How strange that the poppy grows in relevance:  just as the poppies of Flanders threaten to fade from living memory, the poppy fields of Afghanistan come to the fore.

My respect for those who give their lives to protect their fellow men and women is matched only by my contempt for the powerful  who claim not to be able to find another way.  After thousands of years of civilised thought, we still can't escape from the most insane of all human addictions and the shame degrades us all.