OK... Without naming names to protect the innocent (ha ha), an Irish co-worker of mine let slip couple months ago he thinks all Americans are "war mongers".
My reaction "... whaaat??..."
This person is from
Belfast, Ireland... which has NOONE at ALL doing warfare on EACH OTHER for a) political or b) religious reasons for decades... Nope, NO warfare EVER happened between Catholics or Protestants in Ireland - Yep, the Irish are TOTALLY a PEACE LOVING NATION.
You DO think the Irish are "peacful", then what explains
"Catholics and Protestants, enemies for centuries in Northern Ireland, have battled sporadically for years. The most recent round of fighting has been going on since 1969. Since then, nearly 3,700 people have been killed in the violence known as "the Troubles."
OK, if you can't figure this out: IT IS IRONIC an Irishman calls an American a "war monger"!
I think it might be illegal? (snark)This 'war monger' term is not foreign to me, as I've heard this before used as a general criticism of all Americans. I have now realized this bulls**t attitude has wafted down to New Zealand like a bloody feather on the breeze.
Hey, NZ, wait until the someone (French perhaps?) comes down there and tries to INVADE you, blows up more boats or flies a jet liner into the Auckland Sky Tower. Let's see how peaceful you'll feel then... Sorry, I digress.
I just read an article that hit home with me as to WHY and WHERE this 'monger' criticism comes from. David Solway at Pajamas Media writes about Haiti and the concept of "
Charity Begins at Home":
"Whenever the world gets into serious difficulties, whether owing to acts of men (i.e., “man-caused disasters”) or an act of God, it is almost always the United States that steps in to save the day. And what it generally gets for its troubles are tirades of denunciation and cataracts of resentment.
As we know, the United States is the major contributor to the Haitian relief effort, yet it has already been condemned by Venezuela, by Bolivia, by France, and by several other European countries for launching an “occupation” of the island. America, as the leading member of NATO, bombed Serbia into the ground to rescue the Muslim peoples of Bosnia and Kosovo from the ethnic cleansing campaign unleashed by
Slobodan Milosevic.
What it has reaped for its good intentions is a thriving Kosovan drug cartel, the increased animosity of the Islamic world, and a new spate of jihadist terror, both abroad and on its own soil. And we remember the
Marshall Plan, without which the continent of Europe, which essentially attacked itself in a suicidal, internecine conflict, would today be a dismal backwater, perhaps even a congeries of ex-Soviet republics. For this act of unprecedented munificence, Americans are regarded by many Europeans as vulgar capitalists, crass unsophisticates, and cowboy warmongers."
That explains it!
"Whether it is Haiti or “Palestine” or southeast Asia,
we (Americans) empty out our pockets to help, we send convoys of assistance, and we accept streams of displaced persons, refugees, and welfare recipients, straining our abilities to the limit. And our recompense, apart from a sense of easy self-congratulation, is often the rancor and vexation of many of our beneficiaries: we were too slow off the mark, the distribution networks put in place were deficient, we have not done enough to sustain or resettle or donate (a typical United Nations complaint, as per
UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland castigating the United States for being “stingy”), or we have a secret colonial agenda insinuating itself as magnanimity and concern."
Stingy?! Oh, bloody hell, USA, get out of the bulls**t UN. Defund it, close the doors in NYC, buh bye. ...Ooops, does that make me an anti-UN monger? So be it.
Remember,
Peace never fully exists for man. Deal with it peaceniks. Standing up for oneself, family, country or rescuing the poor, oppressed and downtrodden does NOT make one a 'war monger'.
World don't want USA help? ...Sure... let's STOP it ALL & see how long that would last!
Today: Samson has a quick afternoon snooze in backyard
Newly planted pink Hibiscus seems to be doing OK.
Got recent snap of this large NZ dragonfly (Uropetala carovei). 
Got recent snap of this large NZ dragonfly (Uropetala carovei). 
About 2 weeks ago, said 'Hi' to this large snail near shed.
About 2 weeks ago, said 'Hi' to this large snail near shed.
Go get involved!
Straight razors from the 1800s
This is the driveway... 
Shane rowing 
Once off the rowboat... down the wee walkway 
Sat AM: We hike the entry "road" (rocks) up from bach
Outside bach decoration
