Source: Some Final Thoughts About The IRA’s ‘Human Bomb’ Tactic
Ike, JFK, and the Gettysburg Address
Ike at the lectern for the 100th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address (photo courtesy The Gettysburg Times)
Today is the anniversary of the death of President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1969. In commemoration, we offer the intertwined story of Ike, JFK, Lincoln, and the Gettysburg Address.
* * *
For the 100th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, the Centennial Commission and National Park Service invited President John F. Kennedy to come to south-central Pennsylvania and offer a few appropriate remarks. Renowned for his writing almost as much as Lincoln was—Kennedy had won the Pulitzer Prize in 1957 and his inaugural address had become an instant classic—the president seemed the ideal choice for such an auspicious occasion. He had also visited the battlefield earlier that year, in March, and had enjoyed himself tremendously.
Kennedy demurred on a return trip, however. He had already committed to attend a…
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A Memory Of One Of Martin McGuinness’ Previous Visits To Derry’s Republican Plot
Thinking About The Irish Brigade At Antietam
Overlooking the Sunken Road and Attack Fields from the observation tower. (Photography by author.)
Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a day many folks find something from Ireland to enjoy. I have two traditions on the unofficial holiday: wear a little green and remember the Irish-American contributions during the Civil War. Last year, I wrote about Irish music in America during the 19th Century. This year I find myself remembering Meagher’s Irish Brigade at Antietam. Looking through my photo files and remembering that humidly hot day at the battlefield, I recalled those thoughts and feelings experienced while walking near the brigade’s battle position.
Overwhelmed. The single word to describe my six hour visit to Antietam National Battlefield. There are times we visit battlefields and historic sites for research or armed with a thousand pages of knowledge. There are other times we arrive at hallowed ground with basic knowledge and the desire…
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Gone For A Soldier: Journeys of Irish American Music & Patriotism
![Johnny Is Gone for a Soldier. (1862) Sep. Winner, Philadelphia. [Notated Music] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200001462.](https://petersefton.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1652-e1458061232237.jpg)
Johnny Is Gone for a Soldier. (1862) Sep. Winner, Philadelphia. [Notated Music] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200001462. The journey of Irish songs now woven into the collections of traditional American music represents the journeys of the Irish people and how music and a war intertwined to bring the Irish immigrants into a more positive light in 19th Century America.
The war-song Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier is a hallmark of folk music, and, though usually associated with the American War for Independence, it was also known and sung during the Civil War. The song is closely related the Irish song Shule Agra which is believed to have been created during the 1600’s. At some point in the next century, the English and Americans begged, borrowed, or stole the tune and foundational lyrics to create Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier. On both sides of the…
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1. So, what’s this “Marine A” malarkey all about then? Marine A, or Sgt Alexander Blackman, today succeeded in his appeal against his conviction for murdering a wounded Taliban insurgent whilst on a tour of Afghanistan in 2011. The Court Martial Appeal Court (CMAC) quashed his conviction for murder and substituted a conviction for manslaughter on the grounds of […]
via The Marine A judgment – a handy 10-point guide — The Secret Barrister
Case Law, Northern Ireland: Galloway v Frazer, Google Inc (YouTube) and Ors, the Kitchen Sink against the “Internet Behemoth” – Ashley Hurst and Emma Cross
“Gripping the IRA”
Much has been said about the security triumph which, the Brits say, halted the IRA and led to the Good Friday agreement.
In late 1988 a different picture was being painted by the Security Coordination Department of the Foreign Office. In a letter to the Northern Ireland Office , Ivor Roberts said that “MPSB, Box 500 and the RUC each have their role on the intelligence side”. He remarked that Operation Flavius was the exception rather than the rule and that operational matters such as the Eksund follow up are also “uncoordinated”. He said that the Security Service ” rarely get round to telling us what we want to know”.
Operation Flavius was the shooting of three IRA members in Gibraltar. Roberts complained that nobody would tell him of the detailed provenance of the Eksund’s cargo. On the latter point, the cargo came from Libya but it is very likely that the Secret Intelligence Service and possibly the Security Service had agents among those who purchased the arms and particularly the Semtex in Libya. This may well explain the reluctance of HMG to press for compensation for those killed and injured by PIRA Semtex bombs.
There were also issues between the Foreign Office and security coordination.
He characterised the position as “entrenched interests”.
He had no solution to propose, reflecting that the responsible ministers “are not, of course without their own vested interests.”
The image is of each party, RUC, Army and MI5 ploughing its own furrow, to the detriment of security. It gives further credence, of course, to the case that many killings and other operations were carried out by one arm of the State, unknown to another. Collusion by the State was not directed just against Republicans.
My life in a banana republic. Election edition
Jambo!
When I came to this statelet, my new friends were offended when I described it , after many of your Guinness as a “banana republic without the bananas”.
I thought this too harsh , after I recovered from my three day hangover. Was this not the land of Percy French, Seamus Heaney, Brian Moore and Jimmy Nesbitt?
Did not the citizens of this city , many years ago, oppose slavery?
Yet something reminded me of home.
Is it politicians blaming civil servants?
Is it civil servants blaming their underlings? Is there a stench of the pork barrel again?
Is it a combination of both?
What goes on in the household of Emma Aardvaak Pengelly Little? What is their conversation at the tea time?
“How are the little people today dear?”
“They are making fun of you and your party, but I have let them have a whiff of grapeshot”
“Good for you dear. They will complain of all sorts of things, never mind death. Why can’t they live on a tenth of what we earn? My father earns nothing, he toils not, neither does he spin, yet his life is arrayed like a multi coloured St Anne’s robe”
“Oh Emma, I love it when you talk like that”
But I transgress.
Here at CRAP we are in a turmoil. Who will pay our not inconsiderable expenses after March?
Who will rule us?
In moments like this I turn to my friend , Dingle. He has seen it all before.
“Ulster is at the cross roads “, he said .
“Did you make that up?” I asked.
He smiled enigmatically.
Jambo!
The “Rape Shield” Bill is well-intentioned, meaningless and dangerous
Like the tide or the relentless ignorance of Iain Duncan Smith, the rhythm of certain recurring natural phenomena offers a comfort of certainty in an otherwise torrid and unpredictable world. One s…
Source: The “Rape Shield” Bill is well-intentioned, meaningless and dangerous
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