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on flag burning

i was reading the ny times today at it seems that the senate in america is going to have a vote to make flag burning illegal

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/washington/27cnd-flag.html?ex=1309060800&en=47e975cc61cf1de3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

they want to insert the following into the consitution

"the Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States"

now this is a tricky subject but it's one that i have a strange affinity to

firstly i'm not american i'm irish so i can only talk about my flag

in ireland we have no laws governing how to use the flag and what and cannot be done with it
the department of the taoiseach has a set of guidelines detailing the correct protocol to respect the flag but cannot inforce them as law.

the flag is a symbol of our nation, our heritage, who we are and what we as a people stand for.
many have fought and died with honour under the flag and some have brought shame on themselves, our nation and the flag

i think that in all cases the flag and derivatives of it should be used with respect. whether it is flying over government buildings or being carried by football supporters to a match (which in most cases breaches the guidelines).
the flag should never be allowed hit the ground
it shouldn't be displayed when it's old and dirty
and
you should never ever disrespect yourself while carrying, wearing or representing the flag and therefore our nation. and that includes eveybody.
yes you!
if you are going to drape a flag over your shoulders to go to a rugby game fine
but don't then pass out drunk with it wrapped around you
it's important
it devalues who we are
and i would even go so far as to say
supporters when following irish teams are all representing the flag, should act that way
and should never boo the opposition

so what about burning the flag
it's an interesting one
if we carry the flag with respect as a symbol of our nation and who we are
then surely it is disrespectful to destroy it?

in my opinion
no

if you carry your flag with respect and endevour to do right by it and your nation
and feel that
your nation and therefore you are not living up to the standards and ideals expected
then burning the flag symbolically to say
that the flag has been disrespected and therefore means nothing to the people you are protesting about is a valid action

you don't burn it because you don't like a person because no one person represents the flag
but if a nation or government of a nation in your opinion is not representing the nation with integrety than
by burning the flag you are stating that the flag is devalued by those leaders.

so what about the us vote
it's petty and a waste of time
if people feel so strongly about their cause that they are willing to burn their flag
i doubt if they will care too much about whether it is against the law.
personally i would care a lot more about companies using the flag and it's derivatives ie red, white and blue or star and stripes imagery, for commercial means






on a side note: a couple of years ago guinness made thousands of irish flags with the guinness name on them as part of a promotion around the world cup. the president asked them to remove them from circulation as it was direspectful and they promptly did

if you want to read the protocols for the irish flag
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/upload/publications/1104.pdf

i know this was a very serious post but
as i said
for some strange reason
the flag is important to me

wanting to

well here's the thing
i like writing little things in this blog
it serves a purpose
well to me it does
the reason i write it is so that i'll remember a thought i've had
but here's the problem

sometimes i want to post but don't have any thoughts that need to be remembered!
that is a conundrum
so i guess it comes from something

the 'want' to do something
why do we always want to do something

want to leave work to get home
want to finish dinner to watch tv
want to finish a degree to start a masters
want to complete a project to start the next
want to leave one group of friends to meet with another

why?
what's wrong with the now
and what we're up to this minute?

do me a favour

smile now
this second
and enjoy this very instance without worrying about
what's next




















now carry on with your day

leadership

bertie aherne
goerge bush
michael howard
helen clarke

what have these all got in common?

they are the leaders of their countries

but
Prince Albert of Monaco kicks all their asses
cause he just walked to the north pole to make his political point

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4914898.stm

now that's what i call leadership

and also it would mean that we could send goerge bush on a one way trip to the moon and sort out that problem too

500, 25000, 600 minutes

How Do You Measure A Year?
In Daylights
In Sunsets
In Midnights
In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches
In Miles
In Laughter
In Strife

In Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure
A Year In The Life?

(excerpt from Seasons of Love - Jonathon Larson)

I like this thought
or statement
or idea
whatever you call it

it's nice to view time and days and just a collection of moments
so you can cherish the good ones and disgard the bad.

and if you sit down and think about it
that means you'll have over half a million moments each year every year

so maybe you'll have a couple of days sick
thats only 2880 minutes

and maybe 10 sad days
thats only 14400
still loads left

and maybe you'll have a fleeting romance for a couple of weeks
20160 minutes
that ends badly and you spend a day crying
1440

and think about this
there are 3 months of spring
which means
32400 minutes of spring mornings
and about the same of those cold crisp magical winter nights

now i'm not the best writer and i'm certainly no philosopher
but here's a bit of homework
take your favourite thing to do and work out how many minutes of the 525600 you'll spend doing it this year
eg
drinks with friends
walks in the park
going to the movies
lying in bed

let me know

never in a month of sundays

its been a month since my last confession
and in that time father..

the girl arrived in nz and moved in (very cool)
i had a loan of a car for a few weeks and got to explore (very cool)
i found the nicest and most expensive restaurant in town, eat there and could afford it (probably the coolest thing)
managed to book the biggest band in the country for a concert i'm organising (touching wood fingers crossed if it goes well i'll be considered cool, at least by my bosses)
i saw narnia (best film id seen ages)
i saw the worlds fastest indian (probably better, it's a kiwi film but i'm sure it'll get general release it's so funny)
we bought a load of lps of classic stage and film musical soundtracks just so we could hang the sleeves on the wall (looks good)
bought a blender (most domesticated thing i've ever done)
weeded the decking (see above)
saw memoirs of a geisha (sucked)
the girl got a cool job (high five)
and got soo drunk i puked


granted not all of these happened on a sunday
but they did all fit into the last calendar month
roll on feb

should old acquaintence be forgot?

hell no

what a stupid song
you can't forget the past because that's what forges the future

happy new year guys
take care of you and yours
and if you can take care of those that you don't even know
all the better