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HOW OBAMA HAS IMPROVED HIS CAMPAIGN PLANEJuly 24, 2008Sean Robins NewsBusters has a report today on campaign and reportorial analysis by ABC's Jake Tapper ("Obama Thinks He's President; Denies Media Access") Tapper, who is about as reasonable as an MSMer working for ABC News can be, is all in a snit about how the Obama campaign has been treating reporters, especially those ensconced in Obama One for his "Tour of Duty" through the Middle East and Europe.  Obama, as we've been reading the past few days, has been frightfully unavailable to reporters (I think I've even heard a bunch of...

Barack Obama recently finished a $500,000 total overhaul of his 757. And as part of the new design, he decided to remove the American flag from the tail. What American running for President of the United States would remove the symbol of his country? And worse, he replaced the flag with it with a symbol of himself. Photo of plane reprinted with written permission of the photographer.

You see, the problem with holding a particular ideology is that, unless you’re a total recluse, someone in your inner circle will eventually reveal your intentions (albeit, unintentionally). There has been a lot of scrambling behind the scenes then in public to try and cover up the mess Michelle Obama made when she declared, “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." She made this statement in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Later the same day in Madison Wisconsin, she said, “For the first time in my...

he national NAACP has again said it will step up a campaign against South Carolina for flying the Confederate flag at the State House. The organization declared it would exert continued pressure to discourage NCAA sporting events and film production in South Carolina.“This is unfinished business,” said Lonnie Randolph, state NAACP president, echoing the message delivered Monday by NAACP interim president and CEO Dennis Hayes, at the organization’s 99th national convention in Cincinnati. Hayes told the Associated Press the organization is still working on its plan to discourage tourism and film production in the state. The National Association for the...

Vatican City, Jul 14, 2008 / 02:34 pm (CNA).- L’Osservatore Romano published an article last week explaining how Pope Pius VII decided in 1808 that the Vatican colors would be white and yellow.  Historian Claudio Ceresa explained the history behind the Pope’s choice.In an article entitled, “Two centuries of yellow and white as the papal colors,” Ceresa explained that in order to understand why the colors were chosen, one must consider the “occupation of the city by Napoleonic troops in February of 1808.”“The commander of the French forces, General Miollis, posted notices on the walls informing that the Pope’s army...

WASHINGTON - The American flag has many labels: Stars and stripes. Old Glory. And sometimes, made in China. Congress can't halt the flow of Chinese-made flags, but lawmakers can try to control where they are flown. The House declared Monday that any flag flown on federal property should be made in the U.S.A. "It's not a major problem facing the nation," admitted Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif. "But it's an irritant." Chinese-made flags seemed to pop up everywhere after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. People rushed to show their sense of patriotism by buying American flags, and U.S. manufacturers couldn't...

I am tutoring a going-into-4th grade boy this summer, just two hours a week. I have only had him one week so far. Today we were talking about the flag; I have one on my bulletin board. He said, "I sometimes like to put the flag on the ground and step on it." I said, "You DO? Why (you little booger)?" He said, "I sometimes like to do things that are wrong." I only had a few minutes left with him, so I spoke about reverencing the flag and those who had died for our country. I will continue to...

Last fall, Barack Obama explained why he hadn't been wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. "I won't wear that pin on my chest," the presumptive Democratic nominee said. "Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism." What a difference a presidential campaign makes. Obama, who suggested back then that the flag pin "became a substitute for I think true patriotism" after the Sept. 11 attacks, now regularly sports the patriotic symbol at campaign events. He even briefly employed...

Oh, say can you see? It's the original Star Spangled Banner - ready to be unfurled again after a decade-long restoration project.It was a clear autumn morning on September 18, 1814, when Francis Scott Key caught sight of the "broad stripes and bright stars" flying over Fort McHenry in Maryland, inspiring him to write our national anthem. In preparation for the impending battle with British naval forces, Maj. George Armistead, the fort's commanding officer, had requested a flag "so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance." That it was: The flag was 30-by-42...

Woman In Trouble For Flying American Flag In Neighborhood ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A local member of the Air National Guard is in trouble with her condominium complex for what she says is a show of patriotism. Master Sgt. Denise James has been fighting her condo association over the right to fly an American flag. She lives in a condo complex on Kenzie Drive in Robinson Township. On Memorial Day, she put up small American flags in her yard to honor past and present veterans. As July 4 approaches, she is still flying the flags, but her condo association says...

This is Carolina Day, the 232nd anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sullivan. If you are not a native of South Carolinian (and possibly even if you are), you likely have never heard of Fort Sullivan and the significance of this day. Most American school children have heard stirring stories of the battles of Concord Bridge and Lexington Green, relatively minor skirmishes fought by the Minutemen of Revolutionary lore. These were fought in April 1775, and at Concord Bridge was fired the "shot heard 'round the world." But it was at an unfinished, palmetto-log fort on Sullivan's Island where the...

A county prosecutor is taking on a Supreme Court ruling that for decades has protected flag desecration as a citizen's right to free expression. The challenge may be the first of its kind in Idaho, legal experts say. Invoking a misdemeanor statute the Legislature passed eight years before a Supreme Court ruling changed federal law in 1989, Minidoka County Prosecutor Nikki Cannon has charged former school teacher Dan Luker with publicly mutilating a U.S. flag at his school on May 5. Cannon alleges that Luker, then an English as a Second Language teacher, threw the flag on the floor of...

Resolved, that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation. With these words, on June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the flag of the United States of America. Flag Day has since been partly eclipsed by other American traditions and holidays, and although it is still celebrated by numerous families and in many parts of the country, it has been forgotten by too many. I, however, will never forget Flag Day. On June 14, 2005, on...

Since 1969, a U.S. flag has been flying high on a tall pole in front of the Mitchell family home in Brea. "It's been up there every day," says Jane Mitchell, 73. "Except for a week when a storm brought down the pole and we had to replace it." Flag Day is Saturday, but many Orange County residents choose to display their pride every day of the year by decorating their homes with a flag. Charles and Rosemary Kissel display up to 13 flags at a time at their Anaheim home. The couple has a collection of about 300 U.S....

Most U.S. school children grow up knowing the story of Betsy Ross, who may or may not have sewn the first American flag, based on a sketch given to her by George Washington. But what about Francis Hopkinson, Mary Pickersgill or Samuel Reid, all of whom played roles in the history of the flag? Or Bernard Cigrand, who may have been the first to celebrate the birthday of the flag and led the movement to make Flag Day, June 14, a national observance? In her lifetime, Ross herself never claimed to have sewn the first flag. Only in 1870 did...

June 14 is Flag Day. Post your pictures here. For those of you do not know how to post a picture on FR, here's the easy way. 1. Upload your pictures to your free account at Photobucket at this link2. Click on the "HTML code" label and the link with code will automatically be copied to you clipboard. 3. Paste the link in your comments! Easy, peasy. One, two, threesy! Enough talk. Here are my flags that will be displayed at the end of the driveway tomorrow.

POST-GAZETTE Res Publica Flag Day by David Trumbull June 13, 2008 Saturday, June 14th, is Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States by resolution of the Second Continental Congress, June 14, 1777. Since 1966 the week that includes June 14th has been designated National Flag Week. In issuing this year’s Flag Day and National Flag Week proclamation President George W. Bush said: The American flag has been our national symbol for 231 years, and it remains a beacon of freedom wherever it is flown. Since the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) ― Flying the Confederate flag has long been controversial in Southern states but now it's causing a heated debate at Kennedy High School in Bloomington, Minn. Three seniors who displayed the flag will not be allowed to attend their graduation ceremony Wednesday evening. "It was sitting like that in the parking lot," said Justin Thompson, as he held a Confederate flag that was hanging from a pole inside a pick-up truck bed. On Tuesday, three seniors, each with a rebel flag on the back of their pick-ups, parked at Kennedy High School. "I'm just a country type...

TAMPA, Fla. -- A giant Confederate battle flag -- believed to be the world's largest -- may soon be flying near a Tampa highway intersection. A Confederate heritage group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans plans to fly the flag that measures 30 feet tall and 50 feet wide. The group said it expects to have its flag in place by 2009. "I'm surprised that they would allow something like this to go on in Hillsborough County," county NAACP President Curtis Stokes told the St. Petersburg Times. The group has building permits but still needs $30,000 to complete the project,...

TAMPA — Next year, a giant Confederate flag may tower above the tree line near the junction of Interstate 75 and Interstate 4. The Sons of Confederate Veterans wants drivers in the Tampa area to see the massive flag — 30 feet high and 50 feet long — atop a 139-foot pole, the highest the Federal Aviation Authority would allow. It would be lit at night. With the pole already in the ground and building permits in hand, the group is on its way to having what it calls the "world's largest" Confederate flag in place by mid 2009. The...

Published May 24, 2008 Thieves are targeting U.S. flags at the county courthouse and anyone who sees someone taking a flag from the courthouse grounds should call police. “We are trying to do something nice for the community and these people are destroying it. It just doesn’t make any sense to me,” Otila Gonzalez, administrative assistant to County Judge Mike L. Fernandez, said Friday. Gonzalez said the small U.S. flags that line the sidewalks surrounding the courthouse, as well as several larger flags affixed to light posts on the courthouse grounds, were put up at the beginning of May because...

A Twin Cities charter school is making changes after accusations that it endorsed Islamic studies at taxpayer expense. Since 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigated TIZA Academy in Inver Grove Heights on Wednesday, the school's attorney has said several changes would be made. The most noticeable -- an American flag now flies over the school for the first time since the academy was founded in 2003. The attorney told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that it was a difficult day for staff and parents, as people from across the country inundated the school with threats and messages of hate after hearing what substitute Amanda...

Organisers of the main celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary in Scotland last week decided not to raise the Israeli flag for fear of provoking pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Ten years ago — for Israel’s 50th — the flag was raised on a flagpole in a ceremony outside the premises of East Renfrewshire Council where the event had been staged. But after discussions between local organisers and the council, the decision was taken not to repeat the exercise this time. The 60th event was held at the same venue, in the south of Glasgow. Adele Conn, co-chair of the Israel at 60 committee,...

Sen. Barack Obama says he is well-prepared to battle false smears and Republican attacks on his religion and patriotism, but various rumors have permeated so deeply into the electorate that they present a general election challenge for the likely Democratic presidential nominee. From state to state, voters who support Mr. Obama's rivals regularly cite information gleaned from e-mails that falsely claim that he is a Muslim or that he doesn't respect the Pledge of Allegiance. "His name scares me, his background scares me," said Terri Knowles, a grandmother from Tippecanoe County, Ind. She voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last...

Brandt Dahl wasn't exactly aiming for the Student of the Year Award when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance last week at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Junior High near Moorhead. But I suspect the eighth-grader may have had a little more swagger in his step after publicly setting school administrators there back on their heels. If Brandt's infraction had been a smart-alecky spitball, his one-day, in-school suspension -- one of four meted out to errant students -- might not have been viewed in some quarters as Dilworth's equivalent of Abu Ghraib. But in recent decades, the slightest school pressure to...

He's campaigning in Charleston right now, and I can't help but notice he's wearing a flag pin on his lapel and has two huge American flags as his backdrop.

There is a huge blogswarm going on about this photo, from Chicago Magazine, of Obama's unrepentant terrorist associate, Bill Ayers stomping on the American flag. The photo was taken in 2001, the same time Obama served on the Woods Fund Board with Ayers. This was also the same time that Ayers donated to Obama's campaign. ... many political bloggers are saying it is long past due for Obama to disown his association with this controversial radical. ... It's worthy of recycling this to further probe into Obama's judgment, the one thing he says he should be measured by.

A 2001 photo of William Ayers, an associate of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, shows the former terrorist stepping on an American flag. The photo was taken to promote Ayers’s book, “Fugitive Days” and published by Chicago Mag for their August 2001 issue. As Obama has gained national prominence as a Democratic presidential contender media figures have questioned his relationship with Ayers. Ayers once hosted a fundraiser for Obama and the two have served together on the board of a philanthropic organization. In a nationally televised debate Obama compared his friendship with Ayers to that of conservative Republican Sen. Tom...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Central Florida man's Confederate flag prompted a free-speech battle with his employer, who doesn't want it displayed on company property. The flag is attached to Bobby Tillett's pickup truck, which he drives to work every day, WJXT reported. Because his employer has banned the flag from his parking lot, Tillett is forced to park far from his job. "If I take it down, that means you know the politically correct people would have won, and that's wrong," Bobby Tillett said. "If you believe in something that strong (you) should have no problem whatsoever to fly it."...

First of all the originaly thread can be found HERE. Secondly, THANKS to ALL who have helped address and resolve this situation. I believe quite a few FReepers contacted the company as I did, and I'm sure that helped. In addition I have to say the corpporate management addressed the situation in a timely, professional manner. Here is the update with some comments I posted in the original thread. I haven't been online since yesterday, so I haven't been able to update, but here is how things developed. Around 9:15AM Eastern MAy 1st I spoke with a rep over the...

Apologizing for the vanity and also not sure exactly where to post this. Gee, ya think that after all these years I'd have the hang of posting. As some of you here might know I work overnights. After I leave work I take my wife and another woman to work. I usually get home around 8-9am, grab a bite to eat and try to catch a couple of hours sleep. On Wednesday this week I had a rough day at work, got home slept about and hour and a half, got up and started chores and going about my day....

SOS Israel redesigns Israeli flag to display country’s destruction as it protests government policy ‘offering us for slaughter.’ Star of David is replaced by Neve Dkalim hesder yeshiva after Gaza pullout Efrat Weiss Published: 04.30.08, 13:26 / Israel News On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day and a week before Israel’s 60th Independence Day celebrations, the rightists have decided to redesign the Israel flag. The blue stripes are to remain, but instead of the Star of David, they’ve inserted the Neve Dkalim hesder yeshiva, as it appeared after the Palestinians had destroyed it following the disengagement. Above the new design...

Just when the flag pin issue was dieing down, it seems Barak Obama has some explaining to do about a revised presidential seal on his website that shows an American flag being pierced by an arrow. First picked up by by Freeper "prayforpeaceofJerusalem", the logo also shows what appears to be an American Eagle in retreat and a rising moon. "I don’t know how to begin a thread, yet...and am not confident enough to do so anyway, but please, some of you, bring attention to he fact that Obama’s logo, as seen on his web site, http://www.barackobama.com/images/bg.jpg shows an arrow...

Hillary Clinton got caught in a lie when she said she had dodged sniper fire during a 1996 visit to Bosnia. Now her Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama has been caught in a “sniper fire” lie of his own. During Thursday’s debate in Pennsylvania, Obama was asked why he doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin, as do many other politicians as well as servicemen and law enforcement officials. “I have never said that I don’t wear flag pins or refuse to wear flag pins,” he responded. “That is the kind of manufactured issue that our politics has become obsessed...

VIDEO: Maine College Republicans have posted a video showing the desecration of our American flag at the University of Maine, Farmington, by an 'art' student. Vet restrained from picking flags up off the ground.

BEDFORD - Archie Mayes seems to have won his battles to keep vandals from stealing the American flag from his front porch.The installation of a 25-foot-tall flag pole in February, complete with a locking halyard, lets Old Glory fly proudly - defeating thieves who had taken his flag nine times in the past 14 months.It's the latest in a lifetime of victories by the 87-year-old Mayes, who calls himself "just an old man wanting to fly the flag."But the thieves probably don't know that he's much more than that.During World War II, Mayes supervised the 160th Engineer Combat Battalion in...

Pilots from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 238th General Support Aviation Brigade, a National Guard unit from Shelbyville, Ind., conducted a flyover at the flag-raising ceremony held at Forward Operating Base Delta, Iraq, March 22. More than 150 U.S. Soldiers and civilians attended the ceremony for a flag that had lain on the grounds of a Georgia apartment complex for almost a week in February until it was taken by Dan Turner, a passerby, who sent it to Iraq to have its honor restored. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Stacy Niles. FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA — More than 150 U.S. Soldiers...

Peter Lynch gets six-month deferred sentence, ordered to anger management. Peter Lynch, the 30-year-old University of New Mexico student who was charged in connection with tearing down a lone Mexican flag flying on the UNM campus, then tearing and trampling it, has just been found guilty in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court of criminal damage to property. The jury took less than half an hour to reach the verdict, and Lynch showed no emotion as he learned he was guilty of the petty misdemeanor, according to the Journal's Joline Gutierrez Krueger, who was in the courtroom. Metro Court Judge Clyde DeMersseman...

I love history. And I love flags, as well as their ability to instantly convey a message to those who view them. Every movement should have a flag. There are several very identifiable flags for various ideological and other movements and even flags for the Democratic and Republican parties. But there is no flag that solely symbolizes the conservative movement in America. I have often mused about whether it could or should adopt one of the many fine Revolutionary War flags, old historical flags not currently in use (Bonnie Blue flag or the Florida Patriot flag for example) or even...

Many heads turned in Ringgold Wednesday when they saw an African-American man dressed in a Confederate soldier's uniform, carrying a Confederate flag. It wasn't a joke. H.K. Edgerton came to Ringgold to make a bold statement - he opposes city leader's removing the Confederate flag from the city's flag pole. Edgerton says the Confederate flag is misunderstood, feared and hated because people are trying to be politically correct - which he says desecrates the honor and real meaning of the Civil War era emblem. "I'm here because your town council climbed into bed with all the politically correct folks who...

AMMAN (Reuters) - Vowing "Revenge against Crusaders who attack the symbol of Islam," dozens of Jordanian Islamists burned the Danish flag on Monday to protest the reprinting of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers. The Islamic Action Front, Jordan's main licensed opposition party and the political offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, demanded the government expel the Danish envoy until his government offered an official apology. "Oh government, expel the Danish ambassador: Oh Dane... listen the Prophet is the symbol of our Islam. We will die for his sake and eradicate anyone who humiliates him," chanted angry protesters in...

U.S. and Massachusetts flags that flew with state National Guard troops over in Afghanistan are now at the center of an ongoing labor dispute between Verizon and a union trying to organize workers. Terry Skiest, a Verizon employee and Massachusetts Air National Guard member, said his Acton supervisor ordered that two flags be removed last fall from the outside of his office cubicle and hung less prominently inside his work station.

Ringgold City Council is facing potential legal action based on its 2005 decision to remove the Confederate Battle Flag from the Ringgold Depot Civil War Memorial. The Southern Legal Resource Center notified the city Feb. 11 by letter from SLRC chief trial counsel Kirk D. Lyons that it will face legal action unless it replaces the battle flag within 10 days. According to Roger McCredie, Southern Legal Resource Center executive director, the letter puts the city on notice that its clients, the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and its local Joseph McConnell Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp...

Oh, my. Barack Obama may want to call his new Houston office and suggest some decorating ideas. Take a look at the flag flying in the office at the moment: No, that's not a Texas state flag with a picture of Obama on it. It's the flag of the Castro-led Cuba regime, with Che Guevara's face superimposed on the side. A Fox report from Houston captured this image as it showed Obama supporters celebrating his momentum after Super Tuesday. Does Obama know his Houston supporters honor a terrorist in his campaign office? I'm sure he doesn't. However, it would behoove...

A North Texas veteran may have found a sure-fire way to keep his American flag flying after it was stolen from his porch nine times.On Saturday, the retired brigadier general got a 25-foot lighted flagpole to fly his flag on.Saturday morning, the Patriot Guard Riders, the mayor of Trophy Club and the mayor of Bedford came to Archie Mays' house bearing American flags. By the afternoon, his front lawn was filled with them. "General, this flag being presented to you today was flown on a Patriot Guard mission in your honor, and we would be very proud if you would...

BAGHDAD January 22, 2008 at 9:33 AM EST Associated Press — Iraq's parliament has passed a law to change the country's Saddam Hussein-era flag. The decision meets the demands of Iraq's Kurdish minority, who suffered greatly under Saddam and threatened not to fly the banner during a pan-Arab meeting in the Kurdish-run north next month. The measure, which expires in a year, was approved by show of hands, with 110 of 165 legislators present voting in favour. Among other things, it will remove the flag's three stars, said to be representative of Saddam's Baath party. The words “Allahu Akbar,” or...

Saddam's stars, scrawl dropped from Iraq flag Published Date: January 23, 2008 BAGHDAD: The Iraqi flag will no longer boast Saddam Hussein's handwritten praise to God nor its distinctive three stars, parliament decided yesterday. The house passed a new flag law by 110 votes to 50 which will change the appearance of the standard but keep its horizontal red, white and black stripes. Instead of the executed dictator's handwritten "Allahu Akhbar" (God is Greater), the phrase will be printed in green on the central white stripe in the Kufi form of Arabic script, parliament ruled. The thre e green...

American Veterans Memorial Post 89 members Leo J. Pimple, left, Jim Hodges, along with Cub Scout Aaron Wallace from Pack 437 prepare a special American flag to be raised Monday morning at Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review) SIERRA VISTA — Several survivors of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor were on hand Monday for the local leg of “Old Glory’s Journey of Remembrance.” Organized by the White House Commission on Remembrance, the journey of a U.S. flag that flew at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the 66th anniversary last month, is making...

Go to her web site, and scroll down to the pictures. She's in front of a large American flag. The stars sre inverted - upside down - in the blue field! Have you ever seen a flag like that? http://www.hillaryclinton.com/blog/Default.aspx?page=3

PATROL BASE CORREGIDOR, Iraq — OK, Spc. Matthew Brustien admits he is a New York Giants fan. But it was the New England Patriots who sent the 26-year-old soldier an American flag signed by the team members. On Wednesday, fellow soldiers of Bravo Company, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) posed for a photo with the signed flag. Brustien said he is going to have the troop sign an American flag to send to the Patriots, along with a serious and funny photo from the recent photo taking, along with pictures of the entire troop in...