Semper en Obscurus

The creepy, colorful uniform patches of secret Pentagon programs: a slideshow. [NYT]

I wonder what kind of patches they'll give the Special Ops bloggers.

Comments

[Cass]

It not the funniest, or most dramatic, but I like the mushroom for some reason. The search-and-rescue "Ghost Squadron" patch doesn't inspire much confidence, and the "Grim Reapers", with their moon-and-thirteen-stars, are risking trouble with some more religious members of the Air Force. Most of the others look like the inspiration of D & D geeks.

For simple, heart-stopping morbidity, I don't think Charles Nungesser's personal insignia has ever been surpassed:

www.neam.org/lafescweb/images/conf2_nungesser.jpg

[The Phantom]

As will surprise no one, I love all of these patches!

They're terrific fun. Much more interesting than the ones I got in Florida, Guam and Europe.

What I do not like is the ones that bring attention to "Top Secret" or to secrecy in general. That kind of defeats the purpose of being secretive-- to broadcast the fact of secrecy on your shoulder.

[droog]

This one from the NRO is lame. Setec Astronomy is an anagram for "Too Many Secrets". Used in the film Sneakers.

[mudkitty]

Big patch, small...

[The Phantom]

mudkitty

Do you speak from personal experience?

[Anacher Forester]

Yes, Phantom it does defeat the purpose. But what's the good of belonging to a super-manly boss secret outfit if you don't have some sorta merch? As for the "special" military blogger patch, I picture The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy sitting by the basement stairs with a blood-splattered laptop. His mouse will painted with hot rod-style flames.

-AF

Andrew Sullivan Is A Fraud

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

And, to be fair, nobody said these patches have to go on the shoulder... Maybe these are for invitation-only parties.

But if that's true, I don't even want to think where the NSA keep theirs.

[Lesley]

It seems like something a ten year old would dream up. Very schoolyard bullyish stupido.

[thinga]

A life time of silence behind the green door

from IMDB: Behind the Green Door

Two men enter a fast food place. The owner asks them about a mysterious matter. After some considerations, one of the two guys accepts to tell the story. Here starts a long flashback: the two men are in a terrace, next to a lake, and one is telling the other a story. A woman sits at a table nearby. Later the same woman is kidnapped. When the blindfold is removed, a woman welcomes her. After a relaxing massage, she is accompanied by 6 women, into a stage, in front of masked men, and women of all kinds. A speaker explains that the woman will be pleased, by all means. The 6 women first, and later some men make love to her, while the audience progressively move into a orgy. This is the end of the flashback. The owner of the fast food place asks what happened after that time, but the men refuse to tell... Written by Andrea Pasqua {pasqua@sna.com}

[cfrost]

Very schoolyard bullyish stupido

Exactly. It's inherent in the nature of what the military is that they have always had a problem balancing the ratio of adults to embarrassing, puerile asshats. Read Heller's “Catch 22”. I was a military brat: military schools, military housing, etc.: the “Hoo-Yah!” mentality was readily understood by us tykes.

(The “hoo-yah” phrase, by the way, that our cheerleader president is so fond of using while playing military dress-up, is one I never heard until recently when the children were put in charge of the Pentagon.)

[The Phantom]

--The “hoo-yah” phrase, by the way, that our cheerleader president is so fond of using while playing military dress-up, is one I never heard until recently--

Well, you weren't paying attention. This phrase, and slight variations thereon, has been around
forever

Predates the Bush Presidency by perhaps 150 years.

In very widespread use in the Army and Marine Corps, esp in boot camp and physical training environments.

[mudkitty]

Hardly speaks well of the military mind set. Psych yourselves up boys...you have to.