Independence Day round-up

Happy Holidays to all American friends . . . Here's a little roundup of earlier things that are still pertinent to today. Enjoy!
July 4, 2007 - My “Independence at risk” post today at The Reaction is about how U.S. oligarchy jeopardizes our independence.
July 4, 2005 - My first Fourth of July post - "Again":

Juan Cole's Independence Day post links to a Swiss site with news of another mistake resulting in the death of an innocent person in Iraq. Towards the end of his top post, Professor Cole puts forward a possible explanation of why these shoot-first-ask-questions-later incidents (see my previous post) may be happening. He feels that the suicide car bombers have set our troops up to unintentionally harm innocents. That explanation makes sense to me. It continues to be hard. . . .

July 5, 2005 - The next day I wrote, "Independence Day Writers." I include it because of it personal nostalgic look at how the holiday was for me as a child.

The magic of being online is the reason we come together in this strange community. Maybe, like me, you revisit blogs over and over to read a good author's work, "fresh from the typing fingers." One of my goals has been to spread the word about talented writers. Here are three I checked out to learn what they have to say about yesterday's summer holiday.

1. Wil Wheaton writes his coming of age as a boy fire-worker. In "lite fuse and get away," he reprints a popular piece he blogged some time ago.


2. Lileks writes about returning to his small hometown to be Best Man in his elderly father's wedding.


3. Bobby Farouk reflects metaphorically about walls and fences, prompted by reading an excellent New York Times Magazine article about the separation of church and state.

The Fourth, the name of the holiday in the parts where I grew up, was one of the most exciting days of the year for us kids. It meant going to town for the greatest parade I will ever see, having the absolute best of picnic food, being with extended family and dear friends. Those of us who gathered together, magnificently and in our own ways, marked the day of the founding of our nation. At the end of all that celebration, my dad navigated country roads for over an hour to get us all home safely home to our beds. There I could revisit in dreams the sights, sounds and smells of my country's birthday party.
To you the reader my experience may seem unremarkable. It certainly is only one of millions of small Independence Day stories. But it is in my head to stay. What's in your head about yesterday's holiday?

Energy Independence - This linked post is a recent one titled, "A look at energy - up close and personal." It was written as I reflected on my just-completed 3000 mile car trip in April and May of this year.
Blogger independence - I close with a link to "Does the Inspector General System Work?" This post was of great interest to my many government readers. At one point or other every agency mentioned in the post visited my web site, and several visit repeatedly. I include it here as my declaration of independence from all government intimidation.
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