The
Irish Times
is a major newspaper in Ireland. The weekend edition is published
each Saturday and includes a magazine with human-interest features on
celebrities, personalities, food, fashion, travel and gardening.
There's a comprehensive listing of TV programmes and a scattering of
ads. It provides the 'lifestyle' supplement to the news coverage in
the paper.
In
the pre-Christmas edition of 19th
December 2015, there is a one-page photographic feature entitled
Gifts
for Him.
It includes an image of a stainless steel self-winding watch by
Tiffany and Co., priced at 5, 650 euros.
Who
is the Him and has He no shame?
Has
the newspaper no shame?
They
sold me a dream of Christmas
They
sold me a silent night
The
front page stories concern strictures applying to judicial inquiries
into matters of serious public concern such as the banking crisis and
the sale of Sitserv, a private building services company that instals
water meters. There is also a story on bonuses paid to the partners
of officials in the police service's representative body.
Perhaps
Him received
one of those bonuses? Or benefitted from the sale of Sitserv? Or
escaped, quids in, when the banks re-invented themselves with public
money? On page 2 of the News
Agenda, there is the
statistic that the government
baled out one
bank with
20.8
billion euro of
public money,
of which the bank has repaid 1.64 billion euro. Is
Him a banker?
And
they told me a fairy story
Have
Him and
the government
no shame?
And
I believed in Father Christmas
And
I looked at the sky with excited eyes
On
page 9, in World News, there is a report from the UN that there are
60 million refugees in the world. It is also reported that there are
2.5 people with pending requests for asylum. Is Him among them?
They
said there'll be snow at Christmas
They
said there'll be peace on earth
But
instead it just kept on raining
The
political consequences of the suffering wrought by the flooding along
the river Shannon are considered on page 6. The human suffering is
not addressed in any detail, though there are assertions that
eliminating or preventing floods is no longer sustainable and that
the recent devastations are the results of Acts of God. So Him is not
responsible and can get on with admiring His new watch.
Has
Him no shame?
There
is report of a UN-backed road map for a Syrian peace process on page
10 in World News. Tensions exist between regional powers, Iran and
Saudi Arabia, who engage in proxy wars on behalf of allies further
afield. Iran and Russia line up with the Assad regime. Saudi Arabia
want that regime brought down, as do the western powers. What does
Him want? And what do the people of Syria want? Is Assad Him? Is Him
an arms' dealer?
I
wish you a hopeful christmas
I
wish you a brave new year
Has
Him no shame?
Have
Assad, the many militants and their arms' suppliers no shame?
Some
insight is offered on
page 11, in columnist Simon Carswell's American
Letter.
A man (Him?)
with business interests in casinos in Las
Vegas bought an influential American newspaper for 129 million euro. Could this be Him? Perhaps
Him
is closer to home. In Business News on page 17 there are details of
houses sold in Ireland in 2015 for 26.5 million euros, 10 million
euros,
7.5 million euros,
6.35 and 2.2 million euros.
It
is evident that Him has no shame. And will brazenly assert "Everyone wants a 10 million euros house and a 5 grand watch? Or if
they don't they're fools.”
Him
was at the auction for the personal effects belonging to Margaret
Thatcher, described in Fine Arts and Antiques, page 19, as her 'Free
market' triumphs. Michael Parson's column indicates that the
purchasers of the Iron Lady's memorabilia got real bargains,
including a pair of shoes which sold for over 4, 000 pounds sterling.
Him bought them? For Her?
A
veil of tears for the virgin's birth
Has
Her no shame?
The
ability to hold all the world together in a brazen, bare-faced,
shameless assertion of the current order is a miracle, a Christmas
miracle, that lasts the whole year round.
What
use is shame at this or any at any other time of the year?
Newspapers
like The Irish Times have a powerful capacity to hold a
compartmentalised range of material together and present it to
readers as if it were all of a piece, as if this is the only reality
that counts and that nothing jars. The ability of a newspaper to
encompass such a variety of stories and promotions is evidence of its
quality. It is how it is.
It
is the mechanism of the watch, complicated and complex, difficult to
unravel, a marvel to behold. It simply ticks along as Him would have
it.
The use of the word 'we' is an essential element. We
are all part of it. There is no shame in wanting a five grand watch or a ten
million euros house or a four grand pair of shoes. There is no
hypocrisy in such wants and, at the same time, the impulse to feel
bad about poor people who go hungry at Christmas.
It
is just the way things are. As told to us by Him.
'till
I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And
I saw Him and through his disguise
The
readers of The Irish Times, including this writer, are
brazenly capable of holding an image of a five grand watch together
with images of business corruption, banking collapses, flood
devastations and war catastrophes amidst rising profits for arms'
manufacturers, whilst not feeling the slightest degree of shame.
It's Christmas.
I
believe in Father Christmas; Emerson, Lake and Palmer
The
Irish Times; newspaper, Dublin, 19th December, 2015
www.facebook.com/DaveDugganWriter
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