Happy July 4th America.

[joninliverton]

Well July 4th is well under way and for the first time in a long time not a thread on the subject. Maybe you all add your festivities on the evening of the 3rd and are all hung over. Anyway here's wishing ALL you Americans a happy July 4th and have a good holiday weekend.

See even Putin and Obama are making up lol - http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/04/world/europe/russia-us-relations/index.html?hpt=hp_t3



Moscow (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he hoped for better ties with the United States in a July Fourth message to his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama.
The Independence Day wishes come at a time when relations between the two nations are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War, fueled by tensions over Russia's actions in Ukraine.
According to the Kremlin website, Putin "expressed a hope for the successful development of the relationship between both countries, based on equal rights and utilitarianism, despite all the difficulties and disagreements they are facing at the moment."
Putin also said that since the two nations are responsible for global security, they "should cooperate in the interests of not just their own people, but the entire world."

He urged the building of a bilateral relationship based on "mutual respect" and understanding of each other's interests.
Moscow has repeatedly complained that the West has not taken its legitimate interests in Ukraine into consideration or treated it as an equal partner.
The United States and European Union have imposed targeted economic sanctions on Russian individuals and companies in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in March, despite condemnation from the West. Its amassing of troops along the border with Ukraine has led to heightened tensions.
The EU and the United States have repeatedly warned Moscow that more economic sanctions could be imposed if it doesn't act to defuse the crisis.
In a bid to end the pro-Russia separatist unrest roiling the east of his country, Ukraine's new President Petro Poroshenko has proposed a peace plan that calls for the rebels to lay down their arms and engage in talks. He also urged the strengthening of Ukraine-Russia border controls, the freeing of hostages and changes to the constitution to decentralize power.
NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Moscow last week "to create conditions for the implementation of the peace plan, to end its support for separatist troops, and to stop the flow of weapons and fighters across its border."

 

[louis33705]

Thank you, Jon. However, many activities have been either changed or cancelled due to Hurricane Arthur traveling up the East Coast of the U.S.

Thank you also for posting the article concerning Putin's message. I grew up in the era of the Hippies where the motto was, "Make Love not War!" I still live by that belief and practice today.

Peace, Brother!
Louis

 

[joninliverton]

Oh I was wondering why the normal hype was missing. We have heard recently of hot temps in Vegas and in CA but nothing about the hurricane. Anyway have a great day xx

 

[louis33705]

Again, thank you, Jon. The link below is a song that is sung at the end of most of our celebrations. Below that is a picture of my Father (WWII) on the left and me (Viet Nam) on the right. Yes, I am Proud to be an American. My Dad served in the Army Air Corps and I served in the Air Force.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E

 

[another1]

there is no established church, but powerful people use the freedom of religion as a device to impost their tenets on the rest of us.
there is no king quartering troops in our homes, but moneyed people buy our representatives and suck the lifeforce from our sweet democracy.
until we regain we regain control from the private forces, the revolution continues. someone else's tax and someone else's beliefs were important reasons for the separation.
Happy Fourth of July!

what if the british has granted home rule?
the future king would be emperor of America. no Louisiana purchase, no civil war!
spain would cede much of southwest America to britain after one of their armed conflicts
Britain and Russia would eye the Louisiana territory with bad intent.
welcome to world I call my mind. Happy Fourth!

thank you for your service!

 

[joninliverton]

there is no established church, but powerful people use the freedom of religion as a device to impost their tenets on the rest of us.
there is no king quartering troops in our homes, but moneyed people buy our representatives and suck the lifeforce from our sweet democracy.
until we regain we regain control from the private forces, the revolution continues. someone else's tax and someone else's beliefs were important reasons for the separation.
Happy Fourth of July!

what if the british has granted home rule?
the future king would be emperor of America. no Louisiana purchase, no civil war!
spain would cede much of southwest America to britain after one of their armed conflicts
Britain and Russia would eye the Louisiana territory with bad intent.
welcome to world I call my mind. Happy Fourth!

thank you for your service!

Jeez dude, roll on christmas..

 

[another1]

Christmas is about joy and faith. all celebrations have their purpose.
I just don't want someone's faith or power to control major political policy.
it a personal thing. when the flag parades in front of me, I tear up.
here is someone who says I better than I.

http://religiondispatches.org/the-fourth-of-july-is-not-americas-birthday/

 

[Ambivalent]

Hey, guys,

I would also like to add my good wishes, for everyone who is celebrating the Fourth of July, today. (And I hope that Hurricane Arthur, fearful as it is, will not cause too much damage, or any injury, as it passes - I know this is a major concern.)

While I have always thought that the U.S.A. might have been better off it had stuck with US - LOL! - it seems you've done very well, all on your own ;-) Yes, the U.S. has been much-criticized over the past 100 years, but, I think that, in historical terms, it's well to remember (also) that, while governments come and go (some of them better, some of them worse, according to one's own lights) the people of the U.S.A. themselves are amongst the most generous and charitable, on earth.

This was impressed upon me by an old radio broadcast by a crusty Scots-Canadian newspaperman, Gordon Sinclair, which aired when I was just a little lad. It has always stuck with me. Though some of his illustrations are time-worn, I think his sentiments about the American people and their idealism and generosity, are still relevant, today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn2A6nfSXM4

I feel privileged, honoured, and blessed, to have all the fine American friends I've had, over my lifetime, and so I am happy to say, "God bless America" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEJo7x9y3D4

A Happy Fourth to all our American friends - I hope you were able to spend it with family and friends, in a warm and joyful celebration of community.

"A" XOXOXOXOXOXO

P.S. Of course, Sir Noel Coward liked America, too ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvz4QBgRb8

 

[Ambivalent]

Again, thank you, Jon. The link below is a song that is sung at the end of most of our celebrations. Below that is a picture of my Father (WWII) on the left and me (Viet Nam) on the right. Yes, I am Proud to be an American. My Dad served in the Army Air Corps and I served in the Air Force.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E

View attachment 12634

*****************************************
Louis ~

Beautiful reminiscences, and photos. of you and your Dad. So touching. Thank you ever so much for sharing these, with us.

"A" XOXOXOXOXO

P.S. Louis, I'd like to dedicate this, to you and your Dad XOXOXOXO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUjr8EVgBg

 

[BenBen]

Hey, guys,

I would also like to add my good wishes, for everyone who is celebrating the Fourth of July, today. (And I hope that Hurricane Arthur, fearful as it is, will not cause too much damage, or any injury, as it passes - I know this is a major concern.)

While I have always thought that the U.S.A. might have been better off it had stuck with US - LOL! - it seems you've done very well, all on your own ;-) Yes, the U.S. has been much-criticized over the past 100 years, but, I think that, in historical terms, it's well to remember (also) that, while governments come and go (some of them better, some of them worse, according to one's own lights) the people of the U.S.A. themselves are amongst the most generous and charitable, on earth.

This was impressed upon me by an old radio broadcast by a crusty Scots-Canadian newspaperman, Gordon Sinclair, which aired when I was just a little lad. It has always stuck with me. Though some of his illustrations are time-worn, I think his sentiments about the American people and their idealism and generosity, are still relevant, today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn2A6nfSXM4

I feel privileged, honoured, and blessed, to have all the fine American friends I've had, over my lifetime, and so I am happy to say, "God bless America" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEJo7x9y3D4

A Happy Fourth to all our American friends - I hope you were able to spend it with family and friends, in a warm and joyful celebration of community.

"A" XOXOXOXOXOXO

P.S. Of course, Sir Noel Coward liked America, too ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvz4QBgRb8

Mr. Ambivalent I'm sure you are a lovely man and at most times you seem quite intelligent but obviously you have no idea about the pride we as a people feel about being Americans and how insulting it is to say that we would have been better off as British citizens. If you want to wish someone a happy independence day that's wonderful but it is not funny to say we would have been better off under colonial rule and oppression. It would have been better if you hadn't said anything at all. I could say that for the most part Canadians are wonderful people and live in a beautiful country then follow it up with many disparaging remarks but I think you get my point. I just cannot believe you felt the need to hurl such a disgusting insult on the 4th of July when you have the rest of the year to insult Americans. Leaving an "LOL" behind it does not make it funny or a joke, it's still insulting and offensive.

 

[another1]

'nor have we been wanting in attentions to our british brethren. we have warned then from to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. ...and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred... .' clearly separation was never the first choice, home rule was the first choice.
my friends joke with me, because I have mused about our close ties and what our world would like as one united nation.
I also noted that we did pretty well as an independent nation state. one of the top at most things. some good and some bad.
what was taken as an offense was a poke at me and my musings. sorry it was not taken in the spirit it was intended.
as a free American I will post my thoughts on the world as I see it and how it might look, in a different world.

 

[Ambivalent]

Mr. Ambivalent I'm sure you are a lovely man and at most times you seem quite intelligent but obviously you have no idea about the pride we as a people feel about being Americans and how insulting it is to say that we would have been better off as British citizens. If you want to wish someone a happy independence day that's wonderful but it is not funny to say we would have been better off under colonial rule and oppression. It would have been better if you hadn't said anything at all. I could say that for the most part Canadians are wonderful people and live in a beautiful country then follow it up with many disparaging remarks but I think you get my point. I just cannot believe you felt the need to hurl such a disgusting insult on the 4th of July when you have the rest of the year to insult Americans. Leaving an "LOL" behind it does not make it funny or a joke, it's still insulting and offensive.

******************************************

Dear Mr. Ben ~

I am truly sorry to have caused you offence, on a very special day! Obviously, we don't share quite the same sense of humour. . . as mine is clearly clumsier and less refined, than yours.

This explanation may not go very far to placate you, I'm sure, but I'll offer it anyway, in an irenic spirit. While it may not interest you, here is the origin of that jest: it is a fact that my family considers itself to be as much "American", as yours ;-) (And I'm willing to bet, it IS, as "American", as yours.) We came to America, very close to the beginning of its existence, and lived happily in Connecticut, for quite some time, until the Revolution.

However, we were on the losing side of that particular political quarrel. We believed that loyalty to the Crown was not misplaced (particularly after the sacrifices and expenditures - in blood and money) of the French and Indian War. Subsequently, yes, there were some disputes about taxation - which, if you are eager to take up, I'll take up with you, another day: and any day, you choose. But not upon THIS DAY, which ought to be a joyful day for all Americans, and for all those who are their friends, and allies, around the world.

The War of Independence was a little more complicated than you attest, I would suggest. Not all of our families saw loyalty to the Crown, and to parliamentary institutions, as "colonial rule and oppression". That is why my ancestors lived and died as United Empire Loyalists, and came to Canada: where we have managed to continue and thrive, despite that initial, unfortunate, disagreement.

I am sorry that you didn't see the point of my little jeu d'esprit ~ clumsy and inappropriate as it may have been. (I would have thought, between friends, that a 200-year-old quarrel might now be cooled off, enough, to LAUGH ABOUT.) My only point, in offering that slight little joking aside, was that - as sore as those old matters remain, in the hearts of some dear to me, because of the dispossessions and depradations of the Revolutionary War (and the War of 1812); and as different as our views on history and governance might be - those old hurts have largely been forgotten, by people on both sides of our border. Which is, I think, just as it should be.

It is honestly, and quite sincerely, disappointing to me, Mr. Ben, that you've seized upon one ironic line of mine (which has its justification, but whose intended humour obviously escaped you) and utterly left aside 15 lines of unadulterated and sincere praise and love for the U.S.A., and its people, which I attempted to offer. *You did make me regret offering it, a little.* (I ought to have learned, long ago, that it is quite impossible to have a laugh with fundamentalists - whether their fundamentalism involves religion, or politics, or history itself.)

I love the American people. I love my American boyfriend. And, while, as an old teacher of political science, I would have to say that the policies of any given U.S. Administration are open to contest and dispute (as are, equally, the policies of any given Canadian, U.K., or Australian - or French or German or any other government) - I have been steadfast, throughout my lifetime, in maintaining (with students, and colleagues, and friends) that the U.S.A. has, in its history, been largely a FORCE for GOOD, in its history.

And I think that, ever since the U.S.A. tried to annex us, in 1812, and those fences were mended: the U.S.A. has hardly had a better friend and ally, than Canada, in all its history - in both World Wars, in the Korean War, in the Cold War, and in Afghanistan. . . in the United Nations, and in trade cooperation, and in missions of peace and healing and charity, all around the world. We have the world's longest undefended border. And we have been for decades your largest, and friendliest, trading partner - though we will likely soon be supplanted, in that regard, by CHINA. (I mean, in SIZE, not in friendliness, or decency.)

No doubt, over the years, I have offered, from time to time, selective (though sometimes harsh) critiques of various U.S. Presidents, and various sessions of Congress. But I DO BELIEVE I have never, intentionally, offered a SINGLE disparaging word about the American PEOPLE. If I HAVE, I apologize, unsparingly.

That is why I offered this letter, Mr. Ben. Not to reawaken animosities which are centuries-old (and, to my mind, dead and buried) but rather, to LAUGH THEM OFF, and to celebrate the FRIENDSHIP between our two nations. I am sorry you didn't receive this post in the spirit in which it was intended - and, for that, I ALSO apologize for my lack of skill, as a writer. But, while your remarks could be construed as rather hurtful in their own, literal sense. . . like all good Canadians, I am just going to laugh them off, have a beer, and say, "The Dude must have just had too many Coors today, eh???"

"A" XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzRhFH5OyHo

 

[bobbity]

This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling toward my country atm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8W1ql2P9dY

We're a great country but we can be so much more than we've allowed ourselves to become.

 

[Ambivalent]

This pretty much sums up how I'm feeling toward my country atm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8W1ql2P9dY

We're a great country but we can be so much more than we've allowed ourselves to become.

******************************

Hey, Bobbity:

I would say, don't despair! I would never want, and would never want to be culpable in making a Fourth of July thread into a deep, dark, policy-discussion. (I wrote to my b/f yesterday, and just said I hoped he got a few hot-dogs, and Coronas, and the chance to hug his sister and his friends and his nieces and nephews, for the Fourth!)

But, here are the reasons I think the United States has become a great country:
1) Immense natural resources - which gave immigrants from smaller and more constricted places, a chance.
2) A sense of justice, and fairness, and the idea that EVERYONE should have a chance. (And no CLASS system.)
3) FREE public education, far beyond that available to people in most European countries, till well after the Second World War - and the BEST higher education, still expensive, but not UNATTAINABLE, to people who were talented, but poor, and who could never hope to get into Oxford, or the Sorbonne, or places like that. . . back in the Old World.

Number one, let's face it - is just LUCK. (Same goes for Canada.)

Number two, is something that's very special to places like the U.S.A. and Canada - but that spirit burns especially brightly, in the U.S.A. It's your HOPE for the FUTURE.

Number three, is the most important thing of ALL - and it's the thing the U.S.A. is going to continue to THRIVE ON. (And Canada, too.)

Having GREAT, BASIC EDUCATION for every kid - raises every country up, SO MUCH. (And right now, the Scandinavian countries, like Finland and Sweden, are doing SO MUCH better at that, than Canada or the U.S.A.)

And having great, affordable, university or technical-college education available to EVERY STUDENT who is bright enough to benefit from them, for CHEAP - is the greatest assurance of any country's future. Because those people WILL GO ON to make the future, for the nation. They will do the research; they will go on to make the great discoveries - in physics and chemistry and medicine and electronics, and every other field ~ and, there is no such thing as the class-system, when it comes to the talent of the HUMAN MIND.

It is now clear that the "G.I. Bill", which offered education to hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise wouldn't have gotten it, was a cornerstone of prosperity in the postwar U.S.A. (as most reputable economists now attest) - not to mention, "making possible the education of fourteen future Nobel laureates, two dozen Pulitzer Prize winners, three Supreme Court Justices, and three Presidents of the United States." http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2009/09/10/a_critical_look_at_the_gi_bills_impact/

Offering that discounted education, on those terms, wasn't perfect - and it didn't benefit people from minorities, as much as it helped people from European-American backgrounds: but, in my opinion, it was sure as hell better than NOTHING. And I think that is precisely the kind of measure the U.S. needs NOW, for young men and women in or OUT of military service.

In answer to BenBen - yes, you are right ~ the class-system is the one terrible thing that defeated old Britain: that the brightest and best and most talented young people couldn't get the ideas, the inspiration, and the training they needed, to do the great work of which they were CAPABLE, simply because they didn't belong to the right CLASS, to have ACCESS to education.

But I think the U.S. is in danger of going down the very same road, as some of the old European societies the revolution reacted against, did. For generations, the U.S.A. was the most socially-mobile country in the developed world - where, if your parents were poor, you had the BEST chance of making it to the very TOP of the income-scale. (And that was MOSTLY because of the accessibility of affordable EDUCATION.) Now, that is no longer true, and Finland, Norway, and Denmark, are far ahead.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_mobility

This doesn't HAVE to be the case. Thanks to large, historic, endowments, and a still-vibrant academic culture - the U.S. still has many of the top universities on the PLANET. The problem is. . . a lot of the most talented young people in the U.S. don't have the chance to get IN ~ because these places are too expensive, for anyone but the very wealthiest.

If I were a U.S. citizen, I would be writing and petitioning my Congressman, Senator, and the President, to (above ALL things) introduce HUGELY BIG (I mean SCANDALOUSLY BIG) subsidies, to the VERY BEST SCHOOLS, for students who qualify, academically. This is already happening in many of the Scandinavian countries, and even CHINA is moving in this direction, because: a mind is not only a terrible thing to waste. . . but, from those BRIGHT minds will come ALL your future innovations in technology, business, and every other crucial sector.

And, you cannot tell WHERE a great mind like that is going to come from! It might be a bright, polite, affluent boy, from Boston, or New York; it might be a poor kid from the coal-fields of Appalachia; or it might be a bleary-eyed skateboarder-stoner, from Sacramento, California. The problem is - right now, the system is so loaded in favour of wealthy and privileged kids, the social "outsiders" don't get a look in.

And the outsiders getting a look IN, was what made America GREAT, in the FIRST PLACE. Thomas Edison was a little, half-deaf, half-Canadian boy (his Mother was from Nova Scotia): who had to sell candy and papers on the train - however, his Mother was a teacher, and encouraged him to read books about science, and because he was almost deaf anyway, reading was an outlet for him. And the rest, as they say, is history. . .

But miracles like that don't HAPPEN anymore; at least, not in that way. Any kid who's bright needs the chance to go to school, and learn from a capable preceptor. Science is far enough along, no kid can do it, all on his or her own. AND - the point is - NO ONE CAN KNOW who is going to be bright enough, or gifted enough, to be the NEXT Thomas Edison. It might be some impoverished child from the slums of Chicago, or from a bad Hispanic neighborhood, in Los Angeles. ONLY a GOOD and OPEN and AFFORDABLE educational system can demonstrate, what is POSSIBLE, in that regard.

The VERY SAME is true of even things some people might consider mundane, like skilled trades. (But which really are crucial, to all of us.) A kid who might otherwise end up in a life of crime and desperation, if he gets the chance, might end up being an ACE plumber, or mechanic, or builder, or medical technician. (And that would contribute a LOT to the general economy, and make EVERYONE happier and better-off.) But right now, because education is so expensive and unevenly-distributed, the U.S. is not really FULL of CHANCES for kids like that, and is falling SUPER-BEHIND its industrialized neighbors: and that would worry ME, if I were a U.S. citizen! (It worries me, about CANADA, too - because we are not doing all that much better!)

So, Bobbity, yes. The U.S. started out its life, and made its name as the "land of opportunity". In the last 30 to 40 years, it is getting to be kind of like FRANCE WAS, in the ancien regime, before the Revolution - where only those with money, or a famed family, or BOTH, get a chance at a REALLY good life; or learning; or advancement. Obviously, it doesn't NEED to be that way, and I think the PEOPLE of the U.S.A. can and WILL turn this around. I hope they will, and, I BELIEVE they will!

But it all starts with better education, for young people who CAN and WILL make use of it. However rich, or poor, they might be.

That's my perception, and, if it makes BenBen even MORE furious with me, and imagine that I hate the U.S.A. because I dare to be its friend, in my own peculiar, but honest way - so be it ;-) I am glad to take the RAP.

"A" XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

 

[joninliverton]

Most of the decent western countries are good places to live. Guess a lot of us want it better though and yes it could be better, but it could also be a lot worse. For example, here in the uk, we do have a fairly decent health service, and yet people still complain and in some cases justifiably. But our transport system stinks - the roads are congested, the trains are old, fuel is expensive when compared to say the USA and we still have to pay road tax too. There are camera's on every street in most cities - they say it is to combat speeding but truthfully it's more evidence of big brother watching over everyone.

Fortunately I live in a town in the country so traffic levels are not so bad and there are not many cameras around. The air is fresh and the streams are clear. Life isn't that bad after all..

 

[peterh6308]

Don't fret about this AMBI, those of us that know and love you knew you were kidding around. Besides technically your an American also be that North American, but still an American lol

 

[mikeyank]

Don't fret about this AMBI, those of us that know and love you knew you were kidding around. Besides technically your an American also be that North American, but still an American lol

And Peter is more "American" than anyone else on the forum, being 50% American Indian, this country belongs to him more than anyone else, unless we have a 100% Native American lurking among us here.

 

[another1]

this has become worst than that time I thought I farted at the thanksgiving dinner table.
as a child I read a story about the south winning the war between the states.
since that time, I often wonder what if ....

here they put camera on traffic control lights. said it would stop running the light. it was a money maker for the corporation that owned the camera. we put a stop to those cameras. our right to petition for a redress of grievances. make them go away or we will elect someone who will. now cameras are in the downtown area. a privacy claim weakens as public activity increases.

I love America and all who share this blue marble with me.
with liberty, and justice, and equality for all.

 

[louis33705]

THE TALE OF IMMIGRANTS


There was a young Mexican Indian girl who was born in Hidalgo, Mexico in the late 1800's. Her land had been inhabited by Spaniards and Germans starting in the 1500's. The Spanish concentrated on establishing farms and ranches for cultivation of food and livestock. The Germans were more concerned with the riches of the iron fields that were abundant in many parts of the land. It had become a custom by both societies to take young and healthy children from their families to work in these fields and mines. One day Spaniards arrived at this young Indian girl's home and took her from her home saying they needed her to work on the farm of the govenor of the region. Boys were taken as well, but their roles were surprisingly different. The girls were used primarily as concubines while the boys were put to work in the fields. The Germans in another area also took children, but they took mostly boys to work in the mines. As a humiliation they were forced to work the mines in the nude. These boys were referred to as "peons" or as has become a more modern English phrase as "Pee Ons!" During this time the young Indian girl became pregnant by one of the govenor's staffers and she delivered a boy child. The Mexian Revolution broke out and the country was in turmoil. Women were being taken from their homes and locked in jails to be used as cum dumps for the soldiers returning from the field. Many of the girls from the govenor's plantation joined forces and decided to escape. They left in the middle of night and started their track out of Mexico by foot. The Indian girl left with them carrying her little infant boy but before they had reached the Rio Grande the little boy died. The women performed a traditional burial ceremony and buried the child in the country side. The women eventually made it across the river and entered America. The Indian girl settled in Houston, Tx, met a young man and they had three children, a boy and two girls.

Spain was also in a turmoil during this time. They were trying to keep control of lands they had conquered but were losing control. Up in the mountains of Asturia lived a family who was struggling to keep it together. They had made their living by cooking and selling the food to the locals but the economy was shriveling. They were becoming destitute. A young woman went to her sister's house one day. She told the family she had gotten a ticket to travel to America by ship. She said she was allowed to take one child and asked if they wanted to let their son go with her. After much discussion they agreed to let the boy go.

The Canary Islands. Although they are off the coast of Africa, they were also a possession of Spain. Things were becoming tumultuous there also as in their mother country. A young couple decided it would be best if they left and went to Cuba. They left with their young daughter and also traveled by ship. Not long after arriving in Cuba they realized it was not what they were looking for. Again, they ventured out for a new land and freedom. They arrived in America and settled down with their daughter.

Three families from different parts of the world came to America because of hope for a better life and dream. Ironically, the young man and his aunt from Asturia settled in Tampa. The couple from the Canary Islands also settled in Tampa. Both of these children grew up and met. They married and had a beautiful girl. The boy from Texas also grew up and joined the military during the second world war. He was stationed at the Air Field in Tampa where he met the beautiful young woman whose parents had come from Spain at a local weekend dance. She was only 15 at the time they met and he was 20. It was not long after they met that he was shipped out overseas and they courted by mail during the duration of the war. The young soldier came home on furlough to marry his bride on June 2, 1945. By the time he left, they had conceived a child who was born February 26, 1946.

Yes, that was me who was born at 5:20 in the morning on Tuesday, February 26. This is the story of how I came to be.

This thread started originally as a heartfelt congratulatory salutation by one of our family members from across the Pond. It saddens me it turned into the discussion it did. If it was not for America I would not be here today.

Thank you JONINLIVERTON for you salutation and thoughtfulness.

 

[joninliverton]

It's ok Louis. You should know by now that threads move in all directions at Broke Straight Boys I think instead of celebrating July 4, this year someone has put something in the water and made most of you as miserable as sin.