JUST SOME POSTS

I am writing this on the morning of the 4th of July. As noted in the title, the 4th of July happens everywhere. What does not is Independence Day. The 4th of July is celebrated in the U.S. to mark the day the 13 colonies of North America declared their independence from Great Britain. But, why the 4th? It is at the top of the Declaration of Independence, the official document that was drawn up by Thomas Jefferson at the behest of the Continental Congress. However, there are a lot of other dates that we could (and maybe should?) celebrate or at least publicize. As you might imagine, I am going to do a bit of that for you now. By July 4th, 1776 the Colonies were already at war with Great Britain. (fyi, for simplicities sake, I am going to follow convention and just refer to Great Britain and her armies as "the British" in most cases) The first shots "officially" fired at British troops by Continental militia were at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 19th...

I just looked and the last post I did was also this one, on this date, a year ago. So, I just made a Mid-Year Resolution - I will start posting again! (YAAAA - GOES THE CROWD!) This is the only post out of the hundreds I have done that I have ever been asked to re-post. I have had at least one request every year since 2009 when it originally posted. Look tomorrow for a NEW 4th of July post. For now, here you go: I am an American. Like the majority of those living in this country, I was born here as were my parents and their parents. Like the great majority of those living in this country, my ancestors were not born here. A direct decendent on my paternal side immigrated here in 1789 from England. However, I am not an English-American or even a European-American. It bothers me to see people described (by self or others) as Irish-American, African-American, Asian-American, or any other hyphenated American. Hyphens do nothing but separate us from what we truly are: Americans.  L...

A reprint of a post I have now used every July 4th since 2009. I actually have requests for this one. If you like - please pass the link on. If not - hey, it is a free country! I am an American. Like the majority of those living in this country, I was born here as were my parents and their parents. Like the great majority of those living in this country, my ancestors were not born here. A direct decendent on my paternal side immigrated here in 1789 from England. However, I am not an English-American or even a European-American. It bothers me to see people described (by self or others) as Irish-American, African-American, Asian-American, or any other hyphenated American. Hyphens do nothing but separate us from what we truly are: Americans.  Like my father and his father before him; I speak English. In the not so distant past, every immigrant that came to this country learned to speak English. It was a point of pride for them to master one of the most difficult of languages. Since ...

I have used this post for the four previous July 4th posts. I am using it again for two reasons - 1) I read it and I don't think I could improve upon it. Not that it is the best thing ever written. I just don't think I am capable of doing better and/or getting my point across. 2) I actually have had REQUESTS for it! (hey - more than 1 is plural) I am going to preface this a bit more. I read recently that a study and a couple of "man in the street" type interviews showed that a LOT of people here do not know the who, what, why, when, and/or where of July 4th. When asked what it is, the most common response was "Independence Day". When asked to elaborate, most could not. When pointedly asked who we attained independence from, a LOT did not know. The answers ranged from China to Germany and a lot in between. When asked when it occurred that also was missed by a majority. When you are having your gathering, cookout, picnic, or watching fireworks with frien...

Considering my lack of enthusiasm and the fact that I like this post and think it still makes the point - I am going to reprint this post again. This is from 2009 and last year. In 2009 I had a technical error and this did not get posted until after the 4th. Last year it was up. Happy 4th of July! U.S.A.! Become engaged with politics. Write or call your elected officials and make your feelings known. I do not know many people today that think the country is on the right track regardless of their political leanings. Remember, the government works for US! Here is the post - I am an American. Like the majority of those living in this country, I was born here as were my parents and their parents. Like the great majority of those living in this country, my ancestors were not born here. A direct descendant on my paternal side immigrated here in 1789 from England. However, I am not an English-American or even a European-American. It bothers me to see people described (by self or ot...

I was looking to do a 4th of July, patriotic post. I wrote this last year intending to post it for the 4th and missed it by a week. So, I will use this again. I am an American. Like the majority of those living in this country, I was born here as were my parents and their parents. Like the great majority of those living in this country, my ancestors were not born here. A direct decendent on my paternal side immigrated here in 1789 from England. However, I am not an English-American or even a European-American. It bothers me to see people described (by self or others) as Irish-American, African-American, Asian-American, or any other hyphenated American. Hyphens do nothing but separate us from what we truly are: Americans. Like my father and his father before him; I speak English. In the not so distant past, every immigrant that came to this country learned to speak English. It was a point of pride for them to master one of the most difficult of languages. Since this was (and is mar...