Saturday, July 04, 2015

Happy Birthday USA / Open Thread

At the dentist's office the other day reception staff asked,
"Doing anything special for The 4th?"
Me: "Don't think so - we don't usually...oh, well we put out the flag!"
Them: "There ya go!"

So, what are y'all doing?

A few quotes I see as apt for the day, just to help things along.....

America is so vast that almost everything said about it is likely to be true, and the opposite is probably equally true.
~James T. Farrell


The metaphor of the melting pot is unfortunate and misleading. A more accurate analogy would be a salad bowl, for, though the salad is an entity, the lettuce can still be distinguished from the chicory, the tomatoes from the cabbage.
~Carl N. Degler


America! half-brother of the world!
With something good and bad of every land
.

~Philip James Bailey


I always tell myself: “You can do better than this.” The best slogan I can think of to leave with the U.S.A. would be:
“We can do, and we’ve got to do, better than this.”

~Theodor Seuss Geisel.

11 comments:

  1. Mumm, fresh Pizza from Captcha!

    Yeah ... they can give you a bill"
    "But they better not give you a pat!"

    ... unless you're at the airport!





    A Happy 239th to you!
    ... (We're only 148)


    kidd.

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  2. We're having a small gathering this evening for a cook out. All of us have a parent who served in the military , so we have stories to share..

    Happy 4th to all of Ya'll ~!

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  3. I'm hoping to resolve some housecleaning delinquency issues...laundry, vacuum, dusting. We'll see how far I make it! The more I work outside in the yard, the less I accomplish inside, and I've been putting-in lots of extra time outside, and with all the rain we've had, the grass and weeds are working overtime. However, I'm already pooped-out and coffee seemed ineffectual...went to bed a 1 AM and awoke at 5 AM...not a good start. I think I see a nap with my name on it for later this afternoon.

    I'm not an overly patriotic individual anyway, but this year I feel more pessimistic than normal about the integrity of the USA...I've been on a downward slide the past fifteen years. I'm sure our forefathers would be dismayed at the fascism, corporate elitism, and loss of individual freedoms that currently bridles America, and a populace indifferent to the bereft morals and ethics of the new-order. Seems a bit of a dichotomy to celebrate our founding principles, which is antithetical to our current reality. I'd like to say that there's only one way to go and that is up, but I suspect the trench is deeper than first surveyed.

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  4. We are headed north to see the grands ... oh, and their parents! :-)
    My favorite 4th of July quote comes from John Adams: "It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..."

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  5. With so much injustice and hypocrisy, it's hard to know how (or what) to celebrate.

    There's an article on Common Dreams today, about a different kind of celebration:

    "Here in the quaint village of Arroyo Seco, the community honors those who have spoken out against government overreach and abuse, suggesting true patriotism is about improving one's country rather than blindly singing its praises."

    http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/07/04/independence-day-celebrate-true-patriots

    I'd say it's also about being honest about the role each of us plays as individuals, how we're complicit and what we can do to change things for the better within our communities and the world.

    Most fireworks and American flags are made in China (around 95% of fireworks, don't have the statistic for flags). Could be by child slaves and/or forced labor. As with most things, the truth isn't nearly as pleasant as the illusion.

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  6. Anon/kidd ~ Ah, Happy belated 148th to you then, up there in far northern climes!
    Catchpa needs to change its tune soon - maybe it could experiment with some pice relevant to the blogs subject matter in every case, here astrology...e.g.
    tick all cardinal signs...or tick all glyphs of water signs....

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  7. Sonny ~ Happy Indie Day to you too - enjoy your evening!

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  8. Just found a link. 97% of American flags are made in China:

    http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/07/03/four-fast-facts-for-the-fourth-of-july

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  9. mike ~ That's very diligent of you! Hope a nice nap is included somewhere in the day's doings. I feel much the same as you, but am trying not to feel too cynical for once.
    There is evidence of light getting through some narrow cracks, I'd hate to discourage it in any way. :-)

    I've been busying myself trying to make sense of "Grexit". I think I might publish what I've drafted now rather than wait until tomorrow.

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  10. kaleymorris ~ Hi there! Oh - enjoy it y'all!
    I'd have to say to John Adams : "Hey - no guns!!!"

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  11. LB ~ There's a shadow side to it all - that's true, and sad.

    I don't know whether our flag was made in China, but it wouldn't surprise me - it's one we bought years ago along with an Earth Flag that we used to fly all the time. I bought at least 7 or eight Earth Flags over several years, they didn't stand up to the weather very well and needed renewing frequently. Then I became disillusioned and stopped buying them. Now we use the flagpole I bought especially for the Earth Flag only for the US flag and only on 4 July. It is a birthday of sorts after all, and I don't like to be too dismal on anyone's birthday (except maybe my own as the numbers increase!) ;-)

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