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Now that 4th is over, I will make my rant. Don't get me wrong -- I have nothing against the custom. But you have to get there 2 hours early to be able to park anywhere close to an area you can view the event. The show lasts about 30-40 minutes, and then it takes you 2 hours to get out of the parking lot. I don't have the patience for this anymore. I think last night is the last one I'll be attending.

Further proof that academics have way too much time on their hands: a study from Harvard connecting Fourth of July celebrations to Republican voting patterns. “We find that days without rain on Fourth of July in childhood have lifelong effects,” Andreas Madestam and David Yanagizawa-Drott wrote in their May 2011 study. “In particular, they shift adult views and behavior in favor of the Republicans and increase later-life political participation.” “Our estimates are significant: one Fourth of July without rain before age 18 raises the likelihood of identifying as a Republican by 2 percent and voting for the Republican candidate by...

I post this every year on July 4th. This is the obituary of my great-great-great-great-grandfather Selah Woodworth Jr., who blew himself up on July 4th of 1825 by double-charging a cannon during the celebrations. This bit of paper from our family Bible was printed while Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were both still alive.

“The Framers of the Bill of Rights did not purport to 'create' rights. Rather they designed the Bill of Rights to prohibit our Government from infringing rights and liberties presumed to be preexisting.” – Justice William J. Brennan (1906-1997) U. S. Supreme Court Justice I know that God is still on the throne and that only He is our answer through his son, the King of Glory, Jesus the Messiah. As for this country, my heart hurts and especially during July 4th celebrations for what we once were and what we have now become. I need to write about this......

Ray Charles singing "America the Beautiful"

I guess they're celebrating up in Plymouth Notch VT today, as it's the birthday for the only President born on the Fourth of July: Calvin Coolidge (I think a couple died on July 4 though). Republican, former gov. of MA, one who loved the people and scenery of his home state of Vermont. I paid a brief visit to the Coolidge State Historic Site the other day. "Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong." "The business of America is business." (actually the word "Chief" appears before "business"--kind of a misquote as he goes on to...

Two hundred and thirty five years ago a group of concerned citizens after repeatedly trying to work within the existing government announced their intentions. By openly declaring their views and putting the government on notice they risked everything. All peaceful methods and petitions got them nowhere. They knew the consequences of their actions. By signing this document they would be wanted criminals. That is why John Hancock signed with such flourish, so those in power would not mistake his signature with anyone else. We know what transpired after that and it is what we celebrate today. Continue reading on Examiner.com...

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that...

  It’s Not Dependence Day David C. Stolinsky July 4, 2011 A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.− Edward R. Murrow In order to observe a holiday celebrating our independence, we need to recall what the word means. Do we? Some parts of America, especially its liberal half, have been described as infantile. Many people regard the federal government as their parent. They expect it to provide for the needs of their young children, their elderly parents, and sometimes themselves. In these respects, many Americans − and most Western Europeans − act like children. Children recognize...

Four years ago, I wrote a column titled "America Needs a July Fourth Seder." In it, I explained that "national memory dies without national ritual. And without a national memory, a nation dies." Many readers and listeners to my radio show responded by creating their own rituals to make the day far more meaningful than watching fireworks and eating hot dogs. I now present a simple 10-minute ceremony that every American can easily use on July Fourth. It is a product of the Internet-based Prager University that I founded nearly two years ago. We call it the Fourth of July...

VIDEO

LET’S CELEBRATE THE ENTIRE FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!!! FReepers, did you read about the Harvard study suggesting that Fourth of July parades and celebrations are only good for conservatives? Well, it’s about time someone told the truth. Last night as we watched the sunset our neighbors were enjoying swimming with their kids, while another neighbor was starting to set up fireworks. It dawned on me, even this early, people were enjoying the celebration of the coming weekend. It was hard not to remember the great parades, fireworks celebrations, patriotic speeches, and all around family fun that is so prevalent during...

Although no specific plot has been identified, revelers this Fourth of July can expect extraordinary security -- from expanded patrols and SWAT units to biological weapon response teams and undercover officers mingling with celebratory crowds. "It's absolutely not a joke," said New York police Sgt. Thomas Horvath, who took ABC News on patrol around New York City's waterways. "The threat is very real. On the day of the [July 4] event, we're going to put out basically every asset we have."...

   Ambassador Oren Remarks to Mark July 4th, U.S. Independence Day  Friday, 01 July 2011 14:26    July 4th is, of course, a special day for Americans, and we Israelis celebrate it as well. We celebrate with you because America’s independence is essential to Israel’s independence. Your love of liberty is the same as ours and our reverence for democracy is identical. We rejoice because your Founding Fathers were inspired by our Founding Fathers.Back in 1776, American patriots compared King George III to the ancient Pharaoh who enslaved the Jews. George Washington, in their minds, was Moses and John Adams...

BELLEVUE, Iowa — Police confirm a 60-year-old woman has died from her injuries and 23 others were injured after two horses broke loose at a Fourth of July “Heritage Day Parade” in Bellevue and charged down the street for six blocks. Police in Bellevue say that a 60-year-old woman has died of injuries she sustained in the accident. Her name is not available at this time. Twenty-three people were injured, including at least two children who were in critical condition, police and hospital officials said. The horses took off after one rubbed its head against the other, removing that horse’s...

Today we celebrate the day that our forefathers declared their independence from King George and British rule. As you can see by the image of this document, our leaders in history made such an important declaration on one page…not 1000. Better yet, the people could read it and sign it, understanding it…they didn’t have to wait until it was passed to read it. Pelosi, are you taking notes here? Of course, the opening words, “In Congress”, would not invoke images of a corrupt governing body that has a 25% approval rating, at best. It didn’t represent pork barrel spending, Congressman...

Independence Hall Tea Party III was quite a success, surprising even to us. At the highest point 2100 people (a tad more than Philadelphia Tea Party II)were present. And people were coming and going through out. Over a thousand people signed our Tea Party Petitions on Cap and Trade, Health Care and EFCA,and to join Independence Hall Tea Party Association many also signing up for the Mother of all Tea Parties on 9/12. We were not permitted to collect money on Independence Hall territory, but if you were one of the people who signed up for a bus for 9/12,...

TEMECULA: Protesters line intersection Obama, government were the subjects of much of the criticism By CRAIG SHULTZ - Saturday, July 4, 2009 8:28 PM PDT TEMECULA ---- Some of the people lining the corners of the Rancho California and Ynez roads intersection during a tax protest Saturday afternoon said their beef isn't only with President Barack Obama. "I don't think anyone here will tell you it's a Republican versus Democrat thing. It's an American thing," said Mike Horan of Poway. "It isn't so much politically motivated. People want to make sure they're being heard." A crowd estimated by organizers to...

On this 4th of July, I can't think of anything America needs to hear more than a warning President Ronald Reagan gave in his Farewell Address in January 1989. Listen to the video above to hear what he shared with America toward the end of his speech. Reagan turned his attention to what he said he was particularly proud of during his Presidency - a renewal of patriotism and the American Spirit. Reagan also gave a warning, that unless Americans taught each new generation what it means to be an American, we risk losing our memory as a nation -...

NAWA, Afghanistan – Taliban militants were nowhere in sight as the columns of U.S. Marines walked a third straight day across southern Afghanistan. But the desert heat proved an enemy in its own right, with several troops falling victim Saturday to temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The Marines carry 50-100 pounds (23-45 kilograms) on their backs. But because they are marching through farmland on foot, they can't carry nearly as much water as their thirst demands. Few even realized the date was July 4, ... a world away from the strenuous task Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine...

Here is powerful video from the exceptional John Adams series, in which John Adams makes his impassioned plea for freedom before the Continental Congress in 1776. After the brief speech, there is the reading of the Declaration of Independence the Congress passed, which we celebrate today! The words are amazingly profound and powerful, and provide a clarion call we need to return to as Americans today. Happy Independence Day!. . . . . (Watch Video)

Caption This... July 4 Tea Party Preparation————————————————–Following on the heels of the highly successful Tea (Taxed Enough Already) Parties, conservatives are again gearing up for a larger national set of Tea Party demonstrations set for July 4.   CBS and CNN are of course preparing to ignore it. After working so hard to extort more income from working Americans, Democrats will be on vacation that holiday weekend resting up for the next round of spending.   The effort to spend trillions of dollars to ruin American health care will be front and center over the next two weeks which should give CNN...

by Gina L. DiorioHappy Independence Day! Wait, you may say, Independence Day isn’t until July 4th. If you think that’s true, think again. For while the Continental Congress adopted our Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, it was on July 2 that that body officially declared independence from Great Britain by voting in favor of the Lee Resolution. Named for its author, Virginia Delegate Richard Henry Lee, the Lee Resolution stated: Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and...

Although I have lived in the Washington, D.C., area since 1984, I am an orthodox Baltimorean by birth, nurture, education, baseball loyalties, and a settled disdain for offering tartar sauce with crab cakes. So I should be the last person to think the unthinkable about my native city’s principal contribution to American public culture (after, of course, the Colts’ sudden-death victory over the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL championship game). Nonetheless, I shall risk the charges of heresy and treason by proposing the following thought experiment: as America celebrates Independence Day, let’s ponder a switch in national anthems,...

Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon has called on party leader and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to boycott Wednesday evening’s annual U.S. Independence Day reception. He said that most coalition MKs will join him to protest what he called American contempt towards Israel.

"Starve The Beast" - July 4th, 2009 Perhaps its time. There have been a number of people on the forum talking about this, with one of the most recent converts being "iflyjetzzz". Look, we can rant and rave about market manipulation and government-sponsored games. We can petition the SEC, the FBI and Congress. We can demand that they stop it all we want. But they haven't and likely won't until and unless America gets pissed off enough to force them to act. So how do we make that happen, yet remain within the law? Its not that hard, and in...

Excerpt from John Adams' famous letter of July 3, 1776, in which he wrote to his wife Abigail what his thoughts were about celebrating the Fourth of July: "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think...

Brethren, Patriots, Gentlewomen & Fellow Citizens TAX PROTEST - TEA PARTY - PATRIOTS' RALLY - PROUD TO BE A CAPITALIST PIG TOUR Come all ye fellow patriots and burdened taxpayers! Join us in a patriotic rally in observance of the birth of our Great Nation at ye olde Temecula Duck Pond. We shall gather at the corner of Ynez Road and Rancho California in Temecula, California on Saturday, July 4, 2009 commencing at 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Please bring appropriate signs, banners, flags and attire to dispaly your love of country and to voice your keen displeasure towards those...

Planning for Round 2 of the nation's tea parties is under way – with more than 350 cities planning protests for Independence Day. While WND has been tracking 34 upcoming tea parties across the nation, the American Family Association has posted a list of rallies in 366 cities and 47 states for July 4. AFA is sponsoring Taxed Enough Already, or TEA, parties to be held at 12 p.m. in front of city halls across the nation. The organization launched a Tea Party Day website before the Tax Day events so volunteer organizers may register their protests with AFA. Michael...

Today is the 232nd Birthday of our nation. It is a good day to reflect on just how blessed we are to live in what is truly the greatest nation on earth - not only presently, but in all human history. I do not say that lightly. I know that here have been many great civilizations down through the centuries, and many empires that have come and gone. Some have achieved great wealth, and others extended their domain to vast reaches. But there has never been a nation that existed for the foundational purpose of freedom for it's citizens, and...

The Americans Who Risked Everything My father, Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., delivered this oft-requested address locally a number of times, but it had never before appeared in print until it appeared in The Limbaugh Letter. My dad was renowned for his oratory skills and for his original mind; this speech is, I think, a superb demonstration of both. I will always be grateful to him for instilling in me a passion for the ideas and lives of America's Founders, as well as a deep appreciation for the inspirational power of words which you will see evidenced here: "Our Lives, Our...

Just for purposes of curiosity: Do you plan to travel for the July 4th weekend? and why or wny not? Pesonally, i wasn't planning on it, but that's par for the course. It's been years and years since i sought to go anywhere but to the local fireworks celebration, and I think this has saved me much grief. But, if I were one to go to big amusement parks, or going to visit relatives, I still would likely not go this year, not because of panic, or being so short of funds that I could not literally buy the gas...

In honor of the I start this thread on Thursday, since most of us will have the day off to celebrate, tomorrow. Americans with a taste for vengeance this Fourth of July can take their aggressions out with a bang. The fuse on an Exploding Bin Laden Noggin burns brightly. The fountain, a spoof of al-Qaida leader and suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden, is among this year’s most popular fireworks. "No. No. No. No. No," said Steve Nebel as he walked through the Bob’s Fireworks tent on Highway 763 last night combing the tables for a specific fountain. The object...

Quick, what famous event do we commemorate on the Fourth of July? Not sure? A little rusty on your sixth-grade civics? Well, you're in good company. One Gallup poll revealed that one out of every four Americans doesn't know that July Fourth commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It's a poor patriotism that doesn't even know our national history and traditions. This Fourth of July, let’s ask what it means, in the light of Scripture, to be an American citizen. Patriotism used to be a simple matter. Most of America's traditions were rooted in a Christian heritage. To...

On the Fourth of July Americans will cynically celebrate the greatest setback world progress has ever endured in all of human history. The rest of humankind will, of course, be grieving over the dark day when the United States of America was born. To understand the full scope of this tragedy we must look back at the pre-7/04 world and see what it was like to live on planet Earth before 1776. ~ Prior to July 4, 1776, not a single person in the world starved, got sick, worked hard for a living, or experienced any pain and anxiety. No...

America’s second president, John Adams, wrote of the Fourth of July: “I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival,” he wrote his wife, Abigail. “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…”

Click here to visit a great web site about John Philip Sousa - American Composer, Conductor & Patriot Biography - MIDI and MP3 Music Files

On July 4, 1776, America's Founders declared the country's independence from Britain, largely as a revolt against excessive and unfair taxation. So in our nation, which is much more overtaxed than it was over two centuries ago, it would be fitting if, in recognition of our Founding principles, federal, state and local governments made July Fourth a totally tax-free day. Many cities already suspend sales taxes for a few days a year on items such as clothing and school supplies, usually to garner the favor of overtaxed parents struggling to raise kids and to give mom and pop an incentive...

I LOVE AMERICA! (this will make you feel good) On this July 4, while we face enemies at home and abroad, and while it may be old-fashioned to feel patriotism, I hope you will enjoy this presentation. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

MARIETTA - City officials on Wednesday loosened a ban on war veterans handing out thousands of miniature American flags during next week's Fourth of July parade. Officials announced yesterday afternoon that the city will allow veterans and others to pass out 3-by-5 inch U.S. flags, but only before and after the parade, not during the 1.5-mile route as they walk next to their "Let Freedom Ring" float.

The government of Kim Jong-Il announced that America's attempted July 4 attack on his country was thwarted when "the supreme mental energy of Kim caused all of the American rockets to explode just hundreds of feet in the air over their launching pads in cities all across the United States." The statement went on to say that "as a show of mercy, Kim's psychic powers also caused all of the Nodong and Scud missiles in North Korea's planned retaliatory strike to crash harmlessly into the sea, sparing the Americans from their justly deserved punishment." The statement concluded that "Kim's power,...

Here’s what I want to know, and here’s why I want to know it. At what point in history, exactly, did the Pew Center decide that it knew how to measure world opinion? I ask this because almost every week I seem to read a study of how the rest of the globe thinks (or at any rate feels) about the United States. The polls in this country are unreliable enough and are often used to measure intangibles, such as “approval ratings,” which is why there is so much fluctuation within and between them. But who’s doing the random samples...

It's the Fourth of July and the DUmmies are "patriotically" urging each other to "Put Away the Flags." They are so disgusted with the USA that they frown upon such displays of patriotism. The DUmmies are supported in this belief by left wing whacko, Howard Zinn, as you can see in this THREAD titled, "Put Away the Flags - Howard Zinn." Almost half the replies have been deleted so one can only imagine what extreme anti-American rants were worthy of not even being allowed in DUmmieland. So let us now watch the DUmmies tell each other to put away...

Click here to visit a great web site about John Philip Sousa - American Composer, Conductor & Patriot Biography - MIDI and MP3 Music Files

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- Engineers on Monday are closely scrutinizing a small crack in insulation on space shuttle's fuel tank as NASA continues to prepare for a Tuesday launch. NASA deputy manager John Shannon said foam that cracked covers a bracket that connects the liquid oxygen feedline to shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank. When engineers went to inspect it, they pinched off a .0057-pound, 3- inch piece of foam. Even so, Shannon said, had that piece fallen off during launch it wouldn't have damaged the orbiter. The crack was discovered during an inspection Sunday evening, and is 4-...

by Edward Hudgins, The Atlas Society & Objectivist Center On July 4 we celebrate the creation of the United States of America. Our birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, reads, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal." It states that we're each endowed with "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It concludes that "to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed." Most Americans give lip service to these sentiments. But how many of us understand...

Dang that Treasonous Scumbag Traitor, As most of you must have heard. Cindy Sheehan AKA Attention Whore will be fasting at "Camp Casey AKA Bush's Crawford Ranch" on July 4th. American Independence Day. You'd think she'd take the time to rejoyce the importance of that day. but no.

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 26, 2006 Independence Day, 2006 On July 4, 1776, our Nation's Founders declared "That these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be free and Independent States." This declaration marked a great milestone in the history of human freedom. On the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we pay tribute to the courage and dedication of those who created this country, and we celebrate the values of liberty and equality that make our country strong. The patriots of the Revolutionary War acted on the beliefs...

It's a little known fact that George Washington and James Madison really decided to fight for our independence so that Martha and Dolly could get abortions. So little known, in fact, that John Kerry and the brainiacs who do his email updates are the only ones who knew it. What other conclusion could you draw from the text of this email sent out by John Kerry on, of all of the 364 other days it could have been sent in 2005, Independence Day?: Subject: 4th of July, 5-4, and the fight for freedom: "Dear Steve, The Fourth of July is...