A better choice than some other images floating around

We're not sure if this story is entirely accurate but nonetheless: Colin Powell has applied to get a Scottish coat of arms for his family to recognise his Scottish ancestry (via his mother). This "coat of arms" procedure sounds like an astute bit of business for Scotland, since it doesn't seem to signify much more than Guinness's declaration that anyone who does the tour of their St James' Gate Brewery in Dublin is an "honourary Dubliner."

And we assume that Colin's roots are too distant for him to actually be thinking about UK citizenship, though with the ever growing taint of scandal and criminality of the administration of which he is a part, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to have an exile plan in the works. Apparently one gets to design one's own coat of arms, so rather than re-work some of those Iraqi prison photos, part of Colin's recent legacy to the world (we've seen clever reworkings of the infamous electrical wiring picture as a statue of liberty), he has gone for:

The coat of arms, if granted, will incorporate the crest of an American bald eagle...The retired four-star general's military background will also be symbolised by a shield with four stars and crossed swords.

With the current state of political rhetoric in the US about the Iraq war, a boot stomping on a crescent moon would have been more appropriate.