They used them to denote more progress. Originally, there were no tips. Then, about a year ago, they were added.
From the second referenced question, I learned that Mahalo's founder was a black belt in Tae Kwan Do. The unified belt system of that martial art appears to resemble Mahalo's, but not exactly. The different degrees of black belt are present in many martial art systems.
Many martial art systems also have stripes to denote progress towards a higher belt.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.