...But the ANZAC Day story is just another myth that makes us feel warm inside. The truth behind ANZAC Day is dirty and sordid. Lives were used as fodder as strategic and tactical blunders led to the slaughter of so many. The terrible ANZAC Cove campaign should never be forgotten — and the crimes of the warmongers responsible never forgiven.


NEW>

Like a sick, twisted joke, the legend has become an effective opiate to the masses. In general, a poppy symbolises imagination and eternal sleep. Throughout history, these flowers have been used as emblems on tombstones to represent eternal sleep. In Greek mythology, Demeter created the poppy so she could sleep. This was after the loss of her daughter, Persephone - princess of the underworld, who promises to the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. The twin brothers Hypnos and Thanatos were depicted with a crown of poppies - Hypnos was the god of sleep and Thanatos was god of death. It should be noted that the origin of these symbols were cults.

I guess it is just a bizarre coincidence that Australia kept secret the fact we lead a booming industry of opium production, and just a happy accident we only seem to assist in foreign conflicts wherever the spoils of war happen to include vast quantities of drugs and oil. Are we honouring the heroes or the heroin, I wonder?

<NEW

Don't get me wrong though. Remembering the fallen in pointless wars is a good thing. I recommend a good dose of Wilfred Owens' poems to really honour the dead and the fruitlessness of war, rather than scripted platitudes of politicians we have become so accustomed to....