Two hundred and Forty-Six years ago, a bunch of folks smarter than us (certainly smarter than me) managed to give the bird to mother England, callsign LOTHAR (Loser Of THe American Revolution), and chart a course for a people unmatched in the millennia of recorded history. The oppression and taxes too great, freedoms too few, these wise folks put all their chips on the table and doubled down for future generations. This country has since become a beacon of hope to people everywhere.


For all of our problems, squabbles, and sparring, this two hundred something year old experiment in Democracy is working and we should strive harder to make it better. Sure, there may be a small handful of countries that may seem, oh I dunno, nicer, due to the lottery of geography, they have not needed to do the heavy lifting of the world. They have not become the melting pot, the inventors, or the facilitator of PAX AMERICANA, nor the bastion of Hope. Having spent time in other countries, including behind the Iron Curtain for a brief stint, we are lucky beyond words by lottery of birth.

This week, embrace your freedoms, reflect on your good fortune, and please do an extra 10%. An extra ten as a parent, child, friend, and citizen. Try to cross the divide with those you may disagree with. The alternatives are far worse than most can comprehend. The hard part has been done, let's not make it harder for ourselves for the next 246 years.

So what's up for the weekend?

Happy 4th
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Excellent post John, happy 4th.

Happy 4th all
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Travel down to PA for graduation party for my younger brother's two sons' graduation (one from HS and one from college). Then blow our hair back and ring our ears on his new go fast boat.

At times it feels like the experiment is coming undone. Mostly when you watch the "news", which I have pretty much stopped doing. Even when I try to watch I can only stand maybe five minutes tops before the language they use turns me off completely. Waiting for mid terms to see if things get fixed up a bit. I am thinking there are a few folks in for a very very rude awakening, but only because...well I am not going there.

All that and fireworks and a party for my birthday on Monday. Officially old now (and obviously working on the grumpy part). Medicare qualified! Some people get all excited about that. Pretty much not me.

Have a great long holiday weekend!

I don,t know how much independence we actually have .much more I.m proud to me a AMERICAN ... an without never traveling much Im, thankful that I have lived my life where I have ..
The older I get the more thankful I am for the millions of men an woman that gave up everything / many their lives so we could still be the USA that they fought for ........... don,t know if the people that live here now would do that if something happened soon . I appreciate what i have an had more each day .
its really sad to see what has happened an whats going on right now ,,,,,,,,,,, we had the qivil war ,north verus the south .......... brother against brather... how close are we to the red against the blue ....its worse than many realize ..........
just be thankful for your families , the GOOD friends that you have an had ...... the older an less active you get you think alot more about the past //////////////lifestyle , friends, family , activities , an sooooooo many things ,, I would be so excited to be able to do the real crazy,active stuff like before . yet I,m thankful for doing it went I could .
For me its more of a time to reflect . miss people and things , be sad/ an glad .but even thro it it hurts , I,m mostly content i lived a good ,if not great life .
i just really hope we get our #^&#^&#^&#^& together before its too late an we stay the country that I lived in .
The next [war] we are not going to be so fortunite ......................... and for almost 22 years SB has been a large part of my life ............met an have and had many true friends.
I truly don,t don,t how my live would have turned out without the support of this site while Sheila was battleing cancer & then I getting it .in the middle of her battle an the outpouring of love you all showed at her service .I cry when I think of it ... honestly I cry when I think of alot of things . BUT not those 1st two trips to Cutty ,

the rain rain , the round rocks , the suit case full of clothes ............. the walkie/talkies ..........the diapers .........

Just THANKYOU to all .. it was one hell of a ride

sincerely MIKE ><>< love you all .well most of you :jump:

Spend today at my desk in the central air, out of the heat and humidity, doing end of the quarter invoices. Saturday looks to be mostly a washout with T-storms in morning and afternoon. Sunday I fish early. BIL arrives from Va. that night, hopefully before having to drive through fireworks traffic and detours in next town over. Festival of Arts begins in earnest today. Concerts etc. Should be able to fish Monday AM as well if the water isn't all nasty from people being pigs on their boats... Monday Harbor Illumination and fireworks here. Will need a few tides to clean up. Be back out fishing mid-week with BIL and SIL. (SIL and I don't speak Polish, so going to be trying to institute a mostly English conversation policy.... MIL will be the problem. She just looks at me and says "Too bad.")

If you are looking for a place to go with stuff to do, https://www.marbleheadfestival.org/2022-schedule-summary
https://www.marbleheadfestival.org/pa-2022-line-up
Music is pretty good! One of the best times to see our town...

I don,t know how much independence we actually have .much more I.m proud to me a AMERICAN ... an without never traveling much Im, thankful that I have lived my life where I have ..
The older I get the more thankful I am for the millions of men an woman that gave up everything / many their lives so we could still be the USA that they fought for ........... don,t know if the people that live here now would do that if something happened soon . I appreciate what i have an had more each day .
its really sad to see what has happened an whats going on right now ,,,,,,,,,,, we had the qivil war ,north verus the south .......... brother against brather... how close are we to the red against the blue ....its worse than many realize ..........
just be thankful for your families , the GOOD friends that you have an had ...... the older an less active you get you think alot more about the past //////////////lifestyle , friends, family , activities , an sooooooo many things ,, I would be so excited to be able to do the real crazy,active stuff like before . yet I,m thankful for doing it went I could .
For me its more of a time to reflect . miss people and things , be sad/ an glad .but even thro it it hurts , I,m mostly content i lived a good ,if not great life .
i just really hope we get our #^&#^&#^&#^& together before its too late an we stay the country that I lived in .
The next [war] we are not going to be so fortunite ......................... and for almost 22 years SB has been a large part of my life ............met an have and had many true friends.
I truly don,t don,t how my live would have turned out without the support of this site while Sheila was battleing cancer & then I getting it .in the middle of her battle an the outpouring of love you all showed at her service .I cry when I think of it ... honestly I cry when I think of alot of things . BUT not those 1st two trips to Cutty ,

the rain rain , the round rocks , the suit case full of clothes ............. the walkie/talkies ..........the diapers .........

Just THANKYOU to all .. it was one hell of a ride

sincerely MIKE ><>< love you all .well most of you :jump:

Jesus, I understood every word you said !
and took it to heart,,, Happy Fourth Mike and the rest of you ya hoots..

Happy Independence Day SB.
If all goes well, I’ll be chasing fluke and striper Sunday and Monday.
Another event on the 4th, the lead of her continuing to grow class USS Arleigh Burke DDG-51 turns 31 on Monday. I’m proud to have manned the rails on that warship that commissioning day.
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happy 4 th. to all. Clammer was not aware your wife had passed. So sorry for your loss. If you are interested I would like to share an event that happened to me some 40 years ago that changed my perception of death. If you want to get a coffee and talk pm me.
at one time I bought a grapple anchor from you. Mike

I don,t know how much independence we actually have .much more I.m proud to me a AMERICAN ... an without never traveling much Im, thankful that I have lived my life where I have ..
The older I get the more thankful I am for the millions of men an woman that gave up everything / many their lives so we could still be the USA that they fought for ........... don,t know if the people that live here now would do that if something happened soon . I appreciate what i have an had more each day .
its really sad to see what has happened an whats going on right now ,,,,,,,,,,, we had the qivil war ,north verus the south .......... brother against brather... how close are we to the red against the blue ....its worse than many realize ..........
just be thankful for your families , the GOOD friends that you have an had ...... the older an less active you get you think alot more about the past //////////////lifestyle , friends, family , activities , an sooooooo many things ,, I would be so excited to be able to do the real crazy,active stuff like before . yet I,m thankful for doing it went I could .
For me its more of a time to reflect . miss people and things , be sad/ an glad .but even thro it it hurts , I,m mostly content i lived a good ,if not great life .
i just really hope we get our #^&#^&#^&#^& together before its too late an we stay the country that I lived in .
The next [war] we are not going to be so fortunite ......................... and for almost 22 years SB has been a large part of my life ............met an have and had many true friends.
I truly don,t don,t how my live would have turned out without the support of this site while Sheila was battleing cancer & then I getting it .in the middle of her battle an the outpouring of love you all showed at her service .I cry when I think of it ... honestly I cry when I think of alot of things . BUT not those 1st two trips to Cutty ,

the rain rain , the round rocks , the suit case full of clothes ............. the walkie/talkies ..........the diapers .........

Just THANKYOU to all .. it was one hell of a ride

sincerely MIKE ><>< love you all .well most of you :jump:
Love you, Mike!

Jesus, I understood every word you said !

Wait for it...wait for it...

yeah ,Clam just about anytime .especially in this heat ><> or we could rob a ice cream truck an watch it all melt ><>

Wait for it...wait for it...

LOL

yeah ,Clam just about anytime .especially in this heat ><> or we could rob a ice cream truck an watch it all melt ><>

there it is….. soooo funny

stay cool Mike

Brother-in-law arrived last evening. I am hoping to drive his truck around town just to see some reactions...

Brother-in-law arrived last evening. I am hoping to drive his truck around town just to see some reactions...

The 3 percenter anti-government militia. sticker says more than the FU45 sticker ..

Saw a few 3 per enter flags being flown along side America flags in the back of pick ups today kinda ironic on 4th of July

https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/three-percenters

Interesting read. Started in 2008 is based on an inaccurate historical claim that only three percent of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British.

It’s not that any more
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