penguinpride

Northern Ireland, like the Middle East, has consistently been one of the world’s “hot spots” of terrorism. Some observers, however, say that since violence has abated somewhat and cities like Belfast are beginning to see modern development, peace in Northern Ireland is finally at hand. The truth is, although the general conditions in Northern Ireland have improved in the last fifteen years, the peace is fragile, precarious, and vulnerable. One key assassination, such as that of Ian Paisley or Gerry Adams, could spark an explosive conflict. In addition, all attempts at a home government such as those recently installed in Scotland and Wales as part of the British policy of devolution have failed in Northern Ireland. The conflict originated when British Protestant settlers were “given” Irish land by the British government. In the 1920’s, the Catholic part of Ireland became its own country, while the northern Protestant part remained a part of the United Kingdom. The Irish constitution claims for Ireland the whole island, and fighting between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland intensified in the 1960’s through the 1990’s during a time known as “The Troubles.” Neither side has given up their goals to this day. Permanent peace, therefore, is certainly not at hand.

Observers are not mistaken when they see progress in Northern Ireland. Deaths from sectarian violence fell from 44 in 1999 to only six in 2006. The economy grew 2.4% in FY 2005. Unemployment fell from 30% in 1980 to 4.2% today. Belfast’s city center is beginning to show signs of European modernization, such as malls, luxury apartments, retail complexes, and other multimillion-dollar projects. However, all of this has a dark face to it. Deaths due to sectarian violence in 1991 numbered only ten, but they rose again. Although there were only six deaths in 2006, they could just as easily have risen in 2007. The economy may have grown by 2.4% in FY 2005, but it was predicted to rise 2.2% in FY 2006, a goal it failed to meet, growing at only 1.7% in that fiscal year. Unemployment did indeed fall since the 1980’s, but so has the area’s population growth rate. And as for Belfast’s modernized city, it’s just more that can be damaged should another wave of heavy fighting break out. Plans are currently stalled to build a light rail system and a sports stadium, because the contractors don’t trust the state of peace that exists in Northern Ireland.

A major step toward peace was taken in 1998 in the form of the Good Friday Agreement. Local officials were given authority by the British government to set their own taxes, manage their own schools, and administer their own welfare programs. The Catholic terrorist group known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) also agreed to lay down many of their arms. This sounds like a great plan, but in reality, things didn’t quite go as planned. Firstly, the British government has still yet to give the Northern Irish officials full control over tax programs. Second, the weapons given up by the IRA were mostly old and outdated weapons that they wouldn’t have used anymore anyway. There was even a small group that split off the IRA, calling themselves the Real IRA, and refusing to renounce violence as the IRA had. The Real IRA see the Good Friday Agreement as a step towards the elimination of their goal of Irish unity, while the loyalists see the agreement as the precursor of the United Kingdom washing its hands clean of Northern Ireland, something they certainly don’t want due to the fact that they want to remain a part of Britain.

Third, all attempts at giving Northern Ireland home rule within the United Kingdom have failed. The last assembly was elected five years ago, in 2003. They have never even met for a full day. The last assembly was dismissed. This lack of government is keeping many development projects from moving forward. The problem of forming a government in Northern Ireland is that due to the close distribution of Protestants and Catholics, the major Catholic party, Sinn Fein, led by Gerry Adams, and the major Protestant party, the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Ian Paisley, have to work together in a cooperative government. This, however, is highly unlikely because neither side trusts each other. Worse yet, neither side really wants to share power at all. Ian Paisley gained most of his popularity because of his hard-line anti-Catholic stances over the past thirty years. Both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have promised economic aid to the north but both also insist that Northern Ireland must first have a stable, cooperative government, something they will probably not have anytime in the near future.

Although much progress has been made in Northern Ireland, there can only be so much positive development achieved while there is no working compromise government. The Good Friday Agreement is only a temporary fix to these problems. As Northern Ireland observer Alan Bock stated: “Hatred and violence are diminishing among the majority that is sick of both – but still strenuously kept alive by minorities that need to keep updating them to survive.” The conflict has existed for hundreds of years and some people will not simply give up their family’s long-time dream of either a united Ireland or an Ireland under the British Crown. In conclusion, peace is not “at hand” until a working compromise government is in place and stable in Northern Ireland.

Bibliography

Bock, Alan (2001, January 10). Mixed peace prospects in Northern Ireland. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from Eye on the Empire Web site

Stinson, Jeffrey (2007, March 19). Peace (finally) at hand in Northern Ireland?. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from USA Today Web site

Smyth, Ted (2007). Can peace finally be at hand in Northern Ireland?. Retrieved January 7, 2008, from Los Angeles Times Web site

The nationwide victories for the Democratic Party in 2006 signified the desire of the American people for a change from the old Republican order that had been in place for the past 14 years, as well as a backlash against the disastrous policies of Republican President George W. Bush. The elections went so badly for the Republican Party that for the first time in American history, they failed to win a single election for any office previously held by a Democrat at the congressional and gubernatorial levels. It represented a turning point in the general political ideology of the United States citizens. The electorate voted to reverse the massive gains they had voted the Republicans in 1994 in favor of more liberal candidates.

The victory of the Democrats in Congress can be attributed to the extremely low popularity of the previous, 109th Congress, which had been controlled by Republicans. It was often called the “Do-Nothing Congress” because it hardly got anything accomplished in the two years it had been in office. In fact, the 109th Congress met for only 101 days in session during its second session in 2006. This was the fewest days any Congress had spent in session since World War II. On Election Day 2006, only 29% of voters approved of the job Congress was doing. There were also many scandals that rocked the 109th Congress, such as its unpopular involvement with the Terry Schaivo case in 2005, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the Mark Foley scandal, and the Duke Cunningham scandal, just to name a few. The huge unpopularity of the War in Iraq, which was engineered by Republican leaders such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, also contributed to the Democratic wins.

The Democrats ushered in a new age of liberal ideas, and many milestones were reached with the election of 2006. Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House. This is the highest on the line of presidential succession that a woman has ever gotten and it is historic. In addition, Harry Reid from Nevada became the first Mormon Senate Majority Leader. Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first Muslim elected to Congress. Mazie Hirono and Hank Johnson from Hawaii and Georgia, respectively, became the first Buddhists elected to Congress. This shows that the age of domination of American politics by white, Protestant men is truly over.

There are many ramifications of this Democratic Revolution. One immediate effect was the resignation of the unpopular Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. It also represented a shift in the traditional Republican Party voting base. Former Republican states such as Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and Indiana had voted in Democrats to replace the ruling Republican officials. It had often been thought that the Midwest was a Republican stronghold, but this idea was challenged by the Democratic victory in 2006. Not only did the Democrats win new ground in the Midwest, but they solidified their own power base, especially in New England. In Connecticut, the Democrats now have a supermajority, which means that they control over two-thirds of its legislature and the Republicans cannot block any bills. Also, both of New Hampshire’s legislative houses went blue for the first time since 1874, over one hundred and thirty years ago.

In conclusion, the Democratic takeover in 2006 is extremely important in American history, although we have yet to see if it is clearly a reversal of trends or if it was just a one-time occurrence. It did, however, reverse the effects of the Republican Revolution of 1994 and shattered the Republican Party’s hopes of a permanent majority in Washington. The Republican government’s disastrous policies in the Iraq War and corruption running rampant in the Republican-controlled Congress helped to seal their fate.

I had a very interesting conversation last night with my friend Sara.  She already knows most everything that’s happened in my life and vice-versa. But last night, I found something out about Sara that I never knew.

Sara has spent most of her life envying me.

1.       I find this totally absurd because I never thought I had much to be envious of.

2.       I find this ironic because I’ve spent most of my life being envious of Sara.

Sara is the most level headed person I know. She has been since age 9. I envy her for that. She thinks before she acts. She weighs all options. She makes pro and con lists. I very rarely do this. I am more spontaneous than I wish I were.

Sara, however, envies my spontaneity. She lives her life scared. She spends so much time thinking that she ends up not making a decision and then misses out on something. I, on the other hand, go with my gut, and rarely consider the fallout.

We’ve been a pretty perfect pair for each other growing up. I push her to do the things she’s too afraid to. She acts as my external conscience. She makes me think before I jump into something. Although lately I’ve been becoming more and more like Sara. I get afraid, and over analyze. Sara is trying to stop me from becoming her. To quote her “Well then i dont think you need to worry about everything… thats my job. Im the worrier, who worries about every detail. Be carefree… it works for ya.”

Thank God for that girl, or I’d be even crazier than I am now!

Yes, I have found hope for the Detroit Lions! But first, a look at the development of philosophy throughout the ages:

Ah yes. So I was thinking about how the Detroit Lions could be a good team. And then I lol’d because they fail worse than this:

But, then a thought came to me. They have a couple good receivers, and they have Rudi Johnson as a running back. They’ve had some OK quarterbacks, too, so what’s missing? O YA the coach sucks. Replace him with:

So Bill Cowher makes Daunte Culpepper a good QB again, but he’s old. So Cowher makes him backup after a few games with recently acquired… MATT CASSEL. Did you really think Cassel was just going to watch Tom Brady play next season after how good he did this season? No. Although the Patriots have put a price on him. Then, Charlie Batch gets better so he and Byron Leftwich are both backup QB’s for Big Ben in Pittsburgh. They don’t need Dennis Dixon anymore, so they drop him, to be quickly picked up by the Lions.

Matt Cassel #16, QB

Daunte Culpepper #11, Backup QB, retires after Lions win Super Bowl

Dennis Dixon #2, Third QB (shown in University of Oregon jersey)

So yeah, people reading the Wikipedia on the Lions will see this in a few years:

Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers (6) over New York Giants

2009 Season
The Lions did so poorly that Aaron Dandrea was able to purchase the team from William Clay Ford. He removed Rod Marinelli as head coach and replaced him with Bill Cowher. The Lions traded Drew Stanton and Drew Henson to the New England Patriots for Matt Cassel (#16), who had refused to play backup QB after starting for all but one game in the 2008 season following the injury to Tom Brady. They also acquired Dennis Dixon (#2) from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who already had three QBs after Charlie Batch returned to the active roster.
Daunte Culpepper (#11) played the first three games of the season, losing the first game to the Green Bay Packers, the second against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the third to the Chicago Bears.
However, the skill of veteran WR Calvin Johnson (#81) and rookie WR from Oklahoma Manuel Johnson (#84) was noticed, as well as RB Rudi Johnson (#32). After dropping the first three games, Cowher replaced Culpepper with Cassel as starter.
Cassel fared much better, losing only an away game to the Minnesota Vikings and a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thanksgiving Day. The Lions finished the season 11-5, giving them the division title. However, the Dallas Cowboys had fallen just short of a division victory but had clinched a wild card spot. The Cowboys beat the Lions in the first round of the playoffs, but it was an improvement over the 0-16 season.

Super Bowl XLIV: Indianapolis Colts (3) over Carolina Panthers

2010 Season
Detroit drafted TE Jake Ballard (#87) to replace outgoing TE John Owens, as well as RB “Fast” Chris Wells (#38) to complement Johnson. With these additions to the team, the Lions charged into the 2010 season, losing only to the New England Patriots and twice to the Minnesota Vikings. This was Cassel’s first year as starting QB, with Culpepper as his backup. The Lions finished the season 13-3, easily division champions.
In the divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers, Cassel suffered a concussion late in the 3rd quarter and had to be carted off the field. The game was tied at 21-21 and Culpepper ran Rudi Johnson to the 28 yard line. They were forced to make a field goal, but the Panthers could not answer back. In the last minute of the game, Jake Delhomme of the Panthers threw a Hail Mary pass that was intercepted by LaMarcus Hicks (#35) and returned for a touchdown. The Lions won, 31-21. The next week’s game against the New York Giants was even harder; the game was tied 17-17 at the end of regulation and was only won in overtime when the Lions kicked a 55-yard field goal. But the Lions had made it to their first Super Bowl ever, where they defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLV in an upset 45-10. Cassel was pulled with five minutes left in the game and Culpepper was able to finish the game and throw the final touchdown pass.

Super Bowl XLV: Detroit Lions (1) over Indianapolis Colts

2011 Season
The Lions spent the draft shoring up their defense, which ended up ranking them the #2 defense in the NFL (behind the Steelers). Culpepper had retired following Super Bowl XLV, bumping Dixon up to backup QB and Dan Orlovsky (#6) to third string QB.
Matt Cassel threw for over 4,000 yards this season, second-year RB Wells ran for 1,700 and Johnson for 1,300. The Lions lost only one game, to the Kansas City Chiefs, ending their season at 15-1 and the first seed in the NFL.
Unfortunately, in their final game against the Chicago Bears, Cassel broke his hand and was out for the postseason. Dixon was able to finish the game with a win and even ran for a touchdown, something that was soon to become his trademark. In the divisional round of the playoffs, Dixon was able to lead the Lions to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, they lost the NFC Championship game to the New York Giants.

Super Bowl XLVI: San Diego Chargers (1) over New York Giants

2012 Season
This year, the Lions drafted the best offensive line in the league, and their defense was still #2. Cassel threw for 3,750 yards, Wells ran for 1,500 and Johnson for an additional 1,250. The Lions and their high-powered offense easily crushed every team, winning every game by at least 10 points. This was the second time in NFL history that a team had gone undefeated, and the first that a team had won sixteen games in a season, as the 1972 Miami Dolphins only won fourteen.
The Lions went on in the postseason, beating the Atlanta Falcons 35-3 and the Arizona Cardinals 20-7. In Super Bowl XLVII, the Lions beat the Chargers 38-17.

Super Bowl XLVII: Detroit Lions (2) over San Diego Chargers

Found!

I was working the morning shift the other day and a man was looking at a newspaper while waiting for his food to come out. The headline was about the Israeli army firing rockets into Gaza and flattening what little infrastructure they had. The man commented, “It never ends, does it?” and proceeded to tell me about how he remembered the Six-Day War, and the Yom Kippur War, and every Israeli conflict since the 1960′s. I, of course, just nodded and agreed with him. Not because I don’t have an opinion, but mine is rather controversial.

KEY:
Green = Arab state of Palestine
Purple = To Syria

Although I have no problem whatsoever with Jews, I think Israel is simply asking for trouble by existing on Arab land, and is getting the trouble they’re asking for. The UN has condemned the Israeli attacks, but of course, Israel doesn’t give a shit. That’s because they know as long as they have America behind them, they can do whatever they want. And I think this is wrong.

I’ve been watching a 22-page debate unfold on the Politics Forum, and the few Zionists who support Israel are coming up with the lamest arguments to defend their precious Israel. One claimed that Israeli civilians were in terrible danger from Hamas’ “deadly and sophisticated weapons,” which prompted this EPIC answer:

EL OH EL. So yeah, plug time. Wanna discuss politics with a bunch of people from all sides of the political spectrum? Come on over to PoliticsForum.org.

Happy New Year!!
I worked a double shift at Chick-fil-A yesterday. Drawer came up short $300. There’s no way I could have handed that out… it’s obviously a counting error.

But in other news, I went to a party at Bryan’s house to celebrate. Great stuff, I actually got in second place in Call of Duty free-for-all.

special guest blogger andrew lewis here:
at bryans we decided, that over all 2008, sucked. therefore it shall from now on be know as “the year without a santa claus” we hope 2009 will see all of you well, but mainly i dont care. i kinda just typed all this while he was watching bran play little big planet. fun game. we made a level that rickrolls you when you lose, but that doesnt really matter. i dont even know if people will read this blog. i hope so
bloggy blog blog. i may start bloggin, but my lazy ass will forget, or just not do it. i like waffels, and rolf’s so it casued me to come up with, roffles. tasty
bryan keeps losing little big planet, more like little fail planet. speaking of fail, i think aaron is returning
thanks for listening children, now go die in a fire

your friend,
andrew lewis