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BS: Happy Fourth...
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BS: Happy Fourth... |
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Subject: BS: Happy Fourth... From: MGM·Lion Date: 04 Jul 14 - 02:34 AM ... to all my friends among the real life nephews - and nieces - of their Uncle Sam ~~ ❤♥~Michael~♥❤ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Dave the Gnome Date: 04 Jul 14 - 03:44 AM Yes - Have a great day all you USers. Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 04 Jul 14 - 04:09 AM Sincere good wishes to all in the US. Have an excellent Fourth! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: gnu Date: 04 Jul 14 - 07:13 AM Ditto to all! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Rapparee Date: 04 Jul 14 - 10:56 AM Thank you, and we're sorry abut all that tea. Just some hotheads polluting Boston Harbor. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Bill D Date: 04 Jul 14 - 11:44 AM Thank you, Michael.... the current hurricane has failed to interfere with TOO much of the local festivities, and we are struggling to preserve as much of those noble sentiments Rap posted as possible. The fireworks have become an end-in-themselves, but many of us will see "♫the rocket's red glare..♫" as a reminder of the great opportunity that document represents. onward... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: wysiwyg Date: 04 Jul 14 - 12:20 PM One USer's view... I can't stomach the celebratory approach that buy into the myth of our founding. Make no mistake, the US founders never meant their enslaved workers to enjoy the wealth and health they did. Genocide was being perpetrated THEN and proclaimed as God's "Manifest Destiny" (AKA Doctrine of Discovery) (AKA Genocide in favor of European greed). That bamboozle was carried out on the backs of white working class people taught to help their masters seize the land from the darker skinned people who were already there... and then enforced upon the darker-skinned people "bought" to work jobs that led to early deaths for the Black workforce.... who were never meant (by the founders) to live long enough to enjoy the liberty Lincoln proclaimed or survive generationally to enjoy what we do, today. And that, my dear friends, is White Privilege, in a nutshell, once one does their homework to see what is all too evident to me. If you see it too, can I get an AMEN? ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Bill D Date: 04 Jul 14 - 01:11 PM "...the US founders never meant.." *sigh*... Susan... all of them? You read minds from that far back? I have ALWAYS disputed such generalizations. I wish you hadn't used this occasion to voice those opinions |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: fat B****rd Date: 04 Jul 14 - 01:57 PM A happy 4th of July to all my American friends especially those suffering in whatever manner and those "I haven't met yet" ATB from Charlie. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Joe Offer Date: 04 Jul 14 - 04:04 PM I've been leading a small group from church and the community, singing patriotic songs at nursing homes. We're scheduled to sing at eight nursing homes this year. On July 2, we sang at a memory care home for patients with dementia. A man fell out of his chair at the beginning of the show, but the staff asked us to keep singing for the assembled audience while the paramedics came and wheeled him away. That was a bit of a challenge, but we kept singing. We sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the end, and several of the residents stood up and placed their hands on their hearts as they sang along. I was really moved by how much these songs meant to these people - and how they knew the words, even though they suffered from severe dementia. Here are the background notes I wrote up for our performance. I have the sheet more-or-less memorized, and then I tell stories based on this information. I try to play on nostalgia for past experiences and celebrations, and people seem to respond very well:
Poem by Katharine Lee Bates, published in The Congregationalist in 1893, as a poem without music. The music was written by Samuel A. Ward in 1882, and used in a hymn called "O Mother Dear Jerusalem." It's not clear when the words and music were first performed together, but they appeared in a hymnal published by the YMCA in 1910. In the 1920s, there was a campaign to make this the National Anthem, but "The Star-Spangled Banner" was chosen as the national anthem in 1931. 2. You're a Grand Old Flag was written by George M. Cohan, originally published in January of 1906 as "You're a Grand old RAG." People protested that this was disrespectful, so it was re-published in June of that year as "You're a Grand Old Flag." It was used in the musical play, "George Washington, Jr." Historical Tidbit: The San Francisco Earthquake occurred at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906 - 7.9 on the Richter Scale. 3. When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again appeared in the early 1860's, and was very popular among soldiers fighting in the Civil War. About the same time, an anti-war song titled "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye" became popular in Ireland, and we don't know which of the two songs came first. We think the tune came from an older song titled "John Anderson, My Jo." 4. God Bless America - Irving Berlin was born Israel Isidore Baline in Russia in 1888. When he was only five years old, he moved with his family to New York after their home was burned down in an anti-Jewish persecution. You can imagine he was proud to be an American after escaping something so horrible. He lived until 1989, and wrote almost a thousand songs. Just after he became a United States Citizen, Irving Berlin was drafted to serve in the Army during World War I. He was stationed at Camp Yaphank on Long Island, and in 1918 organized the soldiers to put on a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank. One of the songs he wrote for the revue was "God Bless America," but he dropped the song from the show because it was too serious for a comedy show. Twenty years later, Kate Smith introduced the song on Armistice Day, November 11, 1938. In 1943, Irving Berlin costarred with George Murphy and a young actor named Ronald Reagan in a movie titled You're in the Army Now. The movie was a restaging of the Yip Yip Yaphank - and Kate Smith sang "God Bless America" in the movie. Irving Berlin sang "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" in the movie. Irving Berlin assigned the royalties from "God Bless America" to the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America. 5. I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy - was written by George M. Cohan in 1904 for the Broadway musical, Little Johnny Jones. George M. Cohan lived from 1878-1942, and wrote over 500 songs. He wrote, produced, and starred in over three dozen Broadway musicals. His baptismal certificate shows that he was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on July 3, 1878 - but Cohan always claimed he was "born on the fourth of July." James Cagney (1899-1986) played Cohan in two movies, and sang this song in a movie titled I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy- the movie was a biography of George M. Cohan, and there was a Broadway musical in the 1960s titled George M! that was also a biography of Cohan. 6. Battle Hymn of the Republic - There was a hymn published in 1858 titled "Say Brothers Will You Meet Us," and it became very popular. On October 16, 1859, an Abolitionist named John Brown led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. He planned to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal. He was thwarted, however, by local farmers, militiamen, and Marines led by Robert E. Lee. After Brown was hanged for his crime, a song titled "John Brown" was published in 1861. It begins with the words, "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in his grave. Another abolitionist, Julia Ward Howe, wrote a poem titled "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and it was published in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine in February, 1862 - and in newspapers a month earlier. It became one the favorite songs of soldiers during the Civil War. There have been all sorts of great parodies of this song. One of them, "John Brown's Baby Had a Cold Upon his Chest" appeared in a songbook in 1923. 7. This Land Is Your Land - Remember that "God Bless America" was published in 1938, and it became a great sensation. Woody Guthrie heard that song over and over again, and it bothered him - because he thought the song didn't pay any attention to the thousands and thousands of people who were still out of work because of the Depression. In 1940, he wrote a song he titled "God BLESSED America." Later on he changed the song to "This Land Was Made For You and Me." Woody wrote one verse of this song that he was afraid would be forgotten. He was right to be afraid, because the popular versions of this song omitted the verse. In honor of Woody, I'll read it to you now:
By the Relief Office, I saw my people - As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering...if God Blessed America for me. 8. Military Service Medley. A. Anchors Aweigh - means "hoist the anchor," or "the anchors have been hoisted." There was a very popular band director who served at the Naval Academy in Annapolis for many years. His name was Lieutenant Charles A. Zimmerman, but he was known affectionately as "Zimmy." Every year, he wrote a new march for the graduating class. In 1906, a midshipman named Alfred Hart Miles asked Zimmerman to write a march for the class of 1907, and Miles wrote the lyrics for the song that came to be known as "Anchors Aweigh." It was first performed at the Army-Navy football game - and Navy won. Zimmerman died in 1916, only 54 years old. Miles made the Navy a career, and retired as a Captain. B. Marines' Hymn - this song was believed to have been written in the 19th century, making it the oldest of the official service songs - but no 19th-century printing of the song has been found. The "Halls of Montezuma refer to the storming of a castle outside Mexico City in 1847, during the Mexican-American War. The shores of Tripoli refer to the American landing in Libya in 1805, during the First Barbary War. C. The U.S. Air Force - Nobody seems to know the official name of this song, but it's simply "The U.S. Air Force," previously "The Army Air Corps." It was written in 1939, and officially adopted in 1979. The songwriter, Robert MacArthur Crawford, won a $1,000 prize for his entry in the songwriting competition. Irving Berlin and Meredith Willson also entered. Crawford flew cargo planes in the Air Corps during World War II, and worked as a music professor and composer after the War. Crawford was a graduate of Princeton and later studied and taught at the Julliard School of Music, so he had some pretty impressive credentials. D. The Caisson Song - is credited to Edmund L. Gruber, one of three Lieutenants who wrote this song when they were stationed in the Philippines in 1908. Two of the three later became generals, so they did pretty well for themselves. In 1956, the Army had the song rewritten, and it became "The Army Goes Rolling Along," a song that nobody knows and nobody sings. On the other hand, "The Caisson Song" is still very well-known and popular. A caisson, by the way, is a two-wheeled cart used for carrying ammunition. A gun or cannon is often towed behind the caisson. 9. America - the words were written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831, and it was first performed with the music in 1832. Smith (1808-1895) was an American clergyman and hymnwriter. The tune for "America" is "God Save the King," which was written in 1744. It may seem strange for such a popular American patriotic song to use such a tune so soon after the Revolution and the War of 1812, but that's what happened. In fact, the tune was used for a number of American patriotic songs at the time. Sometimes, we sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" if the mood and our voices are up to it, and then we close with "You Are My Sunshine." I keep trying to add new songs, but the singers are most comfortable with the program we have - and the audiences like these songs and often sing along. We usually have a quartet of teenage girls who sing a couple of special pieces with us, but they weren't available this year. They do a great rendition of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B." -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: MGM·Lion Date: 04 Jul 14 - 06:38 PM "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy - was written by George M. Cohan in 1904" -- .,,. My OP message is of course a [slightly creative] quote from this wonderful song. I love Cagney's rendering of it from his George M Cohan bio-film, Yankee Doodle Dandy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StDpLge_ITM&feature=related This Youtube rendering also includes a fine spirited version by Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland, from Babes On Broadway (Busby Berkeley & Vincente Minnelli, 1941). ~M~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Ebbie Date: 04 Jul 14 - 06:48 PM Last night I dreamt that I sang The Star Spangled Banner for and with a large group of strangers- and when I got to the highest note my voice cracked. It didn't actually crack - it broke. I wished that I had started it on a lower pitch. FWIW, #1- I would know well in advance what key to start in. #2- there is no way I would sing the song for strangers in public. Whatta matta me?! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Joe Offer Date: 04 Jul 14 - 08:43 PM I've watched Cagney's performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy a number of times, and I always enjoy it. They say Cagney's style of performance was very much like Cohan's. I'd love to see a performance of George M., but I've never had the chance. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: GUEST Date: 04 Jul 14 - 08:57 PM that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness Love the USA. May you finally start to understand what your own consitution means. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: ChanteyLass Date: 04 Jul 14 - 09:02 PM I hope all of you in the US are having a great Independence Day. As usual I spent this holiday at Mystic Seaport. In addition to the usual demonstrations and exhibits, the seaport has a parade that includes the costumed role-players and seaport visitors, especially children, followed by patriotic songs and speeches at the bandstand. At least that's what usually happens! However, the rain caused by Hurricane Arthur's sideswipe eliminated the parade and moved everything indoors to Greenmanville Church. The drive to the seaport was easy. The drive home was less so, Most of the way Rt. 95 has a 65 mph speed limit. Because of fairly heavy rain and fear of hydroplaning, I drove home at about 55 mph, and most other drivers were cautious, too. Everything is fine here at home, but I understand many parts of the state lost electricity. If you are not in the US, I hope you had a wonderful nonholiday! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: GUEST,j-boy Date: 04 Jul 14 - 10:08 PM I still believe in the idealism of our founding fathers. It is up to every generation of Americans to bring those ideals a little bit closer to reality. We are a people on a mission. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Bill D Date: 04 Jul 14 - 10:33 PM We had a music gathering tonight. We actually sang "It's a Grand Old Flag" and "This Land Is Your Land" and a couple of others. I will add one verse I heard many years ago... ♫"This land was my land, it was not your land, Until you stole Manhattan Island. You drove Our Nation to the reservation. This land was swiped by you from me."♫ makes one think.. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: LadyJean Date: 04 Jul 14 - 11:16 PM My 7 or 8 generations back grandfather died fighting in the war for Independence. He was a Dubliner, originally, and a Presbyterian. Which, ont he other side of the pond, made him a second class citizen. I suspect that's why he went to war. (That and no Irish Protestant can resist a good fight.) God bless my country and it's beautiful libel laws, which allow me to write all kinds of beautifully snarky satire, as long as I aim my poison pen at public figures. Which I do. Oh how I do. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: Mrrzy Date: 04 Jul 14 - 11:45 PM What a great day. And did you know there isn't supposed to be a period after "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?" - the full sentence reads: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Whew. Ipse Dixit, translated by I believe Heinlein as "he sure said a mouthful." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: GUEST,J-boy Date: 05 Jul 14 - 12:49 AM Viva la revolucion! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: GUEST,Dani Date: 05 Jul 14 - 05:56 PM Oh, Joe, that must have been a great day : ) Wish I could have joined you! Hard to believe my little historic town has not in anyone's recent memory had a 'town' celebration, though we are the spot where the pre-Revolutionary Revolutionaries (The Regulators) got fed up and caused trouble ... and most of them swung for it. The lack of public observance changed recently, and I'm so glad. A few weeks ago there was a bit of a memorial service at the site where the Regulators were hung, and yesterday there was a little parade, some good singing, then a reading of the Declaration. And I got to read part of it! Then, a community picnic, food trucks and all. I brought my favorite 4th poem to read in case they asked, but they didn't : ) so I'll have to be a bit more forward next year. So fun. I think this is my favorite holiday (my own birthday aside : ) This past year I've been steeped (HA!) in American history, reading about the Mayflower and colonies, the Revolution, and various and sundry other recollections. Boy, I wish they REALLY taught this stuff in school. I think there's not been a Getaway workshop that touches on these themes of patriotism, etc. I'm also thinking it might be fun to dust off/dig up songs about US Presidents? Dani |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: gnu Date: 05 Jul 14 - 09:08 PM Mrrzy... thanks for the reminder. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Happy Fourth... From: GUEST,mg Date: 06 Jul 14 - 03:49 PM I dont think we should let our cynicism overtake our idealism..nor should we defend the undefendible..it has been a haven for the oppressed but also an oppressor..i saw a plywood board painted by some kids..a flag and the words liberty freedom justice...it could be worse and it can be better...freedom can spread.. |
