Dulce et Decorum Est
by Wilfren Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

In Canada, as in many countries around the world, November 11 is a day of remembrance for the sacrifices made during wartime. In Canada, this refers in particular to World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), but also to smaller engagements in which Canadians were (or are) involved, such as Korea and Afghanistan.

The poppy has become a symbol of remembrance, and can be found pinned to people’s lapels more or less from the beginning of November each year. This tradition, which is also observed in various other nations, is derived from the poem In Flanders Fields by Lt. Col. John McCrae (1872-1918), a Canadian physician and soldier originally from Guelph, Ontario who died of pneumonia while serving in the First World War. The poem was composed shortly after the death of McCrae’s friend Lt. Alexis Helmer in the Second Battle of Ypres, and makes reference to Flanders, Belgium, where poppies grew extensively and where many military dead were buried.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— John McCrae

The poem has particular relevance in Canada, having appeared on both a stamp (1968) and currency — a portion of it is found on the current $10 bill, which honours Canadian efforts in international peacekeeping (the Nobel Peace Prize-winning idea of Lester B. Pearson, who also went on to become Prime Minister of Canada). A poppy also appeared on a quarter recently, which some may recall created a buzz as it was mistaken for spy technology by our friends south of the border.

There are several parts of Europe that I am eager to visit on the basis of pride and gratitude for what my fellow Canadians did during the two world wars. Those that I have not been to yet include Vimy Ridge and Juno Beach (Normandy), but I did manage to check one off the list two years ago during a visit to the Netherlands: Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery.

I was in Leiden to participate in a symposium entitled “Extending the synthesis” that featured a handful of speakers including Rich Lenski, Dave Jablonski, Sergei Gavrilets, Paul Brakefield, John Thompson, Niles Eldredge, and me. On one of the days there were no formal plans, so some of the speakers took a bicycle tour of the beautiful region around Leiden, others headed off the The Hague, and I crossed much of the country by train, by bus, and on foot to visit Groesbeek. It was one of the most meaningful experiences I have ever had.

There is a scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan that never fails to break me up. Actually, there are several such scenes, but the one I have in mind at the moment involves the arrival of a military vehicle at the Ryans’ home in which their mother, realizing what this visit must mean when she sees a clergyman exit the car, collapses in grief on her front porch. This grips me with particular force as it happened to my great-grandmother — twice.

My paternal grandmother grew up in the small town of St. Marys, Ontario, which, like most towns across the country, experienced its share of sacrifice during the Second World War as approximately 10% of the country served (1.1 million out of a population of roughly 11 million). With the labour force severely diminished, my young grandmother worked in a converted hand grenade factory. Two of her older brothers, Bill and Roy, served and died in combat.

Click for larger image.

To reach the cemetery, one must travel by bus from the nearby town and ask the driver to stop at the road leading to the memorial.

From there, it is a fairly long walk down a forested roadway to another main road, and then another short walk up to the cemetery.

The tombstones are arranged, row on row, in order of burial. My great-uncle Bill’s is part of a long line of young men who were lost on the same day. Many of them were probably friends. All were mourned by someone.

My father had previously been the only member of our family to make the trip to see Bill’s grave, which he did many years ago. I am sure his experience was as emotional as mine was to be surrounded by so much sacrifice, and to reflect on what this must have meant for my grandmother and her family, and indeed the families of all of the individuals buried here.

Next to the large memorial at the far end of the cemetery there is a tall maple tree. A leaf from this tree hangs in a frame on the wall of my home office. It has often served as an object of reflection for me as a young man who is fortunate that his life has not been affected directly by war.

There is a guest book at the cemetery that invites visitors to leave a message. I spent quite some time leafing through it, and was deeply moved by the messages I read. “Thank you for our freedom” was among the most common. Some 60 years later, the people of the region, and the many who make a pilgrimage like mine to this site, have not forgotten the sacrifices that were made.

None of us should ever forget.

The irony is two-fold here.  One, this is an environmental foundation that has probably killed several trees just bugging me, and two, because of the non-stop paper junk mail I won’t be giving them money again.

But this memo, which I assure you is not a joke, marks the moment when the shark truly was jumped.

Eligible and non-eligible expenses for stationery and office supplies

General Rule
Funding agencies expect institutions to assume the indirect costs and general expenses of the research project. Grant funds are used to cover the direct costs of research, including costs that would not have been incurred if the research project had not been undertaken. Funds cannot be used to pay for general expenses such as costs associated with office accessories normally already provided for institution staff.

The funds must be used effectively and economically, and the expenses must be essential to the research supported by the grant.

It may be concluded that an expenditure on supplies is admissible if they are not part of the “basic equipment” of the university’s academic and research mission and if they are not normally provided for institution staff. Moreover, the recipient must explain how those supplies are essential to his/her research activities.

Equipment and Supplies
Expenditures on research equipment and supplies, as well as costs of training staff who will use the specialized instruments or facilities, are eligible.

Examples of Eligible Expenses:

• laboratory notebooks
• paper used for laboratory operations in the context of a funded research project (correspondence with clients, printing of results)
• paper used for data collection (questionnaires)
• printing of an equipment user manual for a new researcher or assistant working on the funded research project
• printing of e-journal articles relevant to the research project

Examples of Ineligible Expenses:

• office accessories for laboratory employees, researchers and students (paper clips, pens, file folders, writing pads, ring binders, day planners, wastebaskets)

Dissemination of Research Results
Costs associated with the dissemination of findings, i.e., through traditional venues as well as videos, CD-ROMs, etc., are eligible, as are costs of preparing a research manuscript for publication.

Examples of Eligible Expenses:

• paper and ink cartridges for printing of different manuscript versions
• research-related paper documents, posters and pamphlets distributed to conference, workshop and focus group participants

Services and Miscellaneous Expenses
Costs for the purchase of books or periodicals, specialized office supplies, computing equipment and information services not formally provided by the institution to all academic and research staff are eligible.

The funding agencies note that certain miscellaneous education-related expenses, such as costs of thesis preparation, tuition and course fees and costs associated with the preparation of teaching materials, are ineligible.

Examples of Eligible Expenses:

• special paper or writing tools required for the research project
• laboratory notebooks or special binders in which to archive research project data

Examples of Ineligible Expenses:

• paper used by students to print different versions of their dissertation or thesis
• paper used to prepare course notes
• filing cabinets and hanging files

Agaporomorphus colberti

This might be pretty cool, if not for the following issues:

1) This was done explicitly to get publicity.
2) It has already been done. (A spider was named after Colbert last year).
3) Apparently without intending to be ironic, Wheeler has also named species after Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld.

I absolutely support the need to gain attention for the importance of taxonomy. I also think the tradition of naming species in honour of individuals is amusing. Heck, I’m still waiting to have something with my name attached to it. But I’m not sure that naming species after people willy nilly just because they might bring attention is very dignified. On the other hand, maybe Wheeler thinks Colbert is right wing (apparently his illusion is effective among conservatives) such that there’s no inconsistency there.

Crabs’ memory of pain confirmed by Queen’s academic

Boiling Mad: Crabs Feel Pain

The actual paper.