Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2008 May 8-31

The Chinese government has launched investigations of online mapping services, including Google Maps, for breaking state secrecy laws. Officials say they want to get rid of online maps that don't accurately show the country's boundaries, i.e. don't show disputed areas as part of China, or that may reveal military secrets.

Froylan Camelo says he and other students took Mexican flags with them to Idaho's Minico High School to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. But Camelo says teacher Clint Straatham took his flag from him, threw it in a trash can and taunted him. Straatham denies taunting Camelo. He says he took the flag from him to keep white students from hurting him. And what about tossing it in garbage can? Straatham says he had no other place to put it.

California mechanic David Eck wanted to do his part for the environment by converting his cars to run on vegetable oil. But when state officials found out what he'd done they threatened him with big fines for not having a diesel fuel supplier's license, for not paying California fuel taxes on the oil he burned, for removing used grease from local restaurants without a license and for not having a state license to burn fat.

Federal air marshals say some of their members have been harassed at airports, even kept from boarding planes they are scheduled to guard, because their names match those on the federal no-fly list. The government acknowledges the problem but says it's taking steps to fix it. One agent says he's been having trouble for six years and it hasn't been solved yet.

Dozens of people were sitting on the granite ledges at Montreal's Emilie Gamelin Park. People sit on the ledges all the time. So why did police give Brendan Colin Jones a $628 ticket for sitting on the ledge? Well, maybe it was because he just photographed them talking to some people drinking alcohol nearby and refused to give them his camera when they asked.