Free Republic

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced Tuesday that he plans to order flags on public buildings to fly at half-staff on the day of Whitney Houston's funeral to honor the songstress and Jersey native. "Whitney Houston was an important part of the cultural fabric of this state," Christie said during a press release Tuesday. Christie also said the pop legend belongs in the same category as Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Bruce Springsteen. He said he will sign the order later in the week after Houston's family makes a final decision regarding time and place of the funeral. A Newark...

The surreal part of the article: About 30 minutes before Brandl ordered Old Glory removed from its elevated perch, Snyder said the bridge workers intended to take it down after the holiday weekend. But Brandl said safety could not wait. "It was not authorized, and we do not need the distraction," he said, adding, "I can't imagine who it would offend, but I do not want controversy."

This song and video, written, performed, and recorded by fellow FReeper "Quill Pen", is a tribute to America and those who risk their lives to keep America free. From the chorus: It's A Free Country, where dreams come true 'Cause once you've tasted freedom, a cage will never do. It's A Free Country, as long as we live and breath So don't tread on me, no, don't tread on me It's A Free Country. I encourage you to check the song video out on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOx9GOmdqhA

Vet cuts down Illegal Mexican flag flying above U.S. Flag Don't know how to embed the video, but it warms the heart to see a Viet Nam Vet still fighting for his country.Best down load it before the commies pull it.

Olive Garden apologizes for refusing to allow 80-year-old Marti Warren bring an American flag into their restaurant during her Kiwanis Club award banquet last week. Olive Garden issued this statement: "We are very sorry for any misunderstanding about this issue. We do not have a policy at Olive Garden concerning bringing the American flag into our restaurants. Some members of our team were misinformed about company policy by our corporate office. As a company, we take responsibility for that and we regret it. We take pride in how we communicate to our restaurants and we are correcting this so it...

What started out as a patriotic gesture intended to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost on September 11, 2001, ended up becoming a major verbal scuffle that one North Arizona University student calls “a free speech violation.” The incident, which has likely evolved into something much larger than either side originally anticipated, occurred when students were passing out American flags on their public university campus last Friday. The Arizona Daily Sun shares more about the commemorative activity:

Just a brief exposure to an image of the American flag shifts voters, even Democrats, to Republican beliefs, attitudes and voting behavior even though most don't believe it will impact their politics, according to a new two-year study just published in the scholarly Psychological Science. What's more, according to three authors from the University Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, the impact had staying power. "A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting 8 months," the study found....

Debbie’s Daily Dose of Food for Thought The stars and stripes of our flag are known round the world. Here is the first stanza of a poem to ponder and a few things to know about our flag and Flag Day. “There’s a flag hangs over my threshold, whose folds are more dear to me Than the blood that thrills in my bosom its earnest of liberty; And dear are the stars it harbors in its sunny field of blue As the hope of a further heaven that lights all our dim lives through.” -- Julie Ward Howe (American Poet,...

Today is Flag Day. I thought it appropriate to give links to proper flag etiquette and a history of Flag Day. U.S. Flag.org Flag Etiquette When the flag is displayed from a staff projecting from a window, balcony, or a building, the union should be at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half staff. When flown with flags of states, communities, or societies on separate flag poles which are of the same height and in a straight line, the flag of the United States is always placed in the position of honor - to its own...

<p>Wandering round this great republic predicting the apocalypse, I’m often asked by audience members why it is I’m being quite so overwrought if not an hysterical old queen about the whole business. After all, President Obama’s now-forgotten “Deficit Commission” produced a report melodramatically emblazoned “The Moment of Truth” and proposing such convulsive course corrections as raising the age of Social Security eligibility to 69.</p>

Share your thoughts. First, answer our question below. Then click "Leave a comment." Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/05/06/american-flag-banned-america/#ixzz1D94hZ4dn

(Can't post AP images, go to link please) What the heck is this picture about??? Is that photoshopped, or did they actually hoist the Chinese flag HIGHER than the American flag, ON AMERICAN SOIL?!?!?!?!?! If so, I AM LIVID. >:-( Anyone know how to read this header? Where did this picture come from? http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110117/capt.7f202de6c75e42afa359e004844592b3-7f202de6c75e42afa359e004844592b3-0.jpg?x=400&y=274&q=85&sig=JTDf8B.t.q84IZOx0SE2XA--

As the funeral for the youngest victim of the mass shooting in Arizona was set to begin Thursday, the largest flag recovered from Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center was unfurled and raised, flanked by two fire trucks with ladders extended. Nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and featured in a book called "Faces of Hope" that chronicled one baby from each state born on the day terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people. Christina's funeral is the first for the six victims killed when police said a gunman opened fired on a...

The largest flag recovered from Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center is on its way to Arizona to be displayed at the funeral of the girl killed in Saturday's shooting spree who was born that day.

Remember that student who was told to take the American flag off of his bike because tolerance or racism or George Bush or whatever? Yeah. Try telling that to all of these folks, California. For those without video, 13 year old Cody Alicea was escorted to Denair Middle School by veterans and bikers, all proudly flying the American flag on their bikes

Watch the video HERE.

Courtesy KOVR: It wasn't this California boy's usual ride to school this morning! Hundreds of other bike riders came along--- Many of them veterans, and some from out of state, all wanting to show support to 13-year-old Cody Alicea. School officials had told Cody he shouldn't ride his American flag-decorated bike to school because some students were offended. That kicked up a firestorm of protest. The school superintendent has since apologized, and promised that something like that will not happen again. But the school district is now facing a lawsuit from a civil liberties group.

Cody Alicea, a 13-year-old Stanislaus County boy at the center of a flag controversy, is getting a big show of support today. Hundreds of American Legion Riders escorted Cody to school. by Brian Hickey/staff at 11/15/2010 6:17:35 PM12:17 PM Family, Friends, and complete strangers come out to support Cody and his right to ride with American flag on his bike. by Brian Hickey/staff at 11/15/2010 6:11:24 PM12:11 PM Cody Alicea said support from the public "means a lot to me." Watch video: www.kcra.com by Jason Montiel/KCRA Staff at 11/15/2010 5:56:05 PM11:56 AM Bikers turned out early Monday morning to support...

Let's begin flying Old Glory now until victory on Nov.3

PHOENIX, AZ (KOLD) - New video has surfaced from last week's SB-1070 protest that brought people to Phoenix from across the country, including immigrant-rights activists bused in from California. The video shows those activists desecrating the American flag. They used spray paint to write, "deport Arpaio" and "impeach Brewer." There's also a toilet seat on the stars. They displayed the desecrated U.S. Flag and Arizona flag while a man sang the national anthem. Disgusting! This photo was taken at a rally at the state capitol yesterday. The news will not show it and the Capitol Police and Homeland Security would...

CANTON, Ga. - Ron Tripodo has lived in Canton's Bridgemill subdivision for two years. For most of that time he has been involved in a flagpole fight. The 16-foot tall fixture hasn't flown well with the Bridgemill Homeowners Association. "I got a letter saying, 'Take your flag down. You can put it in your backyard' and I just refused to do it," Tripodo. Tripodo, a former Army Reservist, maintains that the flag belongs in a prominent place. Tripodo's HOA then filed a lawsuit and called the flagpole an obstruction. The homeowner's association sued Tripodo for $25 each day the flag...

Illegal Alien supporters bussed in from California. desecrate US and AZ flag in front of Arizona State Capitol during the singing of the National Anthem at a pro SB 1070 Rally

(07-06) 16:03 PDT FREMONT -- Caltrans apologized today for painting over a large American flag mural on a hillside above Interstate 680 just four days before the Fourth of July. The 40-foot-wide flag near the Sunol Grade, created by three men the week after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was covered in gray paint Wednesday by a Caltrans crew after the agency declared it to be graffiti. The move sparked outrage and prompted an apology from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. On Saturday, two men not involved in creating the original flag, James Gallagher and Steve Giordano, spent 12 hours...

<p>After an absence of a few days, a mural of an American flag has returned to a hillside above Interstate 680 in Sunol — just in time for the Fourth of July.</p> <p>Caltrans had obliterated the previous mural, but thanks to two patriots, the colors of Old Glory are once again visible.</p>

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ – It goes by many names – Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, the Red, White and Blue – but, no matter what you call it, the United States flag represents a free and unified country, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all.The Commander of 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Col. Chuck A.E. Sexton, respectfully folds the American flag that he has carried with him on deployments for the past 24 years. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Gregory Gieske." However, for one U.S. service member here, one single, specific, U.S. flag provides a...

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2010 – Military personnel at Dover Air Force Base, Del., performed their duties with solemn respect over the past several weeks as U.S. servicemembers killed in Afghanistan returned to U.S. soil. Members of the International Security Assistance Force and senior officials from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, pay their respects to nine U.S. soldiers killed in Nuristan province during a ramp ceremony at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. State Department photo by Daniel Wilkinson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Military “carry teams” marched in slow, measured steps as they carried their fallen comrades from the aircraft...

Friday, 6/11/10 NOTE: The recent deaths of two Mexican citizens, one at the San Ysidro, CA, Port of Entry, the other between El Paso, TX, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, have resulted in ongoing investigations and ample coverage by the media on both sides of the border. The M3 Report will not repeat the fast moving and abundant claims and counter claims, and obviously biased and critical articles and opinion columns. A Mexican congressman, Ricardo Lopez Pescador, is now demanding that the “homicidal agents of the Border Patrol” must be extradited to Mexico and put in the hands of Mexican judges....

From Oregon to Minnesota to Ohio, vandals trampled on Old Glory over the Memorial Day weekend. In one Ohio town alone, approximately 25 American flags were found set ablaze on Monday.

"The flag upside down is a symbol of a nation in distress. Its a highly visible way to symbolize that our country is in trouble."

The left is slamming this poll and are ahead in their efforts to ban the American Flag in schools. Is this the Twilight Zone. Go and vote and FREEP THIS POLL!

Should the American Flag be Banned -- in America? No. This is a lame decision. Teach the kids what the flag means, instead of banning it. Yes. The safety of students comes first. Not sure, but of all things to ban, the American flag would seem the least 'incendiary.' Other (post a comment)

What are we to make of the five students who were temporarily suspended by the administration at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill for purportedly seeking to provoke—by the wearing of various American flag insignia, no less—Mexican-American students who were at the time celebrating, with some Mexican flags, Cinco de Mayo Day? Or, in the words of aggrieved student Annicia Nunez, as picked up by the news services, “I think they should apologize ’cause it is a Mexican heritage day. We don’t deserve to get disrespected like that. We wouldn’t do that on Fourth of July.” Let us deconstruct...

I'm scheduled to be on the G. Gordon Liddy show today at 12:30 p.m. EDT to talk about tomorrow's Flaunt the American Flag Day.Listen live here at Radio America.In addition to the reasons for Flaunt the American Flag Day in the original announcement below, we learned this week of one more affront to our nation's flag and patriotism (from Marooned in Marin):Now Drawing An American Flag Is Offensive In Salinas, CAMore liberal absurdity from Northern California, not too far south from Morgan Hill (Fox Radio, Todd Starnes). The battle over the American flag has reached a middle school art class...

Just a week after the last time a California school told its students that the American flag was somehow racist, another California school repeated the lesson. This time a middle school student was taught that drawing an American flag was wrong. However, drawing a picture of President Obama was apparently praise worthy:

The battle over the American flag has reached a middle school art class in California’s Santa Rita School District where a student was told not to draw Old Glory because it was “offensive,” while another student was praised for drawing a picture of President Obama. Tracy Hathaway, of Salinas, CA, told FOX News Radio her 13-year-old daughter was ordered to stop drawing the American flag and start another project at Gavilan View Middle School. “She had drawn the flag and was sketching the letters, ‘God bless America,’ when the teacher confronted her,” Hathaway told FOX. “She said, ‘You can’t draw...

I am posting this announcement with Jim Thompson's blessing and support.Patriotic Americans all across the nation are being called on to 'flaunt the American flag' on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 by wearing patriotic-themed clothing such as American flag style shirts, blouses, ties or jackets; American flag lapel pins or brooches; and by displaying the American flag at home, on your car or at your desk at work. You can even carry an American flag with you as you make your rounds on Wednesday and really flaunt that flag!This is being done as a show of support for the American families...

A video taken this week by KRON-TV in California shows a Mexican demonstrator swatting the American flag out of the hand of an American counter-demonstrator during the march by Mexican Live Oak High School students and others upset that American students wore American glags to the California school on Cinco de Mayo.The video, posted at KRON on May 6, 2010 by Brian Shields, shows a pick-up truck with at least three young men waving small American flags mounted on sticks from the windows as they ride alongside the Mexican march on the sidewalk. The pick-up truck is shown stopped with...

Congressman Xavier Becerra, Los Angeles (D - CA), Laughs When Someone from Ari David for Congress Suggests Opening an Immigration Rally With The Pledge of Allegiance. Becerra is the one in the dark suit seated on stage. Not until the congressman is specifically confronted does he and the CHIRLA/SEIU rally leader agree that not to do so would be a massive fault. However, you can see the natural inclination was to dismiss the suggestion. Date 2-19-10, location is the Los Angeles SEIU offices.

Man in Wheel Chair confronts Mexican Protesters and takes their flag!

Another strange occurance in the age of Obama that an overwhelmingly large portion of the the activist media is not reporting on, is the recent story of these American flag T-Shirts. The principal of Oak High School in Morgan Hill, California instructed kids who decided to wear their American flag T-shirts on Cinco De Mayo, were instructed to either turn their shirts inside out, take off their American flag bandanas, or be sent home. The ultimatum was delivered when students who were celebrating Cinco De Mayo found that the American flags were "offensive" to their celebration.

Tensions are rising at a California high school where five students were sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. A California high school principal has apologized for telling five students they couldn't wear U.S. flag shirts on Cinco de Mayo, the local superintendent said Friday.

This coming from one of the young people who got into trouble simply for wearing a shirt with the American flag on it, while a number of students from that SAME high school, who either themselves or their parents, come from Mexico, on Cinco De Mayo, are ALLOWED to wear shirts of the Mexican flag. What is WRONG HERE? Can people who are Americans wear a shirt with the American flag on it while people who are Mexicans where shirts with the Mexican flag on it ?

POLL Should the display of an American flag be banned, even if a school administrator feels that display could lead to fights? No. This is a lame decision. Teach the kids what the flag means, instead of banning it. Yes. The safety of students comes first. Not sure, but of all things to ban, the American flag would seem the least 'incendiary.' Other (post a comment)

Four Live Oak High School teens sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo have become the focus of national media attention and spurred a march by Hispanic students through downtown Morgan Hill. Live Oak students Daniel Galli, Dominic Maciel, Matt Dariano and Austin Carvalho wore red, white and blue T-shirts - some with the American flag and some with flag shorts - to school Wednesday, prompting administrators to ask the students to change their clothing or turn their T-shirts inside-out because it could incite a confrontation on Cinco de Mayo. The four students' parents were called...

Subject: Remember the Guy that Wouldn't take the Flag down? Head east from Carthage on Mississippi 16 toward Philadelphia . After a few miles a sign says you're in Edinburg. It s a good thing the sign's there, because there's no other way to tell. On June 15, 1919, Van T. Barfoot was born in Edinburg -- probably didn't make much news back then. Twenty-five years later, on May 23, 1944, near Carano , Italy , Van T. Barfoot, who had enlisted in the Army in 1940, set out to flank German machine gun positions from which fire was coming...

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Five Morgan Hill students sent home for wearing American flag T-shirts May 5, 2010 By Lindsay Bryant Live Oak High School students from left, Daniel Galli, Austin Carvalho, Matt Dariano and Dominic Maciel were sent home from school Wednesday because they were wearing American flag t-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. Photo by: Lora Schraft, Staff Photographer Freshman Laura Ponce shows off her Mexican pride as she wears a Mexican flag over her shoulders and wears facepaint Wednesday as she waits for school to get out at Live Oak. Photo by: Lora Schraft, Staff Photographer Five Live Oak High School students'...

NBC Bay Area On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population. Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out. When...

On Cinco de Mayo, five northern Californial high school students came to school in red, white and blue, and got a very public lesson in school politics and free speech. The boys came to Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill on the Mexican holiday, wearing t-shirts, shorts and shoes emblazoned with American flags. Around 10 a.m., the assistant principal told sophomore Matthew Dariano he had to remove his bandana, which is against school policy. But then Dariano said the assistant principal told all him and all his friends to take off their shirts, or turn them inside out, because...

MORGAN HILL (CBS 5) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1 CBS numSlides of totalImages On Cinco de Mayo, five Morgan Hill high school students came to school in red, white and blue, and got a very public lesson in school politics and free speech. The boys came to Live Oak High School on the Mexican holiday, wearing t-shirts, shorts and shoes emblazoned with American flags. Around 10 a.m., the assistant principal told sophomore Matthew Dariano he had to remove his bandana, which is against school policy.