Just wanted to wish my American brothers and sisters in the flightsim community a very happy 4th:

May God Bless America

Likewise. Happy 4th from across the pond.

Enjoy your barbecues and fireworks and beer 😎

Sadly Independence Day came in with a bang in Ridgecrest California, the strongest quake since the 2014 Napa quake has hit there, a 6.4 magnitude shaker, not far from Edwards Air Force Base.  The Inland Empire east of LA also felt it.  I did not feel it here in Arizona, however, sometimes we feel quakes in eastern California, like the 1999 October 16th quake, the day after my daughter was born, which I felt in her hospital where my wife was recovering from her only childbirth.

John

Thank You.  Independence day is very important to me and my family.   

Stan

Thank you for  the kind words, we cherish our freedom and wish every one peace ....

The 4th, Memorial Day, Presidents Day and Veteran's Day I enjoy over Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years.  It is not a religious thing, it is a family thing, a country thing.  It's not a patriotic, flag waving thing, but the flag waves in my heart, so it is in that sense, because this is my homeland, and on the 4th I celebrate all countries, all people born in their homelands who still cherish them, even as they have joined us here in ours.

JC

This is the day to celebrate the citizens of the U.S.A. and the freedom, liberty and rule of law that we enjoy and that keeps our country safe.

32 minutes ago, signmanbob said:

This is the day to celebrate the citizens of the U.S.A. and the freedom, liberty and rule of law that we enjoy and that keeps our country safe.

Exactly, the difference between Napoleonic Law and our Law, I have used our legal system and it has been used against me, I was exonerated in the process, the legal system works.

John

7 minutes ago, John_Cillis said:

Exactly, the difference between Napoleonic Law and our Law, I have used our legal system and it has been used against me, I was exonerated in the process, the legal system works.

John

Yes, the "Rule of Law" is the most precious thing that we have as a nation.  We are not ruled by dictators, kings, casts, religious organizations or the military.  We are ruled ONLY by the Constitution created by those who were before us and the laws created "...by the people and for the people.".

In America, the government leaders merely represent the American people in lawmaking and enforce the laws created "...by the people and for the people". They do not "rule" the people and are not themselves above the laws that the American people have created.

This is why "term limits" are so important and American citizens vote every 4 or 6 years for their representation, both national and local.

I believe it is a beautiful system that was a true inspiration by the forefathers who created it and it is the reason to celebrate the 4th of July.

38 minutes ago, signmanbob said:

I believe it is a beautiful system that was a true inspiration by the forefathers who created it and it is the reason to celebrate the 4th of July.

The real spiritual part of our country, not to mix with religion because I believe spirituality and religion are different, is that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed away on the same day, July 4th, 1826. A different John Adams was also the only surviving mutineer found on Pitcairn's Island, famous from the Mutiny on the Bounty.  John Adam's is a name synonymous with liberty, freedom and also the spiritual bond between him and Thomas Jefferson.  It is funny in a way, because my closest high school friend was named Thomas, and I am named John, but we are still alive, lol, very much alive.

I think of him every holiday because I lost track of him, many of us from Napa spread across the four corners not only of our country, but of the world, since jobs could not be found in Napa for the rank and file.  My career started just as I was leaving Napa, to Phoenix where I am today.  I am part of a nomadic family, we spread all over the world from about AD 1 onward, with Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Roots, and later some Buddhist Roots via some of my family that came to North America via Asia. 

That is what I celebrate on 7-4, our bloodlines, and that my Mom, who passed away in 2009, was born on July 3rd, same day as Tom Cruise, who is a year younger than I am, our inside joke is that all three of us were born on the 4th of July, in reverence to Tom Cruise's movies, so our national treasure could bring a small measure of peace into our world, the theme song to the Last Samurai.

John

Edited July 5, 20196 yr by John_Cillis

    Yes. HAPPY 4th!!!!!

     Yet, as we celebrate Independence Day, there is a movement afoot in this great land to belittle and decry the Founders of this nation, who later put to paper the greatest document ever written:  The Constitution.

 

Yup, congrats to all those in the U.S, enjoy any celebrations you may be partaking of.

No taxation without representation! 🙂

On 7/5/2019 at 2:19 PM, John_Cillis said:

The 4th, Memorial Day, Presidents Day and Veteran's Day I enjoy over Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years.  It is not a religious thing, it is a family thing, a country thing.  It's not a patriotic, flag waving thing, but the flag waves in my heart, so it is in that sense, because this is my homeland, and on the 4th I celebrate all countries, all people born in their homelands who still cherish them, even as they have joined us here in ours.

JC

My 4 year old daughter just learned to sing a Maori song called Te Aroha, the meaning behind it is an ancestor named Rāhiri climbed Mount Te Aroha and could see his homeland in the distance and felt a sense of love (Aroha) for it. Therefore Te Aroha translates to English as "place of love"

You are correct this feeling is shared all over the world