Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
2002 Floral Flag
Picture was taken out near Vandenberg AFB. Made up of Larkspur plants, and yes…there are fifty stars, each with five points.
Simply amazing.
Update: Don’t drive there…not just yet. According to satellite photos on Google Maps, the flag isn’t there. One of the guys in the office thought he dug something up that said the flag reappears year-to-year since WWII, and what you see above was planted only over the 2002 season. Photo to the left indicates where you would have found it, assuming I’ve lined up the landmarks correctly. Which seems like a safe bet.
The flag would have measured 740 feet on the longest side, covering six and a half acres. That would have to be a crapload of water, and I’m sure the time and effort invested in maintaining it day-to-day would quickly surpass the aleady mind-boggling task of designing the flag and somehow figuring out where all the seeds are supposed to go. It’s “flown” by the Bodger Seed Co. in Lompoc, CA, and you can read more about it here.
Even today, nobody says anything nasty about flying Old Glory if the flying involves a little bit of inspiration, creativity and hard work. The carping and sniping is reserved for the “flying” that is relatively effortless. Like, for example, the wearing of the lapel pin by people like me. And really, nobody’s had a word to say against me about that, although we know when someone more prestigious and visible does the same thing there’s going to be some kibitzing as a result. Someone like Sean Hannity or Brit Hume.
So this says something interesting about the bellyaching about flags by our “real patriots.” Flags displayed with relative ease, like from front porches or from the collar of your golf shirt or from the bumper of your car, are supposed to be “oppressive” and stand as symbols of “hegemony” and “jingoism.” Was the Bodger Seed Co. being “jingoistic”? I’d be amazed if you can find even one person who thinks so. And this is where my curiosity is aroused — it’s supposed to be all about the symbol, but on closer inspection, though, we see that it probably isn’t about that.
The resentment seems to be mathematical in nature: the ratio between the number of people likely to observe your decision to display the flag, divided by the minimal amount of conscious thought you put into displaying it. Against antisocial misfits like me who wear the flag, but are likely to be seen by very few people — or dedicated patriots like Bodger Seed Co. putting some real elbow grease into it (assuming they decided to plant the flag nowadays, after it has become more controversial) — the “real patriots” who rankle at the flag-flying, have no beef. And so the issue, I think, is one of indoctrination. For a message to be communicated far-and-wide, with little thought, and little effort, is a privilege reserved only for the most provocative left-wing tropes.
Some America-hating college professor spews a bunch of mindless bile in his classroom and threatens to flunk any student who dares disagree, we have no problem. Fox News displays the American flag, and suddenly we have a problem.
I just find it interesting. It isn’t the patriotism, or the lack of effort, or the number of people the message will reach. It is the confluence of those three that sets off the “real patriots” and gets them upset. If they were honest in their objections it would be the message communicated, alone, that would trip the circuit.
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