[mattduke]

When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security

[Cloud9]

It’s early; the Boston Massacre has yet to occur. It will happen. Hubris knows no bounds.

[dinopello]

Happy Independence Day!
Keep up the good fight.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
-Thomas Jefferson

"There is absolutely nothing to be said for government by a plutocracy, for government by men very powerful in certain lines and gifted with 'a money touch,' but with ideals which in their essence are merely those of so many glorified pawnbrokers'"
-Theodore Roosevelt

[Lore]

"We have met the enemy and he is us.", end quote

[gollum]

Is the oligarchy that runs this country really us? I think not.

[Lore]

Is the oligarchy that runs this country really us? I think not.

The beauty is everyone still only gets one vote. As long as the oligarchy can fool the mass majority of knuckleheads they will still run the show, but the fix for that is always available.

[gollum]

For the first time in my adult life I'm not going to vote this year, the two candidates are so much alike I refuse to endorse the garbage mess as democracy in any but the most corrupted form.

[Pops]

"So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men."
-- Voltaire

"If once [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions."
-- Thomas Jefferson

[Keith_McClary]

U.S. fireworks industry in biggest slump since Vietnam War era

About $217 million will be spent on an estimated 14,000 Fourth of July fireworks displays across America, a Grucci spokesman said. But 70 percent of those shows will be at private or corporate events in premier locations like the Hamptons, Malibu, Lake Tahoe and the Jersey Shore, according to Grucci.

Tight local budgets - as well as wildfire threats - have forced at least 100 communities from Tanglewood Park, North Carolina, to Half Moon Bay, California, to forego the traditional Fourth of July razzle dazzle.
...
In Malden, Massachusetts, there will be no fireworks for the first time in years after the Malden Airport Board decided the money could be better spent elsewhere.

“It was really becoming a burden on the community soliciting for fireworks when so many other good causes were also soliciting for their support,” said airport manager Barb Crayne.

A $1 million hole in the Lynwood City Council’s budget caused the California town to end its tradition of Fourth of July fireworks. Its Candy Cane Lane Parade and Winter Wonderland Christmas events have also been axed.
...
For at least one city, fireworks may be a way to raise funds through high-priced tickets sales. In New York, $200 tickets are being sold to a cordoned off section of a public park along the Hudson River that promises stunning views of the Macy’s fireworks show.
...
Butler, who has been in the fireworks business since he married Donna Grucci, now president of the fifth-generation company, says despite the economic challenges local governments should not scrimp on tradition.

“Shame on them. It’s like taking on Mom and apple pie,” he said. “They aren’t saving much compared to their overall budget but it makes them look good. This is really the most important day of the year to have fireworks.”

Where's your patriotism?

[gollum]

With the fire danger so bad I'm sure sales are down in my part of the country, in a lot of other places people are just broke.

[ralfy]

Don't forget Native Americans and African Americans.

[Cloud9]

The two parties have a lock on the presidential process. We need to break up the two parties in congress. The occupy wall street crowd needs to get off the street and start politicking and running for office. The Tea Party needs to keep expanding. Between the two of them they can break up the tag team politics we currently have.

[Fishman]

We need more voter turnout, especially among those hurt by the policies of the take, tax, and squander. Some would argue, "A little enlightened self-interest, clear thinking, and personal political involvement is in order." but those usually don't want people to actually do as they say, just let the elite run the show is their real view. Not blood, at least not yet.

[Outcast_Searcher]

U.S. fireworks industry in biggest slump since Vietnam War era

About $217 million will be spent on an estimated 14,000 Fourth of July fireworks displays across America, a Grucci spokesman said. But 70 percent of those shows will be at private or corporate events in premier locations like the Hamptons, Malibu, Lake Tahoe and the Jersey Shore, according to Grucci.

Tight local budgets - as well as wildfire threats - have forced at least 100 communities from Tanglewood Park, North Carolina, to Half Moon Bay, California, to forego the traditional Fourth of July razzle dazzle.
...
In Malden, Massachusetts, there will be no fireworks for the first time in years after the Malden Airport Board decided the money could be better spent elsewhere.

“It was really becoming a burden on the community soliciting for fireworks when so many other good causes were also soliciting for their support,” said airport manager Barb Crayne.

A $1 million hole in the Lynwood City Council’s budget caused the California town to end its tradition of Fourth of July fireworks. Its Candy Cane Lane Parade and Winter Wonderland Christmas events have also been axed.
...
For at least one city, fireworks may be a way to raise funds through high-priced tickets sales. In New York, $200 tickets are being sold to a cordoned off section of a public park along the Hudson River that promises stunning views of the Macy’s fireworks show.
...
Butler, who has been in the fireworks business since he married Donna Grucci, now president of the fifth-generation company, says despite the economic challenges local governments should not scrimp on tradition.

“Shame on them. It’s like taking on Mom and apple pie,” he said. “They aren’t saving much compared to their overall budget but it makes them look good. This is really the most important day of the year to have fireworks.”

Where's your patriotism?

So, you can whine about productive people becoming rich and having fireworks, or you can go sit on a nearby hillside, and watch the wonderful fireworks from some idiot country club FOR FREE with hundreds of your thinking fellow citizens. (And do this year after year).

I choose the latter.

[PrestonSturges]

July 4th was the day that many churches were ordered shut down, because the main church, the Church of England swore allegiance to the King as aprt of its services.

Most of the Founders were COE members because the Church was essentially part of the colonial government in many areas, so the Founders religion did not contribute much to their rebellion since 3/4 of them were swearing allegiance to the King every Sunday.

Some churches stayed closed for years and many of the Torie clergy fled to Canada. Most of the churches reopened as Episcopalian (?). Not that most Americans would have noticed because Americans of that era were famous for their vulgrity, immorality, and lack of interest in religion.

the big blow that was struck for liberty on July 4 wasn't a gun battle - it was that the Continental Congress abolished most of the churches in America.