Gerry Adams can't be this stupid; Tullamore Dew is pretty tasty; Computer problems; Scrambling for a J-O-B
As some of you are no doubt aware, recent events in Northern Ireland (including the murder of Robert McCartney) have brought to bear an amazing amount of pressure on Sinn Fein, the republican political party that has shadowy ties to the outlawed Irish Republican Army. For years, I've defended Sinn Fein's ties to the IRA, citing them as an organization that defended the catholic community within N. Ireland in the past and who were a necessary evil, needed as a counterpart to the many unionist paramilitary organizations operating in the country. There's no denying the valuable role that the IRB, IRA and other guerilla groups played in ending British rule in Ireland during the first half of the 20th Century and in protecting the violently oppressed catholic community during a large portion of the second half of the 20th Century.
However, in the past ten years they've gone from an organization that myself and many other people believe were legitimate freedom fighters, to a group of thugs, thieves and murderers who operate with impunity because they choose to wrap themselves in a bulletproof vest of green, white and gold. It's ironic that after years of attempts by political factions in Britain, Ireland and the United States, the thing which finally causes Sinn Fein to cut its ties with the IRA and potentially lead to its dissolution may be six working-class catholic women long sympathetic to the republican cause (news link to The Age, subscription may be required...or not).
In light of the current environment, I would urge Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams (a man I have and will continue to have great respect for) to do whatever is in his power to end the IRA once and for all. Like the massive nuclear arsenals of the Cold War, they have outlived their usefulness even though they had their purposes and should be commended for their past patriotism. Like jurors who have served to protect justice, they should be thanked for their service and quietly dismissed. Adams would be a fool not to acquiesce to this demand. If Sinn Fein ever hopes to be a legitimate political power in Northern Ireland, they're going to have to take the first step in finally removing the gun from Irish politics forever.
Caution, however, is also warranted. Let it not be forgotten that a great deal of the violence in Northern Ireland during the 1990s did not come at the hands of the Provisional IRA, but rather from the barrels of guns and bomb factories of unionist paramilitary groups like the Ulster Defense Assocation and its many factions (the UVF and LVF, etc.). The world should not forget to watch those parties just as closely as they watch the much-villified Provos.
Speaking of Ireland, I hope everyone had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. Although I don't approve of the massive binge drinking that occurs in St. Paddy's name every year in the U.S., I did have a couple of sips of Tullamore Dew last night and said a silent prayer for everyone involved in the perpetual Dance of the Mad that occurs in N. Ireland. It's such a shame that unionists and republicans alike can't put aside their religious differences (which the British have used to their advantage for decades) and realize that they're all Irish, no matter what church they go to on Sunday. It's in the interest of all inhabitants of Northern Ireland, protestant and catholic both, to see British rule in Ulster ended once and for all. It's a crime to have two people of essentially the same culture partitioned because of religious bigotry.
On a lighter note, this week has seen several struggles of a considerably less sober tone than those currently being undertaken in the British Isles. In an effort to get himself some higher framerates, my friend Burkhardt decided to replace the weak GeForce FX5200 in his rig with a nice, shiny 6600GT. After several days of enduring lock-ups during various games (Call of Duty included), I did a bit of Googling and discovered that a lot of people are having similar issues when paring the 6600GT with older VIA and SiS chipsets (his board, an Asus A7V8X-X, is built around the VIA KT400 chipset). D'oh. I instruct him to go back to CompUSA and exchange it for a Radeon 9800 Pro, which ought to work much better. He gets this one back to the house, my roommate helps him install it and BAM! - no video. They test it in two other machines, no dice - bad card out of the box. So what have we learned here, boys and girls? That's right, don't shop at CompUSA for major components!
Also in computer news, Jessi's machine soiled itself a couple of weeks ago. I purchased some used components (an Abit NF7-S, a 512MB stick of generic PC3200 and a BFG Ti4200 vid card) from some kindly folks in the Agora over at Ars. We proceeded with the rebuild, only to discover that the fan on her 1.3GHz Duron had also crapped itself. We've decided to finish the build at once instead of using the Duron for a bit until a faster processor can be procured. After work today, I'm going over to Eagle Micro and picking up a retail Barton 2500+. Although the resulting machine won't set any world records, it'll be a considerable step up from the Duron/PC133/GF2MX system she ran previously.
Lastly, work has become a scary place in the last couple of weeks. Word is that state CIO Carl Browning intends to make the Indiana Office of Technology (formerly the Division of Information Technology - "DoIT") the only IT employer in state government within the next year or two. This means that all of us who work in IT divisions at other agencies are going to have to submit applications for employment at IoT at some point and I'm going to be left competing with my much more experienced coworkers for positions. Yay!
Thanks Mitch!
-Sam
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