I have posted a new rant upon on Ramrage. Please read it as it affects your information.

I shall post again soon :)

Ram.

Untold Stories

Volunteering at the War Memorials Trust I come into contact with so many untold stories of the events of our past wars, be they Zulu, Crimean, First, Second, Falklands or individual battles.

I read of The Sundowner, a small ship that was Captained by the most senior surviving officer of the Titanic and aided in evacuating British Troops from Dunkirk.

I read of Old Boys from various schools, at war on ships in the Fleet, in Indian grasslands or French fields. Their letters from home pass through my hands and I read of their explots, of how they feel about England and how they long to walk the green fields. But until then they simply 'carry on' as one soldier writes to his old school.

I learn of British soldiers who fought alongside the French and Otterman Empires against Imperialist Russia in the Crimea. Today I read how they defeated the superior odds at the Battle of Inkermann.

I gaze at the memorials or so many names of those who gave their lives for 'God, King and Country'. I see the sentiment in the plaques, praising that there is no greater love than to lay down ones life for a friend.

These soldiers in the Great Wars speak of their comrades being true 'Sons of the Empire' and glad to be fighting alongside them. A friend in the TA did some training with the SAS the other day and he said he was glad that there were people like them defending our country.

These are not the idealised memories of historians or fiction writers, these are the true stories, the untold stories.

Then I feel sad that I do not have the courage even to face up to my friends, or to speak when I should. I feel small that I do not have the right words to say or that I cannot see the right path. I feel guilty that I have so little worry in my life compared to the soldiers stuck out in Afganistan and Iraq, those who still fight and die. But the reason they were sent is not as noble.

Some would say we need another war to galvanise our people, but there is no space for that any more, aside from the Orwellian, self inflicted wounds of the attack on the World Trade Centre. I fear that war is the new economics; blinded by money the American Empire gorges itself while the world heats up and Katrina and El Nino drown her own people.

I do not deny the atrocities of Guantanamo bay, nor do I lack compassion for those fighting on the other side, the Iraqi militias, the Jihadists and countless others. Marvin Gaye wrote that 'war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate' and it has never been truer.

I read and I learn. My heart opens with compassion for these men, many of whom died younger than I am so that I might live free. As Orwell wrote, it does not matter if we are at war with 'Eurasia' or 'East Asian' the war is waged against it's own people. This is my point, I am humbled by those who defended me in the past and who do now. They do a job I could never do. They are far nobler than those who send them to these places for oil.

STOP THE WAR
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY
STOP CLIMATE CHAOS

Ramalam.

J.D Salinger wrote in 'The Catcher in the Rye' that :

"It is the mark of an immature man that he wishes to die nobly for a cause, it is the mark of a mature man that he wants to live humbly for one."

Thank you for the freedom my ancestors, but enough with the fighting.

#WE'RE GONNA NEED, MORE THAN A STICH OR TWO#
Samuel Beer, 'More than a stich'

It seems so long since I have posted here. But perhaps the reason for that is that I feel I haven't had much to say that was worth posting here.

As we enter March I gather my feelings as to what the year will be and although I wish it were not so, the past two months have been quite grinding. 2007 will, I think be a tough year. But I do not think it will be without purpose.

I feel that nothing worth having is easily gained. This suffering we endure will be in pursuit of a vision. This vision has yet to be revealed to me fully but I think it will be worth the struggle and the possibility of failure.

For, in such risky endeavours there is always the chance that we shall charge off into the darkness and never be seen again. That our underdog story will not work out how things do in films and books.

But a friend of mine made this equation to help in deciding whether things are worth doing:

1) Will it work?
If yes, go to 4
If no, go to 2

2) Will it make a good story?
If yes, go to 4
If no, go to 3

3) Don't do it
4) Do it.

It may be the gulfs shall wash us down, but it will be a hell of a ride and I'll be damned if I say that I won't have lived because of it.

So it is.

If you see me, can you give me a hug? I will need it. A cup of tea wouldn't go amiss either ;)

Ramalam