Tomorrow, on Independence Day
Every year people are pointlessly injured by the things, and fires are started -- the latter concern a growing one as summers get hotter and drier. It's quite likely that, in the next couple of weeks, some people will actually die in fires that were started by fireworks.
Many veterans suffer from PTSD, which can be triggered by the sound of fireworks. Americans do love to pay lip service to veterans, but this time, how about doing something (or, rather, refraining from doing it) which will actually make a difference?
Animals too, including pets, are often traumatized by the noise. Their feelings matter too.
Finally, Independence Day should be taken seriously, not just made an occasion for meaningless noise and another round of the generic sales and booze-ups which increasingly make all our holidays vapidly alike. Instead, how about actually reading the Constitution (it's very short!), the core document which makes this country what it is, with special attention to the First, Second, and Thirteenth Amendments (if nothing else, this might impart a firmer grasp of the correct spelling of the word "amendment", which appears to be widely lacking). For extra credit, read the Declaration of Independence as well, for the reasons why the founders of this country did what they did. It's not difficult to find the plain original text of these documents, without any added commentary designed to "spin" their meanings to fit the agenda of one or another modern political ideology.
We're a relatively young nation compared to the ancient lands of Asia and Europe, but in absolute terms the United States is far from being a newcomer -- we're just three years shy of a quarter-millennium old. An adult approach to national history and observances is surely not too much to ask.
And in recognition of those who insist.....
posted by Infidel753 at 8:45 AM
13 Comments:
totally agree
I'm willing to guess that those who need to see this message aren't regular (or ever) readers of your blog.
When our son was 9, he cut his fingers because he was trying to play a soda can like an accordion. We had to take him to the ER for stitches. His ER doc and nurses told us that we were lucky it was a few days until the 4th, as the wait time in the ER went up to seven or eight hours during the 24 hours of fireworks.
All of them were very straightforward about their feelings about fireworks. I confess I hadn't really thought about it until then.
I am wondering still why it's not legal to set them off in Portland, yet one can PURCHASE them all over the city. Willing to bet that no one gets busted for it, either.
Daal: I'm sure your dog does as well.
Ami: Probably not many, but there may be a few. The readers are pretty varied. I don't know how likely they are to be persuaded, but all one can do is try.
You're right about the situation in Portland. There are those tents selling fireworks in parking lots all over the place. And I hear people setting them off in the streets on Independence Day and New Year's. Considering the police sometimes don't have the manpower to respond to shootings, I'm not surprised that it isn't enforced.
I'm with you 100% on this one. I see no upside to unofficial fireworks in residential areas and plenty of downside, especially in areas where the fire danger is extremely high. Oregon used to have laws prohibiting the worst of the fireworks. There are no restrictions throughout much of the South. It sounds like a warzone for at least a week around the 4th, and again around Christmas and New Years.
Interesting that about the US South. My understanding is that Georgia had a ban on fireworks (certainly it did during the '90s) and I recall crossing the state line into TN and just over the border theere was an enormous fireworks shop.
I would be absolutely fine if we didn't have fireworks anymore. I know a lot of animals are scared by them, and end up going missing and in the shelters. I don't even know how many fires that I've put out around here on the 4th of July before I had the dog. I know me and Ken would walk around outside when people were putting off fireworks in the neighborhood because the trees would catch on fire because these idiots around here would have the legal bottle rockets and Roman candles shooting them off in the air when things are so dry around here and the trees would catch on fire. So I would be perfectly happy if people were allowed to get fireworks anymore.
Jack: I don't envy you, down in Mississippi. Around here, the noise is mostly just for a day or two for each holiday. And I've never heard of fireworks at Christmas.
NickM: Surprising about Georgia. I wonder how well enforced it was/is in the rural areas.
Mary K: That sounds very scary. I know Nevada's climate is generally very dry, and you (or other civic-minded people) can't be everywhere putting out fires. I wonder if that's why some places in your neighborhood have those metal trees instead of real ones? At least they won't burn.
I think our population is getting dumber. Putting firework in ones ass is not a smart move.
We have to look at it as natural selection in action.
A little late, I needed to go through it again to see how I felt.
IDK ... sure ... humans ... men are stupid and fireworks are dangerous. There are going to be casualties. The uninformed forget that those sparks are burning metal powder. They are bright because they are, roughly, 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Burn city. Very bad, particularly when young men have a tendency to put things in and near their crotches. Peritoneal, genital, and anal burns are extremely painful, slow to heal, and prone to infection. Setting your junk on fire is very, very bad.
I wince and cringe seeing these guys doing this to themselves.
But, it has always been this way. If not fireworks it is lighter fluid, or gasoline, or a game where drunks see who can sit on the campfire the longest.
On the up-side doctors get training in treating burns, and explosive de-gloving. Surgeons get practice with skin grafts and reassembling phalanges with stainless steel rods. Everyone learns by doing. And lets not forget the girls who love the bad-boys. They learn that bad-boy is just another spelling of immature idiot.
Never underestimate the value of a negative example.
Those are good points, and if people were only endangering themselves, I wouldn't have that much of a problem with it. It's the terrorizing animals, re-traumatizing vets with PTSD, creating an increased fire risk -- those things are the issue.
A bit callous but reality.
I have maintained for years if a Tsunami hit Ocean Shores (WA) on the 4th the average IQ of the state would go up 10 Pts.
Come on even with out a tsunami it appears to be an excercise of survival in fiery place.
Only 2 2 lane roads out. North or south RV's and wimmahago's patked on the beach with bonfires, portable gas generators, propane grills,Fireworks of every kind. Illegal has no meaning.
Anon: I'm inclined to agree with you. With that quantity of self-incineration supplies and munitions together in one place, perhaps someday they'll manage to remove themselves from the gene pool all on their own.
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