Somebody Needs to Say It... Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day Hooligans!
May you all enjoy a safe day of fun, relaxation, mountain biking, and please remember the reason for this holiday. Many gave ALL for us to be able to celebrate!

 

We were gonna go up to the high school to be under the fireworks but it looks like the girls would rather go out to the end of our street and watch from there instead.

 

Happy 4th from Dodgertown
All four branches of the armed services represented

 

And then there's this paragon of civic virtue...

https://nypost.com/2019/07/04/nikes...le-turned-betsy-ross-flag-into-racist-symbol/

Nike’s pathetic Colin Kaepernick bungle turned Betsy Ross flag into racist symbol
By Jonah Goldberg

July 4, 2019 | 6:22pm


Enlarge Image

Nike canceled a Betsy Ross flag sneaker after Colin Kaepernick said he found it offensive.Getty Images; Shutterstock

JONAH GOLDBERG
Nike is doing it wrong.

I don’t mean the shoemaking, though that thing with Zion Williamson was pretty bad, I have to say.

No, Nike is doing it wrong because it managed to do something that all the neo-Nazis, Klansmen, alt-righters and other denizens of the lowest coprophagic phylum of our political life could never do: It turned the Betsy Ross flag into a racist symbol.

By now you’ve probably heard that Nike decided to take the advice of Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who ignited so much controversy by refusing to stand for the national anthem. Nike was all set to release a line of sneakers for the Fourth of July featuring the original Betsy Ross American flag with 13 stars in a circle.

According to reports, Kaepernick took offense because a handful of extremist groups like to brandish the original American flag to make some sort of point about something no one should care about. (I gather it has something to do with how this was “their” country before the federal government was formed. Or maybe, like many gibbons, they just like the sparkly stars and bright colors.)

The thing is, most Americans — and when I say most, I mean, like, nearly all of them — had no idea white supremacists were doing this. In countless news stories, reporters contacted experts who either didn’t know about it or were only vaguely aware that this is one of the things these groups like to wear as capes during dress-up time.

“If all these historians didn’t know [the relationship between white supremacy and the Betsy Ross flag], then Nike shouldn’t be expected to know it,” Mary Beth Norton, an American history professor at Cornell University, told CNBC.

Innocuous or even noble symbols can be appropriated for evil purposes. The swastika is an ancient symbol in various Asian cultures. It was adopted in Europe as a symbol of good luck until the Nazis made it their own. The KKK’s pointy hoods may have been inspired by the Catholic capirote of medieval Spain and Portugal, which looks dismayingly similar.
But here’s the thing: When evil people acquire symbols for their own ends, the only guarantee of success is when everyone else validates the acquisition.

If Nike had gone ahead with the special-edition sneakers, it would have been, in marketing terms, the equivalent of Godzilla versus Bambi. A few neo-Nazis and a few more social justice warriors would have complained, and everyone else would have gone about their day totally unconcerned.

Instead, Nike followed the advice of a man whose business model is to stir grievance and controversy for its own sake. Suddenly, millions of people who once thought the Betsy Ross flag was just an admirable bit of Americana now associate it with hate groups. Worse, other entirely decent and patriotic Americans will now likely start brandishing the flag to offend people who, until recently, had no idea some hate groups adopted the flag in the first place.

The ranks of the perpetually offended will misread this trolling-to-own-the-libs effort as an endorsement of hate speech, and the culture war will have yet another idiotic fight on its hands, and a symbol of the country’s founding that should be a uniting image for all Americans will now be reduced to a weapon in that war.

Thanks a lot, Nike.

 

The horror!

 

We did the City of Calabasas fireworks (which is badass by the way), which we do every year. When you buy tickets you get an info sheet that says, among other things, to please allow for 1 hour to exit the venue and parking area. If you do it wrong it could easily take that long. I've been honing the extraction process, parking location, staging, etc, for the last few years. Cracked 30 minutes a few years back. Last year was 21 minutes and I was giddy. This year I hit go on the stopwatch as soon as the last firework cracked. I hit stop when all 4 tires on the car were in my driveway. I looked down and was beside myself. Let this pic serve as proof that with the right mindset, preparation, and dedication your wildest dreams CAN come true.

 

Crescenta Valley High School's fireworks show was a disappointment. It's usually quite grand but it seemed that they were having launch issues because there was several streaks of nothing in the air for up to one minute at a time and there was less fireworks overall. The Grand Finale was not so grand, either. Come on people, get with it! Perhaps the fireworks crew are Trump haters?

 

After the Charles River in Boston, I have no hope or desire for pyrotechnics.

I like being where they are not allowed. Fireworks are for the city. I’m sure the significance of exploding things would be lost on my cats. Just like it’s lost on many pets that are scared by the noise enough to run off.

Exploding stuff for sentimental reasons: No. Appreciating the beauty of our system of government and the sacrifices of many to keep it in place: Yes, please.

Happy 4th. It’s over, go ride your bike.

 

That brought a tear to my eye. Well done, sir!

 

Yep... We're about 50 yards from the fireworks in RSM on the lake. We keep the windows shut and the AC on for the day before and the day after... The pups are scared half to death with all of the insanity.

We used to do the lake thing with our blanket set out the day before, but the last few years I've watched from the upstairs window. This year, I didn't even do that...

 

This. Well, most of it...except for the part about riding my bike because the air is terrible today.