tagged w/ Rememberance Day
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WWI ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Many thanks to our veterans from all wars. Hopefully, one day they will work themselves out of a job.WWI ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Many thanks to our... more
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In honour of all the brave who fought in WWI and WWII, all those who sacrificed their life that we may live in relative freedom.In honour of all the brave who fought in WWI and WWII, all those who sacrificed their... more
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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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Editors Note: This article was written last Remembrance Day by Steve Rolles of the UK's Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Besides a steady growth in US Troop levels, political strife, and death tolls, little has changed in Afghanistan - and this post is as poignant today as it was a year ago.
Remembrance Sunday, a tradition that seemed to be waning in its national importance, has assumed a new meaning and relevance for the younger generations with the event of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The day is still marked by the wearing of poppies, a tradition that grew out of the emergence of the flowers on the battlefields in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France at the end of World War I.
It is hard to escape the dual-symbolism of the poppy in relation to the Afghanistan conflict. Over 800 coalition soldiers have died in Afghanistan, over a hundred of them British - at least some of which have been as a direct result of anti-drug operations aimed at eradicating the poppy harvest that provides the raw opium that in turn feeds over 90% the West's demand for illicit heroin. Many more Afghans have also died, both combatants and civilians. The symbolic historical links of the poppy with death are not just the blood red from battle fields but also the opium connection; the poppy being used as a traditional tombstone emblem to symbolise eternal sleep.
The Afghan conflict is, of course, more complex than merely a war on drugs, but the massive illicit profits that flow from the poppy fields are fueling the violence, and helping destabilize the entire region. Eradication of the illicit trade is a key element of the coalition and now NATO strategies into which billions of pounds has been poured, and for which no let up is on the horizon. Yet there is nothing from the experience of the past 7 years to suggest it is even remotely possible, as recent bumper harvests and stockpiling demonstrate.
It also needs to be repeated that it is the prohibition of opiates for non medical use that creates the illicit trade in the first instance. There is no violence, criminal profiteering or terrorism associated with the 50% of global poppy production (for medical use) that is entirely legal and regulated. It is prohibition that creates the link between drugs and terror, and prohibition that is responsible for the nexus of their respective wars - which become increasingly difficult to disentangle as each year passes.
If we do make the terrible decision to send soldiers to war, with all the consequences and bloodshed that entails, then we should have a damn good reason for doing it. An unwinnable and counterproductive war against drugs comes nowhere close. Whilst we remember our fallen soldiers with poppies, we should not forget that their fellow soldiers continue to die in a pointless fight against poppies.
We may not know yet how to solve the complex issues of international terrorism, but we do know how to solve the problems created by the drug war.
- Article from Transform Drug Policy Foundation on November 10, 2008.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/drug-war-remembranceEditors Note: This article was written last Remembrance Day by Steve Rolles of the... more
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John Prendergast's speech in front of the White house during the April 19th Honor the Past Act Now for Darfur rally. In recognition of Genocide Prevention Month event leading advocates for a genocide free Sudan spoke about the power of activism, and what needs to be done now for Darfur.
“There is a solution for Sudan and activism is essential for that solution,” said Enough Project co-founder Prendergast. Prendergast urged the audience to help send thousands of postcards to Obama's desk and to call government officials, and to contact the media to remind President Obama that he has the unique opportunity to lead a global push for peace in Sudan. "President Obama we are calling/we are counting on you and Sudan is counting on you."
A few days later on April 23rd, President Obama gave a speech at the U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum. A video of the speech can be found at the link below,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPAuzo6tQUo
Here are a few words from Obama's speech,
"Today, and every day, we have an opportunity – and an obligation – to confront these scourges. To fight the impulse to turn the channel when we see images that disturb us, or wrap ourselves in the false comfort that others’ suffering is not our problem. And to instead make a habit of empathy; to recognize ourselves in each other; and to commit ourselves to resisting injustice, intolerance and indifference in whatever forms they may take -- whether confronting those who tell lies about history, or doing everything we can to prevent and end atrocities like those that took place in Rwanda, and those taking place in Darfur. That is my commitment as President…So today, during this season when we celebrate liberation, resurrection and the possibility of redemption, may each of us renew our resolve to do what must be done. And may we strive each day, both individually and as a nation, to be among the righteous."
Sounds like we're moving in the right direction, as slow as it may be.
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Be a voice for Darfur,
http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yesJohn Prendergast's speech in front of the White house during the April 19th Honor... more
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"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.”
Wilfred Owen - died 1918
Ninety years ago at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month the great guns fell silent and Europe experienced a silence it had not known in years. It was the end of the “Great War,” the War to end all Wars. Today, we know that was a hopeful but futile sentiment as the War to end all Wars is now known as World War I."Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we... more
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It is Poppy Day (Rememberance Day, Memorial Day), and I post this flower in rememberance and honour of my father who was a war hero in both WWI (captain in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Russia) and WWII (major in the Intelligence Corps, UK), and whose war injuries led to the illness that finally killed him a few years after WWII.It is Poppy Day (Rememberance Day, Memorial Day), and I post this flower in... more
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