Over the weekend, two incarnations of the battle flag of the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS) made their way onto the screens of millions of Americans. One of these was an accurate depiction of the ISIS flag, printed onto a cake from a Wal-Mart store in Slidell, Louisiana. The other was a not-so-accurate depiction of the ISIS flag, waving alongside hundreds of rainbow flags during a gay pride parade on the streets of London, England. As is usually the case, hysteria followed both.
On June 26th, Chuck Netzhammer posted a video entitled “Walmart makes ISIS cake, refused Confederate flag cake.” In the video, he displays a large Confederate flag with the lettering “HERITAGE NOT HATE” emblazoned on it. Netzhammer tried to have the flag printed onto a cake at his local Wal-Mart but his request was refused in light of Wal-Mart’s brand new policy of no longer selling Confederate-themed items.
Video courtesy of Chuck Netzhammer [YouTube]
“Yesterday, I managed to get an ISIS battle flag printed. ISIS happens to be somebody who we’re fighting against right now who are killing our men and boys overseas, and are beheading Christians,” Netzhammer states as he sits on his parked motorcycle on what appears to be his lawn. “Wal-Mart, can you please explain why you are alienating southern Americans with this trash that you are allowing to be sold at your store, while at the same point Confederate flag memorabilia is not allowed?”
Baking the ISIS cake was, of course, a mistake made by a couple Wal-Mart bakery employees who do not have foreign terrorist flag identification high on their list of priorities. They did not recognize the infamous flag design and therefore filled the request without reservation. These employees shouldn’t feel too bad though because, as CNN pointed out on Saturday, no one in London can recognize that evil emblem either!
On Saturday morning just after 10:00 AM, CNN’s intrepid investigators spotted something that only their keen eyes could catch. “ISIS FLAG SPOTTED AT GAY PRIDE PARADE,” the headline proclaimed after International Assignment Editor Lucy Pawle called in to CNN headquarters with the breaking news.
Image courtesy of N03113
“I was just trying to cross Regent Street, one of the main shopping streets in London, and I had to stop because the march was going down the street,” Pawle explained by telephone, “when all of the sudden this man, quite distinctive from the rest of the crowd- he was dressed in black and white whereas everyone else was brightly colored… This man dressed in black and white was waiving what appears to be a very bad mimicry, but a very clear attempt to mimic, the ISIS flag- the black and white flag with the distinctive lettering.”
Pawle didn’t stop there however, going on to exclaim “I seem to be the only person who has spotted this, and nobody seems to be raising any questions or pointing it out.” She then explained that her attempts to discuss the matter with the event organizers and even police officers nearby yielded nothing other than some shrugs.
CNN proceeded to spend a full six and a half minutes covering the ominous man and his ISIS flag. They brought on National Security Analyst Peter Bergen for further comment. They hypothesized about the man’s connections to attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and France. They speculated about the flag being a warning to Britons that they are the next target. They noted the irony of the situation they uncovered, “since one of ISIS’ principle goals is to kill gays,” and in a brief moment of sanity they even stated that there may be a bit of “subtle British humor” at play.
Video courtesy of YourVoiceNews
There’s only one problem: the flag’s “distinctive lettering” was not Arabic, as Pawle correctly noted, and it was not “gobbledygook,” as she speculated, but rather was… an assortment of sex toys. Take a closer look:
Image courtesy of boingboing.net
man running in forestPhoto by 
