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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26. 2009
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Christ is the reason
for the season
While public pressure is swaying numerous
decisions to remove "Christmas” from sea
sonal celebrations, Athens-Clarke chooses to
continue the boycott.
Here is the official announcement from the
city’s web site: “Downtown Parade of Lights
on Dec. 3: The annual Athens-Clarke County
Downtown Parade of Lights is scheduled
for Thursday, Dec. 3, starting at 7 p.m. This
year’s theme is ‘A gift from the heart.’”
Notice the absence of any reference to
Christmas.
Contrast this with the recent decision of
The Patchogue, N.Y., Riverfront Committee
to return Christmas to their parade. They
had dropped Christmas from the name of
their festival a year ago, but when attendance
dropped dramatically, they quickly decided
to return to the original title of "Christmas
Holiday Boat Parade."
Note also the move by a number of national
retailers to return Christmas to their stores.
They include Target, Sears and Lowe’s.
If you are unhappy with Athens-Clarke
about this decision, I have a recommendation
for you. You will be welcome at the 2009
Comer Christmas Parade to be held at 2
p.m., Saturday, Dec. 5. This year’s theme is:
"Christmas in Comer, The Old Made New.”
I think I can safely say that Christmas will
be very visible in the Comer parade. Among
the units in the parade will be a number of
church and civic floats depicting both reli
gions and secular Christmas themes. You will
very probably hear carols about Bethlehem
and the baby Jesus. There will be Christmas
trees, of course, and reindeer, and Santa will
likely be the last float in the parade. He has
held that position in every Comer parade I
have ever seen.
Now I realize that the season represents
many things to many different people. Many
religions have celebrations at this time of
year. The spirit of giving is not limited
to Christians. And they all will be able to
celebrate the season in accordance to their
beliefs and traditions. But for the vast major
ity of Americans, especially in the South, the
predominant reason for the season is the birth
of Jesus Christ and any event that fails to
keep Christ in Christmas is a slap in the face
of the millions of Christians who make up the
majority of our population.
So, enjoy the season. Visit those stores
that keep Christmas in their displays. Attend
events that put the birth of Christ at the center
of their programs. And, perhaps, you might
want to ignore any event that chooses to
ignore Christmas and stage a strictly secular
celebration. They deserve to be ignored.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is
frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can
be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/
gillispieonline.
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
P.O. Box 658
Hwy. 29 South
Danielsville, Georgia 30633
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc.
From fire to Facebook to fusion
Man’s first big technological
achievement was fire. And there’s
the belief that fire also sparked the
development of language and com
munity. People gathered around
the fire to eat and ward off preda
tors. Stories were told as the food
cooked. I wonder who cracked the
first joke. What was it and when
was it told? A lion, a llama and an
elk walk into a cave ... You can
imagine the development of group
humor, of the discovery of playing
the clown.
Eventually, someone got the idea
of putting stories on cave walls.
Later, phonetic symbols were cre
ated. And the written word was
developed. Literacy emerged out
of a long, dark tunnel. It was a
kind of miracle. Many years later,
in approximately 1440, Johannes
Gutenberg developed the print
ing press, an advancement that
pushed along the Enlightenment
and the ability to spread the writ
ten word to the masses. Now,
millions more could read the
Bible; the old religious order was
drastically altered. Now, men
and women could spread then-
art, their politics, their version of
events to an increasingly literate
and informed society, who could
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
interpret those writings and pass
them along, forming a new type
of tree of knowledge.
It's interesting how technology
fundamentally alters the world.
We've seen so many incredible
advancements in the past 150
years. Think of phones, cars, rail
roads, planes, electricity, medi
cine, radio, television, personal
computers, the Internet. I some
times think of that long rope of
human history and how so much
of it involved incremental and
localized improvements. For
instance, think of how big a deal
improved spearmaking was to
early people, how it helped them
survive. But think about how long
such improvements would take
to work around to faraway peo
ple. Any big innovation needed
decades or centuries to take hold
elsewhere. Now, new develop
ments are immediately patented,
manufactured and aggressively
marketed across the globe.
Usually the good far outweighs
the bad when man puts his mind
to a problem and succeeds. But for
any positive achievement, there is
also the potential devious use.
Fire was a life-affirming force. It
was also used to bum down your
enemy's hut.
Of course, there’s an impa
tience with those who fret over
rapid technological advancement.
Many chuckle at those who fear
technology. But even those who
love every next gadget must con
cede that we are in a period of
human history where everything
has changed so rapidly that no one
can really be sure what to make of
all this. There are countless luxu
ries that no one before us has ever
enjoyed. Try explaining Google
or Facebook — or all that came
before — to Abe Lincoln.We now
have the ability both to save many
lives, but also to end many lives
with our advanced know how.
And that has to give pause to any
one who actually puts down his
iPhone to think for a minute.
I write all this, having just read
a story in Newsweek about sci
entists at the National Ignition
Facility who hope to power the
planet with just a tiny pellet the
size of a multivitamin. They are
trying to use lasers to ignite a
sustainable fusion energy, the
same kind of energy that pow
ers the sun. Instead of splitting
an atom, they're trying to force
a "deuterium nucleus to merge,
or fuse, with a tritium nucleus.”
Beats me what that means. But a
new energy source would alter the
world. That much is clear. Critics
say fusion energy is a pipe dream
and a waste of taxpayer money.
But those who favor the research
point out that even if unsuccess
ful, the effort will lead to other
advancements, such as in laser
technology. And technology does
tend to work in a splintered way
like that.
I feel sure this century will
include the kind of rapid and pro
found change we saw over the
past 100 years. There are things
on the horizon we can’t imagine.
Hopefully, we'll harness that new
fire in a good way — and won't
bum down our huts.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Can Richardson hang on as speaker?
"So why did he really do
it?" I’ve been asked that ques
tion many times since the news
broke that House Speaker Glenn
Richardson had tried to commit
suicide by taking an overdose of
sleeping pills.
The most truthful answer I can
give is: I don’t know. And really,
who can ever understand just
what pushes somebody to that
ultimate step of trying to end it
all?
I am inclined to believe that
part of the answer was given by
Richardson in the statement he
released when he disclosed his
suicide attempt:
"For the past two and a half
years, ever since my separation
and divorce, I have stmggled
with the disease of depression,"
Richardson said. "While depres
sion often seems to be resolved
on occasion, when personal tri
als or tribulations arise, it flares
back up. That is what occurred
with me. My depression became
so severe that I took substantial
steps to do harm to myself and to
take my own life."
There has been a lot of media
coverage of Richardson’s behav
ior since he became speaker near
ly five years ago. He was accused
in a 2007 ethics complaint of
having an inappropriate relation
ship with an Atlanta Gas Light
lobbyist. The complaint was dis
missed but a few months after
ward, Richardson’s wife divorced
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
him.
From casual remarks I have
heard him make over the years,
I think Richardson cares very
deeply about his three children.
Divorce is always hardest on the
kids, so it's reasonable to believe
that the speaker is distressed
about the impact on his family.
All of those things can take a toll
on a person's emotional well
being.
There could be other problems
weighing down on Richardson as
well. Along with Congressman
Phil Gingrey, Richardson is on
the board of directors of a trou
bled Paulding County bank that
has more problem loans and fore
closed property than capital on
hand to cover potential losses.
Richardson’s close friend and
political ally, Rep. Earl Ehrhart of
Cobb County, was a board mem
ber of Georgian Bank, which
went belly-up in September from
major losses associated with the
collapse of the real estate mar
ket.
Will Richardson’s personal
issues cause political problems
for him in the Legislature?
One state newspaper, The
Brunswick News, has already
said Richardson should step
down as speaker because of the
stress caused by his depression.
"Given the trauma in Rep.
Richardson's life, given his
attempt at suicide just weeks ago
and given the tremendous rev
enue problems pressing down
hard on the state and its taxpayers
in all 159 counties today, it would
be best for all concerned for
Richardson to resign as Speaker
of the House," the newspaper
editorialized.
Richardson is obviously deter
mined to hang on to what is one
of the most powerful positions in
Georgia politics.
"He intends to continue serv
ing as speaker," said his spokes
man, Marshall Guest, when asked
about Richardson’s plans. Three
days after disclosing the suicide
attempt, Richardson even trav
eled to South Georgia to appear at
a fund-raiser for Rep. Ed Rynders
(R-Albany).
While some conversations are
being held behind the scenes,
there haven’t been any public
demands from other Republican
House members to replace
Richardson, at least for the
moment. There was a challenge
to his leadership last year when
Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue
Ridge) ran against Richardson
for speaker, but Ralston could
only muster support from about
25 House members.
Recent history suggests that the
state's voters tend to be very for
giving of politicians who have
personal problems similar to
those of Richardson.
In 2004, state Sen. Renee
Unterman of Gwinnett County
was in the middle of a hostile
divorce proceeding when she
passed out from a drug overdose
and spent some time recovering
in a clinic near Boston. Several
media outlets reported unflatter
ing details from the various court
documents filed in that divorce
case.
Even with all of the negative
publicity, none of Unterman’s
legislative colleagues demanded
that she withdraw from her Senate
race. She was reelected to new
terms in 2004, 2006 and 2008
with little or no opposition. She is
still in the state Senate today.
Just as Unterman continues to
serve, Richardson can probably
hang on to the reins of power as
House speaker for a while. At this
point in time, it doesn’t look like
those situations will change.
Tom Crawford is the editor of
Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report,
an Internet news service at www.
gareport.com that covers govern
ment and politics in Georgia. He
can be reached at tcrawford@
capitolimpact.net.
Letters to the Editor
What a joy in mentoring
Dear Editor:
I was Justin Scott’s mentor last year.
Since my husband is not doing well, I had
not thought of sharing again with Justin.
The second week of school I received a
phone call from Shirley Aaron, director of
the Madison County Mentor Program. She
stated Justin Scott asked that I share with
him this year. I’ve been able to see Justin
twice a week. He’s made such a difference
Dear Editor:
Well, giving blood is a fun experience.
First, you will sit there and fill out a little
paperwork. After that, they call you back.
You have to answer a couple of questions.
Then, they take a small amount of blood to
check for iron in your blood. If you don’t
have enough, they send you away. If you have
enough, they send you back.
When you get back in the room and wait for
in my life. We all know if we don’t use
our mind we lose our thinking skills. He’s
teaching me so much about world history,
the subject he failed last year.
What a thrill it will be when Justin Scott
graduates in two years.
Sincerely,
Jean Desso
Mentor
Madison County High School
a chair to open. Once it opens, you sit down.
Then they look for your veins. Once they find
them, they take a needle and stick it in your
vein. You will sit there and wait as your bag
fills up. Once it does, you will go sit at a table
and get a snack. You will sit there for about 30
minutes. Then you go back to class.
Sincerely,
Justin Scott
MCHS student
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Giving blood is a fun experience