Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

“But what about the lurkers?”

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Books are my comfort food!

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July

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We’ve made it to the 4th of July here on the east coast and there’s only intermittent late night/early morning fireworks going off in the neighborhood. To kick everyone’s Independence Day celebrations off here’s the Presidential Salute Battery of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, the US Army’s Old Guard, with their 4th of July 50 Gun Salute:

And here’s the Old Guard’s Fife and Drum Corps in traditional 18th Century Uniform during the 4th of July parade in DC in 2010:

Here’s the Walt Disney World 4th of July, 2013 Celebrate America fireworks extravaganza at the Magic Kingdom:

And for you Uber Traditionalists:

And in case anyone is wondering, this is what a 4th of July fireworks display looks like when done by an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team:

Reader Interactions

52Comments

  2. 2.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m an AI. I control the horizontal and the vertical!

    I’m a consultant right now, so unless I’m on temporary duty on site somewhere, I work from home. So I can set my own hours as long as I get my work done. And while I can conform to an 0 Dark 30 to 1630 work schedule without much trouble or problem, I’m a natural night owl.

  5. 5.

    Randy P

    I’m seeing ads in Danish at the top of the mobile site. Probably has something to do with the fact that I’m in northern Denmark at the moment. So I’m not expecting to see a lot of fireworks.

    I was mildly curious to see what Europe had to say about American politics. So far the evidence is “not much”. We grabbed a Mirror on our way through London yesterday and the main coverage was about the death of Caroline Aherne, apparently a much-beloved TV comic star.

    Also Jeremy Corbyn fighting for his political life.

    Oh and I guess Wales won their game in the Euro cup.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    Wotta juxtaposition.

    “this is what a 4th of July fireworks display looks like when done by an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team:”

    Video is “Full Trump Anti-Hillary Speech.”

    Can’t say that FYWP doesn’t evince a sense of humor.

  15. 15.

    CaseyL

    I love it that the musical accompaniment to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal display is the Jimi Hendrix version of Star Spangled Banner.

  16. 16.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: I’ve also been fighting this respiratory infection for the past two weeks. So I’m sleeping a lot, as needed, including during the day. My sleep cycle is so screwed up right now.

  19. 19.

    Splitting Image

    I heard some fireworks go off a couple of hours ago in the west end of Toronto. I blame Obama.

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Over the last few years my sleep pattern has kind of divided into a short night sleep and an afternoon nap of varying length. No matter how late I stay up, I almost always wake up/get up around 7:00 a.m. (partly because of demanding, crepuscular housecat), and then most days I take a nap in the mid- or late afternoon. It seems to work, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s not really good “sleep hygiene” and that I should try to get more continuous sleep at night. Hard to do with all the modern distractions.

    ETA: Hope the respiratory infection clears up soon. I had a tracheotomy after an accident as a kid, and for a long time I was prone to bronchitis, pneumonia, etc. No fun at all. It really saps your energy when it’s a big effort just to breathe freely.

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: Actually, from what I understand, that is actually a perfectly normal circadian rhythm. I’ve seen references that indicate that this is what the sleep cycle is supposed to look like. I’m not a sleep researcher, so I have no idea if its true.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Steeplejack: Thanks. I caught it early, went to the doc right away. Got me right on the big antibiotics. Unfortunately the chest part got worse until almost the last day I was on the antibiotics. It isn’t the worst one I’ve ever had, but getting back into the gym is going to be painful. By yesterday I was finally starting to feel human. Even better today. Now just some residual congestion. Going to go and do about 40 minutes of cardio tomorrow and see how far back its set me.

  25. 25.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Total night owl here as well, since forever.

    The older I get, the more sleep has become a suggestion rather than a requirement.

  26. 26.

    Steeplejack

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I know there is research that indicates that pre-industrial people went to bed for long periods—hey, it’s dark, what are we gonna do?—but that they would typically have a wakeful intermission in the middle of the long night’s sleep. I’ve never seen anything about a night/afternoon split, although, now that I think about it, I guess that’s pretty much the siesta thing that Hispanic countries have.

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Yeah, there is the “needing less sleep because older” thing. Kind of weird, because I’ve never considered myself sleep-averse. Heh.

  29. 29.

    Randy P

    @Steeplejack: I have seen plenty of articles suggesting our employers allow afternoon nap time because that’s more natural.

    Italy has siesta too, or at least an early afternoon break in shopping hours. Seems to be a characteristic of places where afternoon is unbearably hot and nobody wants to be on the street.

    I actually HAVE been sleep-averse most of my life. Love being up till wee hours, love seeing sunrises. An irritation of getting older is that I actually need to sleep, and take a couple of days to recover from severe under-sleep.

  30. 30.

    Steeplejack

    And of course we’re discussing this on the one night when I do have to get up fairly early in the morning so I can pick up a friend and drive to Rehoboth Beach. Good times.

  32. 32.

    PurpleGirl

    My sleep cycle has been messed up for two years. I’m fairly awake until 4:00 or so and then I fall asleep for about three hours I’ll have breakfast and then fall asleep in two hour periods for 6 or 7 hours and then I’m awake for the evening and overnight. I don’t get much done. I also sleep in my reclining chair — I have a hard time sleeping flat on my bed.

  34. 34.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Steeplejack: IIRC this is basically right.

    Although really, even Bill Dement, who sort of invented sleep science, said “As far as I know, the only reason we need to sleep that is really, really solid is because we get sleepy.”

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    @PurpleGirl:

    You sound like Marcel Proust! Maybe you should write a gigantic novel. Or line your place with cork and bake some madeleines. Either way is good.

    I sometimes wonder if the split-sleep thing would work better if I were more regimented about it, i.e., tried to do it on a set schedule rather than just winging it on a daily basis.

    Full disclosure: I am going to bed soon, but I always come back to check the comments.

  37. 37.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    Happy 4th y’all. So far it hasn’t been too bad here at the cave for Miss Nikki(the cocker). I’ve been lying low setting up a computer that I tried to give away but no one had much interest in. So I decided to get some cheap ssd’s and duel boot OSX and Linux Mint. It was a bit of a challenge, the dual boot part, but I got it working this afternoon. Now, I’m trying to get Chrome Remote Desktop to work in the Linux boot; it works fine in OSX.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I’m something of a natural night owl, which during my Army days had its advantages and disadvantages. In the field, I was in a position where I pretty much set my own hours, based on mission requirements. In garrison, however, it was rise and shine for PT at 0530. which meant I had to get to bed by 2330 to get at least six hours in a night.

  42. 42.

    Keith G

    Back home after a quick check in at work. Then off to the hospice gig. City streets were very dead. Only encountered two cars in my ramble through near-downtown Houston. Unusual and very nice.

  43. 43.

    Cat48

    The 50 gun salute is the best part of the,Inauguration Ceremoney, after the swear in of the new president. It always gives me chills, another peaceful transfer of power. It doesn’t feel like 50 bc it’s quick.

  44. 44.

    MattF

    Well, just for contrast, I’m a morning person– and have always been one. I get to work about two hours early, drive home early, eat early, go to bed early. Sleep pattern varies– used to have serious insomnia, nowadays it varies, but I no longer get anxious about it.

  45. 45.

    JMG

    Spent 25 years as a newspaper writer in sports and most days worked roughly the 4 to midnight shift. I still woke up early (had children) and the effects on me were not great.
    Worked next 7 years as an editor for an electronic information services firm with much international business. Worked from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., working at home. Began going to bed very early, like 9.
    Now retired, settled into a roughly 10 pm to 6 am sleep cycle. It isn’t so much when I sleep, it’s the hour or so of slow wake up (black coffee, sports section, total silence) time I need that determines how well I function.
    Also, as a result of many early morning wake up calls to make airplanes, I have enormous trouble sleeping the night before I travel, even if it’s just a drive of a few hours.

  46. 46.

    msdc

    And here’s the Old Guard’s Fife and Drum Corps in traditional 18th Century Uniform during the 4th of July parade in DC in 2010

    Sadly, not the only people who were marching around DC in tricorner hats in 2010.

  47. 47.

    Miss Bianca

    As for me, I’m a night owl forced to become a day person. The results are not awesome – now I just want to go to bed early and sleep late!

  49. 49.

    J R in WV

    Well, I can take sleep as it comes, as long as there are at least 4 or 5 hours in there somewhere.

    I grew up in a home where Dad was working 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon, then home for 2 or 3 hours, and them back to work until the wee hours, 2 or 3 am. He ran a morning newspaper with a press roll of midnight, and wanted to be there to read that edition closely. Then he would spend some quiet time getting something written for the next day’s editorial page.

    Thus Mom split her sleep, getting us kids to bed so we could do school in the mornings, then being up with Dad for a couple of hours in the wee hours, and then getting us up at 5:30 or 6 am to catch a school bus. Or driving us to school sometimes.

    I like being up in the wee hours, it’s quiet, there’s webbage to read, or re-read a good.

  50. 50.

    bemused senior

    I know this is a dead thread, but I loved the You-Tube selection and am going to play it on the big TV for my twin 9 month old grand-babies in a while. Thanks, Adam!

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