A number of points made by GUEST,JTT, in his post of 19 Jan 07 - 06:30 AM

"This (Law/theory of survival of the fittest) was applied to the famine in Ireland, on the basis that the country was overcrowded and full of lazy, workshy people who would starve because they wouldn't lift a hand to help themselves."

I mentioned in one of my posts that the Irish potato Famine did not happen in isolation. The same event happened in Scotland, but lasted longer. In the west of Ireland fishermen sold their boats and gear to buy food, then subsequently became dependent. On the west coast of Scotland the fishermen did not.

"One of the groups that helped greatly - forming a tie that has never been broken - was the Choctaw nation, who collected money and sent it."

The Choctaw nation contributed approximately $1 million. Generous and welcome gesture as it was, this was overplayed and highlighted by Irish Americans at the time for political purposes to such effect that many now believe that contributions from the US by far outweighed aid supplied by the British Government and other sources - nothing could be further from the truth.

"In relation to Northern Ireland at the moment, it seems to me that the unionists are stalling until a unionist-favourable prime minister comes in in England and the whole idea of devolved rule is sidelined.

Of course, then we'll probably be back to red war. Alas."

No JTT, there will never be a return to "The Armed Struggle". Those who supported it somehow fondly believed that they had a mandate to do so (i.e. bomb, maim, murder and torture their fellow Irishmen in the cause of Unification), but that myth was exploded in the all Ireland referendum held at the time of the GFA, in which 98% of the people of Ireland condemned the use of violence to further political ends. Should some idiots opt to return to "The Armed Struggle" they will find out exactly what a bad enemy the USA can be, and a large number of Irish American armchair republican warriors will find themselves in slightly downgraded accommodation courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security.