In mid-19th century Ireland was rid of a million 'useless eaters' by the simple expedient of mass starvation. The question became was this intentional, that is , genocide, or was it simple misfortune, that is, in fact, a famine.

The doctrine of laissez faire that ruled the minds of the men who ruled England at the time would allow no interference with the market. And so no food was sent to Ireland. This fact indicates the callousness of the attitude prevailing at the time. But what is not commnly known is that not only was no famine relief sent to Ireland but food was shipped out of the island. Fully 4000 shiploads of food left Ireland for England during the famines years of 1845 through 1850. Ireland produced enough food not only to feed itself but to feed two of itselves. Still, the Irish did not eat.

England had use of Ireland as its farm to feed the growing urban populations as the country industrialized. It had been determined that, although grain could be gotten elsewhere, Ireland should provide the supply of meat protein for the working classes of England. The poor people of Ireland had long been shoved to the margins of their own society and were reduced to living off potatoes grown in the small plots of land which under the landlord system of the time, they could afford. Large families lived off plots the size of small yards in today's suburbs. When the potato blight hit, it quickly decimated a population with one foot in the grave and the other in a cold potato field. A people so reduced provide no political opposition. Famine is war at a discount rate.

The people of Ireland moved en masse, at least a million, to America, Canada, and Australia. Young boys stole in order to forcibly removed from the country. As immigrants they provided a cheap source of labor with no effective political voice much as Mexicans do today in the United States. Famine has its uses.

Today the people of Iraq, North Korea, and Russia are starving. These tragedies are presented as 'accidents' of history, due largely to the quirks of nature or the incompetence of leaders. But are they solely that? Iraq's vast storehouse of oil is adroitly kept off the market by outside interference. It leads me to question whether market forces rule or political interests rule the market to certan political ends.

Strategically located North Korea is kept prostate by the continued imposition of sanctions and the withholding of food. The Catholic Church as well as other church and private charities feed many of the people of these countries but there are vast graineries available in this country that could be used to feed the starving.

Russia teeters on the verge of a mass population implosion as the safety net is pulled out from under its people. Projections say the population could be reduced by a third by 2025. Russia is in the unique situation of being a developed country in peacetime losing its population at wartime levels. Russia is resouce rich but who is controling those resources and who will in the years ahead?

Still it is the week of March 17 and so time to return to the green isle. Why cover the foot and mouth scare in the Isles? This could hardly be the start of another famine. In any case, Britain seems to have been hit harder than Ireland, fitting enough if you believed in a vengeful god. There are other stories. After the month of March in Ireland comes the marching season during which the Orange Order celebrates the return of the green by taking out a few Catholics. The yearly episode is a study in perverse racism, and the utter unwillingness to contain it.

So back to the main topic. Which is what exactly? There was a bombing, of course. The IRA were credited of course. The issue of de-commissioning comes to the fore and the Brits regret that they cannot leave. The threat of terorists prohibit that, of course. Sinn Fein takes the stance that it is the British who should decommission first, and then frankly, go home. A thousand years is long enough. The more things change the moe they stay the same, particularly here.