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I thought of “Sweetness” last week. He was the Drum Major of the Yale Band, back when ice covered the Earth and I was in college. I’m not saying that the Yale Band was inadequate. But they did run onto the field like a rabble, rather than march. The Co-op Book Store did have a card which said on the front, “Today, in your honor, the Yale Band will play....” Inside, it said, “... in tune.” But one part of that organization was absolutely perfect. That was George Levendis, a 6-foot 4-inch Drum Major who bent over backwards until the...

Barack Obama’s decision to consider whether a special US envoy to Northern Ireland was still necessary puts progress in the North “at risk”, his Republican rival John McCain’s campaign has said. Mr McCain said the move showed the Democrat’s “total lack of experience and profoundly poor judgment on matters of foreign policy” and was further evidence that the Illinois senator was “simply not ready to lead”. Mr Obama said he would review whether an envoy or senior administration official would be most effective 10 years after the Good Friday peace agreement enshrined political power-sharing in the North. Brian Rogers, a...

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

BLIMEY! BONNIE PRINCE CHARLEY DOTH FEAR HUNGER! Prince Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor, aka His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales, aka Prince of Rothesay, aka Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Perv, next in line to the throne of Great Britain, (when Mom Elizabeth, finally surrenders that throne and/or loses her mind), hath spoken: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/12/eacharles112.xml. The Bonnie Prince, perhaps best known for having his man servant hold the specimen cup while he peed in it and for expressing his written wish that he could be his mistress’, Camilla Parker Bowles, Dutchess of Cornwall’s tampon, has expressed his fear that genetically modified...

Draconian rules imposed by the Chinese authorities mean that flags of any non-competing nation are likely to be confiscated from fans, who could be barred from venues if they refuse to comply. Athletes could even be disqualified from competing if they break the rules. Because Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland are not individually represented at the games, only the Union Flag of Great Britain will be allowed inside the stadiums. The regulation is widely believed to be aimed at preventing supporters of an independent Tibet from making political statements by waving its flag, but it will be enforced...

Cremated bones thought to date from around 3,500BC to 2,000BC have been unearthed by archaeologists during a dig near Lough Fea. A team of four archaeologists came across a mound of stones, known as a cairn which often points to a burial site, at the Creagh Concrete plant near Blackwater Bridge. The find was unearthed when workers from Creagh Concrete were extracting gravel earlier this week. An archaeologist is always present on site when work of this nature is being carried out. Following excavation of the site, the archaeologists discovered two small cist burials, one octagonal in shape, around 45...

The possibility of a Palaeolithic human presence in Ireland has once again presented itself. A flaked flint dating to about 200,000 years ago found in Co Down is certainly of human workmanship, but its ultimate origin remains uncertain. Discovered at Ballycullen, ten miles east of Belfast, the flake is 68mm long and wide and 31mm thick. Its originally dark surface is heavily patinated to a yellowish shade, and the lack of sharpness in its edges suggests that it has been rolled around by water or ice, Jon Stirland reports in Archaeology Ireland. Dr Farina Sternke has identified it as a...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

It has become fashionable to look to the lessons of the peace process in Northern Ireland as holding insights for other areas of conflict in the world. However, this has been done in an uncritical way, often more focused on contemporary agendas than on the core realities unique to the region, which do not necessarily translate elsewhere. In some instances, the willingness of a state to negotiate might encourage the terrorists to believe that their opponents are ready to concede – even when this is not the case. In June-July 1972, for example, top IRA operatives were flown to...

July 11 Rabbi David Dalin His latest book, Icon of Evil: Hitler’s Mufti & the Rise of Radical Islam and Ambassador John Bruton Former Prime Minister of Ireland and the current EU Ambassador to the United States

The original Bill to punish anyone who might decide to set off nuclear weapons in Ireland was not exactly overly harsh on offenders. It provided a humble district court judge the power to impose a €5,000 fine and a 12-month jail term. Critics said the proposed punishment structure would have made Ireland a laughing stock. But the authorities have moved to considerably strengthen the penalties on any person building or worse, detonating, a thermonuclear bomb in this country. Now offenders -- including any would-be Dr Strangegloves -- would see their trial going forward to the Central Criminal Court, where sentences...

The words were clear: "Europe has powerful enemies on the other side of the Atlantic, gifted with considerable financial means." The speaker was France's Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet, addressing a pro-European rally in Lyon at the weekend. He was putting the blame for the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty on some surprising shoulders: neoconservatives in the United States. "The role of the American neocons was very important in the victory of the 'no,'" he said. ... One of the most powerful groups campaigning against the treaty was Libertas... There has been much speculation about where exactly the Libertas funding...

Today’s Illegals ‘Not Different, Just Newer’ by: Melinda Zosh, June 23, 2008 In 1750, Benjamin Franklin feared that German immigrants would de-Anglicize America. And 250 years later, in a nation where one in six young people under 18 are Hispanic, some politicians fear that Mexicans pose the same threat. But one man says today’s immigrants aren’t “different, they’re just newer.” Jason Riley, author of The Case for Open Borders, spoke at the CATO Institute on June 18 about letting more immigrants into the country. His research shows that Irish and German immigrants faced the same problems as today’s Mexicans. “Franklin...

A Muslim asylum seeker lost out on an award for volunteer work after indicating that he would not shake hands with the woman who was to present him with the prize. Alinoor Ahmed Sheikh, a Somali based in an asylum hostel in Tralee, was to have been honoured for his work raising funds for Amnesty International at a ceremony last Thursday organised by the Africa Centre in Dublin. The event was designed to highlight the positive work done by refugees and asylum seekers in Irish communities. Five minutes before Benedicta Attoh, a member of the National Consultative Committee on Racism...

It is time to accept that the Lisbon treaty is dead. The European Union can get along well enough without it VOTERS have once again shot an arrow into the heart of a European Union treaty. This time it was the Irish, who voted no to the Lisbon treaty on June 12th by 53-47%, on a high turnout. They follow the French and Dutch, who rejected Lisbon's predecessor, the EU constitution, in 2005. In 2001 the Irish also turned down the Nice treaty, but the Danes started this game when they voted against the Maastricht treaty in 1992. Europe's political...

Czech threat looms for EU treaty The Czech PM said he would not bet much on a Czech 'Yes' EU leaders have admitted that the Czech Republic may not be able to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, which has already been rejected by the Irish. The declaration from their summit in Brussels notes that the Czech process is on hold due to legal difficulties. But they said ratification would continue elsewhere, and ruled out renegotiation of the treaty. But British PM Gordon Brown said the UK could not definitively ratify it until a court ruled on a legal challenge. It...

STRASBOURG, France, JUNE 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- As European Union member states consider the quandary created by Ireland's "no" vote to the Lisbon Treaty, the Holy See's representative at the Council of Europe says it's a sign that Europe needs to rediscover its roots. Monsignor Aldo Giordano, named earlier this month as the permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe, spoke Sunday with Vatican Radio about Ireland's June 12 referendum that put the Treaty of Lisbon in limbo. The treaty needs unanimous approval from the Union's 27 member states for it to go into effect. The prelate...

Ireland will today appeal for time to work out if it can save the Lisbon treaty as shell-shocked EU foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg to debate how to cope with the country's dramatic "no" vote. The eight member nations yet to pass the latest EU treaty, including Britain, are being urged to continue their ratification processes to keep the document alive and in turn pile pressure on the government in Dublin to try a second referendum next year. Ministers will hear a presentation from Micheal Martin, the Irish Foreign Minister, at the start of an extended lunchtime discussion on the...

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

Europe's "big two", Germany and France, have moved to isolate Ireland after the No vote to Lisbon. France's Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet said a search was on for a way to accommodate the Irish verdict without derailing plans to implement the treaty that aims to change the way the EU is run and gives the Union its first sitting president and foreign minister. The Franco-German plan, to be refined at this week's summit, is to get all 26 EU states to ratify the treaty, to quarantine the Irish and then come up with some legal manoeuvre enabling the treaty to...

Ministers insist other countries must ratify deal despite Ireland's 'no' vote Germany and France moved to isolate Ireland in the European Union yesterday, scrambling for ways to resuscitate the Lisbon Treaty a day after the Irish dealt the architects of the EU's new regime a crushing blow. Refusing to take Ireland's 'no' for an answer, politicians in Berlin and Paris prepared for a crucial EU summit in Brussels this week by trying to ringfence the Irish while demanding that the treaty be ratified by the rest of the EU. The scene is now set for a major clash between the...

The voters of Ireland left the EU’s constitutional plans in tatters last week by rejecting the Lisbon treaty. Now the European political elite is desperately trying to find a way to get round their verdict As celebrations go it was not a typically Irish affair. Late on Friday night the key figures in the Libertas group, which had led the successful campaign in the republic for a no vote on the European Union’s Lisbon constitutional treaty, gathered in the bar of the Burlington hotel in the centre of Dublin. The atmosphere was surprisingly sober. Declan Ganley, the 39-year-old London-born entrepreneur,...

Imagine that our Government had fulfilled its manifesto promise to the British voters and that we, as well as the Irish, had held a referendum on Thursday on the Treaty of Lisbon. Would the outcome have been any different? Arguably, the rejection would have been even more emphatic than the 53 to 47 per cent "No" delivered by the Irish yesterday to the utter consternation of the Euro-establishment across the Continent.The entire business and political elite of Ireland combined (as they did in France and Holland when their referendums rejected the EU constitution in 2005) to tell their countrymen...

Gordon Brown is privately ready to sacrifice the Lisbon treaty rather than allow the Irish no vote to create a two-tier Europe. Despite the Irish referendum, France, Germany and senior Brussels officials have insisted there should be no delay in implementing the European Union blueprint. But No 10 sources say the prime minister would rather see the entire constitutional treaty collapse than allow individual member states to be left trailing in a two-speed Europe. The collapse of the Lisbon treaty would take the heat off Brown as he faces down renewed calls for Britain to have its own referendum. If...

Irish voters struck a blow for democracy in Europe this week, stopping a power play by the Continent's political elites. On the ballot was the Lisbon Treaty, which European Union grandees in Brussels pitched as a tidying-up exercise to make the bloc's institutions work better. Most everyone else saw Lisbon for what it really was: An attempt to sneak through a dolled-up version of the failed "EU Constitution." That constitution was hailed as Europe's entrée to a U.S.-size presence on the world stage, complete with a nonelected president and a beefier defense and foreign policy. It was rejected by French...

The Czechs have hammered another nail into the coffin of the Lisbon treaty by declaring that ratification must stop. Czech president Vaclav Klaus, who is supported by the country's largest political party, called the Irish referendum vote a "victory of freedom and reason" and said "ratification cannot continue". His view was echoed in the Czech senate. "Politicians have allowed the citizens to express their opinion only in a single EU country," Mr Klaus said. Article continues "The Lisbon treaty project ended with the Irish voters' decision and its ratification cannot continue," he wrote on his own website, according to Czech...

The entire business and political elite of Ireland ganged up to tell their countrymen that they should vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. Failure to comply would risk outraging the EU elite and integrationist maniacs who want to impose their undemocratic project on an entire continent. The implication was profoundly insulting: that if voters were to cause any trouble, Ireland would suffer somehow. By implication it is incapable of prospering as a nation which values its independence. Irish voters, thank goodness, appear to have had other ideas and in raising two fingers to the latest stage of the...

Gordon Brown is under intense pressure to declare the Lisbon Treaty dead after Irish voters delivered an overwhelming vote against the European Union's drive toward greater integration. In the only popular vote on the treaty to be held in the EU, 53.4 per cent of the Irish electorate rejected its terms – plunging the EU's plans to create a new European president and foreign minister into turmoil. MPs and campaigners from across the political spectrum called on the Prime Minister to halt moves towards British ratification of the text in the wake of the vote, with David Cameron saying the...

Irish voters have thrown the EU into disarray by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty, a controversial pact which was meant to bring about closer integration. Three hours before the count was expected to be completed, Dermot Ahern, the country’s justice minister, predicted: “It looks like this will be a 'no' vote. ” Has Ireland voted for a 'better deal in Europe'? All 27 European member states have to ratify the treaty for it to go into force next year. So far it has been approved by 18 members including Britain, but Ireland is the only country to put it to a...

Irish leaders were campaigning up to the last moment yesterday in a desperate effort to persuade waverers, with final polls showing the “yes” and “no” camps in the referendum running neck and neck. “People realise it’s a big decision,” Brian Cowen, the Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, said on the eve of the vote that is seen as pivotal to the EU’s future. “As we come closer to the day, I’ve always held the belief that the common sense of the Irish people will win out in the end.” Final polls are showing the ’yes’ and ’no’ camps in the...

For weeks journalists have been pressing the spokesman for the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on what would happen if the Irish voted No in a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Jose Manuel Barroso said countries should continue to ratify the treaty But there was no answer. "There is no plan B!" we were told. To be honest, it began to sound like a rather tired refrain. And - surprise, surprise - it turns out that in fact there are a number of possible plan Bs. The French - who take over the presidency of the...

More than 50 percent of Irish voters rejected the European Union Treaty meant to streamline decision-making for the 27-member union. Tendai Maphosa has this report from London. Results of Thursday's referendum trickled in throughout the day Friday and it was not looking good for supporters of the EU treaty. The official announcement was met with jubilation by opponents of the document. OFFICIAL: "Votes in favor of the proposal 752,451, votes against the proposal 862,415." Ireland was the only EU member that required a popular vote on the treaty, because it would have needed to make constitutional changes before it could...

reland’s referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, its latest attempt to pass a massive constitutional update, has produced a defeat. The rejection stops the EU from implementing its new constitution and forces the union to reconsider whether it can pass any expansion of the multinational government in a way that achieves unanimity: Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says substantial referendum returns show that Ireland has rejected the European Union reform treaty.Electoral officials expect to confirm the result later Friday.Ahern based his conclusion on tallies of votes produced nationally by election observers as well as early official returns.They show the “no” camp...

Substantial election returns showed Friday that Ireland's voters have rejected the European Union reform treaty, a blueprint for modernizing the 27-nation bloc that cannot become law without Irish approval. Several senior Irish government figures conceded defeat for the treaty, which would be a major blow to the EU. An EU constitution failed after French and Dutch voters rejected it in 2005. Ireland was the only member that subjected its would-be successor, the Lisbon Treaty, to a national vote. The Irish constitution requires all EU treaties to be ratified by referendum. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he expected all other 26...

Ireland vote rejects EU treaty Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has said substantial referendum returns show that Ireland has rejected the European Union reform treaty. Electoral officials expect to confirm the result later. Mr Ahern based his conclusion on tallies of votes produced nationally by election observers as well as early official returns. They showed the "no" camp ahead in the vast majority of Ireland's 43 electoral constituencies, while pro-treaty voters were clearly ahead in only a few. The expected result will send shock waves throughout the EU. Ireland was the only member to subject the Lisbon Treaty to a...

Early indications, but in areas where Yes vote is expected to be strong, it's 50/50, and in 60/40 every where else. It will be a NO vote.

Today’s referendum is for Irish voters and the question is about Europe. But one of the paradoxes of modern Ireland and the confident role it plays in European affairs is that America’s presence is felt - and celebrated - everywhere in the country. Take O’Dea’s Hotel, a family-run establishment is the town of Loughrea, County Galway. As I walked into the lobby at 8 o’clock this morning , having spent three hours driving west from Dublin and talking to bleary-eyed voters in Loughrea as they emerged from their polling station, whose face should I spot beaming at me from a...

PARIS (AFP)--French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned Monday that Ireland would pay a high price if it rejects a new European treaty in a referendum this week. Kouchner said a 'no' vote from the Irish would be greeted with "gigantic incomprehension" from the rest of Europe. "The first victims would be the Irish. They have benefited more than others," Kouchner told RTL radio. European governments are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the referendum on Thursday as the latest opinion polls show the result could go either way. Kouchner argued that the "Irish would be penalizing themselves" by rejecting the Lisbon...

'Gay counselling' call rejected Iris Robinson said gay people should seek counselling A gay rights campaigner has rejected a Northern Ireland assembly member's call for homosexuals to seek psychiatric counselling.David McCartney from the Rainbow Project was responding to comments from Iris Robinson, who is the chair of the Stormont health committee. Mrs Robinson said with help, gay people could be "turned around". Mr McCartney said there was "no body of evidence" to support this and asked to meet the MP. Mrs Robinson made her comments on BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show on Friday. She said she would defend her...

Ireland's PM Brian Cowen has launched a strong attack on opponents of a key EU reform treaty ahead of the country's referendum on the issue on Thursday. Mr. Cowen accused to No campaign of "sheer inaccuracy and absurdity" and said Ireland could not get a better deal than the one on offer. Opponents say the Lisbon Treaty should be renegotiated. Recent opinion polls suggest the result of the referendum-the only one being held in a EU country-could be close. The other 26 members of the EU are using parliamentary votes to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. But Ireland is obliged to...

Ireland’s no campaign has a five-point lead just days before the vital vote on the reform treaty; and Brussels has no plan C UNDER a drizzly sky, the Eurocrats of Brussels smiled and handed out balloons at their annual open day yesterday. Behind closed doors, however, as one official admitted: “They’re all s******* themselves.” Patricia McKenna, the Eurosceptic campaigner and former Green party MEP, outside the European parliment in Dublin with cardboard cutouts of EU leaders In four days Ireland will vote on the European reform treaty and polling suggests that the “no” camp will win. If it does, the...

Voters in Ireland could scupper the controversial EU treaty, a poll suggests. The survey, just days before the referendum, found that the 'No' vote had surged into the lead for the first time. Of those polled, 35 per cent said they would vote to derail the Lisbon Treaty on Thursday - double the number three weeks ago.

THE LISBON Treaty could face a shock rejection with the No side now in the lead, according to the findings of the latest Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll. It will take an unprecedented swing in the last week of the campaign for the treaty to be carried. The poll shows the number of people intending to vote No has almost doubled to 35 per cent (up 17 points) since the last poll three weeks ago, while the number of the Yes side has declined to 30 per cent (down 5 points). The number of undecided voters is still a significant...

Sorry I missed last week. So here's two, one from space, one from the ground, of Ireland's Burren. Source article for the first image: Burren Plateau, County Clare, Ireland Click for full-size (this is half-size): Clints and grikes OK, well, three then:

My daughter is preparing for a debate. Her thesis is that the actions of the Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army are unjustified. Any help is appreciated. Also, how do you counter the argument that the provisional IRA is the same as the 1776 American colonists? Thanks.

EU leaders tread carefully ahead of Irish treaty vote By Yacine Le Forestier AFP - Thursday, May 29 06:31 pm   European Commission Chairman Jose Manuel Barroso smiles on May 22, 2008. With a potentially perilous European treaty referendum approaching in Ireland, EU leaders are doing their utmost to avoid any sensitive issues that might encourage a "No" vote and spark a new crisis.     BRUSSELS (AFP) - With a potentially perilous European treaty referendum approaching in Ireland, EU leaders are doing their utmost to avoid any sensitive issues that might encourage a "No" vote and spark a new...

Plans to eliminate Eurosceptics as an organised opposition within the European Parliament are expected to be agreed by a majority of MEPs this summer. The European Union assembly’s political establishment is pushing through changes that will silence dissidents by changing the rules allowing Euro-MPs to form political groupings. Richard Corbett, a British Labour MEP, is leading the charge to cut the number of party political tendencies in the Parliament next year, a move that would dissolve UKIP’s pan-European Eurosceptic “Independence and Democracy” grouping. Under the rule change, the largest and msot pro-EU groups would tighten their grip on the Parliament’s...

For 700 years Ireland was Britain's outer defence - nolens volens - against the great powers of continental Europe. By a twist of fate, the Irish must now cast the ballot on the EU constitution for both islands, since Labour has defaulted on its pledge for a British referendum. Our shared Anglo-Celtic culture has long been a well-spring of free enterprise (with Dutch, Swedish, and Hanseatic help in fighting European absolutism along the way), and that is what is so threatened by the Lisbon Treaty, the treaty to end all EU treaties. The text strikes the words "free and undistorted...

Paul Maguire looks at the prevalence of legally-held guns, with more than 200,000 firearms registered in Ireland Link to Viedo - http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0520/primetime_av.html?2376839,null,230

Dig uncovers African beads buried in ancient village By Sean O’RiordanMay 22, 2008 BEADS that originated in Africa are some of the treasures archaelologists have found as they begin to explore an ancient settlement in north Cork. Test trenches also revealed pottery and weapons from a medieval period. In addition, there was evidence of prehistoric settlements in the area and an early ecclesiastic settlement, possibly from the 7th-8th century. Evidence of a large moat and cobbled walkways were also uncovered. Experts are due to conduct major excavations within weeks. One archaeologist said: “It’s one of the most exciting discoveries in...