I love this country and all of its citizens.  The opportunities I've been afforded and the hard work I've put in have lead me to a wonderful life.  Great family, great friends, rewarding career and a great hobby!  I am greatful.  Happy Birthday America!

We had our Monterey Parade and City Picnic, followed by Blues on the Bay, and now chow at home.

Happy Birthday, America.

Rotorhead13

Bish, 

Never even thought about Mel Gibson, and I have no problem with England or Great Britain. I've always considered the British to be the creators of true democratic societies (as opposed to all those misnamed social, democratic, people's, republic type countries), and I learned a long time ago English law is tied in with ours. It isn't taught in our schools anymore, but American law starts with the 10 Commandents, next comes English law, and then the Constitution is placed on top. 

The biggest reason there was a revolution is because England pretty much left the colonists alone for over a hundred years. Folks got pretty used to doing things their way, and by the time England got interested in them again, many folks here considered it an intrusion. It's funny because our government now is far more intrusive than England ever was back then.  

 

Not to mention that the taxes were far lower that what have been voted in now. Although of course it was about far more than “the intolerable acts”, and “taxation without representation”. It’s funny to look at how the Canadian colonies refused to join in the revolution and remained part of the British empire. 

Bish, 

Never even thought about Mel Gibson, and I have no problem with England or Great Britain. I've always considered the British to be the creators of true democratic societies (as opposed to all those misnamed social, democratic, people's, republic type countries), and I learned a long time ago English law is tied in with ours. It isn't taught in our schools anymore, but American law starts with the 10 Commandents, next comes English law, and then the Constitution is placed on top. 

The biggest reason there was a revolution is because England pretty much left the colonists alone for over a hundred years. Folks got pretty used to doing things their way, and by the time England got interested in them again, many folks here considered it an intrusion. It's funny because our government now is far more intrusive than England ever was back then.  

Bish

Happy 4th to you all.

 

But Rotorhead, i would not go taking your history from Mel Gibson movies, so quick to paint the English as the bad guys. Your war wasn't with England but with Great Britain.

And no hard feelings. Your speaking my launguage, not French, so we did somthing right

 

Happy 4th to my fellow Americans! And thank you Bish, no hard feelings indeed. Two peoples separated by a common language and all that.  

When you think about it, had the Founding Fathers rejected all things English, we very well could have spoken French here currently. I do recall reading somewhere that Benjamin Franklin wanted German as the new national language. Don’t know how true that is. And he also preferred the Wild Turkey for our national bird as opposed to the bald eagle.

Happy 4th to you all.

But Rotorhead, i would not go taking your history from Mel Gibson movies, so quick to paint the English as the bad guys. Your war wasn't with England but with Great Britain.

And no hard feelings. Your speaking my launguage, not French, so we did somthing right

I believe that was true, I read Reach for the sky as a school boy. It was agreed that replacement legs would be dropped on a regular bomb raid. Different time different world. 

Love Bader too. Pretty sure I saw a movie about him. It was a long time ago, but I seem to recall somebody dropped a set of prosthetic legs over his POW camp after he got captured. Even if that part was fiction, anybody who can become an ace with no legs goes down in my books as a helluva guy.

Winston Churchill is high on my list of all time favourites as a all time boys hero what a life he had, quickly followed by Douglas Bader. Moved to England with my parents as a pre-schooler they returned over thirty years ago. Myself only fourteen years ago with my wife from Oxfordshire and our daughters. Therefore I have a birth mother and foster mother relationship between Ireland and England when it comes to my affections. 

Yes indeed. The sons of Erin left their bodies on all our battlefields, so I say Hooray for Ireland! 

No hard feelings to England, either. Not a big fan of King George III, nor of the Tudors prior to Elizabeth I, but Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II are held in my high esteem, and I believe Winston Churchill was the greatest leader England ever had. If you disagree, you are a communist!

Happy Independence Day, and, if you run across an Englishman, buy him a beer. (Ladies, too. Please, no PC reactions. It'll spoil the mood).

Happy Fourth to all my fellow Americans and cheers to our good friends in beautiful Ireland and around the world!!!