 |
| Somewhere in time... |
Since I don't have an FFF to share today, I am instead posting something else I found via the Wayback Machine, which was posted to my old WP blog in January of 2023. It's a rant about fireworks and is rather timely for the July 4th holiday tomorrow...
Unfortunately, we are not talking about the metaphorical sparks that ignite between a couple in love (or lust), but the kind drunken idiots set off in the street to prove their “patriotism.” Di @ Pensitivity101 continues the Truthful Tuesday series today by asking this question: Do you think the sale of fireworks should be restricted?
I certainly do! They should be restricted to professional, licensed shows run by sober people who know what they’re doing. No one should be setting them off in backyards or on the streets. In California, there’s a serious risk of wildfire, and everywhere there is the danger of amateurs injuring themselves or others by using fireworks stupidly. People and animals can be traumatized by these blasts in the middle of the night, and it certainly isn’t “patriotic” to disregard harm to your fellow Americans. Not incidentally, the morning after July 4th (and other occasions) finds the streets and sidewalks littered with firework debris ~ how is it “patriotic” to leave your garbage all over the face of the country you supposedly love so much?
If you’re interested in actual data, rather than bleating about “freedom,” here are some facts for you from the CPSC.
In 2021, at least nine people died and an estimated 11,500 were injured (treated in ERs) in incidents involving fireworks.
About 32 percent of the emergency department-treated fireworks-related injuries in 2021 were for burns.
In 2021, approximately 31 percent of selected and tested fireworks products were found to contain noncompliant components, including fuse violations, the presence of prohibited chemicals and pyrotechnic materials overload.
So there you go.
*
The CPSC is the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which did miraculously survive the DOGE cuts.
There is nothing patriotic about this kind of behavior. The use of fireworks on Independence Day originated as an imitation of the rocket explosions which characterized some of the battles of the War of Independence, but I doubt one in a hundred of these idiots nowadays even knows that. It is part of the panoply of irrelevances which degrade the meaning of this and most of our other official holidays.
ReplyDeleteAside from Independence Day, it is common that the idiots set off fireworks in the middle of the night for days before and/or after the date itself, depriving people of sleep. It is simply harassment. Legitimate freedom doesn't include harassing or endangering other people.
Many jurisdictions in the Portland metro area ban private fireworks, but such laws are widely ignored. The apartment complex where I live prohibits them, but people just set them off in the street, which is outside the complex's property line, while still close enough to risk setting fire to something. We're lucky that it rains here so much and, at least, the trees and so forth are not dry (the rain usually last through around the end of June).
Right on! 👍🏻
DeleteWe have "safe and sane" fireworks here. All the fireworks that fly, spin, or rockets are illegal here. But wouldn't you know that less than an hour away there's a huge fireworks store that sells all the illegal fireworks. So during the year, people go an stock up on the illegal fireworks for the 4th of July. it's crazy. We started hearing fireworks going off last week and it will keep going at night for the next week.
ReplyDeleteUghhh! So annoying
DeleteAnd it sounds like a war zone. Just crazy.
ReplyDeleteI’m so worried about fires starting…
Delete