h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I presume you are referring to Wooten Basset. I think its brilliant that a small town started doing that spontaneously. And it means so much to the families.

> I would imagine that most friends and families of the deceased prefer to say their farewells at their local church or crematorium rather than by the side of the road.<

I suppose we have different imaginings then.

If I had a relative that had died through specifically giving their life for their country..I wouldn't want it hidden away..I'd love for the community to be part of it. The family being mixed in with them.

Thanks Keafied . It's nice to run into old friends again.

Noggin

Fair enough, Frs. My only point was really - nobody protested there.

Funny the pictures I saw on telly then of Islamists protesting there. Also Taff spoke about people turning their backs on them. He was in the army for a few years and I think fought in the first Gulf war.

But maybe they digitally manipulated them?

Oh and yes nice to see you as well Noggin. Will you be back into the ......sky thread? Forget the name.

>>Funny the pictures I saw on telly then of Islamists protesting there. Also Taff spoke about people turning their backs on them.

Possibly you're thinking of the (small) demonstration by the same idiots during a regimental march-past in Luton? Or possibly it was digitally manipulated. Whatever...I think we owe it to the deceased to get these things right.

Please don't think I'm making a political point about the Wooten Basset crowds, either. Yes - I have plenty of objections to that stupid war but allow that I'm above using corpses to score points.

My objection to that is the way that emotions have been manipulated. You are quite right that the commemoration started as a spontaneous and dignified act by shopkeepers along the route. What it grew into was a circus. Fine for Last Night of the Proms, but the dead deserve more than a jolly day out with union jacks and sandwiches. Perhaps this is a personal, aesthetic view - but please don't anyone do that kind of thing at my funeral.

One final point - you say that friends and families of the deceased have taken great comfort from the crowds. Your track record on the details is admittedly lacking - but do you know this? Is it a received assumption? It may very well be true that some have taken comfort and and have said so publicly. Other families, though, have certainly distanced themselves from the display.

As I say - we honour the dead by getting the facts about them right.

Well like with so many here I'll have to agree to differ. It isn't a circus. It was a thing that emerged spontaneously because people knew otherwise its just a coffin coming back draped in a union flag..then nothing but a little funeral somewhere. Why call a lot of people coming out onto the streets a circus?

There's no hysteria going on.

And BBC Last Night of the Proms is a favourite of mine...have you ever noticed how fun it is..and filled with people being silly?

But yes *once* a year here people are allowed to get intensely patriotic. And the BBC oversee it.

Jerusalem is my favourite.

I made no comment for against LNotP.

You said,

> What it grew into was a circus. Fine for Last Night of the Proms, but the dead deserve more than a jolly day out with union jacks and sandwiches. Perhaps this is a personal, aesthetic view - but please don't anyone do that kind of thing at my funeral<

Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick.

Indeed. By implications, soMe things are *fine* for Last Night of the Proms. (<implication?) actually..it's what I said.)

Different things are fine for different circumstances. A lot of people might feel it awry if LNotP were conducted as though it were a dignified memorial to the deceased.

okay..but maybe the same kind of patriotism is expressed..but in a different way at Wooten Basset..and its NOT a circus as such.

And Ed we've had this problem before. Love of country is not hate of others. Just like love of family or whatever is not hate of others.

You are so hung up on a simple human expression that is essentially benign. You think its associated with extremism. It isn't.

I do not know what receptions of the military dead are like in the UK, I have not seen any on our news programs. I do work on THE air force base in Canada from which every uniformed person leaves, returns, or is returned in a box. The length of TransCanada highway that runs from this town to Toronto (coroner necessities) has been renamed our 'Highway of Heroes'. I believe Afghanistan has now claimed 157 uniformed lives, a diplomat and a reporter. As each hearse and accompanying family and police escort departs ... Some times as many as 5 hearses and so many a cortege of perhaps 30 or more vehicles ...

People stop and watch them pass. Over-head roadways stop, and are lined with anyone who can stop for a few moments. Police services, fire brigades, any person who is not pressed for time to meet something more important ... They line or over-look that roughly 240 km (150 mile) stretch of roadways.

All because people just feel that they should.

(YouTube for Highway of Heroes, you will find some very moving tunes and videos)

Oh right the delightful Theresa May has banned EDL marches in London in wake of the riots.

So those of us who actually live here will have to deal with the pressure cooker building up, as no expression is given.

T

I'm increasingly amazed at the way politicians think banning freedom of expression will help long term. But then they are utterly out of touch with reality.

http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2011/08/26/edl-march-banned

>>Why call a lot of people coming out onto the streets a circus?

I don't I call the particular circus at Wooton Basset a circus. As you say, it started as a spontaneous expression. Not unlike the one Nick describes. This is good.

What it *became* was a picnic destination.

This is nothing to do with patriotism. Like I said - aesthetics. Decorum. Dignity.

Your views on the EDL are simply barmy, Frs. They don't represent creativity and self-expression. They represent intimidation and brutality.

Ach - away and make some art about it and shut up.

yeah and I am not going down this road of argument again with you again Ed. You have a massive bias about certain expressions of patriotism...you've already brought in the irrelevance of BBC Last night of proms.

You should front up about that and then maybe we can discuss things honestly.

I have no idea what you mean by 'picnic' destination. People need to eat..so what if its a bit that way?

I don't know where you are getting your *facts* from though.