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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-03-12, Page 5A tough bunch of cookies Poor David Alan-Williams. All he really wanted was to immerse himself in cold water for a couple of weeks, but he's landed in a vat of hot water instead. Alan-Williams is a veteran British yachtsman. Next May, he plans to re-enact the discovery of Newfoundland by sailing a replica of a 15th century sailing ship all the way from Portsmouth, Eng. to St. John's, Nfld. That's what's got him in hot water. Last month, Alan-Williams unveiled the 19-man crew he’s selected to help him make the voyage. "Man" is the operative word in that sentence - there's nary a woman on deck. You'd think that wouldn't bother anybody. After all, there weren't any women crew members on the ships of Cabot, Champlain or Eric the Red. Alas, great umbrage was taken by various feminist members of the British sailing frat/sorority. They denounced the skipper for sex discrimination - and then Alan-Williams really put his foot in it by declaring that women weren't tough enough to endure such a voyage. David, David, David ... where have you International Scene Borders in Africa If you are able to come across a map of Africa printed before the end of World War I (1918), you will see that almost the entire continent belonged to one of the European nations. The British controlled more countries than anybody else, followed closely by the French but there were also parts held by Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and Italy. Given that the continent has immense natural wealth, the colonial nations were able to extract considerable quantities of raw materials with which to improve their standard of living at home. In the aftermath of World War II the same colonial nations started to divest themselves of their holdings. The British were probably the most liberal in their politics, the French hung in as long as they could while the Portuguese were literally driven out. The Germans were turfed out right after World War I while the Italians had to give up their colonies because they chose to back the Germans in World War II. Belgium and Spain got out when it became apparently clear that they were no longer welcome. South Africa was a special case. When its apartheid policy became unacceptable to the other members of the British Commonwealth, it was kicked out of the club and for a number of decades was something of an odd man out. Practicing a policy of white supremacy, it was, of course, thoroughly hated by the black nations and only with the advent of Nelson Mandela and been living? Are you sure that you're the veteran British sailor the newspapers say you are? Your grasp of nautical history is a little shaky. Haven't you heard of Madame Ching? There's a gal who could have stood the gaff - not to mention your guff. Madame Ching was a Chinese pirate who roamed the seas back in the early 19th century picking off fat galleons and treasure-heavy sloops. She didn't make her captives walk the plank, she added them - and their ships - to her fleet. At one point Madame Ching commanded a flotilla of 1,600 vessels. How tough was she? Tough enough to knock off the Imperial Fleet of China. The Chinese emperor sent his entire navy under the command of his best admiral to capture Madame Ching. Madame Ching whipped him so thoroughly that the admiral committed suicide in disgrace. About the same time that Madame Ching was ruling the waves by waiving the rules, there was a comely wench named Maria Cobham sailing the very North Atlantic that David Alan-Williams plans to navigate this spring. Maria was not a nice person - even by pirates' thuggish standards. She made a habit of stabbing, poisoning and/or whipping any seamen she captured. Unless they were officers. Maria Cobham had special treatment for officers. By Raymond Canon the abandonment of the racist policies has it found its way back into the mainstream of African politics. It might be thought that, once the Africa nations had thrown off the colonist yoke, all might be smooth sailing. Alas, that has not turned out to be the case. There is literally not one country that has had anything approaching this brand of sailing and some are still in such choppy waters that they may capsize. One of the problems is that they had next to nothing in the way of experience in running their own country. Democratic elections were a novel experience to all of them and raw power was frequently a more dominating characteristic than the ballot box. Thus we got a series of strong men who practised anything but democracy, preferring instead to milk the country dry in order to amass a large personal fortune. If they got ejected, as some of them did, they could always go elsewhere to live on heir ill gotten gains. But the biggest obstacle has to be the fact that the old borders were not laid out according to tribal lines; they were not even taken into consideration. Thus we have the spectacle of some African countries being composed of a number of tribes which have next to nothing in common with each other. In some cases there is not even indifference but downright hatred. We have the spectacle of such small countries as Burundi and Rwanda breaking down into total anarchy as the Hutu and Tutsi tribes hammer each other with a ferocity which we find impossible to comprehend. Now this has spread over into Zaire and could well lead to the breakup of that country as well. She tied them to the mast and used them for target practice. I'd like to report that justice caught up with Maria the Pirate and that she finished her career at the end of a rope or languishing in some dungeon as a permanent guest of Her Majesty - I’d like to, but I can't. Fact is, Maria Cobham plied her murderous trade for 20 years, amassed a huge fortune and retired to a lavish chateau in France. That was not the case for Anne Bonney and Mary Read, two women who served in the crew of another pirate known as Calico Jack. Thing is, nobody abroad knew they were women - they both disguised themselves as men. Fate caught up with Anne and Mary off the coast of Jamaica in 1720. Their ship was trapped and boarded by sailors of the British Navy. Anne and Mary fought like banshees for hours but were eventually disarmed and arrested. The rest of their crew were strung up. The court pardoned Mary and Anne - because they were both pregnant. So I guess somebody knew there were women on board. But anyway you cut it, Anne, Mary, Maria and Madame Ching were a tough bunch of cookies. You’ve got to wonder if they would have considered David Alan-Williams tough enough to sail with any of them. Nigeria is another example of an ill- defined border. The country as it stands now, is made up of any number of tribes, with the south being mainly Christian and the north, Muslim. Older readers may recall the revolt of the Ibos in the southeast as they tried to break away and form their own country Biafra. Their efforts came to naught and now they are still chaffing under the rule of the same clique they rebelled against. Africans have not even come to terms with driving. In fact, there is an old saying on that continent that, if you see a man driving in a straight line, he must be drunk. There are 25 per cent more deaths by accident in Africa than in the United Stales, although there are 35 per cent fewer Americans than there are Africans. Perhaps one of the reasons for this can be gleaned from the fact that the word maintenance does not exist in some African languages. With so many strikes against them, it is not surprising that there are few success stories on that continent. Certainly rearranging the borders might help but that is only part of the problem. What help we do give them is frequently misguided, and it is difficult to know just how much stick and how much carrot to use in bringing about proper levels of growth and co-operation. A Final Thought Many times the reading of a book has made the future of a man — Ralph Waldo Emerson THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12,1997 PAGE 5. The Short of it By Bonnie Gropp I could use a free coffee I want to begin this column by stating very emphatically that I have nothing but tremendous respect for senior citizens. Some of my most enjoyable conversations have been with them. I appreciate their sacrifices and tenacity during wars and the Depression. I admire their work ethic and time-acquired wisdom. But, through no fault of their own, there is an aspect of their standing in this society, emphasized to me on several occasions recently, that quite frankly, annoys me. Let's begin with a comment expressed to me with only a slight degree of variance by three different septugenarians on three different occasions. "I just hope there's enough money left in the Canada Pension Plan to see us through. After all, we paid into it all our lives." Wrong. The CPP was started in 1966 to produce a pension plan worth billions of dollars. However, as the eligiblity numbers increase, benefits for future generations are threatened. Put simply, my mother, who paid into it for roughly a decade has reaped its benefits since 1981, while I who made my first CPP contribution when I was 17 may never see a penny in return. Then there are the percs for seniors. True, after 50 years of working, contributing and helping build this country, they are entitled to some special treatment. With aging, health deteriorates and financial assistance with costly drugs and medications is fair. But discounts for entertainment, clothes and dining establishments seem not just unneccesary, but poor marketing strategy on the behalf of business owners. For example a large department store coffee shop offers a regular "free muffin and coffee for seniors day". "They appreciate all we've done and want to let us know," one senior explained to me when I asked her why. "No," I answered, "they want to get you in the store so you will spend some money. What they don't realize is that I’m the type of person they should attract because I'm buying for six, you only buy for one." And seldom do, as the seniors I know have everything they need and most of what they want. Oh, sure there are places savvy enough to come up with ideas like 'cheap night' at the movies or 'kids dine free when accompanied by an adult'. But there are actually few freebies for a busy, harried working mother of four today — because we have it all, right? And even if we don't we have to pay our dues before we reap rewards. That wouldn't matter, except the problem is I've been told there won't be any. Our parents deserve the gold in their golden years. And perhaps it is my bias that makes me sensitive, but I still think the middle-age boomers get a bum rap. Our parents worked hard for less money, but it was at a time when the cost of living was considerably lower. Generally they had job security and the prospect of a comfortable future. They are honoured and lauded for their contributions. Boomers on the other hand, get little credit for anything but over-population. We struggle to give our families a good start, faced with not just an uncertain future, but never knowing when the guillotine will fail and we'll lose our present source of income. I don't know about you, but every once in a while I would appreciate a free coffee and muffin, too.