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Opinion: US flag portrays disunity
Dear Editor,
The United States of America (USA) will be celebrating its Independence Day on July 4, 2020. Every independent nation has its own national symbols to reflect the nature of that country and its identity.
Ironically, the United States of America which should have had a national flag portraying UNITY and ONENESS has as many as sixty four (64) SEPARATED features on their flag. That does not show UNITY but DISUNITY.
The entire present design of the US flag which has existed since the year 1777, therefore, leaves much to be desired because it had incredibly been changed for about 28 times.
I have a few observations about the US flag which could be reviewed and considered.
- The 50 tiny and very difficult to arrange stars with blue background representing each state is squeezed on the quarter corned space of the flag.
- The 13 red and white stripes also representing the original 13 states have unequal horizontal lines even though all those states are equally revered.
- The fragile-looking 50 white stars will again be increased in number whenever new states are created. HOW? Is that not inconsistent?
- The flag shows the original 13 states by space which are more important than the present 50 states which still included the favoured 13 states, etc. That sounds complex.
Though, I am not an American but a Ghanaian, we live in A GLOBAL VILLAGE where SIMPLICITY is the order of the time, so I am humbly appealing to the US authorities in Ghana or elsewhere through this medium to consider my meticulous observations to aptly redesign the US flag to suit the now simplified world.
I think my proposed US flag with a few features not numbering up to 10 would be up to that task to let the flag portray UNITY.
Conclusively, in my view, the best designed flag in the world is the ever-conspicuous and outstanding Japanese flag which has only two very glaring features and looks the same anyhow one turns that flag around. That is beautiful and wonderful.
United States of America (USA) over to you. IN GOD WE TRUST.
John B.K. Amoah
KASOA
Tel: +233 0244 062 998
Email: jamoahus@yahoo.com
News
GFP founder Akua Donkor passes on
Akua Donkor
The founder and leader of the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), Madam Akua Donkor, has passed away.
She died at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital on Monday, October 28 at 72.
Reports gathered by The Spectator indicated that she was diagnosed with respiratory issues at the Nsawam Government Hospital and was referred to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital where she died.
Known for her spirited presence in Ghanaian politics, Akua Donkor was a staunch advocate for the rights of farmers and women.
Her bold and outspoken demeanour enabled her to capture public attention and significantly impact the grassroots communities she aimed to represent.
Throughout her political journey, she distinguished herself by running for the presidency multiple ti mes, demonstrating remarkable resilience despite financial challenges.
Akua Donkor was listed as the third candidate on the ballot for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Her political career began with her election as the Assemblywoman for Herman in the Ashanti region, and she made her first bid for the presidency in 2012 as an independent candidate.
She was, however, disqualified by the Electoral Commission in 2012 and 2016 for the reason that she did not meet the eligibility requirements.
News
Stop using breast enhancing creams …they expose females to breast cancer
Mrs Enyonam Abiti making a presentation
Women have been cautioned to stop using of breast enhancing creams which is said to contain estrogen, predisposing them to the breast cancer disease.
Using such creams over time increases estrogen levels in patrons of such products thereby exposing them to the disease.
Estrogen is a type of sex hormone responsible for development and regulation of female reproductive system and secondary sex chart.
Mrs Enyonam Abiti, a medical officer at Madina Pentecost Hospital, said this at a day’s seminar and breast cancer awareness creation day at Sunyani in the Bono Region.
The programme, organised by the Bono Regional office of COCOBOD, forms part of activities to mark this year’s World Breast Cancer Day celebrations held every year in October.
Some staff of COCOBOD and women in cocoa farming used the opportunity to have their breast screened.
Mrs Abiti during a presentation revealed that one in every eight women was diagnosed of breast cancer while 1 from 1,000 men contract the disease.
She noted that early detection and regular screening was the surest way to salvage the situation.
She mentioned that habits such as excessive smoking and alcohol intake predisposes women to breast cancer.
Moreover, she added that people advanced in age, past history, past ovarian cancer case as well as young girls that menstruate early, among others stands the risk of contracting the disease.
The Bono Regional Administrator of COCOBOD, Michael Paddy Kwesi Asumanu, stated that the decision to organise the breast screening was to ensure that women in cocoa farming were healthy at all times to go about their farming activities in order to increase productivity.
“We don’t want a situation where our women in cocoa farming are infected with breast cancer disease to jeopardise the cocoa sector,” he said.
According him, the Regional Office of COCOBOD in partnership with the Bono Regional Teaching hospital would organised screening for about 4,000 women on October 31, 2024 at Goaso in the Ahafo Region.
The move, he said, was part of their corporate social responsibility towards women as the world mark breast cancer awareness creation this month.
Some of the women who spoke to The Spectator commended COCOBOD for the gesture and called on other institutions of state to emulate the example.
The organisers later held a float on the principal streets of Sunyani to create awareness on the breast cancer disease.
From Daniel Dzirasah, Sunyani