tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post9040526542919408815..comments2024-03-27T12:56:38.992-07:00Comments on The Skeptical Bureaucrat: New Embassy Compound in Addis AbabaTSBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-51697624381622430142011-02-01T18:11:25.258-08:002011-02-01T18:11:25.258-08:00That stuff isn't intended for communicating me...That stuff isn't intended for communicating meaning, it's just chin-music to set the mood for ceremonial occasions. If anybody takes it seriously, it's as performance art. Kabuki theater.<br /><br />The best actual communication I ever saw on a ceremonial occasion was when former Virginia Governor George Allen hosted the Prime Minister of Red China and presented him with a silver bowl bearing the Virginia State Seal: <br /><br />Virtus, dressed as an Amazon, resting on a spear in her right hand and holding in her left hand a sheathed sword, her left foot on the form of Tyranny represented by the prostrate body of a man, his fallen crown nearby, a broken chain in his left hand, and a scourge in his right hand. The motto on the seal, "Sic Semper Tyrannis." <br /><br />That was both completely proper and completely unmistakable.TSBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790614121966204073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5803385070922797451.post-52945200994497416692011-02-01T13:44:44.021-08:002011-02-01T13:44:44.021-08:00Just once, it would be nice to hear a bunch of dig...Just once, it would be nice to hear a bunch of dignitaries open an embassy with a declaration including something about "In an important symbol of America’s commitment to keeping an eye on your country's widespread corruption and human rights atrocities..." Does anybody actually believe this ongoing "friendship" stuff? Especially while standing in front of a fortified building? I have no future in diplomacy, obviously.The Snake's Mommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12106112288989850698noreply@blogger.com