I knew nothing about it.”nAs an extra lagniappe to the proceedings,nthe question soon loomed:nwho exactly is to pay whom after manynloving years of litigation expected tonensue from this tragedy? When thenfamed burly figure of leftist lawyernWilliam M. Kunstler appeared on thentube (one of the few whites except fornpolice spokesmen), the knowledgeablenviewer realized that there were highnstakes involved. It turns out thatnKunstler is the attorney for Heavy D,nco-promoter of the ballgame. Kuntslernalso spoke up for Puff Daddy, whonbadly needs an attorney, since he wasnsupposed, according to his contract, tontake out insurance for the game andnsomehow neglected to do so. Kunstlerntried to pin the blame on the collegenauthorities, who should have supervisednyoung PuflF Daddy and madensure that insurance had been secured.nMoreover, finances played other importantnroles in the proceedings. Thenpromoter and/or student governmentnwas accused of overselling tickets,nthereby helping cause the stampede.nAlso, the rap basketball game had beennbilled as an AIDS charity; but, in thenevent, no one could find the namedncharity, which was apparently unknownnto the “AIDS community.”nAll in all, just another day in the BignApple.nFinally, in early January, turf warsnpopped up again, this time in thenAlbanian part of the Williamsbridgensection of the Bronx. Four members ofnan Albanian-American youth groupncalled the Albanian Bad Boys caughtntwo black youths, a boy and a girl, onntheir turf, and spray-painted them withnwhite shoe coloring, shouting, “Younblack [censored] are going to turnnwhite today by the Albanian BadnBoys.” In the course of events thisncrime does not appear very serious, butnof course the press started howlingnabout “race hatred and brutality.” Anmassive police search is now on for thenAlbanian lads, and there are dark hintsnthat all this is connected to a dreadnAlbanian wing of the Mafia.nTo the average New Yorker, however,nthe word “Mafia” does not reallyninspire the proper terror. It is wellknown,nfor example, that the onlynreally safe streets in New York are thosenItalian neighborhoods where alleged’nMafia capos and their families live. Nonmuggings take place on those streets,nno rapes, no hassles. A legendary incidentnoccurred a few years ago whennmuggers invaded a convent in thenItalian section of East Harlem andnraped and murdered several nuns. ThenMafia sent the word out on the street:n”The killers are dead in twenty-fournhours.” The murderers, one of whomnhad fled to Chicago, voluntarily turnednthemselves in the next day. Clearly,nthey would rather embrace the criminalnjustice system than brave the wrathnof the Mafia. It is intriguing that thenvillains realized that the Mafia knewnwho they were, without benefit ofnmeticulous detective work. And NewnYorkers should blanch when the Mafianis mentioned?nAll New York looks forward to July,nwhen the Democratic presidential conventionncomes to town. The last timenthe Democrats arrived, the city authoritiesncleaned the streets, the clerks werenactually polite, and even the muggersnwere sternly ordered by the authoritiesnto cease and desist for that week, ornelse. But that was years ago, and thesendays the bums and muggers are a lotnfeistier, and far less under control.nCynics speculate that the real reasonnMario Cuomo bowed out is that, afternthe Democratic delegates encounternThe Community on the streets ofnManhattan, Mario would be lucky ifnhe left the convention hall alive, muchnless as prospective President of thenUnited States.nMurray N. Rothbard is a professor ofneconomics at the University of LasnVegas and vice president for academicnaffairs at the Ludwig von MisesnInstitute.nLetter From Irelandnby George WatsonnThe Easter Risingnand the IRAnIn April 1991 an aged Rolls Royce,nvintage 1949, drew up to a small crowdnoutside the post office in Dublin. Thenpresident of the Irish Republic, MarynRobinson, stepped out for a brief ceremony,nlasting less than half an hour, tonnnmark the 75th anniversary of the EasternRising in 1916, when a group of armednseparatists seized the center of Dublinnand declared independence from Britainnat the height of the World War I.nThe myth of Irish nationalism isnbased on that dramatic event and itsnproclamation of independence. ThenProvisional Irish Republican Army, ornProvos, who in its name still maintain anviolent campaign in the north, hailednthe 1991 anniversary and condemnednthe Irish government in routine termsnfor having consistently, and over manynyears, betrayed the republican tradition.nThe Irish government, by contrast,nfaced the day with some apprehension.nA quarter of a century earlier it hadngreeted the 50th anniversary of thenEaster Rising with pageantry, and it hadnno wish to leave the celebration tonothers. But to celebrate against a backgroundnof terrorism in Ulster mightnappear to support the “obscene atrocities”n(as one of its back-benchers put it)nof the Provos; and Des O’Malley, angovernment minister, announced thatnwhat in his youth he had been taught tonthink of as a “glorious adventure” nownrepresented, as he saw it, a dangerousnmodel for the young of Ireland.nWhat neither side of the controversynis likely to have known is the astonishingnfact that in 1916 the IRA did notnsupport or favor the Easter Rising. It is anfact that, duly considered, might havenlet the Irish government off the hooknand even given it a message to preach,nwhich if not enough to stop the Provosnin their tracks might have seriouslynembarrassed their campaign of intimidationnand violence. It is not that thisnmatter has never been mentioned: it isnjust that it has not sunk in. It is onlynknown at all for the odd reason that inn1966 a priestly professor of eariy andnmedieval Irish at University College,nDublin, Father Francis Shaw, S.J., offerednan article to Studies, a DublinnJesuit journal. The article was calledn”The Canon of Irish History — anChallenge,” and in it he convincinglyndocumented the absence of the IRAnfrom the Rising of 1916 and the contemptnof its leaders for the IRA. Thenarticle was a reckless act, no doubt, forna medievalist and a man of God, andnhis spiritual fathers seem to haventhought the challenge needlessly provocativenat a time of relative quiet innIrish affairs. The article, at all events.nAPRIL 1992/45n