Instead of thinking about all people - of their truths and their rights - this is the day when I think of barbecues on the patio, dry white wine in cool glasses, children splashing in a pool, good conversations and spectacular fireworks down on the Delaware. This is the day when I most miss America, my American friends, and my American home.
Expert Mother tongue: English Posts: 1752 Joined: April 13, 2007 Location: United States
RE: Happy 4th of July!
This is a day that means many things to many different people. It has always, in my view, been a day of rather excessive, even jingoistic, patriotism, that has only gotten worse since September 11, 2001. But I prefer to look at the day differently, to see it as a day to honor the values that this country asserted in the Declaration of Independence and which we should aspire to.
Mother tongue: English Joined: March 28, 2004 Location: Malaysia
RE: Happy 4th of July!
Originally written by Harry Bornemann on July 5, 2008 2:17 AM
Originally written by Shiong-Fong Lew on July 4, 2008 6:51 PM
We don't seem to have an Independence Day for the Earth. Does that mean that the Earth is not independent yet?
Not as long as it is ruled by any heavenly Gods, or charlatans pretending to be their ambassadors, but let's see again in one or two thousand years..
The US has the Boston Tea Party, and if God rules the heaven without earthly representation, then we have a problem not of monetary tax, but time of devotion demanded by God. Considering that science says that the Universe is expanding, then the Empire of God must be expanding too. That means a very powerful empire in the space-time continuum. If we cannot afford time, maybe we can explore the possibility of the three dimensions of space to recreate the global version of the Boston Tea Party?
But Einstein is no longer around. Space travel is not yet on the same footing as ocean vessels during the era of the Boston Tea Party. The probability of another Einstein within one or two thousand years might demand extreme faith that goes beyond affordability!
Elite Veteran Mother tongue: German Posts: 848 Joined: December 31, 2002 Location: Mexico
RE: Happy 4th of July!
Originally written by Shiong-Fong Lew on July 4, 2008 8:28 PM
... maybe we can explore the possibility of the three dimensions of space to recreate the global version of the Boston Tea Party?
Great Idea!
Although throwing some packs of tea into the ocean was probably less problematic than doing the same with some sheets of "holy" paper, I wonder whether it would be a sacrilege to shoot them into space? What do our bibles say about that?
....We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation."
Howard Zinn, a World War II bombardier, is the author of the best-selling "A People's History of the United States" (Perennial Classics, 2003, latest edition).
Zinn's is a grotesque book. I recommend Samuel Eliot Morison's The Oxford History of the American People (1964).
Mother tongue: English Joined: March 28, 2004 Location: Malaysia
RE: Happy 4th of July!
Originally written by Harry Bornemann on July 5, 2008 1:39 AM Happy Independence day! A great achievement, indeed. Now I wonder when the UK will be able to celebrate independence from the US..
Thanks to the wide availability of public transport (I guess), the Brits are not Humpty Dumpties and therefore, not in danger of tumbling down the wall into EU territory and risking an upset of the more or less settled balance of the French-German axis of power. As the US is still the No. 1 economy, the Brits won't be leaning dangerously to peek into EU either.
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