time once again for that great Irish tradition

[jafap]

getting angry for no apparent reason.

I started my day reading at Counterpunch, where I read this:

"A Connecticut native from a suburban background who recently received a master's degree from the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Joshua Martin had never been inside a jail before the early evening hours of June 23. His first taste of incarceration was the inside of a paddy wagon."

http://www.counterpunch.org/higgs08062003.html

Maybe I am just touchy, but the thoughtless use of an Irish-slur gets me blood simmering just a wee bit. Almost as much as the idea of forced retina scans.

[CO Liberal]

1. Oh - I Thought You Were Talking About Something Else

The "Irish Drinking Song" game from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

Oh, hi-dee, hi-dee, hi-dee, hi-dee, hi-dee, hi-dee, hi.

[Rich Hunt]

2. doesn't bother me

"Paddy wagon" doesn't bother me, because it reminds us of our history in the US, which I think many famine-era IA's have forgotten. I get a chuckle out of it.

I only get offended by anti-Irish stuff when it comes to ignorance about Northern Ireland OR bigotry I've encountered in England (like Irish jokes I've heard there, for example).

Or when people think my family must be drunks, cops, and potato eaters.

[Warpy]

5. The ignorance annoys me

..especially the ignorance that says it's a religious war rather than an anticolonial uprising.

What really chaps my arse is the depiction of Leprechauns on March 17 as green Pilgrims. Well, that and all the Italian politicians marching in the Boston parade.

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. It's time for "Pas de Paddy Wagon" n/t

[tkulesa]

4. Retinal Scans?

Since when are retinal scans a normal part of police procedure?

This worries me? Does any trumped up arrest allow the police to take biometric measurements? As those kinds of measurements become more important for security systems, there are a lot of ways this information could be abused.

[Nederland]

6. You know...

...ever since JFK was elected president the notion of the Irish being some sort of oppressed class has become rather ridiculous.

BTW, I'm Irish.

[HootieMcBoob]

7. Shea stadium's ethnic days

Shea stadium and the Mets have these ethnic days each year and a few years ago a lot of people got upset at the drunken Irish leprochan dancing around on the diamond vision screen.

I'm of Irish and Scottish backround myself and thouht it was kinda funny. One of the great things about the Irish that I've always loved is that we generally don't give two shites about that kinda stuff.

Just to let you know --the people from the future got very very pissed off I'm told when the Mets held their futures game that very same year. Some people are just so sensitive.

[Maple]

8. These 'great Irish traditions'

of drinking and brawling were images foisted on them by the British in order to make the Irish look like savages.

Today we call it demonizing the enemy.

And a 'paddy wagon' is a slur in itself...for heaven's sake do they still call them that??

[htuttle]

9. Jesus, Joseph and Mary and the donkey they rode in on...you're right

There's a lot of institutionalized racial slurs in the American dialect. Many people don't even realize that they are slurs.

I find myself correcting people when they say, "gypped", for example. I try to be nice about it, since most don't know that it's derived from 'gypsy'.

And certainly, anyone who accuses the Irish of being savages doesn't know much about the history of the Dark Ages (and the very fact that we have ANY history at all FROM the Dark Ages). Without the monks of Ireland, we'd likely have a far less complete account of the history of Western Europe before 1000 AD.

[JohnKleeb]

11. Ive seen a book called how the irish saved history

The Irish werent savages, first the normans hated them because they were celts, then catholic, and then because they wanted a government of their own. Ireland also is a beautiful place with some of the nicest people.

[markus]

13. How the Irish Saved Civilization

and I saw at the library the other day that the Scots have jumped in on the same subject.

I've just started thinking about "gypped" a lot lately, because of the large number of Roma who moved into Fargo, ND as part of the immigration/refugee wave from central europe of the last few years.

I'm just old enough and from the South, and I remember *lots* of them.

There are probably still some place in N'wawlins where you can order a "Wop Salad" and no one will look at you funny. Hell, I could go for one right now.

[JohnKleeb]

15. them Scots aye

Next thing you know the Welsh then the English will take credit.

[Maple]

22. Well how about

'How the Scots invented the modern world' by Arthur Herman.

They're all Celts ya know.

[OldCurmudgeon]

25. yeah, well what do you expect from the Scots?

and I saw at the library the other day that the Scots have jumped in on the same subject.

After all, the irish invented the bagpipes. They gave them to the Scots, who didn't get the joke.

:-)

[Maeve]

12. Allowing for a bit of defense here...

The exact reason for calling it a "paddy wagon" has been debated--the term arose at a time when the Irish could be found on both sides of its doors! The Irish were taller than most immigrant groups and that made them prime candidates for police and fire-fighting jobs--roles they still are over-represented in for many cities. (Ever notice how many of the cops in Bugs Bunny cartoons are named "Clancy"?)

Of course, if your job market is limited by not only your poverty and (possible) difficulty with the language but signs that said "No Irish need apply" you might turn to the drink and crime, as well.

[OrdinaryTa]

21. Most Common Ethnic Group of NYC Cops

It's no longer true that New York cops are mostly Irish. The most common ethnic group found on the Big Apple's police department is .... Italian-American. You could look it up.

[Maple]

23. They were called 'paddys'

back in England, before there were any Irish cops in the US.

[JohnKleeb]

16. I dont know

but you know the Irish equal rights movements was simliar if not the same to ours here.

[ieoeja]

10. Most people don't even know it used to be a slur.

[jafap]

19. what is worse - apathy or ignorance?

Answer - I don't know and I don't care.

[TahitiNut]

14. What's Irish and stays out all night???

Paddy O'Furniture !

{rimshot}
I'll be here all week, folks.

[leftofthedial]

18. TNut--that one cracks me up!

Did you hear about the Irishman who walked past a bar?



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V


Hey! It could happen!

[Touchdown]

20. LOL!

I'm Irish too, so there!

Ever heard of the gay Irishman's name?...Patrick Fitzgerald.

[Rich Hunt]

24. I thought it was....

Gerald Fitzpatrick!!

:toast:

[leftofthedial]

17. I wouldn't read too much into the use of "paddy" here

But then what do I know?

I'm just a dumb Mick.