Happy Independence Day Friends!
July 4, 2007 · 46 Comments
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46 responses so far ↓
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 4, 2007 at 8:05 am
If only you’d allow other countries to have independance too!
Hey Marcas, shove your socialist agenda where the sun don’t shine and learn to spell independence!
Angel // July 4, 2007 at 8:11 am
Happy Fourth of July my friend Enjoy this beautiful country of ours!
Same to you girl!
Happy Forth of July! « Ironic Surrealism // July 4, 2007 at 9:08 am
[...] Happy Independence Day Friends! [...]
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 4, 2007 at 10:24 am
Woooohoooo, nice comeback! USA! USA!
the Grit // July 4, 2007 at 10:27 am
Hi w,
Happy 4th. I’ll dedicate the first slice of watermelon to you.
Hi Marcas,
After you learn to spell, read some history. We took our independence. Since then, we’ve help acquire said condition for almost every country in Europe and a good many in Asia.
the Grit
Hi Grit,
Thanks for the first slice of watermelon!
I guess having a socialist comment on my Independence Day post just kind of increases my appreciation for living in the good ‘ol USA. Here’s to hoping Marcas learns some history — assuming he can read
no2liberals // July 4, 2007 at 11:15 am
Hope you have a wonderful Independence Day, wytammic.
I’ll be thinking of you, as I grill my marinated boneless ribeye this afternoon, to medium rare specs.
I will not be thinking of you, however, while I slather accoutrements on my baked tater, or with my cherry pie ala mode.
For any that don’t love this country,
Thank you very much! Enjoy that ribeye
no2liberals // July 4, 2007 at 11:58 am
Oh!
I will…be assured!
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 4, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I studied History in University. Speaking of reading, try reading some of these:
A Peoples’ History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Confessions of an Economic Hit man by John Perkins
America Rules by Tom Hannahoe
Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
(You will notice three out of these four writers is/was American)
You might also try reading up on the ideals of your founding fathers. You will see they are incompatible with the actions of your current regime.
Perkins’s book is particularly interesting as it comes from someone who was once a trusted member of the US elite. He got himself a conscience and wants people to know what the US is realy doing to the rest of the world.
Lets hope you can someday learn the real meaning of independence.
no2liberals // July 4, 2007 at 5:24 pm
So if I follow your reading list, then I will come to think as you do, and believe as you do?
I like to set goals, and pursuing the goal of being pathetic, just doesn’t seem reasonable, to me.
O teach me how I should forget to think.
(romeo and juliet)
velvethammer // July 4, 2007 at 9:42 pm
marcus shills for socialist chavez. Who would of thunk it? lol
jweaver // July 4, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Happy 4th, Enjoy the fireworks.
mommyzabs // July 4, 2007 at 10:55 pm
HAPPY FOURTH!
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 5, 2007 at 1:57 am
Thanks for the plug Velvet Hammer!
While your at it why not check out this one:
http://gripofhysteria.wordpress.com/2007/04/18/socialism-or-barbarism/
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 5, 2007 at 3:10 am
no2liberals, that would be a fine sentiment if you guys weren’t all telling me to read some history. I know none of you will follow my reading list simply because you are unable to process information that conflicts with your world view. I on the other hand regularly read stuff that conflicts with my world view but I am able to decide for myself if what I am reading is good or bad. You should try it.
no2liberals // July 5, 2007 at 3:50 am
Pathetic and self-adoring.
What a combo.
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 5, 2007 at 5:07 am
Yeah whatever you say. It really of sums up your kind; If you can’t win an arguement resort to insults.
Good luck with that.
Hasta la victoria siempre.
wytammic // July 5, 2007 at 7:33 am
Thanks Jeffrey and MZ!
Marcas — get a job.
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 5, 2007 at 7:45 am
I have a job thanks.
Well, enjoyed the fun debate here, thanks all for many laughs. I particularly enjoyed your About Me bit wytammic. Hope you all enjoyed your big day.
Feel free to leave comments on my blog anytime you like, I’m always willing to debate with people who have different ideas. Hey, isn’t that what free speech and independence is all about?
Slán Libh.
no2liberals // July 5, 2007 at 7:46 am
HA!
I don’t argue with your kind, I deride.
Unitam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.
the Grit // July 5, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Hi Marcas,
Wait, don’t flee just yet! I’ve read a couple of the books you mention, and wasn’t impressed. However, they have nothing to do with what we were discussing, which was your lack of understanding of history as concerns what the US has done to promote freedom and independence around the world. You seemed to have skipped out on those classes.
Hi w,
The watermelon, by the way, was nearly perfect, almost seedless and just a day or two shy of peak ripeness.
the Grit
wytammic // July 5, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Hi Grit,
Oh that is good news on the watermelon front
Sounds ideal.
velvethammer // July 5, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Dog-gonnit Grit. Now I am craving watermelon. And it is all your fault.
lol
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 5, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Not at all Grit,
and I’m glad you want to discuss that.
Lets start from the begining. What failed to impress you about the books I mentioned (which ones were they by the way?). Then which specific cases of the US promoting freedom and independence were you referring to?
Thirdly, whats the obsession with watermelon?
Comment of the Week « Sunflower Desert // July 6, 2007 at 7:43 am
[...] goes out to No2Liberals and is in reply to a socialist loving troll who visited on of all days, Independence Day. (Oh the irony): So if I follow your reading list, then I will come to think as you do, and believe [...]
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 6, 2007 at 9:33 am
It wasn’t Ironic that I visited here, your post was beside mine on the politics tag so I thought I’d check it out.
Strange choice of comment of the week I might add, its not funny its not clever and it didn’t really make any sense. I was being instructed to “read some history” so I’d come to think like you guys so I was just sharing my reading list with you. I must say I have had fun here and I hope grit gets back to me to clarify what exactly he/she means as I enjoy a good old debate with a worthy adversary.
I have to say i am genuinely fascinated by you and your friends wytammic as we certainly don’t have people with comparable views here in Ireland. Thats not to say there are no right wingers but just not the extreme (I hope the tag doesn’t offend you) Christian conservative type.
You’ve made me extremely curious about how you come to that mindset (you seem like relatively normal people other than this). Were you brought up with these values or did you come to them some other way? Are you tollerant of people with other views (and bad spelling)? Have you ever been outside the US? If so, ever been to Ireland?
velvethammer // July 6, 2007 at 9:59 am
Pardon me, but you have a lot of nerve dissing the US when all the while you support chavez. What hypocrisy.
And if you feel the need to question our love for watermelon, then you will never get it, and must not have ever eaten it.
wytammic // July 6, 2007 at 10:04 am
Ruh Roh Velvet — pining for next week’s award so soon? It’ll take a doozy to beat this one
velvethammer // July 6, 2007 at 10:38 am
Oh and marcas, please allow me to extend my condolences on your socialist party LOSING the election.
Tis’ a pity…lol
It seems that there may NOT be a “real appetite” for a “real alternative”.
Apparently the people of North County Dublin are not so hungry for socialism, after all. Good on them!
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” - Churchill
See you in the funny papers. lol
wytammic // July 6, 2007 at 10:53 am
Dang - now it looks like Winston is in the lead. Absolutely love that quote. Thanks for bringing it V.
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 6, 2007 at 11:03 am
Poor reading of the situation, we were not in a position to “win the election” as we are a small party, funded by our membership and our supporters. We only could afford to run four candidates in the election. The main parties, like your own are funded by Billionaires.
Supporting Chavez is supporting the independence of Venezuela from rapacious US multinational corporations. It is to support the control of Venezuela’s natural assets by the Venezuelans themselves. musch the same as your revolution was about American people being allowed to control their own economic destiny rather than it being controlled by the British Empire and business men who lived thousands of miles away.
As for the watermelon remark, I was just introducing some light heartedness into the discussion. Of course I’ve had Watermelon. Its nice but has it some particular significance to independence day?
velvethammer // July 6, 2007 at 12:29 pm
YW Tammi
Present day socialists are so deluded, they actually believe they will be the ones that are finally able to make socialism work. lol
Fools and dreamers…
The milk of human kindness has curdled in their brains.
@ marcas Do you truly believe this?
“It is to support the control of Venezuela’s natural assets by the Venezuelans themselves. ”
That is fantastic for the people of Venezuela. Lord knows they could use a ray of hope, after being subjected to food rationing.
Candy coating eventually melts….
Tell me how does that help, Venezuela’s accelerating inflation rate and shortages of basic foods???
At the rate it is headed, the economy may collapse.
Have fun skipping down that imaginary primrose path of yours.
the Grit // July 6, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Hi Marcas,
I’ve read,
Confessions of an Economic Hit man by John Perkins, which was not all that well thought out, and didn’t convey much in the way of significant information.
I’ve also read,
Rights of Man by Thomas Paine, which, while being well written, was hardly breaking new ground.
Generally, I find it best, when studying history, to avoid books written with an agenda as those are only philosophy, and to look for multiple sources that agree as an indication of fact.
As to cases of the US promoting Independence, we freed all of the western half of Europe, with the exception of Switzerland, England, and Ireland, by winning WWII. The rest of Europe was given a shot at freedom by our defeat of the USSR. This also goes for all of the Asian countries we liberated from the Japanese. Tack on South Korea and Taiwan, which US efforts have kept independent.
A good case can also be made that all of the countries in South America and Central America can trace their Independence, in good measure, to our declaration that we would fight any European power that tried to colonize them. We haven’t done as well in Africa, but we arrived late in that area.
The obsession with watermelon, at this time of year, is its traditional role in celebratory meals on Independence Day. This started in our South Eastern States, since we usually have very high temperatures at this time of year, and have traditionally celebrated the occasion with outdoor meals, called picnics. The high water content of the fruit is particularly suited for these conditions. Besides, it’s really good!
As to our political parties, while they may be backed, on both sides of the isle, our laws regulate the amount of funding any one person can contribute to any candidate or party. Thus, while the backing of the rich is important, the average political donation is less than $100.
As to similarities between the US Revolution and the one that is brewing in Venezuela, and from the other comments I assume you support Chavez, they are few. We rebelled against a Colonial master; they are a free and independent state, and are rebelling against themselves. We rebelled against being taxed without representation in deciding those taxes (and later about other things); they are rebelling against a freely agreed upon business deal. Our first great individual leader refused the offer of being made king and, later, refused to continue in the office of President; theirs is actively striving to be appointed for life. Our revolution was aimed at allowing each individual personal freedom; theirs is aimed at making each individual dependant on the state and, thus, not free at all.
I’m surprised an Irishman doesn’t know this.
the Grit
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 7, 2007 at 3:12 am
See, I knew what points you were going to bring up. Lets start from the last one simply because it fits in with the first one.
“We rebelled against a Colonial master; they are a free and independent state, and are rebelling against themselves. We rebelled against being taxed without representation in deciding those taxes (and later about other things); they are rebelling against a freely agreed upon business deal.”
If you’ve read “Confessions” then you know how these “freely agreed upon” deals come about. All over the world you had a situation where US puppet regimes (often dictatorships) handed over the nations natural resourses of a country to mainly US multinatonals for a share of the spoils. They get tied into loans that they can never paid back, the government and those around them make a fortune, as do the shareholders of the multinationals and the people in that country suffer. The situation you have around the world today is a more subtle version of colonialism to what you had before. In most cases you don’t send in the army, you send in the consultants and the multinationals. The aim of colonialism was always the rape of a nations resources, now you do that without physical conquest. Where that fails (eg. Iraq) you resort to the old methods.
On Rights of Man, you write: “while being well written, was hardly breaking new ground.”
Well it was in 1791 when it was written. I introduced it because Paine was highly regarded by the revolutionaries who had made your republic and Rights of Man was a defence of the French and American revolutionary ideals. It is incompatible with the way your current regime does business.
I knew WW2 would be your example for a reason. There is realy no other war the US has been involved in (maybe the Civil War) where you can say to mos people, without dispute - that war was about fighting tyranny. Its a complicated one and there are many factors at play. Firstly before I go on to question US motives for entering the war I would pay tribute to the ordinary US soldiers who went to fight Nazism. They went to fight for freedom. However if this was the US motive for entering the war, then why wait so long? Why not fight Hitler from the off? The US went to war against Japan over markets in Sout East asia. For about a century the US had been using its navy to bully countries in the region, including Japan to open its markets to US goods. The SE Asia market became an important one for the US economy. Resurgent Imperial Japan was a competitor and had successfully turned the tables on this situation through belligerent actions. The attack on Pearl harbour was the catalyst for the US declaring war, however the government knew it was coming. The US economy, needed SE Asia. At some point, Japan would have to be fought. Germany was Japan’s ally, therefore they came into the deal. Defeating the Germans and extending credit to Europe also had huge benefits for the US economy as US goods flooded into Europe. Since ww2 there has been a steady Americanisation of European culture and former European powers have acted as sattelite states of the US in foreign affairs.
As for the US role in Latin America, you may be aware of this quote but I’m going to post it as I think it illustrates what that role has been.
Its from former US Marine Corp Major General, Smedley Butler:
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested”
Velvet Hammer, I posted a link above to my blog on Socialism. Have a read of it if you want to an answer to your question.
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 9, 2007 at 7:01 am
Just on the Churchill quote, what else would you expect from a slavish apologist for greed an inequality. As a representative of Capitalism he was hardly going to be singing the praises of the alternative now was he. As an alternative to this quote, I’d like to counterpose the following from Albert Einstein, a far more capable commentator than Churchill IMO. It is an excerpt from an article he wrote for the American Socialist magazine “Monthly Review” in 1949.
[quote]The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals.
For the sake of simplicity, in the discussion that follows I shall call “workers” all those who do not share in the ownership of the means of production—although this does not quite correspond to the customary use of the term. The owner of the means of production is in a position to purchase the labor power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. The essential point about this process is the relation between what the worker produces and what he is paid, both measured in terms of real value. Insofar as the labor contract is “free,” what the worker receives is determined not by the real value of the goods he produces, but by his minimum needs and by the capitalists’ requirements for labor power in relation to the number of workers competing for jobs. It is important to understand that even in theory the payment of the worker is not determined by the value of his product.
Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.
The situation prevailing in an economy based on the private ownership of capital is thus characterized by two main principles: first, means of production (capital) are privately owned and the owners dispose of them as they see fit; second, the labor contract is free. Of course, there is no such thing as a pure capitalist society in this sense. In particular, it should be noted that the workers, through long and bitter political struggles, have succeeded in securing a somewhat improved form of the “free labor contract” for certain categories of workers. But taken as a whole, the present day economy does not differ much from “pure” capitalism.
Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an “army of unemployed” almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers’ goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals which I mentioned before.
This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism. A planned economy as such may be accompanied by the complete enslavement of the individual. The achievement of socialism requires the solution of some extremely difficult socio-political problems: how is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?
Clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of greatest significance in our age of transition. Since, under present circumstances, free and unhindered discussion of these problems has come under a powerful taboo, I consider the foundation of this magazine to be an important public service.
[/quote]
the Grit // July 9, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Hi Marcus,
I see your studies of communist theory went well. Unfortunately, they left out the part where all experiments with communism were catastrophic failures.
As to capitalism, workers, political parties and such, you have a most warped perspective. While I don’t have time to write a full manifesto today, I will simply point out that free states and free people do not have to enter into business deals not to their liking. This includes both asking oil companies to risk billions of dollars developing the natural resources of countries that can’t afford to do so on their own, as well as the individual’s right to refuse to rely on an employer and to start their own business. If some Governments are corrupt and some people are stupid, that is more a flaw with human nature than with the system.
As to capitalism and the education system, it seems you have it backward. Public education, which is the most common form in most democratic countries, is what is failing. Private education, and hence capitalistic, is by far superior on average, and at least gives the parents a choice of what propaganda their children will be exposed to rather than letting the Government decide.
As to your understanding of WWII, while you have quoted, in part, a poorly accepted version of events, you didn’t do it very well. In fact, the popular opinion at the time was to avoid getting into the war, and our efforts were aimed mostly at preventing the Japanese from acquiring the resources, taken from other countries, to become a serious threat in the area. Their efforts to eradicate the Chinese during their occupation tend to prove that we were correct to do so.
As to European countries falling under out thumb as satellite states, perhaps you can explain why they constantly tried to block import of our goods, often with great success, the French withdrew from NATO, the US was frequently mocked by their politicians, and none of the loans we made them to rebuild after the war were ever repaid? Hardly the actions of nations over which we ruled from behind the scenes.
As to our wars, and freeing countries, you forget WWI, Korea, Vietnam (we tried and succeeded for a brief moment,) and our greatest success, the Cold War. We also have two that are still in play, although it seems that our leaders may loose their nerve before we can succeed.
As to planned economies meeting the needs of the populace, what a laugh! The only successful method of doing that to date is capitalism. Even the last great hope of communism, China, has turned to capitalism to solve its problems.
On the other hand, you do make a fair point about the lack of protection for the individual from the power of bureau racy. That, I am afraid, is still a work in progress. Socialism, however, is not going to be the answer.
If I missed anything, sorry, but we have a series of storms moving through the area, so I rushed.
the Grit
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 9, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Grit,
I won’t cover every aspect of your post right now but the point that stands out like a sore thumb is that you think that WW1, Korea and Vietnam had anything to do with freeing people. World War One is accepted as being (even by the most capitalistic commentators) as being an Imperialistic war for profit. If the allies in WW1 were fighting for the freedom of small nations, why was Britain stil in control of a vast empire that included Ireland? As for Vietnam, the US stepped in when the French colonial power had to pull out with the express intention of stopping the Vietnamese from deciding their own fate. The South Vietnamese governments were picked by washington, were never elected and were hated by their own people. By presiding over the partition of Korea, the US ensured the existance of two undemocratic reactionary regimes. As for experiments with Communism, I don’t believe that bureaucratic dictatorial regimes had anything to do with Socialism or Communism any more than the German Democratic Republic was Democratic.
Marcas.
PS. I’ll return to the subject of WW2 later when I have time.
the Grit // July 9, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Hi Marcus,
I can understand your doubts on the wars other than WWII. However, if you keep in mind that the last century was a time of flux. The old colonial powers were having their last fling and new, and unproven, ideas were being tried by various people who, to be honest, really only wanted to be dictators under new names. Through all of this, against many of our own self interests, the US made a better showing than anyone else you can name. Has our history been perfect; no. Still, I would challenge you to name anyone who has given it a better shot!
As to Vietnam, even if we assume that what you say is true, the alternative, as history shows, was the deaths of hundreds of thousands when the communists took over, along with the sentencing of a million or so to “re-education camps” where they were tortured into submission or death. The North Vietnamese, you should remember, made use of mass murder, torture, rape, and any other vile actions you can think of to sway the South. While we may have had a few who went over the line, we dealt with them. The communists encourages and sponsored this behavior. If the results are what you call independence or freedom, then I am afraid our discussion is at an end.
As to Korea, I must disagree. The Republic of South Korea is undeniably a most democratic country, to such a point that it is arguing within itself that giving in to the insanity of their Northern kin may, rather than face war, might be the better course. Choice, made by the people, I would point out, is the mark of “democracy.”
As to the rest of your comment, I must, on the part of the US at least, disagree. We are hardly thralls to bureaucratic regimes or to Big Business. Instead, we are slaves to our own ignorance. However, this is our regrettable free choice, and, no doubt by luck, has worked very well so far, and it is most difficult to argue with success, even though, at times, it puzzles me as well.
By the by, we might want to spare our host the burden, and move the discussion to our own sites. I’ll leave that to you, although, since you have proven to be most polite in discourse, I would mention that you are always welcome at our blog.
Hi w,
Thanks for the bandwidth.
the Grit
wytammic // July 9, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Grit,
You are certainly welcome. I’ve enjoyed and agreed with your comments here. Thanks for taking the time
wytammic // July 9, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Oh and Marcas,
I highly recommend visiting Brit and Grit’s place. They blog on a variety of topics and it is always very enlightening to say the least.
the Grit // July 11, 2007 at 11:46 am
Hi w,
Many thanks.
the Grit
Comment of the Week! « Sunflower Desert // July 13, 2007 at 4:02 am
[...] I love it when Velvethammer starts schooling the trolls that come along. And school she did in the Happy Independence Day thread: Marcas - If only you’d allow other countries to have independance (sic) [...]
Grit Vs. The Commie | I, Pandora // July 13, 2007 at 10:40 am
[...] I highly recommend you read the entire exchange. [...]
Matthew // July 13, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Thanks for the great read, all y’all. Especially Grit and Marc. Incidentally Marc, I’ve been thinking of Ireland as a prime destination for a future trip to Europe and want to know if there’s any place I HAVE to see. I’m a fan of history and enjoy old cities immensely. I’m planning on traveling the UK in the next couple years for a few weeks, hitting Edinburgh, the countryside around London, and Belfast specifically: anywhere else you’d recommend?
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 14, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Edinburgh is great, spend a day at the Castle. Other places in Scotland I’d reccomend - Aberfeldy and around, the Hihghlands - particularly around Drumnadrochit (on Loch Ness) and Fort William (Near Ben Nevis and the stunning scenery of Glen Coe. Not much in Belfast itself but the County Antrim coast is stunning. You can see the Carrick a Reed ropebridge, the Giant’s causeway and the Glens of Antrim. If you are interested in Whiskey, pay a visit to the Bushmills distillery which is near the Giant’s Causeway. If you are into history then try to see Newgrange, which incidentally is a couple of miles from my house. Its a Neolithic building (some say burial chamber) that is precicely built so the sun shines in through a window box illuminating the corridor and the main chamber at Sunrise on the winter solstice. You can tour the visitor centre, Newgrange itself and the similar structure of Knowth in one morning or afternoon. Knowth has the largest collection of Neolithic art in Europe.
Scenery wise, the Wicklow mountains, West Cork, the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry, Connemara and the Donegal coast are all worth a visit.
Happy Fourth of July! : Velvet Hammer’s - Ironic Surrealism // July 14, 2007 at 10:02 pm
[...] Happy Independence Day Friends! [...]
Marcas MacCaoimhín // July 15, 2007 at 5:37 am
Happy Bastille Day!
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