October 20 '01
Volume 281
War And Peace
Thoughts On Patriotism
That does it take to unify a
diverse people? Americans have long been noted for their racial
diversity, but until recently little has been made of their unity. The reason
for that is that Americans are largely individualists.
Throughout our brief national history, we have often rejected the efforts
of some to unify us. Not all colonists believed it a good idea to rebel against
Great Britain. Our regional diversity and distrust of Federalism played a
major role in plunging the United States of America into Civil War, less
than one hundred years after we declared our freedom and won the right to
establish our country as a republic.
Once the war ended and the nation was again unified, America became attractive
to those who sought refuge on her shores, not for her unified citizenry,
but rather for the opportunity for individuals to individually work and prosper
in a tolerant and free country. To my knowledge, America is unique. No other
nation has ever granted its citizens the privileges and freedoms that we
enjoy.
In times of peace and prosperity, individuals are prone to assume such good
times will always be. Individuals enjoy privacy and safety with scarcely
a thought of national unity, until peace is threatened. Not since the bombing
of Pearl Harbor have Americans experienced a wake-up call to unity of such
a magnitude as the recent terrorists' attacks of September 11th.
Neither have Americans, since Pearl Harbor, enjoyed the level of patriotism
so evident today. Our patriotism has been made manifest in a variety of ways,
including times of national prayer for the families of victims of terrorism,
selfless volunteer and relief efforts that included both time and monies,
an unqualified resolve to support our nation's leaders, and perhaps one of
the most visible has been a strong desire to display the American flag.
(Unfortunately, not everyone is well versed in flag etiquette, and a second
article in this newsletter will address that concern.)
One might say that the American people are "rock solid" behind the efforts
of our leaders to root out and destroy all vestiges of terrorism and to bring
to justice those groups responsible for the attacks of September
11th. While I agree with this view, I admit to seeing a few hairline
cracks developing in our resolve.
If our own history, our love of freedom, our tolerance of opposing views,
our individuality, if all or any of these are considered, then those hairline
cracks will widen into fissures. Presently, those who support the annihilation
of our enemies (hawks) far outnumber those who would have us seek peaceful
negotiations (doves). As yet, there are no large-scale protests against our
undeclared war on an elusive enemy. However, as the scope of the war effort
widens, so will the scope of anti-war protests.
Already, if you listen and read, you will hear doves
cooing¾in a letter to the editor here, an
anti-war protest on a college campus
there¾and while easy to ignore now, the coos
will one day be difficult to ignore. Thankfully, America still honors freedom
of speech. That we must tolerate opposing opinions is perhaps the downside
to this cherished freedom, but I’ll accept that in lieu of governmental
censorship.
Patriots who are hawks should not despair that all Americans do not condone
war. However, as time goes by, the patriotic spirit so many now embrace will
diminish. The unity of spirit that pervades the American people will also
wane. Be prepared, it’s part of our national heritage.
Flag Respect
General Rules
If you did not own an American flag prior to the terrorism unleashed on September
11th, and you did not buy one within days of the destruction of
the World Trade Center in New York, you may have to wait a while if you'd
like to buy one. I heard in the news that Wal Mart's entire stock of American
Flags were sold in a single day. I've checked a number of sites on the Internet
and at every turn inventories are depleted. Some sites will accept orders
as long as the customer understands it may be several weeks before the order
can be filled.
The last flag I owned was replaced with one that I borrowed from my nephew,
Brett Brown, for a July 4th cookout, several years ago. It flew
at our house on 8th street until it faded and was discarded when
we moved to our present home on Dogwood Circle. The former owners did not
leave a flag holder mounted anywhere that I have been able to locate, and
until recently, I didn’t feel the urge to buy and fly the American flag.
I figure I know the most common rules concerning showing proper respect for
the American flag but will readily admit that I didn’t know there was
a proper position to wear a lapel flag pin until a writer for the Tupelo
based, Daily Journal did a piece on respecting the flag. However,
I had noticed a few folks around town were displaying flags incorrectly,
and had already begun some research for this article when the one in the
Journal appeared.
The following is not a complete list of dos and don'ts but perhaps readers
will learn a thing or two not previously known to them.
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America;
the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors,
State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as
a mark of honor.
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The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal
of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
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The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the
floor, water, or merchandise.
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The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and
free.
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The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It
should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed
to fall free. Bunting of blue, white and red, always arranged with the blue
above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering
a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in
general.
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The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner
as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
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The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
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The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached
to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing
of any nature.
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The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying,
or delivering anything.
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The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.
It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs
and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or
anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs
should not be fastened to a staff of halyard from which the flag is flown.
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No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.
However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel,
firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.
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The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.
Therefore, the lapel flag pin, being a replica, should be worn on the left
lapel near the heart.
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The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem
for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
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It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset
on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs. The flag may be displayed 24 hours
a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
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The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except
when the flag is an all-weather flag.
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The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building
of every public institution.
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When hung on a wall or building, either horizontally or vertically, the union,
or blue field, should be uppermost and to the observer's left.
-
The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle
or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar,
the staff shall be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
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The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the
highest point of the group when a number of flags of states or localities
or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.
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When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from
separate staffs of the same height.
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When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be
displayed above and behind the speaker.
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The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for
an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be
again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.
Another
Matter Scientists Discover
The Nobel Prize in Physics for this year has been announced. Three recipients
will share the approximately one million-dollar prize. They are credited
with the discovery of another state of matter. Previously, as most individuals
with minimal schooling already know, it was held that matter falls into one
of three categories, solid, liquid, or gas. If you count stars and electric
arcs, then there's plasma, a fourth state.
The scientists were able to demonstrate the existence of another state of
matter that had been predicted years ago by Albert Einstein. Einstein made
his prediction after reading a paper submitted to him by Satyendra Bose,
an Indian scientist. So, what are we to call this new substance? Try saying
Bose-Einstein Condensate.
Personally, I'm glad my school days are behind me. I'd hate to be in General
Science again and be required to learn the states of matter are solid, liquid,
gas, plasma, and Bose-Einstein Condensate. Maybe it'll be reduced to the
acronym, BEC, making it easy for students to spell. Scientists did that with
Deoxyribonucleic Acid, the building blocks of life itself, shortening the
big word to simply DNA, so for students of tomorrow, there is hope.
There is tremendous excitement in the scientific community regarding the
possibilities of the usefulness of BEC's, but I've not yet caught their
enthusiasm. Right now, BEC's exists only at extremely low temperatures, very
near zero…absolute zero, that is. In case you've forgotten absolute
zero is a minus 459.69° F. I don't fully
understand exactly what BEC's are, and I've read a fourteen page paper that
is supposed to explain the new state of matter.
It must be that I've been out of the collegiate routine and the pursuit of
a Bachelor of Science degree for too long. Maybe, when the National Geographic
Magazine publishes an article on BEC's, it'll make sense to me. However,
I've just read the October issue of NG, and the excellent article on Light
left me wondering about my cognitive skills.
Light, for all the years it's been studied, still defies scientists to explain
fully its nature and properties. In many ways, light can be reasoned to possess
the characteristics of a wave, but in some instances it exhibits the properties
of particles. Apparently, it’s a little of both.
I had trouble following the portion of the article that dealt with Einstein's
Theory of Relativity, but I did learn something about rainbows. It
seems that rainbows occur in pairs. While I recall seeing several double
rainbows over the years, I was not aware that this is normal. In the primary
rainbow, the color patterns range from blue to red, but in the secondary
rainbow the colors are in reverse order, a sort of mirroring effect, an
observation I'd never made.
I also had not paid attention to the fact that the area of the sky between
the two rainbows is always darker than the rest of the sky surrounding the
rainbows. That area even has a name. It's called Alexander's Dark Band.
So, to keep me from feeling completely ignorant at least with respect to
rainbows, I am asking readers to let me know if the rainbow facts above are
new to them or simply old hat. It'll be okay if you want to pretend you didn't
know the facts, so I'll feel better.
Bodock Beau
Getting Old Indicators
In perusing some old "humor files" these sort of rose to the top. As far
as I can determine, neither has been in this column previously. If these
don't apply to you, perhaps they remind you of someone who is getting old.
Signs You're Getting Old
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You're asleep, but others worry that you're dead.
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Your back goes out more than you do.
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You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.
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You buy a compass for the dash of your car/truck.
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You are proud of your lawn mower.
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Your best friend is dating someone half his or her age, and isn't breaking
any laws.
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Your arms are almost too short to read the newspaper.
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You sing along with the elevator music.
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You would rather go to work than stay home sick.
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You enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
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You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.
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People call at 9:00 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"
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You answer a question with, "Because I said so."
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You send money to PBS.
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The end of your tie doesn't come anywhere near the top of your pants.
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You take a metal detector to the beach.
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You know what the word "equity" means.
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You can't remember the last time you laid on the floor to watch television.
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Your ears are hairier than your head.
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You talk about "good grass" and you're referring to someone's lawn.
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You get into a heated argument about pension plans.
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You got cable just for The Weather Channel.
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You can go bowling without drinking.
Unemployed Mime
One day an out of work mime is visiting the zoo and attempts to earn some
money as a street performer. Unfortunately, as soon as he starts to draw
a crowd, a zookeeper grabs him and drags him into his office.
The zookeeper explains to the mime that the zoo's most popular attraction,
a gorilla, has died suddenly and the keeper fears that attendance at the
zoo will fall off. He offers the mime a job to dress up as the gorilla until
they can get another one. The mime accepts.
So, the next morning the mime puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage
before the crowd comes. He discovers that it's a great job. He can sleep
all he wants, play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than
he ever did as a mime. However, eventually the crowds tire of him and he
tires of just swinging on tires. He begins to notice that the people are
paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his. Not wanting to
lose the attention of his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage, crawls
across a partition, and dangles from the top to the lion's cage. Of course,
this makes the lion furious, but the crowd loves it.
At the end of the day the zookeeper comes and gives the mime a raise for
being as good an attraction as the gorilla.
Well, this goes on for some time, the mime keeps taunting the lion, the crowds
grow larger, and his salary keeps going up. Then one terrible day when he
is dangling over the furious lion he slips and falls. The mime is terrified.
The lion gathers itself and prepares to pounce. The mime is so scared that
he begins to run round and round the cage with the lion close behind.
Finally, the mime starts screaming and yelling, "Help, Help me," but the
lion is quick and pounces.
The mime soon finds himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion
and the lion says, "Shut up you idiot! Do you want to get us both fired?"
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