November 18, 2017


News and Views


BLM ON STEROIDS

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/zimbabwe-president-robert-mugabbe-protesters-harare/
CBS NEWS November 18, 2017, 12:43 PM
Protesters take to Zimbabwe streets to demand Robert Mugabe's ouster

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- In a euphoric gathering that just days ago would have drawn a police crackdown, crowds marched through Zimbabwe's capital on Saturday to demand the departure of President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's last remaining liberation leaders, after nearly four decades in power.

Euphoric crowds chanted "He must go!" as they waved placards demanding Mugabe's resignation. People sat on top of cars and buses holding Zimbabwean flags, BBC News correspondent Andrew Harding reports.

"This is a revolution," said one man joining the protests. "It has been a long time coming."

"We just want change," a woman told Harding. Others spoke of the country's deep economic problems and its soaring unemployment. They hope that a change of leadership might improve people's lives.

In the first public outpouring since the military put Mugabe under house arrest earlier in the week, the bulk of Harare's population of about 1.6 million appeared to be in the streets. The army held back thousands who gathered near the State House, home to official functions, while others headed toward Mugabe's lavish mansion.

PHOTOGRAPH -- SAFRICA-ZIMBABWE-POLITICS
Supporters of Tajamuka Sesijikisile SA, The African Democrats Opposition Party, the Zimbabwe Communist Party, the Zimbabwe Diaspora Coalition and other groups attend a rally at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, to call for the resignation of Zimbabwe's President, on November 18, 2017. GULSHAN KHAN / AFP/GETTY

Some marchers had posters with an image of the military commander who swept in to take control, with the slogan: "Go, go, our general!!!" Marchers handed flags to soldiers, who accepted and waved.

"It's like Christmas," said one marcher, Fred Mubay, who said Zimbabweans have been suffering for a long time.

Another resident, Trust Chuma, sat quietly on a bench and watched. "This is the biggest day in the history of Zimbabwe," he said.

The 93-year-old Mugabe, the world's oldest head of state, is said to be asking for more time amid negotiations with regional leaders that seek his exit with a veneer of dignity.

But he is virtually powerless and deserted by most of his allies, with others arrested, and the ruling party has turned on him, asking for a Central Committee meeting this weekend to recall both him and his wife. Impeachment is also a possibility when Parliament resumes Tuesday.

The dancing crowds in Harare made it clear the country is impatient to move on without Mugabe, who took power 37 years ago amid an air of optimism but has been accused of squandering the once-prosperous country's potential.

"It's like independence day, multiple," a political analyst said on state-run television.

Even as concerns remained about who next would be in charge and what freedoms might be available if the military lingers in power -- or if Mugabe's recently fired deputy leads a new government -- people reveled in the rare chance to speak out.

Zimbabwean newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube tweeted: "Dear world, we are fully aware of the possible risks and pitfalls beyond this tipping point... After 37 years of repression, allow us to soak in this moment. Sincerely, #Zimbabwe."

1118-zimbabwe-map.jpg
CBS NEWS

The demonstrators, in the event approved by the military, hoped the big turnout would speed up the official end of Mugabe's rule, which is widely blamed for the collapse of an economy that was once one of Africa's wealthiest. In a reminder of past crippling hyperinflation, the state-run Zimbabwe Herald published a photo of a man holding a 200 million-dollar bill.

Veterans of the long liberation war against white minority rule, once close allies of Mugabe, took part in the demonstration, along with opposition activists who long have faced police crackdowns by the Mugabe government.

Zimbabwe's state-run media showed previously unthinkable images of the celebrations. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation called the country "free and liberated" and showed footage of one person carrying a sign saying "The people of Zimbabwe want Mugabe to go."

The state-run Zimbabwe Herald newspaper's report "#Mugabe Must Go!" noted some of Mugabe's achievements but said that "however the revolutionary train derailed somewhere along the way."

Outside the State House, a place few previously dared venture, soldiers posed for pictures as marchers streamed by. Thousands of people later gathered at an intersection nearby, with security forces blocked them from moving further.

The military in a new statement urged the thousands upon thousands of people streaming through the capital to be orderly and "vigilant against agent provocateurs" who might wish to discredit the events.

At an intersection, a vendor held up a newspaper with the headline: "Mugabe cornered." The majority of adult Zimbabweans now survive on informal trade after formal industry collapsed.

Harare's Robert Mugabe Street turned into a carnival. Drivers gunned their engines, blasted their horns and circled in a main intersection, enveloping the crowd in exhaust fumes.

One driver got out of his moving car and danced in front of it for a couple of minutes as the empty vehicle coasted slowly down a street lined with cheering crowds.

Some white Zimbabweans joined the crowd at Harare's Freedom Square, also known as Robert Mugabe Square. Some whites and blacks hugged each other.

In Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo, former education minister David Coltart said he spoke at a "massive march" organized by churches to urge President Robert Mugabe to resign. He said thousands of people were there.

"I never thought I would see the day as we marched past central police station without being arrested!" he said. "Amazing scenes."

Thousands gathered for speeches at the Zimbabwe Grounds, chosen for the symbolism. The location is where Zimbabweans gathered to cheer Mugabe's return from exile in 1980 after the liberation war from white minority rule.

Now the crowds urged Mugabe's departure. Speakers included former Vice President Joice Mujuru, sacked in 2014 by Mugabe and accused of plotting to take power. Cabinet ministers were spotted in the crowd.

"This is the new Zimbabwe," one speaker declared.

Another expressed popular anger at first lady Grace Mugabe, whose apparent attempts to succeed her husband were a factor in the military's decision to step in.

"You and your husband should go today and not tomorrow," the speaker said.

The 37-year-old Talent Mudzamiri was born soon after Zimbabwe's independence.

"It's like a relief," he said. "Our voices have not been heard for a long time. The trend in Africa, when the people speak, they are not heard."

He acknowledged that Zimbabwe faces challenges in the long term, but said: "The common enemy is Robert Mugabe. That's for starters." If Zimbabwe's next leader is just as troublesome, he said, "we are going to come out again."

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



IT IS SOMEWHAT CONCERNING THAT, RATHER THAN SAYING HE “WOULD NOT OBEY” AN ILLEGAL ORDER BY THE PRESIDENT, HE SAID HE WOULD “RESIST.” HE “ADVISES” AND THEN GIVES THE PRESIDENT “OPTIONS.” THE PRESIDENT THEN DECIDES. I HOPE THAT WOULD BE SUFFICIENT.

OF COURSE, THAT’S THE MILITARY WAY, AND IS CONSIDERED NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN ORDER AND CONDUCT A WAR. THE STORY ABOVE, OF THE MILITARY TAKEOVER IN ZIMBABWE, IS A SITUATION OF THE AGED PRESIDENT’S HAVING BEEN PUT “UNDER HOUSE ARREST.” I HOPE THAT IF TRUMP WERE TO INITIATE A COUP IN THIS COUNTRY, THE CONGRESS AND SENATE WOULD BEHAVE IN A PRAGMATIC WAY AND PUT HIM “UNDER HOUSE ARREST,” AS WELL; THEN BEGIN THE PROCESS OF REPLACING HIM – EITHER ON THE GROUNDS OF DISABILITY OR OF PRESIDENTIAL CRIMES. THAT, OF COURSE, IS WHAT MUELLER IS WORKING ON NOW.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-strategic-command-gen-john-hyten-resist-illegal-nuke-order-from-trump/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS November 18, 2017, 11:26 AM
Top general says he would resist "illegal" nuke order from Trump

Photograph -- Air Force Gen. John Hyten, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, speaks at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. THE HALIFAX INTERNATIONAL SECURITY FORUM

Last Updated Nov 18, 2017 3:29 PM EST

The top U.S. nuclear commander said Saturday he would push back against President Trump if he ordered a nuclear launch the general believed to be "illegal," saying he would hope to find another solution.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), told an audience at the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday that he has given a lot of thought to what he would say if Mr. Trump ordered a strike he considered unlawful.

"I think some people think we're stupid," Hyten said in response to a question about such a scenario. "We're not stupid people. We think about these things a lot. When you have this responsibility, how do you not think about it?"

Hyten explained the process that would follow such a command. As head of STRATCOM, Hyten is responsible for overseeing the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

"I provide advice to the president, he will tell me what to do," Hyten added. "And if it's illegal, guess what's going to happen? I'm going to say, 'Mr. President, that's illegal.' And guess what he's going to do? He's going to say, 'What would be legal?' And we'll come up with options, with a mix of capabilities to respond to whatever the situation is, and that's the way it works. It's not that complicated."

Hyten said he has been trained every year for decades in the law of armed conflict, which takes into account specific factors to determine legality -- necessity, distinction, proportionality, unnecessary suffering and more. Running through scenarios of how to react in the event of an illegal order is standard practice, he said.

"If you execute an unlawful order, you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest of your life," Hyten said.

Hyten's comments come against the backdrop of Mr. Trump's bombastic comments about North Korea and how he might respond to that regime's nuclear threat. The president has pledged to unleash "fire and fury" and to "totally destroy" North Korea if necessary. Hyten's comments also come as Congress is re-examining the authorization of the use of military force and power to launch a nuclear strike.

In a hearing earlier this week, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, said Mr. Trump "can launch nuclear codes just as easily as he can use his Twitter account."

Hyten said the U.S. military is always ready to respond to the threat of North Korea, even at that very moment.

"And we are ready every minute of every day to respond to any event that comes out of North Korea. That's the element of deterrence that has to be clear, and it is clear," Hyten said.

But Hyten also said handling North Korea and its unpredictable leader Kim Jong Un has to be an international effort. Mr. Trump has continued to put pressure on China to help manage its tempestuous neighbor.

"President Trump by himself can't change the behavior of Kim Jong Un," Hyten said. "But President Trump can create the conditions that the international community can reach out in different ways where we can work with the Republic of Korea, where we can work with our neighbors in the region."

CBS News' Stefan Becket contributed to this report.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THERE’S A GHOST IN THE CLOSET

"UNDER THERE, IT'S JUST BLACK, BLACK, MYSTERY THINGS AND BLACK," SAID STUDENT PASCAL GARCIA RAGARA.” THIS SOUNDS LIKE A LINE FROM AN EDGAR ALLEN POE POEM. THIS KID HAS A GIFT FOR WORDS.

“BUT NO MATTER WHAT THEY DIG UP, THERE WILL NEVER BE A GREATER TREASURE THAN THE ONE THAT STANDS BEFORE THEM EVERY DAY -- THE TEACHER WITH THAT SPECIAL GIFT FOR UNEARTHING A PASSION.” DISORDERLY THOUGH IT MAY BE, THIS IS WHERE THE VERY BEST TEACHING STARTS. LEARNING STARTS WITH BEING GENUINELY INTERESTED. THERE IS NO ROTE MEMORIZATION HERE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/childrens-workshop-school-students-dig-up-treasures-from-closets-nyc/
By STEVE HARTMAN CBS NEWS November 17, 2017, 7:04 PM
Students dig up treasures buried under 100-year-old school in NYC

NEW YORK -- If you had to think of a good site for an archaeological dig, you probably wouldn't think of the Children's Workshop School in Manhattan, New York. You almost certainly wouldn't think of Miriam Sicherman's third-grade classroom. And you definitely wouldn't think of her coat closet.

It's not like it's a tomb. It's not like it's a pyramid. It's a closet.

"I'm really lucky that this one student wanted to investigate," Miriam said.

hartman-school-5-2017-11-17.jpg
Teacher Miriam Sicherman and one of her third grade students. CBS NEWS

"I hit pay dirt, literally," said her former student Bobby Scotto.

A couple years ago, back when Bobby was in Miriam's class, he started wondering about a little crack in the closet floor.

"And I'm like, 'How in the world am I going to get down there?'" Bobby said.

He began poking around with his finger, and then turned to pencils and shirt hangers.

"And then other kids got curious and they're totally into it," Miriam said.

For the past two years now, Miriam's students have been excavating nearly every closet in the 100-year-old school. They're finding some really old things, some more recent and some much more recent.

hartman-school-2017-11-17.jpg
Miriam Sicherman's third graders exacate in their coat closet. CBS NEWS

All of it uncovered with the kind of glee rarely seen in a grade school classroom.

"I found three pencils and an eraser stuck to Play-Doh," student Talula Mihalic said. "I seriously did!"

"Under there, it's just black, black, mystery things and black," said student Pascal Garcia Ragara.

hartman-school-4-2017-11-17.jpg
Miriam Sicherman's 3rd grade students. CBS NEWS

"I just don't want to stop, basically," added student Beckett Landeau.

In fact, they're so into it, it's hard for Miriam to keep up with the Indiana Joneses. It would have made her life a lot easier if you just said quit messing around in the closet.

"I'm actually really glad this didn't happen to me my first couple of years of teaching because that's probably what I would have said," Miriam said. "Because it's a little scary as a teacher to encourage kids to do a project that you have no idea where it's going."

But on the flip side, she says it can lead to some wonderful lessons. In this case, Miriam says the kids got really into history and archaeology, and they got their own museum exhibit, showing off everything from antique school supplies to animal mummies.

hartman-school-3-2017-11-17.jpg
Students search under a closet in of Miriam Sicherman's 3rd grade classroom. CBS NEWS

Of course, there are still many more findings waiting to be found.

But no matter what they dig up, there will never be a greater treasure than the one that stands before them every day -- the teacher with that special gift for unearthing a passion.

To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, email us: OnTheRoad@cbsnews.com.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



THERE ARE TWO NEWS REPORTS AND TWO FROM WIKIPEDIA HERE. THE ABC ARTICLE HAS A VIDEO OF THE AUDIENCE WATCHING GERRY ADAMS ANNOUNCE HIS STEPPING DOWN, AND SINGING AN IRISH (PRESUMABLY PATRIOTIC) SONG, COMPLETE WITH HAND CLAPPING. MY KIND OF IRISH PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS CAPABLE OF GETTING ROWDY, AS WE AMERICANS ARE. BETWEEN THE ARTICLES YOU’LL HAVE LOTS OF INFORMATION, TO READ OR NOT AS YOU WISH. I AM READING AT THEM. FOR A TRANSLATION OF THIS SONG TITLE AND INFORMATION ABOUT IT, GO TO HTTP://LYRICSTRANSLATE.COM/EN/ORO-SE-DO-BHEATHA-BHAILE-OH-RO-YOU-ARE-WELCOME-HOME.HTML READ THE LYRICS FOR THE COMPLETE IRISH EXPERIENCE.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-19/gerry-adams-to-step-down-as-sinn-fein-leader/9165682
Gerry Adams to step down as Sinn Fein leader after 34 years
NOVEMBER, 18, 2017 Updated 24 minutes ago

Video -- Some 2,500 Sinn Féin delegates sing ‘Oró sé do bheatha bhaile’ at #SFAF17 as Gerry Adams announces he will be stepping down as leader of Sinn Féin in the coming months - a seminal moment in the history of Irish republicanism #SlanAChara
Photograph -- Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams delivers a speech at his party's annual conference in Dublin
PHOTO: Mr Adams said he will not stand for election to the Irish parliament (Dail) at the next election. (Reuters: Clodagh Kilcoyne)
RELATED STORY: Gerry Adams to face no charges over 1972 IRA murder RELATED STORY: Ex-IRA commander Martin McGuinness dead at 66
RELATED STORY: Searching for The Disappeared of Northern Ireland
MAP: Ireland

Gerry Adams, a controversial figure in Irish politics for more than 30 years, says he will stand down as leader of the Sinn Fein party next year.

Mr Adams told the party's annual conference in Dublin that he would not stand for the next Irish parliamentary election.

His move will complete a generational shift in the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

"This is also my last Ard Fheis [party conference] as president of Sinn Fein," he said.

The 69-year-old has been party president of Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland's second-largest party, since 1983.

Some have denounced the divisive figure as a terrorist, while others hail him as a peacemaker.

He is known around the world as the face of Ireland's republican movement during its shift from violence to peace.

Mr Adams has been accused of being a senior member of the IRA, a claim he has long denied.

The party is expected to elect a successor next year.

Adams builds Sinn Fein into dominant Irish nationalist party


Sinn Féin ✔@sinnfeinireland
Some 2,500 Sinn Féin delegates sing ‘Oró sé do bheatha bhaile’ at #SFAF17 as Gerry Adams announces he will be stepping down as leader of Sinn Féin in the coming months - a seminal moment in the history of Irish republicanism #SlanAChara
4:09 PM - Nov 18, 2017 · Dublin City, Ireland
32 32 Replies 412 412 Retweets 760 760 likes
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During the 1970s and 80s, at the height of an IRA bombing campaign to end British rule over Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein operated as the IRA's political wing.

As its leader from 1983 onwards, Mr Adams thus became, for many in Britain and Northern Ireland, the face of the IRA.

As a result, he was loathed by pro-British unionists and the British government, but lionised in equal measure by Irish nationalists.

Yet when the prospect of political progress arose, he showed himself ready to compromise, working with late former IRA commander Martin McGuinness to swing the IRA and the province's Roman Catholic minority behind a 1998 deal with the pro-British Protestant majority.

The Good Friday agreement gave the province's Catholics a share of power and largely ended a conflict in which some 3,600 people had been killed, both by Irish republican groups such as the IRA and by pro-British unionist paramilitaries and British security forces.

Since then, Mr Adams helped to build Sinn Fein into the dominant Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland, overseeing its agreement in 2007 to share power with its bitter rival, the Democratic Unionist Party and, in recent months, its efforts to restore power-sharing after it collapsed in January.

Adams political career dogged by IRA accusations

Adams was born into a Belfast family steeped in revolutionary politics, several of his relatives having been involved in armed republicanism.

Searching for The Disappeared of Northern Ireland


The search continues for the remains of victims secretly murdered by republicans during Ireland's Troubles.
At 20, he left his job as a barman to help defend fellow Catholics from what they saw as a hostile British state, and to fight for Northern Ireland to split from the United Kingdom and unite with the Irish Republic.

Like his father, Mr Adams was interned — held without trial — on suspicion of being a senior IRA commander.

He has always denied membership of the IRA, although accusations from former IRA fighters that he was involved in its campaign of killings have dogged him throughout his career.

Between 1988 and 1994, Mr Adams was banned from speaking on British airwaves.

Former British conservative prime minister John Major, one of the architects of peace in Northern Ireland, once said the thought of sitting down to talk with Mr Adams had "turned my stomach".

But Mr Adams was at the time walking a political tightrope — between IRA "hawks" who argued that only a continuation of violence would chase Britain from the island, and "doves" who said that negotiations were the route to a united Ireland.

He emerged from the political cold in October 1997 when he shook hands with the new Labour prime minister, Tony Blair, at their first meeting.

Sinn Fein had polled 17 per cent in Northern Ireland's elections and returned Mr Adams to the British parliament, although he refused to take his seat.

Within a year, Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness had helped to broker a peace deal that largely ended the violence in the province.

Since that deal, his role as statesman has grown, and he has made several visits to the White House.

In May 2015, Prince Charles met with Mr Adams during a visit that took him to the scene of his great-uncle's murder by the IRA.

Mr Adams was arrested in 2014 as part of an investigation into one of the province's most controversial murders, but no charges were brought.

In recent years, he has used social media to create a grandfatherly image in the Irish Republic.

AP/Reuters



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gerry-adams-to-step-down-as-leader-of-sinn-fein-after-30-years/
CBS/AP November 18, 2017, 9:14 PM
Gerry Adams to step down as leader of Sinn Fein after 30 years

Photograph -- Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams holds a news conference after he was released from police detention, in Belfast, May 4, 2014. Northern Ireland police released Sinn Fein leader Adams on Sunday following four days of questioning over the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville. REUTERS/Paul Hackett (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) PAUL HACKETT, REUTERS

LONDON -- Gerry Adams, the divisive politician known around the world as the face of the Irish republican movement as it shifted from violence to peace, announced Saturday that he was stepping down as leader of Sinn Fein next year after heading the party for over 30 years.

The 69-year-old veteran politician - who has been president of Northern Ireland's second-largest party since 1983 - told the party's annual conference in Dublin he would not run in the next Irish parliamentary elections.

60 Minutes: The Good Friday Agreement

"Leadership means knowing when it is time for change and that time is now," he said, adding the move was part of an ongoing process of leadership transition within the party.

A divisive figure, some have denounced Adams as a terrorist while others hail him as a peacemaker. In 2015, he told CBS News' Scott Pelley on "60 Minutes" that he believed he would see a united Ireland "if I live long enough."

BBC News' Northern Ireland political editor Mark Davenport reports that Adams' move marks an historic change as a leader who oversaw the republican movement's journey between violence and peace gives way to another politician who will pursue Irish unity through more conventional parliamentary politics.

The dominant faction of the movement's armed wing, the Provisional IRA, killed nearly 1,800 people during a failed 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the U.K. It renounced violence and surrendered its weapons in 2005.

Although many identify Adams as a member of the IRA since 1966 and a commander for decades, Adams has long insisted he was never a member.

"My position has been very, very clear for a very, very long time. I don't dissociate myself from the IRA. I think the IRA was a legitimate response to what was happening here," Adams told "60 Minutes" in 2015.

In 2014, Adams was arrested and then released in connection to the 1972 disappearence of Jean McConville, a widow and mother who was accused of being an informer for the British. She was dragged from her apartment by IRA soldiers and her body was discovered 30 years later. Adams insisted to "60 Minutes" that he was unaware of her disappearence for a long time.

Adams was key in the peace process that saw the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the formation of the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.

Many believe Sinn Fein's popularity among voters is hampered by the presence of leaders from Ireland's era of Troubles.

The party is expected to elect a successor next year. Current deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald was seen as a favorite to succeed Adams.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



THE PARTY FROM WHICH GERRY ADAMS IS STEPPING DOWN, PRESUMABLY GRACEFULLY, IS SINN FEIN. I STATE THAT IN CASE YOU ARE AS CONFUSED AS I AM BY THE CBS ARTICLE ABOVE. IT APPEARS TO BE SAYING THAT HE IS PRESIDENT OF THE IRA, WHILE HE SAYS HE WAS NEVER A MEMBER. WIKIPEDIA CLEARED IT UP FOR ME. THERE ARE FOUR OR FIVE OF THESE POLITICAL GROUPS, AND SINN FEIN IS NOT MENTIONED HERE AS BEING THE MORE VIOLENT GROUP. THE OIRA, OR “OFFICIAL IRA,” IS THE RESPECTABLE IRA PARTY, WHILE THE PROVISIONAL IRA IS THE MORE VIOLENT, I THINK. THE IRA “SOLDIERS” WERE DESCRIBED AS DRAGGING A WOMAN -- WHO WAS BELIEVED TO HAVE GIVEN AID TO THE ENEMY – OUT OF HER HOUSE, AND, SOMEHOW, SHE WAS “DISAPPEARED” TO USE THE LATIN AMERICAN TERM FOR MURDER KIDNAPPINGS. SOME 30 YEARS LATER HER BODY WAS FOUND, AND JUST IN THE LAST FEW YEARS ADAMS WAS ARRESTED AND “QUESTIONED” ON A MURDER CHARGE IN THE CASE. HE HAS BEEN RELEASED, SO I HOPE THAT MEANS THAT HE HAS BEEN CLEARED OF THE CHARGES. THAT MAY BE WHY HE INSISTS HE HAS NEVER BEEN A MEMBER OF THE IRA.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinn_Fein

Sinn Féin (/ʃɪn ˈfeɪn/ shin-FAYN;[3] Irish pronunciation: [ʃɪnʲ ˈfʲeːnʲ]; English: Ourselves or We Ourselves[4]) is a left-wing Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith. It took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party (with the other side becoming the Workers' Party of Ireland), and has historically been associated with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).[5] Gerry Adams has been party president since 1983.

. . . .

Name[edit]
The phrase "Sinn Féin" is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves",[6][7] although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone" (from "Sinn Féin Amháin", an early 20th century slogan. See also Sinn Féin (slogan)).[8] The meaning of the name itself is an assertion of Irish national sovereignty and self-determination; i.e., the Irish people governing themselves, rather than being part of a political union with Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) under the Westminster Parliament.

Around the time of 1969–1970, owing to the split in the republican movement, there were two groups calling themselves Sinn Féin; one under Tomás Mac Giolla, the other under Ruairí Ó Brádaigh. The latter became known as Sinn Féin (Kevin Street) or Provisional Sinn Féin, and the former became known as Sinn Féin (Gardiner Place) or Official Sinn Féin. As the "Officials" dropped all mention of Sinn Féin from their name in 1982, instead calling itself the Workers' Party of Ireland, the Provisionals were now generally known as Sinn Féin. Supporters of Republican Sinn Féin, which came from a 1986 split, still use the term "Provisional Sinn Féin" to refer to the party led by Gerry Adams.

Sinn Féin members have also been referred to as Shinners, a term intended as a pejorative.[9][10]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Irish_Republican_Army
Official Irish Republican Army
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland.[1] It emerged in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of the Troubles, when the Irish Republican Army split into two factions. The other was the Provisional IRA. Each continued to call itself simply "the IRA" and rejected the other's legitimacy. Unlike the "Provisionals", the "Officials" were Marxist and worked to form a united front with other Irish communist groups, named the Irish National Liberation Front (NLF).[2] The Officials were called the NLF by the Provisionals[3][4] and were sometimes nicknamed the "Red IRA" by others.[5][6][7]

It waged a limited campaign against the British Army, mainly involving shooting and bombing attacks on troops in urban working-class neighbourhoods. Most notably, it was involved in the 1970 Falls Curfew and carried out the 1972 Aldershot bombing. In May 1972, it declared a ceasefire and vowed to limit its actions to defence and retaliation.[8] By this time, the Provisional IRA had become the larger and more active faction. Following the ceasefire, the OIRA began to be referred to as "Group B" within the Official movement.[9][10] It became involved in feuds with the Provisional IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA),[11] an OIRA splinter group formed in 1974. It has also been involved in organized crime and vigilantism.

The Official IRA was linked to the political party Official Sinn Féin, later renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party and then the Workers' Party of Ireland.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland
Politics of the Republic of Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ireland is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic and a member state of the European Union. While the head of state is the popularly elected President of Ireland, it is a largely ceremonial position with real political power being vested in the indirectly elected Taoiseach (leader of government) who is the head of the government.

Executive power is exercised by the government which consists of no more than 15 cabinet ministers, inclusive of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste (deputy leader of government). Legislative power is vested in the Oireachtas, the bicameral national parliament, which consists of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and the President of Ireland. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The head of the judiciary is the Chief Justice who presides over the Supreme Court.

While there are a number of political parties in the state, the political landscape has been dominated for decades by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, historically opposed and competing entities, which both occupy the traditional centre ground. From the 1930s until 2011 they were the largest and second largest parties respectively. Both parties trace their roots back to the opposing sides of the civil war. The Labour Party, historically the state's third political party has only ever been in power when in coalition with either of the two main parties. In 2011 there was a major political realignment in Ireland, with Fine Gael becoming the largest party, Labour the second, and Fianna Fáil dropping to third following a collapse in support, while Sinn Féin saw a substantial increase in support.

However, in 2016, Fianna Fáil managed to regain support and become the second largest party while Labour collapsed to fourth place following backlash over its role in the coalition government. Sinn Féin continued making gains, becoming the third largest party while Fine Gael remained the largest party, despite losing seats.



A WORD TO PONDER, AND THEN APPLY IT TO MODERN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DECISIONS.

http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.001.0001/acprof-9780195189698-chapter-2

Nonconsequentialism
F. M. Kamm
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189698.003.0002

Nonconsequentialism is a type of normative ethical theory that denies that the rightness or wrongness of our conduct is determined solely by the goodness or badness of the consequences of our acts or of the rules to which those acts conform. It does not deny that consequences can be a factor in determining the rightness of an act. It does insist that even when the consequences of two acts or act-types are the same, one might be wrong and the other right. Hence, nonconsequentialism denies the truth of both act and rule consequentialism, which are understood as holding that the right act or system of rules is the one that maximizes the balance of good consequences over bad ones as determined by an impartial calculation of goods and bads. This chapter examines nonconsequentialism and considers topics such as prerogatives, constraints, inviolability, and the significance of status as well as a nonconsequentialist theory of aggregation and the distribution of scarce goods.

Keywords: nonconsequentialism, ethical theory, prerogatives, constraints, inviolability, status, nonconsequentialist theory, aggregation, scarce goods, consequences

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https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-normative-and-descriptive-ethics

Normative ethics is the study of how people ought to behave. It is an argumentative discipline aimed at sorting out what behaviours (or rules for behaviour) would be best. Descriptive ethics is the study of how people do behave, and how they think they should behave.