As i've said before, I like a toke but I don't do it in public in case I get arrested. I don't whine and moan about the laws banning hash, I accept them and deal with them by being sensible and not acting lile a tit. If laws are in place I may not like them but I can hardly complain when I get arrested for being thick enough to break them.
Your assertion was this: [ Your assertion is wholly inaccurate. And no. The song is not about PIRA men. Some of the men referred to in the song were in the PIRA.
I still don't understand why you think my assertion is inaccurate. "the content is offensive to a large number of people in Scotland and elsewhere". I stand by that statement.
You won't be able to point to a single lyric from that song that causes offence to you or anyone but the most sensitive souls. Not a single one verse, line or word would offend anyone. So you can stand by your statement if you want. It remains wholly inaccurate.
So you are telling me that NO one should be offended? Come to **** reb, people are entitled to be offended if they want and no one has the right to tell them they have no right to be offended. I personally don't find the Famine Song offensive but I sure to God would not dare tell people they have no right to be. Same goes for the Sash or any of the other pathetic party tunes, no one gets to decide if others should or should not be offended. No one.
No Dev. You see, I am in full agreement that it is for the individual to identify what offends them. In this instance, and I say this with absolute confidence, it is not the content of the song that is causing offence. What I am telling you is that there isn't a single credible scenario that the content of the song could be construed as offensive. When you claim otherwise you are entirely wrong. I find legislating against subjectively "offensive" songs to be stupid. This is the step towards absurdity that I spoke of. It is applying legislation against what are completely, wholly and utterly inoffensive lyrics to any sensible mind. It is offensive-once-removed.
Let's play a game Find the line that offends YOU All welcome: Read the roll of honour for Ireland's bravest men We must be united in memory of the ten, England you're a monster, don't think that you have won We will never be defeated while Ireland has such sons. In those dreary H-Block cages ten brave young Irishmen lay Hungering for justice as their young lives ebbed away, For their rights as Irish soldiers and to free their native land They stood beside their leader - the gallant Bobby Sands. Now they mourn Hughes in Bellaghy, Ray McCreesh in Armagh's hills In those narrow streets of Derry they miss O'Hara still, They so proudly gave their young lives to break Britannia's hold Their names will be remembered as history unfolds. Through the war torn streets of Ulster the black flags did sadly sway To salute ten Irish martyrs the bravest of the brave, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty They gave their lives for freedom with Thomas McElwee. Michael Devine from Derry you were the last to die With your nine brave companions with the martyred dead you lie Your souls cry out "Remember, our deaths were not in vain. Fight on and make our homeland a nation once again !"
