Marietta bans flags on July 4th

You’ll be reading this story on Drudge later today:

Marietta’s veterans have been banned from passing out miniature U.S. flags during next week’s Fourth of July parade. That’s right. No flags. Members of VFW Post 2681 — who for years have been walking along their parade float handing out the 3-by-5 inch flags — are banned from doing it this year. “No one in the parade or during the parade can pass anything out, including paperwork, candy — anything,” said Maggi Moss, the special events coordinator for Marietta’s parks and recreation department. “It’s not just these guys. No one can pass anything out while the parade is going on,” said Moss. Moss said the rule has been in place for years. And the float application paperwork says it in capital, bold face letters: “ABSOLUTELY NO….”

The reason?

She said no one has ever been hurt during the parade, but the rule is to ensure the safety of parade viewers. “We just don’t want anything to happen to folks that are watching,” Moss said.

Fifty bucks this policy is changed by tomorrrow. *UPDATE*

Marietta has apparently reconsidered its decision to ban veterans from passing out miniature U.S. flags during next week’s Fourth of July parade A press release was issued this afternoon that said “the city encourages the distribution of flags before and during the parade when done safely.”

Once they got that call from O’Reilly, the decision was simple. “Next on the Factor, why is a Georgia town threatening to arrest flag-waving veterans on July 4th?”

What would they say if Obama spoke to the Nation of Islam?

What’s the difference between Pat Robertson and Louis Farrakhan? Neither likes Jews very much. Each has a tendency to coddle dictators.

So why is it no big deal when Giuliani (or any other Republican, for that matter) pays homage to Robertson at the televangelist’s university?

I smell a double standard.

(Via The Plank)

Today’s must-read

Andisheh nails media hypocrisy in comparing coverage of the Chris Benoit murder to the Virginia Tech shooting:

Will American journalists and bloggers use the placement of the Bibles to speculate about Benoit’s motives and whip up anti-Christian hysteria? …

Contrast the news coverage of and blogging about the Benoit family deaths with the Virginia Tech shooting.

After reports surfaced that Virginia Tech mass murderer Seung-Hui Cho had the phrase “Ismail Ax” written on his arm when he was found dead by police, right-wing talking heads and assorted cyberbigots immediately tried to connect the massacre to Islam. According to their idiot logic, “Ismail” is the Arabic spelling of Ishmael, therefore Cho was a Muslim extremist.

Insane in the mem-Duane

I almost feel sorry for him. Since I’m banned from contributing to the debate, I wish dissenters would continue to challenge him directly on his statement that “Iran, Iraq, and the other ‘dangerous’ nations in the world aren’t the threat; we are.” Of course he’ll just claim you took him out of context.

The blogosphere says what?

(A parody, for the uninitiated)

That’s it. I’m leaving this country.

I’ve been too distraught to share my reflections on Pride. Amid all the beautiful humanity was this small group of protesters saying awful things like God hates fags and Homo sex is a sin. I was devastated. I was angry. I was in their face.

That is, until this one mean bald man started yelling back. Then I yelled "hate crime!" Then he got closer — too close. His breath was so poopy smelling I passed out. I had a bump on my head, a big one. It hurt, bad. Yes, I’m suing.

And then I’m getting the fudge out of here. I can’t take all the hatred and the violence anymore. Here I am trying to celebrate diversity and these haters are out there ruining it for everyone. Who allowed them there? They should be in jail!

As you can imagine, this made me really upset. But I’m glad in a way, because now I know what I have to do. I have to leave this place. Make a clean break. I’m thinking about Canada. Maybe Amsterdam, even though that’s in Germany and I hate German food. But I hear they’re really tolerant there.

Of course there’s one big problem: Rand-O. He actually likes Amerikkka, believe or not. When I called him an imperialist fascist, he stormed out and went over to Ronnie’s for the night. Fine! I crawled in bed under my silk Che Guevara sheets and cried. Not for me, but for him.

Maybe there’s a cute German boy out there for me. Or a hot Canadian. Some of them speak Norwegian, which I think is really sexy.

I hope Rand-O changes his mind, but he won’t change mine. I’m escaping this concentration camp for good!

You cannot be serious!

Watch John McEnroe throw a series of fits in this decades-old match against Ivan Lendl. I was searching for something more Wimbledon-related, but then recognized the venue as the old Omni in Atlanta, where, as a boy, I saw transgendered icon Renee Richards play in an exhibition. Time to bring professional tennis back to Atlanta; of course, it’ll never be as interesting as it was in the 1970s and 80s.

Comic Book Guy meets Internet King

Watch here

I’ll have a Gwen Stefani and tonic

Celebrity knows no bounds:

The folks who brought you Donald Trump’s Super Premium Vodka announced a partnership yesterday with Interscope Geffen A&M Records to develop a new wave of delicious, celebrity-branded booze (and nonalcoholic) products.

According to a statement: “The deal will provide Drinks Americas with the potential to partner with select iconic celebrities … including artists such as Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, G-Unit, Daddy Yankee, Sheryl Crow, Enrique Iglesias, Chris Cornell, Gwen Stefani, Marilyn Manson and many others.”

Marietta bans flags on July 4th

You’ll be reading this story on Drudge later today:

Marietta’s veterans have been banned from passing out miniature U.S. flags during next week’s Fourth of July parade. That’s right. No flags. Members of VFW Post 2681 — who for years have been walking along their parade float handing out the 3-by-5 inch flags — are banned from doing it this year. "No one in the parade or during the parade can pass anything out, including paperwork, candy — anything," said Maggi Moss, the special events coordinator for Marietta’s parks and recreation department. "It’s not just these guys. No one can pass anything out while the parade is going on," said Moss. Moss said the rule has been in place for years. And the float application paperwork says it in capital, bold face letters: "ABSOLUTELY NO…."

The reason?

She said no one has ever been hurt during the parade, but the rule is to ensure the safety of parade viewers. "We just don’t want anything to happen to folks that are watching," Moss said.

Fifty bucks this policy is changed by tomorrrow. *UPDATE*

Marietta has apparently reconsidered its decision to ban veterans from passing out miniature U.S. flags during next week’s Fourth of July parade A press release was issued this afternoon that said "the city encourages the distribution of flags before and during the parade when done safely."

Once they got that call from O’Reilly, the decision was simple. "Next on the Factor, why is a Georgia town threatening to arrest flag-waving veterans on July 4th?"

What would they say if Obama spoke to the Nation of Islam?

What’s the difference between Pat Robertson and Louis Farrakhan? Neither likes Jews very much. Each has a tendency to coddle dictators.

So why is it no big deal when Giuliani (or any other Republican, for that matter) pays homage to Robertson at the televangelist’s university?

I smell a double standard.

(Via The Plank)

Today’s must-read

Andisheh nails media hypocrisy in comparing coverage of the Chris Benoit murder to the Virginia Tech shooting:

Will American journalists and bloggers use the placement of the Bibles to speculate about Benoit’s motives and whip up anti-Christian hysteria? …

Contrast the news coverage of and blogging about the Benoit family deaths with the Virginia Tech shooting.

After reports surfaced that Virginia Tech mass murderer Seung-Hui Cho had the phrase “Ismail Ax” written on his arm when he was found dead by police, right-wing talking heads and assorted cyberbigots immediately tried to connect the massacre to Islam. According to their idiot logic, “Ismail” is the Arabic spelling of Ishmael, therefore Cho was a Muslim extremist.

Insane in the mem-Duane

I almost feel sorry for him. Since I’m banned from contributing to the debate, I wish dissenters would continue to challenge him directly on his statement that “Iran, Iraq, and the other ‘dangerous’ nations in the world aren’t the threat; we are.” Of course he’ll just claim you took him out of context.

You cannot be serious!

Watch John McEnroe throw a series of fits in this decades-old match against Ivan Lendl. I was searching for something more Wimbledon-related, but then recognized the venue as the old Omni in Atlanta, where, as a boy, I saw transgendered icon Renee Richards play in an exhibition. Time to bring professional tennis back to Atlanta; of course, it’ll never be as interesting as it was in the 1970s and 80s.

Comic Book Guy meets Internet King

Watch here

I’ll have a Gwen Stefani and tonic

Celebrity knows no bounds:

The folks who brought you Donald Trump’s Super Premium Vodka announced a partnership yesterday with Interscope Geffen A&M Records to develop a new wave of delicious, celebrity-branded booze (and nonalcoholic) products.

According to a statement: "The deal will provide Drinks Americas with the potential to partner with select iconic celebrities … including artists such as Eminem, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, G-Unit, Daddy Yankee, Sheryl Crow, Enrique Iglesias, Chris Cornell, Gwen Stefani, Marilyn Manson and many others."