Political Correctness Rant

[red750]

Bruce, I know a redhaired girl (woman -she's 40) who proudly proclaims herself a Ranga. Her catchcry is Ranga's Rule.

 

I could cause a riot if I wrote  what First Nationers used to be called. It sounded like the noise of something bouncing off the bull-bar of a truck.

[pmccarthy]

My wife spent her childhood in New Guinea and has a hard time stopping herself from calling the people natives.

[nomadpete]

What's wrong with calling anybody a 'native'?

 

I'm a native of Sydney, (born there, grew up there).

 

I try not to admit it to Queenslanders because they discriminate against southerners.

[Bruce Tuncks]

The situation here has improved a bit. A few years ago, the media were not describing wanted suspects in case they were fined for being racist. At least now they have begun to say ( where appropriate ) that the suspects were " of aboriginal appearance".  

[old man emu]

In the interests of remembering history, past and present, I'm game enough to use some racial terms.

 

Boong: This word derives from the Malay and Indonesian word "bung" which means elder brother and is used as a form of address. So it's original use was friendly. It is more commonly applied to Papuan- New Guinea people.

 

Nigger: In its original English-language usage, nigger (then spelled niger) was a word for a dark-skinned individual, simply the derivative of the Latin word for the colour black . The earliest known published use of the term dates from 1574, in a work alluding to "the Nigers of Aethiop, bearing witnes." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first derogatory usage of the term nigger was recorded two centuries later, in 1775.

 

Coon: meaning "black person" was in use by 1837, said to be from barracoon (by 1837), from Portuguese barraca "slave depot, pen or rough enclosure for black slaves in transit in West Africa, Brazil, Cuba. After teh Civil War, the coon became a caricature of the former slave living in rural areas. https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/coon/. This was taken to the extreme by the character Stepin Fetchit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepin_Fetchit

[pmccarthy]

Apparently I should be offended by Paddy, Mick, Bogtrotter, Proddy,Taig and Snout. But I have to be careful not to offend Krauts, Wogs, Dagos, Yids and so on. It is hard to keep up with it all.

[Subria]

It's sad we have become a pathetic "I'm offended" society😞

[willedoo]

16 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

Those who complain about what they are called will never be placated.

There was a cute little redhead girl we saw recently, and her mother described her as a " ranga" . This would create great offence among some groups. An Orangutan is clearly a redhead so the term is like calling an Aborigine a chimp, which would land you in jail these days. the rangas mother thought the term was fine though.

On the subject of Rangas, my dad often mentioned how terrifying they were during his time in Borneo. He said when you were alone on sentry duty at night and an orangutan screamed, it sounded like someone getting their throat cut. And when they rustled around in the jungle at night, you had to figure out whether it was orangutans or Japs.

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by willedoo

[old man emu]

I don't know what's in the water in Southwest Sydney, but the numbers of young rangas around here is unprecedented. The schools are no longer filled with blonde-haired, blue-eyed darlings. The red-haired hazel-eyed rugrats are taking over. 

[onetrack]

He said when you were alone on sentry duty at night and an orangutan screamed, it sounded like someone getting their throat cut ...

 

Anyone who has heard a fox scream, on a dark, moonless night, would surely have had their hair on the back of their neck stand up.

[old man emu]

Here's an example of taking PC to extremes. We all know that  the Nazi Party—officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP)-  adopted the Hakenkreuz (Ger., hooked cross or swastika) and it became associated with the inhumanities carried out by adherents of the Party's philosophy. As a result of that association, today in Germany and other European states,  public display of the swastika in Nazi format, including on the Internet, is prohibited by law and individuals violating such terms are subject to criminal proceedings. In other countries, if we ignore ancient religious usages, the Right to Free Speech allows its use.

 

I have noticed lately that it is becoming common to either pixellate the swastika on images of the flag of the Third Reich, or to block out the lower half. Where this seems overly PC is where the flag is used to identify the era an object existed in, or where the swastika forms part of the representation of an object. The second instance most often occurs when reproducing the country of origin markings of aircraft by hobbyists.

 

Surely one cannot take offence to the use of the swastika in these circumstances. There are no current objections to the Ensign of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, which is the same as the "rising sun" of the Japanese Imperial Navy. It's not like the Japanese were averse to similar racially based mistreatment as the Nazi Party extremists.

[Bruce Tuncks]

In ancient India, the sign we call the swastika was common. And of course it had nothing to do with Nazis.

But I have to say I understand that denying this symbol to right-wing extremists nowadays makes sense to me.

[Subria]

Nobody owns this land, we might think we do, it can be taken away from us at any time, we are only passing thru as custodians till the next tribe!

Even the Abo's where new comers once upon a time!

[Jerry_Atrick]

Not all photos of Swastikas are pixelated: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/couple-flies-nazi-flag-over-victorian-home-20200113-p53r15.html

 

Interestingly, the council, and it appears the state doesn't have power to order them to remove it. I will leave it to you to judge, but in the article, the owner is using an excuse that she is proud of her German ancestry.. surely flying the flag of Germany and not a WWII flag that really represents the Nazi regime would be a more appropriate way to express their ancestry, unless they are proud of what nazism stood for and they were or still are nazis (even if only in belief)?

 

Unfortunately, historical symbols and words are appropriated over time and they come to mean something new.. in this case the Swastika is now perceived as a representation of the Nazi regime and what it stood for, which although people refer to as racial supremacy, included a determination to commit mass genocide to rid at least Europe of Jews, GLBTs, gypsies/travellers and the like as well as kill millions of white christians in the delusional pursuit of power. I understand thay the Germans were crying for some leadership in the wake of how they were treated after WWI, but that flag does not represent Germany, either before or after the Nazi party.

 

The Victorian house seems to be a worrying development.. start your facist Nazi group in the open where there aren't enough people to make your life miserable.. a bit like the many supremacist groups dotted through the mid-west of the USA.

 

With respect to the Japaense forces flags, I am sure the Japanese were no doubt willing to pursue millions of deaths to achieve the power they wanted... And their treatment of the Chinese was also barbaric.. But did Japan want to wipe out entire races/religions/categories of people? Is there, within Japan or dotted around the world, movements that want to preserve and resurrect Japanese imperialism in the same way there are nazi groups exist and are thriving today? Maybe for this reason, as time goes by, it's impact on society is lessened, but I don't recall seeing too many of the rising sun flags displayed anywhere today...

Edited August 25, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[old man emu]

4 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Interestingly, the council, and it appears the state doesn't have power to order them to remove it

The only way, I believe, that the Council could make the person remove the flag from the flagpole is to use its power to require the removal of the flagpole if it was an unapproved construction. In other words, has a Development Application for the flagpole been approved by council?

 

Displaying any flag, or sign is, of itself, not a Breach of the Peace.

“There is breach of the peace whenever harm is actually done or is likely to be done to a person or in his presence to his property or a person is in fear of being so harmed through an assault, an affray, a riot, unlawfully assembly or other disturbance.”

 

People actively protesting the display of this flag adjacent to the house are more likely to breach the peace than the resident. Members of an angry crowd would be doing just that.

 

If you think of it logically, any person who, in 2020, was a politically aware supporter of the Nazi Party during its time in power would have had to have been born before 1930. That would make them older than 90. Therefore any person who displays that flag and is younger than 90, is not doing it out of ethnic allegiance. If you look at the history of Europe, it is possibly only France and England that have had the same national flag for more than 200 years.

[spacesailor]

England, seldom display,s it,,s  RedCross on white, flag, usually you see the Scotmans  ( James the first, King of Scotland ) Union flag !.

spacesailor

 

[nomadpete]

Perhaps the Germanperson who is flying their favorite flag is unaware of the meaning of the central symbol.

 

From Wiki:-

"is a geometrical figure and an ancient religious icon in the cultures of Eurasia. It is used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.^[1][2][3] In the Western world, it was a symbol of auspiciousness and good luck until the 1930s"

Edited August 25, 2020 by nomadpete

[old man emu]

Actually the flag that is flying is the flag of the Wehrmacht Commander in Chief (replaced the Minister of Defence) from 1935 to 1938. That person was Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946)

 

The Wehrmacht  ('defence force') was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously-used term Reichswehr.

 

The armed forces flag from 1935 to 1945 was: 

 

Prior to 1935, this was the armed forces of Germany flag:   

 

So, the flag that is flying is the standard of one person, while the armed forces flag is the one that the majority of German military personnel fought under. Is the flag being flown in Victoria a remembrance of the average Hans, or is it a remembrance of a regime?

 

Once again, people are "shooting from the hip" without doing any research into history.

 

 

[nomadpete]

My apologies.

I hadn't seen the flag in question, so I was making that all too common mistake of commenting without first checking the facts.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Getting back to aborigines, I have to say that I disagree with the "first nation" description.

They were not a nation in the slightest sense of the world. They were a bunch of warring tribes who hated each other even more than they hated whites.

The reason they didn't get inbred was that if 2 groups inadvertently met, the women from the weaker group would be herded over to the other group. If they were just raped, there was no need for a fight.

Most lost whites were killed out of hand. Those who survived did so because somebody in the tribe thought they may be a reincarnated dead relative. Sure, they were now white, but dying and being ressurrected  would surely be a traumatic experience which may well have physical side effects.

[old man emu]

4 hours ago, nomadpete said:

common mistake of commenting without first checking the facts.

And I'll bet London to a brick that the person flying the flag didn't check what the flag was either. Without going into a discussion of the regime that used the flag, you have to admit that it is an eye catching design, and that's maybe why it was chosen.

 

Probably didn't see this pretty one

 

That's Adolph's personal Standard.

 

[willedoo]

11 hours ago, old man emu said:

Actually the flag that is flying is the flag of the Wehrmacht Commander in Chief (replaced the Minister of Defence) from 1935 to 1938. That person was Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946)

 

The Wehrmacht  ('defence force') was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The designation "Wehrmacht" replaced the previously-used term Reichswehr.

 

The armed forces flag from 1935 to 1945 was: 

 

Prior to 1935, this was the armed forces of Germany flag:   

 

So, the flag that is flying is the standard of one person, while the armed forces flag is the one that the majority of German military personnel fought under. Is the flag being flown in Victoria a remembrance of the average Hans, or is it a remembrance of a regime?

 

Once again, people are "shooting from the hip" without doing any research into history.

 

 

An interesting subject is vexillology. Here's a bit of Australian trivia. A Naval Jack is normally represented by the first quarter or canton of the national flag. If that was the case with the R.A.N., all our Navy ships in port would fly the white Naval Ensign from the main masthead and the Union Jack from the  front of the ship. But they got jack of that idea as it would make us look like Pommy Bastards. So we use our national flag as the Naval Jack when we're in port.

 

That's also why most people are wrong when they refer to the elongated version of the Confederate rebel flag as the battle flag. The battle flags were square and the elongated version is the 4th. and 5th. versions of the Confederate Naval Jack. Except for a couple of Tennessee units that used the elongated version for a battle flag. Forrest's mob from memory.

[willedoo]

Forgot to add: the above post is slightly on topic as the PC mob in the U.S. are trying to ban all Confederate flags.

[onetrack]

I'm always amused at the amount of arguments and upsets associated with the Aboriginal flag. The latest was not being allowed to fly the Aboriginal flag at AFL matches because the licence for producing the flag was owned by WAM clothing.

 

Now the Aboriginals are outraged and reckon their flag has been stolen from them. Someone needs reminding that the Aboriginals never ever used a flag of any kind, before the whites arrived - and they were a huge bunch of warring tribes across Australia, anyway, when the whites arrived.

 

It was only when the Aboriginal Land Rights Movement moved to Canberra in 1970, and Harold Thomas drew up the design to try and unite the various warring Aboriginal groups, that the "Aboriginal Flag" came in being.

 

Now it seems like the licencing of the Aboriginal Flag is just creating even greater discord amongst Aboriginals, than that which existed before the Flag was produced.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/22/freeing-the-aboriginal-flag-how-a-uniting-symbol-ended-up-in-the-hands-of-the-few

Edited August 26, 2020 by onetrack

[old man emu]

7 hours ago, onetrack said:

because the licence for producing the flag was owned by WAM clothing.

The licence to make and sell the Aboriginal flag is with Carroll and Richardson flags. This company has had an arrangement with Thomas since 1998.  WAM is taking its copyright too far. Copyright protects the right to use, in this case, an image. WAM is the copyright holder, so it can put the design on anything it likes. No one else can use it without the permission of WAM. That's the way that copyright works in business.

 

Now if WAM give permission to a manufacturer to use the design, then the manufacturer will include an amount equal to the royalty fee to be paid to WAM in the recommended retail price of the item. If I go into a shop and buy an item, then WAM has made its money from the design. The item becomes my property, to do with as I wish. The same goes for the AFL and NRL. If they buy a flag from a manufacturer who is licensed to use the design, then they can fly the flag anywhere. 

 

It's the same as if I buy a pair of Nike runners. The shoes have the Nike "Tick", which is displayed in public when I wear the shoes. I do not profit from that display, Nike does. However, I can't take a pair of cheapie runners and paint a Nike "Tick" on then and then sell the shoes, implying that they are Nike shoes.

 

In 2018, the federal court found that Birubi had breached consumer law by selling fake Aboriginal art. Birubi copped a $2.3m fine, the largest penalty of its kind awarded by the federal court. But it never had to pay up. A month later, it ceased trading and a liquidator was appointed. In November 2018, Thomas signed an exclusive licence and agency agreement for the flag on clothing with another company, WAM Clothing. WAM Clothing is part-owned by Wooster, from Birubi Arts.