Nevada town to fine for foreign flags

[LTR]

A Nevada town passed a law this week making it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag by itself, the latest swipe by a U.S. community at illegal immigrants.

The town council of Pahrump, which lies in the Mojave Desert west of Las Vegas, voted 3-2 on Tuesday to make flying any foreign flag above the U.S. flag or alone an offense punishable by a $50 fine and 30 hours' community service.

The meeting also pushed through measures to deny services to illegal immigrants and make English the official language in Pahrump, a commuter town of 40,000 residents some 60 miles (97 km) west of Las Vegas.

Supporters said they passed the measure to hit back at Hispanic demonstrators who carried Mexican flags when they marched in U.S. cities earlier this year to press for rights for 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the shadows.

"All of the illegal alien protesters are waving Mexican flags, and we just got tired of it," town board clerk Paul Willis told Reuters in a telephone interview. "This is the United States, and the Stars and Stripes should fly supreme," he added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061116/us_nm/usa_immigration_flags_dc&printer=1

[Phredicles]

1. I must have missed the clause in the First Amendment that says

*not aplicable in Pahrump, NV.

What the hell is a "Pahrump", anyhow?

[MadHound]

2. Sounds like Pahrump is wanting to pay out the big bucks,

To the first person who files a civil liberties suit concerning this town's violation of their civil rights, namely the First Amendment.

If I lived there, I would be flying the first foreign flag I could find, simply for the lawsuit money which would result.

[Gregorian]

3. That's really offensive, if not illegal.

And I'm only talking about the name Pahrump.

But really, is that not a violation of the first amendment?

[acmejack]

4. Isn't Pahrump Spanish for "Burro's Butt"?

Babelfish has been acting strange lately...

[Catch22Dem]

5. Isn't that the town from Studio 60

Where Tom Jeter got arrested? :)

[Ian David]

13. Yes, it is. n/t

[POAS]

6. Did Art Bell dream this up?

Are they banning the "Stars and Bars" also?

[Dr.Phool]

7. I guess George Allen won't be going there with his "foreign" flags.

[treestar]

8. They got tired of something that does them not actual harm?

So they wrote a law against it?

I wonder if it is OK to have a US flag in Mexico.

What morans. Being deliberately unpleasant about things that are only symbolic.

[JAYCUBED]

9. REBEL YELL!

That would mean Confederate flags would also be banned, and there are a hell of a lot of them in Pahrump.

Also University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics stickers for "The Running Rebels".

I believe that Pahrump is actually a Paiute or Shoshone name.

Besides being a trailerpark/bedroom community for Vegas, it is the home of several whorehouses as well as a whorehouse museum.

[GreenCommie]

10. One problem with that

Just how many people in the town of Pahrump actually realize that the Confederate flag is foreign?

Hell, make that the US.

[Ian David]

12. Is The United Nations or The Rainbow Flag a foreign flag?

What about the flag of your favorite baseball team?

The United Federation of Planets?

Also, the law says that a "foreign flag" can only be flown beneath an American flag. Does the American Flag need to be flown right-side-up? Does it need to be intact? Can it be on fire?

[Vorta]

16. "whorehouse museum" conjures up some unpleasant images

And here we have the world's oldest whore and world's oldest condom. Children, did you know that men used to use bacon grease before Astro Glide was invented?

[Ian David]

11. I didn't realize Pahrump was a real town when I saw it on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"

Studio 60: Live-blogging the show that put Pahrump, Nevada back on the map

<snip>

Tom is in jail (still wearing his Jesus Garb TM costume from dress rehearsal) for various charges in Pahrump, Nevada, including speeding, assault, possession of evil weed and wearing Jesus Garb TM after Lent. Judge John Goodman is ticked off with smug Hollywood-types making fun of small town people and is not going to let Tom go without a fight, but Tom needs to get back so the show can go on!!! Simon, Danny, Jack, a Chinese investor and his Tom-loving, viola-playing daughter are there as well.

Apparently all of this started when our favorite religious comedian told a newspaper that she felt being gay was a sin. Of course they left out the part about her still thinking gay people are swell…Don’t ask… you’ll be reminded 20 times in the next 60 minutes. Let's just get on with it.

More:
http://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2006/11/studio_60_liveb.html

Pahrump will live in infamy someday, alongside Elmore City, Oklahoma:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_City,_Oklahoma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footloose

[Parche]

14. pahrump

So they discriminate...pahrump pa rum pum pum pum

[Pithlet]

15. Yeah, and to hell with the ideals the flag is supposed to represent.

Morans, indeed.