tagged w/ poppy
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By Glenn Simpson,WWH – Remembrance Day in Britain, this year, falling on the 11/11/11 has taken on a little more meaning than usual. Not just for the numeric oddity of the date itself but, also because of a Soccer match, at Wembley Stadium in London, on Saturday night.By Glenn Simpson,WWH – Remembrance Day in Britain, this year, falling on the... more
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A controversial Muslim group that planned to hold a ‘Hell for heroes’ protest on Armistice Day has been banned from operating in the UK.
The Muslims Against Crusades group were due to hold their demonstration at the Royal Albert Hall today but Home Secretary Theresa May blocked the event by banning members from operating after midnight on Thursday 11th November.
May stated that she is satisfied that the group was the same as the organization that had previously operated under the name of Al Ghurabaa, The Saved Sect, Al Muhajiround and Islam4UK.
Previous Muslims Against Crusades protests have included the burning of a poppy on Remembrance Sunday in 2010, following which Emdadur Choudhur was fined £50 for carrying out the act.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3927122/Poppy-burn-group-banned-by-May.htmlA controversial Muslim group that planned to hold a ‘Hell for heroes’... more
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With the rise of Twitter and the social dominance of Facebook, people are going beyond just buying a poppy, and embracing ways to support Remembrance Day online as well.
There's a few ways to get involved:
Donate online:
The British Legion's website accepts single donations or direct debits.
By Text:
Text Poppy to 70090 to make a £5 donation to the Royal British Legion. At least £4 of that goes to them.
Text Poppy to 85552 to get a poppy wallpaper sent to your phone. Cost: £1.50.
Twibbons:
Add a poppy to the lower corner of your Facebook or Twitter profile picture, like so:
Unlike previous charity Twibbon campaigns, this one has missed a trick by not asking people to donate money to the British Legion first. Daft but rectifiable.
An alternative is the RBL's official poppy twibbon.
Buy the charity single:
Thom Yorke, Mark Ronson, Brian Ferry, tennis player Andy Murray, actor David Tennant and Prime Minister David Cameron (among several others) have teamed up for a bizarre single to mark November 11th's Remembrance Day.
Rather than any music or vocals, the track, entitled '2 Minute Silence', simply features two minutes of no sound whatsoever. No, seriously. The famous folks mentioned above star in a video in which they stand staring at the camera in silence (a snippet of which is shown below).
The song is available to buy now; and the hope is to raise lots of money for the Royal British Legion.
All proceeds will ultimately benefit British military veterans. "Rather than record a song, we felt the UK public would recognize the poignancy of silence and its clear association with remembrance," said Chris Simpkins, the Director General of the Royal British League.
With the rise of Twitter and the social dominance of Facebook, people are going beyond... more
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richjm
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The 63 year-old told news presenter started an online row with a viewer on his Snowblog and twitter account after he was told he was "dishonouring" the war dead when not wearing a poppy on TV. As a retaliation Snow told the viewer to get “on yer bike” and that “Hitler lost the war”. The viewer, who gave his name as Stan, posted the comment saying:
"Jon,when you ride your bike,do you ever think of the hundreds of thousands of british troops who gave there lives in world war 2 tokeep our great country free you alone dishonour them by not wearing a poppy. YOU LOOK WHAT YOU ARE ON YOUR BIKE."
But the criticism provoked an emphatic response from Snow, who said:
"Stan they died that we might be free to wear a Poppy whenever we wish. I wish to wear mine on Remembrance Sunday. When you wish to wear yours is your business. Compelling people to wear poppies because YOU think they OUGHT to is precisely the Poppy fascism, or intolerance, that I have complained of in the past."
In 2006 Snow sparked controversy by refusing to wear a Remembrance Day poppy on air in protest at "poppy fascism". At the time he said: "I am begged to wear an Aids ribbon, a breast cancer ribbon, a Marie Curie flower... You name it, from the Red Cross to the RNIB, they send me stuff to wear to raise awareness, and I don't."And in those terms, and those terms alone, I do not and will not wear a poppy."
Is he right or is he out of line? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
The 63 year-old told news presenter started an online row with a viewer on his... more
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Visitors to Monticello don't learn how Jefferson cultivated poppies, and his personal opium use may as well never have happened.
March 3, 2010 |
The following is an excerpt from Jim Hogshire's "Opium for the Masses: Harvesting Nature's Best Pain Medication" (Feral House, 2009).
Thomas Jefferson was a drug criminal. But he managed to escape the terrible sword of justice by dying a century before the DEA was created. In 1987 agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency showed up at Monticello, Jefferson's famous estate.
Jefferson had planted opium poppies in his medicinal garden, and opium poppies are now deemed illegal. Now, the trouble was the folks at the Monticello Foundation, which preserves and maintains the historic site, were discovered flagrantly continuing Jefferson's crimes. The agents were blunt: The poppies had to be immediately uprooted and destroyed or else they were going to start making arrests, and Monticello Foundation personnel would perhaps face lengthy stretches in prison.
The story sounds stupid now, but it scared the hell out of the people at Monticello, who immediately started yanking the forbidden plants. A DEA man noticed the store was selling packets of "Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Poppies." The seeds had to go, too. While poppy seeds might be legal, it is never legal to plant them. Not for any reason.Visitors to Monticello don't learn how Jefferson cultivated poppies, and his... more
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“CONSPIRACY THEORY” BECOMES REALITY IN THE NEW CIA/BLACKWATER PARTNERSHIP
By Ahmed Quereshi
“When these CIA agents killed a couple of Chinese engineers back in 2004, CIA psy-ops used the incident to put the blame on Afghan Taliban, thereby creating doubts in the minds of Chinese officials that Pakistani intelligence might have had something to do with this since Pakistan maintained ties with the Afghan Taliban government in Afghanistan before 2002.”
CIA needs authorization from US Congress before launching covert operations in other countries. Congress approves releasing funds for the operations.
Because of this requirement CIA has to give people in government details about the covert operations it is asking money for.
To avoid this disclosure, CIA has been looking for funding from other sources to launch ‘rogue’ operations, ones that are not fully endorsed by the government.
In Afghanistan, CIA has launched several covert operations since 2002 meant to target not al-Qaeda or Taliban but some of the neighboring countries whose policies may not sync with US interests.
For example, Pakistan allowed Chinese personnel to build a huge strategic seaport called Gawadar. This Chinese presence was not in US interest. So CIA used Karzai’s intelligence people and India’s offer of help to target Chinese engineers in Pakistan. CIA did this quite successfully by slipping terrorists inside Pakistan pretending to be Taliban or al Qaeda.
It was easy for CIA agents to carry out this operation because Pakistan under former president Pervez Musharraf had granted US personnel, civilian and military, unprecedented freedom of movement within the country.
When these CIA agents killed a couple of Chinese engineers back in 2004, CIA psy-ops used the incident to put the blame on Afghan Taliban, thereby creating doubts in the minds of Chinese officials that Pakistani intelligence might have had something to do with this since Pakistan maintained ties with the Afghan Taliban government in Afghanistan before 2002.
Similarly, CIA launched covert operations against Iran, western China and Pakistan. It used Afghan soil in all of them, which made logistical issues pertaining to these operations much easier.
Where did the money come from for all of these operations?
Some of the money came from the US government, which has an anti-Iran covert program running until now from the Bush days. Nothing secret here. But not all CIA operations in Afghanistan are funded by the US government.
It is believed that many CIA operations inside Pakistan and China received partial or no funding from the US government. These operations were meant to create ethnic, sectarian and political turmoil in Pakistan, and ethnic turmoil in China, especially in Tibet and Xinjiang.
CIA developed a new source of funding to finance these rogue operations.
The Afghan Taliban almost destroyed the Afghan opium trade, a feat unparalleled in the history of Afghanistan. It was near impossible for anyone to impose such discipline on a chaotic nation like Afghanistan.
After 2002, drug production and trade grew by leaps. CIA introduced latest drug production and transportation techniques to Afghanistan, learned from CIA operations in South America.
CIA also recruited all the main Afghan drug barons. Almost all of them are on CIA’s payroll, or were so until early 2010.
Some of these AFghan drug barons were actually rewarded. CIA recommended some of them to US government and military as legitimate powerbrokers who deserved a share in the Kabul government.
This is one facet of the multidimensional role that CIA played in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2010 to disturb regional balance of power and pursue US strategic interests beyond the immediate goals of America’s war on terror.“CONSPIRACY THEORY” BECOMES REALITY IN THE NEW CIA/BLACKWATER PARTNERSHIP... more
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The 19 year old student who was caught urinating over a war memorial has been told he could face jail time for his actions.
Laing, who appeared in the dock wearing a poppy, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency when he appeared at Sheffield Magistrates' Court. He is said to have been too drunk to remember any of the events of that night.
Prosecutor Ian Conway said Laing had immediately admitted the offence when arrested and told police he was "very, very drunk, the drunkest I've ever been since I've been at university." Although I don't see that this excuses his actions, nobody forced the alcohol on him and he should have been responsible for hi actions when drunk.
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5A32L720091104The 19 year old student who was caught urinating over a war memorial has been told he... more
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Wallabies snacking in Tasmania's legally grown opium poppy fields are getting ``high as a kite'' and hopping around in circles, trampling the crops, a state official said.Wallabies snacking in Tasmania's legally grown opium poppy fields are getting... more
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Sarah takes a look back at some of her favorite Target Women pods.
For more Sarah Haskins: http://current.com/topics/88794117/sarah_haskins/new/0.htm
For more Target Women: http://current.com/topics/88813968/target_women/new/0.htm
Target Women is a recurring segment on Current TV's weekly television show, infoMania. In each episode of Target Women, Sarah Haskins takes a look at the often-ridiculous way the media reaches out to women.
infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at http://current.com/infomania. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at http://infomaniafacebook.com.Sarah takes a look back at some of her favorite Target Women pods.
For more Sarah... more
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All across the UK today, ceremonies and service will be taking place to remember the fallen men and women who lost their lives in all past and current wars.
The Queen will be leading the tributes at the Cenotaph in London while troops on active duty will be carrying out their own services in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This year's events fall just two days before the 90th anniversary of the armistice, the end of World War I, where around 900,000 men and women in the British armed forces died during the conflict.
Three veterans, the youngest aged 108, will be at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Tuesday, 90 years to the minute since the ceasefire.
All across the UK today, ceremonies and service will be taking place to remember the... more
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Recapturing Musa Qala from the Taliban is more than an important morale-boosting event for Nato and Afghan forces, writes Richard Norton-Taylor
Richard Norton-Taylor Guardian Unlimited, Tuesday December 11 2007 Article history · Contact us Contact usClose Report errors or inaccuracies: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Letters for publication should be sent to: letters@guardian.co.uk If you need help using the site: userhelp@guardian.co.uk Call the main Guardian and Observer switchboard:
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Advertising guide License/buy our content About this articleClose This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Tuesday December 11 2007. It was last updated at 15:12 on December 11 2007.
An Afghan farmer tends to poppy plants. Photograph: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
Musa Qala town lies in a rich, opium poppy-growing area of Helmand, the southern Afghanistan province that supplies about half of the world's opium and, in turn, some 90% of the heroin on British streets.
The poppy, General Khodaidad, the Afghan counter-narcotics minister, said in an interview with the Guardian, is the biggest problem facing the country.
"Poppies are feeding terrorism in Afghanistan", he said. The problems they created were "bigger than terrorism, bigger than al-Qaida, bigger than warlordism, bigger than corruption".
Drug money bought the weapons, ammunition and explosives that were smuggled over Helmand's borders with Pakistan and Iran, Khodaidad said.
British military commanders distance themselves from the battle against drugs. They are concerned about the backlash if they get directly involved in destroying poppies, a vital crop for so many Afghans and their families.
According to the latest annual report of the UN office on drugs and crime, the total export value of the country's opium harvest amounts to more than $3bn (£1.5bn), almost half the size of the country's entire gross domestic product. More than 12% of Afghanistan's population of 23m is involved in opium poppy cultivation.
Khodaidad said the Afghan government, having seen off US proposals to spray the crops with chemicals, was changing tactics. Instead of trying to apply throughout the country directions imposed from on high from Kabul, he and his officials will adopt a more subtle, carrot-and-stick approach. This would involve local councils and tribal elders in a counter-narcotics drive, offering alternative employment to farmers in projects such as building bridges, roads, and schools, and industries including carpet-weaving, the minister said.
Provinces that agreed to get rid of opium poppies would be rewarded with $1m, with the promise of more to come, he said.
Last year, the number of provinces that agreed to stop opium poppy cultivation had increased fom six to 13; poppy growing had been reduced or abandoned in four other provinces - Nangahar, Badakhshan, Laghman, and Baghlan - Khodaidad said. But he admitted it would be a long time before the problems caused by opium poppies would disappear. Gordon Brown is expected to raise the issue in his statement to the Commons on Afghanistan tomorrow.
Recapturing Musa Qala from the Taliban is more than an important morale-boosting event... more
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The War on Drugs. The War on Terror. Narco-Terrorism. Prior to 9/11, the poppy production levels in Afghanistan were at a low and many of the Taliban were against heroin and the poppies. However, since U.S. forces entered after 9/11, the poppy crop has skyrocketed. The UN released a report saying that the six-year boom has lead to the Afghan crop being responsible for 92% of the world's heroin trade. With Homeland Security and the War on Terror, it's amazing that the drug still gets into the USA, one of it's strongest marketplaces.The War on Drugs. The War on Terror. Narco-Terrorism. Prior to 9/11, the poppy... more
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