Morally high pulpit? Not at all. I havenât attacked anyoneâs opinion on the subject either way, merely the fact that the strident proffering of both sides of the argument bores me every year. It is they who are atop their respective high horse.
If something bores me, can I not say so?
@Il Bomber Destro giving a tour de force here.
Piles was destroyed there. Unreal, unbelievable.
Surprise, surpriseâŚNiall Quinn, front and centre.
Someone dropped about 20 of the things through my sonâs motherâs letter box in a bag.
No idea why.
I might sell them and drink Lee Cleggâs pints.
Thatâs all well and good. Iâve been to Ypres meself and walked the Ypres Salient. Iâve visited the trenches - German and British. Iâve visited Willie Redmonds lonely grave and the Irish memorial at Messines. I was genuinely horrified at the slaughter and the scar the war left on the countryside 100 years later.
But thatâs a different kettle of fish to wearing a poppy. People make the mistake that the things are a harmless gesture of commemoration for a fallen generation. Theyâre not. They are the major fundraising tool for the Royal British Legion and by buying them you are financing the British war machine, perpetuating the slaughter you think you are commemorating, making a mockery of the notion of a war to end all wars.
[QUOTE=âFagan ODowd, post: 1039316, member: 706â]Thatâs all well and good. Iâve been to Ypres meself and walked the Ypres Salient. Iâve visited the trenches - German and British. Iâve visited Willie Redmonds lonely grave and the Irish memorial at Messines. I was genuinely horrified at the slaughter and the scar the war left on the countryside 100 years later.
But thatâs a different kettle of fish to wearing a poppy. People make the mistake that the things are a harmless gesture of commemoration for a fallen generation. Theyâre not. They are the major fundraising tool for the Royal British Legion and by buying them you are financing the British war machine, perpetuating the slaughter you think you are commemorating, making a mockery of the notion of a war to end all wars.[/QUOTE]
I donât choose to wear one. I have no problem with people that do. I wouldnât question their motives which may in each case be slightly different. Many , I am sure, simply see it as a remembrance for those who fell in the first world war, even though it has, as you say, been hijacked and twisted by both sides of the debate. Itâs a personal thing. I de feel strongly that if a nation is going to send people into war, it should look after them on return, but they donât seem to in the UK or elsewhere. There are worse charities on an individual level I suppose.
PS, I thought the money was used to support those who had died or returned scarred or injured physically or mentally. Surely it is not spent on active war mongering??? That would be genuinely shocking. Our own govt enthusiastically backed the âwar on terrorâ. IMHO, Blair has the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands, and should be tried as a war criminal. A surprising number of English people think the same.
The British Legion is as much a part of the infrastructure of war as it is a charity. If the Britsh State had to fund the welfare of returning vets instead of pawning the task off to a supposed charity then it would soften its cough a bit before embarking on the next rip.ping adventure. It should also give some pause for thought as to what a militaristic society Britain is and how ingrained warmongering is in their society that a body like the British Legion can raise so much money every year
[QUOTE=âflattythehurdler, post: 1039342, member: 1170â]PS, I thought the money was used to support those who had died or returned scarred or injured physically or mentally. Surely it is not spent on active war mongering??? That would be genuinely shocking. Our own govt enthusiastically backed the âwar on terrorâ. IMHO, Blair has the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands, and should be tried as a war criminal.
I would also remind you that 2 million people marched in London in protest against that awful oil grab. The majority of the population were against it.[/QUOTE]
by that token about 58 million werenât that troubled by the awful oil grab.
By that token the vast majority support Irish water. Spurious argument as you well know.
The electorate will reelect a government that supports the establishment of Irish Water in the same way that the British consistently elect pro war parties.
A weird blood lust memorial vibe has developed in England over the last decade.
Saw Stefan Freund and that Honnigstein guy wearing them in the BT studio for the Bayern/Dortmund game last night. I found that funny.
Thatâs because the establishment, the military industrial complex and the media need to keep the populace on a war footing and this is all part of the normalisation of war.
[ATTACH=full]1900[/ATTACH] @theLockes[/USER] and [USER=363]@Piles Hussain out collecting in Kilkenny last night.
I saw a guy wearing what looked like a blue poppy in krakow today.
Poppyâs seem to have become compulsory there.
Strawman.
In the interests of fairness, Niall Quinn on Sky Sports 4 tonight without a poppy.