Quote: nefc wrote in post #13^^ i actually forgot to buy one this year. they always fall off anyway and then i really do feel guilty, like i should be saying 'i got one honest!'
I've ended up buying 3 this year because they always fall off. [b]I'll have to get one of those little pin badges next year[/b].
i managed to lose one of them as well at work on saturday.
Forger handshakes, forget poppies. The less external factors put onto a football match the better. It is well and truly boring. No one cares about shaking hands, no one cares about poppies - I hope.
It's a shame for the relatives of those who perished with the 16th Irish, it really is.... okay, lets have it straight, we know why he didn't wear one. He clearly has nationalist or republican beliefs so to him the poppy represents Britain/the British Army in some shape or form and he wants zero to do with that. Now, given many nationalists still see fit to wear the poppy as they treat it as its intended (Brendan Rodgers an example of a Northern Nationalist who had no such problems wearing it) and don't feel any political shadow by honouring the 35,000 fellow country men from the 16th Irish and 36th Ulster who died in WW1, McClean obviously wanted to make a point. This wasn't an average Joe who forgot to put one in going down the factory. Or had been in bed with flu and hadn't gotten around to buying one. A conscious decision was made knowing fine well it would cause the fuss it has given the media scrutiny of football/footballers and the sensitivity around the poppy. Obviously not all Nationalists share his views. And I'm calling McClean a 'Nationalist' because the alternative would mean he has republican sympathies and thats throwing his lot in with those whose idea of war is sticking 20 bombs around Belfast for a game of 'count the limbs' or blowing up pensioners at a Cenotaph so there would be a hell of a lot of irony if he supported that lot but I'm sure it's not....
Wearing a poppy is a personal choice. But "Personal Choice"? From what I can see, it's a phrase which is essentially saying "I don't support what the poppy represents". Personally speaking and its only my opinion, it may be a choice but to me, it's the decent thing to do. I make an effort to buy one as it's a tiny thing I can do to help remember people who fought for the country. And died fighting in grotesque, suicidal conditions that thankfully I'll never have to suffer. I never served, not a chance. Dad and Brother did. I didn't. I chose a much easier path that would vastly improve my chances of living to later life. Thankfully for us, there's many men and women who choose the more difficult path. These men and women don't get to pick the wars. Politicians do, (which, on that point, always puzzles me that people who hate what the British Army have done so much would choose to live and work here. Surely your principles would be screaming to do the complete opposite??? ) Soldiers may not always agree with the wars either. But they go/went into bat for the country nonetheless. Because thats what they signed up for. And its easy to be very dismissive about all this from the comfort of your PC Chair during peace times. And if the counter argument is that the poppy is being 'claimed' by those wanting to use it for political purpose, then the way to counteract that is to make it as inclusive as possible and claim it back. Maybe McClean should have had look at what his own Prime Minister was doing at Enniskillen in this respect.
"The nightmares invading the sleep of Bayern fans involve four horsemen of the Champions League Apocalypse riding towards them. As the faces come into focus, they will recognise Frank Lampard, Cole, Petr Cech and Drogba. All were immense..."
I was gonna post something similar...it was gonna be slightly longer and a little bit more articulate than your post....but you've kind of stolen my thunder G!!
Quote: wadey wrote in post #37I was gonna post something similar...it was gonna be slightly longer and a little bit more articulate than your post....but you've kind of stolen my thunder G!!
I found it strange one year when there were poppies printed in on football tops , Chelsea team all had one .. a team with Germans / Italians / Brasilians ... bizzarre .. what happened as well to the gold ole days ..
No one has to wear one but it is a sign of respect to wear one. It is not a political statement to or to not wear a poppy it is a statement of respect.
Quote: NUNK wrote in post #10Which war did we fight for freedom??????
That'd be the 2nd World war.
That was not a war for freedom more a case of defending yourself We did not stop Hitler when he invaded Poland, Russia and France and killing all the Jews/communists/poets/writers etc. Probably due to the cosy links with the Royal family and the nazi party and then he decided to have a pop at us and of course thats when the yanks stepped in to help and also dont forget that Churchill hated communists so was happy for Hitler to have a pop at Russia. Please don't tell me the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is about Freedom.
Remeberance Sunday is a good day to celebrate all the people who have sacracficed there lives for us but what lessons have we learnt NONE
Quote: nefc wrote in post #13^^ i actually forgot to buy one this year. they always fall off anyway and then i really do feel guilty, like i should be saying 'i got one honest!'
I feel that way sometimes. I feel like getting more just to prove a point. Silly, really.
Quote: NUNK wrote in post #10Which war did we fight for freedom??????
That'd be the 2nd World war.
That was not a war for freedom more a case of defending yourself We did not stop Hitler when he invaded Poland, Russia and France and killing all the Jews/communists/poets/writers etc. Probably due to the cosy links with the Royal family and the nazi party and then he decided to have a pop at us and of course thats when the yanks stepped in to help and also dont forget that Churchill hated communists so was happy for Hitler to have a pop at Russia. Please don't tell me the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is about Freedom.
Remeberance Sunday is a good day to celebrate all the people who have sacracficed there lives for us but what lessons have we learnt NONE
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Mon Nov 12, 2012 4:28 pm
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