Sunday, August 30, 2009

Looking for a home

 

We are at an undisclosed location , just inside we see Dr Denis taking Paddy out for coffee

 Let's move closer I understand he writting something on the wall!

Gentle Reader,
 
45, 50, 60, Interviews that I have to conduct for the purpose of finding a new mom and dad to adopt 'little Cuddles' (Yorkie extraordinaire)  Now what difference does that make in the grand scheme of things? Well to some nothing! To others who have found their spiritual  glasses there's a message from God to you personally lurking in the words that your reading right now!
"Whoa, now Denis", some are saying "This guy has slipped his cork, the family upstairs moved out owing rent, He's one sandwich short of a picnic" Hey Gentle reader I've heard them all! (even made up a few). That's a big statement to make {Announcer: "at this point Denis has several directions he can go, lets move closer and see where he takes us"
 
I woke up today Gentle Reader, with over 48 hours of non sleep (is there such a word?)  Marti is down again although she rallied long enough to eat some soup I fixed (she ate about 2 bites ) I ate the rest (Give it to Denis he'll eat anything). I put off signing the papers that will move us (if that is possible, given our lack of ability to even do the simplest things (for Marti it is standing up and walking across the room), for me (Well I don't do much of anything but pour out my heart each day to all of you, knowing that as I do that it not the foolishness of preaching or the preaching of foolishness) but that as I get up from my chair and start my blog (put on your glasses here) God uses the foolish things to confound the wise! I'm a good example! What I do in mine own way is to get (I hope anyway,) to lure you in with the promise of Good Irish coffee and My famous Irish Cream cheese muffins, to stop for at least 30 seconds and ponder things that you might just pass over (like that stupid commercial you just turned off). 
 
 All the people who have called about 'little Cuddles' [Announcer: "Wow! Even I didn't see that coming"] are interested in getting a very valuable little dog, {"I'll pass on this one," "Don't tell about the dog just give it to me!" " Special needs? What's that?"
 
You see Gentle Reader, Some will look at the surface things "FREE DOG, FREE Dog" other will look at things beneath the surface [Announcer: "predictable ! Do you want to hear the rest of this or shall we go to a break? What? Do mean we're not on the air haven't been all this time"]
There is so much madness  in the world today and as I walked Paddy I cried out to God "STOP the Madness"
"forgive then for they know not what their doing to one another"
"Oh God I prayed that you would make me a man after your own heart"
 
And Gentle Reader, I believe He did! You see it's not where come from but where you going that counts! It's not how much you keep but what you give away, It's not the color of your skin but the color of hour heart, It's not the Sin in your heart   but the pride in your soul that will keep you in slavery!
Will we ever have peace in this World? It all a matter of Altitude or attitude! 
 
 Your Choice!
 
 Remember, Gentle Reader,  I pray for each one of you,  right where I am to right  where you are!
Love you the most (after Christ of course, He died for you)
Dennis
 

Dear Lord Jesus, 

Thank you for dying on the cross and shedding your precious blood for my sins.  I am sorry for all my sins.     I ask you to come into my heart,  forgive all my sins, and be my Lord and my Saviour.   Father, I thank you now for forgiving all my sins and giving me eternal life in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.  

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Another Solder

Gentle Reader,

Another solder has been lost down but not out. Another Irish man who has by his attitude and effort has tried  to increased the American way of life. Scripture says 1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. But for now death has taken another solder. Many will come forward to eulogize or denigrate Edward Kennedy. But in true Irish fashion I want to share with you a wee bit of what The Irish Kennedys meant to this their adopted county. We can trace their history back to the Fitzgerald family was from western Ireland in the rural County Limerick village of Bruff .

Sometime between 1846 and 1855 some of the Fitzgeralds migrated to America because of the devastating potato famine. Thomas Fitzgerald, born in Bruff in 1823, and Rose Anna Cox, born in County Cavan in 1835 were the parents of John Francis Fitzgerald, who was born in Boston, MA on February 11, 1863. On September 18, 1889, John Francis ("Honey Fitz") Fitzgerald married Mary Josephine Hannon of Acton, MA, daughter of Michael Hannon and Mary Ann Fitzgerald, both of whom were born in Ireland. Their daughter, and John F. Kennedy’s mother, Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald, was born on July 22, 1890 in Boston, MA.

During the same period that the Fitzgeralds migrated to America, Patrick Kennedy, a cooper, left his ancestral home in Dunganstown, County Wexford and sailed from New Ross for the United States. In 1849 he married Bridget Murphy [born about 1827 in Owenduff, County Wexford] in East Boston. Nine years later she was a widow with four small children, the youngest of whom, Patrick Joseph Kennedy, would become John F. Kennedy’s grandfather. In November, 1887, Patrick Joseph ("P.J.") Kennedy married Mary Augusta Hickey, daughter of James Hickey of Cork, Ireland, ( Our stomping grounds) and Margaret M. Field, also of Ireland. Their son, and John F. Kennedy’s father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, was born on September 6, 1888 in East Boston. Teddy as he was known said about himself " I grew up in a large Irish Catholic family as the youngest of nine children. By their words, their actions, and their love, our parents instilled in all of us the importance of the ties that bind us together – our faith, our family, and our love of this great country."

Edward M. Kennedy was the third longest-serving member of the United States Senate in American history. Voters of Massachusetts elected him to the Senate nine times—a record matched by only one other Senator.

The scholar Thomas Mann said his time in the Senate was "an amazing and endurable presence. You want to go back to the 19th century to find parallels, but you won’t find parallels."

President Obama has described his breathtaking span of accomplishment: "For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health, and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts."

He fought for and won so many great battles—on voting rights, education, immigration reform, the minimum wage, national service, the nation’s first major legislation to combat AIDS, and equality for minorities, women, the disabled and gay Americans.

He called health care "the cause of my life," and succeeded in bringing quality and affordable health care for countless Americans, including children, seniors and Americans with disabilities. Until the end he was working tirelessly to achieve historic national health reform. He was an opponent of the Vietnam War and an early champion of the war’s refugees. He was a powerful yet lonely voice from the beginning against the invasion of Iraq. He stood for human rights abroad—from Chile to the former Soviet Union – and was a leader in the cause of poverty relief for the poorest nations of Africa and the world. He believed in a strong national defense and he also unceasingly pursued and advanced the work of nuclear arms control.

He was the conscience of his party, and also the Senate’s greatest master of forging compromise with the other party. Known as the "Lion of the Senate," Senator Kennedy was widely respected on both sides of the aisle for his commitment to progress and his ability to legislate.

Senator Kennedy was Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Previously he was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and served on that committee for many years. He also served on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. He was a leader of the Congressional Friends of Ireland and helped lead the way toward peace on that island.

He was a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Virginia Law School. He lived in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, with his wife Vicki. He is survived by her and their five children Kara, Edward Jr., and Patrick Kennedy, and Curran and Caroline Raclin, and his sister Jean Kennedy Smith.

But Gentle reader, if you have ever meet an Irish man you will know that beneath the skin there beat a heart of a humanitarian one who feels what the lowliest of us feels and strongly enough to do something about it. I have felt that way about the causes that I fought for. Because it has been said , perhaps only in Ireland, that "when the last Irishman dies the heart of Christ will have been used up"!

 Dear Rev. Dr. Denis & Marti,

Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy.

For nearly five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts.

His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives -- in seniors who know new dignity; in families that know new opportunity; in children who know education's promise; and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just, including me.

In the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth and good cheer. He battled passionately on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintained warm friendships across party lines. And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.

I personally valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've benefited as President from his encouragement and wisdom.

His fight gave us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you and goodbye. The outpouring of love, gratitude and fond memories to which we've all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives.

For America, he was a defender of a dream. For his family, he was a guardian. Our hearts and prayers go out to them today -- to his wonderful wife, Vicki, his children Ted Jr., Patrick and Kara, his grandchildren and his extended family.

Today, our country mourns. We say goodbye to a friend and a true leader who challenged us all to live out our noblest values. And we give thanks for his memory, which inspires us still.

 Pray for us,

Sincerely,

President Barack Obama


Saturday, August 22, 2009

Violence in America

Gentle Reader,

 Watch this video, and then you decide what is the truth about health care. I am in favor of health care if you have  not already figured it out. Why? because Marti is bed fast more than four years, we spent all the money we had, lost our home and possessions. Only to find out than the State of Indiana and Republican Governor Mich Daniels (I wrote to him along with everyone I could think of to ask for a wee bit of help) This Governor not only did not respond but bragged that he alone had kept back some 3 Billion dollar$ for "emergencies". Proper health care could have saved Marti, Emergencies! Ha! Compassion is what's needed not greed!!!

So who stands to profit from this resistance of health care reform. Those who receive big donations from so called "health care providers" Wait until you need treatment and find out the your insurance company tells you that "that's not covered".

Of course people are frightened but of what? A health care bill not even in final form? "death panels" (according to Sara Palin).  But Gentle reader you can't reason with the unreasonable. Let me put it another way. You can't fix stupid.  Is it because we have a Black president? A bad economy? A lost job? We are spending too much money? Hey! the government is the only one with any credit that is still good! If we don't spend some of our credit then this could be where America becomes a paltry example of what greed by some will do to the rest of us. 

The claim that this places debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren is bogus, the same claim that has been used for more than a 100 years (so that nothing was done in the past, it doesn't have to be that way anymore). If we don't address the  health needs of all Americans then we never will!!! And the "fat cats"  (those who want to have all the profit and greed directed in their direction and to h**** with your needs your grandchildren and grandparents) will have started us on a downward slope that will eventually lead not to socialism as some claim, but make us into a 3rd world country with poverty greater than any country on earth. 

 Violence will erupt as only a few, will have money to buy the necessities of life like Food, clothing, shelter- health care!

 We all know that health care reform as it come about will not be perfect. But it will be a start,  and it will and this is important gentle reader, level the playing field for all of us. I was told that America believes in fair play, was I mistaken that Americans cares about one another? 

 I am just asking, 

Next time, 

Denis  

Sunday, August 16, 2009

I an incapable of being indifferent

widows-and-children-memorial

 Gentle Reader,

 My question is this "Is America a Christian nation? Or have we moved on to materialism and self interest? " In keeping with my policy to bring topics to make you think outside of the box I present another Christian controversy. (not your normal rub, a dub, dub prayer that so many bring to church) but "real" thought provoking topics that require you to take a stand.

Here is a letter that I got from a dear young woman which permission was given to reproduce. Read on.  

 "I got into an interesting discussion today with one of my senior classmates. During the course of this conversation he learned that I was a widow and a single mom; my son therefore being fatherless. I indicated how tough it has been trying to find male mentors (at least one) for him and it did not seem to be happening at church. He made a comment that sparked an ephiphany for me - we get too wrapped up in the affairs of culture to recognize the needs that are right under our noses.

The ephinany is this: when we talked about God's heart for the widows and fatherless as mentioned in both the old and new testament, I could not help but think perhaps the reason the help has been lacking, particularly in church, is because of the plethora of single parents. Perhaps the church has grown insensitive to not only the need but its responsibility because there is such a high incidence of single parenting that it has become no big deal.

So here are my questions:

1) How does your church fare in this matter?

2) Is there an awareness raised that the church is to pay attention to the needs of the widows and fatherless?

3) How can the church address this need in the context of the high percentage of single parents?

NB: I personally reflect on the tragedy of this, that there are just too many single parents and too many fatherless homes. I also think single parent ministries do much to support the comfort of this phenomenon, when God's ideal design is for a mother and father. But maybe that's just me.

Now then Gentle Reader,

May I add to this, a story. Alexander the Great was reviewing his troops,  (Remember Alexander was the one who conquered the world, and then cried because there was nothing left to conquer) It was told to him that there was a coward in his army (in those days to be a coward was a death sentence) Alexander stood before his vast army and said" I want that coward to step forward," After a long hesitation, one young man about 13 years old inched his way to the front. " What's you name boy" Alexander yelled at the little lad" "Alexander " the boy replied. "Boy, either change your name or change your attitude" Said the world's conquer.

 So my word to you who call yourself Christian is this " Either change your name or change your attitude"

 We are Christs ambassadors here on earth. let's  start acting like it, wouldn't you agree?

Jesus

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Not wanted in America

A reflection of the past

Irish reflection

Gentle Reader,

 In my attempt to teach and educate those who have never thought about what attitudes can do, I wanted to make it clear there is no room in 2009 for discrimination or racism here in America. If you know someone who hates,  grab your wallet as that person will steal you blind. Or as they said in Ireland "they will steal your pipe and come back for the smoke".

Gone to America

Throughout the Famine years,  (1816 )nearly a million Irish arrived in the United States. Famine immigrants were the first big wave of poor refugees ever to arrive in the U.S. and Americans were simply overwhelmed. Upon arrival in America, the Irish found the going to be quite tough. With no one to help them, they immediately settled into the lowest rung of society and waged a daily battle for survival.

The roughest welcome of all would be in Boston, Massachusetts, an Anglo-Saxon city with a population of about 115,000. It was a place run by descendants of English Puritans, men who could proudly recite their lineage back to 1620 and the Mayflower ship. Now, some two hundred thirty years later, their city was undergoing nothing short of an unwanted "social revolution" as described by Ephraim Peabody, member of an old Yankee family. In 1847, the first big year of Famine emigration, the city was swamped with 37,000 Irish Catholics arriving by sea and land.


Proper Bostonians pointed and laughed at the first Irish immigrants stepping off ships wearing clothes twenty years out of fashion. They watched as the newly arrived Irishmen settled with their families into enclaves that became exclusively Irish near the Boston waterfront along Batterymarch and Broad Streets, then in the North End section and in East Boston. Irishmen took any unskilled jobs they could find such as cleaning yards and stables, unloading ships, and pushing carts.

And once again, they fell victim to unscrupulous landlords. This time it was Boston landlords who sub-divided former Yankee dwellings into cheap housing, charging Irish families up to $1.50 a week to live in a single nine-by-eleven foot room with no water, sanitation, ventilation or daylight.

In Boston, as well as other American cities in the mid-1800s, there was no enforcement of sanitary regulations and no building or fire safety codes. Landlords could do as they pleased. A single family three-story house along the waterfront that once belonged to a prosperous Yankee merchant could be divided-up room by room into housing for a hundred Irish, bringing a nice profit.

The overflow Irish would settle into the gardens, back yards and alleys surrounding the house, living in wooden shacks. Demand for housing of any quality was extraordinary. People lived in musty cellars with low ceilings that partially flooded with every tide.

Old warehouses and other buildings within the Irish enclave were hastily converted into rooming houses using flimsy wooden partitions that provided no privacy.

A Boston Committee of Internal Health studying the situation described the resulting Irish slum as "a perfect hive of human beings, without comforts and mostly without common necessaries; in many cases huddled together like brutes, without regard to age or sex or sense of decency. Under such circumstances self-respect, forethought, all the high and noble virtues soon die out, and sullen indifference and despair or disorder, intemperance and utter degradation reign supreme."



The unsanitary conditions were breeding grounds for disease, particularly cholera. Sixty percent of the Irish children born in Boston during this period didn't live to see their sixth birthday. Adult Irish lived on average just six years after stepping off the boat onto American soil.

Those who were not ill were driven to despair. Rowdy behavior fueled by alcohol and boredom spilled out into the streets of Boston and the city witnessed a staggering increase in crime, up to 400 percent for such crimes as aggravated assault. Men and boys cooped up in tiny rooms and without employment or schooling got into serious trouble. An estimated 1500 children roamed the streets every day begging and making mischief.

There were only a limited number of unskilled jobs available. Intense rivalry quickly developed between the Irish and working class Bostonians over these jobs. In Ireland, a working man might earn eight cents a day. In America, he could earn up to a dollar a day, a tremendous improvement. Bostonians feared being undercut by hungry Irish willing to work for less than the going rate. Their resentment, combined with growing anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment among all classes in Boston led to 'No Irish Need Apply' signs being posted in shop windows, factory gates and workshop doors throughout the city.



Irish in New York

New York, three times the size of Boston, was better able to absorb its incoming Irish. Throughout the Famine years, 75 percent of the Irish coming to America landed in New York. In 1847, about 52,000 Irish arrived in the city which had a total population of 372,000. The Irish were not the only big group of immigrants arriving. A substantial German population totaling over 53,000 also arrived in 1847.

In New York, the Irish did not face the degree of prejudice found in Boston. Instead, they were confronted by shifty characters and con artists. Confused Irish, fresh off the farm and suffering from culture shock, were taken advantage of the moment they set foot on shore.



Immediately upon arrival in New York harbor, they were met by Irishmen known as 'runners' speaking in Gaelic and promising to 'help' their fellow countrymen. Many of the new arrivals, quite frightened at the mere prospect of America, gladly accepted. Those who hesitated were usually bullied into submission. The runner's first con was to suggest a good place to stay in New York; a boarding house operated by a friend, supposedly with good meals and comfortable rooms at very affordable rates, including free storage of any luggage.

The boarding houses were actually filthy hell-holes in lower Manhattan. Instead of comfortable rooms, the confused arrivals were shoved into vermin-infested hovels with eight or ten other unfortunate souls, at prices three or four times higher than what they had been told. They remained as 'boarders' until their money ran out at which time their luggage was confiscated for back-rent and they were tossed out into the streets, homeless and penniless.



During the entire Famine period, about 650,000 Irish arrived in New York harbor. All incoming passenger ships to New York had to stop for medical inspection. Anyone with fever was removed to the quarantine station on Staten Island and the ship itself was quarantined for 30 days. But Staten Island was just five miles from Manhattan. Runners were so aggressive in pursuit of the Irish that they even rowed out to quarantined ships and sneaked into the hospitals on Staten Island despite the risk of contracting typhus.

Another way to take advantage of the Irish was to sell them phony railroad and boat tickets. Runners working with 'forwarding agents' sold bogus tickets that had pictures of trains or boats the illiterate immigrants wished to board to leave Manhattan for other U.S. cities. The tickets were either worthless, or if they were valid, had been sold at double the actual price or higher. On the boats, the immigrant were shoved into jam-packed steerage sections, although they thought they had paid for better accommodations. Sometimes, halfway to their destination, they were told to pay more or risk being thrown overboard.



The penniless Irish who remained in Manhattan stayed crowded together close to the docks where they sought work as unskilled dock workers. They found cheap housing wherever they could, with many families living in musty cellars. Abandoned houses near the waterfront that once belonged to wealthy merchants were converted into crowded tenements. Shoddy wooded tenements also sprang up overnight in yards and back alleys to be rented out room by room at high prices. Similar to Boston, New York experienced a high rate of infant mortality and a dramatic rise in crime as men and boys cooped-up in squalid shanties let off steam by drinking and getting in fights.

Anti-Irish Sentiment

U.S. immigration records indicate that by 1850, the Irish made up 43 percent of the foreign-born population. Up to ninety percent of the Irish arriving in America remained in cities. New York now had more Irish-born citizens than Dublin. Those who did not stay in New York or Boston traveled to places such as Albany, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and out west to Butte, Montana, and San Francisco. Upon arrival, the Irishman and his family would usually go straight to the 'Irish quarter,' locate people from County Mayo, County Cork, or wherever they had come from, and settle in among them.



Unlike other nationalities that came to America seeking wide open spaces, the Irish chose to huddle in the cities partly because they were the poorest of all the immigrants arriving and partly out of a desire to recreate the close-knit communities they had cherished back in Ireland. Above all, the Irish loved each other's company, enjoying a daily dose of gossip, conversation, poetry and story telling, music and singing, and the ever-present jokes and puns.

But the daily pressures of living in America at the bottom rung of society also brought out the worst in them. Back home, the Irish were known for their honesty, law-abiding manners, and chastity. In America, old social norms disintegrated and many of the Irish, both men and women, behaved wildly. In the hopeless slums of New York, prostitution flourished and drunkenness occurred even among children.

Wherever they settled, the Irish kept to themselves to the exclusion of everyone else, and thus were slow to assimilate. Americans were thus slow to accept the Irish as equals, preferring instead to judge them by the cartoon stereotypes of drunken, brawling Irishmen published in newspapers of the day. Irish immigrants were also derided in the press as 'aliens' who were mindlessly loyal to their Catholic leaders in place of any allegiance to America.

The sheer numbers of Irish pouring into the U.S. meant that Catholicism was on the verge of becoming the single largest Christian denomination in America. Many American Protestants held the simplistic view that if the numbers of Roman Catholics were increasing then the power and influence of the Papacy in America was also increasing, threatening America's political independence. Fear of the Papacy thus became fear of the Irish and resulted in outright violence.

In Boston, a mob of Protestant workmen burned down a Catholic convent. Protestant mobs in Philadelphia rioted against Irish Catholics in 1844. The Irish in Philadelphia promptly gathered into mobs of their own and fought back, with the violence lasting over three days. Two Catholic churches were burned down along with hundreds of Irish homes and a dozen immigrants killed. In New York, Archbishop John Hughes, on hearing of the Philadelphia attacks, deployed armed Irishmen to protect his own churches. Then he paid a visit to New York's mayor and warned him that if just one Catholic church was touched, the Irish would burn all of Manhattan to the ground. Other cities that experienced anti-Catholic violence included; Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans and Louisville, Kentucky.



Militant anti-Catholics formed a third political party nicknamed the 'Know-Nothings' seeking to curtail Irish immigration and keep them from becoming naturalized Americans in order to prevent them from ever gaining any political power. The movement was most successful in Massachusetts which elected Know-Nothing candidates to every statewide office in 1854, including governor. Throughout America, anti-Irish sentiment was becoming fashionable. Newspaper advertisements for jobs and housing in Boston, New York and other places now routinely ended with "Positively No Irish Need Apply."



 

But American concerns over Irish immigration soon took a back seat to the tremendous issue of slavery which was about to rip the young nation apart. For Irish Americans, the turning point of their early years in the U.S. would be the American Civil War. Over 140,000 enlisted in the Union army while others in the South enrolled in the Confederate ranks. Irish units, including the all-Irish 69th New York Regiment, participated in the monumental battles at Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg, earning a reputation for dependability and bravery. At Fredericksburg, the 'Fighting 69th' repeatedly charged a well-entrenched Confederate position on Marye's Heights to the astonishment of all who observed.

However, during the Civil War, Irish civilians were heavily involved in the notorious New York draft riots in which African Americans were singled out for violence. Relations between Irish immigrants and African Americans in New York had never been good. From their earliest arrival in the U.S. the Irish had competed with freed slaves for the most menial jobs and cheapest housing. Decades of frustration and pent-up emotions finally erupted on the streets over three hot summer days in July 1863 resulting in numerous beatings and 18 blacks murdered. Federal troops from Gettysburg had to be called in to quell the violence. Hundreds of buildings, including a black orphanage, were destroyed along with $5 million in property damage.



Rise of the Irish



Following the Civil War, Irish laborers once again provided the backbreaking work needed for the enormous expansion of rapidly industrializing America. They ran factories, built railroads in the West, and worked in the mines of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Montana. They were carpenter's assistants, boat-builders, dock-hands, bartenders and waiters. In an era when there were virtually no governmental constraints on American capitalism, the Irish organized the first trade unions and conducted strikes when necessary for higher wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions.



Single Irish women found work as cooks and maids in houses belonging to wealthy families on Beacon Hill in Boston and along Fifth Avenue in New York, and in most other big cities. Many lived inside the homes in the servants' quarters and enjoyed a standard of living luxurious by comparison to the life they had known in Ireland or in the tenements. These women were cheerful, kind-hearted, hard working and thrifty, always managing to save a little money out of their salary for those back in Ireland. From 1850 to 1900 an estimated $260 million poured into Ireland from America, bringing over more family members and helping out those remaining behind.

The women also donated generously to their local Catholic parishes for new parochial schools and the construction of stained-glass churches with marble statues and altars. The beautiful cathedral-like buildings became great sources of pride among the Irish, making the statement that Catholics had 'arrived' in America. Catholic parishes became the center of family life, providing free education, hospitals, sports and numerous social activities, recreating to some degree the close-knit villages the Irish had loved back home while at the same time protecting them from unfriendly Americans.

Catholics in Ireland had endured centuries of discrimination at the hands of a dominant culture ruled by English and Anglo-Irish Protestants. They arrived in America only to find they were once again facing religious discrimination by the dominant culture; this time American Protestants. Eventually the Irish discovered the path to changing things in their new home lay in the local ballot box.



The large numbers of Irishmen now eligible to vote in cities such as New York and Boston meant they could no longer be politically ignored. The sons and grandsons of Famine immigrants joined the Democratic Party in droves, organized themselves by every ward and precinct into political 'machines' then became candidates for office, first getting elected to city councils, later to the mayor's office itself.

In Boston, newly elected Mayor James Michael Curley boldly announced in 1914: "The day of the Puritan has passed; the Anglo-Saxon is a joke; a new and better America is here." Curley dominated Boston politics for nearly forty years. He freely used patronage as a way to reward loyalty and get Irish votes, filling various city departments with his supporters. The Irish delighted in taking civil service jobs with their steady paychecks and long-term security. In cities with big Irish populations, police and fire departments often became staffed by Famine descendants.

In New York, the political machine was known as Tammany Hall, a powerful but corrupt organization that traded favors and jobs for votes and money. Out of Manhattan's fourth ward emerged Al Smith, the grandson of Irish immigrants, who rose from the tenements of the Lower East Side to seek the American presidency. As governor of New York in the 1920s, Smith originated ground-breaking social reform programs that later became the model for Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. But as the Democratic candidate for president in 1928, Smith was relentlessly bashed by anti-Catholic activists and was resoundingly defeated, losing to incumbent President Herbert Hoover.

The most extraordinary Famine descendant was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, great-grandson of Patrick Kennedy, a farmer from County Wexford who had left Ireland in 1849. Although other Presidents, including Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson had Irish roots, John Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic. To millions of Irish Catholic Americans, Kennedy's election in 1960 as the 35th President of the United States signaled an end to the century-long struggle for full acceptance in the U.S.



By the time of Kennedy's victory, descendants of the Famine immigrants were steadily leaving the old Irish working-class neighborhoods of Boston, New York and other cities and settling into the new suburbs sprouting across America. Irish Americans, three or four generations removed from their Famine forebears, now preferred a more generic middle-class American lifestyle complete with manicured lawns and backyard barbecues. Some of them even converted to Republicanism and wound up voting for another 'Irishman' named Ronald Reagan for president.



The Irish, the first big group of poor refugees ever to come to the United States, had born the brunt of American resentment and prevailed. They could now count on the fact that their children might be educated at Harvard University or perhaps rise to a top position in any corporation or business, based on their talent and ability. And they had paved the way for the waves of immigrants from Europe and other places that followed in their footsteps.

Hard work and sheer determination had allowed the Irish in America to overcome countless obstacles and find success and happiness. But their country of origin remained a very sad place in the decades following the Famine.

For you see Gentle Reader, its where we come from that makes better Americans, and don't you think that we don't work hard to be good citizens. How many people do you know that are trying to leave this country? (Besides, perhaps yours truly who wants to go home, where the green of the hills make you heart soar and there is a little bit of heaven there. 



Friday, August 07, 2009

A Right or ....a wrong

homeless dog

The sign reads "without any change, we live on the street"

"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.' (1 Ti 5: 8 ) 

 

 

Gentle reader,

 You know me, I would much rather present you truth about spiritual things than get (as it were into the issues of what is right and wrong) but not enough  Christian ministers are standing up and screaming from the roof tops that we ought as Christians (see I'm talking to my family, not to those who claim no allegiance to any one or anything (rather like Bernie Madoff). 

 First, another word about your health care (those of you that have it) Without a public option [which congress seems determined to scrap in a attempt to compromise with the GOP, remember them? the Party of "NO") The insurance Companies will continue to increase your cost. (hint the Insurance industry is spending more that 1.5 Million a day to defeat any attempt to give people a decent health care system) if you have insurance good for you, if your like the some 40+ million working poor then you need to stand up to your elected Representative and tell them "get with it or get out of congress." Tell Congress to give up their health care that they value but don't want to provide for the American people.

We are living gentle reader, in what I call a post Christian country. a place where people go to Church, or synagogue on the Sabbath and then worship the "God of this World" money and what you can get with it. I think I told you once before that there is enough food to feed everyone in the world, (God provided that) Also there is enough wealth in the world that there is No reason to anyone to be poor (God told us about that). So whats the problem? In a word Greed!   Unless you stand up for what is right and get involved things will continue as they have for more than 2000+ years. It was one man (Jesus Christ who changed the world). What could we do as one person,  if every one person would get involved to help  each another. Many do (thank God for them) but many do not (shame on them). I for one remember an old martial arts adage "To fight with another is wrong but to lose a fight over principles you deem honorable and right is worse". I for one,  want each of you to be fighting for your neighbor here in America [that poor soul , that abused and battered women and child]and then for that neighbor on the other side of the world.    

If we don't take care of our own then who will? The Greedy, they never will? The elected? not as long as their concerned about the money it takes to get re- elected and those special interests who are concerned about the "bottom line". Not those who scream the loudest about taxes and cost, for they are still locked into their tiny minds that tell them "Your more important than that person you just stepped over"

 It's up to you and me Gentle reader to change the mind set to those who want to own you and your family.   

Love,

Denis

poster_homelesschrist_lg

P.S. New York's financial data is all sunshine and rainbows these days. A $3.9 billion surplus has the City Council talking tax cuts, job growth is chugging along (62,300 new ones added in 2006), unemployment is at a slim 4.9 percent. No need to tell you where the housing market is. Great news for everyone! Except for one little thing: According the Coalition for the Homeless's annual report, released yesterday, the number of homeless New Yorkers increased by 11 percent in 2006, to 35,113. That means, the Coalition says, more New York families are homeless than at any point since the city started keeping records.

Take a second to process this bit of info. City shelters began their record-keeping in 1979. This means there are more homeless people today than just a few years after the financial crisis. ("Ford to City" was in 1975.) This means there are more homeless people now than during the crack-ridden, stock-screwed Dinkins era. This might even mean that when the average price of a Manhattan home hovers over $1 million, maybe some people have a harder time affording homes. Who knew?