Well, George, i'm going to assume that your reference to Kerry is not a sly insult, as jokes about Kerrymen are (or, at least, until recently were) the equivalent of "Polack" jokes in this country. My father's family have a last name too ubiquitous to admit of placing the locale--and they arrived in the American South shortly after our civil war, so i'm not aware of their provenance--i was raised by my maternal grandparents. My grandfather was an Antrim, and County Antrim is where Belfast is located. His wife's maiden name was Donovan, a family name in County Cork, in which county she was born.
No insult at all. I have spent far too many happy days in Kenmare to have anything but the best feelings for Kerry (green and beautiful) and the lyric speech of Kerrymen. Besides Waterford & Claire are almost neighbors. The critics are mostly surly Ulstermen and Dubliners in love with their grime.
Antrim. Well that's serious, but Donovan & Cork are just fine. My family names are O'Brien and O'Donoghue, both from Claire and Power and Welch from Waterford -- all locally ubiquitous.
I found the west of Ireland to be uniformly beautiful. Even when you see a sad, run-down hay barn, the lush greenery takes over so fast as to soften the effect. In 1978, i quit my job, took my savings and tried to make a go of living in Ireland. Unfortunately, my love for drink eventually did me in. I was working for a painter, and one of the other lads learned i was making more than he (the owner passed me off as his "American expert" to his advantage, and had the decency to pass a little along in the paycheck). He went to the labor exchange and reported me. I was contacted by two sorrowful men who informed me that they regretted to say i would be deported, if it weren't greatly inconventient, and that i should take the next few weeks to get my affairs in order. Driving to work from the town of Sligo where i then lived, we often passed into "Yeats country," and by the shores of Innisfree.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
William Butler Yeats, 1892.
McGentrix, What the heck is this article saying?
Do you really believe that we should worry about the effects we are having on the environment? Were the very successful clean air and clean water statutes an example of "political correctness".
Do you think the extermination of the Indians OK, and those who at the time protested just "politically correct"?
Should we just let corporations force children to do difficult and dangerous jobs without protest?
We should allow police to do unlawful and brutal things without questioning them?
We should not question racism?
Geesh the "politically correct" throughout history had the gall to suggest that their society is not perfect. What were they thinking when they eliminated slavery or heck signed the Bill of Rights.
Incidently this article slanders the Judeo-Christian heritage it invokes. The Bible is constantly calling on believers to confront evil in society.
Heck Read James 5 or Isaigh 5 for example. They are both great examples of "political correctness" and strangely applicable for American conservatives
I envy you your experience there. (I also envy your ability to write sentences like, "I was contacted by two sorrowful men .... to get my affairs in order", or " Even when you see a sad, run down..." THAT is a sign !)
Mine has all been as a tourist and a frequent visitor to many relatives there. Not nearly the equal of yours.
A Yeats fan ! It figures. Better yet;
I went into a hazel wood
Because a fire was in my head
And cut and stripped a hazel wand
And hooked a berry to a thread
.......
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands
I will find out where she has gone
And kiss her lips and take her hand
And walk amid long dappled grass
pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun
Just because SOME political correctness is carried to absurd extremes, it does not follow that ALL political correctness is without merit.
Being careful not to hurt people unnecessarily is, IMO, a good thing. "Retarded" is used by some people as a synonym for dumb, but to the parent of a retarded child, this usage is hurtful. Snickering and making insulting remarks about gay men is sometimes used by straight men to declare and affirm their own masculinity (hmmm - why is this declaration needed?). Such remarks are often extremely hurtful especially to young gay people struggling to be ok with who they are.
Having light-hearted fun is one thing; spewing bigotry is quite another. And trying to hide that bigotry under a veil of "objection to political correctness" is extraordinarily transparent.
George and Setanta - that was delightful.
Walter - are you referring to Virgil with this?
http://eee.uci.edu/~papyri/speude/trans.html
This is a very obscure entry - difficult to figure out the why or wherefore.
mama
Exactly, ... and I only liked the quote, only got a slight idea of the article's content :wink:
angie hit upon some items that I think underline some of my distaste for PC.
Retarded means slow. It is an accurate word in some occasions. Some people use 'retarded' in a derogatory manner, but that shouldn't preclude the use of the word, or carry some cruel intention with its use, IMO.
African-American, IMO, is a ridiculous term and I never used it. Took some flack about it, too. Blacks aren't all AAs, and I thought if it were to be used, we would have to spend a few minutes with everyone we met ascertaining whether they should be referred to as Irish-Americans, German-Americans... Yet, the PC machine went into overdrive with the absolute incorrectness of any referral to blacks, other than African-Americans.
I also think there is a very good reason to reject PC. Common courtesy and decency do not have to be impugned, as a result of refusal to cow to others' edicts of what is acceptable, and what is not.
I didn't bother to read the article posted, but I love to talk Ireland
Drove from Dublin around the south coast on our honeymoon, love Wexford, West Cork, and pretty much everywhere we settled, except Shannon. Reminded us of a Toronto suburb.
The best part of what angie wrote is: "..trying to hide that bigotry under a veil of "objection to political correctness" is extraordinarily transparent. "
I'm against political correctumness, but I also think that the piece in question is self-pitying, self-serving, and magnificently unenlightened... in other words - intellectually retarded.
The article McG shared with us is an example of someome on one side of an argument sitting down and writing a screed in which he or she exaggerates the other side. Then shows how silly the opponent is. It's called creating a straw man. Easy to do, but meaningless...
Dart,
Be careful with the straw man type accusations. Some are fond of their straw men and really don't get the fallacy of the argument. Their sympathyzers are close to labeling "straw man" as a "politically correct" term.
he he.
Me is bad today.
Craven - between the avatar and the strawman, looks like today is a good day. I'd love to borrow your strawman.
D'art - I still don't understand the article or the reason for it. And I went into the site. I also think it's a bit pretentious. However, Walter, as usual, gave me an insight, which I found in Virgil. Just as obscure.
It's there to be taken. Use it, some will abuse it. But me don't care. Me is careless and carefree. Me is a straw man blowing in the wind...
