Fireworks stink

Do you really think that a select few stopping having fun will help anything? Fireworks are fun, and no more damage causing than hairspray. Why dont you try and get a coal power plant to shut down for 5 minutes instead, that would help more.

fireworks are the dumbest thing for the fourth, the fact that people shoot them off for weeks before and after the 4th is bad enough, but they stink scaare my dogs and start fires....
go out and help someone to shoe your patriotism

You are so right John! And what a waste of money as well. It seems we have little to celebrate this year. I live in the woods and am always fearful that some yornk will set fire to the area. But most of all, I think of the money that could be going to something better. Want to say something good about America? Spend the fireworks money on food for the hungry instead.

fascism takes so many wonderful forms. Some kill jews, some tell others how to live their lives, others make laws that insure that noone elses personal freedom will ever affect them in a negative way.

Considering all the shit that is going on in this world right now, some fucking yuppie uptight liberals with nothing better to do, bitching about fireworks is the least of my worries.

In fact, I fucking hope they start fires, spread, piss of your dogs, and start the decline of this fucked up neo-liberal society!!!

You all need to take a deep fucking breath and realise that the people dieing in Iraq, the global economy, the bloodless coup this nation experienced, and the oppression of the poor are way more fucking important then whether or not your dog is barking or you can't sleep at night!!!

Fucking rich liberal scum!!!

maybe you should start a petition to stop them! That would work. You all could put it right alongside your "vote for Kerry" bullshit!

How bout if we put a firecracker up your ass then?

ou had me until that vote for Kerry bit, I make very little money, and plan to vote for Kerry. Anyone is better than Bu$h

No, just that your little fun-time party game toys not make clouds of gut-wrenching stench that hang in the air for days. For some people, being asked to be the slightest bit considerate of other people really sets them off. There's a place for such people: Alaska. Here, people have to accomodate each other, not even in anything important, just the juvenile happy-making fun-games that delight some of the simpler minds. And you say because people are dying in Iraq, you have a liscense to run amok. Think that through a little more carefully please.

BTW, children with asthma are not all hyper-liberal so-and-sos. They'd just rather not gasp to near suffocation for the sake of your little flashing lights and whistling toy games. Could ya maybe not exercise your precious "freedom" for their sake?

I think we are heading in the direction of licensed and planned major displays only. We are already supposed to be limited to only certain types of fireworks near homes, but nobody pays any attention to those limits. Some of the home displays in our neighborhood are as big as the show on the waterfront. I would not mind if folks limited their enjoyment of fireworks to July 4th, but they don't. The fireworks are already beginning in our neighborhood and they generally go on up to the 4th and for about three days afterward. There were two fires blocks from here last year and people don't confine their celebrations to reasonable hours; they get drunk and continue to shoot off fireworks into the wee hours of the morning. After several sleepless hours, my husband reluctantly called the police and reported one really outrageously noisy display that was still going on at 2 am on July 6th. One of our dogs doesn't care. The other one has to be given valium and knocked out or she spends every moment the big guns are going off panting, shaking and trying to hide. One night we can manage; more than that gets expensive and nerve wracking and it's not good for the dog. Our neighbor's Boxer went through a window two years ago and ran away in panic; even after searching for months they were not able to recover her. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that people restrict fireworks to the 4th of July and refrain from setting them off at any other time. After all, we're celebrating Independence Day, not June 29th or July 6th.

I agree with you 100%. How hypocritical can ya get like "Libs Suck" who is defending the celebration of our independence while calling for its overthrow. But we should forgive them, they know not what they do.

animals who are completely freaked out because people like to celebrate by making it sound like we're living in a war zone

Lots of toxics. Many businesses are face every day with fines and penalties that our fire works are not subject to. Quite a contradiction that can be solved and create a green industry as well.


Specifically is there a better bang to be had for your buck. The noise sucks but it chases evil out and you know there is a lot of evil.

Is making clean fireworks illeagal. Likely. Coould be considered a terrorist work. Strange time the 4th is, says Yoda.

Im a firework addict. I started out with sparklers, then it was firecrackers, now I have to mainline gunpowder. Wahoo aint independence grand!

they're both fun to play with.

Equating disliking fireworks with liberal scum is about as far a generalization as I've ever heard. The other poster's comment about asthma is very real, not to mention that fireworks are a pain in the f*cking ass to many people, cause fires and injure many children. It's a stupid ass celebration of this country's violent history. Go get your ass out to a war and then decide how many foreworks you can handle.

I understand vera spent a million dollars on the fireworks display last 7/4. I'd have preferred she gave the money to dignity village.
Doing so would also have the minor benefit of saving a lot of the gasoline used/wasted by party-hearties and patriots going down to the waterfront to get drunk and make traffic jam afterwards.
Threads like this make open-minded people think that the portland indy community is rife with trolls and psychos.

How does the guy above (who hates "liberals" know for a certainty anyones financial status.He claims the author is a "yuppie" and also "rich."

Plus idiot if you are reading this you have several grammatical errors and misspellings.

But we love you anyway, and will share our homemade organic bread with you.

hey folks,

it seems to me that you all are missing the point. fireworks on the 4th symbolize a military bombardment. just like the ones we are doing right now in Iraq. Do you remember the Shock and Awe video that came out of Bagdad at the start of the war?

another thing that I can not stand is military marching bands. they sound and look good, but in the end, they are all about killing.

Thanks for this post about fireworks. I've always disliked them. I'll be lucky if my neighbors don't set our forest on fire. I found this post highly educational in terms of toxicity and greenhouse gasses (we don't use aerosol hairspray anymore, either!). And I'm glad the poster immediately above me mentioned that fireworks symbolically glorify war and killing.

Another factor to consider is whatever toxins are created in their production and of course transportation. Less is more.

...that the sheep in that photo won an award for being OUT STANDING IN THEIR FIELD!!! NYUK NYUK NYUK!!!

You say I am a rich liberal scum and that i should worry about other things.
Where in my comments did I say I did not worry or care about other things? and where does it show I have Money?
I think it is a waste to spend the money on fireworks, and that money should be used for other things, yes it pisses me off that my dog is upset and freaks out, because ignorant flag waving assholes need to blow something up to get his/her kicks.
It is stupid fucks like you that come on here and try to get everyone worked up so you can sit at home jerking off over your "Power"
Turn on your cable drink your coke and shut the fuck up.

Fireworks hater. I can't belief the self righteousness on this forum. If you like your damn fireworks, go for it, but don't call those who don't care for them liberal scum. They do scare animals you idiot, or are you one of those who don't give a rats ass about animals.

Every year for the 5 years I've lived in town, idiots in my neighborhood start shooting off big illegal (in Oregon) fireworks as soon as they go on sale and don't quit until August. What REALLY fries my fanny is that they'll set off one or two sonic booms and then an hour later when we've gotten back to sleep they'll light off another. This all takes place long after 10pm on weekdays. And a lot of us have to work July 5 as well, not being one of the (nonexistent) trust fund kids. I have a job I need to be alert for; maybe these bubbas don't work and that's why they're soooo upset when someone questions their idea of fun. It's the same mentality that likes jetskis and loud bikes/autos: juvenile.

And imagine you are in Iraq.

trying to feed their babies, hanging on to their existence by a thread, having to fly thousands of miles from Mexico over fucking freeways and dodging cats and fools with guns. They're sleeping in their boxes, tucked in for the night, and BOOM! some assholes shoot fireworks off for hours every night. I watch the box shiver, really.

Humans are stupid.

We are in the midst of a very dry spring/summer and they are expecting lots of fires with the 4th of July fireworks. Why dont we have any leaders with a fucking SPINE to say "NO FIREWORKS THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF EXTREME FIRE DANGER!"

"Close your eyes


And imagine you are in Iraq. "

Interesting and significant. Can you elaborate a bit about the swallows. Where? when. etc.

Violet-green swallows nest in cavities, like boxes with holes made small so that English sparrows can't get in. The boxes need to be on a tall poll, protected from cats and raccoons(who can shinny up wood!) They are beautiful(black-violet back feathers with white underbelly and green side stripes), graceful flyers, who migrate back and forth from Latin America.

There used to be a lot of violet-green swallows here in Astoria, but now there are few, given habitat loss(all those condos in Baja, etc.), fewer insects to eat due to pesticicide spraying and loss of wetlands.

Right now, the bird pair is tirelessly feeding their brood, and it's really comforting to watch them swoop in and out of the box while everybody sings and calls. In a couple of weeks, the babies will be at the entrance, and learning to fly. Then they stay close to the nest box and the folks for a few days before they're off. All of this is very precarious, of course, and a cat or a speeding car or a distubance(housepainting, spraying trees, fireworks), can kill one of the parents or decimate the babies.

The boxes really do shiver when the fireworks go off; the whole thing rocks.

Audobon Society in Portland sells violet-green boxes and plans for making them. Put some boxes up next year(503-292-9453). These birds are cool, and they need homes!

OK Folks-lighten up.
My point is-fireworks displays are beautiful, it IS fun to play with fire, and the only people who are harmed on July 4th are people too drunk to handle them or kids who should be watched by their parents. Do you really look at a huge fireworks display and only think about the trace metals and sulfur that are being released into the atmosphere? Do you also rock out to music played at a only at a comfortable volume? Life would be pretty boring if we couldn't engage in bit of silly excess once in a while. I'm sure your dogs can handle a tiny bit of discomfort ONE DAY A YEAR. Everything we do entails some risk- I risk permanent hearing loss everytime I go see a show but it is worth it. So, pretty please stop being a bunch of curmudgeon killjoys and enjoy the show. Besides, the fireworks are the only thing about the 4th I really love. I've gotten sick of all the patriotic piety-if I wanted that I'd watch FOX News.
Cheers,
Ryan

just don't require me to risk mine. Fireworks remind me of being in a war zone. They're scary and I don't know where the shots are coming from. Children and other animals always get hurt around the Fourth of July. Somebody always blows out their eardrums by smoking a cigarette that has had a firecracker hidden in it, somebody always sticks a firecracker in some orifice of a dog or other poor animal.

In this time of the endless war on terror, how are we to know where the shots are coming from, and who's firing them?

Well I'm a democrat for Bush and I disagree.

-John Kerry

Thank you for your post John. Besides the noise, pollution and scaring animals I have to go to the emergency almost every 4th of july because the smoke from my neighbors setting them off gives me an asthma attack. I fear I will most likely die during the month of July. yay, Ryan screw everyone else do what makes your tiny little pea brain happy for one day.

"Close your eyes and imagine you are in iraq"

"Fireworks remind me of being in a war zone. They're scary and I don't know where the shots are coming from."

"fireworks stink and are pretty freaking stupid"


These are all valid points that raise important questions. And in this time of longing for truth and desire to be free from corporate dot-com imperialism I must take the time to remind us all that some of the toxins make their way to the ocean through our tributaries and water tables. In order to add to this important discourse I will emote in verse. This is my song, for the dolphins:


Swimming by the sandy shore
Dancing up among the waves
Dolphin, dolphin I adore
Everything you are!

You're so much more than a fish to me
My playful friend beneath the sea
EEE EEE EEE
EEE KEKEE KEKE !

Ryan,

If it WERE only 1 day a year, involved only organized large-scale professional displays, ended at 11 pm (which is Oregon law), and private citizens did not ignite items that are not approved for use in Oregon I would have no problem with it.

It's got WAY out of hand. When I was a child, we had sparklers and an occasional roman candle. If we wanted to see the big fireworks, we would go as a family to Oaks Park or Vancouver. Now, either because of a lack of police manpower or a growing lack of consideration for others, the fireworks begin as soon as they are offered for sale and continue well beyond July 4th; LARGE fireworks being shot off in residential neighborhoods and fields of dry grass, far into the early morning. These people don't even seem to care that their illegal behavior can be seen and heard for miles around. There don't seem to be any penalties; but there are fires.

We've just passed through the record dry Spring and some time has passed without any rain. We're ripe to burn and you can believe that it will happen. By the time the fire engines arrive, the assholes whose irresponsible behavior caused the harm will be long gone.

I heard that there is a $500 fine for using illegal fireworks or setting them off after 11 pm.

Folks, it's not as though there are no fireworks to see. Go to the waterfront . . . go to Vancouver . . . drive a little a enjoy one of the neighboring small town fireworks displays.

Happy 4th!

have no reason to celebrate it.

Through all of these posts I note what seems to be a similar thread, yet goes unanswered for the most part.

From what I can determine, most individuals have no problem with fireworks on just the 4th. The problems begin when individuals take the celebration of our nation's birth outside of the confines of that date and beyond what would be considered reasonable and become rude and uncaring to those around them.

I see this as part of national problem, where far to many people (regardless of political affiliation) appear to be unaware that their "Rights" are balanced by concommitant "Responsibilites" (to family, community, and country).

What I find sadly ironic in this thread is that many individuals, who would otherwise protest new laws and more budgeting for Police, are now crying out for more enforcement.

To "Asthmatic,"

I don't think Ryan's post was intended in the way you appear to have taken it.

With regard to you situation, I'm assuming that you've spoken with your neighbors, explained your medical issues, and failed to come to an agreement. Perhaps it's a matter of lots of neighbors v. one of you or an obstenant neighbor.

I'd consider, if possible, removing myself (and pets if applicable) from said environment for that day. You may well think "why the f*** should I have to do that!" Well, if you and your neighbors can't agree, it would appear to be better for your health (and the health of your animals) to go elsewhere rather than stay in a toxic situation.

How about the fact that buying fireworks on Indian land supports the tribes?

Concerned - You make some very good points. But there wouldn't be any need for more enforcement if the problem hadn't grown all out of proportion. And with fire danger very high right now it would be irresponsible NOT to go after the illegal stuff being ignited in dry fields and lawns. Lives and property are at risk vs. the selfish and illegal fun of a few oblivious jerks.

What really irks me is that anyone who sets this stuff off outside of July 4th isn't really interested in commemorating Independence Day; they just wanna to set off fireworks. And eventually they may ruin it for everyone else.

Poor asthmatic would have to go out of town to some remote place for up to a week to avoid the fireworks if his or her neighborhood is anything like ours.

This fourth of July I'm celebrating 350 years since my first Finnish ancestors arrived in "colonial" North America, and settled down to live with the Lenni Lenape people for about 135 years before their land (and that of the Swedish farmers in their area, now northern Delaware) was stolen.

The first request that my ancestors had was not land. It was freedom of religion. My family's first ancestor had a reputation for being a respected, but slightly scary, shaman and healer. Why he left Finland--apart from the constant wars between Russia and Sweden, catching Finns and Lapps in the crossfire--we don't know. Maybe he put a hex on some rich guy's boner, who knows.

What we do know is that the family lived side by side with the First Nations people for many years, in the tribal culture which was being destroyed all over Europe by Christianity and nation-statism. They went on to lose their land to an upstart family from the Continent who wanted the First Nations' and Swedish/Finnish people's land. Not for the land, but for the waterways. Why? They wanted to waterways to power mills. Not mills for food. Mills that made gunpowder.

That family's name was DuPont, and they knew that with war breaking out all over late 18th century Europe, there was big money to be made in blowing shit up for anyone who could find (steal) and harness (exploit) energy sources to do that.

They talked English settlers into trying to raise a massacre of the Swedish/Finnish farmers against the First Nations people, figuring that the ensuing chaos would let them (the DuPonts) move in and claim the land. There is a recorded account of a town meeting where one of my ancestors--retired, well off from farming, and highly respected--settled the deal by saying, "These people (the First Nations ones) and my people have lived together here for generations. Whoever lifts a hand against them, lifts it against me." The matter was settled on the spot, the Brits were furious that these independent people held together in peaceful solidarity, rather than letting themselves be fragmented with fear projected as viciousness. The greatest legacy I owe my family is that tribal sense of society, and the rejection of domination as an antidote to fear.

Nevertheless, the DuPont family ended up seizing the land (by hiring mercenaries to burn down the Swedish churches that served as the community's repositories for land deeds) and, ta da, using the waterways to power its mills to make toxic substances for blowing shit up. Today you can visit the Hagley or Eleutherian Mills sites in SE Pennsylvania/N Delaware, where this sort of piracy and violence is celebrated as American history and the "founding" of a "great industrial empire." The DuPont family estate itself sits on land that was previously chartered to my family, and before and after the oppression of written land law, was occupied by various forest people.

Blowing shit up is for morons. I have not enjoyed fireworks since I was about 8 years old. Once I started learning my family's history, I could never again view pyrotechnics as anything other than an extension of everything that my family rebelled against for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. And over the years I watched fireworks displays become major orgasms of ordnance, often killing or maiming people and other creatures (I lived in my family's home valley, near Philadelphia, for many years; people aren't quite as stupid and reckless there as here out west, in my experience, but it's bad enough either way; cowardice breeds violence of many sorts, and when it starts waving America's gang colors, look out).

My family went on to fight in the American Revolution, and get threatened with mayhem, by name, by the Brits for running cows and food to Gen. Washington at Valley Forge, and for organizing violent and nonviolent resistance all over SE PA, southern New Jersey, and N Delaware. My family also went on to help frame the Bill of Rights, consulting with members of the Constitutional Congress on how to strengthen those amendments to ensure citizens the most possible decentralized power in the face of the potential for centralized abuse of the Constitution (federalism).

There are many of us who have not forgotten what this holiday is really about: people, rebelling against stupidity and the degraded side of human behavior, working for something more enlightened. My family's correspondences show my ancestors believing strongly in peaceful coexistence, in collaboration, in diversity, in freedom of belief, and in a Constitution that exists not to give manipulative power to a few, but resistance to many. In other words, a tribal, socialist-anarchist way of living. My father died 25 years ago this month from asbestos-related causes, and he told me these stories, and it wasn't till after his death that I came across documents witnessing to the oral traditions of my family.

Fireworks? What bullplop. A bunch of noise and glare and pollution, designed to fill in the empty spaces between the ears of people who lack anything more substantial in that area--like reasoning, convictions, or traditions. Loudness and glare are a substitute for human culture.

On top of all of that, fireworks scare and hurt members of thousands of species whom my ancestors, my family, and I all talk to and care about. Around here--the South Puget Sound--the crows fly in circles, panicking, confused, for two days from the explosions. The foxes, coyotes, deer, raccoons, and possums run into the path of cars, terrified. The thrushes stop singing, and the forest birds go hungry or thirsty for days, terrified to leave the ever-shrinking borders of trees. Only the old gods know what damage is done to the fishes, the reptiles, and the amphibians, and I don't even need to go into the tortures people devise for these humble beings using firecrackers, etc.

If you like war, and blowing shit up, and extreme phenomena of any sort, maybe you should see a therapist. Extreme behaviors and tastes signal a lack of balance. But of course that's exactly what fireworks companies are exploiting as they replace the memory of liberty with wargasms.

Brita

Fireworks are stupid for obvious reasons. Some US cities (such as Los Angeles) have banned fireworks. E-mail Portland city council and tell them you want fireworks banned in the city of Portland. Cannon Beach, OR recently banned fireworks.

Everyone,

Fireworks are nothing more than added stress, danger, and harassment for any creature that is unfortunately in the vicinity of these filthy polluting objects. A few sites below will educate everyone about the dangers of fireworks.

News stories about accidents, people and animals harmed by fireworks:
www.stop-fireworks.org/english.htm

Warning, graphic photos, however, very educational:
 http://huntingtonpd.com/fireworks/fireworks_pictures_pages.htm

I will be posting a petition soon to Ban Fireworks In The United States! I will provide a link to this site soon! Thank you John for posting your educational site, this is excellent information from everyone that hates fireworks. As for the people that promote fireworks, if you ever have an asthma attack, then and only then will you ever understand what we as fireworks haters are unfortunately going through.
Sincerely,
Rex

John, Yours is an excellent site. Exposing the truth about useless fireworks that pollute environments around the world. Thank you for posting our information.

The address for our ongoing petition is:

 http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/403620870

Thank you for signing the above petition. Someday fireworks will be a problem of our past and not our future. The petition recipient listed is just one of the organizations we will snail mail copies of this petition to, many others need to know the negative health affects of fireworks. Thank you in advance for signing this petition.
Sincerely,
Rex Stuart