Redstate

Don't know if this will succeed.

And Rightly So!

You can pick the non-profit you want your money to go to. And each time you do a search, a penny goes to that org. (it is powered by yahoo)
MelZ

As Blackhedd pointed out the Chinese page is very careful of not having anything offensive to the government of china.

Memorial day as you pointed out was neutral. I can certainly see that. Given their ability to pick and choose I would hope that they might honor those that were very much responsible for their existence but it is their choice.

D-Day was a world event. There is probably not a country on the earth that isn't better off due to its success. To ignore it and pick something of significance only to art historians concerned with passe forms is an insult.

Do you really think that Google makes intentional efforts to thumb its nose at people by putting pictures on its front page? This is all absolutely absurd.

The idea that again, because SOME days have gotten special treatment in the past, every year the company must identify every day of significance to every possible visitor to the site, or else it's an intentional offense?

If you can find another search engine that is making a special tribute to D-Day today, by all means use that instead. But be sure to keep them on a short lease lest they ever not acknowledge other days you feel they should. In fact, my Macintosh didn't have a special D-Day splash screen when I booted it up today, so I'm pretty sure I should switch back to Windows.

(I had removed my response to the part about country specific home pages because as an employee of said company I have a lot of usage data in my head and I can never keep straight what is confidential and what isn't)

A big part of the process being to see if people were thinking logically and able to bring mental resources to bear on a problem.

Let me spell out the issue for you*. Not honoring any particular day is a default action. A company that doesn't want to offend can take this and not have to defend its actions. It is universally acceptable. The response would be "We don't do that for anyone".

Google has not taken the above route. They choose to honor particular days. They make a choice. When they do so they say this is what is significant about today.

Their choice for June 6 was that an obscure painter to the court of a 17th century Spanish king was born. Their choice was that this was more worthy of commemoration than thousands of young lives being cut short in the cause of freedom.

Your employer would not exist without their sacrifice. Sergei Brin more than likely would have wound up in a concentration camp or a Russian gulag. At the very least this is ingratitude.

So just to be clear, are you of the opinion that a deliberate attempt was made on D-Day to find something other then D-Day to acknowledge with the site artwork, to prove to the world that Google feels Spanish artists are more important then freedom and liberty?

If you were picking the Google Doodle today which would you have picked ?

Well Joliphant, I don't feel that's me trying to re-frame the issue. You titled this diary "Google must be doing this to deliberately provoke", so one has to assume that you feel this was an effort to deliberately provoke, as I suggested.

Again, I'm not going to agree with your notion that once a company chooses to acknowledge any given holiday, that they become inclined to acknowledge every other holiday (or intentionally leave blank) or else failure to do becomes an intentional slap in the face.

Attacking Google for this perceived slight seems very akin to me of liberals attacking "Big Oil" or "Big _____ " for the various reasons they do so.

Seeing as you decided to answer an unasked set of questions with your prior response.

I stand by the title. This was a choice. Choices tell you things about those that make them. This choice says either the person that made it had no idea why June 6th is important , that they felt it not worth recognizing or that it would be provocative to slight it.

The first two are really hard to believe.

I would have chosen to make a doodle honoring D-Day because I'm a conservative and I'm of an ethos that points me in such directions.

The person who makes these doodles is more then likely not a conservative, and not of this ethos. I don't feel this makes him an evil person for how he decides things, some here might disagree.

Do a search with the D-Day friendly search engine of your choice for Dennis Hwang and you'll come up with some information on the guy and the rationale used to pick how these doodles are used. You'll find information pointing to the fact that they look for things that are kind of geeky, and they want people to wonder what it means and click on it to find out.

I mean, seriously ya'll, I've let all of the other anti-Google posts at redstate go (usually I start writing something and just cancel it because I know what the response will be. But this was one instance where my first-hand experience tells me that the notion you're advancing in this blog, that Google made a deliberate attempt to anger people by not celebrating D-Day, is completely false and simply not how people think around here. Take that however you like. And I do thank everybody for the fact that as of the time I write this nobody has called me a lefty troll yet.

Unless Dennis Hwang has majority control of Google it is not his choice alone. The choice to leave this as is, constitutes an endorsement and agreement.

Not to put to fine a point on it, corporations are responsible for the actions of their employees on the job.

Not to put to fine a point on it, corporations are responsible for the actions of their employees on the job.

Okay. I'll throw you that bone. Companies have oversight.

The problem is, not many people see this as a problem. It goes back to that ethos thing. Nobody in these parts could even fathom your reaction, and frankly even on this conservative blog cooler heads are prevailing in regard to the notion of spanish painter vs. d-day being a deliberate assault on people's values.

But clearly it is a reflection of Google corporate values that they feel compelled to commemorate Earth Day and other environmentally oriented dates, and not Memorial Day or other veteran-focused dates.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Google hater. I like the company and I love their products. Google search is my default search engine. I use Gmail, Gmaps, Google Earth, Sketchup, and Google Calendar regularly.

But I also like to know the sympathies of those who handle my information. Google has made their relative sympathies clear over time with their choices of which events to highlight. And don't even try claiming that those logo themes don't require high level executive approval.

"If all men were just, there would be no need of valor."
- Agesilaus

yes.

John
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Why would God invent something like whiskey? To keep the Irish from ruling the world of course.

You refuse to entertain even the NOTION that Google is deliberately doing this to poke a finger in the eye of American patriots.

That is the wow.

Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated. -- IMAO

I refuse to entertain the notion because I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's not true. Just as you know more about what goes on at your place of work then I do. That's fair, right?

That's what you are saying?

Even were that true, the evidence that is IS so -- singling out Memorial Day and D-Day for exclusion, while celebrating Che's Birthday, National Hug Your Plumber Day, I Heart China Day, and etc -- seems unassailable.

Whether you work at Google or not. Unless you are specifically the person in charge of that specific operation.

Are you?

Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated. -- IMAO

for the record, due to what I do for a living, I routinely know more about what goes on at a great many businesses than their rank and file employees do.

Unfair. Unbalanced. Unmedicated. -- IMAO

Freedom of Religion NOT Freedom from Religion

...it does to appear at the very least to be incredibly stupid of Google, a company born in America, wealthy beyond compare because of American investment and whose incredible market share is a result of American freedom and laws, should view the birthday of an obscure Spanish painter as more noteworthy than the day America stood up while the world cowered in fear of the Nazi war machine. The world is immeasurably better in every way, because America lost a generation of her best sons and daughters in service of the world.

You, I, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and every other citizen of the world are ever in the debt of our Greatest Generation's sacrifices and steadfast commitment to the cause of freedom and democracy. If Brin and Co. see D-Day as some silly American holiday that glorifies the American military-industrial complex, they can bugger off to Europe, where they've by and large forgotten the sacrifices WE made on THEIR behalf.

I concur with Joliphant. Google had a choice, and they're choosing to show their liberal stripes. They are spineless appeasers who kowtow to Chinese demands, while thumbing their nose at the country that made Google what it is. Brin and Page are gutless lefties who are in the same camp of nutjobs like the Goracle, Barry Obama and Markos "Screm Them" Moulitsas.

If you think Brin and Page bother to oversee the pretty pictures that go on the front page you're quite mistaken.

If you think a meeting was held in which it was decided that an intentional act would be made to have something other then D-Day on the web site on june 6th, with the intention of angering people who honor the sacrifices of the military, then I have to wonder what else you believe and how much of it involves black helicopters.

Detailing how their logo could be used.

RCA had the same. GE I am pretty certain had/has the same. Even my small companies have had theirs trademarked. If you don't think corporate image is important to management, you should consider sharing what you are smoking.

If you think Brin and Page bother to oversee the pretty pictures that go on the front page you're quite mistaken.

I don't think that. In fact, I know just a little bit about business, so I recognize that statement to be patently silly, and I hope you do, as well. While the ostensible leaders are certainly not involved in the minutiae of a business' process, they d*** sure are held accountable. "With great power...", and all that. A manager/owner/executive absolutely must delegate, and focus on the global view. However, a leader is responsible for the public image of the company, and since Brin and Page are the leaders of Google, they better be willing to pay the piper.

The defense of "they don't put up the pretty pictures" is a worthless excuse, and frankly, your whole argument won't hunt. Further, the assumption that I believe in "black helicopter" conspiracies is an ad hominem attack, and is the last resort of someone who is out of original ideas or solid arguments. Try to keep the gloves up, eh?

Well I'm sorry if my ad hominem attack suggesting you're irrational offended you, you seemed rather fired up yourself.

I'll leave it at this: If you think leaders of high profile companies intentionally open their public-traded company to PR backlash by fighting a culture war through what pictures are -not- included on their website, you don't know as much about business as you think you do.

That is the logically equivalent formulation of your statement.

Let me see if I can think of some counter examples.

MSNBC embracing a left wing editorial stance.
How many companies are sponsoring the 2008 Beijing Olympics ?
HBO producing the Reagans ?
ABC and the road to 9/11 ?
Any record label that promotes Gangster Rap ?

This image ring a bell ?

The equation is different for media, where they make a splash by being controversial. But not so for something like Google. As for companies sponsoring the Olympics, look at VISA. Their commercial campaign is called "Go, World" and are narrated by Morgan Freeman - all lovey-dovey and not at all controversial. The Absolut thing, they pulled it in response to the controversy and it seems that they didn't really anticipate it.

Google is aware of this and they make a choice.
Google makes a different choice when they operate in China.
Google makes a set of choices when dealing with copyright infringement.

The choices made tell you about them. They not their words demonstrate what their priorities are and how they view their relationship with others.

If they were having a Liberal agenda today, they would have commemorated the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F Kennedy. June 6, 1968.

Nice deflection for a conservative you argue like a liberal.

It is not about not included. I had no problem with not doing something for Memorial day. I didn't like it but doing nothing is perfectly reasonable. It is actively making a choice to slight the event that is bothersome.

Actually, I'm not offended. It would take a lot more than that to get on my nerves. However, it usually makes the person tossing out the insult look rather silly, and since you have brought up some salient points, I don't want a throwaway line about "black helicopters" to taint your larger point.

Beyond that, Google has made themselves a company based on their interpretation of social values, "making money without doing evil", etc. Google relentlessly focuses on various bugaboos of the Left, be they "green" energy, an "aggressive focus on non-discriminatory practices" or pushing various global agendas. I know that Google is a great place to work, has an open corporate culture and all that good stuff. However, when I see Sergey Brin openly campaigning for Obama, rubbing elbows with Arianna Huffington, and promoting "culture" over all things, it appears to my eyes that Google's greater agenda is one of pushing a liberal political and social agenda.

I recognize that not every Googler is a lefty, nor do I think you a troll. Rather, my point is that Google has made a conscious decision to promote art over a watershed moment in the history of Western Civilization. They could have done nothing at all, and it would draw no response from me. But, they did make an effort, as a company, to promote a certain idea and value over another. The fact that Google is so ubiquitous in America, and that they have such a prominent voice, makes their unspoken priorities that much more susceptible to criticism and review. And, in many people's opinion, Google has chosen to honor a centuries-dead painter over American, British and Canadian patriots who did their duty to save the world in its darkest hour of need.

but Google has web pages for different countries, its not hard to customize the us one differently then those in Europe.

That said, I don't really care. The only thing I demand from my email and search engine is that it is the best functioning one, and that Google is.

I use google as my search engine. I don't go there to see special memorial day or d-day or veterans day commerations. If they want to do that stuff....fine. If they don't, that's fine too.

I don't stop eating at Outback because they don't fly a special banner for d-day. Why would I stop using google because they don't fly special banners?

Outback (at least in my neck of the woods) also doesn't fly banners for any occasion whatsoever. They have their sign, their building, their delicious food, and that's it.

Google, on the other hand, has chosen to honor in 2008:

1.) Anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest
2.) The 125th birthday of Walter Gropius
3.) The invention of the first laser
4.) Mother's Day
5.) Earth Day
6.) First Day of Spring
7.) Persian New Year
8.) St. Patrick's Day
9.) Alexander Graham Bell's birthday
10.) Leap Year
11.) Valentine's Day
12.) Chinese New Year
13.) 50th anniversary of the Lego brick
14.) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
15.) Happy New Year (coinciding with)
16.) 25 Years of TCP/IP

Oh, the doodlers are tech geeks and like to keep it obscure? Well, what about Mother's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Valentine's Day? If we want to celebrate important anniversaries...well, I'm not downplaying the groundbreaking significance of interchangeable toy bricks, but I think that a multinational battle to free Europe from under the cloud of an evil dictatorship might be a touch more deserving.

Do I think it was intentional? No. Do I think their doodle team needs to read up on history and perhaps be a touch more appreciative of the gifts they were bequeathed by their forefathers (at least when putting up the American page)? Perhaps. Either way, though, your argument doesn't hold water. You either don't fly a banner, you fly it only in certain pre-designated times, or you suffer the wrath of those who don't agree with you.

In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead. (Rule #11 of the public policy process)

The other part is happy things (or at least not sad). How would you make a doodle that is both recognizable as relating to D-Day, and not really heavy/depressing to look at? Most people, when they think of D-Day, think of something akin to the opening part of Saving Private Ryan.

On Veterans Day 2007 they had one - they put helmets on some of the letters. It was still cartoonish and not really sad...but it is hard to do that for a battle.

Note that there is no Pearl Harbor Day or Sept 11. Though it is possible that they had an American Flag incorporated on September 11 (I seem to remember this).

I'm not very creative in a drawing sense. But, it is possible to do. You could honor the gift that they left behind-freedom. Or, you could do it in some other fashion. What I was trying to say is that the previous poster was saying that Outback didn't hang up a banner, but that wouldn't stop him from eating there, and he didn't complain about it. My point was that they don't hang up a banner year-round. Google does in certain instances, and so it's not improper to complain if you're upset at their lack of a banner.

And, FWIW, they didn't honor Memorial Day either. Now, if the argument was worldwide company status, then why do they honor other American-only holidays?

It's either a lack of history, or a lack of giving a da** about D-Day. I'll choose history to make myself feel better, but an argument could be made for the latter.

In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead. (Rule #11 of the public policy process)

They didn't do anything for Memorial Day but they did do something for Veterans Day this past year. My suspicion is the reason is that Memorial Day is a much sadder holiday than Veterans Day. Veterans Day is for Veterans, but Memorial Day is specifically about people who died.

On your multiple choice I am going with c), they don't wanna bum people out.

They did do something for vetran's day this past year, but only after they, in advance, had received HUNDREDS of suggestions and pictures and examples as a part of a 'Get google to change their logo' campaign across the internet.

Note that Dogpile did something for both. You didn't hear anyone talking about how bummed out they were because they went to Dogpile and saw a purple heart next to the logo...

Nope, don't buy it. They also have missed things like today's D day. . . . Presidents' Day. . . . and a few other holidays that might be viewed as patriotic.

They did do a MASSIVE campaign for Earth Day and even a special reverse colored webpage for a day or two to urge people to be more wise in their use of electricity.

But.... celebrate memorial day by picturing something that references it?

Nah, not important enough for Google. They're too busy looking for birthdays of obscure artists to celebrate.

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Dependence is Slavery.

I've had great debates with my friends, but you don't hear me called a world-renowned debate champion.

Saying he's obscure isn't saying he sucks-just that he's not well-known.

In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead. (Rule #11 of the public policy process)

I agree wholeheartedly with both points.
Sadly Velazquez has become obscure to most people though not to those with a remotely proper education in the arts. As a conservative with multiple degrees in the arts field I'm often disappointed in the lack of interest conservatives have in most of the arts.
Thankfully they do have interests in classical lit and philosophy though.
I've seen Joliphant deploy extraordinary knowledge in many fields before so I hold out hope that the "obscure" reference was just a bit of an exaggeration on his part to make the point: Which is bigger Velazquez or D-Day? D-Day!
Besides, why couldn't Google have a rotating header on some days?

The best way to beat the "their" "they're" dilemmas is to use them both interchangeably.

And while I know little about art history, I would note that Diego Velázquez is hardly an obscure artist: he is to Spain what Rembrandt is to Holland.

Neither of which comapred to D-Day in terms of impact.

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Dependence is Slavery.

Their January 1st, 2008 doodle is not "Happy New Year" but "Happy New Year & 25 Years of TCP/IP."

They did veteran's day 2007. (http://www.google.com/holidaylogos07.html) Basically each o and the e got a WWI era helmet. I don't know enough about the uniforms of WWI to tell whether they are specifically American helmets rather then British or French.

You can even make your google page wholly customized, including the logo.

Some of them look REALLY unlike Google's standard logo, lending credit to the idea that the "brand recognition" reason for not changing it is doo-doo.

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Dependence is Slavery.

Isn't that the Mexican that did constructivist murals ?

Then I thought no that was Rivera. Who is Velasquez ?
I am not a fine arts kind of guy. Even so I can name a fair number of Hudson River School painters, Impressionists, and Realists. Have even owned some fairly significant art. But as I said my first response was to confuse him with someone considerably better known.

Compared to the influence of D-Day, yes, this artist is obscure.

Google decided to not honor D-Day and to instead honor an artist.

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Dependence is Slavery.

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