Burning the American Flag ...
I'm a big fan of flag burning.

Once upon a time, back in Uni, I hated America. Nothing in particular, it was just the done thing at the time. Bear with me folks, this was the early nineties, Kuwait had just been liberated, much to their relief and the ire of lefty uni students. The sort of students who don't trouble themselves with thoughts like: "Well who else will depose dictators?"

I eventually got over my hatred of America. I realised it was misplaced general Authority Figure bashing. Nowadays, I think we should make a list with Mugabe, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and Kim Jong Il right at the top and set the Americans loose with as much ammo as they can carry.

However, it does amuse me to think of American right wing bigots shouting "How dare you burn my Flag! Freedom of speech be damned! I'm offended! The sheer scale of this insult is making my brain wobble. Jail the bastard! And the fella standing next to him! I'll legislate, just you watch me!"

They fail to realise that the act of flag burning is a godsend to the police. As anyone who's been arsed to go to a demo knows, any peaceful protest is just one well placed half brick away from a riot.

However, if you just burn an American flag, the crowd realises that their 5 seconds of face time on the telly has been achieved and it's time to bugger off down the pub to revel in the mass delusion that they have just stuck it to the Man.
(Que?, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 3:17, 4 replies)

but they have
a devotion to the flag that rivals the Nazis. It's hanging fucking everywhere.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 9:27, closed)

looking at
the number of "Georges" hanging out there at the minute, we're on shaky ground with that complaint.

And, yes, i realise that this is less to do with national pride and more to do with marketing.....
(greatoldone Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl f'tagn, Tue 22 Jun 2010, 9:52, closed)

^Great sig
I was just trying to read it aloud, when we had a sudden earth tremor.

Odd
(Que?, Wed 23 Jun 2010, 0:07, closed)

Flag Burning Ceremony
I was surprised the last time we visited my wife's relatives in the USA. They're pretty conservative, go to church, endorsed Dan Quayle as presidential candidate, that sort of thing.

So when we were invited to a flag burning ceremony, we were a bit surprised. Had they suddenly become revolutionaries? Were they about to stick it to the man?

No. Apparently, it is disrespectful to put a frayed and yellowing USAian flag in the trash*. So they have this ceremony where the local military dedicate each tattered scrap to God, America and fallen heroes** everywhere*** and then burn it on a special barbecue-thing.

Very weird, quite moving at times, and just a little scary if you're not American.

* American for rubbish.
** i.e. American Heroes
*** i.e. America
( Amish Information Systems hates misplaced, commas, Wed 23 Jun 2010, 11:25, closed)