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Well, sorry, I've already got the girl of my dreams. But Thanks! for askin'.

And only one candle?! nope, but thanks for being nice and all...

Here's something I wanted to post: the New York City Tea Party, a closeup of a couple decent signs. Click to embiggen.


July 4, 2009: Happy Birthday, U.S.A.! 233 years old.

But, now, are we on the verge of the birth of the Fourth American Republic?

The Special Interest State that has shaped American life for 70 years is dying. What comes next is uncertain, but there are grounds for optimism.

The United States has been called the oldest nation in the world, in the sense that it has operated the longest without a major upheaval in its basic institutional structure.  

From one perspective, this characterization is fair. The nation still rests on the Constitution of 1787, and no other government can trace its current charter back so far. Since then, France has had a monarchy, two empires, and five republics. England fudges by never writing down its constitutional arrangements, but the polity of Gordon I is remote from that of George III. China’s political convolutions defy summary. 

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Read the rest of that excellent essay. I'm still digesting the ramifications thereof, and may post more on it later.

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