Comments on: 4th of July http://andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/ Rejecting Your Reality and Substituting My Own Since 1986 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:39:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: <img class="identicon" src="http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=84fa1e256b23e404b0b2992d699ca4fb&size=35&default=http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-identicon/identicon/76e6e87a1e3b041.png" alt="Andrew Ferguson Identicon Icon" height="35" width="35" /> Andrew Ferguson http://andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-12114 Andrew Ferguson Identicon Icon Andrew Ferguson Sat, 08 Jul 2006 18:35:30 +0000 http://www.andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-12114 No. No.

]]> By: <img class="identicon" src="http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=5d6e8bfddf0ff4284545ca00020116df&size=35&default=http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-identicon/identicon/c7452cc67e6fe28.png" alt="quinn Identicon Icon" height="35" width="35" /> quinn http://andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-12067 quinn Identicon Icon quinn Sat, 08 Jul 2006 09:04:23 +0000 http://www.andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-12067 Ferg- Is lighting off illegal fireworks more patriotic than lighting off legal fireworks? Ferg-
Is lighting off illegal fireworks more patriotic than lighting off legal fireworks?

]]> By: <img class="identicon" src="http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=84fa1e256b23e404b0b2992d699ca4fb&size=35&default=http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-identicon/identicon/76e6e87a1e3b041.png" alt="Andrew Ferguson Identicon Icon" height="35" width="35" /> Andrew Ferguson http://andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-12040 Andrew Ferguson Identicon Icon Andrew Ferguson Sat, 08 Jul 2006 03:09:08 +0000 http://www.andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-12040 Audrey: The annual loss in property due to automobile accidents is $60 billion (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_safety" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_safety</a>). That's over 18 times the daily cost of fighting the forest fires. My point is that everything has its risk, but I would argue that if more time/money went into educating the public on proper firework use. I also would not be opposed to banning fireworks during years of extreme drought. I still think that personal responsibility plays a large role in this. People need to be more responsible for their actions. Staples: Point taken. How about I call it one of the more patriotic displays I saw? To address some of your other points though: The flag flying overhead was kick ass, for sure. To be honest, I really hate when people shriek when singing the National Anthem, and I also couldn't really hear it. An inflatable Statue of Liberty is like an inflatable doll...nothing like the real thing. People gathering for an idea is always important, but how many people just use it as an excuse to get drunk? While I and hopefully many others share your enthusiasm for what Independence Day means, one only needs to watch Jay Walking on the Jay Leno show to understand show how ignorant our nation can be. Audrey:

The annual loss in property due to automobile accidents is $60 billion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_safety). That’s over 18 times the daily cost of fighting the forest fires. My point is that everything has its risk, but I would argue that if more time/money went into educating the public on proper firework use. I also would not be opposed to banning fireworks during years of extreme drought. I still think that personal responsibility plays a large role in this. People need to be more responsible for their actions.

Staples:
Point taken. How about I call it one of the more patriotic displays I saw?

To address some of your other points though:
The flag flying overhead was kick ass, for sure. To be honest, I really hate when people shriek when singing the National Anthem, and I also couldn’t really hear it. An inflatable Statue of Liberty is like an inflatable doll…nothing like the real thing. People gathering for an idea is always important, but how many people just use it as an excuse to get drunk? While I and hopefully many others share your enthusiasm for what Independence Day means, one only needs to watch Jay Walking on the Jay Leno show to understand show how ignorant our nation can be.

]]> By: <img class="identicon" src="http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=e902507cfb09fb833f5a3d378171bdc2&size=35&default=http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-identicon/identicon/6bb2017378fcb52.png" alt="Staples Identicon Icon" height="35" width="35" /> Staples http://andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-11999 Staples Identicon Icon Staples Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:32:26 +0000 http://www.andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-11999 It was the most significant sign of patriotism you'd seen? I guess we don't have a lot of patriotism around here if illegally firing off a few fireworks is the best we can do. What about the flag flying overhead? What about the national anthem? What about the statue of Liberty? What about America the Beautiful? What about the community that had gathered to celebrate the birth of our nation together? What about the notion that from sea to shining sea people were getting excited about everything good and noble and pure that made the United States of America and for one day putting aside partisan politics to agree that we're glad to live in a nation founded on the idea that all men are created equal, even if all men don't act like it? What about the military helicopter, to remind us that people still bravely sign up for military service and give their lives in the service of their country? What the fuck is wrong with us if illegal fireworks are all the patriotism we can see on our Independence Day? It was the most significant sign of patriotism you’d seen? I guess we don’t have a lot of patriotism around here if illegally firing off a few fireworks is the best we can do. What about the flag flying overhead? What about the national anthem? What about the statue of Liberty? What about America the Beautiful? What about the community that had gathered to celebrate the birth of our nation together? What about the notion that from sea to shining sea people were getting excited about everything good and noble and pure that made the United States of America and for one day putting aside partisan politics to agree that we’re glad to live in a nation founded on the idea that all men are created equal, even if all men don’t act like it? What about the military helicopter, to remind us that people still bravely sign up for military service and give their lives in the service of their country? What the fuck is wrong with us if illegal fireworks are all the patriotism we can see on our Independence Day?

]]> By: <img class="identicon" src="http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=3b1b82470763a230f6ccedee80efa531&size=35&default=http://andrewferguson.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-identicon/identicon/697112dfd7a93bd.png" alt="Audrey Identicon Icon" height="35" width="35" /> Audrey http://andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-11998 Audrey Identicon Icon Audrey Fri, 07 Jul 2006 17:22:14 +0000 http://www.andrewferguson.net/2006/07/06/4th-of-july/#comment-11998 It's called FIRE DANGER. You are right that fireworks shouldn't be banned because of a few idiots that can't handle them safely and blow off a hand but I've never heard personal safety cited as a reason to ban them. However, wild fires cost millions of dollars to fight (over $9 million per day) and destroy peoples' lives. You weren't in CO in 2002 when the Haymen fire destroyed 600 homes and 138,000 acres. It was human caused and costed $39.1 million. It’s called FIRE DANGER. You are right that fireworks shouldn’t be banned because of a few idiots that can’t handle them safely and blow off a hand but I’ve never heard personal safety cited as a reason to ban them. However, wild fires cost millions of dollars to fight (over $9 million per day) and destroy peoples’ lives. You weren’t in CO in 2002 when the Haymen fire destroyed 600 homes and 138,000 acres. It was human caused and costed $39.1 million.

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