To commemorate the arrival tomorrow of middle school students from Kanegasaki, our Sister City for past twenty years, the flag of Japan now shares a town hall turret with Old Glory and the Massachusetts state flag.
Not far from Amherst Town Hall the weathered United Nations flag flies from a dedicated pole, and underneath the flag of Tibet recently flew freely to symbolize a yearning to be free.
But of course this coming 9/11, the commemorative American flags will not be allowed to fly in the downtown.
14 comments:
The select board should just decree that 9/11 never happened. No one was killed, no one hurt. It was just an accident and not an attack on the US because of our support of Israel. Wait sorry, might have offended someone there.
In fact, if that statue of Saddam Hussein is still around maybe they can replace the fountain in town with it. Even better commission an artist to do a Osama Bin Laden with his arm around Bush and Obama tribute statue. Perhaps, (and this is a stretch), Bush could be holding up a small American flag. No strike that last one. That might offend some.
Well at least they can do anything but pay tribute to a flag millions have died for. A flag that means so much to the country that lost 2996 souls on that day. Wait! Strike that last sentence. Wouldn't want to offend anyone.
Heck, let's just put up a statue of Lester Frank Ward. That will keep the town folk happy, and satisfy the Gods. Wait sorry, didn't mean to use the word God. Sorry I offended. It's really up to you to believe what you want.
Boy, now I know how hard it is for the governing body to make a decision in ʇsɹǝɥɯɐ. Is 'governing body' the correct term? I wouldn't want to offend anyone. I mean governing makes it sound like someone is on a higher plane than another person. Gosh this ʇsɹǝɥɯɐ thing is so complicated.
:)
ɹǝʇlɐʍ... you are not a good writer and this bit is not clever at all. Seriously.
And it's just like you to type this many words and completely convolute the issue, and not include a single piece of factual information or even useful opinion.
There are more than 18,000 other towns in this country that don't suck as much as Amherst, why don't you go forth and multiply (but not in those words) and find a town that won't cause you so much distress?
I would be ashamed of my name if it was ɟɟɐɹƃ ɹǝʇlɐʍ.
Also, would you mind telling us, ɹǝʇlɐʍ, how you worked "with" the NYC Police?
I didn't think so.
ɹǝʇlɐʍ, we should meet one of these days. Where's a good place?
Your headline is offensive and should be changed. The Rising Sun flag was the flag of Japan until WWII and is not current the flag. It is hardly an appropriate headline in relation to our guests.
I was thinking more along the lines of Ben Franklin.
Think again.
I actually know one very old timer Amherst resident who finds the flag offensive no matter what you call it.
Maybe I should have used the headline "Forgive and Forget."
Why don't you just retitle the post Flag of Japan over Amherst? It would be a nice gesture even if you are too clueless to see what you have done. Would you have titled it Swastika Flag Over Amherst if the German flag was raised for visitors from Germany? Of course not as that wouldn't be the flag that would be used, and that's not the Rising Sun flag either.
Japan is still known as "The land of the rising sun."
And the flag more closely resembling the Japanese flag flown during WW2 is still in use by the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force.
Larry, you're confusing two different flags. The red sun disk (the Hinomaru) is the national flag of Japan and has been since the 1870s.
The rayed sun disk flag, aka the Rising Sun Flag, is the military banner of Japan. It was flown in WWII, and -- this is important for your self-appointed critics to note -- is still in use by Japan's self-defence forces today.
So: Larry's wrong to call the national flag the Rising Sun, but there's nothing offensive about it. The Rising Sun flag is still an emblem of Japan.
Actually I did not call the flag anything other than the flag of Japan.
Although notice I did go out of my way to call the American flag "Old Glory."
But glad to hear you do not take offense.
You people bicker about these modes of etiquette like old woman at the weekly Social. Get lives, people!
Your title is insulting to our guests, but then again, sensitivity isn't your strong point.
Post a Comment