It’s that time of year when we literally have a reprise of “the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” with our traditional annual fireworks displays.
But a number of factors have joined forces to make it become less a tradition, supplanted by colorful and brightly-lit drones.
Firework critics, who have voiced their disfavor due to noise, pollution, injuries, and environmental harm, are celebrating the pandemic’s supply chain shortage of fireworks. They even find a silver-lining in the megadroughts plaguing the West that are forcing municipalities to forgo fireworks in favor of drone light shows.
Drone light shows have become so popular that they’re booked up months in advance for July 4th. And it’s easy to understand why>
Typical drone shows last 10-12 minutes, comparable to and average firework display. And they will use from 100 drones (felt to be an “entry-level” production) up to 500.
A drone July 4th generally starts at around $25,000 – which can be about twice as much as a municipal fireworks display. But they are much more technically cumbersome to design, setup and run. (To add some perspective, the American Pyrotechnics Association reports that firework displays are a $375 million industry.)
While the cost of drone light show might cause concern, they do have a number of advantages when compared to traditional fireworks. They are much quieter, cause significantly less pollution, result in far fewer injuries (including deaths) and dramatically less environmental harm.
It’s no surprise that the drought conditions in most of the West have really sparked communities to move to drone shows. Even before conditions became dire, there were approximately 19,500 fires caused by fireworks back in 2018, with the peak occurring on July 4th.
Also disturbing is the fact that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that there were over 9,000 fireworks-related injuries seen in emergency departments in 2018.
I was a bit surprised to learn that one of the strongest supporters of drone light shows is from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). “Drone shows are quiet, safe, practically pollution-free,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk.
As many pet owners can attest, fireworks are pretty much loathed by our cats and dogs. PETA also points out that besides frightening for small children, they can also be a trigger for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
I’ve yet to enjoy a 4th of July drone show, but I certainly can see they offer a variety of pluses.
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) June 26, 2022
Entertaining enough for me to make a GIF of it:
And this morning on “Meet the Press” Peggy Noonan actually got the entire panel to laugh when she said the GQP should become the party that helps women and children (because, Lord knows, they do NOT do that currently).
The entire "Meet the Press" panel laughed out loud at Peggy Noonan today when she said the GOP "should become a party that helps women" after its abortion "victory." pic.twitter.com/uSth0nkutC
Wanting to leave on a positive note, I’m sharing a Tweet I came across of a young woman who composed a post-Roe version of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. It was posted in the response to TFG’s latest rally where MAGA Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) [she’s actually quoted Hitler in the past] thanks TFG “for the historic victory for white lifein the Supreme Court yesterday”.
What’s a class president, who is a gay activist and just chosen to give his high school’s Commencement Address, to do when he’s called into the principal’s office and told he can NOT say the word “GAY” during his speech. And if he does, his microphone will be cutoff, and the graduation ceremony ended.
That was the dilemma facing Zander Moricz just a few weeks ago.
Zander had been elected class president each of his four years at Pine View High School for the Gifted in Osprey, FL, and came out in his freshman year because of the supportive environment at Pine View.
He has been an activist against Gov. DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay”(Parental Rights in Education) bill, leading a school protest walkout in March along with organizing a similar protest in downtown Sarasota attended by hundreds of people, including the mayor and county commissioners, before DeSantis signed Florida House Bill – HB 1557 into law.
In fact, Moricz is the youngest plaintiff in a lawsuit against DeSantis and HB 1557:
As class president he was accustomed to being called into Principal Stephen Covert’s office for meetings – but Zander immediately felt this one was going to be different. He was warned that if mentioned the word “gay” or alluded to his activism his microphone would be cutoff.
I am the youngest public plaintiff in the “Don’t Say Gay” lawsuit. I am my Florida high school’s first openly-gay Class President. I am being silenced, and I need your help. 🧵
I am the youngest public plaintiff in the “Don’t Say Gay” lawsuit. I am my Florida high school’s first openly-gay Class President. I am being silenced, and I need your help.
A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony. (2/8)
A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony. (2/8)
At the same time Moricz says he would also not compromise his principles. “That is something that I will not compromise over anything at any point in time. I will simply find a way to have both.”
But Moricz gave Principal Covert his word that he would conform to the school’s wishes. As the adage goes: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Tasked with staying true to his principles while keeping his word to his principal, Moricz found the perfect metaphor for “Gay”: His curly hair!
During his Commencement speech, after a few brief introductory remarks, Moricz brilliantly transitioned to a metaphor for his being gay and the damage that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill will do to students in the LGBTQ community.
“I used to hate my curls. I spent mornings and nights embarrassed of them, trying desperately to straighten this part of who I am—but the daily damage of trying to fix myself became too much to endure.
“So, while having curly hair in Florida is difficult—due to the humidity—I decided to be proud of who I was and started coming to school as my authentic self.”
He shared that a teacher, Ms. Ballard, answered his questions “because I didn’t have other curly-haired people to talk to,” and that he found support from other students and adults.
“It’s because of the love I’ve drawn from this community that I came out to my family. Now I’m happy…. And that is what is at stake. There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View and they won’t have one.”
After receiving a standing ovation for his speech, Moricz was interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America:
On a more serious note, he spoke with NBC News concerning the federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the price he has paid for his activism:
Moricz joined a group of over a dozen students, parents, educators and advocates who have filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the state’s Board of Education, alleging the law would “stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ people in Florida’s public schools.”
“The reason something like the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law seems like nothing but is actually everything is that when you cannot talk about or share who you are, there is a constant subconscious affirmation that you are not valid, that you should not exist,” Moricz said.
This fight against the legislation is personal for Moricz, explaining it was because of his school’s support system that enabled him to become confident about his sexuality.
“I would not be fighting for these things, I would not be standing up for these causes in the way that I am, if I had not been able to do so at school first. I think in the same way that school is where you learn so many important things about life, you also learn about yourself, and that looks different for LGBTQ kids.”
But there has been a price Moricz has had to pay for his activism. He has been harassed online and has received in-person and online death threats from strangers. He even said strangers have come, unannounced, to his parents’ offices looking for him.
“I do not feel safe operating as an individual on a day-to-day basis in my county. Pineview as a student community has been incredible for me. Sarasota as a community has been something I’ve had to endure.”
But I doubt this will be the last we hear from Zander Moricz. This fall he will begin his government studies at Harvard.
The world could use more chutzpah like that of Zander Moricz.
One of our nation’s most recognizable melodies is the haunting 24-note tune that’s traditionally played at military funerals, flag-raising and wreath-laying ceremonies known as Taps.
Today, Memorial Day, CBS marks the third year of inviting musicians of all ages, abilities and instruments to join in the playing of Taps at 3 PM local time wherever they feel most comfortable and meaningful.
The origins of the CBS tradition began a decade ago with a solo trumpeter when 78-year-old Don Brittain began playing Taps every evening at sunset from his balcony in Tacoma, WA.
Mr. Brittain explained that he wanted to honor the military in some manner since he wasn’t able to enlist because he had polio as a child.
His tradition of playing Taps soon caught the attention of his neighbors who share that as soon as they heard the melody begin, they would stop what they were doing and stand at attention to pay their respects.
Steve Hartman of CBS News covered this story for his “On the Road” series in 2013.
It became such a popular report that CBS decided to invite all musicians to join in the playing of Taps at 3 PM in their own time zone. Today marks the third anniversary of what CBS claims is one of the largest musical performances of all time.
It has been played by trumpeters from the New York Philharmonic …
…to Caitlyn Sanders of Ellicott City, Maryland who dedicated an entire weekend learning how to play it.
CBS requests that no matter your skill-level or location, you record your rendition on your phone (in the horizontal position) and tag your video on social media with the hashtag #CBSTaps.
They will be browsing public posts with that hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok – or uploaded to the folder – to share selections on a later broadcast.
Some Past Performances:
The Younger Set …
Adults …
Military …
CBS Report for This Year:
History & Lyrics of Taps
There’s a popular, but apocryphal, story that the tune originated when Union Army Captain Robert Elli found it in the pocket of a killed Confederate soldier who turned out to be his son, who had been studying music in the South.
The heartbroken father requested that his son, despite fighting for the enemy, be given a full military burial. Capt. Elli’s request was only partially granted since his son was a Confederate. But out of respect for the father, he was permitted to select a single musician.
Captain Elli chose a bugler and asked that he play the tune he found in his son’s pocket.
A touching story, but its true origins are more mundane.
In July of 1862, following the bloody Seven Days battles, Union Brigadier General Daniel Adams Butterfield wanted a more melodic tune than the traditional Lights Out – a rather harsh bugle call signaling the end of the day that was borrowed from the French.
Brigadier General Butterfield
He called the brigade’s bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton – a schoolteacher from Pennsylvania, to his tent to work on a new tune. Mr. Norton documented what transpired:
Oliver Wilcox Norton
“…showing me some notes on a staff written in pencil on the back of an envelope, [he] asked me to sound them on my bugle. I did this several times, playing the music as written. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound that call for Taps thereafter in place of the regulation call. The music was beautiful on that still summer night and was heard far beyond the limits of our Brigade. The next day, I was visited by several buglers from neighboring Brigades, asking for copies of the music, which I gladly furnished. The call was gradually taken up through the Army of the Potomac.”
There is something singularly beautiful and appropriate in the music of this wonderful call. Its strains are melancholy, yet full of rest and peace. Its echoes linger in the heart long after its tones have ceased to vibrate in the air.
This more emotive and powerful Taps soon was adopted throughout the military. In 1874, the mournful yet powerful Taps was officially recognized by the U.S. Army, and it became mandatory at military funeral ceremonies in 1891.
As we all know, Gov. DeSantis of Florida has decided to ban math books that might put him and the GQP in an unflattering light.
But conscientious, patriotic citizens have stepped up to help out by creating useful arithmetic problems and teaching aids. For example, try solving these problems in the new Florida math book:
[1] An orange man gets 74 million votes, but his opponent gets 81 million.
Show how 74 million is greater than 81 million.
[2] Orange man receives 11,780 votes less than his opponent. How many more votes need to be “found” after the election in order for the orange man to claim victory?
[NOTE: This is actually a trick question. The correct answer is ZERO. The orange man will claim he won anyway.]
Folks decided that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL U-Really-18) could actually serve a useful teaching tool moment:
And Stephen Colbert (who authored the question) came up with the correct answer: “School Supplies”.
So what’s the real reason DeSantis is having Florida ban math books? He HATES seeing the “EQUAL” sign.
Sticking with DeSantis and Gaetz, the pedophile representative from Florida has changed his plans for one of the final rites-of-passage of High School students:
With Gaetz boycotting Disney, there’s now at least ONE safe place in Florida where teenage girls can go.
Before whiteboards, many of us can recall chalkboards or blackboards. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) certainly is of that age – but apparently she must have suffered a terrible chalk incident in her childhood. Because when someone wrote a chalk message in front of her Bangor house, she actually called the cops on them!
But later, Collins decided to make lemonade out of lemons even though she was still recovering from her frightening Chalk foray. So during her recent photo-op visit to Ukraine she extended a thoughtful invitation to Pres. Zelensky:
“I’ve invited President Zelensky to visit the war-torn, chalked sidewalks of Maine, so he realizes it’s not just Ukraine.” – Susan Collins
(No doubt she also took the time to tell Zelensky that she is “sure” that Putin “has learned his lesson”.)
But Collins is not entirely done waging her battle against the vicious chalking her sidewalk received. She’s talking about removing those easily available terrorist kits from the store shelves that we so often see right before the start of the school year …
Truth be told, Susan’s real goal is to ban all those high-capacity chalk magazines that us oldster remember from music class in grade school:
She’s discussed this issue with her staff and noted that whenever and wherever they appear, there’s always discord and treble ahead. She wants everyone to keep a sharp eye out for them.
Why, she even has thought about throwing them in jail because she really feels they should be under a rest.
I hope this wasn’t too upsetting, because I want to leave everyone in harmony. Don’t worry – I’ll be Bach.
This week marked a tragic milestone in America’s history: One MILLION Deaths from COVID.
It’s appropriate that we revisit a previous post I did visualizing the extent of this tragedy with white flags planted on the lawn of The Mall in Washington.
But first, a graphic that puts the million deaths in some perspective
This is from a wonderfully done article in WaPo briefly following the arc of this tragedy:
In the spring of 2020, Artist Susanne Brennan Firstenberg was incensed when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX) told Tucker Carlson, while discussing the raging COVID pandemic, that “There are more important things than living.”
Patrick even went further during that interview to suggest grandparents should be willing to die from COVID in order to save the economy for their grandchildren.
“That really disturbed me,” Firstenberg, who’s worked as a Hospice volunteer for over 25 years, told ABC News. But it inspired her into action with creation of her first display of more than 267,000 small white flags on the four-acre D.C. Armory Parade Grounds in the fall of 2020, just outside RFK Stadium.
Moved by the overwhelming response to her first installation, she knew that second one would require a much larger venue. She began discussions with the Federal Parks Service, and was successful in securing a site on the National Mall of more than 20 acres next to the Washington Monument. It borders the White House, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the World War II Memorial.
The installation, In America: Remember, was opened for viewing from September 17 thru October 3, 2021.
Firstenberg enlisted the services of Ruppert Landscape for 150 employees working with a corps of volunteers to place the flags in 143 geometric sections that create 3.8 miles of walking paths. Scattered throughout the display are numerous white benches, making it easy for visitors’ quiet reflections.
The installation was designed to be interactive. There were 10,000 Sharpies available for visitors to use to inscribe personal messages on the flags.
At the opening ceremony dedication, Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, noted that the flag display is the largest installation on the Mall since the that of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, another collaborative art piece that was displayed multiple times during the height of the AIDS epidemic.
Firstenberg, compelled by outrage she felt for Trump and his fellow Republicans constantly downplaying the pandemic during the election, was inspired to create her first installation at RFK Stadium. She hoped her second installation will convince people to get vaccinated.
“The last thing I want to do is to have to buy more flags.”
ADDENDUM
While Firstenberg’s efforts certainly had an impact, sadly there remains a group of Trumpkin Luddites who have refused to follow the science Dr. Fauci and so many other distinguished healthcare professionals have so bravely provided.
From NPR, here is a graph of the estimate of adults who could have been saved if they had been vaccinated:
