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Google Honors Veterans Day, Finally 693

theodp writes "It took nearly a decade, but Google has done a turnabout and is honoring Veterans Day with a special holiday design for its famous logo. Users who log onto Google's home page are greeted with three World War I-era helmets capping the letters 'o' and 'e' in Google's name. The decoration is a marked departure for the company, which has come under fire from veterans' groups for ignoring American holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day since Google's inception in 1999."
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Google Honors Veterans Day, Finally

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  • KDawson (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Romancer ( 19668 ) <romancer@deathsd ... com minus distro> on Monday November 12, 2007 @02:54AM (#21320669) Journal
    There needs to be a moderation system for editors.
    • by Romancer ( 19668 ) <romancer@deathsd ... com minus distro> on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:02AM (#21320707) Journal
      Here's the text from a google search and finding another blog carrying the text:

      By Joe Kovacs
      © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

      Google's commemoration of Veterans Day 2007, the first time it has honored the U.S. holiday
      It took nearly a decade, but Internet giant Google is finally honoring Veterans Day with a special holiday design for its famous logo.
      Users who log onto Google's home page today will see three World War I-era helmets capping the letters "o" and "e" in Google's name.
      The decoration is a marked departure for the company, which has come under fire from veterans' groups for ignoring American holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day since Google's inception in 1999.

      The firm, known for its widely used search engine, regularly modifies its logo to commemorate holidays, historical events and figures.

      "Maybe all the pressure is paying off," said WND reader Donna Hunter of Philadelphia. "God bless all our soldiers!"
      When the Los Angeles Times asked the California-based firm about the issue earlier this year, spokeswoman Sunny Gettinger responded, "Google's special logos tend to be lighthearted and often scientific in nature. We do not believe we can convey the appropriate somber tone through this medium to mark holidays like Memorial Day."
      The Ledger newspaper of Lakeland, Fla., called that excuse "laughable."

      As WND reported last year, Google had no problem honoring the war dead of other countries, creating a special logo with poppies for Remembrance Day in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52914 [worldnetdaily.com]

      And for the ninth year in a row this past spring, Google declined to mark Memorial Day - something the company has done for the Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Halloween and other observances. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55900 [worldnetdaily.com]

      Just last month Google acknowledged an accomplishment of the communist Soviet Union, which launched the Sputnik space satellite 50 years ago.
      With the surprise launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, the Soviet Union leaped ahead in the race for space between the U.S. and the communist empire. Sputnik's success followed the failure of the first two Project Vanguard launch attempts by the U.S. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=57982 [worldnetdaily.com]

      Google also has given special honors for astronomer Percival Lowell, artist Edvard Munch and Louis Braille, inventor of the writing system for the blind.

      Other days commemorated included National Teachers Day, Women's Day, Ray Charles' birthday, World Water Day and St. George's Day.

      Besides overlooking Memorial Day and Veterans Day until today, it also has ignored Christmas.

      Google has been criticized for its one-sided political contributions and content policies:

      Rejecting an ad for a book critical of Bill and Hillary Clinton while continuing to accept anti-Bush themes
      Rejecting ads critical of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., while continuing to run attack ads against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
      Allowing the communist Chinese government to have the search engine block "objectionable" search terms such as "democracy."
      In addition, the company came under fire for an editorial decision giving preferential placement to large, elite media outlets such as CNN and the BBC over independent news sources, such as WND, even if they are more recent, pertinent and exhaustive in their coverage.

      As WND reported, 98 percent of all political donations by Google employees went to support Democrats, and as a matter of fact, Al Gore is now a senior adviser to Google.

      Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave the maximum legal limit of donations to Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry and to primary candidate Howard Dean.
      Schmidt also contributed the maximum amount to Sen. Clinton.
    • Re:KDawson (Score:5, Informative)

      by gnalle ( 125916 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:10AM (#21320741)
      They already have that. Just go to preferences->homepage and disable him. http://slashdot.org/users.pl?op=edithome [slashdot.org]
    • Through changing your preferences here [slashdot.org].
  • Under Fire? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by tehwebguy ( 860335 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @02:55AM (#21320675) Homepage
    I thought that part of the point of Google's honorary logos was that the holidays had to be:

    1. Completely obscure and unheard of
    or
    2. A MAJOR (American) holiday

    I don't understand why anyone would actively attack them over not including this particular one..

    p.s. first?
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      Yeah, attacking a company for not making a pretty logo is...downright silly.
    • by RuBLed ( 995686 )
      They should just stick to those two rules or else we would see a different Google logo everyday. I guess they caved in to this particular request since it wouldn't hurt much to add it.
    • World Nut Daily (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Whiney Mac Fanboy ( 963289 ) * <whineymacfanboy@gmail.com> on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:07AM (#21320725) Homepage Journal
      The summary:

      which has come under fire from veterans' groups for ignoring American holidays such as Veterans Day and Memorial Day since Google's inception in 1999."


      should read:

      which has come under fire from nut-job websites for rightly dropping their nut-job non-news site from the news index"


      World Nut Daily are a bunch of kooks, with a knife to grind. Getting listed in google news was a wet dream for them. Getting delisted ('cause they aint a news site), really pissed them off. They've had an anti-google axe to grind ever since.
  • Rememberance Day? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Xiroth ( 917768 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @02:57AM (#21320687)
    Uh, November the 11th sort of is an internationally observed day - in most parts of the world it's called Armistice day or Rememberance day, though. Much as I hate to break up the nationalism party, the end of World War I did sort of affect more than just Americans.
    • by MageWyn ( 6983 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:01AM (#21320697)
      It affected Mexicans and Canadians?
    • by m2943 ( 1140797 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @04:23AM (#21321081)
      Looks to me like people are remembering the wrong thing. On November 11, one should commemorate fallen soldiers. But one should also remember the political and social issues that caused millions to die in WWI and WWII in the first place, the international cooperation it took to win in those conflicts, and the dangers of right wing populism, nationalism, and militarism.

      It seems to me those lessons are getting lost, in particular among the right wing nuts that complain about Google not having a special logo for Veterans Day.
    • Make no mistake: if we are talking about the "Veterans Day" what is usually meant is the day in which Americans honor their veterans. Most other nations don't honor their veterans on this day (none that I know of) and sure as hell not nations such as Vietnam, Guatemala, Laos, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Lebanon, El Salvador, Grenada, Bolivia, Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq or any other country where troops were/are deployed to the dismay of the local population.

      I have no problem with people honoring their (vi
    • by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
      Thanks I was going to mention it was an International holiday. I am afraid that history education in most countries is pretty lacking. On the eleventh hour, eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 WWI ended. It was a bloody war that took millions of lives. I think it is a day well worth remembering.
  • by Joe Jay Bee ( 1151309 ) * <jbsouthsea@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Monday November 12, 2007 @02:59AM (#21320689)
    BREAKING NEWS! Google updates logo for public holiday. HOLY SHIT!

    Cos I was just thinking, we didn't have enough google (non)-stories on Slashdot...
  • by flabbergast ( 620919 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:01AM (#21320703)
    couldn't we have picked a better source for the info? Yes, Google acknowledges Remembrance Day in Canada (as pointed out in this blog/whatever), but that doesn't mean they have to acknowledge Veterans/Memorial Day. Am I glad they did it? Sure. Do I believe they have to? No. Does World Net Daily have to go off on how Google is supposedly left leaning? Umm...no. I got to this part, and threw up a little in my mouth and called it a day.
    "In addition, the company came under fire for an editorial decision giving preferential placement to large, elite media outlets such as CNN and the BBC over independent news sources, such as WND, even if they are more recent, pertinent and exhaustive in their coverage."

    Who bloody cares? And "elite" media outlets? WTF does that mean? Independent news sources? How is the BBC not an independent news source? And what does this have to do with acknowledging Veterans Day? I would have preferred they simply said "Those commie pinkos in Silicon Valley aren't red blooded Americans for supporting Veterans." What a bunch of crap.
    • And "elite" media outlets? WTF does that mean?

      I imagine it is similar to pagerank...CNN, BBC, etc do well in relevance algorithms because they're widely linked to. Thus, it is a conspiracy to oppress WND, right?? Honestly, some people have an oppression complex. WND's editorial quality is equivalent to your average blog, they get traffic and cross linking in a tier well below the likes of CNN, so they're treated as a boutique site in the news ranking algorithm. I can't imagine any algorithm that could manage to pick WND over other news sites base

    • How is the BBC not an independent news source?


      The same reason NPR isn't, I'd guess...
    • How is the BBC not an independent news source?
      Because it's been owned by the British state for the last 80 years?
  • by compumike ( 454538 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:03AM (#21320709) Homepage
    While it's amazing that this story is newsworthy... it's worth taking a look at the bigger picture: people take notice at Google's logo changes because they've kept an uncluttered appearance. On most websites, you probably wouldn't even notice a small logo change!

    In general, the so-called Web2.0 revolution has brought about much more single-purpose tools, compared to the multi-tools of the past. This leads to deeper functional design and performance, instead of deep integration (which is only slowly coming along thanks to mashup-enabling technologies).

    The message is clear: web designers, get to the point! Don't distract your users. Make every word and every image count.

    --
    NerdKits: Educational microcontroller kits for the digital generation. [nerdkits.com]
  • Who cares... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Orthuberra ( 1145497 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:03AM (#21320711)
    Do these same veterans groups attack Yahoo, MSN, and Altavista for not decorating their logos with militaria on Veteran's Day? This is a non-news post about a bunch of whiners if you ask me. Google's decoration can be purely voluntary and random for all I care.
    --As a USMC veteran to all the whiners, shut up.
    • by Tuoqui ( 1091447 )
      Well... If Yahoo, MSN, and Altavista DID change their logos for New Years, Christmas (and Kwanza and Hannucka), Easter, Valentines Day, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, etc... and didnt change it for Veteran's day then yeah they probably would.

      It's more about a bunch of minor holidays (I mean honestly who gives a fuck about valentine's day not like any slashdot reader has a girlfriend) not getting recognized and the day Veterans and the War dead are supposed to be honored not getting the respect it deserves.
  • Reasonable (Score:2, Insightful)

    by denoir ( 960304 )
    Celebrating one specific country's past abilities of blowing up other countries may not be beneficial for a company that operates globally.
    • Re:Reasonable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Pyrion ( 525584 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:21AM (#21320795) Homepage
      Then they should title the image "Armistice Day" instead of "Veterans Day," just for that added pinch of spite (and for the sake of historical accuracy).
    • Well, Remembrance Day (I'm assuming it's the same as Veterans' Day over your way) is supposed to celebrate the end of the war---the peace, not the fighting itself. Hence the whole eleventh minute/hour/day/month business.
  • This story stinks (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Oddster ( 628633 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:11AM (#21320747)
    Click on their poll link at the end of their article, and this is what passes off:

    What are your thoughts on Google now that it designed a logo for veterans?
    • Fantastic! Google has had its head up its search engine for more than 7 years!
    • I'm glad to see the change of heart, and I'll use Google more often
    • I still have major gripes with Google, but at least this is a small step in the right direction
    • Looks like someone reminded people at Google they live in the U.S. and enjoy freedoms soldiers have shed blood fighting for
    • 1 lonely logo for veterans since 1999? Whoopidy-freakin-doo!
    • Google's logos are irrelevant
    • Google only did it to get WND off its back
    • Must have been the new guy who did the design. He's not hip to the anti-American company rules yet
    • Google is still evil, and must be shunned at all costs
    • Other
    And I RTFA'd too. No, these people don't have any sort of bias against the Googles. . . Put this WorldNetDaily.com on your list of propaganda websites that are too stupid to even try to appear objective.
    • by RuBLed ( 995686 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:20AM (#21320787)
      at least they got other
    • by Aminion ( 896851 )

      Fantastic! Google has had its head up its search engine for more than 7 years!
      I'm glad to see the change of heart, and I'll use Google more often
      I still have major gripes with Google, but at least this is a small step in the right direction
      Looks like someone reminded people at Google they live in the U.S. and enjoy freedoms soldiers have shed blood fighting for
      1 lonely logo for veterans since 1999? Whoopidy-freakin-doo!
      Google's logos are irrelevant
      Google only did it to get WND off its back
      Must have been th

  • by truesaer ( 135079 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:19AM (#21320781) Homepage
    The "Google hates America!" claim was absurd as they have a special logo for Independence Day which is suitable flag themed. Some people just refuse to understand that the logo is changed only sometimes, and for a motley assortment of reason from serious (they have logos for memorial/veteran's day in Australia for example) to obscure (World Water Day). It isn't meant to recognize the top 20 most important events in history or something.


    At any rate, I think it's safe to say that next year WND will be bitching about Memorial Day and Columbus Day. And if they got logos for those it would be Reagan's Birthday and the day they pardoned Oliver North. You can't win with these whiners. It's a freaking logo, this is the stupidest controversy in history.

  • by vga_init ( 589198 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:25AM (#21320815) Journal

    I'm not going to defend Google from the position of a fan, but only to say how I would feel if I were in that same position.

    If I had to design logos for my company based on holiday themes, what do you think I would do when I came across Veteran's Day? I can't think of any appropriate way to symbolize veterans without displaying something explicitly national or military. The holiday doesn't really have any symbols other than American flags and stuff, and that's not too great for public relations as I'm showcasing a particular country's role in a major war. War means killing people. Lots of people. Lots of people whose dead relatives and ancestors (on the other side of the conflict) are now customers of mine.

    Personally, I'd want to sweep this one under the rug. Google couldn't do that because of all the bad press it was getting, so they finally drew some army helmets. Sure, it's military equipment, but at least helmets save lives and rarely (if ever) end them. Also, the green little helmet doesn't have to identify any single nation, even though it's an American holiday.

    • I'd probably do a severed arm. Remind people the real cost of becoming a veteran.
    • by Bogtha ( 906264 )

      The holiday doesn't really have any symbols other than American flags and stuff, and that's not too great for public relations as I'm showcasing a particular country's role in a major war.

      Isn't the poppy pretty damn iconic as far as Rememberence Day is concerned?

      Also, the green little helmet doesn't have to identify any single nation, even though it's an American holiday.

      It's an international holiday. Calling it an American holiday borders on the offensive to many people. At the very least y

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        November 11 is hardly a holiday! In many parts of the english-speaking world and Europe, Remembrance Day is a solemn occasion where wreaths are laid at war memorials and a minutes silence is observed by many people at work and elsewhere at 1100 hours. I believe that it is also called Armistice Day in some parts of the world.
      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by wwahammy ( 765566 )
        Well if you really want to nitpick, technically Veterans Day is solely an American holiday as other countries celebrate Rememberance Day (which I think is more appropriate but crazy thing is no one asked me).

        The poppy isn't well known for Veterans Day in the US. In fact until I found it on wikipedia a few months ago, I had no idea that about the significance of the poppy and November 11. From Google's perspective it wouldn't make much sense to make a logo that would make no sense to one of their largest
      • by value_added ( 719364 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @05:18AM (#21321311)
        Isn't the poppy pretty damn iconic as far as Rememberence Day is concerned?

        As a Canadian, I'd say yes.

        But here in the US, I have yet to see a poppy in anyone's lapel, and haven't met anyone familiar with the In Flanders Fields poem [wikipedia.org] or who otherwise knows much about Rememberance Day [wikipedia.org] in general. The differences, at least to me, are rather disappointing. When I was a kid, everyone in school and out wore their poppies proudly, and listened with reverence whenever and wherever the poem was recited.

        Then, there's the issue of how other countries commemorate the events of either war. I highly doubt Russia (an ally which, IIRC, lost something like 20 million in the last war) commemorates anything with a poem written by a Frenchman about a flower growing in Belgium.

        Maybe folks from other countries can offer some insight.
        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by MochaMan ( 30021 )

          a poem written by a Frenchman about a flower growing in Belgium.
          Agree with you on every point but one: In Flanders Fields was written by a Canadian.
  • by niceone ( 992278 ) * on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:26AM (#21320819) Journal
    Why is it a holiday? Looking after the nation's pets and livestock is a necessary job, but hardly worth an anual holiday, let alone a Google logo.

    And what have WWI helmets got to do with it anyway?
  • Flame me all you want on this one, but I find the demands for acknowledging veterans day are both quite US centric and utterly unsensitive to the rest of the world.

    What if I would DEMAND that Google also include the Dutch "Queen's day" for the rest of the world to see? That wouldn't make sense at all. But at least it's not as insensitive as rubbing salt into the wounds of Iraqi or Afghan or Vietnamese or Japanese people who visit Google (and the list will keep growing for a while). I'm sure those people w
    • Flame me all you want on this one, but I find the demands for acknowledging veterans day are both quite US centric and utterly unsensitive to the rest of the world.

      What if I would DEMAND that Google also include the Dutch "Queen's day" for the rest of the world to see? That wouldn't make sense at all. But at least it's not as insensitive as rubbing salt into the wounds of Iraqi or Afghan or Vietnamese or Japanese people who visit Google (and the list will keep growing for a while). I'm sure those people will be thrilled to know that the killers of their lost family are being honored on this special day.

      If you actually check, google is only putting this out on the US version of the site, ie www.google.com a quick look at www.google.co.uk will clearly show the helmets are not there.

      Try doing some research before making stupid demands to the search engine gods.

    • I wonder how they would make a caricature of Freddie Mercury embedded in the Google logo?
    • by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @04:21AM (#21321065) Journal

      I am ashamed you are a countryman of mine. Iraq back then was part of the Ottoman empire, so didn't even exist back then. Japan was on the "allied" site. Vietnam was a french colony, so on the same side as the US (when the americans finally got involved).

      The 11th of november is remembered in the western nations that took part in WW1, this includes the US, canada, great britian, france and belgium at least. It is NOT a US day. It is also not a celebrations, it is a remembrance of those who died. Not a glorification of killing but a rememberance of the loss.

      It is similar to our 4th of may, we remember those who died, ALL who died, in conflict. This includes those on the other side. No we do not lay reefs at site of nazi war criminals, but the graves of german soldiers are tended too and they too are remembered.

      Frankly most soldiers from these past wars have learned to forgive but never forget, they can talk with their former enemies, why can't you get over it.

      As for google displaying a bit of pride in the US, it is a US site. Let the afghans and iraqies and anyone else with a beef against the US go on their own internet and use their own search engines.

      As a dutch person surely you must have noticed how everything turns orange around queens day? How should people from Suriname feel about that? Enslaved by dutch forces, to pay for the dutch empire, about this day?

      Start looking a little closer at home before you start blaming other countries.

    • Why do you want a logo for J Edgar Hoover and his ilk? For that matter why do they even get a holiday?
  • by Anonymous Coward
    Well, here I was thinking it was commemorating the release of Call of Duty 4. Well, either way, it works for me.
  • As a Veteran... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Brian Lewis ( 1011579 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @03:50AM (#21320921) Homepage
    I am a recent United States Navy Disabled Veteran, I was very happy to see this little design.

    Most people think veterans day is just "another day", but to the people serving in the military, and fighting for your rights, it means a lot. Each and every time I see anything that honors veterans, it really makes my day.

    Shit, I cry during the National Anthem and the Pledge because, as a former military member, those words really do mean a lot more to me.
  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @04:03AM (#21320979)
    Care to tell me why Google should feel "bad" about not celebrating (if you can call it celebrating) a holiday nobody outside the US cares about? Or rather, why should they be "forced" to consider some national holiday important?

    Halloween, ok. It's more or less international by now. Christmas? Ok, as long as it's done in a way that isn't Christo-centric and includes other religions' celebrations (you know it's actually Midwinter, right? It's not like the Pope invented that one). I can see Chinese new year, as it's celebrated by Chinese people all over the world and not just by people in the PRC. Even the Sputnik launch makes sense, less in a commemoration of the achivements of the Soviet Union as rather a stunning achivement in technology (personally, I don't give a rat's behind who does something great as long as someone does it).

    But memorial day (or whatever it is)? Hello? Ask anyone in Europe when that day is and you get a "What's Memorial day? Did they move our national holiday again?"

    So what's next? Will we get pressure from other special interest groups to celebrate "their" holiday on Google? A special Ramadan frontpage? And one for Martin Luther King day? Hey, I'm quite pissed there was none for our great national holiday! Rant! Whine! Tantrum! I want one!

    Could we concentrate on holidays that at least a sizable portion of the planet cares about?
    • by Zelos ( 1050172 )
      Veterans day makes some sense - November 11th is Armistice/Remembrance day in several countries as it was the day WW1 ended.
      • Well, whether Armistice day is something to celebrate is debatable.

        The "peace" dictated in Versailles after WW1 was not meant to be a peace with conciliation in mind. It was aimed at destroying Germany and the German ability to wage a war. If anything, it backfired severely as we learned 2 decades later. In the maybe most horrible way possible.

        I find it hard to celebrate a peace that created another war, even more devastating, more destructive and more horrible than the one this peace ended.
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Zelos ( 1050172 )
          It's Armistice Day, as in the day the guns stopped firing, not Versailles day.
  • Reality.... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 12, 2007 @04:04AM (#21320989)
    Most world war 1 vetrans would slap the crap out of these people for whining.. They died to defend our right to freedom.

    And then they would slap the crap out of the rest of us for letting our country turn into the clusterfuck it is today.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by belmolis ( 702863 )

      Hunh? WWII was about defending freedom. WWI wasn't about much of anything.

      • WW1 was about some kings and generals thinking they could quickly gain some ground. We had waaaaay different rules of war back then. War wasn't meant to destroy your opponent. Just to take some land away from him.
  • In Flanders Fields (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 12, 2007 @04:12AM (#21321021)
    In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
    Scarce heard amid the guns below.

    We are the Dead. Short days ago
    We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
    In Flanders fields.

    Take up our quarrel with the foe:
    To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders fields.
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
      Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
      Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
      And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
      Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
      But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
      Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
      Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

      GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
      Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
      But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
      And
  • The article doesn't say which veterans' organizations have been putting pressure on Google, but I bet it was the American Legion, and if it was, and I were Google, I would refuse to put up a special logo for the sole purpose of spiting them. The American Legion is a nasty, greedy, warmongering organization. None of the vets in my family or circle of friends will have anything to do with them. Remembrance Day here in Canada (I'm a dual citizen and have lived in both countries) has a very different feeling f

  • Armistice day (Score:5, Insightful)

    by stzein ( 738194 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @04:21AM (#21321067) Homepage
    This holiday is actually the anniversary of the end of WWI. It is celebrated in several countries as armistice day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day [wikipedia.org]. The Google logo was quite appropriate for this. If the USA want to celebrate their veterans that day, fine, but that's no reason to forget the origin of the holiday. To us in Belgium it's a holiday about peace, not about war (or those who wage it).
  • I'm beginning to suspect that there is some game to be the person that gets the stupidest story accepted by slashdot, and Google is the trump card. Yesterday we had a story saying that some IVR systems use a sound that indicates that they're still on the line and processing, and so does GOOG-411! And then a story that mentioned that sometimes people who announce that they're quitting sometimes get booted from the building and sometimes those people are quitting so they can go work for Google! And today

  • Besides this new-found respect for the military veterans, Google is starting to muscle their way into the gas business too! [linuxtoday.com]

    Not quite prospecting for or exploiting underground resources quite yet, but many a career has started at the pump...

    But seriously, for a company with a truly global customer base (not forgetting that infamous motto either) celebrating militaries must have been a difficult decision to make, although geotargetting obviously alleviates some of the obvious issues here. I mean, most of

  • by simong ( 32944 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @05:07AM (#21321249) Homepage
    Let's just make sure that everyone gets that before this goes too far. It's also the work of one man, so let's not go pretending that it's an authority on anything.
  • by voss ( 52565 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @07:21AM (#21321903)
    I kind of resent the implication that veterans day is a political holiday. I oppose
    the war in iraq, I do not read WND but Veterans day is important.

    The reason it was changed from armistice day to veterans day in the US was to honor the
    veterans of world war II and Korea.

    Maybe we could put aside the crass partisan catcalling for a day and remember that.
  • From a Veteran (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OSXCPA ( 805476 ) on Monday November 12, 2007 @07:39AM (#21321981) Journal
    I could not care less about Vetereans day - and I'm an American USMC veteran (six years active duty, combat, got all the fruit salad to wear, thanks...). A Federal Day off (in the US) is worth nothing to me. I would be happy if the civilian leadership (that's you, voters) would bother to learn from history and maybe learn about the world outside the US borders, so there might be fewer Vets in need of remembrance or memorial and more walking around pulling air and enjoying the good life we seem to take for granted and by right.

    Why should Google placing a helmet or other cartoon on their home page mean anything, and why should I care?

    Sorry, it is *that* day. /Rant

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