TUV won’t have a Taig priest about a church

ONE of MEP Jim Allister’s fundamentalist followers in his Traditional Unionist Voice sect has incurred the wrath of one of the parties over boycotting a Remembrance Day service in Antrim because a Catholic priest was there.
TUV Councillor Mel Lucas actually went to the Protestant church where the service was being held but he refused to cross the threshold because there was a Catholic priest in there.
A former DUP member, Lucas declared: “I have principles, one of which is that I will not partake in worship that is being conducted by a Roman Catholic priest.”
Jim Allister backed his man’s stand (outside the church):
“If he’s a member of the Orange Order, he probably would have felt certain obligations because they have rules about these matters.”
Lucas’s former colleagues were less forgiving, though.
DUP Councillor Trevor Clarke dismissed Lucas’s Last Stand as a publicity stunt.
“I’m afraid this is little more than another desperate attempt by the Traditional Unionists to stir up controversy by proving they can out-Prod the rest.”

Poppy war

CANADIAN poppies are as controversial, it seems, among supporters as non-supporters. Back in 1980, the Royal Canadian Legion introduced a new design for their poppy, removing the black plastic centre and replacing it with green felt to symbolise the Green Fields of France. An enterprising Legion bought copius quantities of green felt to meet the demand but the change was unpopular and by 1986 they agreed to change it back... but only after using all the stock of green felt. It took 16 years to deplete the stocks and in 2002 the ‘old’ poppy reappeared but, unfortunately, year after year the numbers of surviving veterans grew fewer and fewer, and the young men still answering the call, having grown used to the green felt, now objected to the rearrival of the black plastic. You can see where this is going...  Makes Irish republicans’ ‘pin/stickyback’ dispute of the early 1970s seem nostalgic, doesn’t it?

Celtic clash over poppy

CELTIC FC’s controversial decision to hold a Remembrance minute’s applause during its match against Motherwell at Celtic Park on 8 November (the only club in Scotland to do so) and for its first team squad to wear poppies is continuing to have reverberations for fans who object.
Celtic apparently opted for the applause in case a minute’s silence was interrupted.
The Association of Irish Celtic Supporters’ Clubs (AICSC) publicly spoke out against the moves under new club chairperson Dr John Reid, a former Secretary of State in the Six Counties.
Some supporters walked out during the tribute to veterans of Britain’s wars – including Ireland – and a number of groups (TAL Fanzine, Green Brigade and support group Cairde na hÉireann) leafleted match-goers to explain their position.
There’s an uneasy peace and it remains to be seen what Dr Reid and his executives do now.

War over Noam Chomsky

SOUTH KOREA’S Defence Ministry has banned soldiers from reading Noam Chomsky’s book on base.
No fewer than 23 books have been banned by military censors, including two by Noam Chomsky and a best-seller by a Korean professor at Cambridge University called Bad Samaritans.
Officers face punishment if they’re found in possession of the books and thereby harming “the military’s mental power” (no, don’t laugh).
What do they say about ‘Words are weapons’?
The comments followed Defence Minister Lee Sang-hee’s warning Thursday that the officers made a mistake in taking action against the military rule designed to ensure soldiers are equipped with mental strength as well as combat readiness.
South Korea is technically at war with North Korea which has 1.2 million troops.

Brother-in-law

LAST week’s An Phoblacht story about the passing of former RUC Chief Constable John ‘Black Jack’ Hermon, and how he did everything he could to prevent investigation of his officers for shoot-to-kill operations and collusion, stands in contrast to the record of a police chief in south-western China.
Officer Laobulaluo has tackled the crime wave in Heizhugou township by arresting 48 well-known baddies.
How were they well-known? They were all his relatives.