By Jay Menard,
In life, we fight many battles. Some are physical, others are mental. In Lest We Regret we are presented with a story of casualties of war.
But these casualties extend well beyond the field of battle and into the two characters’ minds, bodies, and souls. Continue reading
By Jay Menard
There is a time and a place for everything. And though you may be married to the idea that a personal protest takes precedence, Remembrance Day is clearly not the time to wear white.
That said, everyone has the right to wear a white poppy — a symbol initially introduced in the 1920s by the No More War Movement in England. It’s now established as a pacifist alternative to the red poppy with the intent to disassociate from the military aspect of the red poppy recognition.
But just because you have the Right doesn’t make it right. Continue reading
By Jay Menard
Christmas seems to be offending more and more people just by its very existence. And the latest weapon conscripted into the battle is the honour of our veterans.
To that I say Bah Humbug and how dare you.
To start, I’m not religious, but I use the word Christmas. If that offends you, feel free to substitute the word X-Mas, Saturnalia, Yule, or whatever other term offends you the least. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
I wear a poppy and participate in Remembrance Day not as a celebration of war, but as a reminder to learn from its lessons and, hopefully, never repeat them.
I celebrate and memorialize our history so that I never have to know war in reality.
Sadly, our society often forgets those lessons in a rush to fetishise war. We misguidedly conscript military terminology to use in our day-to-day efforts. There are various “Armies,” “Corps,” and “Regiments.”
The organizations will claim they’re fighting for someone; but what’s missing from that statement is the fact that it means they’re in combat against another group. It means we haven’t learned our lessons from war. And in trying to claim these words for our own, we muddle their meaning. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
On this day, we remember those who came before us and fought for our way of life — our right to exist as Canadians. It is one day that, regardless of one’s political stripe, we come together as a nation under a common belief — to support our veterans.
And it’s an increasingly rare occurrence in this great nation of ours. Continue reading
The M-Dash by Jason Menard 