Scattered thoughts

As you should all know by now from my whining I'm at Telehouse this weekend and I went to a slightly quieter part with Ben to observe the two minutes silence. It happened to be next to a window and as I looked out over Docklands and towards central London and the Gherkin I kept thinking as I watched the cars still moving and the landscape that someone who was alive for the first two minutes silence in 1919 wouldn't recognise it today. It all looks like we've come so far but we haven't. People are still at war and killing one another today, and all the technology has served to do is make us more efficient at doing so. It happens elsewhere so we rarely see it, but it's still happening.

Also: I don't think a man as full of hate as Ian Paisly should be allowed to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph. It's just not right.

Firstly I would like to link back to my earlier article about the poppy appeal. The poppy appeal is run by the Royal British Legion. The money from the poppy appeal goes into lots of different areas of the legion's work, including counselling, job retraining, skills assessment, getting the right pensions and benefits, advice and interest free loans for setting up small businesses, welfare grants, Remembrance Travel to war graves, convalescent and nursing care, and home and hospital visits. So buy a poppy and make a difference to them.

I would like to join one or two others in asking that people observe the two minutes silence, or at least respect the wishes of those who want to. This isn't just about World War One, it's about commemorating those who have died, military and civilian, in every conflict. It is also about honouring those who still live. Whether you agree with war or not (and I disagree with it unless it is a wholly neccessary conflict with clear reasons) the people who fight are at least brave enough to join up. I know I wouldn't be.

My tribute:

Here Dead We Lie - A. E. Housman

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.

Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

Rememberence Day is in two days. It means more to me this year, which is odd - I blame my World War One module this year.

Anyway - a banner is now on my website, and now below...



Please give generously. They really did believe they were fighting for Glory, Honour and the survival of civilisation.

They fought for you.