How is one supposed to properly dispose of an American flag? Can you just throw it in a dumpster? Sure you can, but here’s the correct way to put a worn out star-spangled banner to rest:

“The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning” (US Flag Code, TITLE 4, CHAPTER 1, Section 8, (k)).

Still not sure you want to send Old Glory up in flames? The Town of Wake Forest’s got you covered with

a Flag Retirement Cerimony [sic] on December 6, 2008 in Downtown Wake Forest.  The event will begin promptly at 5pm.  If anyone has an old-worn-tattered flag they would like to have properly retired, you can bring it to the American Legion, Post #187, in Wake Forest (they are across from the Wake Forest Post Office on E. Holding Avenue) and place it in the “mailbox” recepticle in the back of the parking lot; or you can attend the cerimony [sic] and it will be retired in your presence.

Maybe this is what’s been going on in the Middle East for years; but then again that doesn’t explain the burning of presidential effigies.