Apr
2
Unrest in Tibet
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A group of Tibetan monks lead a protest march from Lafayette Park to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, on March 31 to urge US President George W. Bush to cancel his plans to attend the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Wednesday said he expressed concern over violence in Tibet during the first of two days of talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing.
(AFP/Saul Loeb)
Fly a Tibet flag to show your support for the country.
Jan
16
Iraq’s New Flag (For Now)
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On the new Iraq flag, the text “Allah akbar” (God is great) changes from green to yellow, the Kurdish national color. It is also printed in traditional Kufi script, replacing Saddam Hussein’s handwriting.
The stars no longer stand for the three aims of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’th Party, (Arabic) unity, freedom and socialism but for the cornerstones of the new Iraq, peace, tolerance and justice. The flag’s colors now represent Islamic civilization, rather than Arabic glory.
A conference of Arabic parliaments is to be held in the Kurdish capital, Erbil, and this has led to the flag again becoming an issue. Now, the present flag will be accepted as long as a completely new one is eventually found.
by Chalaan Charif
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Jan
16
As if emotional campaign messages weren’t enough, politicians now have another way to try to win over the electorate. A study in Israel shows that voters can be manipulated into changing their attitudes by being shown subliminal images of their national flag.
A team led by psychologist Ran Hassin at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem divided volunteers into two groups: those who strongly identified with Israeli nationalism and those who identified with it only weakly. They then quizzed them about their attitude to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after showing them a brief image of an Israeli flag or a control image. The image appeared for long enough to be registered by the brain but not long enough for conscious awareness.
Those who had viewed the flag shifted their position towards the middle ground: both right-wingers and left-wingers became less extreme. The researchers also found that it influenced the way participants voted in national elections. Hassin says that the Israeli flag represents a sense of national unity, and that reminding people of it draws them towards that ideology. However, the psychology involved is unclear, especially since it remains uncertain whether subliminal advertising has an effect on consumers.
From issue 2632 of New Scientist magazine, 05 December 2007, page 20
Jan
8
Ground Zero
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REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
A man grieves outside the World Trade Center site in New York September 11, 2006. Stress brought on by the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 led to heart problems for some Americans, even if they had no personal connection to the events, a study released on Monday found.
Jan
8
Kenya Elections
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AFP/Roberto Schmidt
A World Food Program worker hangs a flag on a truck carrying aid for displaced people in Nakuru and Eldoret. Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki has invited opposition leader Raila Odinga for their first face-to-face talks since the country’s disputed presidential poll, as several former African presidents arrived in Nairobi to try to break a political stalemate
Dec
28
The Associated Press
The Pakistan national flag flies at half-staff on the premises the country’s high commission in Kuala Lumpur. The assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto sent shock waves around the world with global leaders condemning the act as markets reacted with fear to the new blow to international stability.
Oct
26
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Oct 26, 2007 11:38:39 EDT
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Flag-folding recitations by Memorial Honor Detail volunteers are now banned at the nation’s 125 veterans graveyards because of a complaint about the ceremony at Riverside National Cemetery.
During thousands of military burials, the volunteers have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors.
The first fold represents life, the second a belief in eternal life, and so on.
The complaint revolved around the narration in the 11th fold, which celebrates Jewish war veterans and “glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
The National Cemetery Administration then decided to ban the entire recital at all national cemeteries. Details of the complaint weren’t disclosed.
Administration spokesman Mike Nacincik said the new policy outlined in a Sept. 27 memorandum is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.
He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government-approved.
Veterans and honor detail volunteers, including Bobby Castillo, 85, and Rees Lloyd, 59, are furious.
“That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage,” Lloyd said. “This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”
Castillo, a Navy veteran of World War II, said it’s “a slap in the face to every veteran.”
“When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot,” Castillo said. “We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”
Lloyd and Castillo are part of a 16-member detail that have performed military honors at more than 1,400 services. They were preparing to read the flag-folding remarks at the Riverside cemetery when graveyard staff stopped them.
Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he’s advising memorial honor details to ignore the edict.
“This is nuts,” Waters said. “There are 26 million veterans in this country and they’re not going to take us all to prison.”
Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.
“We are looking at consistency,” Nacincik said. “We think that’s important.”
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller of Temple Beth El said he understands the ban.
“It is a perfect example of government choosing to ignore religion in order to avoid offending some religions,” Miller said. “To me, ignoring religion in general is just as problematic as endorsing any one religion.”
Oct
26
Racing For The Cure
Filed Under Current Events, AFB's Philanthropy | 2 Comments
The 14th Annual Race for the Cure took place on Saturday, October 20th, and once again, Arkansas Flag and Banner was abuzz before the sun came up. The Flag and Banner showroom opened at 7 a.m. to greet racers with free parking, refreshments and 50% off all Pink Ribbon products. As in the past, Flag and Banner fielded it’s all-star team of racers, AKA “The Flagheads,” consisting of Owner Kerry McCoy, Susan Crotts, Stephanie Brangan, Beth Decker, and Kristin Hart.
After warming up as a local choir performed a stirring rendition of the National Anthem, “The Flagheads” began the race with the other 45,000 participants in a massive show of female solidarity. After completing the race and passing through the “Three miles of Men” stationed at a local microbrewery tailgate, the fearless team returned to Arkansas Flag and Banner and enjoyed a well-deserved southern-style breakfast in the newly remodeled kitchen. The rest of the day was spent selling all things Pink Ribbon and, as is the case throughout the year, a percentage of all items sold went to support the Susan G. Komen foundation in Arkansas. “Go Flagheads!!!!”
Jun
6
Worlds Longest Flag
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Some of the in total 1,500 volunteers carry a flag measuring 2.5 kilometers (1.55 miles) long and 6.4 meters (21 feet) wide, described as the world’s biggest flag, along the Castellana boulevard in Madrid, Sunday, June 5, 2005, to promote the city’s 2012 Olympic bid. The IOC(International Olympic Committee) will choose the host city for the 2012 Games.
Mar
14
Members of the Penn Manor High School marching band flag unit, from Millersville, Pa., perform during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Baltimore, Sunday, March 13, 2005. (AP Photo/Chris Gardner)
For a tid-bit of St. Patrick’s day information and holiday decor, see our St. Patrick’s Day holiday page.