A chairde —
Yes, friends and
neighbors, another rush job. For the
past three months I’ve been tied up in helping people at a think tank for which
I volunteer, the Center for Economic and Social Justice, prepare a response to
some . . . I’ll call them acrimonious critics rather than what I really think.
The bottom line is
that such people are, frankly, “time vampires.”
The issues raised were nothing new.
We had, in fact, discussed them fully in other venues, most notably in
our 2004 book, Capital Homesteading for
Every Citizen, currently in revision.
(And the revision should have been finished by now, except that we got
diverted by the acrimonious critics. . . .)
With any luck, I’ll
do a better job in July. Of course, the
way my luck has been running, we pretty much know what to expect, now, don’t
we?
Beannachtai!
Michael
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Contents
Announcements
Organization,
Publication and Membership Information
Letters
News and Reports
Articles
Food
Reviews
The Fourth Page
Announcements
As a newsletter, we rely on you to tell us what’s going
on. If you have an announcement for an
upcoming event, please let us know. Just
keep in mind that we try to publish on the 17th of every month, so
get your announcements in at least a few days before that. Otherwise, consider sending it in as a report
or a news item for the subsequent month.
• The Usual Nagging Announcement. We still have a number of subscribers who are
probably wondering why they’re not getting the newsletter. It’s because they haven’t verified their
subscriptions by clicking on the link in the e-mail Google sent to their
specified e-mail address. If you
subscribed but have not received the newsletter (which means you’re visiting
the blog and are reading this there), it’s an easy matter to correct. Enter your e-mail address again, and Google
will send you another verification e-mail.
• Noting the fact that contributions to this newsletter have
been a little on the scarce side, we’re thinking of shifting to a quarterly
format instead of monthly. This will,
unfortunately, mean that any announcements of events are going to have to get
in around four months in advance of the event in order to ensure getting in. Fortunately, we haven’t been getting too many
notices of events, so that evens out. If
you’d like to have some input into the discussion, send in your comments.
Organization, Publication and
Membership Information
What We Are
Litir Scéala an tSIG
Gaelach is the newsletter of the Irish Special Interest Group of American
Mensa, Ltd. More information about the
SIG and this newsletter may be accessed by clicking
on this link.
Resources
We are preparing to put together a list of
resources and organizations that might be useful to our members. Due to the global scope of our readership, we
are trying to limit the list to organizations that extend beyond a purely local
constituency. This is a matter of simple
logistics, due to the immense number of organizations out there. If you’re looking for a local group to get
involved with — and we encourage that — do an internet search. You may be both amazed and pleased at what
you will find. We expect to list
resources as we rebuild our membership, but right now . . . oh, you know the
rest.
Who We Are
No new members this month, etc. (That’s ET cetera, NOT
“eck” the way so many people want to pronounce it.) We have an increasing number of visitors and
casual readers, — no, really — but that’s not going to get the SIG reactivated
officially, however gratifying it may be personally. We’re thinking of having a “feeler” sent in
to the Bulletin. When we get around to it, of course. . . .
Anyway, here’s this month’s membership report:
5 Members of
Mensa
2 Other
1 Institutional
Member
26 Newsletter
Subscribers
34 Total
Circulation, although four of them have not “validated” their subscription
(This does not include forwarded newsletters or visitors to the website who
have not signed up for the newsletter — over 1,250 to date.)
Letters
The letter we mentioned in the last issue regarding the
“criticisms” from the Base Brutal and Bloody Saxon (as opposed to the civilized
types, including the English, who inhabit the lesser island over to the right),
and to which we referred in our opening comments, above, has been responded
to. It went out about half an hour ago
as of this writing, and we still haven’t heard anyone’s head explode — the pop
heard ’round the world — but we will, we will. . . .
News and Reports
Members of the Irish SIG don’t usually belong only to the
SIG, but to other groups with an Irish orientation as well. This is all to the good — the more society
becomes more social, the better
chance we have of influencing our institutions in a positive way and carrying
out “acts of social justice” aimed at improving the common good for
everybody. We want to encourage your
community participation and then report on local events in which SIG members
took part.
• We got a very nice response to a paper we sent down to a
professor of commercial law in Argentina.
It was sufficiently encouraging that we may turn the paper into a “real”
journal article. The subject is how most
monetary and fiscal policy in the world today is, frankly, screwed up. We tried to plug Ireland, which is following
the European lead in screwing up its finances, instead of the U.S. lead and
really screwing up its finances, but we couldn’t work it in. We did manage a word or two about Hjalmar
Horace Greeley Schacht (no kidding, that was his name; I know his grandson) who
stopped the hyperinflation in Germany in 1924, which tells us that even the
current world situation is utterly hopeless.
• We’re within an ace of completing the first draft of our
next book, which draws heavily on the work of Fulton Sheen, especially his
lesser known works on social teaching and political economy. Evidently Sheen’s books on “non-spiritual”
subjects made people nervous as the world’s economies became increasingly
socialist, so they’ve been swept under the rug.
• Speaking of Fulton Sheen, Our Guy in Iowa (who isn’t Irish
but wishes he was) has located some of Sheen’s books that are in the public
domain. We’re looking into the
possibility of republishing them . . . as soon as we get one or two things out
of the way, of course.
Articles
Feature Article: Henry
George, the Irish Connection, Part I
In the 1880s in New York, an Irish-American priest, Father
Edward McGlynn, caused something of a stir by openly advocating the proposals
of agrarian socialist Henry George, noted author of Progress and Poverty (1879). McGlynn, who was in charge of a large
parish, actively supported George’s campaign for mayor of New York City in
1886.
A key point often ignored or glossed over is that George had
a tremendous amount of support among the Irish immigrants in New York. This was a result of the endorsement George
received from Michael Davitt of the Irish National Land League, one of the most
influential organizations in late 19th century Ireland. Davitt
visited New York in 1880. While there,
he met George and read Progress and
Poverty.
Anna George de Mille later claimed that Davitt, not Charles
Stewart Parnell who opposed nationalization of land, was the real “heart” of the League. (Anna George
de Mille, “Henry George: The Fight for Irish Freedom” (1944) an extract from a
previously unpublished study, “Citizen of the World.”) It is true that the
League was founded largely on Davitt’s initiative, but it was Parnell who held
the movement together even when George’s influence and other factors began
dividing the membership. It was Parnell’s
loss of prestige that led to the ultimate downfall of the League.
George returned Davitt’s favor during a trip to Ireland in
1882. In consequence, George gained
immense popularity among the Irish in New York for his expressed support for
the League. This, combined with the
campaign activities of the “magnetic” McGlynn when George ran for mayor on the
(socialist) United Labor Party ticket, worried the Democratic machine of New
York, “Tammany Hall.”
The Democrats were already attempting to clean house
following the imprisonment of Boss Tweed.
They had their hands full with the reforming Republican candidate,
Theodore Roosevelt.
The party had previously always been able to count on the
support of the Irish. The largely Irish
gangs of the Five Points district of lower Manhattan, such as the Dead Rabbits,
the Shirt Tails, the Chichesters, and others, had supported the Democratic
party with their shoulder strikers (thugs), voting early and often, raising the
dead, and other tactics.
On enquiry by Tammany Hall as to the orthodoxy of George’s theories,
the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of New York assured the party “that the
opposite was true and that George’s teachings were considered contrary to the
teachings of the Church.” (Franz H. Mueller, The Church and the Social Question.
Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, 1984,
65.) Despite this, and although Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect of Propaganda, had
previously warned McGlynn regarding his, McGlynn’s, activities in support of
georgism, McGlynn openly campaigned for George. (“Archdiocese of New York,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913.)
Food
Mashed Potatoes
I know what you’re thinking.
Mashed potatoes? Isn’t that a
little a) simplistic, or b) stereotypical?
Well, maybe, but try this out. I
will make it very general so that you can adjust it for as many people as you
have.
1 potato per person
1 large bullion cube (chicken preferably) for every two cups
of water.
1-2 tablespoons butter or margarine per potato, up to half a
stick
1/8 cup milk per potato, up to half a cup
Salt, black pepper
Garlic powder (optional)
Flour
Additional butter or margarine
Peel the potatoes, cut them into relatively small pieces
(faster cooking), cover with a measured amount of water, and add the bullion
cube(s). Cook until done and turn off
the heat. Do NOT discard the cooking
liquid. Instead, heat up a frying pan
and make a roux with the additional butter or margarine and the flour. While the pan is heating up, pour most of the
liquid into a measuring cup large enough to hold it, then add the margarine,
milk, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the cooked potatoes, and mash in the
usual way. When the roux in the frying
pan is ready, pour in the hot broth and stir with a fork or a whisk. It may need a little practice, but this way
of making gravy should result in no lumps at all.
Reviews
Well, I haven’t read much of
anything new lately except for professional books and journals, so there’s no
book review this month.
For relaxation I’ve been
re-reading the novels of Louis L’Amour. These
are much better than many oat operas. Like
the old-style Irish storytellers (L’Amour was of part Irish descent, and most
of his heroes are, of course, Irish, or wish they were), L’Amour focused on
story, and didn’t worry about the navel-gazing introspection of a lot of modern
fiction that makes it so useful as a cure for insomnia.
L’Amour’s focus on story caused
his books to be ignored by a lot of “serious” critics and academics, even
though you might actually learn a thing or two by reading them. Well, ignored until it was proven beyond a
shadow of a doubt that “serious” readers actually enjoyed them . . . and they
made money.
This success in the world of crass
materialism convinced some people that his books couldn’t possibly be any
good. Of course, these were usually the
people whose own fiction didn’t sell at all.
(Not like my sole novel, a western published under a pen name,
fortunately, which sold almost a dozen copies.
Take that, L’Amour.)
I have just one bone to pick with
Louis L’Amour. (Brave of me, no doubt,
since he can’t answer me back.) That’s
his habit of referring to $20 gold pieces as “eagles.” Maybe that was a shortened way of referring
to them, but the U.S. $20 gold piece is a double
eagle, not an eagle. The eagle is the
$10 gold piece, the half-eagle the fiver, and the quarter eagle the $2.50.
Whew. I’ve been wanting to say that for years.
The Fourth Page
The Geraldines of
Ireland, XII: The Last Rising of the Kildares
Although Henry's goal
was the complete extirpation of the Geraldine race from the face of the
earth, two children escaped the blood bath, sons of Kildare X by his second
wife, the Englishwoman Lady Elizabeth Grey. The younger, Edward, still an
infant, was spirited away to his mother in England. The elder, Gerald, was
hidden by his aunts in Ireland. Virtually the whole of Ireland entered into a
"conspiracy" to keep Gerald FitzGerald (Kildare XI), twelve years
old, out of the hands of the murderer. One unhappy result of this (from the English
point of view) was the healing of the age-old feud between the O'Donnells and
the O'Neills through the marriage of Gerald's aunt, Lady Eleanor FitzGerald
(widow of Mac Carthy Reagh) with Manus O'Donnell.
The Kildare Geraldines had long
had an on-again, off-again alliance with the O'Neills, and the marriage of the
Lady who had engineered and directed young Gerald's escape to the ablest
statesman and strongest warrior of the O'Donnells brought about an alliance
which "caused consternation at Dublin Castle and so in England." In
1538, Tir Eoghan and Tir Connail swore a solemn oath to take Gerald's part
against the English. Gerald was spirited away to France for safety through
O'Donnell territory. Driven into a frenzy at the escape of his victim, Henry sent
his Lord Deputy, Lord Leonard Grey, to the block for his failure to capture
young Gerald.
With the country unified behind
the young earl, plans were laid to oust the English permanently from Ireland.
Not only the Emperor, Charles V, but the French and the Scots promised to aid
the attempt. The O'Neill was to be crowned High King at Tara, and in 1539
Desmond XII invaded the English districts of Tipperary, while the Chieftains of
Ulster set their sights on the Pale. As usual, however, prospective allies were
longer on words than deeds, and the promised assistance came to nothing. The
Norman-Irish and Irish troops were unable, once again, to withstand the force
of the modern artillery of the English.
Gerald FitzGerald, Kildare XI,
became, for many years, an ineffectual symbol of Irish resistance to English
Protestant rule. Although shown every consideration by the rulers of Catholic
Europe, as well as achieving an immense personal popularity with the common
people, nothing was done to advance his cause and that of the people of
Ireland. After coming of age, the majority of his sojourn in Europe was taken
up with the life of a mercenary captain, fighting against the Turks with the
Knights of Malta, and serving as Master of the Horse to the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Plots, however, continued to
circulate around him. One of the more feasible was France's plan to use Gerald
to unite Ireland and Scotland against the English. This would be accomplished
by the marriage of the Earl to the heir to the Scottish throne, the young girl
who was to become Mary Queen of Scots. Ulster was solidly behind the plan.
Needless to say, Henry VIII was terrified of the possibility, and used every
means at his disposal to wreak it.
Irish monks and friars performed
the ancient Celtic ritual of the summons to battle, which probably pre-dated
Christianity, and carried the fiery cross throughout the land, calling down a
curse on anyone who refused the call to arms. A version of this ceremony was
used to good effect by Sir Walter Scott in his epic poem, The Lady of the Lake. After sacrificing a goat and draining the
blood,
The grisly priest, with murmuring
prayer,
A slender crosslet framed with
care,
A cubit's length in measure due;
The shaft and limbs were rods of
yew….
The Cross thus formed he held on
high,
With wasted hand and haggard eye,
And strange and mingled feelings
woke,
While his anathema he spoke:
"Woe to the clansman who
shall view
This symbol of sepulchral yew,
Forgetful that its branches grew
Where weep the heavens their
holiest dew
On
Alpine's dwelling low!
"Deserter of his Chieftain's
trust,
He ne'er shall mingle with their
dust,
But, from his sires and kindred
thrust,
Each clansman's execration just
Shall
doom him wrath and woe….
"Woe to the wretch who fails
to rear
At this dread sign the ready
spear!
For, as the flames this symbol
sear,
His home, the refuge of his fear,
A
kindred fate shall know;
"Far o'er its roof the
volumed flame
Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall
proclaim,
While maids and matrons on his
name
Shall call down wretchedness and
shame,
And
infamy and woe…."
He meditated curse more dread,
And deadlier, on the clansman's
head
Who, summoned to his chieftain's
aid,
The signal saw and disobeyed.
The crosslet's points of sparkling
wood
He quenched among the bubbling
blood,
And, as again the sign he reared,
Hollow and hoarse his voice was
heard:
"When flits this Cross from
man to man,
Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan,
Burst be the ear that fails to
heed!
Palsied the foot that shuns to
speed!
May ravens tear the careless eyes,
Wolves make the coward heart their
prize!
As sinks that blood-stream in the
earth,
So may his heart's-blood drench
his hearth!
As dies in hissing gore the spark,
Quench thou his light, Destruction
dark!
And be the grace to him denied,
Bought by this sign to all
beside!"
Compelled by honor, duty, and a powerful curse on laggards
and objectors, conscientious or otherwise, the Scots, the Irish and their
French allies assembled for battle. However, due to the political situation
between France and the Empire, plans were changed at the last minute. Adding to
the weakening of the agreed-upon strategy, the English sent a large army
northward into Scotland in order to secure the hand of Mary for the Prince of
Wales. He was to become Edward VI within
a year, upon the death of his father, Henry VIII, of syphilis. The armies of
Scotland and England met at Pinkie on 10th September 1547, with the defeat of the Scots
and their French and Irish allies.
#30#
