Day: November 9, 2006

Philipp, Carrie and I will be at the Heart and Crown on Friday night. Join us!

White Poppies My Ass

Who’s brilliant idea was it to have a white poppy? Read the news people, it’s all around us. White poppies to promote peace, only around Remembrance Day!

Inform yourselves before reading on:

Here.
Or Here.

Jonathan Bartley, director of the religious think-tank Ekklesia says
“The red poppy represents the glorious dead,” he said. “The white poppy says that war isn’t glorious and you shouldn’t look back and see it through rose-tinted glasses.”

You know what? I’m not going to rant about symbols of peace. Hey, I’m all for peace.

What I am disturbed about is the blatant use of Remembrance Day as a launchpad for the Peace Pledge Union who is responsible for the white poppies. Strike One.

Using an already recognized symbol but just changing the colour? Strike Two.

Shoving it back in our faces and saying that we should be promoting peace, not remembering the dead? Strike Three.

Mr. Clark of the Legion couldn’t have said it better (from this Globe and Mail article):

“Instead, said the Legion’s Mr. Clark, peace activists should focus their efforts on Sept. 21, which is the UN-sanctioned International Day of Peace. But even then, he added, white poppies would infringe on the Legion’s trademark. He suggested they use a different symbol such as a dove.

“Nov. 11 is the day that we honour our veterans. We need to make sure that that does not get confused, combined or anything else with another campaign,” he said.”

Excellent points Mr. Clark. I stand behind your thought process. While they’re at it, why don’t they use the peace symbol attached the dove?

Remember, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for peace. But what this is just plain disrespectful.

Sometimes you cannot pass up a purchase. Like last night, I got a newsletter from the Sam Roberts Band and they were talking about the last Chemical City t-shirt released. Now, throughout the tour, I was disappointed with the various t-shirts offered. I rarely buy t-shirts anymore (price gouging of course), so it has to be really special for me to pick it up.

Well, something special came along. A wolf t-shirt! Coolness! At least, I think it’s cool and that’s what counts. There was also a 7″ limited edition vinyl of Brother Down that I couldn’t pass up. You never know, these things could be worth something someday.

Too bad the prices were in US dollars. I wonder what problems the band were encountering with MapleMusic to stop offering new items via the Canadian store?