Thanks TLD, and everyone else!
Whoopee!! Firecrackers and jet fighters over the ocean tonight!
It’s baseball, beer, and barbecue for jackelope! Actually first it’s walking the dog in the approximately 250-degree heat, but after that it’s baseball, beer, barbecue, and black powder!
Our local PBS station re-aired Ken Burns’s documentary about Mark Twain this morning, which I watched all of and ended up very nearly in tears.
And thanks, cjhoworth, for confirming my own feelings. America is fascinating for all the wild, mosh-pit lunacy that comes from taking people from all over the world, putting them together under one roof, giving them as few rules as possible, and letting them govern themselves. It’s not always pretty, but it’s always exciting because it’s never been done before.
Happy Independence Day, everyone!
Hey jackelope, have a great time at that ball game, complete with fireworks! (that goes for that barbecue too… sounds yummy)
Have a great day, America… may this year bring you another step closer to understanding everyone’s differences. No, that was not a dig… it’s just the best I can come up with at this time.
F_X
Thanks, y’all! 
Aww, happy birthday, old bat. You don’t look a day over fifty. Now come here. <grabs America, throwing him/her/it over lap> Time for a spanking! 226? Looks like I’m gonna be here a LOOONG time!!
Thanks to every doper in a foreign country who wished us a happy birthday!! I know that lots of people look down on Ann Landers, but if you receive a newspaper that carries her column, please read it and reflect on its message. I found it to be quite elegant in its simplicity.
Thanks Osiris 