In the beginning, there was land. Land to be had for the taking. Great Britain took it first, well, there were others here, Germans, French and Dutch, too, but it basically became part of the British Empire.
Then there was a revolution for freedom and after winning it, the land was ours. God granted it to us.
Then there was a revolution for freedom and after winning it, the land was ours. God granted it to us.
Guess that would be more a Thanksgiving rant, so here is something more appropriate-
But it's 2014 and more like this-
Don't get me wrong, I've lived in America all my life, have never been out of the country (except for a family trip to Canada, when I was like, 8 years old, and it doesn't really count since Canada is attached to us it's more like just going next door to visit a neighbor), so I have not been exposed to other societies and can only go by what i've read, been told or watched on tv and such.
I know there are countries that appear a lot better than the USA, as well as those that are a lot worse.
Guess it's just my disappointment with people. The people that make up our government and large corporations (which seem to be one and the same.)
The people who are so close-minded that they refuse to take into consideration all facts and opinions, and will just follow in the footsteps of someone else. Let them do the thinking for them.
Yes, it is difficult to suss out what is fact, what is true, from what is propaganda and disinformation. What is the motivation and purpose.
I kinda think it is all, and only, about profit anymore. As if it ever was any different.
Something I don't get is why does it seem everyone wants to put a hyphen to being American...Italian-American, Irish-American, African-American? I asked a few people I know who have visited other countries, and they said when asked, they just respond American.
Yes, my ancestry is mixed European, there are remnants of some traditions we still observe, but good or bad, I am an American.
Now for something less political-ish-
I know there are countries that appear a lot better than the USA, as well as those that are a lot worse.
Guess it's just my disappointment with people. The people that make up our government and large corporations (which seem to be one and the same.)
The people who are so close-minded that they refuse to take into consideration all facts and opinions, and will just follow in the footsteps of someone else. Let them do the thinking for them.
Yes, it is difficult to suss out what is fact, what is true, from what is propaganda and disinformation. What is the motivation and purpose.
I kinda think it is all, and only, about profit anymore. As if it ever was any different.
Something I don't get is why does it seem everyone wants to put a hyphen to being American...Italian-American, Irish-American, African-American? I asked a few people I know who have visited other countries, and they said when asked, they just respond American.
Yes, my ancestry is mixed European, there are remnants of some traditions we still observe, but good or bad, I am an American.
Now for something less political-ish-
America saves the world yet again.
K, so I was trying to find a really good version of the Star Spangled Banner (I stood while I typed that.) I had hoped to find Leonard Nimoy doing it (a good Bostonian), but couldn't. So after searching through YT I decided to go with these-
'The Star Spangled Banner'It was not adopted and signed by law as our national anthem until 1931.
('Defence of Fort McHenry' 'Stars and Stripes Forever')
by Francis Scott Key
O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Additional Civil War period lyrics-
In indignation over the start of the American Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. added a fifth stanza to the song in 1861 which appeared in songbooks of the era.
When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
(Wikipedia)
('Defence of Fort McHenry' 'Stars and Stripes Forever')
by Francis Scott Key
O say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation.
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Additional Civil War period lyrics-
In indignation over the start of the American Civil War, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. added a fifth stanza to the song in 1861 which appeared in songbooks of the era.
When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.
(Wikipedia)