Many years ago when I went to Los Angeles for vacation, I bought a nice looking black shirt with white and black buttons at a small shop on Hollywood Blvd. Back home a month later, I wore it to a family reunion.

Taking a breather sitting on the couch, I looked closer at the white buttons. I had always seen them as white with a little black design. Looking closer, I saw that the middle of the design was a plus sign. The plus sign was rather thick. It looked like the German Iron Cross. Ok, not a big deal. I don't have anything against Germany today. Coincidence.

There were squiggly lines around the circumference of the buttons. I looked at them closely. The squiggly lines became letters. Third Reich.

I bought a Nazi skin-head shirt and wore it to my Jewish Family Reunion. Oy vey!

The swastika is a symbol seen in designs dating as far back as the Neolithic period. It was used by the Greeks, Trojans, Hindus, Jainists, Celts, and even Native Americans (North and South).

It is one of 108 symbols representing the Hindu god, Vishnu.

The swastika was used as a good luck charm in the early 20th century after it was discovered by archaeologists excavating the ruins of Troy.

The Carlsburg brewery even used it as a logo until the 1930s.

It did not originate with the Nazis.

So, is Old Navy part of a secret skinhead underground ... or a secret Vishnu society ... or fans of a certain German beer?

About 10 years ago, I joined the local Masonic Temple. Being active on the internet, I spent some time researching Freemasonry; I was stunned by how often we were implicated in some way-out conspiracy.

Some of the strangest websites were by people who used the most convoluted reasoning to back up claims that the Freemasons were tied into ___ (UFOs, International Banking, Zionist Media Control, CIA/NSA mind control, etc.), and to *prove* the Freemasonic/Illuminati connection, often pointed to a (gasp!) triangular figure in the logo of whatever particular group was on their radar.

No amount of reason could convince these people that triangles did not equal proof. And like with the swastikas, there are only so many patterns that you can make with a small number of lines, so inevitably, "proof" is going to pop up pretty much anywhere you look.

"So, is Old Navy part of a secret skinhead underground ... or a secret Vishnu society ... or fans of a certain German beer?"

All of the above! They pass messages through those mannequins in their godawful commercials, but don't tell...don't tell...

Sure, those sweaters can be sexy on a man -- to a 88-year-old woman who hasn't gotten any for 46 years.

I believe it is from the Old Navy chain of stores which are somewhat trendy for the people who don't have the money to really follow the trends. Not an old Navy sweater.

When I was undergrad, the univ. was doing some updates and they planned to put in some new side walks. They put the plan up. And it was soon noted that at one spot the new side walks looked like a swastika when viewed form above. They ended up not putting one part in and changing the angle for another.

The Carlsburg brewery even used it as a logo until the 1930s...So, is Old Navy part of a secret skinhead underground ... or a secret Vishnu society ... or fans of a certain German beer?

Perhaps you mean Carlsberg, the Danish beer company? ;-)

A "kung fu" movie I like, "The 36th Chamber Of Shao-Lin" made in 1978, has a scene where the hero is talking with his master. Behind the master is a swastika. I know the swastika is a symbol of good in the Orient and appropriate for the era the movie represented, but it was jarring. It may not be "fair", but it is the reality that the swastika is now a symbol of evil. I can't foresee how it could possibly be redeemed.

The standard symbol for a Buddhist temple on most Japanese maps is a swastika.