4th of July

Go Team America

Feel free to listen to this song while reading this post.

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday, and it should be yours too. Why? First of all, if you live in the United States it means you get a day off (ironically, I’m posting this from work). Second, you get to party with friends and say phrases that include, but are not limited to: “These colors don’t run” “I love ‘Murica” and of course just your best impression of an eagle screech. Oh, and let’s not forget the best reason for the 4th of July, fireworks.

I live in Louisville, so 4th of July is not the only time of the year where I am exposed to fireworks because we also have what is known at “Thunder Over Louisville” where two bridges are essentially lined with a TON of fireworks, and its such a spectacular show that they can see it from space (so I’ve been told). Something about it though is just so special though, the nationalism, the fellowship with your buddies. I think a lot of it comes from growing up near a military base and remembering sitting outside and getting to watch two fireworks shows from my house.

It’s actually sad that I’m inside at work right now instead of going to a fireworks show. If I could leave, go to a grill and munch on some grilled food and watch fireworks while losing my hearing, today would be awesome. Instead I’m inside, playing country music for the good people of southern Indiana. Honestly, if I didn’t have one or two callers mentioning it being the 4th of July, the only reasons I would know is that it says it on my computer and there were tiny american flags put up around my apartment. I see you, flag distributors, I see you.

You can’t pick these up at Wal-mart

To me, the 4th of July means going out and celebrating with your friends and family. Sitting under the stars watching the fireworks go off and picking which one you think is the coolest, and then also deciding which were more noisey than they were cool. It’s about eating so much that you hate yourself, but doing it anyway because it’s your right to do so and calories mean less on a holiday. It means wearing you ridiculous american flag shirt or pants because you want to let everyone know that we live in a free country where we can say or do pretty much anything we want (within the limits of the law).

What does the 4th of July mean to you? Do you have any favorite memories? Who do you celebrate with?

– Dave

Freedom Friday

I know, I know.   Independence day is on Saturday this year. That’s not the point.   The point is ‘Murica! Yeah! Not really.   The point is what true freedom means, at least to me.

America is turning 239 tomorrow (despite some people apparently thinking that America is turning 2015; I’m not making this up.   Check this out: http://read.bi/1UktZ1H). We’ve had an interesting couple of weeks in the good ol’ U.S. of A. Obamacare was upheld AGAIN, gay marriage was legalized and key components of “three strikes” laws. If you don’t know what “three strikes laws” are, it behooves you to look that up.

For this post, suffices to say “three strikes” comes from the baseball concept of “three strikes and you’re out.” Only in this case, 3 infractions no matter how big or small and you go to prison for the rest of your life.   Obviously this has inherent problems that end up with non-violent drug offenders going to jail much more often than they probably should. These laws also tend to disproportionally affect minorities.   It’s pretty sad. I, personally, believe rehabilitation would be a better option than permanent incarceration.  It would be better for society and also cheaper.

Needless to say, those are SCOTUS laws that I was happy about. I know there was a lot of controversy over the first two. Although, I’m not sure that people really disagree with Obamacare as much as the media would have you believe. It may be my liberal bubble, but I find that a lot of disagreements come from people who think the ACA didn’t go far enough towards universal healthcare (me) and from people who don’t understand the law in general. Gay marriage is a whole other beast. Once “deeply held religious beliefs” get involved, there seem to be no holds barred with the things people believe and do.

However, despite what you believe, we do live in a magnificent country that allows you to have dissenting opinions. You don’t have to agree with the SCOTUS ruling; you don’t have to agree with the zeitgeist inspiring the Confederate flag being under fire in recent weeks. Literally nothing will happen to you if you simply disagree with the way things are going. That’s great. If you act on your disagreements by doing something illegal, (e.g killing people, setting things on fire, etc.) that’s where you get in trouble.   But otherwise, we now have even more freedoms than we’ve ever had.

We still have a ways to go before we realize, what I believe to be, true freedom. Despite the progress we’ve made, discrimination of all kinds is still very real. It would be ideal that, under the law, we are all equally protected, equally compensated for equal work, incarcerated less for minor offenses, and not persecuted in the work place for what we choose to do with our personal life (within reason). It really comes down to us all being able to express ourselves and mind our own business.   We’re truly the freest in those circumstances.

Again, the beauty of America and the freedoms we have is that I can express my opinion here on this blog.   Effectively, I’m shouting this out to a world of people and someone might hear or they might not. Whoever finds themselves reading this, they can choose to believe it or they can think I’m crazy and move on with their lives.   There are many countries where expressing opinions like this my get me in serious legal trouble. But not here: Cause ‘Murica.  I do think certain countries do some things better than we do, but I’m hoping we’re constantly moving in the right direction, incorporating the best ideas and best methods of keeping the peace, freedom and equality… or at least working towards it.

I got all political there for a second, but have a safe and happy 4^th, everybody! Fill your day with things that make you happy and don’t harm others. More importantly: Don’t be a dick.

-Gretchen