Happy Birthday USA

+1  HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA

........  can we have our tea back please ??

Ah yes, the day when we remember that this used to be a free country.

More US Presidents have died on the 4th July than any other date: three of the first five.

Not very patriotic.

Joyeux anniversaire les Etats Unis.

+1 from me.

I always miss the great nights out had on this date at the Hard Rock Cafe London in the 70s and early 80s.

Stu.

Welcome to Obama's United States Socialist Republic...One step away from benevolent dictator. 

Enjoy your stay in the new world Mr. Jefferson.

MN 

Happy Birthday USA . My daughter is in Paris for the 4th of July Bruce Springsteen concert should be a fabulous gig/ night just wish I was there too

Graham.

Woe betide bringing any humanity in to USA politics eh?

I assume this is tongue-in-cheek?

steve

I can not speak for DrMark. But, it appears he and I concur with 60% of the country.

MN 

You mean, of course, "before the Roosevelts".  They were the last revolutionary politicians (for good or ill, whichever you prefer)  in the US.  The rest, IMHO, simply play the hands they are dealt.  I cannot tell one from another any more. 

Nick

The politics of the USA don't much concern me, any more than say those of Turkey, or China. It is for each country to make its own governement, be it nominally democratic, or dictatorial - in my view.

Most seem to think in the UK that a sort of capitalistic and nominally liberal democracy is the best way for us. That is fine, but in a post Imperialistic World, we have no business to enforce such a scheme on nations that would only vote for another dictatorship if given the chance.

That is a British perspective, and I wish it were the perspective of the USA.

What worries me about the USA is the "special relationship" with the UK, which means we join in with mad-cap schemes like Iraq.

Really that is all I think about US politics. If that country does not want a provision for all to have health-care, when the poorest in their society cannot afford it without a degree of Obama's socialisation of the cost, well I am not worried. That is democracy in action and Obama will not get a second term. But we do not have to like what the US has as a governement to have to see that this is democracy in action.

After all much worse things have been voted for in nominally cultured and civilised countries, and that is the way it goes.

To the people of the USA, naturally you have the best wishes of one British Subject.

ATB from George

Thank you very much for these warm wishes on our Independence Day. Made me wonder though...why don't we have the opportunity to reciprocate?

I know that England has its roots in ancient history, and that 2000 years or so ago, you were ruled by Romans.  Why is there no holiday to mark the collapse of the Roman empire, and their subsequent evacuation?

Weren't the Vikings next?  But once they invaded, they never really left, did they?  And we all know about 1066, but didn't the Normans, over time, also just merge with the indigenous peoples? 

Or perhaps there are better examples that I failed to mention?  Am always eager to learn more about your long and fascinating history.  Oh, almost forgot -- what about Arthur's victory over the Saxons?  Assuming he was a real dude of course... 

Dear Hook,

Though Britain has been invaded, really we were always the same. We never really needed to state that we were independent, because in spite of this or that we always were!

ATB from George

It's been going on for a lot longer than Obama.  He's just another stepping stone to the end of the Republic...as will his successor, whomever and whenever that is.

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." - H.L. Mencken

Constituent parts of the UK have their own day celebrated on their Saints day, the English in the main of course don't "do" England day (St George's Day) celebrations as much as the Scots and Irish.

As to one day for all I'm not sure we could find a suitable date, of course splitting our church from Rome was a good step to allow us to spread and flourish.

Waterloo or Trafalgar Day seems as good as any though. 

Disagree. While the Irish, or perhaps it's more the Irish Americans, certainly milk St Patrick's day for all it's worth, St Andrew's day is not really a big event in Scotland. It's certainly no bigger than St George's day is in England. I'd bet most people up here couldn't actually tell you what the date of St Andrew's day actually is. Burns night is more celebrated but that's mainly because it's an excuse for a colossal piss up. I've never been to one at least partly because I can't stand haggis and neeps.

Well as an Englishman I do not know when St George's day is but I do when St Andrew's day is as it is the day that Mr Salmond gave most/all public servants as an extra days holiday.

I will put the kettle on for a brew.

Howard,

We don't do St George's day because we don't get a bank holiday like the sweaty socks and the Irish?????

We aint England.

We are,

If all else fails Try Wales.

Stu.

Never had a public holiday for St Andrew's day. Ever. And I worked until recently in the public sector.

Maybe you should read a bit further than the Mail and Express.

And even if what you say were true so what? Contrary to popular belief we actually pay taxes up here and have a certain amount of freedom to decide how we spend that income.

" While the Irish, or perhaps it's more the Irish Americans, certainly milk St Patrick's day for all it's worth"

Actually, I believe that would be Anheuser Busch-InBev that does that...

Did not mean to offend anyone but as a public servant in Scotland I have enjoyed my day off on St Andew's day since 2007.  It was set up by the St Andrew's Day Act Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007 and to quote wiki "The Scottish government used this as an opportunity to support celebrations of Scottish culture all over the World".  Seems reasonable to me.

Paraphrased from Wikipedia for those of us not familiar with Scottish history...

In 832 AD, Oengus II lead the heavily-outnumbered Scots into battle against the Saxons.  On the morning of the battle, white clouds formed an X shape in the sky -- a sign Oengus II took to represent the cross upon which Saint Andrew was crucified.  He pledged, upon victory, to appoint Saint Andrew as their Patron Saint.  And that's what the Scottish flag (white cross set against sky blue background) represents.

Even though my paternal Grandmother was a Scottish immigrant, I had never read this cool story before now.  Have put a reminder in my calendar for November 30th to wish all my Scottish friends a happy St. Andrews day!

Hook

PS - Like many Americans, my ancestry is very mixed.  As far as I can tell, I am 1/4 Scot, 1/8 Welsh, 1/8 German, 1/4 Russian, 1/4 Ukranian.  The only genealogy I can trace is through my paternal Scottish Grandmother (back to the 11th century), while the rest only goes back to pre-World War I immigration and/or boat records (not to mention a few family stories).  I guess the upside is that it gives me more than one team to root for in the World Cup and/or the Euros!