August 06, 2002
Sunday papers
Catching up on Sunday papers, I see the LA Times has a story
on recent proliferation of the English flag in England:
| Columnists have attributed the flag-waving--even, surprisingly, by standard-bearers of the left--as a sign of resurgent patriotism in a land usually reticent about expressions of nationalist sentiment. |  |
"The English have come slowly, shyly to their national identity," Tony Parsons wrote
in the Mirror newspaper recently. "It looks as if the English are finally allowed to start
loving themselves. The sting has been drawn out of the flag of St. George. All the old
connotations, that a red cross on a white background meant a mind-set that was white,
racist, boozy, xenophobic, exclusive, have gone out the window."
"I think the Union Jack has connotations to do with Britain's past," Billy Bragg said.
"I think of British culture as being rather monocultural and that monoculture as centering
around the monarchy, the flag and the British empire. The English flag doesn't really
have those imperial connotations."
Also in the papers, Florida debuts a confusing ballot [NYT].
...the unified statewide ballot created to avoid a repeat of the disastrous 2000
presidential election. The Democrats say it is confusing, and could mislead voters
into choosing two candidates for governor instead of just one. The top of the ballot
instructs people to "vote for one pair," meaning one pair of candidates —
a governor and a lieutenant governor.
In a perfect world, the ballot would then list three pairs of candidates. But it
does not because none of the three Democratic candidates for governor has chosen
a running mate yet. (They have until a week after the primary to do so.)
The ballot lists only the names of the three candidates for governor —
Daryl L. Jones, Bill McBride and Janet Reno — with a bubble beside each for
marking a vote. Beneath each name is the phrase "Not Yet Designated."
State Democratic officials say voters may not understand that "Not Yet Designated"
is a person. They fear, for example, that voters may fill in two bubbles and
join Ms. Reno, the former United States attorney general, with Mr. McBride,
a Tampa lawyer who is her main challenger, in a Reno-McBride ticket.