sotonjoe

still boring

little man with white hair?

Surely the thread title is long overdue an edit? The takeover simply hasn't collapsed as of the time I posted this!

You only need to take a walk from London Road, down through Above Bar on a Friday or Saturday evening to see the sort of culture we can proudly boast of.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5842324/Children-traumatised-by-War-of-Worlds-abduction-of-teacher.html

And I was there myself and politely clapped too. I'm not a nutcase and I'm not about to boo them or anything, I just don't want to be told that I owe some huge moral debt to them or must feel shocked / awed / or very very sad if one of them loses their lives. And I hate they way that they are brought out as a sort of trump card as to 'who is best' in modern society.

And you should note that I made a distinction between those who lose their lives as a result of conscription and those who sign up in this day and age as a career choice. It's bitterly cruel that essentially untrained lads were sent off to be used as a human shield in the Somme. I've been there myself to pay my respects and it's a very humbling place to be. However, the situation is very different in the present day.

Not if you can come up with a chant for it to the tune of Oh When the Saints ...

I think the finer points of this discussion have sailed over your head. This isn't a discussion of whether we feel any compassion for those dying in war or not. It was a discussion about who did we 'owe' a chant to more on Saturday. The OP made a suggestion that we sing a song for Hartson and was criticized by someone who said that we owed one to 'the army' a lot more. I said I don't think we owe chants to people doing their jobs, which they knowingly signed up for, especially when we raise huge sums of money for them and acknowledge what they do with all manner of parades etc. I hardly think they army are failing to get enough thanks for whatever they do. We don't need to be singing thank you songs for them at football.

I used "somebody famous" as it was Hartson we were talking about. I could just have easily "a healthy member of the public". I meant somebody who isn't expected to die anytime soon under normal circumstances. I certainly didn't mean to imply that Hartson getting cancer is more of a shock than any other member of the public. You're misinterpreting the gist of my argument there. Neither was I implying that Hartson has done something to protect me. It's the 'pro army' camp that keep playing the 'protection' card, which isn't game in my book as this isn't a pro / anti war / millitary discussion. I put my view out there because somebody suggested that it would be more suitable to sing a chant in favour of the army than it would be to sing one in in favour of Hartson, or rather that we 'owed' the army a chant more than Hartson. This is something I don't believe for the reasons I've already outlined.

I guess he meant that, as supporters of a club previously in crisis, but now with a very bright future to look forward to, we could say that we've been dealt a very goo hand by fate or luck or whatever. Hartson on the other hand, was walking around on Saturday awaiting news about some tests he'd had, by yesterday afternoon he's critically ill after being told that he has cancer in his testicles, lungs and brain. You could say that he's been dealt a pretty rubbish hand by fate or luck or whatever. I think the OP was suggesting we make a gesture which shows we acknowledge how fortunate we are and how tragically unfortunate a situation Hartson now finds himself in. FWIW, I'm not saying I agree with what the OP has said, just that this is my interpretation of what he's saying and that I think you misinterpreted his intentions.

ooh! An auction!

I'm not entirely convinced he meant it like that tbh.:confused:

i fear for the general public ;-)

The view from block 4 is awful. I really don't understand why people would want to sit / stand here and have to turn 45 degress for the majority of the match.

no problem

Ridiculous timing too... Sunday - told he's got testicular cancer. By wed pm - actually it's in your brain and lungs as well. All in the space of 3 days. Craziness.

tosh

no, hth

And presumably you realised you had a fair chance of ending up in a box if you saw active duty? Surely it wouldn't have come as much of a surprise?

You see, I think the macho moral high ground clasped in response to my comments is exactly what I was criticising in the first place. the fact that somebody's attempts to pay respects to an individual who has been struck down by an illness through no fault or choice of their own, is cast aside as this person is deemed to be less deserving than any particular soldier. I resent being told that I should be more upset, distressed or whatever at somebody dying in their line of duty as opposed to a member of the public being dealt a cruel blow by fate. the reasons being that soliders CHOOSE, yes CHOOSE, to sign up for a profession in which there is more than a slight chance that they will end up dead. I don't think soldiers dying is 'good', I don't even think it is 'unimportant', but I certainly don't think we should be more shocked or hurt by their deaths than victims of illness like Hartson. That is the point I was making and I stand by it wholeheartedly. If I turn on the news and see a soldier dies, I am not surprised. If I see somebody famous has contracted a disease or dropped dead going about their everyday business, then naturally I am very shocked.

I shan't bother discussing it with you then. Thank you for saving everybody's time and energy.

I'm not singing in support of those muppets who CHOOSE to go out and get shot at; couldn't give one iota about them. Young lads dying due to mass conscription in either of the World Wars maybe, not this lot nowadays. Somebody being struck down with cancer at the age of 34 through no fault of their own deserves a great deal more compassion in my book.

exactly

oh dear. think of it as a precursor to Tony Adams' arrival.