Insane, paranoid Brits STILL at it.

On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:30:50 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:
: Remember that in the UK we have lived with the threat of US funded IRA
: terrorists blowing up our shopping centres and infrastructure for over
: four decades. Islamic terrorists are more willing to inflict gratuitous
: civilian casualties but large bombs in our cities are not new.
:
: BTW Yesterday was the peak of the rioting season in Northern Ireland.

And why are there so many IRA sympathizers in the US? Because their ancestors
migrated here en masse during the mid-19th century, bringing an abiding hatred
of the British with them. And why was that? Because the Brits, who ruled
Ireland at the time, did absolutely nothing to help the victims of a five-year
failure of the potato crop, and many of the migrants' relatives starved.

I don't hold any brief for the IRA. (As it happens, I'm of British, not Irish,
ancestry.) But what goes around comes around.

Bob

On Sat, 17 Jul 2010 06:53:13 +0100, Paul Heslop
wrote:
: Robert Coe wrote:
: And why are there so many IRA sympathizers in the US? Because their ancestors
: migrated here en masse during the mid-19th century, bringing an abiding hatred
: of the British with them. And why was that? Because the Brits, who ruled
: Ireland at the time, did absolutely nothing to help the victims of a five-year
: failure of the potato crop, and many of the migrants' relatives starved.
:
: I don't hold any brief for the IRA. (As it happens, I'm of British, not Irish,
: ancestry.) But what goes around comes around.
:
: Bob
:
: that's a bad saying to stick to though. it means virtually all, if not
: all, countries will get it in the teeth from someone. I am English and
: despise what my country did in the past and sometimes still does
: today. so I should be punished for something an arsehole did in the
: past?

You shouldn't, but old habits die hard. And old habits inherited from the past
often die hardest of all.

Bob

On 16/07/10 23:30, Robert Coe wrote:

And why are there so many IRA sympathizers in the US? Because their ancestors
migrated here en masse during the mid-19th century, bringing an abiding hatred
of the British with them. And why was that? Because the Brits, who ruled
Ireland at the time, did absolutely nothing to help the victims of a five-year
failure of the potato crop, and many of the migrants' relatives starved.


It's a bloody good job the British and the Egyptians and the Dutch and
the Beligians and the French and the Germans and the Indians and the
Russians don't hold grudges isn't it

Or is it only allowed in the continental United States?

--
William Black

Free men have open minds
If you want loyalty, buy a dog...

On Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:02:22 +0100, William Black
wrote:
: On 16/07/10 23:30, Robert Coe wrote:
:
: And why are there so many IRA sympathizers in the US? Because their ancestors
: migrated here en masse during the mid-19th century, bringing an abiding hatred
: of the British with them. And why was that? Because the Brits, who ruled
: Ireland at the time, did absolutely nothing to help the victims of a five-year
: failure of the potato crop, and many of the migrants' relatives starved.
:
:
: It's a bloody good job the British and the Egyptians and the Dutch and
: the Beligians and the French and the Germans and the Indians and the
: Russians don't hold grudges isn't it

It's a good thing for us that the Vietnamese don't and a scary thing that the
Arabs do.

: Or is it only allowed in the continental United States?

But where did I say that holding a grudge generations later is "allowed" in
the U.S.? I was remarking on the rationale for an action, not standing up for
it. That many Irish-Americans, unwilling or unable to forget British
indifference to their ancestors' suffering, provided financial support to the
IRA is an established fact.

Bob

On 7/17/2010 10:06 AM, Claire wrote:
On 17 July, 15:32, Robert wrote:
On Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:02:22 +0100, William wrote:

: On 16/07/10 23:30, Robert Coe wrote:
:
: And why are there so many IRA sympathizers in the US? Because their ancestors
: migrated here en masse during the mid-19th century, bringing an abiding hatred
: of the British with them. And why was that? Because the Brits, who ruled
: Ireland at the time, did absolutely nothing to help the victims of a five-year
: failure of the potato crop, and many of the migrants' relatives starved.
:
:
: It's a bloody good job the British and the Egyptians and the Dutch and
: the Beligians and the French and the Germans and the Indians and the
: Russians don't hold grudges isn't it

It's a good thing for us that the Vietnamese don't and a scary thing that the
Arabs do.

: Or is it only allowed in the continental United States?

But where did I say that holding a grudge generations later is "allowed" in
the U.S.? I was remarking on the rationale for an action, not standing up for
it. That many Irish-Americans, unwilling or unable to forget British
indifference to their ancestors' suffering, provided financial support to the
IRA is an established fact.

Bob

It was not really always that simple and I think this is where the
English tend to misunderstand the sensitivities of the Irish and how
British policies played to the Republican Movement’s advantage. I mean
take for example “Bloody Sunday” . I came across the term looking for
something in my Brewer Book of Phrase and Fable and as well as
referring to January 1972 when members of the Parachute Regiment
opened fire on unarmed civil rights protesters, it also was coined for
an atrocity in 1922 when the Black and Tans opened fire on spectators
at a Gaelic football match killing 12 on the same day that undercover
British agents had been assassinated by Sinn Fein. So yes the Irish
have a long memory but that also coloured how many saw counterparty
injustices.

I have many Irish ancestors, but know nothing about them since the Irish
independence movement burned the records building in Dublin. The same
situation applies in the USA where the Yankees burned many southern
court houses, but here it usually can be worked around since there
are so many still extant copies of wills and land records.

Doug McDonald

On 2010-07-17 07:40:32 -0700, Claire said:

On 17 July, 13:02, William Black wrote:
On 16/07/10 23:30, Robert Coe wrote:

And why are there so many IRA sympathizers in the US? Because their ancestors
migrated here en masse during the mid-19th century, bringing an abiding hatred
of the British with them. And why was that? Because the Brits, who ruled
Ireland at the time, did absolutely nothing to help the victims of a five-year
failure of the potato crop, and many of the migrants' relatives starved.

It's a bloody good job the British and the Egyptians and the Dutch and
the Beligians and the French and the Germans and the Indians and the
Russians don't hold grudges isn't it


Well I often think its a shame for peace that we don't all just
remember the same things... either that or as you say, collectively
forget everything! The problem is partial rememberings or
forgettings! ;-)

Or is it only allowed in the continental United States?

Hell!
There are still some in the South who haven't got over Sherman's march
from Atlanta to Savannah. Some things have changed, I had family in
North Carolina, Tennessee & Georgia, who refused to vote in 1960. They
were not going to vote Republican, and were certainly not going to vote
for a Catholic. How politics have change down there since 1964.

....and then there is the mythology created around siege of The Alamo,
the true story of which has only been slowly revealed in recent years.
There are those who deny that newly exposed truth, as it undermines the
Texas legend.

Then consider, tribal & sectarian conflict is far from over in Africa.
We in Western society will continue to wring our hands whenever we are
told of the next slaughter, and throw a bandaid, and a sack of flour at
them.

--
Regards,

Savageduck