Irish family history is not easy to pursue. This book took the author many years researching the journey of his family from County Roscommon at the time of the Great Famine in the 1840s. They settled in Lancashire, became part of the Irish in Britain, while working as plasterers, house painters, and cotton weavers. We discover where they lived, how much they earnt, and how much rent they paid. As they assimilated into British society in the last century family members contributed in both world wars. In the Second World War we follow the fortunes of three cousins in each of the three services. The family name - O'Cadhain in Irish - translates as 'wildgoose'. Their roaming continued after 1945 with further migrations to Canada. As we discover from what happened to this one family of famine migrants there are plenty of surprises along the way.
If you're a parks manager, waterfront property owner or golf-course superintendent, you may be dealing with one of the drawbacks of the Canada goose success story - resident, nonmigratory geese. As Canada goose numbers have soared in recent years, so have complaints about urban goose problems - primarily goose droppings, overgrazing and trampling of vegetation, and aggressive behavior toward humans. Managing Canada Geese in Urban Environments is a 42-page guide to legal, effective ways of persuading problem geese to go elsewhere. The guide includes an overview of goose biology and behavior, but most of the text is devoted to management and control techniques, arranged by their physical impact on the geese. The techniques range from basic (quit feeding the birds) to extensive - habitat modification, hazing and scaring techniques, chemical repellents, control of reproduction, and removal. For example, the habitat section reviews fences and overhead wires and grids, plant and rock barriers, and modification of vegetation, shorelines, islands and ponds. The hazing discussion covers noisemakers such as fireworks and propane cannons, goose scarecrows and other visual scare techniques, and dogs trained to patrol for geese. Tables provide a quick summary of timing, cost, necessary permits, strengths and weaknesses of each technique. The guide also discusses the human and political dimensions of urban goose management, and how to develop an integrated management strategy. It lists on-line information sources, as well as contact information for equipment suppliers and wildlife control agencies. "Urban Canada goose populations have increased dramatically in both numbers and distribution over the past 10 to 15 years. Almost any body of water, especially in southeast Wisconsin, can expect geese, if they aren't there already, " says co-author Scott Craven, extension wildlife ecologist at UW-Madison's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. "Small numbers of geese are attractive and highly desirable, but it's very easy to quickly experience too much of a good thing. Information on living with geese has not been readily available, and some 'solutions' may have little chance of actual success. The guide provides would-be goose managers with the information they need to address a very complex urban wildlife problem." (http://www.cals.wisc.edu/media/news/02_99/goose_doo.html).
'Of course I'm a f**king hooligan, you pr**k. I am a hooligan...there I've said it...I'm a hooligan. And, do you know why? Because that's my f**king job.' In 1995, a film called I.D., about an ambitious young copper who was sent undercover to track down the 'generals' of a football hooligan gang, achieved cult status for its sheer brutality and unsettling insight into the dark and often bloody side of the so-called beautiful game. The film was so shocking it was hard to believe the mindless events that took place could ever happen in the real world. Well, believe it now... Almost twenty years on, the man behind the film has explosively revealed that the script was largely a true story. That man, James Bannon, was the ambitious undercover cop. The football club was Millwall F.C. and the gang that he infiltrated was The Bushwackers, among the most brutal and fearless in English football. In Running with the Firm, Bannon shares his intense and dangerous journey into the underworld of football hooliganism where sickening levels of violence prevail over anything else. He introduces you to the hardest thugs from football's most notorious gangs, tells all about the secret and almost comical police operations that were meant to bring them down, and, how once you're on the inside, getting out from the mob proves to be the biggest mission of all. A disturbing but compelling read, this is the book that proves fact really is stranger than fiction.
This innovative study re-examines the dynamics of race relations in the post–Civil War South from an altogether fresh perspective: field sports. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, wealthy white men from Southern cities and the industrial North traveled to the hunting and fishing lodges of the old Confederacy—escaping from the office to socialize among like-minded peers. These sportsmen depended on local black guides who knew the land and fishing holes and could ensure a successful outing. For whites, the ability to hunt and fish freely and employ black laborers became a conspicuous display of their wealth and social standing. But hunting and fishing had been a way of life for all Southerners—blacks included—since colonial times. After the war, African Americans used their mastery of these sports to enter into market activities normally denied people of color, thereby becoming more economically independent from their white employers. Whites came to view black participation in hunting and fishing as a serious threat to the South’s labor system. Scott E. Giltner shows how African-American freedom developed in this racially tense environment—how blacks' sense of competence and authority flourished in a Jim Crow setting. Giltner’s thorough research using slave narratives, sportsmen’s recollections, records of fish and game clubs, and sporting periodicals offers a unique perspective on the African-American struggle for independence from the end of the Civil War to the 1920s.
In Not Just Beer and Bingo! A Social History of Working Mens Clubs, Ruth Cherrington traces the history of working men's clubs from their mid-19th origins to their current state of declining popularity and numbers. This book is a unique and comprehensive account of a social movement that has provided companionship, education, recreation and a great deal of pleasure to working class communities for over 150 years. All aspects of club life are covered here in a highly readable, often funny, but sometimes poignant manner. At all times, Ruth Cherrington maintains a scholarly approach, drawing upon wide-ranging research and the wealth of information collected from scores of club goers, officials and entertainers from across the country. They tell their own stories throughout this book, from nights out with the kids to seaside outings, the concerts and Christmas parties, the place of women, the popularity of games and gambling and the many charitable roles and activities that clubs are involved in. Ruth Cherrington illustrates throughout the book how clubs were much loved social and community institutions that have always been about much more than beer drinking and bingo playing. They were often central to working class leisure time as well as at the heart of the communities where they were located. She shows how clubs played numerous social and cultural roles, making important contributions to the lives of their members and their families. She does not shy away from tacking the downsides of clubs life and the criticisms that they have sometimes received for some of their policies and practices. The role of the Club and Institute Union (CIU) is also considered here. Established by a Temperance minister in 1862, it helped to nurture the early clubs, fight some battles on their behalf, eventually becoming a nationwide organization that represented the Union of working mens clubs. As clubs now face many challenges and with around half the number that existed during their heyday in the early 1970s, the key reasons for the decline are laid out for the reader to consider. The discussion doesnt end there with an account of the fight back and what club people, from members through to officials and the CIU, are doing to keep their doors open and to adapt to the rapidly changing times we live in. The work concludes by offering some thoughts about their future prospects.
In this innovative celebration of diversity and affirmation of individuality in animals and humans, Joan Roughgarden challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science—and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution's Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality. Roughgarden argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity. She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as lesbian, gay, and transgendered; and calls on the Christian religion to acknowledge the Bible's many passages endorsing diversity in gender and sexuality. Evolution's Rainbow concludes with bold recommendations for improving education in biology, psychology, and medicine; for democratizing genetic engineering and medical practice; and for building a public monument to affirm diversity as one of our nation's defining principles.
Today, globalisation and homogenisation have replaced local food cultures. The 12 case studies presented in this book show the wealth of knowledge in indigenous communities in diverse ecosystems, the richness of their food resources, the inherent strengths of the local traditional food systems, how people think about and use these foods, the influx of industrial and purchased food, and the circumstances of the nutrition transition in indigenous communities. The unique styles of conceptualising food systems and writing about them were preserved. Photographs and tables accompany each chapter.
