Comments on: Emblems From Black Projects

By: Greg Bishop

Greg Bishop — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:44:49 +0000

Jimmy,

In the book, Paglen does in fact point out that these are unofficial emblems and patches.

I think that the patches do show a sense of humor, but you have to admit that a phrase like “We Own The Night” does suggest a inflated sense of self as well as a black (pun intended) sort of humor.

Thanks for the cool link!

By: jimmy

jimmy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:02:42 +0000

I think ol’ Trevor and some others are missing the concept of the “Friday patch” or “Morale patch.” Military unit patches are generally somber, serious and solemn (well, not _always_, but usually). Air Force, and probably Navy, policy allows aircrew to wear a less official patch on Fridays and sometimes while on TDY. Friday patches tend to be less sober, serious and solemn than the official version and incorporate sight gags, inside jokes, and parodies of the official patch. What you’ve got here, I think, isn’t the deep mystique of black ops but the military sense of humor (well, what the military thinks of as a sense of humor) at play. Oh, and there’s a whole article on those NRO patches at http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1033/1 that cites that same “devilish sense of humor.”

By: drew hempel

drew hempel — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:09:55 +0000

This reminds me of a conversation with my coworker last week. “Drew you’re a science guy.” (pulls out his family photo notebook). NASA rockets with explosive warning signs in Alaska. I ask him if his dad knew any of the Nazi scientists. He said yes in Alabama — von Braun. I state so you know he supervised mass slave labor? Then I point out the U.S. brought in 1200 Nazi scientists, which surprised him.

This other dude I know collects Nazi coins and brazenly displays them to this homeless African-American lady with whom I’m friends. That really pissed her off but then I guess this U.S. black budget art work is “better.”