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Town Bans Foreign Flags Flying Alone

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http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/town-bans-foreign-flags-flying-alone/20061116071009990022?ncid=NWS00010000000001

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Town Bans Foreign Flags Flying Alone

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY

(Nov. 11) - The Nevada town of Pahrump is taking a stand not just against illegal immigrants but flags they may bring with them.
The elected town board in the remote Mojave Desert community voted 3-2 on Tuesday to enact an ordinance making it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag by itself.

Flying another country's flag, whether it is a British Union Jack or the flag of Mexico, is punishable by a $50 fine and 30 hours' community service, unless it is flown below an American flag.


"Old Glory is sovereign," says Paul Willis, a retired carpenter and board member. "You can't fly any other nation's flag higher than the American flag."

The American Civil Liberties Union says the flag restriction violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

"There's no doubt about it," says Lisa Rasmussen, a board member of the Nevada ACLU. "People have a right, as much as we don't like it, to fly ... any flag they wish."

Pahrump is a rural fast-growing town of 33,000 about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. It is part of sprawling Nye County, home of the closest legal brothels to Las Vegas.


The law passed as part of a package of measures that also declared English the official language of Pahrump and denies town benefits to illegal immigrants.

"We don't have any" benefits, town manager David Richards says. "If we ever have any, they'll be denied to illegal immigrants."

Supporters say the law is a stand on principle and doubts anyone will be arrested for violating it.

"I can't conceive of there being anyone cited for it," said board Chairman Richard Billman, who voted against the ordinance.

The ordinance's sponsor, Michael Miraglia, a retired Illinois state worker, said the flag restriction was a reaction to nationwide demonstrations in May against a crackdown on illegal immigration. He said he didn't like seeing protesters waving Mexican flags and demanding immigrants not go to work that day.

"In Pahrump, we had Mexican restaurants closed that day," he complained. "Only one restaurant stayed open."

Rasmussen said the ACLU would probably take legal action against the town.

"People are nuts out there," she says. "Totally nuts."

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If I lived there, I think I'd be tempted to violate the law for the sole purpose of challenging it. If I want to hang my Irish flag on St. Pat's, that's nobody's business but mine. Sounds like Pahrump's city council has nothing better to do than attempt to regulate the minutia of other people's lives. They need to get over themselves and go do something productive.

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I would like to see a penalty for lawmakers that pass laws that are later declared unConstitutional (as this one will be). If they know they will get strung up by their thumbs, maybe they'd think a bit more before passing something as stupid as this.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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Sometimes things are declared unconstitutional for things that weren't really foreseeable, or went over the line just a bit. I don't see punishing for stuff like that, because it's usually just back to the drawing board to straighten out the kinks. However, for stuff like Pahrump's new law that is blatantly a violation of the first amendment, I'd like to see the judge fine the drafters and council members the amount of money that the city spent on passing and defending the stupid thing.

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http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/town-bans-foreign-flags-flying-alone/20061116071009990022?ncid=NWS00010000000001

***
Town Bans Foreign Flags Flying Alone

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY

(Nov. 11) - The Nevada town of Pahrump is taking a stand not just against illegal immigrants but flags they may bring with them.
The elected town board in the remote Mojave Desert community voted 3-2 on Tuesday to enact an ordinance making it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag by itself.

Flying another country's flag, whether it is a British Union Jack or the flag of Mexico, is punishable by a $50 fine and 30 hours' community service, unless it is flown below an American flag.


"Old Glory is sovereign," says Paul Willis, a retired carpenter and board member. "You can't fly any other nation's flag higher than the American flag."

The American Civil Liberties Union says the flag restriction violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

"There's no doubt about it," says Lisa Rasmussen, a board member of the Nevada ACLU. "People have a right, as much as we don't like it, to fly ... any flag they wish."

Pahrump is a rural fast-growing town of 33,000 about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. It is part of sprawling Nye County, home of the closest legal brothels to Las Vegas.


The law passed as part of a package of measures that also declared English the official language of Pahrump and denies town benefits to illegal immigrants.

"We don't have any" benefits, town manager David Richards says. "If we ever have any, they'll be denied to illegal immigrants."

Supporters say the law is a stand on principle and doubts anyone will be arrested for violating it.

"I can't conceive of there being anyone cited for it," said board Chairman Richard Billman, who voted against the ordinance.

The ordinance's sponsor, Michael Miraglia, a retired Illinois state worker, said the flag restriction was a reaction to nationwide demonstrations in May against a crackdown on illegal immigration. He said he didn't like seeing protesters waving Mexican flags and demanding immigrants not go to work that day.

"In Pahrump, we had Mexican restaurants closed that day," he complained. "Only one restaurant stayed open."

Rasmussen said the ACLU would probably take legal action against the town.

"People are nuts out there," she says. "Totally nuts."

I'm flying my turkish flag for Thansgiving. Does that count? It does have a flag (American) next to the turkey tho
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

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If I lived there, I think I'd be tempted to violate the law for the sole purpose of challenging it. If I want to hang my Irish flag on St. Pat's, that's nobody's business but mine. Sounds like Pahrump's city council has nothing better to do than attempt to regulate the minutia of other people's lives. They need to get over themselves and go do something productive.



I agree that it is a silly law. That said, in my understanding the protocol for flying a your home flag in a host nation is that you fly it below the host nations flag (ie if I wish to fly a Canadian flag in the US I fly it below the US flag). Failure to follow that basic courtesy shows a lack of etiquette. Worth mentioning but again more laws are not needed.

Richards
My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

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I agree that it is a silly law. That said, in my understanding the protocol for flying a your home flag in a host nation is that you fly it below the host nations flag (ie if I wish to fly a Canadian flag in the US I fly it below the US flag). Failure to follow that basic courtesy shows a lack of etiquette. Worth mentioning but again more laws are not needed.



Good point. I like the more plain language of: How about some good manners. If you move to this country from another country, with the expectation that you're going to stay, and reap and sow the good opportunities this nation has to offer, why slap it in the face with another nation's flag?

If someone doesn't know the proper etiquette (i.e. flying a non-host flag below, or to the right-as displayed-of the host flag), no big deal. But at least show the flags together.
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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Nightingale: If I lived there, I think I'd be tempted to violate the law for the sole purpose of challenging it.



Funny, that's exactly what I was thinking, too. Our "gang" tends to think alike, eh?

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I'd like to see the judge fine the drafters and council members the amount of money that the city spent on passing and defending the stupid thing.



WOuld be great if that could be done. Unfortunately, in most states, sovereign immunity would preclude that. Pity.

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Kallend: I would like to see a penalty for lawmakers that pass laws that are later declared unConstitutional



There is: impeachment. Rarely used, though.
-------------------

Ironic coincidence that the name of the town rhymes with "Harumph!" :S

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Good point. I like the more plain language of: How about some good manners. If you move to this country from another country, with the expectation that you're going to stay, and reap and sow the good opportunities this nation has to offer, why slap it in the face with another nation's flag?


I don't see it as being a "slap in the face". last time I was in NY, I remember seeing quite few Italian flags flown over Italian restaurants in Little Italy.
Where do you draw the line: few years ago, I went to Anaheim Stadium to see the Angels play the Yankees. There were more Yankees fans in the stands than Angels fans. They were wearing Yankee blue. I reckon the majority of them lived in SoCal (including my father in law, who's grand father immigrated from Italy via NY...). Should they show respect to their home state by either not wearing Yankees colors, or at least no more than Angels colors?
It's only a flag. It only means as much as each individual wants it to mean...

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

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I'm tempted to fly a Longhorn flag when we whoop the Sooners, but I don't want to be cleaning eggs off my house and car. :S:P;)



Once again in English?:P
When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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http://dict.die.net/whop/

Whop [syn:whack, wham,wallop, sock,bop,whap,bonk,bash] {that syn string puts me to mind of my AFF landings}

Perhaps you were confused by substitution of "whoop" for "whop" (perfectly acceptable according to Longhorn Style Manual in this context - kind like whop +1)

Anybody that's got themselves some culture know about "longhorns" and "sooners" don't they? Couldn't get speak more English than football talk. C'mon now.

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See over here a "whop" is an "African-American", specifically one with a big afro, or someone from 'The Sudan'; especially one who "doesn't like it up 'em".

A "whoop" on the other hand is something an "American-Indian" does...

Always happy to be of assistance. :)

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Good point. I like the more plain language of: How about some good manners. If you move to this country from another country, with the expectation that you're going to stay, and reap and sow the good opportunities this nation has to offer, why slap it in the face with another nation's flag?


I don't see it as being a "slap in the face". last time I was in NY, I remember seeing quite few Italian flags flown over Italian restaurants in Little Italy.
Where do you draw the line: few years ago, I went to Anaheim Stadium to see the Angels play the Yankees. There were more Yankees fans in the stands than Angels fans. They were wearing Yankee blue. I reckon the majority of them lived in SoCal (including my father in law, who's grand father immigrated from Italy via NY...). Should they show respect to their home state by either not wearing Yankees colors, or at least no more than Angels colors?
It's only a flag. It only means as much as each individual wants it to mean...



In the end, I agree, to each their own. It was one of those, wish-there-was-perfection rants...you know...
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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Thanks for clearing that up pardner, uh ..mate.. er.. dude..
dude's universal eh?

Perhaps we should use the proper term "ass-whoppin" when transmitting international communications so as not to appear insensitive and culturally tone deaf.

While you're in the translating mode perhaps you can interpret this video found on a British expatriot's site. (I know Sullivan's views are a thread or 10 all their own - just couldn't locate video elsewhere)


Is it a prelude to rugby? Soccer? axe-fighting ? WTF are they saying? It puts me to mind of a typical "debate" on S.C.

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/11/you_want_testos.html

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hehe, I wish I could claim that as being remotely British...

That's the New Zealand All Blacks vs. Tonga about to play rugby.

Both teams have very strong Maori backgrounds, (imagine native American's only 10 times as hard), so both teams are performing their native war dances before the match, (the "Haka" and the "Sipi-tai" respecitivly).

Roughly translated it means "come on then if you think you're hard enough" or "take a suck on this you limp-wristed fuck-bag of a twat".

( ...very roughly translated you understand... )

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The law passed as part of a package of measures that also declared English the official language of Pahrump and denies town benefits to illegal immigrants.

"We don't have any" benefits, town manager David Richards says. "If we ever have any, they'll be denied to illegal immigrants."


The flag thing is just Stupid chest beating,
I'm more interested in the above quote, is the town not breaking the law by allowing illegal immigrants to reside there? Should they not report them to immigration?
From the staement they know exactly who the immigrants are, because that can withhold "benefits" from them

You lot prove yourselves stranger and stranger on a daily basis:D:D:D:D
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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