Talk:Sinéad O'Connor

Edit request on 13 February 2012 - regarding "Ton Ton Macoutes", which are NOT "Haitian zombies".

Please change reference to "Ton Ton Macoutes" as being "Haitian zombies" (ridiculous, actually) to read "Haitian paramilitary police". The Ton Ton Macoutes were the brutal paramilitary force employed by "Papa Doc" (Francois) Duvalier and, later, by his son "Baby Doc" (Jean Claude) Duvalier, to keep the Haitan masses "in check".

Thanks.

Jasmineprezeau (talk) 21:31, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Not done. In local slang the Haitian paramilitary police were called after the mythological monsters (see Tonton Macoutes). It was an unfortunate, if not foolish name to chose for a band in the 1980s, given the political overtones, but there you go. Span (talk) 21:46, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 24 February 2012 - regarding "Ton Ton Macoutes", which are NOT "Haitian zombies".

Please change "Haitian zombies" to "Haitian paramilitary police". I would strongly support the previous edit request. The text doesn't say "Ton Ton Macoutes", named after a paramilitary force which were known by locals as "Zombies". The text states that the Ton Ton Macoutes [sic] were zombies. They weren't. They were Duvalier's paramilitary force. Even if locals referred to them in slang terms as "zombies", that wouldn't mean they _were_ zombies, which are a very different and very specific thing. They _named_ them after a mythological bogeyman, because of their fearsome reputation. Anyone reading the text without knowing the background would assume that "Ton Ton Macoutes" were a type of Haitian zombie. If Wikipedia is supposed to be about educating people, then this goes completely against this. For the record, the Wikipedia entry that you cite never mentions "zombies", and certainly doesn't say that the locals called the Tonton Macoutes "zombies".

--Sunsetandcamden (talk) 19:15, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Y Done Bastun^{Ėġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ!} 19:39, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

I don't know a thing about Haitian myth. All I know is what the cited source says, and it doesn't say anything about bogeymen or gunnysacks. It says zombies, and I'm tired of people who aren't familiar with the source claiming it says something it doesn't say. If it pisses people off or is factually inaccurate, then it's best to remove it altogether instead of making something up and citing it to something that doesn't say that. Gamaliel (talk) 06:16, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

It seems pretty clear as it is to me. No need to over-egg it. Span (talk) 12:36, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

excommunication

it is my understanding (perhaps mistakenly) that she was excommunicated by the roman catholic church. this is definitely noteworthy to mention somewhere. there is only an inference that her actions are deemed worthy of excommunication.Newtonsghost (talk) 23:42, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Vandalism

Surely this sentence, in the Early Life section, is vandalism?

Sean O'Connor's efforts to secure custody of his children in a country which routinely denied custody to fathers and prohibited divorce, motivated him to become chairman of the Divorce Action Group and a prominent public spokesman. At one point, he even debated his wife on the subject on a radio show. InHaze (talk) 04:03, 5 March 2012 (UTC)