Tosa According to Nick

Well folks... I'm off to the west coast for a little while.  Blogging will be intermittent at best.  Stay well, and leave the light on for me.

This flyer was taped to my mother's front door today (click for a larger version):

Talk about deceptive.  I can imagine that some residents (particularly the elderly) would get the impression that this was some sort of official city notice asking for participation in some type of official program.  Pay attention to the "Public Notice" at the top, as well as the line "Your participation is appreciated." in the middle.  It's also written in the third person, starting in the second paragraph with "An Independent Contractor of Address America will begin working on this street..."  Not to mention, it's entitled "Operation House ID".  How official sounding.

This is very deceptive, and I would not trust a company that markets this way further than I could throw its owner.  Address America, Inc. sounds like a shady fly by night company, and I would recommend that you refuse to do business with them.

Last night I got a chance to head down to the Wauwatosa fireworks.  I was a little disappointed in the show for a couple of reasons.  First, my usual spot, which normally gives a great view of the show, wasn't as good this year because they seemed to change the launching point from the football field to the new grassy area a block east.  Secondly... and maybe this is just me... but the show just wasn't that spectacular.  I didn't see any ground works and the finale wasn't that long.  They were good... but we've done better.

Anyway, as you might suspect, I took my camera down with me, and here is a sampling of what I took.  You can see the rest in this set on Flickr.

I like saying Independence Day, rather than simply 4th of July, because everyone get's a 4th of July whether it has meaning or not.  But not nearly as many people have an Independence Day.  I'll repeat what I said last year:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain Inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Stop and think about what your government does for you today.  Think about what your government forces you to do today against your will.  How much does your government take from you, and never return?  That is what this day is about.  How much do we now depend on government, making it impossible to shed what we have wrought?

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

This day is about limiting government, abolishing it, ensuring freedom for all, and the cost of doing this.

Here's to high treason!

While I was at the local Starbucks in Wauwatosa, engaging in my ritual of satiating my caffeine habit, I asked the barista behind the register "What was new?"  I then found out that she is pregnant, and she has recently found out that the father of her child likes to kill small animals for fun, and exhibits other behavior common to serial killers.  He's also German, but that may be unrelated.

I may have to stop making polite small talk for a while, because I've had my fill.