Happy Birthday, USA

Don't give up hope, McTag, given the number of US denizens who swoon whenever the British royalty farts, it could be argued that the counter-revolution is just around the corner. As further evidence, it was just announced that the biggest beer drinking day in the USA is no longer Super Bowl Sunday but is, in fact, the Fourth of July. That certainly sounds British to me, maybe Irish, it's hard to tell exactly.

Or perhaps it is a signal that Americans have to drown their sorrows on the Fourth.

That could also be the result of having an incompetent buffoon for a President.

Joe(along with his efforts to eviscerate the Constitution)Nation

From a slightly different perspective ( I have put my political junkie mind on hold till September),I was awakened about 6AM by periodic muffled booms , then additional snaps and bangs from over in the village (about 3 miles to the South ). Shortly t hereafter were a whole bunch of booms, sort of like a "finale salute" at the county fireworks show.. After this finale salute, I then heard a firetruck. Its amazing the stories you can conjure from just random sounds or smells.
Im assuming some dumass Maine Hillbilly couldnt wait to get the day rolling and, probably still likkered up from last night "pre-festivites" began setting off his stash at daybreak (we have a long dawn here in Maine that begins about 4AM). SO, reports followed by fire trucks, The stories are numerous. I hope nobody got hurt but that the dimwit only learned a good lesson or , at worst, just lost his woodshed.

Fireworks laws have been subjected to lots of free market "work arounds" here in the East Coast. Many states have had severe penalties for fireworks since the 1960's , but only for their own citizens. Back home, a number of entrepreneurs have opened a series of "fireworks emporia" on or near the state lines. At these places the selection includes anything of a sub-nuclear level. SO the fireworks stores on the Pennsylvania border, will only sell to people from out of state and not to Pa residents. Thats ok , because just a mile across the Md or Delaware border, there are other fireworks "outlets" that sell to Pa residents exclusively . SO, you can buy all the ordinance you need, just as long as you obey the sham rule to make your purchases in a state other than your residence.Every year, now with really big reports available, we have had numerous fireworks fires in the Lancaster County area , the victims being mostly barns and bars , where Franklins directive on proper Fourth of July celebration etiquette is taken quite seriously, and actual housing is lost to errant roman candles, rockets and "cubed reports".

Maine is no different, with the exception that most fireworks purchases are made in Quebec and the act of transporting the stuff home actually involves a major felony , if one is caught by the border guards. Still, the actual enforcement of the act of setting off fireworks is done with a wink wink, nudge nudge (or is it nudge nudge , wink wink). The only way to really get arrested for fireworks crimes is by blowing your own damn self up , or burning down somebody's barn. Recently back in MAy a 2004 , it may have made the regional news, two ole boys was settin off rockets from a lobster boat boat out on the bay? Well they gets the idea to start aimen them rockets at other passin boats , one a whom had a similar stash a farworks in their hold. So they all commenced ta shoot it out with each n other until one ole boy gets a rocket landin on his remaining stack a farworks and the whole boat starts settin oft. Wellsir, these ole boys jes jumped offn the deck and inta the water and commenced ta drown. (Waters awful cold up here). Everybody felt right sorry fer them, wasnt even their boat, and theres a lot a farwoks got lost , so the kin hadda go back up ta New Brunswick or Quebec and buy some more fer the Fourth. I guess theres a lesson in there somewhere.

Im just waitin for my pancakes , CMon Woman!

Erm, isn't that; I wish I were british. (hypothetical form?)

Subjunctive . . . you wanted the subjunctive . . .

Oh hell yes, we haven't had anyone drive a burning SUV into an airline terminal for just ages . . . sign us up ! ! !

Every major holiday, the folks in the neighborhood adjoining (a wooden fence seperates them from us) scare the hell out of me with their rockets. We have lots of tall pine trees, and those trees shed needles the year round, many of which drop on top of the roof, the rest all around the yard. I can't spend all my time raking. It's a full time job.

Okay, I've never really cared much for grammar. I usually just write what sounds right, can you tell? :wink:

From the nostalgia column in my morning newspaper:

1892: "Early in the morning (quite too early by the way) the booming of the cannon fire crackers, the beating of drums, the ringing of bells and the hooting of small boys ushered in the day in Stroudsburg. Folks watched a bicycle race, half-mile running race, horse race, mule race and tub race. The pleasures were marred by the accident to Mr. Florian Hill, an old soldier who had his right hand blown off by the explosion of a large cannon fire cracker."


http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/NEWS/707040341

These days the Fireworks Fanatics stay up late on the 3rd and 4th. When they run out of fireworks, they frequently discharge their shotguns into the free air of the countryside.

This is counter-productive when electric wires and cable lines are in the way.

Once again we celebrate the victory of stout British colonials against an unpopular German king and his mercenary armies.

AS King George wrote in his diary on July 4 a776.
"Absolutely nothing happened today"

It will be interesting to see how the American experiment turns out, when you get the place finished, I mean.

Grounds for cautious optimism so far, all things considered.

The only problem is, that with all sides needing to be consulted, the place is turning out as bizarre as the Winchester Mansion

Nice transformation of meaning through adroit word choice. Why didn't those stout British citizens overthrow their unpopular king (whose descendants still rule)? Though we dealt rather harshly with the Hessians at Trenton, most of the armies & navy sent here were quite English, and like that of Cornwallis dealt a great deal of death & destruction while they were here.

Well, now, George, let's not forget all the British soldiers who decided to desert the King's colors and set up housekeeping here even before the fighting started. Most of these proto-Tommies were impressed men or, if voluntarily enlisted, really had nothing in England to go back to. The desertion rate was a constant thorn in the side of the British brass. Here in the Colonies a British soldier knew he could file a claim on a plot of fertile land to farm and the local girls weren't half hard to look at. Executions of recaptured British AWOLs on Boston Common were common occurences, the records tell us.

Perhaps so, but once the revolution started, the desertions largely stopped and the fighting, destruction of farms, towns and commerce on land and sea was serious enough.

No hard feelings though. At the time my ancestors were enjoying the benevolence of British rule in Kerry & Clare.

Mine had just recently become subjects of the Czar of all the Russias, the Swedish King Carolus XII having lost all his Baltic properties to Peter I (the Great). Ah, but that was in another country and besides the wench is dead.

Mind what you're doing with the fireworks, folks.

And don't over-eat.

Here we are, celebrating a document that wasnt even fully signed and ratified until August of 1776.
John Hancock nd Charles Thompson were the only signators and for the actual Aug 2 signing ceremony, Mr Thompson wasnt even invited back to serve as secretary.

A series of 500 broadsides that embodied the original doc were produced and distributed by Dunlap of Philly . These broadsides of the DCeclaration have been searched for and found (today there were only 4 originals known to remain. There is hope that several others remain also. Just keep checking the baks of old picture frames. The last valuation of rone of these Dunlap broadsides was about 12 million bucks.

Thatd pay for a lotta ribs

Ribs!

BBQ - the best reason to celebrate!