Fireworks

The curmudgeon in me is here to rain on your parade.

I think fireworks are a fucking waste of money, resources and time.

My dog agrees with me. But she wouldn’t have cursed.

As they exist today, fireworks are nothing more than a form of pollution like cigarette butts, the plastic pieces used for closing the bags bread loaves come in that are one of the most ubiquitous forms of trash on public lands, especially rivers, and wads of used toilet paper left behind in the woods by folks who forgot to bring a reusable alternative (bandanas, handkerchiefs) or are not confident enough to locate a natural substitution (plant, rock, pine cone, corn cob).

For the record, my dog, Daisy, was an expert at finding toilet paper “blossoms” and discarded tampons.

As fireworks exist today, they needlessly terrify animals. Dogs cower under kitchen tables or beds. Some run off if not fenced in or restrained. Cats seek shelter. Birds get disoriented. And I am sure wild animals within close proximity to towns are also startled and/or scared out of their minds. There probably are no statistics for this, but I would not be surprised if roadkill numbers rise during holiday celebrations.

Additionally, today’s fireworks needlessly terrify veterans with post traumatic stress disorder. I’ve witnessed veterans from the Vietnam Veterans for Leadership Project become terrified in the midst of a whitewater rapid, so it is no stretch to imagine how random, periodic explosions would thoroughly rack their nerves.

In 2019, Americans spent $1 billion dollars on fireworks.

I am not going to say the money could have been better spent in a multitude of ways. Which it could be. I am just going to reiterate that I think it is a fucking waste of money.

Two things.

I know fireworks displays are one of those topics, like dogs, that, in general, progressives and conservatives agree on. It’s a lousy hill for me to die on since the machine gun bunkers on the hilltop are full of friends and foes alike. Which means, it is one of those politically correct hills that helped birth the political candidacy of Putin’s favorite lapdog. Lots of people were fed up with political correctness in 2016, so they voted for the so-called celebrity they watched on “The Apprentice”.

Let me also say, I fully understand the attraction as it relates to the pretty patterns and colors lingering in the sky and streaking through the sky and blossoming in the sky. I think those are pretty too. I just don’t think we need the explosions and the litter in order to celebrate holidays. It’s 2020 for gods sake, which in almost all regards is a fucked up year, but I am invoking it to imply - can’t we do better than this? Aren’t we better than this?

Don’t we have the technology to replace dangerous, loud, polluting fireworks?

Do we really need to have - on average - 240 people a day go to the emergency room during the month surrounding July 4th?

I went to a fireworks display once at a small, private lake where you could row a skiff out into the middle of the lake and gaze up at the marvelous pyrotechnic magic in the sky. It was lovely until the debris rained down from the spent fireworks littering this otherwise pristine-looking body of water. The firework pollution utterly destroyed any sense of awe and wonder or pyrotechnic pleasure I might have had.

And, mind you, this was an expensive fireworks event financed by one of the wealthier landowners around the lake who spared no expense, but it was ‘small potatoes’ compared to fireworks shows the government entities throw. Those are our tax dollars at work.

As it turns out, there ARE alternatives.

Laser light shows have been used in Denver, Dubai and and Bideford, England.

In some instances, the Chinese are using drone light shows due to the excessive pollution caused by traditional fireworks displays.

Drone light shows differ from fireworks displays because drones are reusable, and do not produce chemical and noise pollution. However, there are only a few dozen companies in the world that have the proper permits, training, technical skills and supplies to plan and carry out a large-scale drone light show. One such company is Intel, which is at the forefront of this technology. It specializes in creating dynamic 3D light shows using autonomous swarms of drones that they designed especially for light shows; the Shooting Star.

Yes, I know. The manufacturing of all those drones and all the other aspects surrounding an event like this are probably not a long-term “win” for the environment. In addition, the expense of putting on a show like this would be too much for a majority of municipalities.

The limitations and cons are easy enough to identify, but so are the pros.

If “old-school” fireworks and fireworks displays were banned, patriots of all kinds would be bummed to no longer hear the booms reminiscent of the bombing of Dresden or the “shock and awe” of the Iraq War. They’d also be sad not to be able to experience the adrenalin rush of possibly blowing off their fingers or some other body part.

I know what you are thinking. Damn it, James! We’re going to be left with nothing but sparklers.

Sparklers?! Don’t get me started on sparklers!

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Beautiful song sent to me by alert and active reader, Nancy Enz Lill. It’s a song that harkens back to many, and I mean many, a road trip.

Also….

Regarding the - way north of 100,000 - deaths in the U.S. due to the coronavirus:

“As simple as it sounds, we need a president who listens. So much of this could have been prevented if Donald Trump listened to someone other than himself.” —Joe Biden

And, as a reminder from Robert Reich:

United States: 4 percent of the world's population. 24 percent of the world's wealth. 14 percent of world's carbon emissions. 25 percent of the world's Covid-19 cases. 25 percent of the world's Covid deaths.

We’re No.1

We’re No.1

We’re No.1