Flags, Anthems, and Other Sacred Symbols

I've blogged before about flags.  To sum up, it is a symbol and symbols can mean very different things to those viewing them.  This time the symbol in the news is a song - The National Anthem - but the basic argument remains the same.

NFL players are choosing not to stand for the National Anthem.  As I understand it, they are protesting racism.  Some are simply showing solidarity with their team mates, for the freedom to choose not to stand.  I think they are wrong but I also know they have this thing called Freedom of Expression.  And I'm appalled by the hypocrites being appalled.

How many of these people yelling about this are, even as it happens, plopped in a recliner?  How many didn't bat an eye when Tom Brady hocked a giant loogie during a Moment of Silence for murdered children?  How many sit on the curb when the flag passes during a parade, usually carried by combat veterans?

Then there's the question of forced compliance.  That in itself is a violation of the US Constitution, which is based upon freedom.  We have the right to disrespect the Sacred Symbols of others - note the cartoonists being defended when they draw Mohammed.  These freedoms apply to everyone.

To me, these symbols are not about what we are - they are about what we should be, what we want to be, the ideals which we repeatedly fall short of.  But we keep trying and that is what I stand up for.  If I stand - and honestly, sometimes I don't.  There are a variety of reasons, but I have that right.  I'll thank you to respect it.  As I respect yours.

Little Plastic People - Part 3

Been looking at Barbie blogs.  There's a lot of them where folks have like whole communities of dolls and stage soap operas.  I really like the one called "How To Play With Barbies".  It's by a lady who has taken my philosophy of using the dolls as teaching tools way beyond what I do.  For example, in my Barbie World, if a kid wants to make Kira be married to Candy, I'm okay with it. Well, this lady has a doll of a lesbian celebrity - and  a doll of the real-life wife. She made the wife doll.  MADE it!  She used a doll of Mimi from The Drew Carey show to teach her daughter not to hate on fat people.  She seeks out dolls she can use for lessons.

I try not to have hard-and-fast rules about doll play.  I think it stifles creativity.  Right now, I'm making an album on my Facebook that's 2016 Barbie Scenarios and I have established for that a dollhouse family and some roles for others. But that probably won't be permanent, considering I'm eyeing the teen son for my next purge.  Also because, like I said, I try to avoid hard and fast rules.

My Barbie population now stands at 17 females, 10 males, and four animals.  I divide them into age groups by not just body molds, but faces as well.  A few of them are ambiguous - Mary could be a tall early teen or a late teen.  Sulu, Four, and Finnick are late teens or adults.  Skipper falls somewhere between the young teens and child.  Most of the adult females can also serve as late teens, but some of the faces firmly place them in one group or the other.

My minions have many stories of doll play at Jeanie's.  I've pontificated in the past about gender roles, so I'll spare you most of that.  Suffice to say that, to the best of my knowledge, none of my male minions has been gay.  There is a very real difference in how the boys play...  usually someone ends in with a head in the oven or toilet...