[adibou]

Hello all,

"read.me in 3.9.0" said:

As usual we have added some new flags (Armenia, Barbados, Cuba, Guadalope, and Mozambique - let us know if your flag is missing).

Everyone on BBO knows the absence of some flags

I am those which thinks that our play to prefer must suffer from any barrier, because is not it not the most beautiful play of the world?

No political reason must, has my opinion, being a reason valid for prevent flags from coming to decorate BBO this is why I ask for the next versions for the appearance of the flags Irak, Afghanistan and Palestine.

.........[img]http://images.google.fr/images?q=tbn:OXFeymU0uRgJ:http://www.cyber-flag.net/Drapeaux/Irak.gif[/img].................. [img]http://images.google.fr/images?q=tbn:xsLwgv0YIdgJ:http://www.cybevasion.fr/lib/drapeaux/afghanistan.gif[/img].................... [img]http://images.google.fr/images?q=tbn:VS-Musk7b8IJ:http://www.cybevasion.fr/lib/drapeaux/palestine.gif[/img]


In addition, it would seem useful to me (I am French-speaking) to also envisage the flag of Quebec (they are also French-speaking), we have on BBO the flags Martinique, French Polynésie and Reunion, which are also French department.

I thus do not see any disadvantage has to see the flag inhabitant of Quebec on BBO [img]http://images.google.fr/images?q=tbn:dVy0OHthgPsJ:http://www.cyber-flag.net/Drapeaux/Quebec.gif[/img]

Which is your opinion on this subject?
Thank you for your answer







(thx to babel-fish for translat)

[uday]

Each flag needs a small but noticable amt. of work by us; this is why we usually wait until someone asks before we add a flag.

[hrothgar]

You're raising a very complicated topic:

There are a number of different geographic entities that carry a lot of political baggage with them.

Palestine is one obvious example
Kurdistan is another
Darfur is a third
Eritrea is a fourth
Quebec also fits into this category, interestingly enough...

If BBO were to add flags that recognize these entities as states, it would be viewed as controversial by elements of the member base. I recognize the hypocracy:

1. Recognizing Palestine as a state is controversial
2. Not recognizing Palestine as a state is equally controversial

From my perspective, the best way to sidestep the issue would be to base approval on whether the UN recognized the entity as a country. In short, I'd see nothing wrong with adding flags for Iraq and Afghanistan. I personally would not add one for Palestine at this time. [Please note: This is coming from an individual who strongly believes that Israel should be forced to withdraw to pre 1967 boundaries, who supports the existence an independant Palestinian state, and believes that Jerusalem should be Internationalized]

For what its worth, I also requested that BBO add an addional flag last week...
Sadly, Fred was unwilling to add the following:



Rampant discrimination (most likely caused by unthinking acceptance of "Elvish" propaganda)

[spwdo]

I ve asked several time for Flag of Vatican City, but i suspect Fred and Uday think im ex-comunicated given the fact the flag isnt added yet.

[fred]

In order for a given flag to be added, 2 conditions must be met:

1) A person who lives in that "region" must ask for us to add the flag.

2) Either that region must be defined as a "country" by the United Nations or be recognized by the World Bridge Federation (WBF). WBF recognition is defined as participation in a recent World Teams Olympiad.

Iraq, Afganistan, and Palestine all pass step 2) (the first 2 being UN "countries" and Palestine, though not so recognized, has played in at least one recent Olympiad).

However, nobody living in these places has requested that we add their respective flags (ie they all fail condition 1). We do not add flags simply to make political statements. Each new flag adds to the size of both the initial download and upgrades to new versions. We will only add a flag if we know it will be used by people living in the place that flag represents.

Quebec fails condition 2).

When a new region meets conditions 1) and 2) we add the flag for that region to the next version of BBO.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com