St Pat`s Edition
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Rockaway Park NY, March 17 2011 in the 40th year of the Society
A Happy St Patricks Day to you.
The Gentlemen of the Society begin their philosophical year at the Spring equanox, surely a year older, but hardly an hour wiser. The Celts may not have established territorial world empires comparable to their rivals, but they have endured the rise and fall of the mighty pretentious temporal imperiums which rose to a seemingly indestructible zenith and then frittered away. Greece and Rome and France and Britain scaled to seemingly imponderable heights but suffered the penalty of a pretense to omnipotence.
The Celt`s empire of the imagination has outlasted them all.
So on this day we turn away from the game of thrones and watch as yet another behemuth staggers and falls.
Wo-Bama!
Dr James Davies: St Pat`s Mentorial: Liberals and Leprechauns
Greetings Dean,
In the name of The Lords President, a Top of the Society to you and a Happy Lord Baron`s Day this Vernal Equinox.
Indeed, Dean I must protest the restriction of the Vernal Equinox Mentorial to a specific topic, about which I know very little.
I don`t suppose I could get out of this with tales of drinking at Callaghan`s, or my return of the Snake to the wild, or my attempt to donate my Irish blood to the Red Cross. I did at one time thinking of obtaining an Irish passport. (I`m eligible, you are not) It might have a certain utility in visiting countries where Americans are unwelcome. And it seems that list just seems to be growing in geometric progression.
In my quandary, I wish I had listened more closely when Lady Leonae, the Baron`s be-sainted mother, used to discourse on the accomplishments of the Irish in America. All that stuff about building the railroads and fighting the wars that Modern White Liberals hung everybody else`s head in shame about. But the Dean certainly does not. What did the Dean say? When the Stone Age meets the Industrial Revolution, the outcome is certain. No-self-respecting liberal would ever admit to such a jingoistic remark. Yet the Dean refuses to rent his raiment`s or to don sack cloth and ashes. Yet it is hard at this Baron`s day to define what a self-respecting liberal should do.
I bring up the case of former Senator George McGovern whom the Dean disowns together with the entire Kennedy family, John Brennan the newly installed chief of CIA, and many others. A long advocate and friend of trade unionism, his Senator-ship now runs a chain of non-union hotels where he rigorously fights unionization, improved working conditions and livable wages. His Senator-ship remarked, "I was a strong advocate of unionization. I probably still am, but unions in my hotels would make them less profitable."
I admit Senator McGovern is not alone in this-eh hypocrisy. Certainly Jane Fonda and so many other liberals are guilty of the same sin that I have accepted as a general rule that White Liberals must be allowed a certain margin for duplicity and hypocrisy.
Of course the Dean seemingly accepts this proposition as part of the Society`s Profit Principle, sometimes formulated as Principle yields to Principal and utilizes this to reject virtually everything that comes out of a White liberal`s mouth.
It seems that the Dean equates White Liberals with ethereal, devilish creature who pops up in many religions in the form of a Trickster God, cute, endearing but eventually like Satan utterly destructive. Dean, did you make all White Liberals into Leprechauns, as ready to lure you in with the promise of a pot of gold as they are to steal your soul away?
On that note, the Mentor bids you a Most Cheery Cheerio
Cheerio Dean, Cheerio
Dr James Davies, Lord Woodbury
Mentor RPPS
from THE BOOK OF AWESOME
Jack Kennedy was a rock star like Obama but he still had some substance and realized that feel-good socialism was self-destructive. Reagan was a real movie star who preferred work to rock star puffery and had more sincerity in his pinky than Obama and alot more integrity than Kennedy. Reagan ended the Cold War against the negativity of his electorate. He fought against the self-destructiveness of liberals. He was our greatest president ever even though I disliked him when I was a young, socialistic fool.
Geoff Jackson:
TOOLING AROUND THE ISLES
A Scottish rail pass
White
In its cover
The English is a somber blue-black
The trains
Were everywhere
Small ones, big ones
National and local
And when there weren´t any
There were still buses
The night bus
Dropped me
Bevies of revelers
Droplets of dawn rain
Leaving Newcastle behind
A shot rang out
None in the bus
Noticed except me
The northern sun
Rises early and sets late
And yet does not burn
But winks a friendly eye
From behind the clouds
The Ferry
First up the shaky
Gang-plank
On board the ferry
The boy casts off
The great, mooring rope
Three guys eating
Fish-and-chips
I join them
A peasant at heart
Dr Charles Fredrickson: HEART VERSUS HEAD
If you think with your head, the heart is just an organ that pumps blood. If you think with your heart, however, you will learn to understand that the heart is the core of knowing, feeling, perceiving, emoting and expressing neighborly human existence. The human heart and flexible minds are essentials for pursuing a vibrant, living breathing democracy. Heart comes from the Latin "cor" – the human core where all our behavioral, intellectual, rational, emotional, experiential and spiritual ways converge, requiring the courage to act humanely by freely demonstrating kindness and compassion to others. As members of the global family, we must realize that we’re all in this together, an interconnected species profoundly dependent upon, responsible for and accountable to one another. Democracy is a nonstop experiment testing the strengths and weaknesses of our political institutions, local communities and local infrastructure while maintaining a cool human heart. Our mutual goal should be to turn selfish vested interest motives into promoting a shared beneficial common good, featuring humility and empathy. Honest, wise and hopeful leadership can recycle corrupt tension into dynamic positive energy. Reforms of a deformed system must replace false claims, half-truths, hateful rhetoric and demonization of the opposition by instilling the kind of genuine issue-oriented debate needed to strive, thrive and survive. The sooner we realize that it is mutually beneficial for the overall well-being to connect to our natural eco-environment surroundings and willfully act appropriately, in order to evolve to the required state of inner consciousness sensitivity. The Latin root of the word respect is "respectir" which means to see with fresh eyes – clearer focus seen through a deeper level of self-awareness. Through appreciation of multiversity, we celebrate our unique differences, which are not there to separate us, but to make us united parts of a solid core whole, living together as harmoniously as possible. Empowering citizens to create positive social change requires a vibrant sector of concerned individuals, families, volunteers and communities that devote progressive time and energy to public causes that better society, empowering and building momentum for a new safer and saner generation of our beloved offspring and future civic leaders.
No Holds Bard Charles Frederickson
ed I like the concept but it perhaps should be "good heart" rather than "heart". Emotions fuels the wildest conflicts in the world Israelis v Palestinians, Freeks vs Turks and appropriately for our next theme Irish vs English; I`ve left off some like chinese vs japanese and chinese vs vietnamese simmering since the Han dynasty circa 200 bc. A logical head might tell these folks to avoid raw emotions that lead to these blood feuds. The Israelis vs the Palestinians, as brutal as that one is, by contrast is only 60 years on going by comparison to the other longstanding intermittent wars.
Pastor Edwin M. Jacques
St Pat
17 MARCH 461 C.E.
Patrick
crossed over
to the other
side. He converted Irish
pagans.
SAINT PATRICK
Born
in what
we call England.
Kidnapped by Irish raiders,
alone.
THE PRIEST
Patrick
used shamrocks
to teach about
Father, Son, Holy Spirit:
Christianity.
Geoff Jackson: Scotland the Brave
There are five quite distinct types of Scot. The first is the Border Scot. These craggy hills just across the border from England form the first bastion of the Scots. Then there are the Lowland Scots. These live in the valley or depression running from Glasgow to Edinburgh but including also towns like Stirling, which form a triangle with them. Thirdly, there are the Island and Highland Scots. These are the real Scots, the MacDonalds etc, who twirl round in kilts and skirl the bagpipes. The only problem with these is that the English pretty-near genocided them in the seventeenth century after the uprising of Bonnie Prince Charlie so they are merely descendants of English colonists and they are said to speak the best kind of English in Inverness. Notwithstanding, they are now learning Gaelic and most towns are marked bilingually. Finally, there are the inhabitants of the Orkney and Shetland Islands. Once the dowry of a Norwegian princess, these islands have much in common with the Faroes (belonging t5o De4nmark), Iceland and the Scandinavian countries. The language spoken on the islands until the mid-nineteenth century was also akin to the Scandinavian languages. So, you see, Scotland the Brave is almost none existant. However, the Scots are feeling themselves more and more a nation nowadays and all five million of them may vote to go it alone.
The Border Scots are every bit as much Scottish as the next. Notwithstanding their proximity to England, they have a distinct Scottish burr. In fact, the dialects of the far North of England are quite unrecognizable to anyone else and, though they are sli8ghtly different to the Scottish dialects, these have blended together. Where is the border of Scotland? It is not at Hadrian`s Wall, where the Emperor Adrianus placed it, which is now in England and is still pretty-much the shortest way to cut the neck of the island. However, the Scottish border is where the Kings of Scotland managed to place it around the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Before that time, at the time of the Saxon heptarchy, one kingdom ran down from Edinburgh (the burg or fortress of Edwin) right down to the Humber River, which is almost half-way down from Scotland to London. The Scottish accent, by the way, has also zig-zagged. In the late Middle Ages, Lallands or Lowland Scots, looked all set to become a separate language but it later diverged in the fifteenth and sixteenth century toward English, which it came more and more to resemble. Nowadays, Educated Scottish English resembles English except for a wee accent but the dialect of ordinary people is sometimes very difficult to sort out.
Next come the Lowland Scots from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Especially, the Glaswegians have a history of ship-building along the River Clyde, an industry which collapsed in the 1960s and is now principally situated in South Korea. However, other industries never really took its place and the area is one of very high unemployment. Mr Salmon, the Scottish First Minister, promises jobs to everyone in the event of Scottish Independence and an economic boom with Scotland becoming a kind of Scandinavian country. It is about the same size in terms of population as Denmark and Norway and in many ways resembles them. However, it does not have the same history and in particular does not have the same economics as they do. Consequently, it is hard to see where this upswing would come from. It would not come from liberation from England, which at the moment is pumping money into Scotland. It might come from North Sea Oil, the proceeds of which mainly go to England, but oil in the North Sea, has largely been drilled out and new fields of exploration lie elsewhere. Such as in the fields of Norway, which is wisely mining much less and in the (possible) fields of Greenland, which have yet to be won. And present formidable problems due to drilling in ice-cold Arctic waters with atrocious weather conditions. However, the Lowland Scots, who form the majority of the population of Scotland, are not Gaelic speaking nor ever have been, probably form the majority of Mr Salmon`s supporters. It is a moot point whether they should dictate Independence4 and the terms of that independence to the rest of the country. Or is it a country? A country after all has a certain indivisible unity and it is the question of whether Scotland is quite distinct from the rest of the UK and has a unity of its own or not. This, however, is now for the Scots to decide. It the referendum is a "Yes" vote to Independence, then the Scots will have to get on with it to make their country into a country quite separate from the rest of the UK. Instead of what it is today, which is a region or regions with strong local ties, some feelings of separation but still strong ties – also of sentiment – to the rest of the UK. Memories there ofMary Queen of Scots but this is nostalgia for a bye-gone age. However, it is all the rage now for even big and historically united countries in Europe to "Balkanize" so this may happen to Scotland, too.
Next in my list come the Islands and Highlands. These are – by English standards – a fair lap of territory. But they are very sparsely po0pulated being dotted with small villages. They are not economically important at all. They have been re-populated by English settlers in the past and this is noticeable in the fact that the accents are much easier to understand. However, it is also the area where Gaelic is spoken and a separate language tends to mean a separate state. Gaelic, moreover, is being promoted so that more and more people are coming to speak it but it is a very difficult language for English speakers to master and we are mostly very lazy, when it comes to foreign languages. So, we do not learn it. Nevertheless, every town now sports a bi-lingual designation (although most use the English name). On many of the Islands but also in the Highlands, tourism is a major source of income and also a way in which these remote areas gain contact with the wider world. It is not to be wondered at therefore that the inhabitants here are not really very enthusiastic for Scottish Independence. They are economically dependent on the English, they feel themselves different from the Lowland Scots and their sense of themselves as a distinctive community is such that they do not have a great deal of identification with big towns like Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Finally come the islands of Orkney and Shetland. They are really very far away from the rest of Scotland geographically, economically, in terms of their population and their language etc. They have the oil and if Scotland wants it from England, they want it from Scotland. And they have the claim of being closest to. Of course, England supports them in this and takes the oil much to the disgruntlement of Scotland. But to whom does the oil belong? Mainly, it`s just lying there waiting to be drilled out and mostly with English drilling contracts, the oil has gone to the giant oil companies. Otherwise, these Scots are very dependent on Scapa Flow, which is the big naval base up North and otherwise they depend heavily on fishing. Like the Faroes, they are a fishing community. Just like Iceland, for instance. They really do not want any truc with Scotland, which they consider a separate country far to the South and look to London to promote their interests.
So, there you have it: Scotland. Is it a region or a country? It certainly is a place with a lot of divisions. However, can they sink their differences to get into the one national unity? I really don`t know. Nor do the Scots either. However, they will be deciding that at a referendum to be held on Burns Night. To my mind, it is a rather silly thing to entrust the independence or otherwise of your country to a referendum, which is a once-only vote, to decide your future. However, how else would you decide your future without voting on it? Perhaps with a War of Independence like in the States. But things have not yet got that far in Scotland just yet. So, a referendum it will be!
Jeff Wordsmith
What The Bruce Re-United and Mel Gibson restored, do the Scotti nae want?
On Tuesday the 14th September 2014, the Scots will be asked to vote in a referendum on the question of "Should Scotland be an independent country?" It will be a simple Yes/No question and all in Scotland and at Westmionster are waiting with bated breath for the answer. If it is "Yes", it will destroy the Union of the Two Crowns first established in 1707, when the Scots made their way to the Palace of Westminster, to vote in the UK national Parliament. Whereby they were a minority and whereby they have remained a minority to this day, telling only 5 m inhabitants to England`s 60 m or so inhabitants, Wales 2-3 m people and a very small number of Northern Irish MP`s. Gone is the idea of Devolution Max, which would give Scotland a much greater say in its own development and even devolution min, which would give it a lesser say but still some sort of "State`s rights"within the UK. This election, if the Scots say "No" will preserve the present status of the Scottish Parliament, which is that of a very vociferous sounding board within the UK, uttering threats of secession but not even controlling its own income and revenue by any means of State`s taxation. Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, the Scottish Nationalist Party, and currently First Minister (not Prime Minister, note) of Scotland, commanding a majority of Scottish SNP MP`s for the very first time – prior to that he had been head of a minority government – has promised his people a currency union with Britain, whereby the pound sterling would be retained in Scotland, and easy membership of the EU, whereby a forty-year long membership, would simply be renewed. In a double-salvo, the British government has recently blown the ground from under his feet.
George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced that he will not be sharing the pound.it would be impracticable to have two independent countries sharing the one currency. The Scots will either have to join the Euro, where seventeen countries share the one currency, or set up their own, the "Scot" or some such, and manage with that. Mr Salmond fulminates that this would incur five hundred million pounds of transaction costs between the two countries, but never mind, we Brits seem prepared to pay that and at a nod, all British – read now, English – firms are prepared to withdraw south of the border leaving the Scots quite broke. Border controls and passport checks are now the order of the day because, although Europe does not have them any more due to the Schengen Treaty – Scotland would have to make its own mind up – and England would have to check up on al contraband entering in from Scotland, including unwanted and undesirable illegal immigrants, which the Scots might have let in, but which England Homeland Security (we use the same name in the UK), would want to keep out. The spectre is fearsome. Moreover, Mr Barroso, the oily, smiling Portuguese and presently European Commissioner, figurehead and largely powerless bureaucrat, running the EU, has recently said that it will be "very difficult, if not impossible " for Scotland to join the Club. She will have to submit her application just like anybody else, it will be considered on its merits just like that of the Ukraine and Turkey and it will probably be vetoed, possibly by Spain, terrified by its own secessionist movements most notably at the moment in tiny Catalonia of which nobody in the US has probably heard. Is Barroso in cahoots with David Cameron? Probably. The two meet frequently in Brussels and Our Dave has like as not winked a polite "Nao"in his direction.
Meanwhile, it seems that Mr David Cameron, sets great store by his Scottish ancestry (just as does Barry by his Irish roots, he not to be outdone by previous Presidents) and, although "Cameron"means `crooked nose " in Gaelic – with unfortunate similarities to "Forked Tongue"- the clan motto is apparently "Let us unite", so very apt in the circumstances. He has alluded to the "British" Olympics in London and the many "golds" won by the two teams Together (Better Together being the campaign slogan for a "No"vote as opposed to "Scotland Yes", the SNP slogan) and said that it was the competing that counts but that his heart went thumpety-thump at the sight of all those red, white and blue ribbons (perhaps he was thinking of America). Sport is always a good bet with the Great British Public. However, he has said "Non"- probably wisely – to a head-to-head with Alex Salmond since a British lounge suit and impeccable public i.e. private school accent might not go down well with a Scottish audience, who might side automatically with wee, canny alex and his broad Scots brogue. Salmond has accused Cameron of "cowardice". And what of Alex Salmond`s political future in all this? Does he have one? A resounding "No" would definitely finish him as leader of the SNP but a 30-40% "Yes" might see him on track for many years to come as a Thorn in the British side. Remember, losing an election for US Brits often means retiring politely to being leader of Her Majesty`s Loyal Opposition to make a come-back later. We do not retire our Presidents to grass Somewhere in the States, tweaking the strings of power in Washington as you do, on the telephone to Who knows Who – that being known only to the CIA, who are inveterate phone-tappers – and making the occasional come-back as did Bubba, when he embraced Barry wishing him Luck in his fight against Mitt, watched by a misty-eyed Secretary of State, Monica long having been consigned to the trash-can. Indeed, our PM`s enjoy longevity and Mr Salmond could be on the go for years to come. Or he may simply be forgotten. It all depends on whether those twinkling Scottish feet of his can dance a Highland Fling or not. Cameron, however, is gunning for him. In a recent BBC interview, he told the interviewer, in inimitable and repetitious Cameron rhetoric, so the Great British Public, who don`t often understand things said once, would understand, "Alex Salmond is a man without a plan. He told us that he wanted to have a currency union and that now looks under threat. He has told us that he wanted Scotland as part of the EU. That is under threat. He is making quite an empty and quite an angry speech today. But he hasn`t got a plan and people will see that he hasn`t got a plan." Meanwhile, David is wading around a water-sodden and soaked British countryside, with a brim-full thames innundating half of London, in a construction worker`s tin helmet, returning to a shell-shocked Parliament to tell them that the weather-gods have been indisposed toward GB. Pace shivering New York and an American people frozen in the grips of a Glacial Winter.
Who will vote in this Scottish referendum? All sixteen-year olds will. It seems the younger you are, the more likely you are to vote "Scotland, Aye". And the Scots have had their way on this. Though sensibly keeping all other elections to eighteen-year olds. All residents of Scotland will vote. So that lets out all Scots resident in Britain. Who is a Scot anyway? That tell-tale brogue is definitely not enough. Coomonwealth citizens and EU nationals living in Scotland will be able to vote, though they do not have a blue, British passport and the British military living in Scotland will also be allowed to vote and they seem a sure-fire "No". There will not be an across-the-board vote for the whole UK, since this does not concern THEM, the Northern Irish were allowed to vote alone on their own Constitution, and anyway a vote of the whole of the UK would be a foregone conclusion. We are very fond of our Scots. It is very much a neck-to-neck race and the first with his nose past the post will decide the fate of this tiny nation for years to come. Blandishments have been made to the Western Isles, the Orkneys and the Shetlands by the SNP offering them greater autonomy within a united Scotland. It seems also that Westminster might have something up its sleeve in the way of more autonomy for a Scotland within the UK, if the vote should be a "No". We British are prepared to be magnanimous and this is the carrot to offer to the Scots, should the stick – no pound and no EU – fail. The whole issue very definitely points to a British Isles, riven by regionalism. Wales and Northern Ireland are another moot point. However, in general, the favoritization of the capital, London, and the South-East generally, into which one-fifth of the population are crammed, arouses jealousy. The Greater Metropolitan Councils, which Margaret Thatcher set up as fiefdoms of local independence, have now been abolished and are a thing of the past. However, The North with its strong regional accent and its strong memories of life in pokey valleys, votes unashamedly Labor with strong tribal passions. The Midlands and Birmingham – UK- flexes its economic might as the heartland of modern British industry. And the South-West – which everybody loves and wants to retire to – has its traditions of smugglers` coves and contraband to France. Perhaps then, we are on our way to a United States of Great Britain? I doubt it because that would undermine the powers of Politicians, who like much-too-much Big Government and their own Privileges. At the moment, too, I feel very much that the dice are being loaded against Scottish Independence. However, who can tell? We will have to await the result of that referendum, won`t we? `No" will probably mean a No for all time. Westminster will quash all future resistance. "Wee, wee" will never more be on for the Scots.
E.N. Daughtry:
A Dublin Heir
Danger in Dublin
Ganey`s out on good behavior,
Waits for the night.
That`s Mr. Ganey`s best flight.
Looks for the one armed man.
That`s his plan.
Spies an old lady,
Grabs her purse and throws it in the street.
Any excuse to buy that pint of frosty brew.
Dance the night with the mugger`s strut.
~ E.N. Daughtry
Leprechan`s Liver
Stony road ahead,
Little fella picked to pieces.
Mad dogs, wolves, mighty armor of the eagle claw.
I gathered all the ruddy flesh.
Except the leprechan`s liver,
Buried them next to the cloves of stone
Three rows down from the wrinkled gnome.
Words of Saint Augustine fill the air.
Livers in view for all to see,
A small remembrance: don`t go down this road.
~ E.N. Daughtry
Julie O`Day
Illusions and vanity drive her life,
Seeds of Irish and Japanese formed her beauty.
Sexy poses on sale for lustful eyes.
Men desire this green jade of the sea.
I sleep on the couch, twelve steps from her door.
Noise from the bathroom shatters my sleep.
Julie, what`s wrong?
Jack, I weigh 110, I need to throw up again.
Pukey rags and make-up bottles dress the floor.
I grab a blanket, wrap her slender body.
Hair wet and stringy, tender breast bruised from the body straps.
Gently I carry her to the kitchen chair.
Miss O`Day, please have some tea.
Julie, I will not lie, you are broken in so many pieces.
Only the hand of God can put you together.
Men forget you are 107 pounds of modeling clay.
~ E.N. Daughtry
A Warn
I come this day to leave these poems near the froggy pool.
You are near, that is why the froggies swarm.
No one approaches without their croaking, their warn.
It was a froggy morn as I walked along the stream
Over by the glade, little Timothy fell off the wagon and no one seemed to hear.
As he cried aloud, you came by and summoned the fastest fawn.
The twilight fairies handed up the baby and you were gone.
No time to waste, you beat the race to the village square.
Little Timothy is safe and back in his mother`s care.
Your act of kindness has not gone unnoticed.
That is why I give these poems to you.
Nothing new, it`s all been said before.
Poems of love, poems of hate, and poems of tragic fate.
You know man, that foolish soul who forget the lessons of the past.
Like the closing of a door.
They are for you to read and all to see and announce another warn.
~ E.N. Daughtry
Geoff Jackson:
TIME AND TIDE
Glasgow
A scattering of English giants
Across a statue´d square
Gladstone
Was there
Two cops
Friendly enough
Writing up their report
About an incident
THE SKY
The sky lets through
Shifting shafts of fitful light
Reflected
On the river
TIDES
Dancing below
The tides cast up
Everything
On these long, Scottish beaches
Created by the roll
Of the mighty Atlantic
THE STARS
Crisp
White stars
Quite clean
And untouched by all this commerce
Here on Earth
Vikings – Excitement?!
The series `Vikings` is an Irish-Canadian co-production about events supposedly in the early Middle Ages, when those marauding hordes burst over into Europe. It spans Sweden, Norway, Denmark and then across the North Sea into England and on to Northern France. In all, a region equivalent to about two mid-West States, where the sea is a bridge and not an obstacle. The series began filming at Ashford Studios, Ireland, in July, 2012. This is a newly built studio and Ireland offers many tax incentives to foreign firms. (It is a great jumping off platform for US firms, which thence do not have to pay EU import duties.) On August 16th , the crew began filming the long ship scenes in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland, and there was some additional filming in the fjords of Western Norway. It premiered in the US on March 7th 2013, in the UK in May 2013, in August 2013 for SGB in Australia, in Denmark on DR3, it was shown in November-December 2013, and last, but not least, in Ireland on RTE (Radio-TV Eire) in February 2014. Wow! What a line-up! MGM are handling international sales. Octagon films and Take 5 are responsible for production. And History Channel is the buyer. Ten new episodes are being signed up. Total cost - $40 m. Quite something. The show has received very favorable ratings and audiences seem happy. It reviewed at 70% in the US, according to Metacritic. Alan Sepinwall of HiFix praised the series, saying – " ït isn`t complicated…It relies on the inherent appeal of the era and their characters to drive the story…"It drew 6m viewers in the US alone, topping all networks amongst 18 – 49 year olds and in Canada it averaged an audience of 942,000. It doesn`t give the percentage of women, but there`s plenty of love and romance in there, too.
It`s based on the history of one, Ragnar Ladbrok. He comes from a thirteenth century saga, "Ragnarssona Pattr" and a twelfth-century book in Latin, "Gesta Danorum" from Saxo Grammaticus. Hence, it is based very much on Norse oral traditions – very much as "Homer"in the Illiad/Odyssey. Further attention is paid to the North Men`s raid on Lindisfarne in 793, when a tiny island off the coast of Northumberland in NE England was pillaged. – An important event in British history, which marked the start of the fierce Viking raids on the island. Ahmed ibn Fadlens` tenth century account of the Volga Vikings is also used. They were largely Swedes, who traveled down the Volga to Byzantium to serve in the Emperor`s Varangian Guard. Called the Ruotsilaisia by the Finns, they give the modern Finnish name `Ruotsi` to Sweden.
What is the historical accuracy of this History series? The first drama series on History, by the way, which tends to produce only documentaries. According to Lars (Danish name for Lawrence) Walker, writing in the American Spectator, the personality of Earl Haraldson is too autocratic and not sufficiently `democratic`, as were the Vikings of yore. Joel Robert Thompson also criticizes the series for portraying the Vikings as ignorant of the existence of the British Isles. A fair critique, this, since the Vikings could not have been unaware of the existence of such a large constellation of islands right under their nose. Still, there is always the "Suspension of Disbelief". He also criticizes their use of the death penalty instead of skoggangr - or "forest-going" - as a punishment for heinous crimes. Does he want to introduce "a walk in the forest" for such in the US, I wonder. Clark Collins of Entertainment Weekly considers it a "kind of mess" and Brian Lowry in Vanity was equally unkind describing it as an "unrelenting cheese feast". The program has been praised for not showing scenes of full, frontal (Scandinavian?) nudity. The boys bathe with their trews on. Unlike that All American Boy, who got drubbed out of the party for sending "pic-ies" via Smart-phone to his female "fans". We are inclined these days to believe that all societies and ages are like our own and project our own middle-class feelings into them. The Vikings were not like us. They lived in a different age and were subject to different feelings. Friendship, feuding, love and kinship were perceived differently to the way we perceive them. The Natives of New Guinea, the Ancient Polynesians, the Native Americans – all lived very differently. In particular, many of the New Guineans and some of the Ancient Polynesians, as well as other groups of people at different times practiced cannibalism, which we do not. You and I cannot imagine what it would have been like to view a Roman gladiatorial show. Nonetheless, people are not Monkeys. They do have the same feelings as we do. They experience Love and Hate. There are big differences between different peoples and different cultures. It is very difficult for the average American, Briton, Canadian, Australian or Dane to see this. Arab terrorists, who blow themselves up, are not crazy. They just live in a different world to most of US. In spite of the predilection of US citizens seeing all others as like US (and the shock when they find out they aren`t), I feel that any series that depicts human feelings and activities in a different age and culture is laudable even if it does pander to popular perceptions. Michael Hirst – the creator and writer of the series – comments that he had to reach millions of people. You have to accept this and put up with some romanticizing of a bye gone age.
There is a truly international cast. Ragnar Ladbrok is played as a young warrior by Travis Fimmel (Irish), who together with his friend, Floki, Gustav Skorsgard (a Swede), design a fleet of modern Scandinavian war ships, as did Thucydides, who built a fleet of modern triremes to ram the Persians at Salamis. Rollo, his brother (and the great- great great-grandfather of William the Conqueror no less), is played by Clive Standon (a Brit). He secretly covets his brother`s wife, the Shield Maiden, Logartha, with whom he has an affair. Ragnar is meanwhile tied up with the princess, Aslaug, with whom he has an affair. He meets her (played by Alyssa Sutherland – another Brit), while in the service of King Horik )played by Donell Logue – Irish), who sends him on a mission to Gotaland (a small offshore Swedish island, about the size of Rhode Island, where the Swedish royals always go on their summer vacation, along with many other sun-starved Swedes, the island having very many long sun-kissed summer days), where he meets the father of Aslaug, Jarl Borg (no relation to Bjorn) played by Thorbjorn (Thor-Bear) Herr (Lord). Meanwhile, Ragnar has sloughed off his allegiance to Earl Haraldson, played by Gabriel Byrne (an Englishman!!), a man of little vision, who originally commissioned his raid on NE England. This, amongst other things, netted the Monk, Athelstan (Noble-Stone), played by George Blogden (a chip off the old blog Brit), who, as a Christian, contrasts with the heathen, mead-toting Vikings. Jeez – what a plot! Mercifully, it plays out over many episodes. Swedish media sources are quoted as saying that two new Swedes will join the cast in the second episode, namely, Edvin Endre (son, no less of Swedish actress, Lena Endre, who played in "Wallander" a really excellent Swedish detective series, whether you`ve seen it or not (I have on Swedish TV)) and Anna Alstrom, who recently starred in a controversial Swedish Language film, "VI"(We or if you like US) along with the afore-mentioned Gustav Skorsgard of Floki fame. The composer of the theme music is Trevor Morris (who sounds as Brit as a Morris Pole). It is in truth a star-spangled cast to go with a star-spangled banner!
The series has been likened to "Game of Thrones", "Rome", "The Tudors" and "The Borgias". They were all big, historical successes. As previously mentioned, Michael Hirst created and wrote it and he won an Academy Award for "Elizabeth" and was nominated for the Golden Globe with "The Tudors". What awards will the Vikings rake in? Clive Standon (Rollo) is promising further episodes featuring Alfred the Great, Leif Ericson and Ivar the Boneless to be shot in Iceland, Russia and France as well as across the Atlantic. This, however, is promising very much in view of the time-frame. As a History Press Release says, "Vikings is a win win for US. As our first scripted series, "Vikings" has paid off in a big way with critical acclaim, strong ratings and a passionate, loyal fan-base." Hear, hear! For all you unrelenting TV addicts, the show does present a potted history. In spite of its being an unrelenting cheese feast".
~ Jeff Wordsmith (son of Geoff Jackson).
Jeff Wordsmith )nay, Geoff Jackson)
Jeff Wordsmith:
THE HOME ISLES
Short Poems based around a Scottish vacation in Early Fall.
Loch Lomond
Glistening
A sheet of silver
In the fitful
Rays of the sun
The Western Isles
Sparkling
Millions of them
All round
The gale-shook Atlantic
The wind-swept
Decks
Sailors crouching for shelter
I, in double-pants
Buffeted, on a Scottish ship
Fort William
King of the Highlands
Misty and rain-drenched
When I arrived
The train
Beat a Scottish tattoo
As the wheels rolled
From Glasgow
A taxi
In a small Scottish town
Took me to a hotel
For one night
One night, and time to move on,
Move out
An island
The sea everywhere
Beyond the fields of emerald
The sticky, black mud
Thalassa, the sea
In Scotland
Oh, the mountains
As the little train threaded through
Clouds in a scudded blue sky,
Though
Along the West Coast
The sea-buffeted islands
Tear themselves free
Of sea-spume, angry brine
The bus
Shuddered over the hills
To its
Tiny destination
No antler shook
In the meadows
No eagle roamed
In the glens
No, Scotland was breathtaking
Without
Seagulls flying
Overhead
In a blue
Wintry sky
The last gold
Of summer
Over glen
Across to distant islands
Before the gales of winter
Sunlight lights
Late afternoon
While mist adorned
The morn
It´s cold
Up in Scotland
And my shoulders
Shudder into my coat
The islands
And Skye-lands
Of these coast-hugging
Scattering of islets
The Outer Hebrides
Lie green and low
In grey-frothing, angry seas
So many islands
To see
As the ship draws toward the mainland
And the early morning sun rises
There were two shops
A bus station
Some cars parked
And that was all!
Smiles
In the heavens of virgin blue
Quite unpierced by passing clouds
That hang out in the distance
Waiting to converge
Surfs UP
Seas wash the shores
Lazily
Merely licking at the marina
Where boats ride
A-bobbing
In the gentle waves
Paradise on Earth
Awesome David Lawrence:
from THE BOOK OF AWESOME
"Atheists don`t listen to any voices outside of themselves."
Michael Levy:
Quote for St Pats...
Over time, do you realize how many miracles had to happen to get you to where you are today... Don`t waste a second, enjoy it all....To be sure, to be sure.
In Love & Joy
Michael Levy Professional optimist
A Lingering Colonialism
The Northern Irish Model: "Consociationism"
The Northern Irish Assembly is a unicameral body consisting of 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and meeting at Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional re3presentation. It represents 18 constituencies, which also form the basis for the constituencies to elect to the British Parliament at Westminster, and each constituency elects six MLAs. The Assembly was set up in 1998 but its activities were suspended on four occasions, the longest period of time being from 2002-2007. Mostly, it was suspended due to the wrangle over the IRA, the military wing of Sinn Fein. The Unionists wanted the IRA to be dissolved, their arms to be handed in and the whole movement to be disbanded. Eventually, they got their way and a semblance of peace was restored to the province. Full power was restored to the Assembly in May 2009 and powers over policing and justice – very important powers in the context of Northern Ireland – were granted in April 2010.
From 1921-1972, the devolved legislature for the province of Northern Ireland was the Parliament of Northern Ireland. This consistently elected the Ulster Unionist Party to govern the province due to the fact of their being a slight majority of Protestants over Catholics. It was a dictatorship of the majority over the minority and Catholics became increasingly disillusioned due to their being excluded from politics and indeed all forms of economic equality since they were discriminated against in the field of employment. At the onset of the "Time of the Troubles", the British government took what saw as the only way out: direct rule by Westminster. The Army was sent in to restore order. Unfortunately, they never managed to do this and what had been envisaged as something temporary turned into a full-scale military operation. The Terrorists came out in force and I think we all have an idea of what happened after trhat. Bill Clinton used his good offices and the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed in 1985 to at least set up a joint governmental framework for peace and the Assembly was finally constituted in 1998. only to be suspended but meanwhile the IRA was persuaded to decommision and fortunately that opened the path to political peace.
The Northern Irish Assembly (in English) or Tionál Thuaisceert Eirean in Irish or Norlin Airlan Assemblie in Ulster Scots, as the Unionists liked to designate it – both languages now being promoted in Northern Ireland – was formed. It became the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It had powers to legislate over a wide4 range of issues not explicitly reserved to the Parliament at Westminster. Most importantly, it received powers over policing and justice in 2010 as previously stated. The Assembly is presided over by a First Minister (Protestant) and a Deputy First Minister (Catholic), which in spite of their names have roughly equal power. Power is shared between the nationalist and unionist communities in Northern Ireland and ministers are appointed according to the D`Hondt method of power-sharing. The existence of this assembly has seen a notable decline in the aim of a united Ireland amongst the Catholic community, although other factors may also have played a role. Elections to the assembly are to be held every four years, although the assembly can vote to dissolve itself by a two-thirds majority. The problem with the Assembly is that it has no realm opposition party. The two partners, the unionists and the nationalists, simply govern together. They represent the two largest blocs in society and as long as they agree to run things together, that`s it. They do do. The Alliance Party is opposed to this but it seems a far-cry from power-sharing to a fully democratic government with its adversarial form of opposition.
This form of power-sharing is often known as consociationism. It was first pointed out by Lijphart in the Netherlands. There, there were four pillars or separate forms of organization - one Catholic, two Protestant and one secular or socialist - and the elites of these pillars agreed to share power and govern together. It more or less finished in 1957. However, it forms the basis of the Swiss form of government and even the Lebanese form of government, which is very much a power-sharing between religious groups of Christians and Moslems and tends to be known as sectarianism. At any rate, the Northern Irish experience is one of consociationalism: the living together of two societies in one state. It tends to be a feature of states entering out of a long period of conflict and it tends to provide a stable government. However, it does not provide an alternative to that form of government and, in that sense, cannot be regarded as fully democratic. There are no Republicans v. Democrats, Labor or Conservative in this system, merely a bloc vote, which delivers a majority and a minority to two parties, who then agree to share power amicably. It has, at least, put an end to the period of violence and terrorism, which has shaken Northern Ireland for Thirty Years. Better this form of government than the brutal - if well-meant - form of oppression by the British Army. Consocialationism is often viewed as synonymous with power-sharing. It promotes government stability, the survival of power-sharing arrangements, the perpetuation of democracy and the avoidance of violence. a consociationalist state is a state with major internal divisions along ethnic, religious or linguistic lines. Mainly, in Northern Ireland, the divisions are religious but some linguistic divisions - real and imagined - do enter into the picture.
The lynch-pin in the power-sharing arrangement is the appointment of ministers. the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister are automatically the heads of their two Parliamentary blocs. They were originally Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness. The remaining ministers are not elected but chosen by the nominating officers of each party, each party being entitled to its share of ministers according to its share of seats in the Assembly. The Assembly has three primary mechanisms to ensure power-sharing. First, the appointment of ministers, which means that any party with a fairly good showing in the Assembly will get at least one minister. Second, certain resolutions must receive cross-community support and every MLA is designated as Nationalist, Unionist or Other. any vote taken by the Assembly can be made dependent on cross-community support, whereby a majority of 60% is required so that any one community has to give its vote of 40%. This means that either community can exercise a veto over the Assembly`s decisions. Fortunately, the workings of that Assembly have not been blocked by angry MLAs of either community. so far, so good. However, gender equality has not been addressed in all this. Women, it seems, will just have to wait and it seems to me also that an end to bombing is a more important priority than equal power to women. Sorry about that one, girls! This procedure provides each party with a substantial representation in the Assembly of a proportional number of ministers. It creates a power-sharing Executive unlike the adversarial models existing elsewhere in the UK or southern Ireland, the US etc. Devolution has given the Assembly authority over areas like Agriculture, Economic Development, Education, the Environment, Health and Social Services. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland retains responsibility for International Relations, Taxation, National Insurrance, the Regulation of Financial Services and Telecommunications and Broadcasting i.e. Of International Relations and Taxation (no taxation without representation!). The decisions of the Northern Ireland Assembly are not meant to be in line with EU rules and regulations, the EU Court of Justice etc. With the transfer of police and justice in 2010, the Assembly really got teeth. this power-sharing relationship is really very complex, finely tuned and difficult to understand. It relies very much on the sharing of ministerial positions and each community exercising de facto rights of veto over the decisions of the Assembly. It is very slow-moving and boring without the presence of an opposition party to challenge everything the government does. However, it is extremely well-suited as a model for a society emerging from conflict into one of a harmonious balance of the affairs of its two conflicting and competing communities. Let`s hope that the peace holds in Northern Ireland!
Jeff Wordsmith (Geoff Jackson)
Geoff, The eternal sketic that I am, I see this like the little boy in the real unedited Rudyard Kipling story who tried to set up a democracy of a lion, tiger and wildebeast. Oh, they`ll behave themselves while the US is watching but when it follows the UK into oblivion, don`t stand in the middle.
The Government and Country of Wales
Wales is England`s Wild West and is bordered by the sea on three coasts, having fifty islands and a tremendous fauna of sea-birds plus basking dolphins. She has a tremendous history going back to pre-historic times as well as a history of resistance to the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons before being finally conquered by Edward l. She has her own language Welsh, spoken by about a half million people as well as a dialect of English called `Wenglish" (Welsh English), which is difficult to understand with words and sentence configurations derived from Welsh. At a size of just over 8.000 sq miles, she weighs in at around five times the size of Rhode Island, which is around 1,500 sq miles. She has a population of around three million, two thirds of whom are concentrated in South Wales around the towns of Swansea, Newport and Cardiff. The Industrial Revolution overtook Wales at around the same time as it did England leading to a boom in population and a re-settlement in the south. Copper smelting arose around Swansea and iron smelting elsewhere. Slate began to be quarried in the north of Wales to provide for the slate roofs so common to English housing. However, coal, especially in the valleys of South Wales, became the most important industry and by its height in 1913, Wales was producing 61 million tons of coal per year. The Great Depression saw a slump in all Welsh industries but the end of the Second World War saw a moderate upswing particularly in the service sector. However, the Gross Value Added, which is a way of calculating per capita income is just over fifteen thousand pounds per year or 74% of the National Average, which makes it a relatively poor area. Unemployment, too, is higher than the national average. All the more reason then for a general migration to England. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist Party, was founded in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society was set up in 1962 to promote the interests of Welsh. Welsh had been badly oppressed in the nineteenth century due to its being forbidden in the newly founded schools and pupils beaten for speaking it even in the schoolyard. However, it is now in the resurgence and most towns are labelled bi-lingually. Many Welsh people are learning Welsh at night-school etc but I personally doubt the efficiency of such courses due to the fact of English speakers being such notoriously bad learners of other languages.
The National Assembly of Wales was set up in 1998 according to the Government of Wales Act to form the legislature of Wales. At around the same time, the Welsh Government was established as the Executive branch of government with a First Minister appointed by the Queen. He is usually leader of the largest party in the Welsh Assembly. He appoints up to twelve ministers and deputy ministers to advise him on legal matters making a government of maximum fourteen members. Carwyn Jones was appointed as First Minister in May 2011 and Theodore Huckle QC became the Counsel General. Labour had a majority in the National Assembly and was supported by Plaid Cymru, both partners pledging themselves to more independence for Wales. The National Assembly for Wales consists of sixty members. Their task is to scrutinise government policies and hold ministers to account. However, the Government of Wales Act of 2006 did establish the principle of the separation of the legislative and executive branches. The functions of the Welsh Executive are to make decisions, review and implement policy and exercise executive functions such as making statutory instruments i.e the usual functions of an executive. The Welsh Assembly`s role is the two functions just mentioned plus to approve budgets for the Welsh government`s progress. However, these budgets are granted by the National Government at Westminster and hence the Welsh do not have the right to levy their own taxes. This is a right that every State in the US has and the average American pays both State and federal taxes. The lack of this right in Wales has, of course, been extremely criticized and is a bone of contention between Westminster and the Welsh. A third body was also set up, the National Assembly of Wales Commission, with the task of paying the staff to support the Assembly since it does not have its own independent money to even do this job. Nevertheless, the Welsh government can now propose Bills to the National Assembly of Wales, which if they become law are as binding as Acts of Parliament (a confusion, if you like, between State laws and federal laws, probably rooted in the fact that Britain does not have a Constitution and the Government of Wales Act is a one-off law). These Acts of the National Assembly are confined to twenty areas, all the other areas including of course taxation and foreign policy being reserved to Westminster. However, these areas include agriculture, economic development, education, health, highways, housing, local government and the Welsh language. Most of these things in the US would fall under State government.
Such is the modest content of independence envisaged for Wales. However, it does have only three million people and is something of a backwater in the modern British Isles. It is very sparsely populated by British standards with the exception of the south, where Cardiff and Swansea are really the two only big cities. However, many people think that Wales has been short-changed in its independence with the government at Westminster definitely holding the purse-strings. Lip service is paid to the ideals of independence e g the promotion of the Welsh language but little is being done to implement it. the existence of some bodies as the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Government is nonetheless an incentive to gaining greater independence from the UK and I, for one, wish them luck with what they undertake.
Jeff Wordsmith (Geoff Jackson)
Geoff Jackson:
SUNSET
Sunset comes upon the land
Like an angry red weal
Dark purple clouds
Menace the sky
The brooding mountains opposite
Are lost in the sunset haze
And moisture rushes skywards
As damp rises
The last sea gulls still
Patrol the thermals
Church bells peal
To reminding The Faithful
Of Sunday prayer
Night is perceptibly falling
Rushing in on bat wings
The pale blue sky
Of Spring cool afternoon
Has disappeared
To be replaced by this
Ogre-ous
Threat
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