A "carbuncled faced old drunkard," a "howling atheist," a "syphilitic lecher," a "pickpocket thief and murderer," a "crook and an anarchist." Hardly terms of denigration, but those are just some of the terms 19th century presidential candidates used against each other during their campaigns. It certainly puts terms from 1992 such as "draft dodger" and "wimp" in the kinder, … [Read more...] about First Word: Past and Future Presidents
First Word
First Word: Votes for Immigrants
With all the emphasis on registering voters in this election year isn't it time to look at the validity of granting voting rights to the hundreds of thousands of Permanent Residents living in the United States? One could argue that regardless of legal status, one should be allowed to vote if one can prove long-term residency or prove that one has paid one's taxes. The … [Read more...] about First Word: Votes for Immigrants
First Word: A Seminal Month for Irish America
This month marks a seminal event in the history of the Irish in America. Shortly after 12.01 on October 14 at a post office box in Washington, D.C., the first lrish applications for the new Morrison visas will be received and a 25-year nightmare will end. Back in 1965 when the last immigration reform act was passed, the Irish, like people from other Western European … [Read more...] about First Word: A Seminal Month for Irish America
First Word | The Irish in America
I remember the day I first learned of the Famine —walking home from school afterwards, through the miles of country roads bordered by the lush green fields of rich Tipperary farmland – looking at the grass and thinking of how many had died with green stains on their mouths from eating it in a last faint effort to survive. I still remember that day so clearly now all those … [Read more...] about First Word | The Irish in America
First Word: Triple Spirals at Least
The ancient Irish gave tribute to the unique nature of woman in that the symbol they gave their goddesses was that of a Triple Spiral, which can still be found on pre-Christian monuments, such as Newgrange in County Louth. The Triple Spiral represented the cycle of birth, life, and death; the Maiden, Mother, and Crone - the never-ending cycle of infinitude. As the Song of … [Read more...] about First Word: Triple Spirals at Least