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Today the flag; tomorrow mom and apple pie (1 Viewer)

IvanKaramazov

Footballguy
I can't believe nobody has started a thread on this yet.

Schools Ban Patriotic Clothes, Flags

School Officials Say Move Is Temporary

POSTED: 10:24 am PDT April 3, 2006

UPDATED: 10:05 am PDT April 5, 2006

Email This Story | Print This Story

SAN DIEGO -- In the wake of last week's immigration-reform protests, one school district is taking drastic measures, banning all symbols of patriotism, both U.S. and Mexican.

Beginning Monday, the Oceanside Unified School District is banning all flags and patriotic clothing. According to school officials, some students are using the garments and flags to taunt classmates.

Some critics of the move are calling it a violation of free speech protections guaranteed by the Constitution.

The American Civil Liberties Union points to the landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines. In that case, school officials attempted to stop students who were protesting the Viet Nam War from wearing black armbands.

"The school has to be able to show a strong likelihood that there is going to material and substantial disruption of school, and if they don’t meet that standard, then they can't censor student speech," said Kevin Neenan of the ACLU.

School officials in Oceanside now say that flags -- whether they are U.S. or Mexican or any other country's -- have now become a divider on campuses, saying that some students are using them to taunt other students

Keith Brentlinger displays the U.S. flag outside Hatter, Williams and Purdy, his Oceanside business.

"To me, it's everything," said Brentlinger "I mean, like I said -- we truly live in the greatest country in the world."

Brentlinger said he was shocked on Tuesday when marching immigration-reform protesters tore down the flag outside his business.

"Some of them just grabbed the flag, and pulled it off its aluminum pole, and it got ripped," said Brentlinger.

Brentlinger told NBC 7/39 that he put up a new flag the next day.

"Some protesters drove up in their car and snagged the flag from our building and took off," said Brentlinger. "I was extremely, extremely upset. I mean, it was just ... insulting is the word."

School officials are saying that the ban is just temporary and that they were just trying to prevent violence. They would not say how long the ban would be in effect.
linkOn one hand, I want to work in some jokes at TGZ's expense, but they'll be time for that later in scores of other threads.

More seriously, conservatives should note that every once in a while the ACLU is actually good for something.

 
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Seperate issue

Anyone notice that the protestors of the immigration laws are all waving Mexico flags...don't they think they could get a better response form people here if they would waive the United States flag? In Miami, Cubans have Cuban American flags that incorporate both and let you know they are proud Americans.

 
Same thing happened last week in Longmont, CO

School administrators said flags were being used as tools for intimidation on both sides and banned both Mexican & U.S. flags to be carried or worn by any students.

The school still flew the U.S. flag in front of the school and has a U.S. flag in every classroom during the ban.

Looks like things regarding illegal immigration are really heating up finally.

 
Seperate issue

Anyone notice that the protestors of the immigration laws are all waving Mexico flags...don't they think they could get a better response form people here if they would waive the United States flag? In Miami, Cubans have Cuban American flags that incorporate both and let you know they are proud Americans.
Yeah, that's not very smart politics on their part. I'm pretty pro-immigration and more forgiving of illegal immigration than most people one this board, but I'm sort of embarrassed by that particular display.
 
guarantee I'd wear Red,White And blue carrying a flag with me had my school tried that when I went and my parents would have backed me 100%

I also guarantee this NEVER would have happened back then.

USA = PC Hell now :thumbdown:

 
guarantee I'd wear Red,White And blue carrying a flag with me had my school tried that when I went and my parents would have backed me 100%

I also guarantee this NEVER would have happened back then.

USA = PC Hell now :thumbdown:
Please don't read this as an endorsement - merely playing devils advocate here, looking for reason...I suspect the issue is that Caucasians have been getting into the II fervor, and displaying red, white, and blue specifically to taunt latino students. While patriotism is good, patriotism with the intent to disrupt and/or cause harm to fellow students is disruptive to education. Of course, the issue could be the reverse - Latinos trapsing around in Mexican flags, but the school board must ban all flags, not just the Mexican one, in order to not discriminate.

-or-

California wants to be independant and wants nothing to do with the rest of the USA.

 
guarantee I'd wear Red,White And blue carrying a flag with me had my school tried that when I went and my parents would have backed me 100%

I also guarantee this NEVER would have happened back then.

USA = PC Hell now :thumbdown:
Please don't read this as an endorsement - merely playing devils advocate here, looking for reason...I suspect the issue is that Caucasians have been getting into the II fervor, and displaying red, white, and blue specifically to taunt latino students. While patriotism is good, patriotism with the intent to disrupt and/or cause harm to fellow students is disruptive to education. Of course, the issue could be the reverse - Latinos trapsing around in Mexican flags, but the school board must ban all flags, not just the Mexican one, in order to not discriminate.

-or-

California wants to be independant and wants nothing to do with the rest of the USA.
I understand why they are doing it, but that doesn't make it right. I hate the mentality of "Punish them all for the few that do wrong."

Get the ones that are instigating the trouble, but don't force rules on me because of the few idiots who can't discuss this rationaly.

But in ths PC world now days, going after the mexican's would be "Racial Profiling" and going after the Americans would have the ACLU after you.

It's really a no win situation right now thanks to the PC crowd. :( :angry:

 
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If people approve of my using the flag to taunt Mexicans... do they also approve of me burning the flag, wearing the flag or hanging the flag upside down to taunt those who hold the flag sacred?

 
I suspect the issue is that Caucasians have been getting into the II fervor, and displaying red, white, and blue specifically to taunt latino students.
How can you taunt latino students with a US flag if they are US citizens??? :confused:
 
I suspect the issue is that Caucasians have been getting into the II fervor, and displaying red, white, and blue specifically to taunt latino students.
How can you taunt latino students with a US flag if they are US citizens??? :confused:
Exactly! This is crazy to me. They are disrespecting everyone who has stood for the colors just to make thier job easier. Violence is a part of life take away the flag and they will taunt each other with words or some other method..

Some things you just don't mess with .. The RED WHITE AND BLUE is one of them.

The people behind this decision are IMO cowards. I would not stand for this in my community. I would be outside that scool everyday waiving the Amercian Flag.

 
They tried this at Apache Junction High School (far east Phoenix Metro) last weekend...for about a few hours.

It seems a messican student tried to raise a messican flag last Friday...on the JrROTC flag pole. :mellow: JrROTC kids came out, took the flag down, and told the other kid that it wasn't happening. He tried to raise it again, they took it again, and one of the JrROTCs burned it. :thumbup:

School admins promptly announced a ban on all flags and flag clothing to begin this past Monday. :wall: Holy hell was raised and they reversed that decision within a few hours. :clap: lol

Meanwhile, the local police (read: Barney and Andy) are pursuing arson charges against the JrROTC kid. :rolleyes: :wall:

 
I suspect the issue is that Caucasians have been getting into the II fervor, and displaying red, white, and blue specifically to taunt latino students.
How can you taunt latino students with a US flag if they are US citizens??? :confused:
Exactly! This is crazy to me. They are disrespecting everyone who has stood for the colors just to make thier job easier. Violence is a part of life take away the flag and they will taunt each other with words or some other method..

Some things you just don't mess with .. The RED WHITE AND BLUE is one of them.

The people behind this decision are IMO cowards. I would not stand for this in my community. I would be outside that scool everyday waiving the Amercian Flag.
I agree with this. the redneck part of me (which is a majority) says that display of foreign flags should be outlawed in government funded buildings, including (but not limited to) schools and the DMV. Not allowing Old Glory to fly in all her majesty, especially in a time of "war" is an outrage.

 
They tried this at Apache Junction High School (far east Phoenix Metro) last weekend...for about a few hours.

It seems a messican student tried to raise a messican flag last Friday...on the JrROTC flag pole. :mellow: JrROTC kids came out, took the flag down, and told the other kid that it wasn't happening. He tried to raise it again, they took it again, and one of the JrROTCs burned it. :thumbup:

School admins promptly announced a ban on all flags and flag clothing to begin this past Monday. :wall: Holy hell was raised and they reversed that decision within a few hours. :clap: lol

Meanwhile, the local police (read: Barney and Andy) are pursuing arson charges against the JrROTC kid. :rolleyes: :wall:
That is pretty shameful. Way to show you are the "better man" by burning the guys flag, while supposedly representing your country as a JrROTC participant. Thumbup? That, imo, is a bit shameful too.That is not to say that it was tasteful, right, nor acceptable for the other student to try and hoist another nations flag... but to pull it down and BURN it? Well, nice to know the ROTC kids are no better than the one hoisting the Mexican flag. Way to do an awful job representing your country, and a worse job fostering good and working toward a solution.

Just a pathetic jingoistic reaction that proves "we" are no better then "they."

People, we need to keep our heads here. There are big issues we must tackle and letting natural and exaggerated feelings of racism/stereotype etc. flame an already difficult situation (from a purely economic and social standpoint) does no one any good. Disparaging another's flag, origina, heritage only makes you one of the bad guys... and nothing is worse than a bad guy claiming right by my (and probably your, if you arent named Smoo) flag that should stand for freedom, along with respect.

One other note - no one is going to gain my sympathy waiving another nation's flag, when they claim they wish to be citizens of my country. That makes me think those people in particular DON'T get what it means to be American, and others should be allowed to have access to the fruits of our nation/society while those sent back to the country they apparantly wish support first.

 
The pro-illegals are staging a march next Monday here in Phoenix. They're actualy spreading the word to potential marchers to fly the American flag and not the Mexican flag so as not to piss off anyone. I'd say they're a little late.

 
The pro-illegals are staging a march next Monday here in Phoenix. They're actualy spreading the word to potential marchers to fly the American flag and not the Mexican flag so as not to piss off anyone. I'd say they're a little late.
Well, better late than never. At least there is some recognition of what nation this is and which flag we fly.BTW, I really am not sure of the answer to the issue at hand here... does guest worker mean able to live in slum conditions at super low wages? Do we want some two tiered citizenship, legitimized by government decree?

Of course, I suppose admitting reality and stating that certain non-citizens have a right to live hear but not be eligible for minimum wage is better than this dummass notion of pretending it doesnt exist.

 
That is pretty shameful. Way to show you are the "better man" by burning the guys flag, while supposedly representing your country as a JrROTC participant. Thumbup? That, imo, is a bit shameful too.

That is not to say that it was tasteful, right, nor acceptable for the other student to try and hoist another nations flag... but to pull it down and BURN it? Well, nice to know the ROTC kids are no better than the one hoisting the Mexican flag. Way to do an awful job representing your country, and a worse job fostering good and working toward a solution.

Just a pathetic jingoistic reaction that proves "we" are no better then "they."
If they had burned it on the first try, I could lean in your direction that it was wrong. But considering it was raised a second time (basically saying "ef you!!"), he's lucky only his flag was burned. AJ is basically a hick town, used to be way out in the sticks (before Mesa spread that direction), and there's probably more than a few rednecks out there. If this had been an adult who raised the Mexican flag in front of the local biker bar, I could see the crap getting beat out of him.The flood of illegals is considered by some to be an invasion. When you've completed an invasion, what do you do? You plant a flag. And that's what some are interpreting all this Mexican flag waving (<-- everyone please note the spelling) to be about -- "ha ha, we're here and you can't do anything about it!! neener neener neener!! :waveflag:".

 
That is pretty shameful.  Way to show you are the "better man" by burning the guys flag, while supposedly representing your country as a JrROTC participant.  Thumbup? That, imo, is a bit shameful too.

That is not to say that it was tasteful, right, nor acceptable for the other student to try and hoist another nations flag... but to pull it down and BURN it? Well, nice to know the ROTC kids are no better than the one hoisting the Mexican flag.  Way to do an awful job representing your country, and a worse job fostering good and working toward a solution.

Just a pathetic jingoistic reaction that proves "we" are no better then "they."
If they had burned it on the first try, I could lean in your direction that it was wrong. But considering it was raised a second time (basically saying "ef you!!"), he's lucky only his flag was burned. AJ is basically a hick town, used to be way out in the sticks (before Mesa spread that direction), and there's probably more than a few rednecks out there. If this had been an adult who raised the Mexican flag in front of the local biker bar, I could see the crap getting beat out of him.The flood of illegals is considered by some to be an invasion. When you've completed an invasion, what do you do? You plant a flag. And that's what some are interpreting all this Mexican flag waving (<-- everyone please note the spelling) to be about -- "ha ha, we're here and you can't do anything about it!! neener neener neener!! :waveflag:".
I understand your concern, and your disgust. I agree to a large extent.But, once again, to represent your nation by burning another nations flag? That is a cowardly act that can only further the divide, not work toward a solution.

Why not just take the f'n flag? Why disrespect not just that individual, but the flag of a neighboring country? That is my point.

Now, these are young kids - but to support such action as an adult, to applaud it even, can not be so easily excused. I just believe we should work for a solution and not fan the flames that already exist. If you are to where the uniform, that is all the more important.

 
The message here is simple: Flag burning is OK as long as you burn a non-U.S. flag that you stole.
How is this the message when they are pressing charges against the young man who did it? Guess I misunderstand the concept of "pressing charges."
 
Seperate issue

Anyone notice that the protestors of the immigration laws are all waving Mexico flags...don't they think they could get a better response form people here if they would waive the United States flag?  In Miami, Cubans have Cuban American flags that incorporate both and let you know they are proud Americans.
Yeah, that's not very smart politics on their part. I'm pretty pro-immigration and more forgiving of illegal immigration than most people one this board, but I'm sort of embarrassed by that particular display.
NPR was interviewing one of the organizers of a pro-immigrant demonstration, and she said that she had requested all the marchers NOT bring Mexican flags. She thought the flags would do a lot of political harm to the cause. She was probably right.
 
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?

 
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A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
The existing flags were painted white. Just sayin'...

 
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
Let's burn the effing white flags. That will show those surrender monkeys.

 
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
Let's burn the effing white flags. That will show those surrender monkeys.
Obviously a kickass promo for the Leftovers. What will HBO think of next?

 
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
Let's burn the effing white flags. That will show those surrender monkeys.
Obviously a kickass promo for the Leftovers. What will HBO think of next?
Yeah, that would make sense if someone were taking credit for it.

It's a little weird to say the least...

Not real thrilled people can climb up the BB when surrounded by police too.

 
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
The bridge was sold to France?

 
Thought when you see skinheads with white laces, they're white supremacists. Maybe the bridge is racist. :oldunsure:

 
Last edited by a moderator:
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
The existing flags were painted white. Just sayin'...
Is that what they did? Just saw that. I thought they had switched out Old Glory for white flags.

How does that change things?

 
A Brooklyn Bridge Mystery: Who Raised the White Flags?
The flags looked innocent enough, billowing merrily in the breeze, pure white against a clear summer sky.

Then came the double-take, for thousands of New Yorkers, camera-toting tourists, maintenance workers and residents gazing out the window as they sipped their morning coffee: The flags above the Brooklyn Bridge are not white.

At least, not usually.

The bridge, a landmark so iconic it is frequently one of the first structures to be smashed to pieces in apocalyptic movies, always flies enormous American flags above its two towers.

Not so on Tuesday morning.

“I’m not particularly happy about the event,” said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, whose officers evidently missed something overnight.

Surveillance footage shows a group crossing the bridge around 3:10 a.m., shortly before the lights illuminating the flags on both towers went out, said John Miller, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner of counterterrorism. What appeared to be large aluminum pans, like those to cook lasagna for a crowd, had apparently been used to cover the lights.

Those responsible probably had some climbing experience, perhaps even on bridges, Mr. Miller said.

“At this time, no particular nexus to terrorism or politics,” he said. “This could be someone’s art project or someone’s statement. We’re just not clear what that statement is.”

They were not alone.

Robert Langdon, the fictional Harvard symbologist of “The Da Vinci Code,” would have had a field day with the stunt. The white flag of surrender seemed the obvious allusion, until it emerged that the flags were actually bleached Old Glories, raising confused questions of patriotism and politics.

Then there was the choice of the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I suspect a protest,” as Mike Hout, 64, a resident of the Dumbo neighborhood, put it, “but of what?”

An officer on the bridge told Carolyn Peterson that the police initially thought a film shoot in Dumbo might be responsible, but the film crew had denied involvement, Ms. Peterson said.

“Aliens,” declared someone named Alex, on Twitter.

“Manhattan surrendering to Brooklyn,” suggested Rebecca Mead, a writer for The New Yorker.

Others proposed a connection to politics — a show of strength from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, perhaps — or a power grab by Letitia James, the public advocate, who has not so subtly explored the possibility of assuming some of the mayor’s powers while he vacations in Italy. (Ms. James said on Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned” about the security breach.)

But no conspiracy theory was given more credence — at least initially — than the announcement, by the Twitter account @BicycleLobby, that it had hoisted white flags “to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.” The post was a joke, news organizations that had taken it at face value discovered to their chagrin.

The authorities were at a loss on Tuesday morning. Asked to explain the situation, a spokesman for the Police Department, Detective Martin Speechley, reported this: “There’s a white flag on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The bridge has suffered more than its share of indignities over the years, including, most recently, the “locks of love” — affixed by couples — that the Transportation Department has deemed a safety hazard. But it has also been a Qaeda target: The mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, once told an operative to destroy the bridge by cutting its suspension cables.Now cameras and marked police cars guard the entrances. A police boat lurks nearby in the East River. Round-the-clock security cameras watch the point on shore where the suspension cables are anchored.

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, offered a $5,000 reward on Tuesday for information about the perpetrators out of his own pocket, saying that if it was a prank, “I’m not laughing.”

On the bridge, New Yorkers and tourists veered between fear, puzzlement and absurdist humor.

“The first thing I told myself is, ‘That’s a warning sign,’ ” said Jeffrey Brown, 37, who sells water and Gatorade on the bridge. “Where’s your security at?”

Nearby, Nick Krevatas, one of the workers who were to hoist the new 12-by-18-foot red, white and blue flags that arrived in a Transportation Department truck by early afternoon, pulled on an elaborate harness.

“I feel we’ve been tampered with on our soil,” he said, a fat cigar clamped in the corner of his mouth. (He was still smoking it as he walked up the suspension cable to the towers.)

His theory?

“Something political, I guess,” he mused. “It’s got to mean something.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/nyregion/white-flags-mysteriously-appear-atop-the-brooklyn-bridge.html?_r=0

Anyone know what's going on here????

Any theories?
The bridge was sold to France?
Ok, +1.

 
When I heard about it, I immediately thought maybe someone from the "Why do we keep putting up with the south" thread did it as a prank to show the north surrendered.

 

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