Weekday Squib: Tastes like chicken and top secret

Depicting the undepictable

Trevor Paglen could tell you, but then he would have to destroy you. But he’s written a book you could read—presumably without any danger to your life—on the Pentagon’s secret budget. Well, not the secret budget itself, but how black projects are visually represented through patches on military uniforms. As the International Herald-Tribune reports, these include “Skulls. Black cats. A naked woman riding a killer whale. Grim reapers. Snakes. Swords. Occult symbols. A wizard with a staff that shoots lightning bolts. Moons. Stars. A dragon holding the earth in its claws.”

Paglen’s website says

The symbols and insignia shown in the Symbology series provide a glimpse into how contemporary military units answer questions that have historically been the purview of mystery cults, secret societies, religions, and mystics: How does one represent that which, by definition, must not be represented? [Trevor Paglen]

3 thoughts on “Weekday Squib: Tastes like chicken and top secret”

  1. Phoenix,

    No I didn’t. Gustatus similis pullus, on the first patch, translates to Tastes Like Chicken.

    But I’m worried about the changes in your dietary habits arising, perhaps, out of a stint in the southern hemisphere. 🙂

  2. What are the chances that these secret patches are made in China? I would guess pretty high.

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