Most of the flags I see fly at half staff nearly all the time. I have no
idea what death is being honored. Is it for any death, or for anyone who
died of COVID but not for other infections?

If the flag is flown at half staff all the time or nearly all the time,
then it affords no honor at all to the dead being so honored. The
tradition has been killed dead and lets come up with a way to honor the
dead that hasn't become pedestrian.

In article <s83fan$gds$3@dont-email.me>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> Most of the flags I see fly at half staff nearly all the time. I have no
> idea what death is being honored. Is it for any death, or for anyone who
> died of COVID but not for other infections?
>
> If the flag is flown at half staff all the time or nearly all the time,
> then it affords no honor at all to the dead being so honored. The
> tradition has been killed dead and lets come up with a way to honor the
> dead that hasn't become pedestrian.

https://sos.maryland.gov/pages/services/pastflagstatus.aspx

I would pay little if any attention. There are no-brainers, like
Memorial Day, and I'd stick with those.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 1:06:33 PM UTC-7, A Friend wrote:
> In article <s83fan$gds$3...@dont-email.me>, Adam H. Kerman
> <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
>
> > Most of the flags I see fly at half staff nearly all the time. I have no
> > idea what death is being honored. Is it for any death, or for anyone who
> > died of COVID but not for other infections?
> >
> > If the flag is flown at half staff all the time or nearly all the time,
> > then it affords no honor at all to the dead being so honored. The
> > tradition has been killed dead and lets come up with a way to honor the
> > dead that hasn't become pedestrian.
> https://sos.maryland.gov/pages/services/pastflagstatus.aspx
>
> I would pay little if any attention. There are no-brainers, like
> Memorial Day, and I'd stick with those.

There is no harm in being curious about why the flag over a legislature
is flying at half mast on a given day. Lists are published that identify the
reasons. Here is a list of the ones for flags over federal government
buildings in Canada:

<https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/half-masting-notices.html>

There are no-brainers on the list, but there are also occasions to mark the death or
anniversary of the death of a prominent person, the anniversary of a tragic event
or of a battle fought in war, etc. I'm sure you can find the list for your jurisdiction
with a little searching. If you don't care, don't read it.

bill

In article <cef0e1ca-c957-4054-8202-c38f055bdc83n@googlegroups.com>,
<"billvan@shaw.ca"> wrote:

> On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 1:06:33 PM UTC-7, A Friend wrote:
> > In article <s83fan$gds$3...@dont-email.me>, Adam H. Kerman
> > <a...@chinet.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Most of the flags I see fly at half staff nearly all the time. I have no
> > > idea what death is being honored. Is it for any death, or for anyone who
> > > died of COVID but not for other infections?
> > >
> > > If the flag is flown at half staff all the time or nearly all the time,
> > > then it affords no honor at all to the dead being so honored. The
> > > tradition has been killed dead and lets come up with a way to honor the
> > > dead that hasn't become pedestrian.
> > https://sos.maryland.gov/pages/services/pastflagstatus.aspx
> >
> > I would pay little if any attention. There are no-brainers, like
> > Memorial Day, and I'd stick with those.
>
> There is no harm in being curious about why the flag over a legislature
> is flying at half mast on a given day. Lists are published that identify the
> reasons. Here is a list of the ones for flags over federal government
> buildings in Canada:
>
>
> <https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/half-masting-notices.html>
>
>
> There are no-brainers on the list, but there are also occasions to
> mark the death or anniversary of the death of a prominent person, the
> anniversary of a tragic event or of a battle fought in war, etc. I'm
> sure you can find the list for your jurisdiction with a little
> searching. If you don't care, don't read it.
>
> bill

It doesn't help much that I don't know which of us you're talking to.
If it's me, I'm the one who posted the link to one of the state lists.

No one said anything about curiosity being harmful. The other poster
said the honor is being overused and, thus, becoming meaningless.
Maryland just had a flag lowering for a cop on the Eastern Shore who
was killed in the line of duty, but of course no one knew the reason
why the flags were lowered unless they looked it up. I suspect most
people never bother.

billvan@shaw.ca <billvan@shaw.ca> wrote:
>On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 1:06:33 PM UTC-7, A Friend wrote:
>>Adam H. Kerman <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

>>>Most of the flags I see fly at half staff nearly all the time. I have no
>>>idea what death is being honored. Is it for any death, or for anyone who
>>>died of COVID but not for other infections?

>>>If the flag is flown at half staff all the time or nearly all the time,
>>>then it affords no honor at all to the dead being so honored. The
>>>tradition has been killed dead and lets come up with a way to honor the
>>>dead that hasn't become pedestrian.

>>https://sos.maryland.gov/pages/services/pastflagstatus.aspx

>>I would pay little if any attention. There are no-brainers, like
>>Memorial Day, and I'd stick with those.

>There is no harm in being curious about why the flag over a legislature
>is flying at half mast on a given day. Lists are published that identify the
>reasons. Here is a list of the ones for flags over federal government
>buildings in Canada:

>https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/half-masting-notices.html

>There are no-brainers on the list, but there are also occasions to mark the death or
>anniversary of the death of a prominent person, the anniversary of a tragic event
>or of a battle fought in war, etc. I'm sure you can find the list for your jurisdiction
> with a little searching. If you don't care, don't read it.

I didn't say that I didn't care. I said quite clearly that if a
particular flag is being flown at half staff nearly every time it's
flown, then the death isn't being honored.

A flag shouldn't be flown at half staff to commemorate a battle, except
during a specific ceremony to commemorate the battle. That's what the
Memorial Day holiday is for, to honor the dead servicemen of all
battles. And flying a flag at half staff to honor the anniversary of a
death, again, unless it's during an actual ceremony for the person, is absurd.