many small towns in northeast
Georgia have experienced massive commercial growth,
but much of this town I travel through regularly is almost
unrecognizable to me.
He was talking about a brand-new donut shop, part of
a national chain, which has been ready to open for sev
eral weeks. It can’t open though, he explained, because
it can’t find enough employees to staff the business 12
hours a day. It had originally planned to stay open 24
hours a day.
He named several older businesses that had recently
shut down for the same problem. It seems that if people
with little or no skills can’t make big bucks doing menial
tasks, they had rather take whatever they can get, for
doing nothing.
A neighbor of mine is the manager a millwork plant
that supplies one of the big home improvement chain
stores. The demand for their products currently far
exceeds production. They are losing employees because
they have to force them to work so much overtime. They
pay well above minimum-wage at the beginning level
and average about 30 people a week that apply for jobs.
These people receive a voucher showing they are active
ly seeking employment.
When his company processes the applications, there
are many they would hire. But if they are even able to
get in touch with them, only about one in 10 actually has
any interest in working there. Most of them claim that
they have already found employment, but DOL records
indicate they have not.
It is sad to realize that there are many jobs out there,
at least in our area. Some of them have far more to
offer than working in a donut shop, but there just aren’t
enough people who want to work.
Ian Duncan made a statement in an article in the “Bal
timore Sun” in 2015 that ties-in with what I have been
saying. He said: “What one person receives without
working for. another must work for without receiving.”
Thanks for reading.
Mike Rector is a local contractor. Send comments to
mikerector405@gmail.com or 405 Washington Pkwy.,
Jefferson, GA.
Public meetings coming up in Maysville
The Maysville City Council will
meet the following dates in August:
•Thursday, August 3, workshop
meeting, 6 p.m.
•Monday, August 7, public hear
ing, 6:30 p.m.
•Monday, August 7, regular
council meeting. 7 p.m.
•Monday, August 14, public
hearing, 6:30 p.m.
•Thursday, August 31, workshop
meeting, 6 p.m.
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