The Great War, the last time Ireland fought to defend Europe

There have been many occasions throughout history when Irishmen joined foreign armies to fight and die to protect the freedom of countries in Europe, and the last time this happened was in August 1914 when the Great War started. (If the truth be known these boys, some as young as 15, joined mainly for excitement and adventure and to get away from poverty stricken Ireland.)

Ireland was neutral during the Second World as it has been in all wars since then. That of course did not stop young Irishmen joining the armies who were fighting. I doubt there has been any major conflict since the Great War where Irishmen did not die. The number of gallantry honours they won are proof of their amazing courage.

In the opening days of the Great War, the Germans swiftly advanced through neutral Belgium and were threatening Paris. Redmond, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who with the support of the Catholic Church in Ireland under the slogan "save Catholic Belgium", called upon the Irish Volunteers to enlist in existing Irish regiments of the British army, in support of the Allied war effort.

The sad thing is that whilst there are a number of War Memorials in Belgium and France, honouring those Irishmen who fell in battle, there are no memorials, in any town in Ireland, honouring the Irish dead to my knowledge, except for the controversial Irish National War Memorial Gardens in Dublin. This memorial commemorates Irishmen who died fighting in the armies of Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, South African, United Kingdom and the United States.

It's a well known joke throughout the armed forces of the world "Irishmen don't care who they fight as long as they fight."

The Duke of Wellington (himself an Irishman) on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, when asked what he thought of his Irish regiments, replied, "I don't know what effect these men will have on the enemy, but by God, they terrify me."

Strange as it may seem but there is still an Irish Regiment in the South African army. Although it's unlikely that there are any Irishmen or of Irish descent serving in its ranks. I imagine it would now be mainly African manned and wonder if they still wear the shamrock and harp insignia and if the regimental commander still marches on to parade with a shillelagh. (spelling?)

An African American's View On Africa

Warning!

Not suitable viewing by the politically correct and non-recovered liberals.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

To see and hear an African American's views on Africa, Africans and Nelson Mandela, click on the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17m8OnHC7dQ&feature=player_embedded

The latest on multiculturalism

European leaders have made the following statements in recent months.

Angela Merkel German Chancellor says “Multiculturalism has totally failed.”
David Cameron British Prime Minister says “State multiculturalism has had disastrous results.”
Nicolas Sarkozy French President stated when asked if multiculturalism was a failure in France replied “My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure.”
Jose Maria Aznar Ex-Prime Minister of Spain has declared multiculturalism a failure in his country.
Silvio Berlusconi Italian Prime Minister does not have the time to make a remark. Nicole Minetti refused to comment unless she was paid more money.

Am I missing something?

African Humour

I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the following stories which are purported to originate from reputable and serious newspapers but they are probably untrue. Anyhow, they have a humourous siside'

1 From The Cape Times (Cape Town):
"I have promised to keep his identity confidential," said a spokeswoman for the Sandton Sun Hotel, Johannesburg, "but I can confirm that he is no longer in our employment. We asked him to clean the lifts and he spent four days on the job. When I asked him why, he replied: "Well, there are forty of them, two on each floor, and sometimes some of them aren't there". Eventually, we realised that he thought each floor had a different lift, and he'd cleaned the same two, twenty times. We had to let him go. It seemed best all round".

It is understand he has now immigrated to Ireland and may be working at the Shelbourne Hotel Dublin.

2 From The Star (Johannesburg):
"The situation is absolutely under control," the Swazi Transport Minister told Parliament in Mbabane yesterday. "Our nation's merchant navy is perfectly safe. We just don't know where it is, that's all." Replying to an MP's question, the Minister admitted that the landlocked country had completely lost track of its only ship, the Swazimar: "We believe it is in a sea somewhere. At one time, we sent a team of men to look for it, but there was a problem with drink and they failed to find it, and so, technically, yes, we've lost it a bit. But I categorically reject all suggestions of incompetence on the part of this government. The Swazimar is a big ship painted in the sort of nice bright colours you can see at night. Mark my words, it will turn up. The right honourable gentleman opposite is a very naughty man, and he will laugh on the other side of his face when my ship comes in."

It is understood that the Minister is now employed as a consultant to the Irish banking industry.

3 From a Zimbabwean newspaper:
While transporting mental patients from Harare to Bulawayo, the bus driver stopped at a roadside shebeen* (beerhall) for a few beers. When he got back to his vehicle, he found it empty, with the 20 patients nowhere to be seen. Realizing the trouble he was in if the truth were uncovered, he halted his bus at the next bus stop and offered lifts to those in the queue. Letting 20 people aboard, he then shut the doors and drove straight to the Bulawayo mental hospital, where he hastily handed over his 'charges', warning the nurses that they were particularly excitable. Staff removed the furious passengers; it was three days later that suspicions were roused by the consistency of stories from the 20. As for the real patients: nothing more has been heard of them and they have apparently blended comfortably back into Zimbabwean society.

100% for quick thinking on this one, so it is suggested that should he apply for asylum in Ireland that it be granted. He's halfway there already, as he at least knows what a shebeen is.

*Many people wonder where the term shebeen originates from.

Little Johnny Strikes Again

The teacher asked the class to use the word "fascinate" in a sentence.
Molly put up her hand and said, "My family went to my granddad's farm, and we all saw his pet sheep. It was fascinating."
The teacher said, "That was good, but I wanted you to use the word fascinate, not fascinating."
Sally raised her hand. She said, "My family went to see Rock City , and I was fascinated."
The teacher said, "Well, that was good Sally, but I wanted you to use the word 'fascinate."
Little Johnny raised his hand.
The teacher hesitated because she had been burned by Little Johnny before.
She finally decided there was no way he could damage the word "fascinate," so she called on him for his offering..
Johnny said, "My aunt Gina has a sweater with ten buttons, but her tits are so big she can only fasten eight."
The teacher sat down and cried.

Medical distinction between Guts and Balls

There is a medical distinction between Guts and Balls. We've all heard about people having Guts or Balls. But do you really know the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, here are the definitions:


GUTS - Is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being met by your wife with a broom, and having the Guts to ask: "Are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?"


BALLS - Is coming home late after a night out with the guys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the butt and having the Balls to say: 'You're next, Chubby.'


I hope this clears up any confusion on the definitions.
Medically speaking, there is no difference in the outcome. Both result in death.

Beware of Genies

An Aussie truckie walks into an outback cafe with a full-grown emu behind him.
The waitress asks them for their orders.
The truckie says, 'A hamburger, chips and a coke,' and turns to the emu, 'What's yours?' 'Sounds great, I'll have the same,' says the emu.
A short time later the waitress returns with the order 'That will be $9.40 please,' and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change and pays.

The next day, the man and the emu come again and he says, 'A hamburger, chips and a coke.' The emu says, ' Sounds great, I'll have the same.'

Again the truckie reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.
This becomes routine until the two enter again. 'The usual?' asks the waitress.
'No, it's Friday night, so I'll have a steak, baked potato and a salad,' says the man. 'Same for me,' says the emu.
Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, 'That will be $32.62.'
Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.
The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. 'Excuse me mate, how do you manage to always pull the exact change from your pocket every time?'
'Well, love' says the truckie, 'a few years ago, I was cleaning out the back shed, and found an old lamp. When I cleaned it, a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes.
My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there.'
'That's brilliant!' says the waitress. 'Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want, for as long as you live!'
'That's right. Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there.' says the man..
Still curious the waitress asks, 'What's with the bloody emu?'

The truckie pauses, sighs, and answers, 'My second wish was for a tall bird with a big arse and long legs, who agrees with everything I say.

My Muslim faith ...er ...um ...my Christian faith

Ireland falls from 5 to 17 place in the world literacy standings

Ireland has ben renowned for having a good education system and intelligent pupils. However the latest PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) literacy ranking shows that Ireland’s position has declined from 5th to 17th place. This was the greatest falll suffered any country. I understand that the fall occured between 2006 and 2009.

Can anyone enlighten me why there has been such a dramatic fall in standards?

Please tell me it's not true

Then there was the case of a Nigerian woman fired for robbing from a store in Dublin where she worked. The case ended up in court. Not with her being charged…. silly! No, she brought a claim of wrongful dismissal against the store on the basis that it was the Nigerian ‘culture’ to, well, rob from where you worked. Here was a rare instance of a Nigerian telling the truth. The ‘learned’ judge was impressed. He ordered her to be reinstated to her job, and paid I think it was €30,000 in compensation for ‘humiliation and distress’.

Taken from the Irish Savant Blog.

Old Africa hands are well aware that Nigerians are natural thieves and not much different from other Africans such as Zambians and Zimbabweans (personal experience in those countries bear this out). But to think that this can be used as an excuse in an Irish courtroom beggers belief. So will some kind hearted person please tell me that the story is untrue.

The latest on multiculturalism

European leaders have made the following statements in recent months.

• Angela Merkel German Chancellor says “Multiculturalism has totally failed.”
• David Cameron British Prime Minister says “State multiculturalism has had disastrous results.”
• Nicolas Sarkozy French President stated when asked if multiculturalism was a failure in France replied “My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure.”
• Jose Maria Aznar Ex-Prime Minister of Spain has declared multiculturalism a failure in his country.
• Silvio Berlusconi Italian Prime Minister does not have the time to make a remark. Nicole Minetti refused to comment unless she was paid more money.

Am I missing something?

Fascism by another name

Frederick Forsyth, a top selling British author, who whilst researching a book, spent many hours with an elderly rabbi who had fought fascism all his life. Forsyth considered the rabbi one of the wisest men he had ever met and who had the rare gift of original thought. The rabbi was adamant fascism was a deeply imbued standard of behaviour and insisted there were four pillars to this behaviour.

• One was a total and blind commitment to the current political and moral orthodoxy.
• The second was the angry repudiation of any possibility of variant thought. He concluded this blinkered bigotry was seldom the standard of the truly evil (these were right at the very top) but of the deeply stupid.
• At number three he listed a relentless no-mercy persecution of those refusing or unable to conform to the imposed orthodoxy often stemming from the anonymous denunciation and presaged by the intimidating phrase: “We have received a complaint that you…”
• The final criterion of fascist behaviour is the demand for total control of thought, speech, writing – even body language and gesture.

The rabbi’s four criteria of practising fascism are absolutely identical to the tenets of the modern scourge of political correctness, imposed primarily by socialists and wet liberals. It can therefore be argued that PC is indeed the new fascism that scars our modern age.

Let it not be forgotten that fascism is the offspring of socialism and nothing to do with conservatism. The term Nazi derives from the first two syllables of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party).