Where freedom isn't free
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090102/REVIEW/913684232/-1/SPORT
The National
Thursday, January 01, 2009 Abu Dhabi 2. °C
Where freedom isn't free
Last Updated: January 02. 2009 9:30AM
UAE / January 2. 2009 5:30AM GMT
Small, patriotic pieces of cardboard are common coin
for US military airmen, Roland Hughes discovers.
The price of freedom is a matter open to some debate.
Thomas Jefferson claimed it was eternal vigilance.
But it turns out the price of freedom - or at least
its exchange value - is 25 cents.
That's the case, at least, on the base used by the
US Air Force in Abu Dhabi, an oasis of Americanism
whose precise location is not meant to be a matter
of public knowledge. Behind the well-guarded entrance,
dollars are exchanged as freely as they are from
Alabama to Wyoming. The problem arises when an airman
needs change for the drink he just bought at The
Thirsty Camel, the on-base bar, or for the greasy
slice of pepperoni wolfed down afterwards at the
Pizza Hut. US coins are generally not in circulation
on the base, so the solution is simple - the Air
Force makes its own.
Just as UAE supermarkets sometimes give shoppers
chewing gum when they have no change, customers on
the base are given small "pogs" - discs of thin
cardboard that stand in for the different denominations
of American coins, which can be redeemed only at
certain base retail outlets.
It's not unusual for the images on currency to veer
towards national self-promotion. American coins
display the heads of dead presidents, monuments
and the national bird. British banknotes feature
images of the Queen and of civilisation-advancing
Englishmen like Charles Darwin. And Emirati legal
tender features falcons, dhows and - on the 20
dirham note - an image of the Dubai Creek Golf Club.
But the US military-base pogs may be - and perhaps
this is not so surprising - among the most
bombastic, patriotic coins ever produced.
The face of one 25 cent pog features not a historic
American figure, but the proud words "Operation
Iraqi Freedom", boldly printed over the image of
two seemingly shell-shocked soldiers standing in
the rubble of a bombed building, with flames still
licking the burnt -out wreckage. The soldiers,
wearing full combat gear, hold machine guns at
their side.
Freedom, judging by this coin, looks like a mess,
and is worth considerably less than the $416
billion (Dh1.5 trillion) the Pentagon confirmed
the Iraq War had cost up to January 2008.
Another 25 cent pog - whose value amounts to a bit
less than one dirham, for those minding the
freedom exchange rate - commemorates Operation
Enduring Freedom, the US military operation in
Afghanistan. It shows two soldiers, one male and
one female, staring into the distance of the
desert, as if attending roll-call in a blockbuster
war film.
A third 25 cent coin, which can be exchanged at
the Pizza Hut, shows three young boy scouts,
probably from the 1950s, standing in front of a
memorial to fallen soldiers. Other pogs substitute
for 5 cent and 10 cent coins, although those are
more rare.
Such is the fascination with the pogs in the
outside world they can sell online for more than
eight times their value on a base, even though
they are not legal tender in the civilian economy.
One pack of 12 Middle Eastern-themed pogs, which
includes one five-cent pog featuring a dolphin
equipped with a spy-camera to scout under ships,
is on sale for $17 on an aficionado website.
Pogs for the British Army feature camels and
famous footballers such as Steven Gerrard and
Frank Lampard. But they generally sell for much
less than their US equivalents online.
The discs were first used on military bases
during the Vietnam War. But the word "pog"
originated in Hawaii, from a children's game
that used bottle tops from Passionfruit, Orange
and Guava (POG) drinks.
Why not use actual coins? Apparently, cardboard
pogs are cheaper to ship around the world than
considerably heavier metal dimes, quarters and
nickels. That, and they seem to serve a
motivational purpose.
"They are strange little nuggets of propaganda,"
said one southern American man working on the
base. "In everything you do, there is always
some little reminder of the agenda.
"I find it amusing to a degree. You know, I am
buying a sandwich, I don't need to be reminded
to be a patriot all the time, so lay off for
two minutes," he said. "Nobody is going to
forget the mission."
..
Mark B.
family. Here you have pseudo-freedom and sheep that believe whatever
they're told by the government and media.
The US has fallen to #17 in world freedom rankings. We were #1 not many
years ago.
"Arizona Coin Collector" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:6NOdndI4Wba7H8DU...@earthlink.com...
Arizona Coin Collector
I like this one remark the most on the story.
---------------------------------------------
mazorj
"Mark B." <belli...@aol.spam.com> wrote in message
news:gjk0p6$37m$1...@news.motzarella.org...
> The UAE has more freedoms than the US does now, and they're ruled by
> a royal
> family. Here you have pseudo-freedom and sheep that believe
> whatever
> they're told by the government and media.
> The US has fallen to #17 in world freedom rankings. We were #1 not
> many years ago.
Got a cite for the #17 *and* the #1 rankings?
The Heritage Foundation put U.S. at #5 in economic freedom. UAE is
#63.
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/countries.cfm
Ah, yes, the sheeple accusation. No one except the privileged few
with special x-ray vision can see the truth. Next you'll be telling
us that 9/11 and Oklahoma City were eVil GubMint KonSpiRacies.
Paul Ciszek
In article <gjk0p6$37m$1...@news.motzarella.org>,
Not for women it doesn't.
--
Please reply to: | "Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is
pciszek at panix dot com | indistinguishable from malice."
Autoreply is disabled |
Mark B.
news:b0q7l.2863$Es4....@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
> Got a cite for the #17 *and* the #1 rankings?
>
> The Heritage Foundation put U.S. at #5 in economic freedom. UAE is
> #63.
You forgot to tell us where Heritage ranks the US in freedom of the press
and personal freedoms. Get back to us on that one.
Mark B.
news:gjlslc$s25$1...@reader1.panix.com...
> Not for women it doesn't.
Of course not......as well it should be. American women are mostly whores
and bitches thanks to the liberation movement. Find a country that has a
higher divorce rate than USA or greater lack of dedication to the
institution of marriage. American women only marry to take half of
everything you own when they get pissed off down the road.
mazorj
I didn't forget anything, Troll Boy. You were blathering nonsense
about economics and made the sweeping statement that U.S. is #17 in
freedom and used to be #1. I documented your error about economic
freedoms.
So tell us, with URL cites:
1. What ranking did the Heritage Foundation give U.S. in freedom of
the press? *Heritage Foundation* please. That's what you specified.
2. Your cites showing U.S. currently at #17 in any dimensions of
freedom and when they had a #1 score from the same source.
3. The reason why any recent U.S. freedom of the press scores may
have been depressed in rankings.