Apr
30
McDonald’s Flag Etiquette Error
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McDonald’s raises flag after customer complaint. McDonald’s official said Wednesday that the company erred when it asked its restaurant operators to fly flags at half-staff to honor James R. Cantalupo, 60, who died April 19.
“I got to work and said, ‘I just can’t let this go,’ ” said King, who knew that only the president or a governor can order the flag lowered to half-staff and that it’s normally done only for government officials or dignitaries. “I just wanted to bring it to their attention that this was not a right thing to do.”
Billings Gazette - Billings, Montana
Apr
28
Stolen Flag Makes News
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The 20 foot-by-30 foot American flag flying outside the Red Rocket Shell gas station in Brown County was a can’t-miss sight for highway drivers. But now it’s gone…stolen either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
WBAY Action 2 news - Greenbay Wisonsin
Apr
27
In just another episode in an ongoing quest to seek excellence in the field of angering the greatest number of Iraqis in the shortest possible time, the Iraqi Governing Council yesterday announced the abandonment of the existing national flag and the adoption of a new one.
“The old flag didn’t represent Saddam. It represented Iraq. Changing it means uprooting part of Iraq.”
“I will be very sad if the new flag will be imposed on us and I will never regard it as part of my identity.”
“This is a horrible flag… since when was blue an Iraqi colour?” asked Deneris Fann, an Iraqi currently living in the UK”
Iraqis apparently hate their new flag. Rather than letting the people determine their own national emblem, the American dominated Iraqi Governing Council unveiled the new flag – in the same blue color as the flag of Israel rather than the traditional colors of other Arab states .
Other residents objected to the removal of the phrase, “God is greatest,” which adorned the previous national flag…
Flags are supposed to fly, but visually this new flag is more like a lead boat, destined to sink.
Sources
BBC News - Twin Cities Pioneer - American Dynamics
Apr
26
Olympic Games Return to Athens Celebrated with Largest Photo Exhibition
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What do you get when you combine 16,828 photos of Greek people? Answer: the title of the largest photo exhibition ever created (courtesy of Guiness Book of World Records) and a big Mediterranean smile. To help celebrate the return of the Olympic Games to Athens this year, Kodak compiled more than 16,000 submitted photos to create a photo montage of a Greek child smiling. The final image covers more than 5300 sq ft and was produced by Greek printer Polichromo SA using a NUR Fresco 3200 on mesh substrate. The image was installed on a building in Syntagma Square in Athens.
Greece’s Olympic Smile - Big Picture
Apr
24
Americans woke up today to something that’s been hidden from view during the war in Iraq — flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. A policy dating back to the first Bush administration bans media coverage of caskets arriving at military bases. The photographs were released to First Amendment activist Russ Kick, who had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to get the images.
NPR - National Public Radio
“The military does take care of their own,” he said. But it was the potential for upsetting families, the pastor added, that left him undecided on whether publication was appropriate.
But Gordon Angell Jr., 61, of Cloquet, whose son Levi was killed in Iraq earlier this month, had no such qualms: “The people have a right to know what’s going on.”
All 361 photos release are available.
Apr
12
Worlds Smallest Full Color Flag
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The nanofabricated American flags were created by Cornell research associates Scott Stelick and Madanagopal Kunnavakkam. The chip was made to honor the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which authorizes four-year funding for nanotechnology research starting in 2005.
Apr
9
Little Rock’s history comes alive in Berna Love’s new release. Local author Berna J. Love documents the vivid history of downtown in END OF THE LINE: A History of Little Rock’s West Ninth Street. From an emancipation shantytown and lynching through the heyday of “little Harlem” and the death knell of Urban Renewal, The Line was the civic, social and commercial center of a world held back by the fears, laws and ignorance of segregation. Walk down The Line, and be enthralled by the sights, sounds and smells of the thriving African-American society not defined just by street names and numbers.
The Line: a survivor of wars, the Klan, Jim Crow, the Depression and the Great Migration but demolished in the name of progress. Less than a handful of buildings stand as a testament to this span of time and the significant contribution of these people integral to the history of Little Rock, Arkansas.
One of the remaining buildings, the Taborian Hall was built in 1917 on 800 West Ninth Street and refurbished in 1991 by local business owner Kerry McCoy. The Taborian Hall is now home of Arkansas FlagandBanner.com, a full-service custom flag and banner manufacturer as well as a specialty gift store offering unique and hard-to-find patriotic items to a worldwide audience, via the Internet.
Ms. Love will be at Arkansas FlagandBanner.com to sign books and visit with history buffs on Friday, April 9, 2004 from 3 to 6 pm. Refreshments will be served and in-house specials will be offered to commemorate the occasion.