Literal misuse of "literally"

Grammar is something I'm not sure any of us modern-day youngsters are confident of. Short of specialising in English grammar in college, I doubt any of us could with any confidence or certainty give definitions of the various tenses, rules and so on that govern the language we speak. I'm not sure our parents' generation had any clue. This is probably simply because we don't have time to worry about grammar.

Unless, of course, your job requires you to worry about grammar. Then you're in a really sticky situation. As a journalist (or an aspiring one, depending on how you define my current job) I am automatically expected to know my grammar. To be fair, I do consider myself fairly well versed in grammar and spelling. I was that nerdy little girl who always had her nose stuck in a book, and as a result I had a vocabulary wide enough to make me the butt of many jokes and the subject of ridicule in my primary school days. I did try to get them back by loudly correcting their ridiculous mistakes in class sometimes. What can I say, haters gonna hate.

Unfortunately, as an online journalist whose primary role involves photography, video filming and editing and other issues with web maintenance, I have been quite out of practice with writing, grammar, and general skills that every self-respecting journalist should really have for a year and a half now. The days I spent in the Evening Herald being yapped at down the phone for my barely passable writing are a distant memory. In a way I regret that, even if there was no real promise of a decent job out of it. I feel like I grew a lot while working there, even though it was only for a very short time. I think I react well to pressure in most cases, and I feel like that news editor was doing me a huge favour by picking up the phone and barking at me. It might have led me to an early stress-related heart attack one day, and it might not have been a terribly happy workplace, but I came on in leaps and bounds and I felt like a real writer. Now, I make very embarrassing spelling mistakes, and even occasionally grammar mistakes. In speaking, I've even slipped into bad habits. I don't think I've gone so far as to mix up "literally" and "figuratively" just yet, thankfully.

Ben Masters wrote a very interesting and amusing article on the misuse of "literally" for the Guardian recently, and I thought I'd share it here as it inspired me to do a little bit of soul searching where grammar is concerned.

It's true that many of us use words like "like" "sort of" and "literally" because of our insecurity - when we're unsure of what's real and what's not, we suspend reality and create sentences that are very non committal. This makes perfect sense to me - the more uninformed we are, the less confident we are about what we say to our peer group - we're afraid of getting it wrong and being ridiculed, so we generalise, or we ridicule.

Maybe it's time to dig out the ole grammar text book we used in college and trawl through it a bit. Or maybe it's just time I started writing proper, structured blog posts to keep my eye in...

Shakespeare & Company

I've had a fascination with this Paris bookshop since I first read about it when I lived there, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to watch an interview conducted by RTE with Sylvia Beach, founder of the original Shakespeare & Company.

The interview, recorded in 1962, is part of RTE's "TV50" programming, which takes a look back at the last 50 years on RTE. I have to say, I was really impressed by the interview, and TV50 in general. Kudos to RTE on a great idea and on some great work over the past 50 years. Take a look at it here.

Sylvia Beach's interview was actually recorded the same year that she died, aged 75, in her beloved Paris where she spent most of her life. On the encouragement of her friend Adrienne Monnier, Beach opened Shakespeare & Company in the 6th arrondissement in 1919. The bookshop functioned as a lending library as well as a store, and later provided shelter for struggling writers. Beach has some incredible tales of a very exciting time in Paris, when some of the most renowned books were published. Beach herself published Joyce's Ulysees in 1922.

While the shop closed during the Second World War before being famously "liberated" by Ernest Hemingway, it never re-opened. A new bookshop was opened in the 50s on the bank almost directly opposite Notre Dame, originally named "Le Mistral" but soon re-named "Shakespeare & Company" in honour of Beach. This was the shop I came across, and it has the exact atmosphere I imagine the original Shakespeare & Company must have. The wonderful smell of books old and new, stacked as high and as crooked as possible, and upstairs I found a wall where customers had left photos, metro tickets, and notes in many different languages. It really is a treasure, and has the feeling of being truly unique. Funnily, I must have been taking the wrong turns as each time I went to directly look for the shop I failed to find it but one day when I was wandering around aimlessly near Notre Dame, there it was. The romantic in me likes to think that the shop found me.

In any case, if you're ever in Paris, head to the rue de la Bucherie in the 5th arrondissement and spend some time in Shakespeare & Company.

Barack Obama's 2012 resolutions: floss more, resist temptation to detain "terrorists" indefinitely

It seems President Obama signed something pretty special into law on New Year's Eve. The NDAA (National Defense Authorisation Act) is the €662 billion act that will allow the President to detain anyone suspected of terrorism indefinitely and without trial. This includes American citizens on American soil as well as anyone, anywhere, at any time. I think this poster sums it up. I shudder to think how this act could be misused.

It hasn't gone unnoticed, nationally or internationally, with plenty of coverage from online media, which I've just been perusing.


The Huffington Post were quick to tell readers "Happy New Year: You can now be detained indefinitely".


It's also reported that the President had "serious reservations" about signing the bill, and even threatened to veto it before Congress added the provision that the authority to detain without trial or charge would lie only with the President.

Military detention wasn't the only feature of the bill - it also lays out how the military is to be funded, a matter close to any American administration's heart.

Indian Country reports that Amnesty International will join 45 other organisations in protesting the military detentions as well as the existance (still) of Guantanamo prison, outside the White House on January 11th - the 10th anniversary of the prison.

In a statement published on the White House website, the President explained why he signed the bill into law:

I have signed the Act chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense
of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service
members and their families, and vital national security programs that must be
renewed.

However, Obama admits to having reservations about certain provisions in the bill:

The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with
everything in it. In particular, I have signed this bill despite having
serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention,
interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.

The President also clarifies that his administration will not make use of this provision of the NDAA. That's all well and good, Obama, but you won't be in the White House forever. Assuming Obama makes good on his promise, there is nothing stopping future presidents from using this bill to control protests, terrorise the public into cowing down, and in general run amok. A very discouraging start to 2012.

Squinting to see the light at the end of the tunnel

Three people are sitting around a kitchen table littered with coffee cups, plates, and an ashtray. A cloud of cigarette smoke has settled above their heads. Puffing away as they sip their coffee, they discuss what has brought them here today. "Sure I'm after workin' it out, and all told the only difference between working and the dole for me is fifty euro" says the man, who has dropped in to tell the others he is closing down his taxi business after fifteen years. "Ah Seán, we'll be sorry to see you go. Service with a smile no matter what sort of state we were in" says one of the women, reminiscing about the years she had spent as a regular customer of Seán's taxi service. "Ye were always good to me so I said I'd drop in to let ye know what the story was," says the man.

Sitting there listening to the conversation, it struck me that at this very moment similar scenes might be unfolding in many houses across Ireland. People who have lost their jobs, closed down businesses, and people in even worse situations, discussing the facts in the gloomy, cold light of a September day in Ireland, and trying to stay positive despite the most chilling fact of all: this might be it for us as a country. Gloom and doom, just like it was in the 80s. My parents' generation are going to be lucky enough to have lived through not one, but two recessions. That is, if this one ever ends. What is truly terrifying about this one is the global nature of it - emigration was a clear option for my parents' generation - there were jobs in America, England, and so on. Now we're all in the same boat as America's economy was last week deemed to be in serious trouble by the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, they've been lecturing Europe on getting more aggressive with their crisis response. Can anyone say people in glasshouses?

I'm one of the (extremely) lucky ones. I have a job, which I never stop being grateful for, but which I am well aware could disappear at any time. For the moment though I'll just focus on praying to whatever's out there to let me keep working. Please, please please.

On a positive note, Twitter have announced they are setting up an international office in Dublin - which can only mean jobs. Read all about it here.

Oh and just because I feel bad about being such a downer with this post, here's another positive story, about drugs company Pfizer's €200m investment in Ireland.

Just for the craic, take a look at my video of Taoiseach Enda Kenny's trip to the Ploughing Championships. It was a really interesting (if exhausting) workday for me, and if I'm honest I actually had a great time despite the stress of trying to elbow my way through the crowds swarming around the Taoiseach for long enough to get a decent shot. The atmosphere at the Ploughing is really infectious, everyone just seemed to be buzzing and having a good time and I couldn't help but smile along with them. Not to mention I always enjoy witnessing politics in action, having been an avid observer since a young age.

Finally, to end on an even more positive note, Saudi Arabia has given women the right to vote. Good on ya, Saudi. Now all you have to do is stop beheading them in public squares for baring their ankles in public. (I jest, the public beheadings were for women who committed adultery. Totally justified like.) Also, women in Saudi still can't hold a drivers' licence, leave the country without written permission from a male guardian (husband, father, brother, etc), work or even have certain medical procedures without said written permission. Thank God for that, I don't think I'd know what to do with myself in a world where Saudi Arabia gave women their human rights. That would be a world gone topsy turvy.

On a serious note, the situation in Saudi is a farce, and it's massively offensive to even think about it, so I can't even imagine how horrific it must be to live like that. In any case, this is a step in the right direction and hopefully the Saudi government will continue in the same vein and lift these ridiculous restrictions on women so they can live their lives. I have a feeling the religious big wigs of Saudi will have something to say about that, however, since they were the ones driving the imposition of sharia law. I still find it hard to believe that my aunt brought her two young daughters to live in that country - at least they're safe on a Western compound. Still, it's like being under siege rather than living free. Cmon Saudi, join us all in the 21st century, give women their lives back.

In the spirit of votes for women, I want to pause for a moment to show respect for Inez Milholland Boissevain, an American suffragette and all around amazing woman who died campaigning for women's suffrage. Look her up!

9 people I would vote into the Áras

As the race for presidential nominations gets more and more incredible, I thought I'd think up a list of people I would actually vote for in the upcoming presidential election.

In no particular order:

1. An inanimate carbon rod.

2. Louis Walsh.

3. Jim Corr.

4. Jedward.

5. Mary Byrne.

6. Gay Byrne.

7. Mary Black.

8. DJ Carey.

9. Jessica Simpson. (I'm sure she has Irish genes in there somewhere).

The above list would, in my opinion, be less annoying and farcical than the shenanigans we've seen over the past few months regarding the various presidential hopefuls and the merry dance they've been led on by the media, indecisive political parties, and the fickle public. I'm sure everyone on my list has at some point written an inappropriate letter to someone, just like everyone looking for a nomination, but we'll just have to get over that. Let's face it - if we want a president who has never tried to use their position to influence a court case, we're looking in all the wrong places.

Another post dedicated to our future evil overlords - China

I'm slightly nervous writing this. Mainly because I'm nervous that the Chinese snatchers (yes, that's a Harry Potter reference) are going to burst in the door and shoot me any minute. Oh and they'll then send my family the bill for the bullet they wasted on my worthless traitor self(apparently they really do that in China).

I say "another post" because a long time ago I started posting here with a little rant on the cruelty inflicted on moon bears in China for their bile. If you feel like having your heart broken...have a look back here.


China's going about world domination in a very modern manner : no old fashioned rape and pillage for them, these guys are going to start taking over slowly...by gaining control of the news. Their new "news service" which is either called CNC World, CCTV News, or CNTV (it seems to use all three of those names at different times) is the Chinese Government's thinly veiled propaganda machine. Their "about" section describes them as "a national web-based TV broadcaster" and breaks their initials down as "China Network Television" or CNTV.



Recently a friend of mine linked a particularly disturbing article from the site on the 60th anniversary of the "peaceful liberation" of Tibet. This led to much confusion as I wondered "but...isn't Tibet occupied...? By the Chinese...?" Yes. The Chinese swooped in and heroically liberated poor defenceless Tibet from the clutches of the Dalai Lama. Now they're celebrating it, and spreading the good word to all their viewers listeners and readers across the world. Essentially they're trying to brainwash the masses.


Exhibit A: Full Text: Sixty Years since peaceful liberation of Tibet


Why, there's even a handy "Learn Chinese" section so we can speak the tongue of our overlords. Isn't that nice of them. We might as well do it now, god knows our grandchildren will be speaking Chinese as a mother tongue.


Have a gander at the whole website and you'll see our future. Maybe I'm being a little overdramatic, but it is starting to scare me.


Now when you really think about it, how is this any different from America telling the world they've "liberated" the Middle East? It IS different, but it's also the same thing. The main difference I see, depressingly, is that America is a more merciful overlord than China will be. The way this world works is that we will have one superpower or more dominating at all times, but superpowers don't stay superpowers forever (stop me if I'm getting too technical...). America is waning, and China is ready to jump right into their spot as the world's main superpower. It doesn't look like there is anything we can do to stop it at this point.


CNC World or whatever they want to call themselves have also hired a few Irish journalists to sell their souls, cough, I mean, work for them. It seems to me (from witnessing them at work at a recent press conference I was covering) that these guys don't know one end of a camera from the other, and they simply ignore the poor Irish journo who is trying to understand why they haven't plugged into the sound desk. The camera crew chattered away in Chinese while poor Irish guy was there getting more and more frustrated and being completely left out. These poor things seem to be nothing more than a friendly, familiar face for some of the Irish stories, probably to get more Irish people watching. Sorry guys, as long as you continue to produce such shoddy packages you won't be getting any kind of massive audience over here.


I'm not trying to claim that my own work is exactly art, but in all honesty some of the packages produced by these guys look like they were made by a 3 year old child. It almost might be a prank it's so ridiculous. No offence to the reporters, it's the camera crews and editors who are the real offenders here. A colleague suggested to me they might simply be relatives of some influential people who thought "filming? editing? I can do that" and were put on the first plane to Ireland.


Anyway, I'm sure they're not all evil brainwashing thugs who would as soon shoot us as talk to us, but I can't help but be a bit apprehensive about the upcoming Chinese takeover. I'm just hoping Ireland is small and insignificant enough that they'll leave us alone. Or at least send their most goofy, hapless henchmen after us. So far that seems to be their policy.



Meanwhile of course, the Government is only too delighted to beg for more Chinese investment.... Exhibit B: Taoiseach Enda Kenny's speech at the 22nd Annual Conference of the Chinese Economic Association. "The scale of China is staggering". Yes, Taoiseach, yes it is.



Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a leaf out of my Newshound Max's book and try to sleep through China's "peaceful liberation" of Ireland...

The Pope tweets...

This is nuts. Am I the only one who thinks this is nuts? The Catholic Church, famous for stubbornly living by rules laid out (supposedly) thousands of years ago, have decided to jump into the 21st century.

TheJournal.ie reports that Pope Benedict sent his first tweet today, launching a news service and Twitter account for the Vatican news. The news and information service, http://www.news.va/, is a colourful and social media-friendly website in a similar style to many of the Government news and information services launched in the past few years, for example http://www.number10.gov.uk/ and http://www.whitehouse.gov/, or in fact the website I work for, http://www.merrionstreet.ie/.

The Pope's Tweet reads:

Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ!
With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI

This is quite a historic moment, and very exciting to see. The Pope sent his first tweet from an ipad, and the historic event was filmed and uploaded to the internet, where it has gathered over 41,000 views so far on youtube.

It seems to me that I've gotten involved in the right game - the internet, social media, and websites are the way forward. Everyone that's anyone has a website, much like everyone that's anyone used to have a mobile phone, or a colour television, or a telephone. Now it has become an unavoidable trend worldwide for Governments and major organisations to not only have a website, but a "news service". Since I work for one such "news service" I have an inside view of this emerging trend, and I'm still undecided as to whether it will work out for the best. In one way, it brings all of these organisations into the spotlight even more than they were already in the spotlight, and it shows they've taken the time to come up with a proper communications strategy, and will take the time to communicate with the public. It also makes it easier for the public to access information and make contact with said organisation - I get plenty of calls and enquiries from people looking to take part in grant schemes, internship schemes, and so on. If http://www.merrionstreet.ie/ wasn't here, these calls would have gone straight to the Department and might not have gotten very far.

However in one way all we are is a middleman between the public and the organisation. There is also the fact that what we communicate is what the organisation wants us to communicate, and let's face it - we'll never be the ones at the front of the wolfpack at the doorsteps, shouting out the hard questions. I personally hope to be there someday, but this website certainly won't be.

That said, I firmly believe in what I'm doing at the moment. Apart from making speeches, press releases, statements, doorsteps and photographs available to the public on one single platform, we also give coverage to positive news stories that the mainstream media are notorious for ignoring. As an aspiring member of the mainstream media, the last thing I would do is question their role in society, but one often hears people say they stopped listening to/reading the news from Irish media, as it had all become so negative and defeatus. Yesterday I interviewed Aidan Cotter, the CEO of Bord Bia, about how well Irish food exports have been doing, and that is a positive story plain and simple, and I refuse to allow anyone to call it Government spin. It's simply another side to the news - and something that wouldn't be considered newsworthy by the newspapers or the broadcasters.

I can't speak for the other organisations who have similar websites to MerrionStreet.ie, however. Downing Street and the Whitehouse take different approaches in a lot of ways, and I'm not even going to try to comment on them. The Vatican will be an interesting one to watch, and certainly a source for news stories for news outlets around the world. I remain slightly suspicious of it, but it's rare enough that we get a glimpse into the inner workings of the Vatican, so I'll wait before I pass my judgement on it.

One more thing: if the Church is perfectly happy to modernise itself by joining Twitter and having a bigger online presence, will it perhaps join the rest of us in the real world and admit that some of their policies are ridiculous? Perhaps they will allow women to become priests? Certainly no member of the clergy I've ever asked about that (and I have asked them) has been able to give me a clear, sensible answer as to why women aren't accepted as priests. I'd hazard a guess that it's pure misogyny, however. Perhaps the Church might also find it in their hearts to forgive those heathens who use contraception to prevent themselves contracting AIDs? The list goes on.

I doubt it, though. A Twitter account does not a modern Pope make. Especially when all he has to do is smile, nod and press the button to post something someone else wrote for him.