What’s occuring down under?
So a Barry girl is the new Australian Prime Minister:
Which begs two interesting quiz questions:
1) What’s the Ian Paisley Snr connection?
2) Name 2 20th century Welsh speaking Prime Ministers
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Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011
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Dewi,
Without recourse to Google.
1) Didnt the BigFellah have a church in Barry ?
2) Lloyd George and I would have said someone from Patagonia but in Argentina they are always Presidents so I would guess some Canadian valleysboy?
ps Is the British Foreign Minister also a Welsh speaker/learner.
1) Close but no cigar
2) 1 out of 2
c) Not more than a few words i understand…
Bevan?
Don’t be stupid, he wasn’t even Prime Minister! -1 to me.
Or Welsh speaking….
The Free P’s have a church in Barrie, Ontario. Long way from Barry, Aus!
or Barry, Wales!
Paisley went to theological college in Barry I think
And apart form Lll G, Billy Hughes WW1 Australian PM, Welsh speaking ( although also like Lloyd George, not actually Welsh born) and who often sparred with him.
Da iawn Brian – 10/10
Brian, any googling for that?
Dewi,
On behalf of the Irish Nation(on whose behalf I often speak) I would like to thank the Principality of Wales for their outstanding contribution to recent Irish history by inculating one of our less enlightened souls with a firm thoeoligcal basis for his prejudice and sectrainsim.
Diolch yn fawr.
I think you have a thing about Princes Sammy…do u think u need help?
You have to hand it to the Aussies . In these times of economic strait jackets and navel tightening budgets and goodness knows what else to come the Aussies get a new Prime Minster for 10 quid via the assisted passage scheme
. Brilliant -if not ecumenical then certainly economical .
Meanwhile the UK and USA and others fork out hundreds of thousands and probably in total millions to send their elites to Oxford, Cambridge , Harvard , Yale , LSE, L’Ecole Polytechnique and after all that these brilliant folks lead the entire world into an economic maelstrom which could yet unravel western civilisation
I recall meeting a ginger haired Welshman and his well scrubbed and decent family many moons ago in a country near where the present World Cup is playing . He was a missionary. I can’t recall which church . I was somewhat startled to hear him say that he was of the same ‘biblical ‘ position and interpretation of same as Rev Ian Paisley . At that time my compiled views of the Welsh (apologies Dewi ) were of a once great rugby playing nation with great choirs a long history of Labour reformers and a language with the longest word ending in after several lines of llls and gggg.s and hhhh’s in gogogoch .
As soon as he saw the somewhat shocked expression on my face and my over hasty retreat of a few paces to the rear he said that while he agreed with Paisley in religious matters he was totally opposed to his (Paisley’s) politics.
Anyway he must have made a decent impression on me because in the end I did leave him with our dog as we were soon returning to Ireland .
I did not of course make even the slightest attempt to convert the man to my lack of a religious faith
Would not have been cricket ye see and it could have upset the dog .
Greenflag,
I suspect that the Welsh decided to drop the sectarian bit and carry on with the thoeology at some point – though I dont know of any serious sectarian history in Wales?
‘though I dont know of any serious sectarian history in Wales?’
There may have been some but sfaik the Welsh have been predominantly Methodist and Congregationalist with every Welsman having a church or chapel they went to and another one they definiteley would’nt go to
. I’ve never heard of the Church of Wales but there’s probably several hundred small congregations and bethels etc .
But they do leave their religion at home when it comes to politics and that imo is a trait that the Taffs can be proud of .. I’m inclined to have a soft spot for th’oul Methodists which I can only explain by never having met a Methodist’ bastard (in the non literal sense of course ) ‘while I can’t say the same for Catholics , Anglicans etc among others
Do we know how the new Australian PM feels about Monarchy?
Thats what I was pondering as well – if I mention the Welsh love of Princes’ (and Royalty) I think Dewi will be back on my case again.
Being on the left of the Labor party no doubt a republican, but I thought it worth noting that in macho-culture Australia the top three jobs, Monarch, Governor-General and Prime Minister, are now held by women.
No googling, Sammy – you must know by now how I speak with authority. . LlG is my political hero – I’ve visited his wonderful pagan grave above the river Dwyfor. And if you follow Lloyd George you come across Billy Hughes
Great to see the razor sharp Gillard break through to leadership after a long & loyal deputyship to the epitome of banality that is Kevin Rudd.
Whatever else the Welsh roots bring to the job, her father apparantly of the old left has declared admist his blessings: ‘as long as she doesn’t turn out like Thatcher’. A well reared girl indeed.
Brian Walker,
Fiar play to ye.
Really interesting Wiki Ibit on Billy Hughes 2 attempts at introducing conscription and the Irish wing of the party blocking it.
I am sure Gillard’s knowledge of the welsh language would as much use to her as that other dead language Gaelic.
On the other hand Kevin Rudd’s fluency in Mandarin (800 million speakers ) was well known. Prior to becoming Australia’s Prime Minister he was a diplomat in Beijing .
Good luck to Gillard although I’m not sure as to why Rudd was dumped . I had though he was doing ok but then my knowledge of Aussie internal politics is not great .
‘I am sure Gillard’s knowledge of the welsh language would as much use to her as that other dead language Gaelic.’
Brilliant comment -what a genius – next you’ll be making the point that knowledge of the English language and or speaking it is a major impediment to any team making it to the quarter finals of the World Cup . You could even make the point that England would have won another World Cup since 1966 if they spoke Spanish or Portuguese or German or Italian or horror of horrors and nighmares even French .
Speaking English is bad for your national team . Ask anybody and you don’t even have to ask the English – Ask the Scots , Northern Irish , Welsh , Irish Republic , USA , Canada , Jamaica , Australia , New Zealand -South Africa etc not a one of them made it to the quarterfinals and no english speaking team has won a world cup since 1966 .
Now just send those facts to the Sun or Mirror .
Knowing another language and or speaking one or several is very good for your mental health and helps to reduce the onset of senility , dementia etc and increases ‘flexibility’ in thought patterns , know how and maybe even ‘talent’ on the soccer field
?
Gillard not a Welsh speaker Sam – don’t think anyone has claimed that !! She left Barry at three years old…
I don’t know if sectarian bigots tend to learn Irish or learning Irish makes a sectarian bigot but certainly learning a mandarin would be extremely useful. China is becoming a superpower and may well dominate the world in the coming decades. Locals will also be able to communicate with the increasing number of Chinese immigrants. Who knows learning it may even broaden the minds of republicans
sam,
interesting take on ‘sectarian’ bigots.
What are your views on people who take part in marches which celebrate the defeat in religious wars from centuries ago of those they share this little patch of ground with?
‘I don’t know if sectarian bigots tend to learn Irish or learning Irish makes a sectarian bigot ‘
You don’t know? At the last count there were some 4.3 million people living in the Republic of whom probably 90% plus learned or are learning Irish at primary and secondary school and also other languages at secondary level . These people are so ‘sectarian’ that they’ve elected a Protestant President -several Jewish Lord Mayors and both Protestant and Jewish TD’s and Government Ministers .
Contrast that with the performance of the non Irish learning ‘unionists’ of NI who in 50 years of self government never had a single Catholic Minister in Government and for another 30 years would not even countenance power sharing with any members of the 40% plus Irish nationalist population .
And as if that was not enough they eventually had to be forced by HMG and the Americans to share power which they did ‘reluctantly ‘ and which even now a large element within political ‘unionism’ would prefer they did’nt have to .
But you are right about one thing even if it’s on the basis of a stopped clock being right twice a day
. Learning Mandarin could be useful if your intention is to emigrate to the Middle Kingdom -You may find their brand of authoritarian ‘capitalism ‘ to your taste . Shure why would’nt you .’Traditional unionism ‘ and ‘authoritarian capitalism ‘ are birds of a feather . But it won’t help you with most of the local Chinese immigrants who tend to speak Cantonese of which there are perhaps 300 million speakers mostly in South China and South East Asia and which is as understandable to a Mandarin speaker as French is to a German or English is to a Russian .
Broadening some and I repeat some ‘unionist ‘ minds re the island they reside in would require the services of a long stretch of railroad track and a lot of lying down on the rails with heads resting on the rails ;(
“but certainly learning a mandarin would be extremely useful”
any particular mandarin? I’m up for it…
One might add that there were three Jewish TDs in the Dáil at one time……Briscoe, Shatter and Taylor……and they represented three different parties.
Dewi ,
I’d start with Sichuan and then Jiangsu and then follow up with Shannxxi and Shandong . I would’nt bother with Gansu or Anhui as they are spoken by only some 40 millions each . Yunnan could be useful in the north . If you have anytime left after that lot you could work on your Henan , Hubei ,
?
Heilonjiangfor fecks sake keep away from the Neimenggu dialect . Its more diificult than Glaswegian or West Cork .
http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/dialectm.htm
GF
certainly true that nobody expected Rudd’s sudden displacement, despite opinion polls showing a brutal fall in his popularity in recent months. It was Rudd himself who sent a staffer to check if he still had the numbers within his own party, to stay leader, so he clearly had a shortage of close friends who in the normal course of events would pass on the gossip about what the members are thinking.
The end for Rudd came within a few hours; was a lightning strike, with factional powerbrokers having done the numbers, and Gillard having been offered leadership; reports of her having 70% and Rudd having 30%, he conceeds defeat before the ballot is even held. Over in the blink of an eye.
Gillard will be good. With elections on the horizon, she is more fit than Rudd to oppose ‘Mad Monk’ Tony Abbott & his right wing religious nonsense. He seems to pose around a lot in very small speedos preaching on subjects like his opposition to sex before marriage, that kind of jazz. It’s a joy to behold Gillard decimate him in public debate. Can only get better.
Obviously the Aussies don’t ponce around like British labour or our FG opposition in Ireland . Brian Cowen our beleaguered Taoiseach will hope none of his internal opposition will be thinking of following Aussie ‘rules’ in leader displacement
Thanks for the update. I can’t imagine too many Australians falling for the ‘mad ‘ monk .
Maybe Abbott needs to stop preaching against ‘sex before marriage ‘ and adopt the policy stance of ‘sex ‘ after marriage . There could be votes there from the ‘macho male ‘ brigade and speedo wearers of somewhat advanced years _- probably lose him the female vote though
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Barry quite an interesting place for emigrants:
Bob Hope’s parents were from Barry as were Rolf Harris’s IIRC – it’s also got a special place in Welsh soccer history as Pat Van Der Hauwe qualified for Wales because of his Welsh brother – Barry Van Hire.
Did Bob ever make reference to his Welsh heritage?
I have heard about Rolf but wiki says “Named after Rolf Boldrewood, an Australian writer his mother admired, he was born in Bassendean, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia to Cromwell (“Crom”) Harris and Agnes Margaret Harris (née Robbins) who had both emigrated from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales”
Perhaps they move to Merthyr from Barry?
there is a political connection, with close ties between Methodism and the early Labour party,
There were also 2 Jewish Unionist Lord Mayors of Belfast, and I Believe one Catholic made it to Cabinet as Atorney General.
Hmm – I always link Rolf with Barry – I’ll do some digging – I think bob Hope visited in the seventies…(but I might be making that up as well…)
Wrong abour Rolf – no idea how I got that in me head….
FJH,
that’s a damned fine stat you have there.
Welsh Puns: Crys would be an ArthurHogg name for a Welsh Dry Cleaners.
Very good…Gwynfor Evans from Barry btw…
another good laddy.
Abbott, very much a ‘man’s man’; bush fire fighter; lifeguard & general nitty gritty bloke, has voiced an array of unfortunate opinions on issues like homosexuality & female virginity; so despite the six pack & Speedos, Australian women seem to have taken the stance that they would rather decapitate themselves than vote for him.
Rudd’s day, in his overwhelming banality, now done, leaves the way open for Gillard to get her teeth into (read: flirt with, laugh at, then dissemble mercilessly) Mad Monk’s macho conservatism (catholic btw).
Gillard incidentally, has a de facto partner (now first bloke) who happens to be a hairdresser (v. handy ‘cos she never has a bad hair day.)
Irish & English politics would benefit from a taking a leaf from Aussie politic: efficient leadership challenges from sharp & capable proponents. A better gender mix.
But the idea of Brian Clown in Speedos is a step too far.
Of all the Australians I know (plenty), not one has considered this a good thing. This kind of betrayal is viewed as most sinister and will come back to bite her. (Polls in favour of her have slumped already.) And does she really count as Australia’s first female prime minister if she wasn’t actually elected? Disgraceful. Indeed, a very dark day in politics for the country. Rudd was stabbed in the back by her and her underlings. He will be remembered for keeping the country out of recession, for his compassion, his commitment and his wisdom and his humble beginnings. Gillard will represent the demise of the Labour Party and will be remembered for undermining party faithful confidence, losing them the election and handing power to the Right Wingers on a platter. Her legacy will be a blight on the party and the system that allowed it to happen. Shame on her. A disgrace to women and a disgrace to Labour. Ugh! Lord have mercy on the poor, the sick and the uneducated, they are abandoned again.