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Ve Day Celebrations
At the risk of encouraging TTT to employ all his usual acronyms etc etc and accustaions of "anti-British" I urge you to read the following:
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BTW - I'm very patriotic and in no way "anti-British" but I won't be singing on my doorstep tomorrow.
https:/
BTW - I'm very patriotic and in no way "anti-British" but I won't be singing on my doorstep tomorrow.
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the second world war was the most destructive conflict (in any way you can think of) in all of human history. it's effects were so profound that they were being felt long after, and some are still being felt today. I don't think those that choose to do so can be blamed for marking the end of such a traumatic time. and it's worth pointing out that the war was precipitated by politicians in Germany and whilst it ill becomes us to assume the moral high ground, the conflict was not prosecuted by the British - as I've seen claimed on social media this week - as a jingoistic racist colonialist expedition.
Prof maisie - if you don't understand that cryptic crossword clue for what it is i.e. a simple and easily parsed clue, I feel sorry for your lack of intellect.
I know you haven't made much of an impact over on 'Crosswords', diddlydo but please try to grasp the basics.
There are two parts to a cryptic clue - the 'surface' and the wordplay leading to the answer.
In this instance, the wordplay is quite straightforward and the answer is fairly obvious (as you'd expect, if you were familiar with Nutmeg's 'style') but she hasn't based her definition on the etymology - for that it's worth checking the Chambers entry. If she had checked the answer's origins, she'd have seen that there was a nice opportunity here to celebrate our rich multi-cultural heritage rather than go for a simplistic and rather cheap jibe.
The 'surface' is a cheap jibe and it is certainly intended to be, given the date. There are very many synonyms for the 'light' part of the wordplay here - many of them quite positive - but she's opted for the most negative of these.
I hope you've learned something, diddlydo - and I hope to see you over on 'Crosswords' when you get up to speed.
I know you haven't made much of an impact over on 'Crosswords', diddlydo but please try to grasp the basics.
There are two parts to a cryptic clue - the 'surface' and the wordplay leading to the answer.
In this instance, the wordplay is quite straightforward and the answer is fairly obvious (as you'd expect, if you were familiar with Nutmeg's 'style') but she hasn't based her definition on the etymology - for that it's worth checking the Chambers entry. If she had checked the answer's origins, she'd have seen that there was a nice opportunity here to celebrate our rich multi-cultural heritage rather than go for a simplistic and rather cheap jibe.
The 'surface' is a cheap jibe and it is certainly intended to be, given the date. There are very many synonyms for the 'light' part of the wordplay here - many of them quite positive - but she's opted for the most negative of these.
I hope you've learned something, diddlydo - and I hope to see you over on 'Crosswords' when you get up to speed.
This is how the Germans are commemorating VE Day:
https:/
https:/
That was very interesting for me also. Apart from the fact the German cockneys ( Berliners) celebrate 8th May I also noted an old friend of mine got a mention.
//In 1985 President Richard von Weizsäcker made clear the day should be seen as a day of liberation and not defeat. Ten years later, on the 50th anniversary of liberation, a reunified Berlin was at the centre of a state ceremony.//
A very pleasant gentleman who I met in the Duetches Bottshaft in Belgrave Square. He presented me with a rather splendid pen and letter opener for services rendered. The incumbent German Ambassador to the Court of St James was Baron von Richtofen at the time. Not the Red one (Snoopy's adversary) :-)
http://
http://
//In 1985 President Richard von Weizsäcker made clear the day should be seen as a day of liberation and not defeat. Ten years later, on the 50th anniversary of liberation, a reunified Berlin was at the centre of a state ceremony.//
A very pleasant gentleman who I met in the Duetches Bottshaft in Belgrave Square. He presented me with a rather splendid pen and letter opener for services rendered. The incumbent German Ambassador to the Court of St James was Baron von Richtofen at the time. Not the Red one (Snoopy's adversary) :-)
http://
http://
Neveracrossword and retrocop: thank you for your comments. I have not searched every German newspaper for news of how Germany marks VE day, but here is the website of a newspaper (that is based in Hamm, NRWf) that I often read. There is not a single mention of this day on the Westfälischer Anzeiger's website.
https:/
https:/
Last word from me today.Near the end of WW2 at a conference Stalin(a socialist)demanded at least 50000 Germans were executed after the wars end.Churchill,(a capitalist) stated to Stalin that he would prefer to be taken out and shot rather than go along with Stalins stated aim.Quite a few Germans alive today should go down on their knees and thank us Brits for keeping their forefathers alive.
It's hard to celebrate with the heartfelt joy and relief of 75 years ago, Other wars and conflicts have taken their toll, disease and disaster. What we can do is celebrate those who remain, of all the nation's who fought with us, the Anzacs, the Poles, the Indians, The USA the resistance workers in Europe, and so many more. Their wives and girlfriends who waved them off, their parents and those who worked in reserved occupations, munitions, the ports, the merchant navy,
And we shall understand better the value of others today on a new front line
And we shall understand better the value of others today on a new front line
"diddlydoQuestion AuthorProf maisie - if you don't understand that cryptic crossword clue for what it is i.e. a simple and easily parsed clue, I feel sorry for your lack of intellect.15:56 Fri 08th May 2020"
theres only one peron on here with a serious lack of intellect....
Prof maisie has replied at 16:32 and trashed you....
theres only one peron on here with a serious lack of intellect....
Prof maisie has replied at 16:32 and trashed you....
Prof Maisie - I'm very well aware of the etymology thank you. You call the clue a cheap jibe - I call it a very succinct clue. The reason you don't see me on the crossword threads is because I'm perfectly capable of solving the intelligent newspapers cryptics without any help, not to mention the Azed and the monthly Genius in the Observer and Guardian respectively.
Diddly if you think that military marches glorify war then I am afraid that you know very little of our armed forces. Marches on days like today are to honour all the people of our armed forces and civilians who gave their lives so that we would be free to live life as we do now. Also to honour those who came back for the service they gave.
//Although there's a nice bit of irony there that those who most want to celebrate us standing togetber with our allies from Europe (and other continents) to crush the German threat are the same ones who most wanted us to separate ourselves from those same European allies when Brexit raised it's ugly head.//
Apart from the excellent point made by Naomi (that there would have been no EU without an Allied victory in 1945) Brexit is not separating ourselves from those European Allies. Brexit is about extracting ourselves from the political construction that is the European Union. But there’s a bit more to it than that. Among those you suggest we are tearing ourselves away from as a result of Brexit is Italy – the main European member of the Axis powers apart from Germany. As well as that, current EU members Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary also signed up to fight alongside the Axis powers in one form or another. Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland and Luxembourg declared their neutrality and largely managed to maintain that status throughout the war. Austria was part of Germany in 1939 and the Vichy government in France collaborated with the Nazis. In fact only nine of the current 27 EU members could be considered fully fledged Allies throughout WW2. Put bluntly your analogy is utterly specious.
// I'm sure the younger generation couldn't give a damn, from either faith group.//
I’ll think you’ll be surprised to find how many of them do (provided they’ve been properly brought up and educated, that is).
At present the population is in its seventh week of “lockdown”. The biggest problem for many of them has been securing a large enough supply of bog rolls so that they have nowhere left to store any more. By contrast, there are people still alive today who endured over five years of terror, danger, deprivation and bereavement which those who didn’t endure it can’t begin to imagine. Many of them were schoolchildren at the time. The major problem for all of them was wondering whether they or those close to them would be alive in 24 hours’ time. If Zoe Williams (whoever she might be) believes that today’s celebrations are somehow inappropriate she should think again. Yes, it’s true that people make sacrifices for the good of others all the time. But collectively they do not reach the levels of sacrifices made by people in 1939-45.
Apart from the excellent point made by Naomi (that there would have been no EU without an Allied victory in 1945) Brexit is not separating ourselves from those European Allies. Brexit is about extracting ourselves from the political construction that is the European Union. But there’s a bit more to it than that. Among those you suggest we are tearing ourselves away from as a result of Brexit is Italy – the main European member of the Axis powers apart from Germany. As well as that, current EU members Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary also signed up to fight alongside the Axis powers in one form or another. Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland and Luxembourg declared their neutrality and largely managed to maintain that status throughout the war. Austria was part of Germany in 1939 and the Vichy government in France collaborated with the Nazis. In fact only nine of the current 27 EU members could be considered fully fledged Allies throughout WW2. Put bluntly your analogy is utterly specious.
// I'm sure the younger generation couldn't give a damn, from either faith group.//
I’ll think you’ll be surprised to find how many of them do (provided they’ve been properly brought up and educated, that is).
At present the population is in its seventh week of “lockdown”. The biggest problem for many of them has been securing a large enough supply of bog rolls so that they have nowhere left to store any more. By contrast, there are people still alive today who endured over five years of terror, danger, deprivation and bereavement which those who didn’t endure it can’t begin to imagine. Many of them were schoolchildren at the time. The major problem for all of them was wondering whether they or those close to them would be alive in 24 hours’ time. If Zoe Williams (whoever she might be) believes that today’s celebrations are somehow inappropriate she should think again. Yes, it’s true that people make sacrifices for the good of others all the time. But collectively they do not reach the levels of sacrifices made by people in 1939-45.
