So a couple of days ago this appeared on an internment commemoration bonfire in Newry: For those from outside the N.I. area this will warrant some explanation, so: Meanwhile a controversial bonfire in the New Lodge in Belfast was the scene of rioting. Police turned up to keep order but were savagely attacked. At about 0:18 in the video below a rock is thrown at a policeman, taking him to the ground unconsious. The horde immediately roars their approval. But the worst was yet to come. As the bonfire burned later that night, it was the scene of a vicious stabbing, caught on video, to wit: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=342301500048961 This was the result of that: The republicans talk a whole lot of shite about loyalist bonfires and parades etc. and make accusations of hatred and bigotry like it was going out of fashion, but their own side is as full of hatred and bigotry as can be.
It's fairly despicable. But to put this in context, it's the first time I've seen such behavior on the nationalist side, since bonfires aren't their thing. Loyalists do it every year and MF's posting history will show that he's been celebrating it as part of his "culture" when they do. In conclusion - physician, heal thyself.
Is this OP the Irish equivalent to Oldfella's posts about how "lol u said Dems aren't racist durr :hurt: " as a way to deflect from all the shit his side does?
Only in a certain sense. The problem is we aren't just talking about official political movements competing for votes here, we're talking about people who have grown up with generations of entrenched attitudes and customs behind them and the tit for tat violence underlying the peace process has a tendency to escalate rapidly but settle very slowly indeed. Assigning blame is a futile exercise in that it ultimately leads back generations. There's no clear cut "good guys" if we are impartial, but few people involved have any inclination towards impartiality. Getting to where we are now was very much a political tightrope wherein dozens of political players had to balance the required objectivity against extremes of public opinion and sympathies, a tightrope which frequently led to their deaths in the literal sense. The para military activities and infrastructure required to fight that war (and that's exactly what we are talking about here) was fuelled in no small part by more conventional organised crime and the profitability of that criminality didn't disappear as the political goals superficially moved playing field. Everything is there in place for a resurgence and a bonfire is an almost poetic analogy for how the sparks provided by Brexit could become a conflagration. How this plays out may not yet be inevitable but it can't be overstated how extensive the repercussions for Johnsons' handling of this could be, handling which is a long way from being impartial considering it has been his agenda which led us here. IMHO the police were entirely right to pull back and avoid the perception of readily resorting to heavy handed tactics, but they can only do so much in the grand scheme of things and the backdrop for all of this is a situation which seems to have almost no desirable solution.
That's comhlán. This coming from a nation that can't make up it's fucking mind if it's American or French, like either is a decent fucking choice.
I am going to get off the pisswater joke having made it once. There is something about the manufacturing process of beer that makes me dislike it. I have had beers that are very similar in taste to ciders and I can down some hard ciders and love the hell out of them when they have some similar tastes to your more high quality beers of certain crafting styles. I assume it is the hops or something that just makes me want to gag on the stuff. Yes, I have had beer snob friends who have tried decent beers of all types with me. I have gone to real breweries and I am not talking your normal mass processed beers. I have never found any, even european and irish style, that I like. Don't get me wrong, I am the sort that even if I think it is pisswater I would still try it if in a foreign country to taste it and get the experience. I eat and drink some things I dislike just because of the experience. I also understand some things might be an acquired taste, like sake. I was not a big fan of sake when I drank it, but I did it because of the anime thing. Now I search it out and enjoy it. I am starting to understand the differences, and it is more of an experience thing. I just have never liked beer. I have never been impressed by any brand or type. About the best I can get is this does not make me want to wretch as much as other ones. I have no idea why it is so popular, but do not get me wrong I understand people love it and I just like to rib them. Of course, if you bring out a pitcher of hard cider with me around you hetter get yours quick.
I've never been a big fan of celebrating my Irish ancestry. My father's father was such a drunk that he managed to get kicked off the Cleveland police force, probably wasn't the father of my father's older brother (half-brother?) and hauled ass after my dad and his twin brother were born in the midst of the Great Depression. That and my distate for all parties involved in "The Troubles" doesn't add up to a very favorable impression. (I did make friend's with the Irish barkeep at my next door watering hole in South Tampa. The man was a real pro) That's not saying that I have any illusions about the British history in Ireland, either. That's why I don't refer to myself as Irish-American. I've got as much Dutch as anything else, along with southern Scotch-Irish. I'm a product of the American melting pot and I don't feel any great need to add any hyphens.
In retrospect I'm thinking @His Grace Faceman the Duke of Wordforge was joking, but this isn't going to de escalate easily.
Normally I respect your posts, so I'm surprised to see this from you. Anyone who sees this as simply an isolated knife fight really doesn't grasp the situation in NI and how quickly violence there escalates given the tensions. It's been happening for decades and the idea of a hard border is exactly the sort of background for a trigger to spark it all off again.
