Reflections on love and friendship - Anam Cara

In his book Anam Cara, author John O'Donohue writes of love and friendship. In the old Celtic church, i.e. Celtic spirituality/paganism, he tells us of one who acted as "teacher, companion, or spiritual guide. Anam, the Gaelic word for soul and cara, friend.

"Friendship is the nature of God," O'Donohue writes. "The Christian concept of God as Trinity is the most sublime articulation of otherness and intimacy, an eternal interflow of friendship."

I would love to quote the entire book but I must ask you to read it for yourself. Do it in 2010 when all is quiet within and without.

House Bill 1388 Passed Behind Our Backs - The Fox is in the Hen House

By Jim West, www.cuyahogavalleygop.com/

Whether you are an Obama fan, or not, EVERYONE IN THE U S. needs to know....

Something happened.... H.R. 1388 was passed, behind our backs. You may want to read about it.. It wasn't mentioned on the news... just went by on the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN
screen.

Obama funds $20M in tax payer dollars to immigrate Hamas Refugees to the USA . This is the news that didn't make the headlines...

By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in "migration assistance" to the Palestinian refugees and "conflict victims" in Gaza .

The "presidential determination", which allows hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States , was signed and appears in the Federal Register.

Few on Capitol Hill, or in the media, took note that the order provides a free ticket replete with housing and food allowances to individuals who have displayed their overwhelming support to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the parliamentary election of January 2006.

Let's review....itemized list of some of Barack Obama ' s most recent actions since his inauguration:

His first call to any head of state, as president, was to Mahmoud Abbas, leader of Fatah party in the Palestinian territory.

His first one-on-one television interview with any news organization was with Al Arabia television.

His first executive order was to fund/facilitate abortion(s) not just here within the U. S. , but within the world, using U. S. tax payer funds.

He ordered Guantanamo Bay closed and all military trials of detainees halted.

He ordered overseas CIA interrogation centers closed.

He withdrew all charges against the masterminds behind the USS Cole and the "terror attack" on 9/11.

Now we learn that he is allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refuges to move to, and live in, the US at American taxpayer expense.

These important, and insightful, issues are being "lost" in the blinding bail-outs and "stimulation" packages.

Doubtful? To verify this for yourself: www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2009-02-04-E9-2488

HB1388 also takes strong steps in the direction of organizing the "Obama Youth Corp"

Read about it here....
http://thepolithobbyist.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/house-bill-1388-the-stepping-stone-to-obamas-youth-indoctrination/

PLEASE PASS THIS ON... AMERICA NEEDS TO KNOW

WE are losing this country at a rapid pace.

An attempt to control the Internet

by

JC Sullivan

Senator Jay Rockefeller, at a confirmation hearing of Gary Locke for Commerce Secretary, said “It really almost makes you ask the question would it have been better if we had never invented the Internet.” He said a figure of three million cyber "attacks" are launched against the Department of Defense every day.

According to Kurt Nim, writing in Infowars, Jay Rockefeller’s comments "reveal an astounding degree of ignorance – or if not ignorance, outright propaganda. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks the government has cranked up the fear quotient in regard to cyber attacks and so-called cyber terrorism, a virtually non-existent threat except in the minds of security experts and politicians. In the years since the attacks, not one real instance of real cyberterrorism has been recorded."

Through Sullivan's Eye forsees what is being attempted - with aiding and abetting by Russia and the so-called United Nations, control of our Internet.

The Obama administration, through a proposal by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), is trying to set the groundwork the creation of an Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, to be part of the Executive Office of the President. Under the proposal, that office "would have the power to disconnect what they would call cyberattacks from , if it believes they’re at risk of a cyberattack, ‘critical’ computer networks from the Internet.” As well, the effort would put the White House National Cybersecurity Advisor in charge of coordinating cyber efforts within the intelligence community and within civilian agencies. That also means our military defense networks.

From the notoriously left New York Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer (December 13, 2009 U.S. talks on Internet security) reprinted that "The United States has begun talks with Russia and a United Nations arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace." Can you believe it?

My fellow Americans, with the Left already in control of the major American television networks and major city newspapers, there remain fewer and fewer outlets for freedom of expression without state control or 'spin', just like it is in communist and imperial nations like Russia.

The Internet exists because of private enterprise and freedom. We must guard against these unveiled attempts against our hard-fought freedoms. Are you listening my independent and moderate friends?

Cleveland Browns, 2009

In defeating the Steelers this week, it appears to this writer that the "Break A Leg" philosophy has been finally allowed to emerge - the understudy waiting in the wings for the "star" to become disabled (remember Barbra Streisand.

I trust Browns Coach Mangini et al have seen the light. Despite their focused plans thus far, have they have finally thrown out what doesn't work and begun to go with what DOES work - using energetic, hungry understudies.

I'm reminded of my Business Law Professor at Cleveland State, Allan Goodman. While working his way through college/law school, he sold computers for the Burroughs Corp. He thought he had a client sold when he was shocked to learn the client bought from another computer company. When he asked the Purchasing Agent why, he was told, "If I bought Burroughs, and it didn't work, I would lose my job. But if I bought IBM (the #1 computer maker at the time), and it didn't work, I could say 'But I bought IBM'"

That's the philiosophy Mangini and Manners Big Boy, oops scuze me, Romeo Crennel, have been following - "But I'm using the highly paid guys."

The prima donnas (IBM) on the Browns are now either out or gone, what a relief. Let's hope the understudies (Burroughs) continue to perform like they did against the Steelers.

Cleveland Plain Dealer Hard Up for News

Illegal immigration, urban crime, a Socialist President....you'd think the only Cleveland newspaper daily might find something current to write about. Instead, they have resorted to digging up the Viet Nam My Lai story. I think they need a little inspiration or direction.
They might run some other historical stories.

They could begin with the December 17, 1944 Malmedy massacre in which about 90 American POWs were murdered by their German captors during the Battle of the Bulge.

Another interesting story would be the murder of American POWs by their Japanese captors at Fukuoka, Japan on August 15, 1945. Seventeen blindfolded and handcuffed American air crewmen were murdered three hours after the Japanese Emperor declared an end to the war.

Perhaps readers might enjoy reliving the story of American airmen murdered and cannibalized by the Japanese on the island of Kichi Jima?

These are only a few stories. I don't want to do all their work for them. I'm sure they can dig up a few more.

WHY IS OUR PRESIDENT NOT CALLING IT TERRORISM?

With all the attention focused on the murders at Fort Hood, Texas, why is no one linking it to the murder of Memphis native Pvt. William Andrew Long? In June, 2009, he was murdered in Little Rock, Arkansas by a Muslim convert.

“I do feel I’m not guilty,” Abdulhakim Muhammad told The Associated Press in a collect call from the Pulaski County jail. “I don’t think it was murder, because murder is when a person kills another person without justified reason.”

District Court Judge Alice Lytle ordered "all parties, police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and their personnel… to refrain from public comment," in matters relating to this case. Prosecutor Larry Jegley filed a motion for the gag order. The motion stated that many "statements have been made in recent days, some attributed and some not." Such statements, the motion said, "could adversely impact" the defendant's right to a fair trial.

What else has to happen before we understand that 9/11 was just the beginning and the American Theater is also a combat zone? Why is our President not calling these acts of terrorism?

Fort Hood, Texas

Rarely have I ever agreed with Bay Village, Ohio's John O'Neill (Cleveland Plain Dealer 11/10/09 Endless war is taking its toll on U.S. troops). He is right, however, about this nation being in a state of confusion.

If people are throwing rocks at your house, you can visibly see who is throwing them. However, sooner or later, you are going to begin to understand that someone else is providing rocks to the throwers.

The United States has provided "rocks" to Israel for a long time without any apparent moral concern for what was Israel was doing to their neighbors.

Our unqualified support of this vital ally has hindered peace. I don't advocate abandoning Israel's right to exist but something in both America and Israel needs to change.

THE COMING STORM

West Virginia's Senator Jay Rockefeller is proposing the Internet be controlled by the government in the event of an 'emergency'. I expect this Administration will create just such an emergency within the next four years.

We are all seeing Fox News being discriminated against by this Administration. Why? They're the only television network that reports news that the alphabet networks choose not to cover. And therein lies the rub. The Obama White House allows these networks unfettered access to 'spin' their version of events. Fox News stands alone in NOT mouthing the White House line.

Now comes the story of Major Nidal Hasan, the moslem assassin and murderer at Fort Hood, Texas.

General General Casey, Army Chief of Staff, is a political general. He, like the alphabet networks, is spinning the story that the White House wants us to hear. According to them this was not a terrorist action. Huh?

Remember the story in Memphis about the Army private being killed by a radical moslem? Where has that story gone? Buried? Is there a trend here? Are these guys single 'cells'?

Hasan should have received a dishonorable discharge for being "Moslem first, American second."

These stories are just more in the continuing stupidity emanating from Washington, D.C. and our elected officials. They think they're untouchable. The can't be untouchable in a democracy where they are elected and un-elected. That is the case in America....unless a crisis is manufactured and power is seized. Control of the Internet would be a step in that direction.

Patton's Prayer

GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON, JR.'S PRAYER
Below is the famous "Patton Prayer" and Christmas greeting sent to the men of the Third Army December 8, 1944:



"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen."

The True Story of The Patton Prayer


by Msgr. James H. O'Neill


(From the Review of the News 6 October 1971)

Many conflicting and some untrue stories have been printed about General George S. Patton and the Third Army Prayer. Some have had the tinge of blasphemy and disrespect for the Deity. Even in "War As I Knew It" by General Patton, the footnote on the Prayer by Colonel Paul D. Harkins, Patton's Deputy Chief of Staff, while containing the elements of a funny story about the General and his Chaplain, is not the true account of the prayer Incident or its sequence.

As the Chief Chaplain of the Third Army throughout the five campaigns on the Staff of General Patton, I should have some knowledge of the event because at the direction of General Patton I composed the now world famous Prayer, and wrote Training Letter No. 5, which constitutes an integral, but untold part, of the prayer story. These Incidents, narrated in sequence, should serve to enhance the memory of the man himself, and cause him to be enshrined by generations to come as one of the greatest of our soldiers. He had all the traits of military leadership, fortified by genuine trust in God, intense love of country, and high faith In the American soldier.

He had no use for half-measures. He wrote this line a few days before his death: "Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition." He was true to the principles of his religion, Episcopalian, and was regular in Church attendance and practices, unless duty made his presence Impossible.

The incident of the now famous Patton Prayer commenced with a telephone call to the Third Army Chaplain on the morning of December 8, 1944, when the Third Army Headquarters were located in the Caserne Molifor in Nancy, France: "This is General Patton; do you have a good prayer for weather? We must do something about those rains if we are to win the war." My reply was that I know where to look for such a prayer, that I would locate, and report within the hour. As I hung up the telephone receiver, about eleven in the morning, I looked out on the steadily falling rain, "immoderate" I would call it -- the same rain that had plagued Patton's Army throughout the Moselle and Saar Campaigns from September until now, December 8. The few prayer books at hand contained no formal prayer on weather that might prove acceptable to the Army Commander. Keeping his immediate objective in mind, I typed an original and an improved copy on a 5" x 3" filing card:

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.

I pondered the question, What use would General Patton make of the prayer? Surely not for private devotion. If he intended it for circulation to chaplains or others, with Christmas not far removed, it might he proper to type the Army Commander's Christmas Greetings on the reverse side. This would please the recipient, and anything that pleased the men I knew would please him:

To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I Wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God's blessings rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day. G.S. Patton, Jr, Lieutenant General, Commanding, Third United States Army.

This done, I donned my heavy trench coat, crossed the quadrangle of the old French military barracks, and reported to General Patton. He read the prayer copy, returned it to me with a very casual directive, "Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one." The size of the order amazed me; this was certainly doing something about the weather in a big way. But I said nothing but the usual, "Very well, Sir!" Recovering, I invited his attention to the reverse side containing the Christmas Greeting, with his name and rank typed. "Very good," he said, with a smile of approval. "If the General would sign the card, it would add a personal touch that I am sure the men would like." He took his place at his desk, signed the card, returned it to me and then Said: "Chaplain, sit down for a moment; I want to talk to you about this business of prayer." He rubbed his face in his hands, was silent for a moment, then rose and walked over to the high window, and stood there with his back toward me as he looked out on the falling rain. As usual, he was dressed stunningly, and his six-foot-two powerfully built physique made an unforgettable silhouette against the great window. The General Patton I saw there was the Army Commander to whom the welfare of the men under him was a matter of Personal responsibility . Even in the heat of combat he could take time out to direct new methods to prevent trench feet, to see to it that dry socks went forward daily with the rations to troops on the line, to kneel in the mud administering morphine and caring for a wounded soldier until the ambulance Came. What was coming now?

"Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army?" was his question. I parried: "Does the General mean by chaplains, or by the men?" "By everybody," he replied. To this I countered: "I am afraid to admit it, but I do not believe that much praying is going on. When there Is fighting, everyone prays, but now with this constant rain -- when things are quiet, dangerously quiet, men just sit and wait for things to happen. Prayer out here is difficult. Both chaplains and men are removed from a special building with a steeple. Prayer to most of them is a formal, ritualized affair, involving special posture and a liturgical setting. I do not believe that much praying is being done."

The General left the window, and again seated himself at his desk, leaned back in his swivel chair, toying with a long lead pencil between his index fingers.

Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by Praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That's where prayer comes in. Up to now, in the Third Army, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats, no famine, no epidemics. This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us. We were lucky in Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy. Simply because people prayed. But we have to pray for ourselves, too. A good soldier is not made merely by making him think and work. There is something in every soldier that goes deeper than thinking or working--it's his "guts." It is something that he has built in there: it is a world of truth and power that is higher than himself. Great living is not all output of thought and work. A man has to have intake as well. I don't know what you it, but I call it Religion, Prayer, or God.

He talked about Gideon in the Bible, said that men should pray no matter where they were, in church or out of it, that if they did not pray, sooner or later they would "crack up." To all this I commented agreement, that one of the major training objectives of my office was to help soldiers recover and make their lives effective in this third realm, prayer. It would do no harm to re-impress this training on chaplains. We had about 486 chaplains in the Third Army at that time, representing 32 denominations. Once the Third Army had become operational, my mode of contact with the chaplains had been chiefly through Training Letters issued from time to time to the Chaplains in the four corps and the 22 to 26 divisions comprising the Third Army. Each treated of a variety of subjects of corrective or training value to a chaplain working with troops in the field. [Patton continued:]

I wish you would put out a Training Letter on this subject of Prayer to all the chaplains; write about nothing else, just the importance of prayer. Let me see it before you send it. We've got to get not only the chaplains but every man in the Third Army to pray. We must ask God to stop these rains. These rains are that margin that hold defeat or victory. If we all pray, it will be like what Dr. Carrel said [the allusion was to a press quote some days previously when Dr. Alexis Carrel, one of the foremost scientists, described prayer "as one of the most powerful forms of energy man can generate"], it will be like plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven. I believe that prayer completes that circuit. It is power.

With that the General arose from his chair, a sign that the interview was ended. I returned to my field desk, typed Training Letter No. 5 while the "copy" was "hot," touching on some or all of the General's reverie on Prayer, and after staff processing, presented it to General Patton on the next day. The General read it and without change directed that it be circulated not only to the 486 chaplains, but to every organization commander down to and including the regimental level. Three thousand two hundred copies were distributed to every unit in the Third Army over my signature as Third Army Chaplain. Strictly speaking, it was the Army Commander's letter, not mine. Due to the fact that the order came directly from General Patton, distribution was completed on December 11 and 12 in advance of its date line, December 14, 1944. Titled "Training Letter No. 5," with the salutary "Chaplains of the Third Army," the letter continued: "At this stage of the operations I would call upon the chaplains and the men of the Third United States Army to focus their attention on the importance of prayer.

"Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner. Pestilence and famine have not touched us. We have continued in unity of purpose. We have had no quitters; and our leadership has been masterful. The Third Army has no roster of Retreats. None of Defeats. We have no memory of a lost battle to hand on to our children from this great campaign.

"But we are not stopping at the Siegfried Line. Tough days may be ahead of us before we eat our rations in the Chancellery of the Deutsches Reich.

"As chaplains it is our business to pray. We preach its importance. We urge its practice. But the time is now to intensify our faith in prayer, not alone with ourselves, but with every believing man, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Christian in the ranks of the Third United States Army.

"Those who pray do more for the world than those who fight; and if the world goes from bad to worse, it is because there are more battles than prayers. 'Hands lifted up,' said Bosuet, 'smash more battalions than hands that strike.' Gideon of Bible fame was least in his father's house. He came from Israel's smallest tribe. But he was a mighty man of valor. His strength lay not in his military might, but in his recognition of God's proper claims upon his life. He reduced his Army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men lest the people of Israel would think that their valor had saved them. We have no intention to reduce our vast striking force. But we must urge, instruct, and indoctrinate every fighting man to pray as well as fight. In Gideon's day, and in our own, spiritually alert minorities carry the burdens and bring the victories.

"Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace.

"We must march together, all out for God. The soldier who 'cracks up' does not need sympathy or comfort as much as he needs strength. We are not trying to make the best of these days. It is our job to make the most of them. Now is not the time to follow God from 'afar off.' This Army needs the assurance and the faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail.

"Be assured that this message on prayer has the approval, the encouragement, and the enthusiastic support of the Third United States Army Commander.

"With every good wish to each of you for a very Happy Christmas, and my personal congratulations for your splendid and courageous work since landing on the beach, I am," etc., etc., signed The Third Army Commander.

The timing of the Prayer story is important: let us rearrange the dates: the "Prayer Conference" with General Patton was 8 December; the 664th Engineer Topographical Company, at the order of Colonel David H. Tulley, C.E., Assistant to the Third Army Engineer, working night and day reproduced 250,000 copies of the Prayer Card; the Adjutant General, Colonel Robert S. Cummings, supervised the distribution of both the Prayer Cards and Training Letter No. 5 to reach the troops by December 12-14. The breakthrough was on December 16 in the First Army Zone when the Germans crept out of the Schnee Eifel Forest in the midst of heavy rains, thick fogs, and swirling ground mists that muffled sound, blotted out the sun, and reduced visibility to a few yards. The few divisions on the Luxembourg frontier were surprised and brushed aside. They found it hard to fight an enemy they could neither see nor hear. For three days it looked to the jubilant Nazis as if their desperate gamble would succeed. They had achieved compete surprise. Their Sixth Panzer Army, rejuvenated in secret after its debacle in France, seared through the Ardennes like a hot knife through butter. The First Army's VIII Corps was holding this area with three infantry divisions (one of them new and in the line only a few days) thinly disposed over an 88-mile front and with one armored division far to the rear, in reserve. The VIII Corps had been in the sector for months. It was considered a semi-rest area and outside of a little patrolling was wholly an inactive position.

When the blow struck the VIII Corps fought with imperishable heroism. The Germans were slowed down but the Corps was too shattered to stop them with its remnants. Meanwhile, to the north, the Fifth Panzer Army was slugging through another powerful prong along the vulnerable boundary between the VIII and VI Corps. Had the bad weather continued there is no telling how far the Germans might have advanced. On the 19th of December, the Third Army turned from East to North to meet the attack. As General Patton rushed his divisions north from the Saar Valley to the relief of the beleaguered Bastogne, the prayer was answered. On December 20, to the consternation of the Germans and the delight of the American forecasters who were equally surprised at the turn-about-the rains and the fogs ceased. For the better part of a week came bright clear skies and perfect flying weather. Our planes came over by tens, hundreds, and thousands. They knocked out hundreds of tanks, killed thousands of enemy troops in the Bastogne salient, and harried the enemy as he valiantly tried to bring up reinforcements. The 101st Airborne, with the 4th, 9th, and 10th Armored Divisions, which saved Bastogne, and other divisions which assisted so valiantly in driving the Germans home, will testify to the great support rendered by our air forces. General Patton prayed for fair weather for Battle. He got it.

It was late in January of 1945 when I saw the Army Commander again. This was in the city of Luxembourg. He stood directly in front of me, smiled: "Well, Padre, our prayers worked. I knew they would." Then he cracked me on the side of my steel helmet with his riding crop. That was his way of saying, "Well done."

(This article appeared as a government document in 1950. At the time it appeared in the Review of the News, Msgr. O'Neill was a retired Brigadier General living in Pueblo, Colorado.)

Morty O Sullivan, Irish Brigade Recruiter

Chapter Five - Morty O Sullivan, Irish Brigade Recruiter - author unknown

In the aftermath of the Cromwellian confiscations, Englishmen and their agents came into possession of great tracts of our lands and those of the O’Driscolls, MacSwineys, O’Donoghues and other native families of the area. A Welshman named Puxley acquired land whereupon sat the ruins of Donal O Sullivan Beare’s Dunboy Castle. When he passed on, another Puxley relative in Galway was willed the property. A Protestant without any common sense, he assumed an air of supremacy and attempted to suppress the smuggling of Irish wool for French wines, brandies and the like, business between Ireland and France.

English parliamentary laws were designed to stifle Irish commerce. Another export was recruits for the French armies. One of the most daring of these smugglers was Morty Oge O Sullivan. Morty was descended from the chiefs of the sept but was denied his birthright by the imposition of English ‘law’. As a result, he was landless and poor. He was described as an adventuresome spirit with a long and bitter memory. A veteran of the Austrian Army, he had served the Austrian queen Maria Theresa in 1742. It is reported he was present at the battle of Fontenoy and, in April, 1746, was also with the ‘Pretender’, Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden, where Kerryman Colonel John Vera Sullivan, was Adjutant-General to the Prince (see noteworthy O Sullivans in 18th Century Ireland). Col. O Sullivan was grandson of Owen O Sullivan of Cappanacusha Castle.

Puxley was a revenue officer and guardian of the Crown interests in the region. One Sunday Morty Oge and Puxley became embroiled in an argument and Morty Oge shot Puxley dead. Morty fled to France where he continued to engage in his craft and visited Ireland on occasion to see his family. Unfortunately, word got back to loyalist authorities that Morty was visiting his family in his mountain cabin.

On a dark and stormy night a force set out from Cork to Berehaven in a boat, arriving late. Morty’s watchdog gave warning of the approaching men. What ensued was described in a publication called the Cork Remembrancer, printed in 1783. "Sullivan and his party took the alarm directly. O Sullivan came to the door and opened it in his shirt, with a blunderbuss in his hand; at the same time they might have taken away his life, but the commanding officer, choosing rather to take him alive, did not fire at him.

Sullivan and his men fired several blunderbusses out of the house at the party, but finding them too strong, he thought on a stratagem; by sending them out one man at a time, thinking by that means the party would leave the house to follow them, by which me may get off; but he was prevented by the officer, who only fired at the men as they went off. At length O Sullivan’s wife, with her child and nurse, came out and asked for quarter, which was granted. The officer asked her who was in the house; she answered no one but her husband and some of his men; upon which he ordered the house to be set on fire, which they were a long time doing, the men’s arms being rendered quite useless from the heavy rains; but the house being at last set on fire, they were obliged to come out.

Sullivan behaved with great bravery, as did his men; he stood and snapped his blunderbuss twice at the party, and missed fire; likewise the party snapped at him twice and missed fire, and cocking the third time, shot him through the heart dead." Two of Morty’s confederates, Sullivan and Connel, also lost their lives after being taken prisoner.

Morty’s body was lashed to the stern of their boat and it was towed from Berehaven to Cork. It was beheaded and spiked over the South Gaol (jail), next to that of Sullivan and Connel. The Irish have long memories when it comes to injustice for the name of Scully is given as the name of the betrayer. However, there’s no record to substantiate it there’s only the oral tradition.

Cork poet J.J. Callanan wrote a Gaelic lament for Morty, supposed to have been spoken by the old nurse of the family, who apparently cherished the personhood of Morty. Here I quote it in part:

" The sun on Ivera no longer shines brightly The voice of her music no longer is sprightly; No more to her maidens the light dance is dear since the death of our darling O Sullivan Beare. Had he died calmly I would not deplore him; or if the wild strife of the sea-war closed o’er him;

But with ropes round his white limbs through ocean to trail him,Like a fish after slaughter, ‘tis therefore I wail him. In the hole which the vile hands of soldiers had made thee, Unhonour’d, unshrouded, and headless they lid thee; No sigh to regret thee, No eye to rain o’er thee, No dirge to lament thee, no friend to deplore thee; Dear head of my darling, how gory and pale These aged eyes see thee high spiked on their jail; That cheek in the summer sun ne’er shall grow warm, Nor that eye e’er catch light but the light of the storm.

A curse, blessed ocean, is on thy green water, From the harbour of Cork to Ivera of slaughter, Since they billows were dyed with the red wounds of fear, of Muiertach Oge, Our O Sullivan Beare."

Morty’s comrade, Connel, wrote a lamentation in Cork Gaol on the night before his execution. It was preserved by the Rev. Mr. Gibson in his History of the City and County of Cork, published in 1861. Connel’s words are both beautiful and haunting. His great love for Morty is expressed, along with his great grief over his impending fate.

‘Morty, my dear and loved master, you carried the sway for strength and generosity. It is my endless grief and sorrow that admits of no comfort - that your fair head should be gazed at as a show upon a spike, and that your noble frame is without life. I have travelled with you, my dear and much loved master, in foreign lands. You moved with kings in the royal prince’s army; but it is through the means of Puxley I am left in grief and confinement in Cork, locked in heavy irons without hopes of relief. The great God is good and merciful; I ask his pardon and support, for I am to be hanged at the gallows to- morrow, without doubt. The rope will squeeze my neck, and thousands will lament my fate. May the Lord have mercy on my master; Kerryonians, pray for us. Sweet and melodious is your voice. My blessing I give you, but you will never see me again among you alive. Our heads will be put upon a spike for a show; and under the cold snow of night, and the burning sun of summer.

Oh, that I was ever born; Oh, that I ever returned to Berehaven; Mine was the best of masters that Ireland could produce, may our souls be floating to-morrow in the rays of endless glory; The lady his wife: Heavy is her grief, and who may wonder at that, were her eyes made of green stone, when he, her dear husband was shot by that ball. Had he retreated, our grief would be lighter; but the brave man, for the pride of his country, could not retreat. He has been in King’ places. In Spain he got a pension. Lady Clare gave him robes bound with gold lace, as a token of remembrance. He was a captain on the coast of France, but he should return to Ireland for us to lose him.’

North Korea and Russia - Is Anybody Else Seeing Through It?

According to news reports, the Obama administration is now thinking about offering North Korea incentives to abandon its nuclear programs. I saw it coming when they ranted and raved about attacking the U.S. Yeah, right. But now it looks as if, with the support of the Obama administration, the bastard son of China might get his own way,

I don't know about you but while growing up, when I tried acting that way, my parents were able to see through my thinly-veiled manipulations. Maybe that's why I can see through North Korea's intentions.

When Obama visited Berlin, Germany during his campaign, he addressed the international crowd there as "we". His supporters weren't Americans but Internationalists. He now would have us believe that Russia has a lot to worry about from the eastern nations of Europe. Huh? Anybody remember Poland's Katyn Forest? The murder of millions of Russian citizens? The starving of Ukraine?

J. Edgar Hoover once called it "The Big Lie". I've lived long enough to see it become a reality.

The officials, who are traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Thailand, told reporters that the package is only in its early stages and will not be offered to North Korea unless and until the allies sign off on it. Pyongyang would also have to first take specific, concrete and "irreversible" steps to begin destroying its arsenal of nuclear weapons.

The aides said that the administration needs to see concrete action. Mere assurances from North Korea that it will take action in the future would not be enough to trigger the presentation of the incentives package, they said.

Of course Sotomayor is qualified, that's not the quesiton.

It’s her judgment that we’re afraid of. She’s already gone on the record and revealed her bias. Conservatives should not let her off the hook just because she’s “Hispanic” and female.

Sorry, but she just can't be trusted to do the right thing.

NATIONAL HEALTHCARE - OR YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ME

There are some, legitimate, reasons for having National Healthcare in place for specific classes of people.

1) Those who are retired and have contributed to the U.S. economy throughout their lives.

2) The many Americans who are working but simply cannot afford it or it is not being offered them at a price they can afford.

There are some, legitimate, reasons for NOT having National Healthcare in place for specific classes of people.

1) Those who are residing in our nation illegally.

2) Those born to single mothers.

Yes, this could be classified as discriminatory but what decisions in life are not?
Where is your responsibility to me? I am all for helping one to help themself but I do not believe in doing it over and over again. And I don't believe I am responsible for the illegitimate children you have over and over again.

I am willing to have tax monies pay for healthcare for those truly in need. I don't believe in forced carte blanche coverage.

MICHAEL JACKSON, R.I.P.

We haven't yet seen the end of this saga. While my sympathy goes out to the family and his loved ones, this media circus is being fostered by the major media outlets. If you don't understand it, you don't understand power.

Anytime we see black political operatives show up you know the whole thing is about power - black power. They have what they tout as a black president but it won't stop there....it is never going to stop. It's in your face stuff. Remember, these types of blacks are black first, American second. Not very nice.

If you still don't understand this, go to Richmond, Virginia and visit the boulevard honoring the city's historic heroes of the Confederacy. There you will see a relatively recent addition - Arthur Ashe. Who was he? A black professional tennis player who died of AIDS. Now do you get it?

This is all an example of why I don't vote for blacks. The right blacks I would vote for, but I haven't seen 'em on my ballot yet.

My advice, quit being black and be American.

Signed - American first, Irish always.

4th of July, 2009

I've been waiting for President Obama to apologize to England for having fought them in the Revolutionary War.

In his televised appearance on the 4th of July, 2009, he mentioned he and his family had our military personnel in his thoughts and hearts. What, are they not in your prayers Mr.President?

AN AGENDA BEGINS TO SURFACE ((if you care to look)

The U.S. Supreme Court this week voted in a 5-4 decision to do the right thing and vote in favor of men who studied and passed an exam for promotion in the Fire Department of New Haven, Connecticut. What is distressing about the decision is four Justices dissented. And the reaction from the Left is predictable.

Left hanging in all this is President Obama’s nomination of left-leaning Sonia Santomayor as a Justice to replace David Souter.

In an interview on FOX News, Author Juan Williams said, “I think they got it wrong. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Law that says if you have something that looks harmless on the surface, like a test, but it has a discriminator impact, and you have no blacks here qualifying for promotion in the New Haven Fire Department, something might be wrong with that instrument, that test, and it gives the city in this case the right to go back and say we’re gonna have another test because we didn’t like the results of that one.”

Williams opines that if one is just looking at the firefighters you have to be sensitive to people who have dyslexia and who’ve struggled hard and succeeded. Williams attempted to weaken the clear victory for the Right by claiming it’s judicial activism from the right. Well, turnabout is fairplay, no? Williams then tries to rally his troops by saying, “I think this might be the end of affirmative action in America.”

No one questions Santomayor’s qualifications. Indeed, she is well-educated. What the Right questions is her judgement. If anyone thinks a Hispanic female can reach better conclusions about anything than a white male, they are racist, anyway you look at it.

Left-leaning columnist Connie Schultz, wife of Ohio’s left-leaning Senator Sherrod Brown, opined in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that “The Internet poses challenges we never anticipated.” She opines that Federal copyright law should change. She’s right there. The Internet has provided a platform for those on the Right to express their views. What Schultz would do would be to disallow me to quote Juan Williams and Connie Schultz.

Of course newspaper reporters spend hours developing stories. But she cries wolf about television and radio stations and bloggers using the stories they’ve dug up. In their eyes we’re free-riders.

If newspapers weren’t savvy enough to catch the wave, too bad. Henry Ford almost took the company down when he didn’t see that consumers wanted cars that were other than black. National Cash Register made a wonderful, mechanical and analog cash register that lasted forever. It took wholesale firings to bring their corporate culture in to the electronic age. Kodak is playing catch-up in the digital age. Again, their corporate culture, like American auto makers, in cahoots with unions, was to make money in spite of themselves. We consumers are paying that price.

The danger here, however, is the subtle thought processes that seek to change the mind-set of Americans. The Juan Williams and Connie Schultzs of the world are only two of the many syndicated writers who get top billing in the nation’s newspapers. And therein lies the rub. The majority of we, the living, don’t buy it. The danger is when we pass, will there still be alternate ways to communicate other than left-leaning, government supported/owned newspapers who follow the agenda of the powers that be? Isn’t that how North Korea, Stalin’s Russia, Communist China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia and others were able to come into existence and murder those who didn’t think like they did?

It can happen again.

Was this actually a combat death?

The AP story by Mike Levine says "Group Linked to Al Qaeda May Have Killed Minnesota Man Recruited in Somalia." That's the spin anyhow.

Burhan Hassan, a 17-year-old Somali-American, was allegedly killed by Al Qaeda in Somalia. He was part of a group of American-Muslims who were recruited in Minnesota by Al Qaeda.

The FBI is supposedly "investigating" the 20-some Muslims from Minnesota who recently traveled to the Middle East.

"Families that belong to this Minnesota mosque, Abubakar As-Saddiqu, were suspected of having a role in their loved ones' disappearance," wrote Levine.

One can't 'help but think this death is combat-related, perhaps killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. American media isn't about to question it. This writer, however, will.

The other story not getting any attention was the murder of an American soldier by a Muslim-American. Why are these stories being buried?

In Memoriam - Sgt. Charles G. Rodgers

In memoriam - June 6, 1944. Normandy veteran, uncle Charles G. Rodgers, Sergeant, 9th US Army.

Awarded 4 Bronze Stars - Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe campaigns

Service in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Couldn't have said it any better.

April 17, 2009
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington , DC 20500

Mr. Obama:

I have had it with you and your administration, sir. Your conduct on your recent trip overseas has convinced me that you are not an adequate representative of the United States of America collectively or of me personally.

You are so obsessed with appeasing the Europeans and the Muslim world that you have abdicated the responsibilities of the President of the United States of America . You are responsible to the citizens of the United States .. You are not responsible to the peoples of any other country on earth.

I personally resent that you go around the world apologizing for the United States telling Europeans that we are arrogant and do not care about their status in the world. Sir, what do you think the First World War and the Second World War were all about if not the consideration of the peoples of Europe ? Are you brain dead? What do you think the Marshall Plan was all about? Do you not understand or know the history of the 20th century?

Where do you get off telling a Muslim country that the United States does not consider itself a Christian country? Have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of the United States ? This country was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics and the principles governing this country, at least until you came along, come directly from this heritage. Do you not understand this?

Your bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia is an affront to all Americans. Our President does not bow down to anyone, let alone the king of Saudi Arabia . You don't show Great Britain , our best and one of our oldest allies, the respect they deserve yet you bow down to the king of Saudi Arabia . How dare you, sir! How dare you!

You can't find the time to visit the graves of our greatest generation because you don't want to offend the Germans but make time to visit a mosque in Turkey . You offended our dead and every veteran when you give the Germans more respect than the people who saved the German people from themselves. What's the matter with you?

I am convinced that you and the members of your administration have the historical and intellectual depth of a mud puddle and should be ashamed of yourselves, all of you.

You are so self-righteously offended by the big bankers and the American automobile manufacturers yet do nothing about the real thieves in this situation, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Frank, Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelic, the Fannie Mae bonuses, and the Freddie Mac bonuses. What do you intend to do about them? Anything? I seriously doubt it.

What about the U.S. House members passing out $9.1 million in bonuses to their staff members - on top of the $2.5 million in automatic pay raises that lawmakers gave themselves? I understand the average House aide got a 17% bonus. I took a 5% cut in my pay to save jobs with my employer. You haven't said anything about that. Who authorized that? I surely didn't!

Executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be receiving $210 million in bonuses over an eighteen-month period, that's $45 million more than the AIG bonuses. In fact, Fannie and Freddie executives have already been awarded $51 million - not a bad take. Who authorized that and why haven't you expressed your outrage at this group who are largely responsible for the economic mess we have right now.

I resent that you take me and my fellow citizens as brain-dead and not caring about what you idiots do.

We are watching what you are doing and we are getting increasingly fed up with all of you.

I also want you to know that I personally find just about everything you do and say to be offensive to every one of my sensibilities.

I promise you that I will work tirelessly to see that you do not get a chance to spend two terms destroying my beautiful country.
Sincerely,

Every real American

P.S. I rarely ask that emails be 'passed around'...PLEASE SEND THIS TO YOUR EMAIL LIST...it's past time for all Americans to wake up!

Ms Kathleen Lyday
Fourth Grade Teacher
Grandview Elementary School
11470 Hwy. C
Hillsboro , MO 63050
(636) 944-3291 Phone
(636) 944-3870 Fax

Frank Borkowski, Korean War Hero

You want torture?

While President Obama declares that waterboarding is torture, the body of an Iraqi interpreter who worked for the U.S. Military defies the President’s phony statement.

David Fisher, writing in the May, 2009 issue of the American Legion Magazine, tells us of the demise of this employee. When found, “the body was riddled with holes from a power drill. The flesh on his back had been burned off with an electric heater.” Forty-two other interpreters, whose identities were compromised by an informant, disappeared. We can guess at their fate.

You want to know what torture is Mr. President? It ain’t waterboarding,

And here they come - Pakistanis with American cash

May 8, 2009

As reported on Fox News today, "The U.N. refugee agency says half a million people have fled fighting in northwestern Pakistan in the past few days, bringing the total displaced in recent months to 1 million."

With the Obama Left House proposing billions for Pakistan, I see it coming. The money will disappear, like it does everywhere we send it, and our nation will be flooded with Pakistanis who have benefited from our "largesse."

Let's see, gas stations, motels, cabs, 7-11 type stores. What else am I missing here? There's no room for Federal jobs, is there? Blacks have those. How about city jobs?

Those who are already here need to become American instead of remaining Moslem in America. If they don't, "That's All Folks!"

OBAMA TOUTS TAX OVERHAUL

May 7, 2009

So read the Plain Dealer Business headline. According to the article, the Left House wants to:

PREVENT US Companies from deferring tax payments by keeping profits in foreign countries.

KEEP companies from writing off domestic expenses for generating profits abroad.

TAX income of Americans from bank accounts held in tax havens like the Cayman Islands

HIRE nearly 800 new IRS agents to enforce the Tax Code. (read homosexual, minority, hispanic, female, out-of-work UAW member).

A little down the road, does all this mean he will want to tax companies who USED TO BE located here in the United States?

We're being had America

April 30, 2009

I read car bombs killed 48 people in Baghdad neighborhoods.
I read that Pakistan has regained control of a town the Taliban held.
I read President Obama wants millions more to train and equipment Pakistan's Army.

Where's that money going to end up? Will it disappear, like other money we give to other governments that becomes untraceable? Are we now going to have more Moslems owning more of America? Don't they already have the gas stations, beverage stores, motels and what else?

Do they come here because they want to be American? For liberty? No, they come because they have pocketfuls of American greenbacks, printed courtesy of Uncle Sam, to be paid for by what's left of the fast-dwindling pool of America's taxpayers.

Back in the 60s, a Marine Corporal in Vietnam wrote that he couldn't tell the cowboys from the indians, a reference to old movies where cowboys were good guys and indians were bad guys. He was killed there.

Our foreign policy of giving away American wealth is phony, part of the Big Lie.
I'm done believing in Democrats and Republicans and the White House. If people want liberty they have to fight for it. And that includes us. They only problem is Americans don't know who to fight - they can't tell the cowboys from the indians.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

April 23, 2009

Are you as tired as I am of hearing about homosexuals and racists?

Where is it written that the issue of what one does behind closed doors is anybody's business? Get outta my face! Why has it been politicized? Are there THAT many of 'em to put the Democratic Left over the top in elections?

You can call it same sex marriage but it's not marriage, only an attempt by the Left to legitimize them. As my friend Padraic says, "The state can say it's right but that don't make it right!"

Diversity? The pc word for giving the hiring heads up to minorities (including homosexuals?)and women. Need I remind readers that my mother, sisters, wife and daughters are women? Say it ain't so Joe.

Report Links CIA to Military Harsh Interrogations

April, 2009

A Senate report this week is seeking to strengthen policies of the leftist Obama Administration. As reported by Fox News, the "harsh interrogation techniques" used by the Bush Administration "directly links the CIA's interrogation program to the military's use of aggressive tactics."

There was a time when matters were not out of control, as they are today. We are seeing continued and successful attempts to discredit the CIA. Now the target of the Left has been expanded. They are infiltrating our National Security Agency. The wolf is in the hen house.

There has already been enormous damage done by the Obama administration, which will will continue. Hopefully we can endure this for only four years and return common sense to the White House and Congress by convincing his supporters of the danger they are.

Didn't you see it coming America?

Envy - A Capital Sin

There were, in my 5th grade class at Cleveland's St. Vincent DePaul Grade School, the brothers Lembach. Twins Robert and Richard were the kind of guys who could crayon colorfully and masterfully. Girls could always crayon and stay within the lines. Boys couldn't. The twins were the exception. Their work was always posted in the classroom for all to admire....except me. I was envious of their talent.

At the end of our school year, everyone whose work was posted, the brothers included, had the option of taking their art home or leaving it for someone else to dispose of. That someone else was me.

I snagged what I judged to be the best of the Lembachs' work. He had written his name in the upper left-hand corner. It was a simple matter of fixing - I just tore it off and took it home to proudly show off my work. Dad took one look at the torn corner and said, "What was here? Somebody else's name?"

I was only reminded of this story when I learned of my three year old grandson's talent. Liam, can crayon within the lines.

I'm jealous.

$1.1 billion for Americorps

According to Fox News, "The White House said Monday that the president "will call on people across the country to serve their communities and work together to tackle the nation's tough challenges.

Congress passed the bill last month with largely bipartisan support and Obama is seeking $1.1 billion to fund it next year. Some Republicans complain it is too costly and is an unnecessary intrusion by government into something Americans already do eagerly and in great numbers — helping their neighbors and communities.

The legislation provides for gradually increasing the size of AmeriCorps to 250,000 enrollees from its current 75,000. It outlines five broad categories where people can direct their service: helping the poor, improving education, encouraging energy efficiency, strengthening access to health care and assisting veterans."

Now they've got this writer wondering - will they force federal contractors to use these folks in the PLAs? For those who haven't read about it, PLAs are Project Labor Agreements, which give women, homosexuals and minorities preference in hiring over white men.

Didn't you see it coming America?

"And here it comes....."

We're gonna win this drug war if it takes every last buck out of American taxpayer pockets.

President Barack Obama is continuing the use fight against drugs in America. Thre will be hundreds of additional "agents" sent to the border with their gear and drug-sniffing dogs. "If the steps that we've taken do not get the job done," he said, "then we will do more." Yeah, more money to Mexicans. And more money to the Obama administration employees that will be homosexuals, minorities and women.

Our Secretary of State Clinton says the "more" will come in the form of direct aid. They will "seek" $80 million to "help" Mexico buy Blackhawk helicopters. Add to that $80 million the $1.3 billion President Bush already pledged to provide aircraft and equipment over the next three years.

When the build the Blackhawk helicopters will the Obama administration demand PLAs (Project Labor Agreements) be enforced? That would mean that minorities (which we can presume will include homosexuals), women and illegals, will be given hiring preferences over American-born men?

Like Afghanistan and Iraq, this direct aid money will disappear into the pockets ofcorrupt Mexican and American officials. And the drug war, like money for education, will take all you are forced to give without any real change.

Where's the conservative leadership in America? Where's the separation of powers?

Didn't you see it coming America?

The Domino Theory in Action

April 18, 2009

President Obama, following a road who's destination is socialism, is engaging in a "new aproach" with Cuba and other communist nations in this hemisphere. South America proves the Domino Theory is active and working.

For those readers who don't know, it is the theory that when one democratic republic is taken over by communists, the duly-elected governments of neighboring nations fall. Ask the mayors of Venezuela's major cities why they're in hiding from "Benito" Chavez.

President Obama wants Cuba to release scores of "political prisoners." I'm all for releasing "political prisoners" anywhere but keep 'em in your own country Cuba. Remember the infamous "Mariel Boat Lift"? Cuba emptied their jails and insane asylums and we, like the fools we are, accepted 100% of 'em.

When Ellis Island was in operation we quarantined criminal types, crazies and those with infectious diseases. We didn't let EVERYBODY in. It's time to re-institute that policy here in the 21st century.

I'm laboring under the impression there is a separation of powers in the U.S. If so, where is the conservative leadership in Congress and the Judiciary that is challenging the rampant path to economic ruin?

Didn't you see it coming America?

WILL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOW WANT TO FINANCE CUBA?

Speaking from a meeting that "Bonito Mussolini" Chavez hosted in Venezuela, Cuba's Raul Castro said: "We have sent word to the U.S. government in private and in public that we are willing to discuss everything — human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners, everything."

What this means, of course, is they looking for American money. Didn't Russia dump financial support of this little communist nation years ago? If Chavez loves Cuba so much, let him send Venezulean money to them.

Will President Obama emerge from these meetings with a continued focus OUTSIDE OF OUR BORDERS? Stay home Mr. President, and pay attention to the real problems in America, like halting the fleeing of capital.

It has been private enterprise that made America great. Jobs are created by capital. Socialism hasn't worked anywhere it has raised its ugly multi-headed being.

Didn't you see it coming America?

Obama Visit to Mexico Signals Support in Drug War.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon welcomes increased U.S. border security and even U.S. training for Mexico's navy against violent drug trafficking gangs.

Of course they welcome it. Don't we all welcome free stuff we don't have to pay for? Let's see now, what could be on the shopping list that American taxpayers will fork over.....ships, submarines, oh yes, and let's not forget paying their salaries.

Didn't you see it coming America?

Millions of Somalis

Ah yes, we can see it coming. The Obama Administration will, acting under a President Executive Order, bring a million Somalis into the U.S. in what will be determined to be a Emergency Humanitarian Act. This will cut piracy in the area as there will then be less poor people there.

In a related action, those who are left in Somalia, including those who have emigrated there from other African nations, will be awarded a million U.S. dollars in reparations for the three Somali killed by the U.S. Navy, who acted under Pentagon orders rather than White House orders. The Navy refused to use water hoses against the "Pirates" as the White House had ordered. As a result of these Presidential Executive Orders there will no longer be any pirates in the area.

In a related action, Somalis who are sent to the U.S. will each be given 1 million bucks too so they can buy, staff and repair the American Interstate Highway System and any other toll roads, like the Ohio Turnpike. They must adhere to PLAs (Project Labor Agreements) while doing so.

PLAs require contractors to negotiate with union officials and abide by collective bargaining, despite the fact that 84% of US construction workers do not belong to labor unions.

Tyranny of the Minority

During his first 100 days President Obama has lost no time in making moves to "help workers". Union officials say this will require federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change and will not make it difficult for federal contractors to discourage union activities.

President Obama's 4th union-friendly Executive Order has encouraged federal agencies to have construction contractors and their subs enter Project Labor Agreements (PLAs). They require contractors to negotiate with union officials and abide by collective bargaining, despite the fact that 84% of US construction workers do not belong to labor unions.

For more on the socialization of the United States go to AStrongMiddleClass.gov, to tell you what they're up to. Only one thing though, I wouldn't share my thoughts with them as they suggest. Let 'em muddle around until we can get them outta Washington permanently.

"Don't Tread on Me"

Cleveland's Hibernian Guards - Co. B, 8th OVI

An Irishman in the American Civil War

By JC Sullivan


James K. O'Reilly was returning from Sunday Mass at Cleveland's St. Edward Church on Woodland Avenue when news posters announced the assault on Ft. Sumter, South Carolina. America's Civil War began on that April day. O'Reilly, born in
County Cork in 1838 came to Cleveland in 1858 via New York City. He and his Irish friends James Butler and Thomas Francis Galwey were anxious to join Union forces before the fight was over. They hurried to the armory of the Hibernian Guards and enlisted for three months, officially becoming Co. B, 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. When it was all over, almost five years later, the 8th Ohio would have 97 men present for muster-out out of a total 990 that began the unit.

The honorable Kenneth R. Callahan, most recently a Common Pleas Court Judge in Cuyahoga County, is a direct descendent of Captain O'Reilly, his maternal great-grandfather. He honors the spirit of his colorful and gallant forebear by insuring Americans don't forget the deeds and valor of the 8th Ohio, a unit that fought fiercely in most of the major battles of the Potomac Army. He also wants to insure that history accurately reflects the role they played in turning the famous 'Pickett's Charge' at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July of 1863.

By June, General Robert E. Lee's rag-tag forces had moved into the farmlands of Pennsylvania, rich in the much-needed resources of food, material and steed. The march to Gettysburg was brutally hot. Unlike modern armies, neither side at Gettysburg had winter and summer uniforms - only heavy wool. Some were lucky to have shoes. During the march it was frightfully hot. O'Reilly suffered sunstroke and went by horse-drawn ambulance to Gettysburg. "When he found out the 8th was positioned outside the Emmitsburg Road," said Callahan, "He left the hospital and ran out and joined the company there."

O'Reilly, deathly ill, arrived at Gettysburg on July 3rd, after the first day of battle. Colonel Samuel Springs Carroll (of the Maryland Carrolls) ordered the Hibernians immediately into a cornfield between the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge and Confederate lines on Seminary Ridge, with orders were to push rebel sharpshooters back. With this advanced picket line established, O'Reilly's
Hibernians spent the night there while the rest of the brigade was pulled out by General Hancock to support other areas. Confederate sharpshooters reminded them of their closeness throughout the evening by shooting at them.

On the morning of the 4th, General Lee, believing the center of the Union line to be weakened, opened up his attack with a two-hour artillery barrage. "Nothing more terrific than this story of artillery can be imagined," said Colonel Franklyn Sawyer. "The missiles of both armies passed over our heads. The roar of the guns was deafening, the air was soon clouded with smoke, and the shrieks and the startling crack of the exploding shells above, a round and in our midst; the blowing up of our caissons in our rear; the driving through the air of the fence rails, posts and limbs of trees; the groans of dying men, the neighing of frantic and wounded horses, created a scene of absolute horror."

General Lee followed this up by sending fifteen thousand gray backs into the fray. The 15O - 18O men of the 8th Ohio poured rifle fire into the left flank of James J. Pettigrew's division. "They moved up splendidly," Sawyer wrote, "deploying into column as they crossed the long, sloping interval between us and their base. At first it looked like they would sweep our position, but as they advanced, their direction lay to our left."

"A moan went up from the battlefield distinctly to be heard amid the storm of battle," related survivor
Galwey. The surprised Southerners, led by gallant officers on horseback, broke and retreated. "...the first sign of faltering came from Colonel J.M. Brockenbrough's brigade of Virginians who, under Pettigrew, were stationed in the extreme left of the advance, that is, directly in front of the 8th Ohio," Callahan related.

With Sawyer admitting their 'blood was up', he then turned his men ninety degrees and fired into the flank of Joseph Davis' brigade. When Union commanders saw this development, they sent reinforcements down to turn the attack. The 8th advanced, cutting off three regiments, capturing their colors and many soldiers. Afterwards, an attempt was made to discharge Colonel Sawyer from the service for
it was believed he was drunk...one would think that no commander in his right mind would attempt such a maneuver with such a small force.

Later that summer, after the battle of Gettysburg, the 8th Ohio was sent to New York City for riot duty. When the draft was instituted, provisions were made for purchasing one's way out through the process of buying a substitute. Naturally, many Irish and other immigrants could not afford to do so and objected to the practice.

Karen Sullivan decorates the grave of 8th OVI veteran, KIA, Gettysburg. St. John’s Cemetery, Cleveland.

While there, O'Reilly met his future bride, Susan O'Brien. "The whole thing was a drinking expedition," Callahan said. "Commander Sawyer was telling everybody not to get drunk but about an hour later he was arrested for drunkenness. I think they had a good time in New York City."

In August, 1865, at the war's end, O'Reilly returned to New York City and married Susan O'Brien at St. Stephen's Parish Church. The couple came to Cleveland and resided at 189 Quincy Ave., where they raised seven children. Part of the time he worked for Thomas Jones Sons Monument Co., which was located at E. 28th & Prospect Ave. Because of his disability from his Gettysburg sunstroke, however, he was never able to work for long periods of time. He tried to get a pension the rest of his life in a protracted struggle with the War Department. His widow was finally awarded one thirty years after his death, in 1930. In 1900, after a funeral Mass at St. Edward's Church, O'Reilly was laid to rest in St. John's cemetery, next to the church. His stone, erected by his daughter, says simply, "Captain J.K. O'Reilly."

Callahan met Captain O'Reilly's daughter, Isabelle, in 1952. She blamed her father for the fact that she never married. "She claimed every time somebody came over to see her he pulled them into the parlor and kept them up until midnight telling stories about the Civil War."

Callahan is a graduate of Cleveland's St. Ignatius High School and received his undergraduate degree from Cleveland's John Carroll University. He received his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Additionally, he studied art, history, anthropology and literature at both Trinity and University Colleges, Dublin. Callahan is a published author and a military historian. He and his spouse Martha are parents of Casey and Eoin.

As of this original writing, The Callahan and O'Reilly families of Cleveland have never been in touch with any surviving O'Reilly family in Cork. Although they know chances are slim to non-existent, they would be delighted to hear from anyone who recognizes a family kinship. As of this writing in July, 2017, this is no longer the case.

The following letter is Comrade Galwey’s tribute to his friend and Captain as printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

New York, May 22nd, 1900

Editor of the Sunday Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sir:

I desire as a comrade officer of the 8th Ohio Volunteer Infantry to say through the Plain Dealer (sic) a few words upon the military career of the late Captain J.K. O’Reilly, the news of whose recent death at 189 Quincy Street, Cleveland, has just reached us.

During the twenty campaigns and more than sixty engagements in which the 8th Infantry gained its fame in the Civil War, O’Reilly’s influence and example, first among its non-commissioned officers and afterwards among its commissioned officers, contributed greatly to its fighting spirit, conduct and methods. He was fearless and quick-witted in the moment of danger or other emergency.

The two bravest and most brilliant among the many brave and brilliant acts of that regiment were its bayonet charge across the Sunken or Bloody Lane at Antietam at the end of five hours close fighting, and its wheel to the left at Gettysburg, by which it struck the left flank of Pickett’s confederate column, and put it into disorder at that point, at the very moment when the front of that column had crossed the Emmittsburg Road and was shaking its battle flags at the “high water mark of the rebellion.”

In both of those splendid manoeuvres (sic) O’Reilly was very conspicuous, if he was not to some extent the real author of each. He was at first a man of fine physique, and like many others who constantly exposed themselves, escaped almost unharmed by the enemy, but he suffered to the last from a sunstroke that befell him during fearful hot day on the march to Gettysburg, and I understand that this was the chief cause of his death.

Cleveland is not today the quiet little city it was on the 16th of April, 1861, when, in defence of the Union, O’Reilly enlisted as a private in the Hibernian Guards, which became Company B of the 8th Ohio Infantry. But big and bustling as Cleveland has become, it will not, I imagine, forget the honor done to its name in the Civil War by such a man as O’Reilly.

Respectfully,

Thos. F. Galwey
15 West 123rd St.,
New York City
-30-


Author’s Note: Both Butler and Galwey relocated to New York City. Butler became keeper of General Grant’s Tomb.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

GALWEY, THOMAS FRANCIS,The_Valiant_Hours,_Narrative_of_"Captain Brevet,"_an_Irish-American_in_the_Army_of_the_Potomac. Harrisburg PA., Stackpole Co., 1961. Col. William S. Nye, Editor

DOWNES, CAPTAIN THOMAS M.F., Co. B. 8th Ohio Infantry (Reenactment)from_a_speech_to_the_Ancient_Order_of Hibernians,_Boland-Berry
Division, Cleveland, Ohio 1989.

CALLAHAN, KENNETH, conversations, 1993 - 2009.

POLICIES OF THE LEFT - DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WHITE MEN

"GROUP WANTS TO ENSURE STIMULUS SPREAD AMONG RACES, WOMEN" read the headline in the Plain Dealer this week. 50 advocacy organizations (they used to be called communist fronts)want President Obama to issue an executive order that "encourages the hiring and training of all underrepresented racial groups, women and low-income residents, to work on federal construction projects, particularly those financed by the economic stimulus package."

President Obama signed an executive order in February, 2009 that "encourage(s) executive agencies to consider requiring the use of project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $25 million or more. PLAs are collective bargaining agreements with labor unions.

Well, there you have it. All in the name of what is being called "diversity". Let's hope the damage control can be strong enough from elected leaders who have a lick of sense in their heads. The majority of us are being made fools.

Looks to me as if it's unconstitutional. Hope about it Supreme Court?

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISION

Does anybody know the actual figure the SEC has fined American businesses over, let's say, the last 20 years? I've noted it over the years and I'm willing to bet it's astronomical.

Anybody wondering why money (capital) has flown the coop? Or don't you see it?

AMERICANS HELD CAPTIVE BY SOMALI PIRATES

Where was the US Navy with their firehoses?

DON'T YOU SEE IT AMERICA?

Through Sullivan’s Eye, the crux of our economic problems is the fact that business no longer spearheads our economy. Government Inquisition has put their nose in everything, wanting control. It’s the only way Socialism works, at least for awhile. American business isn’t completely guilty, nor are they completely innocent. Greedy buttheads have opened the door to demonization and American media has run with that spin.

Not referenced anywhere are the enormous fines imposed upon American business and industry by our multi-headed serpent, i.e., local, state and federal government. For example, I’ve noted the vast fines imposed on business for years and should’ve been tallying the numbers. The total $ have to be stunning. It would be interesting to actually see them in print, although I doubt if they can be obtained.

One local example is a $17.7 mm judgment against Serpentini Chevrolet, the largest Chevy dealer in Ohio, and 12th largest in the country. If this is the amount they defaulted on, it’s legitimate. But will the 8.3% annual assessment on the unpaid amount really be an incentive for them to pay it back sooner rather than later? It will probably put them under, and put a number of non-union Americans out of work.

Wouldn’t you think that looking over the shoulder of business and warning them of bad practices would have been a better approach? In other words, using a gentle stick rather than a stick-up. Wouldn’t you also think this approach would have benefited ALL Americans rather than the outcome the inquisitions have produced?

Don’t you see it America

ANOTHER RACIAL HATE CRIME

Four white police officers were shot to death this month in Oakland, California by a black man.

Where's the "white" outrage?

Congress Reviews Potential National Security Threat in Disappearance of Somali Youths

"The FBI and counterterrorism officials say the young men appear to be going to Somalia to fight occupying Ethiopian forces but no one can be sure they won't be radicalized and return to the United States."

This Fox News headline underscores the need to curtail immigration from nations such as Somalia. The difference between immigrants today from areas such as Somalia and other areas is the changing of America's culture.

Other immigrant groups in the past have become American; others today become, for example, "Mexicans in America", or "Iraqis in America".

Illegals are adding to the problem, causing the increase of social costs and criminal incidents.

Nobody's at the switch!

A SUIT AND TIE DOESN'T MAKE YOU SMART

Watch Senator Majority leader Reid attempt a "smoke and mirror act".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg

North Korea Offers Possible Olive Branch Before Clinton Visit

What a crock.....they're licking their chops over American taxpayer money Hillary and the Obama Administration are talking about giving them in "exchange" for them being a good guy and giving up the nuclear weapon capability they allegedly have.

J. Edgar Hoover called them purveyors of "The Big Lie." They have come to power in the United States and most folks don't even know it.

GIVING FELONS A SECOND CHANCE

Now, doesn't that sound like a great idea? Normally I would think that this might be something good. However, in this day and age, the idea sucks.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has employed a drug and sex felon as a traffic cop. His justification? A "Second Chance Program". Well, through this writer's eye, he ought to be considering a "First Chance Program."

What kind of message has he sent to the youth of the community? It's OK to go to prison because when you get out you'll have a job anyhow? You'll get a job that would normally go to one who has stayed on the straight and narrow?

This is another case of the inmates running the institution.

FEMALE BIAS TOWARDS MEN

Watching FOX News this month, a story on Chief Justice Ginsberg surfaced. She's had a cancer surgery and her tenure as a Justice of the Supreme Court may be ending soon. A woman was interviewed (sorry but I don't remember her name) was interviewed regarding the possibility of an appointment by President Obama. She said, "We're not going back to the days of all men on the Supreme Court", or something to that effect.

Her statement betrayed an attitude that has developed in this nation. We MUST have a woman on the Supreme Court. We MUST have a black on the Supreme Court. We MUST have a Jew on the Supreme Court. Where is all this leading? What's on the horizon? We MUST have a homosexual on the Supreme Court? We must have a homeless person on the Supreme Court? We must have black construction workers replace white construction workers?

In the likely event that I will be branded a homophobe, or anti-female, I would remind readers that my mother was a woman, as is my wife and three daughters. Oh yes, I have six sisters too.

Reparations for African-Americans

I heard on the radio recently that a Conference on Racism and Reparations was held in Barbados. After convening they voted to exclude any non-blacks from attending. Hmmmm.

When it comes to reparations for African-American descendants of slaves, I’d think that any who think themselves deserving of this should begin with those in the motherland that sold their ancestors in the first place. In case you haven’t figured it out – they were blacks selling blacks.

Pounding a square peg through a round hole.

Writing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, columnist Regina Brett believes a domestic registry for homosexuals is a human and civil rights issue. Huh?

Although I agree with much of whhat she writes, I vehemently disagree with her on this one. It's not about human or civil rights, it's about power. It's about getting the door opened a crack so it can be kicked fully open later.

Why the issue of homosexuality is a political issue used to befuddle me. However, understanding power, I understand matters more fully.

You've heard it before - what is done behind closed doors is ones own business. I condemn the act, not the actors. Sorry, but neither Ms. Brett or Cleveland Councilman Cimperman's self-righteousness on the issue doesn't make it right.

Through Sullivan's Eye, the problem is legitimizing homosexuality - why it's OK to do it; it's a normal thing. Well, it's not normal and I won't sit around and let it the squareness of the issue be pounded through a round hole.

"Don't ask, don't tell." That door's been opened a crack and now they're trying to kick it wide open. Know what I mean?

THIS OPINION IS PROTECTED BY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS IN THE U.S. CONSTITUTION. ''That Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and consult for their common good, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.''