This story was originally written by me at our sister site Techography.com June 5th, 2006.  the original article is no longer in the archives there. I republished it here in May of l2010. It’s that time of year again, to bring it back to the front page. The time to Remember. Always, Remember.-BS

I mentioned before I owned a picture of that painting. (You can too But mine has more history as I got mine from the now dissolved Navy Aviation Ordnance School out of Oceania, VA.)

Water.

It surrounds the Landing craft, reminds you of that old poem

“Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink…”

The wind is cold, the spray is miserable. The clothes are soaked thru, and the landing craft is pitching and yawing like a kite in a windstorm. The boys vomit from the rollercoaster aaffects of the seas and smashing waves that jar your teeth out of your head.

The place, is Normandy, the beach is Fox Green.

Welcome to the Invasion

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Tags: (Destroyer Squadron 18), (L)- 92, 116th Infantry Regiment, 16th Infantry Regimenta, 1st Infantry Division, 29th Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion US Army, 3rd Batt, 6th Naval Beach Battali, Act 3 Sc, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, beach, Chin Music, David Kenyon Webster, DESRON, DUKWs, Fox green, Invasion, J M Barrie, John Stuart Mill, King Henry V, LCI(L)-91, LCIs, LCTs, Lord Byon, LST-266, Memorial Day, Naval Combat Demolition, Normandy, Omaha, Operation: Neptune, PC-1225, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rangers, Technorati, techography, The Battle For Easy, USS Doyle, USS McCook, USS Arkansas, USS Augusta, USS Baldwin (DD-624), USS Carmick, USS Emmons (DD-457/DMS-22), USS Frankford (DD-497), USS LCI(L)-490, USS LCI(L)-496, USS LST-373, USS Nevada, USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), USS Texas, USS Thompson, USS Tide, Voyage to Victory, WIlliam James, William Shakespeare

This article started as a paper for one of my college classes on research, as such it has APA style references etc which I have included at the end of the article for your own bemusement.  I have expounded upon the original story a great deal, as the subject matter is interesting. I draw no conclusions as to the vile of the Project itself. I leave that to the reader.  Sorry it took me so long to get it done! – BloodSpite

From the early 1950’s until the late 1960’s the Central Intelligence Agency in two countries (The US and Canada) conducted a long running series of experiments under auspicious heading Project MKULTRA. Due the clandestine nature of the project, much of the research material has been lost or destroyed; although over 20,000 pages of material were recovered in 1975.

Some 2 years ago, the Senate Health Subcommittee heard chilling testimony about the human experimentation activities of the Central Intelligence Agency. The Deputy Director of the CIA revealed that over 30 universities and institutions were involved in an ‘extensive testing and experimentation’ program which included covert drug tests on unwitting citizens ‘at all social levels, [high and low], native Americans and foreign.’ Several of these [tests involved] the administration of LSD to ‘unwitting subjects in [social] situations.’ … The Central Intelligence Agency drugged American citizens without their knowledge or consent. It used university facilities and personnel without their knowledge.” – Senator Edward Kennedy, 1977

Numerous leading scientists and world leaders were part of the program, including former Canadian World Psychiatric Association chairperson Dr. Donald Cameron as well as CIA Director Richard Helms. The basis of the program was to use human experimentation with a variety of illicit drugs to identify everything from a perfected truth serum, to brainwashing and the ability to sway the decision-making process in a foreign leader.

The results were anything but what they wanted.

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Tags: Allen Dulles, Army, Charles Erwin Wilson, Church Committee, CIA, Cold War, Donald Cameron, Experiment, Harris Isabel, James Bulger, Janine Huard, Jim Jones, Jose Delgado, Ken Kesey, Linda McDonald, LSD, Mind Control, MKULTRA, Monarch, OSS, Project, Psychology, Richard Helms, Robert Hunter, Rockefeller Commission, Sidney Gottlieb, Sirhan Sirha, Stanley Glickman, Technorati, Theodore Kaczynski

I first published this at Techography on March 17, 2007. I reposted it here in 2010 for posterity and your reading pleasure! I imagine it will be a yearly thing- BS

I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down on us the fury of his being and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now to be found among foreigners.
St. Patrick, The Confessio

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The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn Succat, and he almost didn’t get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.

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Tags: America, Celebration, Ireland, irish, Maewyn Succat, Registered Evil, Saint Patrick, St Patricks Day, St. Patrick, Technorati

Former Army Cpl. Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, passed away and was honoured this week.

He was laid down yesterday in Arlington National cemetery, the last of a generation who did what I think the current generation would be aghast to do, to sacrifice, to rise to meet.

He stands at parade rest, with his brothers and sisters who went before. The last man standing in a noble line.

A fellow Missourian, during the war Buckles served in England and France, driving ambulances and motorcycles for the Army’s 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment.After the Armistice in 1918, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany. Following his discharge in 1920, he attended the dedication of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, in honor of the Americans who died in World War I.

He died on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, at his West Virginia home at age 110. Mr. Buckles enlisted in the Army on Aug. 14, 1917, at the age of 16; he was discharged in 1920

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Tags: A Soldier Died Today, A. Lawrence Vaincourt, Arlington, Corporal Frank Buckles, Parade Rest, Support our troops, Technorati, World War I

I’ve mentioned before that my family hails from County Armagh. However, my family does not align itself with the Ulsters. It’s one of the reasons we left Ireland in the 1940′s my grandfather having had enough of the frictions between the North and South, “We were all Irish, dammit.” he would often curse in his latter years with a shake of his head.

This post isn’t about politics however, it’s more about a place that politics happened.

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Tags: Brian Boru, City Armagh, Cork, County Armagh, Eamhain Mhacha, Fairy, Ireland, irish, Northern Ireland, Saint Patrick, South Armagh Brigade, St Patrick's Cathedral, Technorati, Ulster

The Famine began quite mysteriously in September 1845 as leaves on potato plants suddenly turned black and curled, then rotted, seemingly the result of a fog that had wafted across the fields of Ireland. I have been told that the cause was actually an airborne fungus originally transported in the holds of ships traveling from North America to England. Somewhat ironic then if you consider home many Irish families in turn fled to North America because of it. Let no one say we Irish have not had a sense of humor in the annuals of history.

In Any event, The Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852. Outside of Ireland it is more commonly called The Irish Potatoe Famine. Within Ireland, and amongst my own family it was referred to as an Gorta Mór or great hunger.

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Tags: an Gorta Mór, Boston, Buffalo, Emigration, England, History, Ireland, Irish Famine, Memorial, Potatoe, Potatoe Famine, Technorati

Coffin Ships are a rather sad part of Irish history. Originating during the Great Irish Famine, and of course the prison ships to Botany Bay. The first vessel with Irish convicts for Botany Bay arrived in Port Jackson on 26 September 1791.

They were called “coffin ships,” because so many poor souls had been dying on them as of late, leaving behind widows and orphans and broken families. Typically untrustworthy vessels, these ships were purchased literally from salvage yards (where they awaiting dismantling) by unscrupulous owners who had no intention of repairing them. Sailors who agreed to serve on board these floating wrecks typically knew nothing of the dangers until they were well out at sea, vagabonds, and those desperate for work (of which there were plenty) quickly volunteered.

Concerned only with profits, these same ship owners heavily overburdened the ships then insured them against expected losses of cargo. They were quite literally worth more at the bottom of the sea than upon it.

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Tags: America, Brehon Law, British North America, Coffin Ship, Daniel McDonagh, Famine, Gerard Keegan, History, Ireland, irish, New York, poverty, Quebec, Robert Whyte, Technorati

It’s been said that we Irish are blessed with the “gift of Blarney” or gift of speech. Which is why we make such great story tellers, writers, authors, poets and actresses.

Renowned for such wit and humor as that which came from the likes of Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats and others. For we Irish, words and language are so very important…My grandfather once told me that if a picture is worth 1,000 words then it takes 1,000 words to paint a picture.

But this Irish gift of wit doesn’t come out of thin air, so the legends say, but rather from solid stone!

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Tags: Blarney, Blarney Stone, Clíodhna, Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, Cormac MacCarthy, Ireland, irish, Kiss the Blarney Stone, Oscar Wilde, Queen Elizabeth I, Technorati, William Butler Yeats

(I first posted this on March 10, 2007 at Techography.com it has been reprinted here for posterity and your enjoyment)

The Orangemen are a peculiar amalgam of history, anger, controversy, patriotism, and pain.

It was founded in the same County that my own family heralds from…Armagh. It’s no surprise that we settled in Ellijay then, the Apple Capital of Georgia. The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organization based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland with lodges throughout the Commonwealth, Canada and in the United States.

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Tags: Armagh, Catholic, Ireland, irish, Northern Ireland, Orangeism, Orangemen, paramilitary, Protestant, Registered Evil, St Patricks Day, Technorati, The Orange Order, Ulster

This one is a fairly new one, as it was just written last year. As with out other March stories we thought we’d share it once again! – BS

Irish history is more than just words on paper. Like so many civilizations past we tend to put our stories, our mythos in to song.

Many have heard the songs of Ireland and found them any array of reactions from distinctive, to beautiful, to addictive. Music is not merely a form of expression for the Irish. It’s a way of reliving our past, and it is probably one of the few mediums in which blood has not been shade amongst ourselves.

The son of the god Lugh and Deichtine, Cú Chulainn was originally named Sétanta . He gained his better-known name, Cú Chulainn, as a child after he killed Culann’s fierce guard-dog in self-defense, and offered to take its place until a replacement could be reared.

This is a story oft told me as a young lad

More on Cú Chulainn after the jump

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Tags: Cú Chulainn, Ireland, irish, Legend, Music, Myth, Registered Evil, Scotland, Technorati

I first wrote this back in 2010. I have reposted it for our Irish Month – BloodSpite

Without a doubt this my most favored Irish song. It’s not really traditional, having been written in the late 1970′s.

However, the story behind is as saddening as the lyrics.

More after the Jump

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Tags: Athenry, Charles Edward Trevelyan, Fields of Athenry, Ireland, irish, Music, Pete St. John, Registered Evil, Rugby, Technorati, The Fields of Athenry

I originally wrote this in 2010 here. While I try not to add anything to my original posts when I re-post them I do try to correct spelling, punctuation, etc. I also have a bad habit of adding new pictures upon occassion. Otherwise you should find little, to no differences between the reposted material, and the original. – BloodSpite

Danny Boy is one of over 100 songs composed to the same tune.

The author was an English lawyer, Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848-1929), who was also a songwriter and radio entertainer. In 1910 he wrote the words and music for an unsuccessful song he called Danny Boy. In 1912 his sister-in-law in America sent him a tune called the Londonderry Air, which he had never heard before. He immediately noticed that the melody was perfectly fitted to his Danny Boy lyrics, and published a revised version of the song in 1913. As far as I know, Weatherly never set foot in Ireland.

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Tags: Alfred Perceval Graves, Blind Rory, Danny Boy, Frederic Edward Weatherly, Londonderry Air, Percy Grainger, Rory Dall O'Cahan, Technorati

This story was first published by myself on March 3rd 2007 at Techography. I republished it here in 2010. – BloodSpite

On Easter Monday, shortly after noon, Patrick Pearse and a band of ill armed and ill prepared poets and romantic patriots rose in rebellion took control of the General Post Office in

central Dublin and several other strategic sites around the city. The Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin, and the insurgent Tricolour suddenly broke upon startled eyes flying from the flagstaff above the General Post Office in the very heart of the Irish capital.

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Tags: 1916, Dublin, Eamon Ceannt, Easter Monday, Easter Rising, General Post Office, History, Ireland, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett, Patrick H Pearse, Revolution, Sean MacDiarmada, Technorati, Thomas J Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh

With assistance from The Weather Channel, Space Flight Now and NASA I present our Live Blog of mission STS-133. Thanks to the technological miracle of social networks we can give you multiple sources at once, for a broad view.

The Final Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery!

Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. Ronald Reagan

Continue to check this page for regular updates, photo’s and historical quotes from our countries space program

Because this is a live up date you will want to read from the bottom up versus top down.

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Tags: Discovery, Launch, Live Blog, STS-133, Technorati, Twitter

Hello, sorry I haven’t been posting in quite a while, work has me slammed.  I just wanted to post some pictures of my new antique dresser, I have found that I like new clothes, and old furniture.  After all, I am living in a house that was built in the 20′s.

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Tags: Antiques, furniture, Golf, Registered Evil, Technorati

This is a 2 part article, written by both authors of Registered Evil. As many things in our history, different people, were in different places with different perspectives. These are ours. -BS

Challenger: 25 years later, Still a Painful Memory.

January 28, 1989…

Seems like a long time ago…I remember it vividly though.

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Tags: Apollo 1, Challenger, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Edward White, El Onizuka, Frontier, Greg Jarvis, History, Judy Resnik, Mike Smith, NASA, Odyssey, Roger Chaffee, Ron McNair, Shuttle, Space, Technorati, Virgil Grissom

This is a 2 part article, written by both authors of Registered Evil. As many things in our history, different people, were in different places with different perspectives. These are ours. Part 2 is here. -BS

January 28, 1986.

I was attending Elementary school in Virginia Beach, VA. My dad was stationed at NAS Oceana, and we lived in Pungo, VA at the time. Nanny Creek Rd I think. The whole address escapes me now.

My teacher, Mrs Paxton I believe her name was, had rolled a TV in our classroom to watch the shuttle lift off. 3rd grade was cool like that then. I’m a young buck, I know.

As most school systems were at the time, they were excited that a teacher had been selected to go in to space: Christa McAuliffe.

How many dreams started, and ended that day?

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Tags: Apollo 1, Challenger, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Edward White, El Onizuka, Frontier, Greg Jarvis, History, Judy Resnik, Mike Smith, NASA, Odyssey, Roger Chaffee, Ron McNair, Shuttle, Space, Technorati, Virgil Grissom

Amongst those of us who are in telecommunications, America has two tower icons.

However, one will end up in the junk yard this week and the other might gain national prominence and be assured longevity.

For those located in Hawaii, or in Tennessee both are landmarks that are easily remembered and well known.

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Tags: Cellular, Hawaii, Historical Register, History, Honolulu TV Tower, Radio Tower, Tear down, Technorati, telecommunications, Tennessee, Tower Dogs, Towers, WSM Tower