PAGE 4A - THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2025
Opinions
‘Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost onmipotent."
Henry Ward Beecher
Be skeptical of the severe spring hype
WWI and WWII
By Mark
Jenkins
Before we get to the forecast for
spring, including severe weather,
let’s review our mild February.
After a top-ten cold January, we
actually finished February well
above normal in temperature. The
mean temperature last montli was
51.3 degrees, or 5 degrees above
average. This is despite a signifi
cant cold snap in the middle of the
montli that brought temperatures
into the upper teens across the
area. February was a “sandwich”
month, witli a very mild start (81
on the Sth), a cold to cliilly mid
dle, and a very mild end. This
continued our trend of mild Feb ¬
ruary’s in the last decade or more.
We have had only 2 below normal February’s in the last 10
years. For the winter we finished 0.7 degrees above average.
One factor that likely influenced our mild February was the
La Nina that finally appeared. While still weak, the La Nina
brought about the more zonal flow across the Soutli that kept
the cold mostly confined to the northern Plains to New En
gland. Areas from Virginia nortli to Maine finally liad several
significant snowfalls tliis winter along witli persistent cold.
Texas to the Carolinas was generally mild. You may have
seen some social media hype (whicli seems pretty common
these days) that we are headed for an epic severe weather
season this spring. While it is true that La Nina springs tend
to be generally more active for tornadoes than neutral or El
Nino springs, it isn’t always the case. Many of us remember
well the super outbreak of April, 2011 when 367 tornadoes
hit the southern and eastern states over a 4-day period. A
total of 348 people died in several states, including Georgia.
It was the worst outbreak ever recorded in the U.S. While a
significant tornado outbreak is certainly possible tliis spring,
I don’t think this year is going to mimic 2011. 2011 was a
moderate to strong La Nina, wliile this year is mucli weak
er. Winter of 2010-11 was quite cold wliile tliis winter was
average to mild. One year tliat was similar witli a weak La
Nina was 2006. But the winter was quite different and the
spring was one of the driest ever for our area. I actually like
the recent spring of 2018 as a more similar year (or “analog
year”). The La Nina tliat year was weak, and the winter was
almost a carbon copy of this past one. The severe season for
our area was pretty weak. In fact, we had only 11 days witli
thunderstorms for the entire spring in 2018. The most sig
nificant outbreak tliat year was on Marcli 19 and liit north
ern Alabama to the Atlanta area. The most active areas for
tornadoes in 2018 was in the Plains and Midwest. It should
be emphasized, liowever, that no two years are exactly the
same. Spring, 2018 was unusually cool, and severe storms
prefer lots of warm, moist air. As of now, it looks like spring
2025 will feature more ups and downs than persistent cool.
I would expect 2025 to be more active for us than 2018 was,
but not another 2011. As always, be severe weather aware.
If you don’t have it, get an alert system on your phone
that pings you when a watcli or warning is issued for your
county or area. NOAA weather radios will wake you up at
night when a warning is issued. Severe weather watches
and warnings should be taken seriously. If we have another
season like 2011 then I’ll be the first to admit that the scare-
mongers were correct. Keep alert, but don’t borrow trouble.
Weather averages for February, 2025: Avg. low: 40. Lowest:
18. Avg, high: 63. Highest: 81 (tied warmest ever in Febru
ary). Mean: 51.3 (+5.0). Ramfall: 5.12” (+0.49”). 2025 ram
total to February 28: 7.59” (-1.57”).
Unpacking
Hello, neighbors. One of the most difficult parts of any
trip is unpacking, in my opinion. I am the kind of traveler
who likes to use the accommodation’s drawers and closets
if they are available, so many trips see me unpacking twice.
Twice’t, as some Southerners might say. Putting away
clothes and sundries after arriving for any stay barely reg
isters on the to-do list. It is not nearly the mental hurdle of
doing the same once the trip is over, the travel bag stuffed
and glaring at me from my bedroom floor. Long drive, usu
ally tired, unpack yourself.
But, I prefer an unburdened mind, ready to be at ease once
any adventure ends. I rarely put off the task’s weight for
very long—the washing machine starts whirring as quick
ly as possible, items back in their places, suitcase empty
and stowed for next time. The same is true for my mental
journeys throughout the week: unpacking is important to
me, thougli I hardly make sucli frenzied, hurried efforts at
it compared to the resettlement at home described above.
Instead, quiet time in empty spaces dominate. Last week
was a very cluttered week for me witli daily events scatter
ing my mind and spirit. Perhaps those windy days played
a part, too; I certainly felt blown-about. I spent more time
beside a window, this time at school. My classroom—the
gym—gets uplifting natural light thanks to a bank of win
dows along the “playground wall.” In early spring, the
room brightens to a dim gray before gaining hints of rose,
all while the building sits relatively empty. I stood admiring
the pink-bottomed clouds a couple of times last week. All
was quiet, and my mind soon followed, uncluttered.
Oddly, the right kind of noise, blaring into my ears, has a
similar effect from time to time. Headphones on, car-clean
ing towels in hand, I wondered if my neighbors cared that
I sang loudly while I wiped
and buffed my vehicle’s
stand-out blue last week.
Someone left the invisible
gate between our spaces
open that day, I suppose.
I think I am generally a
good neighbor, and country
folk are kind to one another
anyway. Music, as noted in
previous columns, does take
me away and feed a strong
hunger. It certainly left me
full last week.
I know my efforts are not
singular to me. My dad does
combinations of chair yoga,
swimming, and walking at the Athens YMCA multiple times
a week. He breathes deeply. Mom spends time witli her
horse and horse-ing friends at the barn nearly every day. My
friend David dutifully walks Ellie, an energetic boxer pup,
mornings and evenings, two miles. Lee hugs Anson. Justin
and Matthew wear ruck-sacks filled witli weight. Heather
reads. The soccer girls gab and do Hair Salon/Beauty Parlor
on away game bus rides. I even had a fifth-grader explain
her “My 2025 Word Is...” to me last week—“mindfulness.”
She said she enjoys the Sun, the trees, the birds; they make
her remember how special and important she is.
They do the same for me, and maybe even you, too.
My hope is that you take care of yourself. Thank you for
making my life better, mindful moments.
Mindfiilly yours, Travis.
By Travis
Moak
Mike Collins and DOGE comes to Madison County
Dear Editor:
I am a retired Marine living very hap
pily in Comer, Georgia. After 37 years
of service overseas and in combat, I
returned home to Madison County and
my neighbors. During those many years
I did not once get involved in politics,
nor did I ever talk to my fellow Ma
rines about politics. Since all of us came
from different backgrounds and nobody
thinks exactly alike, it made sense to me
because we were building a team and
because we all took one oath: to protect
and defend the Constitution. In fact, all
active-duty service members are pro
hibited from political activity by regu
lations.
So, when I retired and came home,
I was very curious about politics. For
the last 10 years I have attended the
monthly meetings of both the Republi
can and Democratic parties, both held
in the Madison County Senior Center. I
am very glad and proud that I did. Both
meetings begin with the same pledge of
allegiance to our republic and the party
leaders and everyone on both sides are
welcoming. At every meeting I learned
something important from both sides.
But personally, I have not joined either
party. I prefer to vote for candidates I
trust, not just those picked by a party to
run.
Last Thursday, the 20th of February, I
attended the Republican Party meeting
as usual. But it was an unusual honor
to see national politics at work on the
local level. I had the opportunity meet
our Congressman, Mike Collins, who
had just been to Brunswick, Georgia,
working to fix serious infrastructure
problems at the port. On his way back
to Washington, he stopped by Daniels
ville to hear from the people of Madison
County. I took the opportunity to ask his
support for the courageous people of
Ukraine, explain that I trained with the
Ukrainian Marines and respect them,
and I asked him to visit Ukraine at the
first opportunity. He gave a brief report
to the meeting on his activities at Con
gress, including funding for Madison
County water projects, and answered
questions.
Finally, the meeting was given a pre
sentation by Scott, a local businessman
who is partnering with the billionaire
Elon Musk and his company GROK
AI (an Artificial Intelligence company)
to investigate Madison County govern
ments and, with the help of artificial in
telligence tools, to identify fraud, waste
and abuse. Scott reported that this is a
state-wide initiative called DOGE Geor
gia and that 59 other counties have al
ready established DOGE headquarters.
In response to a question, Scott said that
participation in DOGE Madison Coun
ty would be open to anyone, including
democrats. I hope the democrats partic
ipate. After all, DOGE follows a long
history of federal assistance programs
and will surely arrive and say, “Hello, I
am from the federal government, and I
am here to help.”
Sincerely,
Bruce Gandy, Col. USMC (Ret.)
Comer
“Back during the war ” I have overheard a mil
lion sentences start this way. When I was born, it had
only been five years since WWII was over. It was a re
ally big deal and it is still talked about today. However,
I did hear a lot about “the great war.” That was the first
World War. It started in 1914. That was 111 years ago.
People don’t know much about it today.
So, what was the first
country that declared war
in 1914? It is little known
but it was a combo country
called Austria-Hungary.
This was a monarchy made
up of twelve countries in
central Europe. None of it
exists today and my guess
is unless you live in that
region, nobody cares. One
of the archdukes got assas
sinated and then Germany
got involved and before
you knew it the entire
world was at war.
This war was the first
industrialized war. I remember seeing the pictures of
tanks that were used. One of these was in one of the
Indiana Jones movies. The battle of Verdun was the
biggest battle of that war between 1914 to 1918. It in
volved trench warfare. Talk about dumb. Nobody won
that battle and no territory of any consequence was
taken. It lasted ten months and there were over seven
hundred thousand casualties on both sides. Most of the
casualties in WWI were from artillery rather than any
other cause. Also, something that was later banned as a
weapon by all countries was the use of poisonous gas.
We got in it when the Lusitania, a passenger liner
ship, was sunk by a German submarine torpedo. An
other little-known fact is that we found out that Germa
ny was trying to get Mexico to ally with them against
the Western coalition. Also little known was that Japan
fought with England, France and America in that war.
Russia was also an ally in that war but were not
much help after 1917. That is because that was the
year of the Russian Revolution. After that started,
they were mostly fighting amongst themselves. Italy
was also part of the allies that were fighting Germany
and Austria-Hungary. The Central Empire, as it was
known was also made up of Bulgaria and the Ottoman
Empire (the Arabs).
For those who think they know about the great world
wars, it is generally not known that the United States
entered these conflicts very late. I often heard terms
like Yank used by British people. That was the name
we got when we joined the war. Doughboy was anoth
er name our soldiers got when we went to fight “Over
There”! There was the song, “Over there, over there,
send the word to beware. ‘Cause the Yanks are com
ing!”
Airplanes were used in that war but not much for
fighting. The great Baron Von Richthofen was shoot
ing down allied planes. He is probably the most fa
mous pilot of that war. Planes were almost always just
used for reconnaissance. If they dropped any bombs,
they were often just tossed over the side out of the
cockpit by hand.
With all these countries fighting and all these battles
going on, how did they move things around in 1914?
A little-known fact is that, from all the thirty coun
tries that declared war, there were sixty million sol
diers involved. Of those nine million did not make it.
Transportation was basically by train or behind some
of the over six million horses that were employed in
multiple ways. Most of these poor brutes were lost in
battle situations.
One more amazing results of this unbelievable event
is that this was a war that really did not end. Nobody
really surrendered or was totally defeated. There was
an armistice, which only meant that everybody got to
gether and agreed to stop fighting. Later there was the
treaty of Versailles, which dictated the terms of peace
and punished Germany. These onerous terms of peace
ultimately lead to WWII but that is a topic for another
day.
It is ironic that this conflict was called “The great
war” and “The war to end all wars.” Compared to the
one that was to come only twenty years later, the first
World War paled in comparison. If you study this histo
ry much, you become very aware of what Bob Dylan’s
words meant when he wrote “Biowin’ in the Wind.”
By Charlie
Snelling
Senior tax exemptions
Dear Editor:
Regarding exemptions for seniors from property
taxes by Madison County, we’ve been here before.
I am over 70 and could really, really benefit from
some property tax relief, but there are way more than
a few seniors in Madison County over 70 who are
quite well off and not in need of government assis
tance from the taxpayers of Madison County. Any
reductions should be based on need, not some blan
ket idea. I’m against this even though it would bene
fit me. It’s simply not fair. Find a better way to help
seniors in need and not on the backs of our school
children.
Sincerely,
Virginia Moss
Ila
The Madison County Journal
Danielsville, Madison County Georgia 30633
Merged with The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News, January 2006
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc.
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Go-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON Go-publisher
CALEB ROLLINS Editor
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
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Jefferson, Ga. 30549
The Official Legal Organ of Madison County, Georgia-Periodicals postage paid at
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