Off Post On The Oil Slick.

The President has it right. Neither he, nor any other politician or board of bureaucrats, nor the CEO's and lawyers of the companies, are the ones who should be doing the hands-on decision making and the work. Who is best? The working engineers who actually know every bolt on that terrible island made of steel in the sea, like the crew of a sub. Nobody knows more about that rig than they do, and nobody cares more about fixing it than guys who lost their friends out there.

How to clean up the oil slick? Make BP agree to set up collection stations and pay anybody $1.00 a gallon who will figure out a way to bring it to them. Let the Junkyard Wars guys and mud-racer builders loose on a way to harvest that stuff into a tank in their boat, or any other clever trick, and it will most quickly disappear.

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Ban The Burn, or Burn the Ban?

As a Libertarian and a Veteran, when it comes to the issue of making flag-burning a crime, or an act which would justify shooting someone, I am a Constitutionalist -- a First Amendment Constitutionalist. You are entitled to your opinion about what it stands for, and entitled to say what you think, in words or other symbols. The Flag is not itself any of the things it represents, nor some kind of sacred relic, but is an icon, a symbol, a word. Flying it, folding it, and flaming it up are all statements using that symbol. To declare it cannot be used to make non-positive statements in opposition to political power is the same kind of thinking as Muslims believing a cartoon showing their idol as being something less than God justifies acts of violence. It is simply bad thought control, the opposite of freedom. Burning someone else's flag (made in China, $15) is a property violation, but that is not what is at issue here. To make it illegal for anyone to burn a flag he has bought as a political statement is to truly tarnish the principle of free expression it stands for.

Here is an article in some depth on this, first published about '97 or so, I think.

Is Flag Burning A Crime?

US flag is now a target

We had some nasty issues this memorial weekend with people having their flags marred, mutilated, stolen et al.  I was telling my girlfriend about it in AZ, said the same thing happened around their area near Ft. Huachuca.  I didn't think it was widespread.  Apparently, the US flag is now a target.  How disgusting.  I would never disgrace any other county's flag no matter what I thought of their country or their government, why does it always seem to be alright to crap on America?  Just curious.