Lest we forget.

[The Ghost of Thomas Moore]

Today, in churches and War Memorials and Rugby grounds thousands will take part in the Act of Remembrance.

In the losses that we at Ulster Rugby have suffered this year it may have gone unnoticed that Ulster and Irish International prop, Miss Lauren Day, lost her sister Channing. She paid a moving and emotional tribute to her sister.

I trust it is not out of place for those of us who observe such things to simply say,

They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.

I have now finished a short piece which I would like to dedicate to Channing.


"Poppies"

From Flanders fields to Helmand Province,
The poppies they still grow,
The faces of the soldiers change,
But the poppies they still blow.

Each crop of poppies is our loss,
The pain of loss won't yield,
Fresh faced children aren't replaced,
Like poppies in a field.

[Surrey Red Hand]

Shame the Cliftonville 'fans' couldn't respect it ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqZ5wsfRDEs

[Samstew]

As ever, another beautiful piece by The Ghost of Thomas Moore

[bootlaced]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntt3wy-L8Ok

[Shan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntt3wy-L8Ok

Always like this song. It is in agreement with me that we have only partially learned our lessons. The people of the world are still engaging in wars. The big difference is that not much of these days takes place in Europe and none in Western Europe.

That said when you break through all the sophistication and civilisation we still have things we want to take and other things we want to protect from others. For a hungry man food is what he needs and he will fight for it if necessary. For a cold man shelter etc, For a rich man power etc.

Who would deny a poor man food? Somebody who wants more than what they need.

We shall never be fully free of it because we have never been able to figure out a solution to the age old problem of trying to provide everything we want with limited resources. At the end of it all most wars are about some form of this. Some have the added bonus of pretending to be about different belief systems as well. However the supreme being is a resource too. People want to protect their path to his door. The belief is more about being conditioned to believe there is only one possible route which creates an enviroment similar to that of a scarce resource.

[BaggyTrousers]

Nice work Sir Tom. The eternal shame is that most of the poor souls we are remembering died playing rich men's games.

[Gary]

Moving words Sir Tom.

Unfortunately the deaths and horrific injuries will continue as long as selfish, glory-seeking politicians can send our young people to fight on their behalf. Perhaps we need a law to demand that any P.M. declaring war must send his eldest child to the front line with a rifle.


" Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism." - Martin Luther King jnr

[BaggyTrousers]

Old MLK Jnr knew a thing or two Gary

[Samstew]

Nice work Sir Tom. The eternal shame is that most of the poor souls we are remembering died playing rich men's games.

You have hit the nail on the head with that Baggy, I've been saying that for years.
Such a terrible waste for all and like Shan has said, whilst there is greed, it will never stop.

[AyeYerMa]

Nice work Sir Tom. The eternal shame is that most of the poor souls we are remembering died playing rich men's games.

You have hit the nail on the head with that Baggy, I've been saying that for years.
Such a terrible waste for all and like Shan has said, whilst there is greed, it will never stop.

There will always be greed. Extrapolate.

[rocky]

A couple of years ago, the Social Secretary and I went to the Somme and saw the Theipval Monument and the Ulster Tower, etc, as well as finding out more about the battle itself. It was an incredibly moving day for us and it was extremely difficult to remain dry-eyed, Actually, it was impossible. I came away with two main thoughts. Firstly - what an unbelievable waste. Secondly - have we learned anything from it all? Sadly, my only conclusion is that the only thing we have learned is how to kill more efficiently.
Another British soldier was killed in Helmand on Sunday, bringing the total to well over 400 in Afghanistan. And for what? I've heard it said that, for the USA, war is an economic necessity - they need to have a war on-going to support the industries that service their huge military machine. The loss of life (civilian as well as military) is seen as an unfortunate but necessary side-effect. How appalling!!!

[AyeYerMa]

A couple of years ago, the Social Secretary and I went to the Somme and saw the Theipval Monument and the Ulster Tower, etc, as well as finding out more about the battle itself. It was an incredibly moving day for us and it was extremely difficult to remain dry-eyed, Actually, it was impossible. I came away with two main thoughts. Firstly - what an unbelievable waste. Secondly - have we learned anything from it all? Sadly, my only conclusion is that the only thing we have learned is how to kill more efficiently.
Another British soldier was killed in Helmand on Sunday, bringing the total to well over 400 in Afghanistan. And for what? I've heard it said that, for the USA, war is an economic necessity - they need to have a war on-going to support the industries that service their huge military machine. The loss of life (civilian as well as military) is seen as an unfortunate but necessary side-effect. How appalling!!!

Meh.... The US have the biggest arms trade in the world, but it's still only a tiny fraction of their GNP, if you jiggle the figures a bit and look at per capita earnings Bae Systems trump just about everybody else in the world in terms of arms sales.

So... In real terms, you could say the British economy relies to a greater degree on the arms trade than the US does. And we don't rely on it that much.

The late Pax Americana/Cold War was the time to be in weapons business.

[rocky]

You are right, I'm sure, Aye - better info than me. But, can you think back and find any significant period of time since WW2 when the USA wasn't planning, implementing or withdrawing from military action somewhere on the globe? They have the cheek to call themselves the world's policeman but really, they are the world's warmongers and, to do that, they need a huge military machine, therefore huge supplies of machinery, munitions and men. The loss of the first two doesn't cause a lot of grief but the loss of the men is a life-wrecking event for many, many others.
Also, while much is made of the loss of military lives, there is little thought given to the far greater loss of (innocent) civilian life, it seems to me. Now that they can kill people with drone strikes from the comfort of an office in the Pentagon, It looks as though things will get worse, not better, in terms of "collateral damage", a terrible euphemism if ever I heard one.

[big mervyn]

Done that WW1 battlefield tour myself. Very beautiful and peaceful place in spite of the memories. Full marks to the Frenchies and all the volunteers who maintain everything there.

Everybody should visit the Somme and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Nothing you see on TV can really prepare you for either experience.

[AyeYerMa]

You are right, I'm sure, Aye - better info than me. But, can you think back and find any significant period of time since WW2 when the USA wasn't planning, implementing or withdrawing from military action somewhere on the globe? They have the cheek to call themselves the world's policeman but really, they are the world's warmongers and, to do that, they need a huge military machine, therefore huge supplies of machinery, munitions and men. The loss of the first two doesn't cause a lot of grief but the loss of the men is a life-wrecking event for many, many others.
Also, while much is made of the loss of military lives, there is little thought given to the far greater loss of (innocent) civilian life, it seems to me. Now that they can kill people with drone strikes from the comfort of an office in the Pentagon, It looks as though things will get worse, not better, in terms of "collateral damage", a terrible euphemism if ever I heard one.

I can't think of a time since the Second World War when Britain wasn't doing the same. In fact I cannot think of any significant period of time during the past three hundred years in which the UK hasn't been fighting someone, somewhere over something. You have to go back to 1968 to find a year during which a UK serviceman hasn't been killed while on active service and, if you are to include soldiers of the Empire, as you'd really have to pre-WWII, then I suspect that you'd probably need to go back about that same three hundred years to find a previous year sans a KIA. Yet you seldom hear mention of a British "military-industrial complex", or indeed one in any nation other than the USA.

I suspect that your children/grandchildren will probably rail against the Peking Military Industrial Conglomerate. It's a function of.... Something.