For the Irish
It's come to my attention that there are quite a few of Irish descent on this board. This is a very trying weekend over and I've been a bit stressed. For those of you who are aware of the conflict of Northern Ireland or have *heard* about it I thought I would provide a basic idea of what they're on about right now.
There have been rights and wrongs on both sides and it would be impossible and irresponsible to list the entire timeline without extreme bias on my part. This is not an Irish history lesson, just some basic stuff to give people an idea of what being Irish, in Northern Ireland means.
This is not to sway the opinions of those opposed to the Irish or their continued struggle to be free of British occupancy. This is simply me, being tweaked at not being by the mister's side today.
There will always be mini riots and protests on 12Jul, always. However the tension this year from the murders from both sides has been building to a very dangerous level. The mister is there and I am scared witless that the ensuing protests are going to be out of control. So please bear this in mind if you feel the need to reply. This is very real to me and the man I love is there.
For those of you who do not understand the continued struggle to be free from British rule, here is a basic synopsis of the situation:
Imagine if the United States of America were to be invaded by Korea. After many deaths on both sides it was decided that the only way to resolve it was to give Korea the New England states. The rest of America would be free. You are free to move any time you want. If you stay you will live under Korean rule.
If you choose to stay, or simply can not afford to move, you will learn Korean. Your religion and facilities will be under constant threat. You will be policed by Koreans. You will not salute your flag nor will you in any way show signs of honor towards it. You will not have an opportunity for equal jobs, housing, respect or education. Your American money is of no use. On your job applications to the now Korean owned businesses you will have to note that you are an American.
There is no political correctness. There are no lawsuits because you don't like the way you have been treated by their police. More often than not there will be no record of what actually happened during your arrest other than you are at fault. This will not have to be proven. You can be jailed as a traitor for simply insisting on continuing to be American.
You will be stripped of your rights as an American.
There will be many that run. There will be many that simply can not live under those conditions and why should they? The rest of America is free.
There will also be many that stay. That will forever fight the occupancy til their dying breath. They will never hand over America. Nor will their children, their grandchildren and so forth. Being burned out of their homes, watching their fathers, uncles, brothers, themselves etc being dragged from their beds, interned, beaten, murdered - some people will never forget that - and nor should they. Some people understand that mentality, some don't.
An important piece of information that seems to have gotten lost over here pertains to the bombings of public buildings. While there have been deaths on both sides, and bombings from both sides, the intentions of bombing buildings is to cause financial ruin to the British. ALL bombs are called in and that is why. Clearly I am biased as to my own opinions, I simply wanted to explain the purpose of them.
Yes - this was over 300 years ago. But I ask you, how many years will go by before you too would finally throw your hands up and say fine, I will be Korean? I will toss my American Flag in the fire and forgo being American.
There are many here who do not understand the anger towards the British:
Penal Laws*
"In 1695 harsh penal laws were enforced, known as the 'popery code': Catholics were prohibited from buying land, bringing their children up as Catholics, and from entering the forces or the law. Catholics could no longer run for elected office, purchase land, or own property (such as horses) valued at more than 5 pounds. In the early years of the 18th century the ruling Protestants in Ireland passed these laws designed to strip the "backwards" Catholic population of remaining land, positions of influence and civil rights.
By 1778 Irish Catholics would own a meager 5% of Irish land. Furthermore, the Catholic educational system was outlawed and priests who did not conform to the laws could be branded on the face or castrated. As a result, much of Catholic church services and education and record keeping was forced underground, to operate only under extreme secrecy. The religion and culture were kept alive by secret open-air masses and illegal outdoor schools, known as 'hedge' schools. All Irish culture, music and education was banned. By the time of the census of 1841 the Irish were impoverished, landless and leaderless by the eve of the famine.
Professor Lecky a British Protestant and ardent British sympathizer said in his "History of Ireland in the 18th Century" that the object of the Penal Laws was threefold:
"To deprive Catholics of all civil life; to reduce them to a condition of extreme, brutal ignorance; and, to disassociate them from the soil.:
Lecky said, "He might with absolute justice, substitute Irish for Catholic, "and added a fourth objective: "To expatriate the race." Most scholars agree that the Penal Laws helped set the stage for the injustices that occurred during The Great Famine and fueled the fires of racism that were directed against the Irish by the British. Lecky outlined the Penal Laws as follows:
• The Catholic Church forbidden to keep church registers.
• The Irish Catholic was forbidden the exercise of his religion.
• He was forbidden to receive education.
• He was forbidden to enter a profession.
• He was forbidden to hold public office.
• He was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.
• He was forbidden to live in a corporate town or within five miles thereof.
• He was forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds.
• He was forbidden to own land.
• He was forbidden to lease land.
• He was forbidden to accept a mortgage on land in security for a loan.
• He was forbidden to vote.
• He was forbidden to keep any arms for his protection.
• He was forbidden to hold a life annuity.
• He was forbidden to buy land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to receive a gift of land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to inherit land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to inherit anything from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to rent any land that was worth more than 30 shillings a year.
• He was forbidden to reap from his land any profit exceeding a third of the rent.
• He could not be guardian to a child.
• He could not, when dying, leave his infant children under Catholic guardianship.
• He could not attend Catholic worship.
• He was compelled by law to attend Protestant worship.
• He could not himself educate his child.
• He could not send his child to a Catholic teacher.
• He could not employ a Catholic teacher to come to his child.
• He could not send his child abroad to receive education.
Yes, the majority of these laws have changed - but a lot of them are more recent than you think. Anyone who has been to the free states of Ireland has seen the stone walls that stretch for miles, these are land partitions.
July 12th is a special day for the British in Ireland. There are large bonfires constructed throughout NI to celebrate their *win* and kick off their marching season. For those of you who are not familiar with the marching season I have provided several links below. The problem is not so much the marching, as the fact that they are determined to march through the Catholic areas and flaunt themselves. This is not A parade, this is not a handful of parades, this is HUNDREDS of parades determined to mock the Catholics. Henceforth the ensuing riots and protests.
These are not the bonfires we have in our backyards, these are massive fires that are planned for months and are amazing in their size.
Shared Troubles
It's come to my attention that there are quite a few of Irish descent on this board. This is a very trying weekend over and I've been a bit stressed. For those of you who are aware of the conflict of Northern Ireland or have *heard* about it I thought I would provide a basic idea of what they're on about right now.
There have been rights and wrongs on both sides and it would be impossible and irresponsible to list the entire timeline without extreme bias on my part. This is not an Irish history lesson, just some basic stuff to give people an idea of what being Irish, in Northern Ireland means.
This is not to sway the opinions of those opposed to the Irish or their continued struggle to be free of British occupancy. This is simply me, being tweaked at not being by the mister's side today.
There will always be mini riots and protests on 12Jul, always. However the tension this year from the murders from both sides has been building to a very dangerous level. The mister is there and I am scared witless that the ensuing protests are going to be out of control. So please bear this in mind if you feel the need to reply. This is very real to me and the man I love is there.
For those of you who do not understand the continued struggle to be free from British rule, here is a basic synopsis of the situation:
Imagine if the United States of America were to be invaded by Korea. After many deaths on both sides it was decided that the only way to resolve it was to give Korea the New England states. The rest of America would be free. You are free to move any time you want. If you stay you will live under Korean rule.
If you choose to stay, or simply can not afford to move, you will learn Korean. Your religion and facilities will be under constant threat. You will be policed by Koreans. You will not salute your flag nor will you in any way show signs of honor towards it. You will not have an opportunity for equal jobs, housing, respect or education. Your American money is of no use. On your job applications to the now Korean owned businesses you will have to note that you are an American.
There is no political correctness. There are no lawsuits because you don't like the way you have been treated by their police. More often than not there will be no record of what actually happened during your arrest other than you are at fault. This will not have to be proven. You can be jailed as a traitor for simply insisting on continuing to be American.
You will be stripped of your rights as an American.
There will be many that run. There will be many that simply can not live under those conditions and why should they? The rest of America is free.
There will also be many that stay. That will forever fight the occupancy til their dying breath. They will never hand over America. Nor will their children, their grandchildren and so forth. Being burned out of their homes, watching their fathers, uncles, brothers, themselves etc being dragged from their beds, interned, beaten, murdered - some people will never forget that - and nor should they. Some people understand that mentality, some don't.
An important piece of information that seems to have gotten lost over here pertains to the bombings of public buildings. While there have been deaths on both sides, and bombings from both sides, the intentions of bombing buildings is to cause financial ruin to the British. ALL bombs are called in and that is why. Clearly I am biased as to my own opinions, I simply wanted to explain the purpose of them.
Yes - this was over 300 years ago. But I ask you, how many years will go by before you too would finally throw your hands up and say fine, I will be Korean? I will toss my American Flag in the fire and forgo being American.
There are many here who do not understand the anger towards the British:
Penal Laws*
"In 1695 harsh penal laws were enforced, known as the 'popery code': Catholics were prohibited from buying land, bringing their children up as Catholics, and from entering the forces or the law. Catholics could no longer run for elected office, purchase land, or own property (such as horses) valued at more than 5 pounds. In the early years of the 18th century the ruling Protestants in Ireland passed these laws designed to strip the "backwards" Catholic population of remaining land, positions of influence and civil rights.
By 1778 Irish Catholics would own a meager 5% of Irish land. Furthermore, the Catholic educational system was outlawed and priests who did not conform to the laws could be branded on the face or castrated. As a result, much of Catholic church services and education and record keeping was forced underground, to operate only under extreme secrecy. The religion and culture were kept alive by secret open-air masses and illegal outdoor schools, known as 'hedge' schools. All Irish culture, music and education was banned. By the time of the census of 1841 the Irish were impoverished, landless and leaderless by the eve of the famine.
Professor Lecky a British Protestant and ardent British sympathizer said in his "History of Ireland in the 18th Century" that the object of the Penal Laws was threefold:
"To deprive Catholics of all civil life; to reduce them to a condition of extreme, brutal ignorance; and, to disassociate them from the soil.:
Lecky said, "He might with absolute justice, substitute Irish for Catholic, "and added a fourth objective: "To expatriate the race." Most scholars agree that the Penal Laws helped set the stage for the injustices that occurred during The Great Famine and fueled the fires of racism that were directed against the Irish by the British. Lecky outlined the Penal Laws as follows:
• The Catholic Church forbidden to keep church registers.
• The Irish Catholic was forbidden the exercise of his religion.
• He was forbidden to receive education.
• He was forbidden to enter a profession.
• He was forbidden to hold public office.
• He was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.
• He was forbidden to live in a corporate town or within five miles thereof.
• He was forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds.
• He was forbidden to own land.
• He was forbidden to lease land.
• He was forbidden to accept a mortgage on land in security for a loan.
• He was forbidden to vote.
• He was forbidden to keep any arms for his protection.
• He was forbidden to hold a life annuity.
• He was forbidden to buy land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to receive a gift of land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to inherit land from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to inherit anything from a Protestant.
• He was forbidden to rent any land that was worth more than 30 shillings a year.
• He was forbidden to reap from his land any profit exceeding a third of the rent.
• He could not be guardian to a child.
• He could not, when dying, leave his infant children under Catholic guardianship.
• He could not attend Catholic worship.
• He was compelled by law to attend Protestant worship.
• He could not himself educate his child.
• He could not send his child to a Catholic teacher.
• He could not employ a Catholic teacher to come to his child.
• He could not send his child abroad to receive education.
Yes, the majority of these laws have changed - but a lot of them are more recent than you think. Anyone who has been to the free states of Ireland has seen the stone walls that stretch for miles, these are land partitions.
July 12th is a special day for the British in Ireland. There are large bonfires constructed throughout NI to celebrate their *win* and kick off their marching season. For those of you who are not familiar with the marching season I have provided several links below. The problem is not so much the marching, as the fact that they are determined to march through the Catholic areas and flaunt themselves. This is not A parade, this is not a handful of parades, this is HUNDREDS of parades determined to mock the Catholics. Henceforth the ensuing riots and protests.
These are not the bonfires we have in our backyards, these are massive fires that are planned for months and are amazing in their size.
Shared Troubles
Thanks for the thread.
