OK, that’s it. I never thought I’d live to hear the cliché slither from my lips but the occasion calls for it: this is political correctness gone mad. What is? The new edition of Mark Twain’s wonderful novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that’s what. In it, the word ‘nigger’ occurs over a hundred times, […]
Mark Twain and the literary thugs
OK, that’s it. I never thought I’d live to hear the cliché slither from my lips but the occasion calls for it: this is political correctness gone mad. What is? The new edition of Mark Twain’s wonderful novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that’s what. In it, the word ‘nigger’ occurs over a hundred times, […]
Too good to be true?
Denis Bradley is a nice man. Any time I’ve met him he’s been pleasant, anyone who knows him speaks highly of his integrity. So it’s with some reluctance that I say he was talking tripe in the VO this morning. The subject of his column was political selflessness. Only twice in his life, he said, […]
Too good to be true?
Denis Bradley is a nice man. Any time I’ve met him he’s been pleasant, anyone who knows him speaks highly of his integrity. So it’s with some reluctance that I say he was talking tripe in the VO this morning. The subject of his column was political selflessness. Only twice in his life, he said, […]
Cometh the hour, cometh the man
It’s unfair to make judgements about people on the basis of their looks, I know that; but if we didn’t, 50% of comedy would evaporate. What would Buster Keaton be without that deadpan look, Ken Dodd be without those teeth, Fr Jack be without that face and those eyes? So when I saw Edward Stevenson […]
Cometh the hour, cometh the man
It’s unfair to make judgements about people on the basis of their looks, I know that; but if we didn’t, 50% of comedy would evaporate. What would Buster Keaton be without that deadpan look, Ken Dodd be without those teeth, Fr Jack be without that face and those eyes? So when I saw Edward Stevenson […]
What a thing to say!
“Whatever you say, say nothing” – that’s the watchword of a lot of people here. Don’t turn over any stones if you don’t want to confront something yucky-squiggly, and don’t open your gob if you’d rather not provoke attack. The man who’s replacing Gerry Adams in West Belfast, former hunger-striker Pat Sheehan, has chosen to […]
What a thing to say!
“Whatever you say, say nothing” – that’s the watchword of a lot of people here. Don’t turn over any stones if you don’t want to confront something yucky-squiggly, and don’t open your gob if you’d rather not provoke attack. The man who’s replacing Gerry Adams in West Belfast, former hunger-striker Pat Sheehan, has chosen to […]
Off with his head!
I was at a social occasion a few days ago and a man I’d describe as a northern nationalist was talking. His theme was Brian Cowen, and the way he talked it sounded as though Brian Cowen, single-handed, had brought the twenty-six counties to its knees. I murmured something about world-wide recession, lies told by […]
Off with his head!
I was at a social occasion a few days ago and a man I’d describe as a northern nationalist was talking. His theme was Brian Cowen, and the way he talked it sounded as though Brian Cowen, single-handed, had brought the twenty-six counties to its knees. I murmured something about world-wide recession, lies told by […]