MARK SMITH MORE COLUMNS SPECIAL TO THE PVT The Nye County seal, shown on a flag above, was recently changed to lop off the thunderbird, at the top. Nye County Commission Chairman Joni Eastley asked for the change at a Nov. 18 board of commissioner's meeting, saying the old seal had been a constant complaint of hers, reminding her of the Nazi SS symbol, below. Thanks to Vicki Streeter and James Ferrigan III for the Nye County flag. Advertisement

Word of a strange occurrence came our way the other day.

Did you know Nye County has its own flag?

Well, it does, and it has just been altered.

It involves, essentially, the county seal centered on a quartered field of red (or pink, it's hard to tell in the photo I have) and blue and topped by an eagle that looks like something created by Aztec artists laboring under a heavy intake of peyote.

Again, in the image I saw the seal includes a bright sun; what can only be seen as a dark star, or maybe the benighted cupola of a large institutional looking building; a Steath fighter-bomber; and, among other things, what appears to be a woman walking a dog but on closer inspection is, I think, someone riding a horse and roping a calf. (One observer, remarking that the symbols must represent aspects of the county, suggested it is a prostitute with her legs crossed.)

Anyway, the eagle recently irritated County Commissioner Joni Eastley and she moved to have it stricken from the flag.

She suggested it looked like a Nazi eagle. I don't think so, and you can see the flag and the basic Nazi eagle in all its gruesome glory here as well. Personally, for what little it may be worth, I think the Chrysler 300M looks like a Nazy staff car, but I guess there's a critic in every crowd. The eagle does have a large "N" in place of its body, which I suppose might be seen as meaning either "Nye" or "Nazi." So anyway, Joni made a motion to strip the eagle from the Nye County flag and it passed without opposition.

So much for the poor eagle and the flag designer, who may wonder what on earth he did wrong ("Thanks for the flag, man, but we're taking out the Nazi eagle...").

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Speaking of Nazis, I have to say how loony Tom Cruise looks in "Valkyrie." Did anyone actually look up famous Nazis to see how they wore their hair? Did they forget to tell him?

I was intrigued by one anonymous commentator on a film Web site who made an interesting point: It's difficult for children of privilege to play warriors. They have never been there and have no "face" for it. Tom Cruise looks no more like a Nazi war veteran than he does a yucca plant.

I've seen only a couple of actors who really have the look, Martin Sheen and Clint Eastwood among them. Clowns like Cruise and Tom Hanks, despite his turn in "Saving Pvt. Ryan," just don't have that bone-dead tired look that comes from prolongued experience in combat.

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I am intrigued by the court briefs filed in search of a temporary restraining order that would halt Corrections Corporation of America and the county commission from pursuing their detention center here. I am obviously an amateur when it comes to writing court petitions and background information, but I've been reading such things for a quarter of a century, and I have to say, Nancy Lord's work is in places abysmal.

Lord is the lawyer representing those who oppose the detention center.

In one part of a brief, "Petition for Temporary Restraining Order," dated Dec. 16, 2008, she writes:

"Moreover, Plaintiff's members and Individual Plaintiffs live in Pahrump, Nevada and seek to enjoy the benefits of dark stars at night and a peaceful and safe rural community" (italics mine).

The same phrasing may be found in Lord's "Complaint for Declaratory and Injunction Relief," Dec. 15, 2008.

Now it may sound picky, but what exactly are "dark stars" and why would anyone find benefits in them?

I assume she is referring to the run-of-the-mill bright stars we see overhead, but even those are challenged by the city over the hill to the extent that this is not exactly a gathering place for star-watchers. I used to live in Brookfield, N.H., about two and a half hours north of Boston, and we had stars that make the sky here seem empty.

Oddly enough, in the Dec. 26 issue of the R-J there was a fascinating article (page 3B) by Associate Press reporter Alicia Chang about the Vegas light pollution visible from Furnace Creek in Death Valley, Calif., and a photo by John Locher that gives a vivid indication of what was being discussed.

That's a lot farther away from Vegas than Pahrump, and if the light is becoming a problem out there, I'd say it's a much worse problem here. Tonopah is a place for stargazing, not Pahrump, and those who feel otherwise are kidding themselves.

And in any case, as any lawyer ought to be able to tell you, no one buys a home with any guarantee of dark skies at night.

To be sure, some aspects of Lord's submissions to the court deserve consideration, and however Judge Dawson rules opponents will have followed the proper procedure.