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The inevitable end result of our last 56 years


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9 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

Not quite correct, John.

If you read what I wrote, my negative "judgment" is mainly about the sectarian violence (depicted in Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical film, Belfast) and the IRA's civilian bombings-- as in the case of the Harrods department store bombing.  In his memoir, Surrender, Bono also described narrowly avoiding a deadly IRA bomb attack in Dublin when he was a teenager. 

And, as I mentioned, (above) there was a bomb threat against the train that my wife and I rode from Dublin to Belfast in September of 1990-- an Irish train on Irish soil!  It was puzzling to me at the time.  Why were they threatening to bomb an Irish train with civilian passengers?  (I didn't know if the guys making the threats were IRA partisans or Protestants from Northern Ireland.)

So, I haven't passed judgment on the movement for Irish independence, per se, but on violence against civilians.

As for U2, I never realized that Bono had been denounced by Gerry Adams and the IRA until I read his memoir recently, along with your commentaries about U2 and Irish sentiment toward the band.

As for the Russian Federation, I have followed its history with considerable interest, since I have been a member of the Russian Orthodox Church for the past quarter century, a Russophile.

The evidence of Russian bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine has been quite convincing, IMO -- well-documented by photographs and videos.  The first thing I posted about it here on the forum last March was about the bombing of a residential apartment building in Kyiv.  I was shocked and appalled.

Do you doubt the evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine?

William,

The Wikipedia article below about the Dublin bombing and related matters exposes Bono’s disingenuous “West Brit” (aka Quisling) bias. His shameless and indeed treacherous duplicity is disgraceful.

Why are you so persistently refusing to acknowledge the truth in these respects?

Wikipedia article:

The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of co-ordinated bombings in counties Dublin and MonaghanIreland. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later. They killed 33 civilians and injured almost 300. The bombings were the deadliest attack of the conflict known as the Troubles,[2] and the deadliest attack in the Republic's history.[3] Most of the victims were young women, although the ages of the dead ranged from 19 up to 80 years.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group from Northern Ireland, claimed responsibility for the bombings in 1993. It had launched a number of attacks in the Republic since 1969. The month before the bombings, the British government had lifted the UVF's status as a proscribed organisation.

The bombings happened during the Ulster Workers' Council strike. This was a general strike called by hardline loyalists and unionists in Northern Ireland who opposed the Sunningdale Agreement. Specifically, they opposed the sharing of political power with Irish nationalists, and the proposed role for the Republic in the governance of Northern Ireland. The Republic's government had helped bring about the Agreement. The strike brought down the Agreement and the Northern Ireland Assembly on 28 May.

No one has ever been charged with the bombings. A campaign by the victims' families led to an Irish government inquiry under Mr. Justice Henry Barron. His 2003 report criticised the Garda Síochána's investigation and said the investigators stopped their work prematurely.[4] It also criticised the Fine Gael/Labour government of the time for its inaction and lack of interest in the bombings.[4] The report said it was likely that British security force personnel or MI5 intelligence was involved but had insufficient evidence of higher-level involvement. However, the inquiry was hindered by the British government's refusal to release key documents.[5] The victims' families and others are continuing to campaign to this day for the British government to release these documents.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_and_Monaghan_bombings

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  • Benjamin Cole

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  • Douglas Caddy

    1990

  • W. Niederhut

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  • Steve Thomas

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11 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

I never understood chortling about prison rape. That is a funny topic? 

I have read your posts and it appears that you don't understand a lot of things, such as the difference between what is funny and what is ironic. 

It is ironic that this Republican hypocrite who used his public office to spread hate against gay people is now facing criminal prosecution and if found guilty and convicted will find him incarcerated with other felons without morals who may make him their toy boy. There is nothing funny about prison rape and there is nothing funny about spreading hate against gays.

Ray Hill, a convicted felon, had a subsequent case, City of Houston vs. Hill, heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled 8 to 1 in his favor. He used my apartment in Houston on occasion to counsel young persons convicted of a criminal charge as to what to face in prison and how to deal with it. People in prison talk about the free world, which is the outside world, which is far different from their inside world where rape occurs.

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37 minutes ago, Douglas Caddy said:

I have read your posts and it appears that you don't understand a lot of things, such as the difference between what is funny and what is ironic. 

It is ironic that this Republican hypocrite who used his public office to spread hate against gay people is now facing criminal prosecution and if found guilty and convicted will find him incarcerated with other felons without morals who may make him their toy boy. There is nothing funny about prison rape and there is nothing funny about spreading hate against gays.

Ray Hill, a convicted felon, had a subsequent case, City of Houston vs. Hill, heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that ruled 8 to 1 in his favor. He used my apartment in Houston on occasion to counsel young persons convicted of a criminal charge as to what to face in prison and how to deal with it. People in prison talk about the free world, which is the outside world, which is far different from their inside world where rape occurs.

An entirely depressing topic. The irony is minute, the ghastliness large.

Is "boy toy" a reasonable expression for a human being---any human being---subjected to routine rape? 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said:

An entirely depressing topic. The irony is minute, the ghastliness large.

Is "boy toy" a reasonable expression for a human being---any human being---subjected to routine rape? 

 

 

I don't think Douglas would say that about Britney Griner.. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-11516861/WNBA-star-Brittney-Griner-RELEASED-Russia-1-1-prisoner-swap.html

REVEALED: Saudi Crown Prince MBS led talks to help Biden free Brittney Griner in prisoner swap with 'Merchant of Death' Viktor Bout - that left Paul Whelan behind: WNBA star and arms dealer WALKED PAST each other on UAE airport tarmac

  • WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian penal colony
  • The Biden Administration struck a deal for a prisoner swap with the Kremlin
  • The United States is returning arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia
  • President Joe Biden said Griner was 'in good spirits' while on a plane home during remarks at the White House on Thursday morning 
  • American military veteran Paul Whelan remains in detention, which Biden noted 
  • GOP Rep. Mike Waltz accused White House of putting 'celebrities over veterans'
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15 hours ago, John Cotter said:

William,

Why do you, Bono, numerous Hollywood celebrities and others cheer on armed resistance against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, yet condemn armed resistance against British imperialism in Ireland?  

John,

As an American, I have no stake in the Irish question. From the 1960s onward, we were told on our nightly news that the conflict there was between Catholics and Protestants, two "sects," if you will, of Christianity. It was never [or seldom] brought up that independence of ALL Ireland may have been the impetus for the violence. We were, for the most part, never told the truth.

I have ancestors who were both Irish and Scotch-Irish. I also believe that Great Britain/England has no business having sovereignty over any portion of what should be a united Ireland. And now knowing that we have been fed half-truths, partial truths, and outright lies about Ireland, I'm of the opinion that the entirety of Ireland should be ruled by the Irish alone.

On the Irish side of my ancestry, William de Burgh, Lord of Connacht, Governor of Wexford, and founder of the de Burgh/Burke/Bourke dynasty in Ireland, is my 21st great-grandfather. And Toridelbach O'Briain (c. 1009-1086), High King of Ireland, is my 25th great-grandfather. On the Scottish side of my ancestry, Robert I the Bruce is my 18th great-grandfather.

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- Kellyanne Conway -

“He [John Fetterman] put the marijuana flag up. He thought that was funny. He’s trolling his opponent,” Conway added. “Here’s what’s not funny: that there has been a doubling of overdose deaths in Pennsylvania.”

 

There haven’t been this many deaths since the Bowling Green massacre.

Steve Thomas

 

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3 hours ago, John Cotter said:

William,

The Wikipedia article below about the Dublin bombing and related matters exposes Bono’s disingenuous “West Brit” (aka Quisling) bias. His shameless and indeed treacherous duplicity is disgraceful.

Why are you so persistently refusing to acknowledge the truth in these respects?

Wikipedia article:

The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of co-ordinated bombings in counties Dublin and MonaghanIreland. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later. They killed 33 civilians and injured almost 300. The bombings were the deadliest attack of the conflict known as the Troubles,[2] and the deadliest attack in the Republic's history.[3] Most of the victims were young women, although the ages of the dead ranged from 19 up to 80 years.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group from Northern Ireland, claimed responsibility for the bombings in 1993. It had launched a number of attacks in the Republic since 1969. The month before the bombings, the British government had lifted the UVF's status as a proscribed organisation.

The bombings happened during the Ulster Workers' Council strike. This was a general strike called by hardline loyalists and unionists in Northern Ireland who opposed the Sunningdale Agreement. Specifically, they opposed the sharing of political power with Irish nationalists, and the proposed role for the Republic in the governance of Northern Ireland. The Republic's government had helped bring about the Agreement. The strike brought down the Agreement and the Northern Ireland Assembly on 28 May.

No one has ever been charged with the bombings. A campaign by the victims' families led to an Irish government inquiry under Mr. Justice Henry Barron. His 2003 report criticised the Garda Síochána's investigation and said the investigators stopped their work prematurely.[4] It also criticised the Fine Gael/Labour government of the time for its inaction and lack of interest in the bombings.[4] The report said it was likely that British security force personnel or MI5 intelligence was involved but had insufficient evidence of higher-level involvement. However, the inquiry was hindered by the British government's refusal to release key documents.[5] The victims' families and others are continuing to campaign to this day for the British government to release these documents.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_and_Monaghan_bombings

John,

     I asked you (above) to clarify the history of the sectarian strife and civilian terrorist attacks in Ireland for those of us in the U.S. who are not familiar with the details, and I appreciate reading your latest post here on the subject. 

    As I surmised, the civilian attacks have been perpetrated by both the Protestant partisans in Northern Ireland and, in some cases, by the IRA (e.g., the Harrods bombing.)  I still don't know which side made bomb threats against the train that my wife and I rode from Dublin to Belfast in September of 1990.

    Not sure why you keep inaccurately claiming that I "refuse to acknowledge the truth" about the violence in Ireland.

    On the contrary, I have merely been seeking to learn the truth-- an old habit of mine.

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PSE substations among five attacked in Pacific Northwest in November

Dec. 7, 2022 at 5:37 pm Updated Dec. 8, 2022 at 8:30 am

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/pse-substations-among-five-attacked-in-pacific-northwest-in-november/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_inset_1.1

By Lauren Girgis and Hal Bernton

 

“At least five attacks at electricity substations in Washington and Oregon, including two at Puget Sound Energy substations, have been reported to the FBI in recent weeks.

Spokespeople for Puget Sound Energy, the Cowlitz County Public Utility District and Bonneville Power Administration confirmed the attacks happened in November, according to emails sent in response to Seattle Times inquiries.

The FBI declined to confirm it is investigating the attacks, but the utilities say they are cooperating with a federal investigation.”

 

Are we at war?

Steve Thomas

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4 hours ago, Mark Knight said:

John,

As an American, I have no stake in the Irish question. From the 1960s onward, we were told on our nightly news that the conflict there was between Catholics and Protestants, two "sects," if you will, of Christianity. It was never [or seldom] brought up that independence of ALL Ireland may have been the impetus for the violence. We were, for the most part, never told the truth.

I have ancestors who were both Irish and Scotch-Irish. I also believe that Great Britain/England has no business having sovereignty over any portion of what should be a united Ireland. And now knowing that we have been fed half-truths, partial truths, and outright lies about Ireland, I'm of the opinion that the entirety of Ireland should be ruled by the Irish alone.

On the Irish side of my ancestry, William de Burgh, Lord of Connacht, Governor of Wexford, and founder of the de Burgh/Burke/Bourke dynasty in Ireland, is my 21st great-grandfather. And Toridelbach O'Briain (c. 1009-1086), High King of Ireland, is my 25th great-grandfather. On the Scottish side of my ancestry, Robert I the Bruce is my 18th great-grandfather.

Thank you, Mark. Your sympathetic reply is much appreciated. That’s some pedigree you’ve got.

I suspect that the last man to be publicly hanged in Ireland, Timothy Cotter (Tadhg Mac Oitir), a leader of agrarian agitation against landlordism in the 1820s, is a member of my extended family tree. A different sort of royalty perhaps.

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4 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

John,

     I asked you (above) to clarify the history of the sectarian strife and civilian terrorist attacks in Ireland for those of us in the U.S. who are not familiar with the details, and I appreciate reading your latest post here on the subject. 

    As I surmised, the civilian attacks have been perpetrated by both the Protestant partisans in Northern Ireland and, in some cases, by the IRA (e.g., the Harrods bombing.)  I still don't know which side made bomb threats against the train that my wife and I rode from Dublin to Belfast in September of 1990.

    Not sure why you keep inaccurately claiming that I "refuse to acknowledge the truth" about the violence in Ireland.

    On the contrary, I have merely been seeking to learn the truth-- an old habit of mine.

William,

John Lennon’s song “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” and Paul McCartney’s song “Give Ireland Back to the Irish, both written in 1972 in response to the massacre of unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry that year by British soldiers, express the obvious reality that the root cause of the Northern Ireland problem was and is British imperialism.

You don’t need a degree in Irish history or an in-depth study of that subject to understand that reality. Yet “West Brit” Bono and his fellow Quislings deny that reality, presumably because to acknowledge it might alienate some sections of their Anglo-American market.

The following little piece of Irish history further illuminates the aforementioned reality.

100 years ago the British decided that the Northern Ireland statelet would contain six counties – not four, five, seven or eight. That was to ensure that NI would be (a) big enough to be viable and (b) small enough to have a permanent Protestant/Unionist majority.*

The result of that diabolical decision was that essentially, NI was a sectarian Protestant state and southern Ireland was a sectarian Catholic state. Thus, with the stroke of a pen, the British wreaked at least 100 years of havoc on the two parts of Ireland. That’s how imperialism works.

 

*The fact that in Northern Ireland the Catholics/nationalists have since outbred the Protestants/unionists and now outnumber them has somewhat complicated things, to put it mildly.

Edited by John Cotter
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12 minutes ago, John Cotter said:

William,

John Lennon’s song “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” and Paul McCartney’s song “Give Ireland Back to the Irish, both written in 1972 in response to the massacre of unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry that year by British soldiers, express the obvious reality that the root cause of the Northern Ireland problem was and is British imperialism.

You don’t need a degree in Irish history or an in-depth study of that subject to understand that reality. Yet “West Brit” Bono and his fellow Quislings deny that reality, presumably because to acknowledge it might alienate some sections of their Anglo-American market.

The following little piece of Irish history further illuminates the aforementioned reality.

100 years ago the British decided that the Northern Ireland statelet would contain six counties – not four, five, seven or eight. That was to ensure that NI would be (a) big enough to be viable and (b) small enough to have a permanent Protestant/Unionist majority.*

The result of that diabolical decision was that essentially, NI was a sectarian Protestant state and southern Ireland was a sectarian Catholic state. Thus, with the stroke of a pen, the British wreaked at least 100 years of havoc on the two parts of Ireland. That’s how imperialism works.

 

*The fact that in Northern Ireland the Catholics/nationalists have since outbred the Protestants/unionists and now outnumber them has somewhat complicated things, to put it mildly.

Thanks for the additional history, John.

As I mentioned, (above) I understand, and sympathize, with Irish aspirations for independence and self-determination.

In Bono's defense, I have tended to interpret his songs as protests against political violence and murder.  I can see why that position might be construed as a betrayal by IRA partisans-- i.e., a lack of patriotic fervor.

Incidentally, the U2 anthem, New Year's Day, was written about Lech Walesa's Solidarnosc movement against Soviet imperialism in Poland.

It's interesting that Bono was raised by a Catholic father and Protestant mother in the Church of Ireland.  The implications and nuances are probably difficult for most of us in the U.S. to understand.

I'm reminded of a line in one of James Joyce's novels (either Ulysses or Portrait of the Artist) where someone asked Stephen Dedalus if he had considered converting to Protestantism, and he replied, "I haven't lost all self respect, you know."

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Looks like Vlad is planning on escaping alive...

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/vladimir-putin-is-preparing-to-flee-to-venezuela-when-russia-implodes-ex-aide-abbas-gallyamov-says

 

Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his cronies already have a plan in place to flee the country once things go sideways, a former aide to the Russian president has claimed.

Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin, made the astounding claim on Telegram early Wednesday, citing an unnamed source that he said had “insider” information on the whole affair.

The evacuation plan, according to Gallyamov, got underway back in the spring, when it was unofficially dubbed “Noah’s Ark.”

“As the name implies, it’s about a search for new land to go to in case it becomes completely uncomfortable in the homeland. The leader’s entourage has not ruled out that he will lose the war, be stripped of power, and have to urgently evacuate somewhere,” Gallyamov wrote. 

Putin’s inner circle first considered a plan to evacuate to China, Gallyamov said, but later thought better of it, fearing the chances of “cooperation” from the Chinese were slim, especially since they despise “losers.” Now, he said, the focus has shifted to either Argentina or Venezuela, with Putin ally Igor Sechin currently overseeing an evacuation plan for the latter country.

The plan is so far along, Gallyamov said, that Sechin’s “right-hand man” at Rosneft “formally resigned” from the oil giant to handle “on-site work.”

Citing two sources close to the presidential administration and a source in Rosneft, the Telegram channel Mozhem Obyasnit also reports that high-ranking officials have already begun buying up real estate and working on getting residency rights in Venezuela. Those lower-ranking in the presidential administration and Russian government are seeking residency in Ecuador, Paraguay, and Argentina, according to that report.

In particular, a source was quoted saying, Russian officials have snatched up property on Venezuela’s Margarita Island, where they are confident they’ll be safe from extradition.

“The island of Margarita in Venezuela is their local Courchevel,” the source was quoted saying, comparing the would-be Kremlin hideout to the famous French Alps ski resort.

Conceding that he had no further details, Gallyamov said the sheer fact of an evacuation plan “is enough to understand” that “when they say ‘everything is going according to plan,’ it’s worth asking which one. They seem to have many more than one plan.”

His bombshell claims came as the Russian leader played down reports of record-low morale among Russian troops fed up with his fledgling war nine months after it started. Myriad reports have emerged in recent weeks of draftees fleeing their bases en masse after their complaints of shoddy equipment and supplies went ignored. And the rise of troops’ relatives publicly blasting the so-called “special military operation” has even led some experts to suggest it could be the tipping point to a full-blown civil war.

According to Putin, however, everything’s fine. 

“There are no problems with desertion in the zone of the [special military operation]. There were isolated incidents, but on the whole, there’s nothing like that. … Are there people who leave their positions? Yes, that has happened. It’s happening less and less,” Putin claimed Wednesday while meeting with members of the country’s human rights council.

He also denied reports by human rights groups that “camps” have been set up where hundreds of Russian defectors have been forcibly held in basements, claiming such reports are “fake.”

Warning that the war is likely to be a “long process,” Putin went on to hail the seizure of new Ukrainian territories (while failing to mention that Ukraine has already won some of them back) and offered an ominous outlook on the prospects of a nuclear war.

“Such a threat is growing. Why deny it?”

 
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38 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said:

Thanks for the additional history, John.

As I mentioned, (above) I understand, and sympathize, with Irish aspirations for independence and self-determination.

In Bono's defense, I have tended to interpret his songs as protests against political violence and murder.  I can see why that position might be construed as a betrayal by IRA partisans-- i.e., a lack of patriotic fervor.

Incidentally, the U2 anthem, New Year's Day, was written about Lech Walesa's Solidarnosc movement against Soviet imperialism in Poland.

It's interesting that Bono was raised by a Catholic father and Protestant mother in the Church of Ireland.  The implications and nuances are probably difficult for most of us in the U.S. to understand.

I'm reminded of a line in one of James Joyce's novels (either Ulysses or Portrait of the Artist) where someone asked Stephen Dedalus if he had considered converting to Protestantism, and he replied, "I haven't lost all self respect, you know."

As far as I can recall, Joyce also said that you may lapse but you should never turn. Another Irish writer, Brendan Behan, said with his typical irreverence that the Church of England was founded on the balls of Henry VIII.

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