INDEPENDENCE DAY or that time Washington fought General Howe on the moon or whatever

[Magus]

l7iVsdRbhnc

FREEDOM AND FIREWORKS FOLKS

Oh, man, too many hamburgers. Time for a nap. A nap for freedom.

[Flarecobra]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6nhxyNp5h1ql2rn8.jpg

And this.

[CABAL49]

There weren't 50 states when Roosevelt was alive though

[Flarecobra]

Nor were there M-60s. But who cares?

[CABAL49]

Teddy would. He was even famous for sparing bears. The dude was totally pro-bear. It is where we get teddy bear from.

[Flarecobra]

But it's Sasquatch.

[CABAL49]

Why was Teddy Roosevelt in Canada?

[Pip Boy]

To end the tyrrany of the sasquatch regime and spread democracy to the canadian people.

[mauve]

Clearly, he's shooting the sasquatch as punishment for starting that wildfire there. I don't think Smokey the Bear was around that day.

[Doc ock rokc]

I grilled More meat Then my family could eat in a week and then we ate half of it...

Guh....

[Magus]

After my comatose state had passed, I did indeed watch like four hours of John Adams on HBO. I am about patrioticked out.

The last sasquatch was extinguished in 1911 so I feel the veracity of Roosevelt's hunting of them is probably not much in question, as avid a hunter as he was. One can embellish the truth a bit with M60s and modern flags and not sully the original truth behind the legend.

As an example of this fact:

-R898wegx6Y

[Shyria Dracnoir]

No fireworks over here because of the fire ban. Understandable when half the state is already a charred husk. Still, currently spending a nice evening in the mountains and will probably go to dinner soon.

[RobinStarwing]

Hello everyone. I'm back!

Now to post something I thought was rather poignant about today that was in my local paper as an Editorial.

When there is no freedom. (http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/161287565.html)



July 4 is a day of mixed emotions for me as a Rwandan-American. Not only is it Independence Day in this country, but it also is Liberation Day in Rwanda -- a time to remember being liberated from the abyss of mass murder and the conclusion of 100 days of mourning for the more than 1 million innocent men, women and children murdered during the 1994 genocide.

While others around me revel in parades and barbecues, I will celebrate my independence and liberation. But I'll also be thinking of my relatives -- my beloved parents and six brothers and sisters and others who were mercilessly killed, and who never had the opportunity to enjoy the true meaning of freedom.

July 4 is a day to not only celebrate our independence but also to reflect on where we've been and where we're going as individuals and as a nation. It is a day when we're supposed to celebrate our rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

As with many other Americans, my life story is a confluence of complex events, not obvious when we first meet. Almost 17 years ago, I came to this country because of a tragedy rather than a choice. After losing my family and many dear friends to the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda, I was given asylum in a country that I knew only by name: America.

An orphan without a word of English, I spent most of my early years here trying to come to terms with how it was that a 9-year-old had, in a matter of months, been stripped of basic rights and freedoms and branded an enemy of the state and a "cockroach" needing to be exterminated, as Rwandan ethnic Tutsis were referred to during the 100 days of bloodshed between April and July 1994.

Like other genocides, this genocide in Rwanda reminds us of man's greatest inhumanity to man, and the precious meaning of freedom and independence. Today, whatever name we place on modern-day tragedies -- genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, civilian massacres -- we are reminded of the fragility and scarcity of basic rights and freedoms we celebrate every July 4 here and in Rwanda. As long as ruthless governments anywhere are allowed to deny basic rights and fundamental freedoms to their people, our own independence and freedoms remain threatened.

In April, President Obama stood with Holocaust survivors during the remembrance ceremony at the Holocaust Memorial Museum and highlighted today's greatest atrocities. Obama said that "preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a national-security interest and a core moral responsibility" of this country.

"Sovereignty should never be a license to slaughter your own people," he added. He emphasized our country's commitment to freedom and security for all people and announced a newly formed Atrocities Prevention Board, tasked with developing strategies for preventing and intervening to stop mass atrocities. Right now, as I hear about alarming atrocities being committed in various parts of the world, most recently in Syria, I know firsthand that Obama's words cannot turn into actions soon enough.

I am truly grateful to this country for having welcomed me with open arms when I needed a safe home. I am also keenly aware that not every persecuted person or genocide orphan gets to come here.

So this July 4th, let us enjoy the much-deserved day off and festivities. But I hope that each of us will take a minute to reflect on the freedoms many of us enjoy and celebrate each Independence Day, and the fact that they remain only dreams for millions of people around the world.

-----------------------------

Jacqueline Murekatete, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, is a human-rights activist and program founder at Miracle Corners of the World. She lives in New York. She wrote this article for the Washington Post.