Here in Australia we prefer our patriotism a bit on the under done side, a bit like our steaks, well rare actually. All that rushing round waving flags, singing the national anthem and stuff, we find that all a bit embarrassing really. It is a standing joke in Australia that noone knows the words to the national anthem, not past the first couple of sentences anyway.

It is not like that America, patriotism is big there, and it is even bigger than normal at the moment. Since America invaded Iraq, with us hanging on to their coat tails, any questioning of the justification for the invasion has been howled down as unpatriotic, even though it has changed along the way.

Anyway, enough ranting, here is a patriotic cow. It is part of an exhibition of cows that was held in Chigago in 1999, you can see more of the entrants here.

I chose the patriotic cow because American cows have good reason to feel patriotic, not that they will of course, that emotion is far too complicated for your average simple minded cow. America's Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday a $33 million plan for a pair of academic centers to combat possible terrorist attacks on cows.

John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, isn't impressed by this current flurry of panic about agro-attacks, saying

Why are we getting around to that one, but we're dragging our heels on protecting passenger planes from shoulder-fired missiles?" he asked. "We're spending a couple of hundred million dollars over the next couple of years thinking about it. And that's a proven threat.

The Green Man would have thought it was obvious. If you can't protect your cows what is the world coming. These cows are dying to feed the soldiers in Iraq, they must be protected from being killed at all costs.

Read more in Wired News.