
The future's bright...
Well, just use a green one on July 12th, to even things up...
It won't have escaped the attention of our US readers that El Reg Stateside today features an orange masthead - part of a temporary sponsored makeover. Well, it's fair to say that the Strategy Boutique could have brainstormed that one bit more thoroughly. One reader was moved to protest: "Why are you insulting millions of …
...about the masthead being orange specifically, on a day associated with Ireland. You may have heard of some political issues with Northern Ireland? Orangemen? Yeah, there you go...
A bit of an overreaction regardless, given that it's obviously a sponsorship thing, but it's not quite as bad as if they were merely complaining about the lack of green.
As an Catholic Oirish person , can I say that If the banner had had a couple of Union Flags on, it flanked by a pair of hooded gits with AK47's and a big message saying 'Prods rule, feck the Taigs' on it then yes, definitely grounds for complaining.
Otherwise no, stop whining and neck some green stuff.
"If the banner had had a couple of Union Flags on, it flanked by a pair of hooded gits with AK47's and a big message saying 'Prods rule, feck the Taigs' on it then yes, definitely grounds for complaining."
...now everyone else in this presentation is staring at me wondering why I am giggling like a fool.
"Why are you insulting millions of Irish Catholics on St. Patrick's Day?"
And it's depsite that attitude that the peace process in Northern Ireland rolls on.
Though surely Irish readers of El Reg get the UK version? How many millions of Irish are working in the US these days. Or do they mean catholics of Irish descent?
i'm an Everton fan and i'm absolutely sickened by the Register's use of the colour red (the colour of our rivals Liverpool) on Everton match days. I can't believe you are so brazenly insulting thousands and thousands of Everton fans like this. You foul, disgusting, heartless scum are clearly not the kind of people I want to do business with.
I think its an insult to all us Britons after the defeat of Boudica's army by the Roman Empire!
Not only that, but here in the land of hope and glory, the Reg colours of Red, White and Black are the flag colours of the Nazis!
Shame on you all at The Reg. How dare you insult all us Britons!. You should all be made to sing land of hope and glory every morning for your crimes against so many of us!
... or maybe ... just maybe ... its simply a colour and people should get over the past rivalries. (I don't mean forget the past as there are very important lessons to be learned from the past, but learning which colours to label as the enemy is focusing totally on the wrong lessons of history!).
;)
Actually I'm not sure there's any firm evidence for the Romans having a 'state' colour. They used red a lot in the military, I seem to think; although I'm not sure what the source for that is. And I know that purple was quite important - being such an expensive colour it tended to get used a lot by those seeking to 'keep up appearances'; senators, consuls and the like. And rich merchants to show they were doing well. In the badly named imperial period, it was the colour of the 'emperor', and since he represented the state I suppose we could say purple is the 'Roman colour'...
(It's interesting you mention the Nazis in the same post, though: it's a point of annoyance for me - note 'annoyance' rather than 'deep melodramatic offence' - that we continue to allow the Nazis a small victory in that they still retain claim over certain imagery that rightly belongs to others, such as the swastika and all the symbolism they stole from Rome. I'd like to see them deprived even of that little win, and all these symbols reclaimed for proper, legitimate use.)
But getting to the actual point: you're absolutely right in saying people should get over it. If people wouldn't get so ridiculously hung up over such trivia, then the various 'peace processes' of the world might have a slim chance of success. But if you've got a bunch of remote Americans getting hot under the collar because of something as nonsensically nothingy as this, then the ill-feeling is going to be kept alive far beyond its time - even if those keeping it alive don't really understand what it's all about, but just know that "it's what we've always done" (and gods, how many times have we seen that as the sole driver of continuing conflict?).
Perhaps one day we - the so-called 'developed world' - will learn to cope with the *extreme stress* of there being other people in the world with opinions and preferences that might differ from our own. Maybe then we'll all calm down a little and actually become civilised.
Whilst i have to say i enjoy some of the activities on St. Patricks day i can't see why people expected everyone to adopt green themes, much less why non-catholics celebrate what really is an Irish Catholic Religious festival.
Being English I'd be much happier to Celebrate St. Georges day, but since I guess there is a large Catholic population in the US we have to put up with a yet another commercialized festival (Anything to drink i guess).
"i can't see why people expected everyone to adopt green themes, much less why non-catholics celebrate what really is an Irish Catholic Religious festival."
St Paddy comes from a time before there was a Catholic/Protestant divide, so technically, he belongs to both. (Except obviously, the proddys stopped beliving in saints etc)
Newsflash: the sky-fairy doesn't exist - regardless of which denomination you are!
I find the Americans very ignorant about St. Patrick and Ireland in general.
Firstly, they're always waving a flag that only covers the southern part of the island (a true all-Ireland flag would be a St. Patrick's Saltire). Secondly, St. Paddy (not Patty) was a Brit who spent most of his time in Ireland in Ulster (mainly in Slemish just outside Ballymena), so I think orange may be perhaps a much more apt colour!!!
The odds are good that is was a Yank in green clothing (there are 70 million in the US versus six million native-born) but there is more than enough ignorant and thin skinned people to spread the blame around the world.
Supposedly Irish-ness wasn't much of a consideration for people from Ireland until the 1800s as the general attitude was parochial/county-centric as opposed to country-centric. Even now you're never Irish in Ireland so it's only fitting I guess if complaints come from distance cousins. Hopefully the helpful comments will have convinced the complainers to stop "looking for an Irish solution to an Irish problem" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Irish_solution_to_an_Irish_problem) and get back to finding a way to manufacture some great craic (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/4142/).
"One can "do business" with The Register?"
Well, yes, sort of. They have in the past published their rates for posting good reviews of a product .
Or I suppose one could buy advertising (which could then be filtered out by adblock).
Have I got time to get my coat? Please note: green icon)
*Roman* catholicism first became dominant in Ireland in the 1100s, after the Norman invasions over half a millenium after St. Pat's death.
So... orange is as suitable (or as unsuitable) as green. Orange is also a christian colour (albeit a protestant variant) and comprises one third of the Irish flag. So if the celebration is about Ireland, orange or white is as appropriate as green. If the celebration is about a Christian saint, then any colour would do.
Yeah I know, the troubles etc. (See the offensively chosen icon and AC). But 'getting offended' by a colour choice is hardly going to heal wounds.
Catholicism, being the International Paedophile and Cover-up club that it is, insults all of us.
UK taxpayers paying for their leader to visit us, when their 'club' has done so much evil and so little to put it right, adds further salt to the wounds.
If they want to get a bit huffy because of the colour of your banner, f*ck'em!
Anonymous...Sky-Fairy's Child-f*cking devotees work in mysterious, and presumably violent, ways.
Why should a British site bother with Ireland's quaint customs? After all, I've been once reminded by Irish friends that they are not British (in spite of the whole British Isles thing, mind).
Who (who matters) the feck cares about St. Patrick anyway? Here in the US it's just an excuse to drink yourself silly. And in the rest of the world I know people don't even know it exists (they find other excuses to drink).
could think the whole world has to acknowledge their existence on St. Patricks Day. Perhaps you should have a Liberation Day banner for the Afghans or a Qing Ming banner for the Chinese in case you upset them too?
And you don't see me getting upset by the millions of sites that use a USA flag to represent English language pages!... Wait..... right, that does upset me. I'll get my coat.
"... so it was never our intention to cause offence", I hope that was tongue in cheek.
Speaking as an Irishman (who's Protestant, but still thinks the Orange Order are a bunch of twats), I beginning to think that my countrymen have bugger all sense of humour.
But then, I know a lot of Irish people refuse to admit that our flag contains the colour orange, but call it gold instead, completely ignoring the symbolism of the design.
Gawd I detest St Pratwicks day........ I blame years of being dragged along to St Stephen's Green in the freezin' cold to watch a sorry excuse for a parade, most of which which seemed to consist of Roadstone cement mixers and tractors, followed by imported marching bands from the US.
'My Alter Ego' your spot on "completely ignoring the symbolism of the design."
Wasn't the symbolisim "we own yer asses, so we'll put yis on our flag whether you want to be part of it or not" ? ....... always struck me as a bit rude that one.
This colour nonsense argument would be hilarious if people didn't take it seriously.
It's predicatable that this story will attract the lowest quality of comments and the most ignorant of commentards. Reg did the right thing by apologising for the orangification, but the wrong thing by allowing comments. Switch them off! before it starts looking like a YouTube page, and we are all reduced to saying things like "i rOcK!!!!!!!!" and throwing potatos at each other.
I am personally insulted by the fact that there is NO MENTION WHATSOEVER of the fact that the rubber band was patented today, 165 years ago.
I shall no longer be reading your site, as your blatant ignorance and prejudice against British inventors in general is personally insulting.
That is all.
As a Catholic of Irish heritage and descent I can assure you that I am not in the least offended.
Far too many people these days claim offence at the merest perceived slight, especially when m'learned friends can screw a few quid out of it. As far as I'm concerned nobody has the right not to be offended. If words, or even a colour for heaven's sake, cause you offence then perhaps a good long look in the mirror is called for.
My birthday is on St Fatpricks day and I wish to register my disgust at the crass use of orange! I went to the trouble to wear an green shirt, tie, hat and undies to work, and my good catholic wife made green cupcakes for my colleagues ...... and this is what I get in return? El Reg, you have sunk to a new low!
Yours in the spirit of green beer.
Tim
As a proud, unrepentant, fenian bastard, can I just say, well done the Reg, even if unintended!!!
Irish catholics, my hairy, irish arse.
Paddy's day is for all, hun, taig, muzzy, traveller, the godless, all of us, no matter where, who or with whatever connections (or none) to the emerald isle.
Calm down and have a pint you gobshites!!
Go to wikapedia and read what the irish flag represents.
You can stick your sectarian shite "up your bollocks", in the immortal words of one R. Keane.
Please note this post has been sponsored by drink...
Happy paddy's day from a very hot Hyderabad ;)
God insults irish catholics every day by making the sun orange, seriously, god hates irish catholics, he can't stand them, he hates them so much that on a good evening he'll turn a huge part of the sky orange just to mock them
I know i sound rediculous but no more rediculous than the stuff some irish people come out with
Eh, some people clearly need to chill out!
I would suggest that they try one of our wonderful Irish alcoholic beverages & preferably in a pub... maybe they might even get out and meet people ...
It didn't offend me in the least. You would have to be one of those super-sensitive types who get offended by everything.
I can assure you that you didn't offend millions of Irish people, just a few wound-up types.
We're a bit more self-assured about our national identity than to be offended by a masthead colour lol
That's really sad. I'm native Irish and was allegedly baptised a Catholic, but I could care less what colour the Reg is on Paddy's day- after all, it;s not a bloody Irish publication, now is it?
Just more fucking morons who should never have been let near a computer let alone out onto the internet, giving my country an even worse name than it already has.
The IRA (northern Ireland/Catholics) identifies them selves with the color green, and the protestants orange, does any of this ring a bell. Could you be that ignorant not to realize why a British website choosing the color orange for St Patties day would be a bad idea. The last people I would want to piss off is the IRA.
I have some simple messages to impart to *any* Irish Catholic who may find the colour orange offensive:
Get the fuck over yourselves and please be careful not to trip over the massive chip that just fell off your shoulder.
Not everyone in the English-speaking world gives a flying hoot about your most pointless of disputes.
This is not to say I have no sympathy with the families of murdered Irish which have to deal forever with the fallout of some jumped-up terrorist's idea of 'giving a message'.
Ah yes... 'Irish' by association. The old my grandparents came from Ireland so that makes me Irish... no it fucking doesn't... it makes you (insert country of birth here) and wishing you were from another country is never gonna make it true... It does however make you a whining tosser who's obviously ashamed of their own country and desperately wants to be liked/accepted and no longer ashamed of who you really are. :)
Pfft. Being ashamed of your country's nothing: I live in Britain. That said, I don't really have any interest in arbitrary notions of 'nationality' or any of that rubbish. I do as I'm told here because it's where I happen to be, and the laws and conventions are therefore relevant (and also I have a horribly unfashionable tendency to behave as though I live in a community - I know, it's a quaint idea). But I certainly couldn't imagine getting all worked up about this sort of thing. It's just not that important, and I'd have doubts about anyone who thought it was.
They are a messed up lot. Half the time they are obsessed with being something they are not (My great grand pappy once went out with a girl who drank Guiness so I'm Irish!*) The other half they are trying to claim non american's as american because they have lived in America for a long time. Just check out all the Brits on wikipedia working in America who are listed as British-American (or hey, just American)
America can bite my shiny orange ARSE**
* - Pawel Bogdanovich
** - Not ASS
"..Another thundered: "Thanks for going 'Orange' on St. Patrick's Day. If you thought this was funny, you are wrong. Now I know you aren't the kind of people I want to do business with."..."
Brilliant! 'Doing business' with El Reg presumably means 'reading your news items for free'?
So our irate American has just authorised you to block his IPaddress......
I got given out to in my Swiss company for not wearing all green yesterday. Gobshites. I'm not American, I replied. I only don all-green for football and rugby matches. No, no green beer either. I did miss a decent Guinness yesterday though.
Thanks to el Reg for pointing out to me that the masthead was orange. I hadn't noticed. Now that I think about it, orange is one of the colours of Ireland. So why all of the fuss?
I love how the "Irish" Americans are defining themselves by the same hateful bigotry and mistrust that everyone in Ireland (save a minority) is desperately trying to put behind them.
The deluded lunatics will probably start using car bombs next as a way to express their "ancient Irish culture and heritage". And for full authenticity, their cars will be green and have the ancient blessing "Kiss Me I'm Irish" on a bumper sticker on the back.
And as others have said -- there's orange on the flag. It's a call for unity, not discrimination.
Why? #
Posted Thursday 18th March 2010 00:03 GMT
Joke
Why should a British site bother with Ireland's quaint customs? After all, I've been once reminded by Irish friends that they are not British (in spite of the whole British Isles thing, mind).
Who (who matters) the feck cares about St. Patrick anyway? Here in the US it's just an excuse to drink yourself silly. And in the rest of the world I know people don't even know it exists (they find other excuses to drink).
Cos Northern Ireland is British, cos Ireland ain't quaint, it's a normal 21st century European country, and cos you my friend ain't Irish in any way shape or form.