Random Rants 79: [Impassionating Intensifies]

[Commodore]

So, that's a no then?

I'm sure if the French really wanted to we would have no objections to them joining us in our celebration of the defeat of the British Empire.

 

[Arakhor]

Well, if you really want to turn a national holiday into a jingoistic celebration of a long-ago defeat of a power that no longer exists when that power's modern version is ostensibly an ally (and has long forgotten the event in question), by all means. I think you might just be missing the point of a fun summer day out though.

 

[Commodore]

Well, if you really want to turn a national holiday into a jingoistic celebration of a long-ago defeat of a power that no longer exists when that power's modern version is ostensibly an ally (and has long forgotten the event in question), by all means. I think you might just be missing the point of a fun summer day out though.

It's not just a fun summer day out though. It is a celebration of the birth of our nation.

And a visit to certain parts of the internet will show that not all of your countrymen have forgotten it, and are still quite butthurt over it.

 

[Arakhor]

I'm sure we could find a dozen such people bemoaning the loss of the world's greatest power if we visited the Telegraph's message boards, but there's no accounting for idiots in any endeavour. I can assure you that I'm both interested in history and predisposed to remembering whole reams of dates and it hadn't occurred to me that this was even a remotely relevant topic until I realised what month it was.

Besides, if I took the trouble to compile a list of every single day of the year in which a realm or polity seceded from British control, we'd be approaching the number of Catholic saints' days we'd have so many. One that occurred 240 years ago and which then spurred on the formation of the empire on which the sun never sets is of no more importance now than the 'stroke of the midnight hour' (and if you don't recognise the reference, that's half the point).

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Well, if you really want to turn a national holiday into a jingoistic celebration of a long-ago defeat of a power that no longer exists when that power's modern version is ostensibly an ally (and has long forgotten the event in question), by all means. I think you might just be missing the point of a fun summer day out though.

I mean... it is Independence Day. I think all that stuff is already baked into it.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The issue isn't the military's involvement, it's Trump's usurpation of the event to glorify himself and raise funds for his political campaign that's the big issue. Oh and the streets will literally be destroyed if he runs tanks over them.

 

[Snerk]

Once cavalry was obsolete in armies, military parades completely lost it's appeal. All those missiles and stuff just rolling by. Obviously a cry for help from micro pens united.

 

[Lexicus]

Once cavalry was obsolete in armies, military parades completely lost it's appeal. All those missiles and stuff just rolling by. Obviously a cry for help from micro pens united.

I dunno I think tanks are pretty cool to parade with.

 

[Snerk]

I dunno I think tanks are pretty cool to parade with.

Fun for the people driving the tanks, probably less fun for those who have to use the road after the parade.

 

[Lexicus]

Fun for the people driving the tanks, probably less fun for those who have to use the road after the parade.

Well yes, but I mean they're about as fun to watch as horse cavalry imo. tbh horse cavalry stopped being aesthetically cool when plate and mail armor became obsolete.

 

[Snerk]

They still had some appeal but yeah, warhorses clad in plate was the pinnacle of coolness.

 

[Hygro]

They still had some appeal but yeah, warhorses clad in plate was the pinnacle of coolness.

Briefcases where the handle is actually part of the gun and a release button drops away the façade leaving only the carbine submachine gun carried by suited dudes in sunglasses keeps the current era in the game tho.

 

[jarred!]

Independence Day celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, not the military victory over the British Empire.

 

[Lexicus]

Independence Day celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, not the military victory over the British Empire.

Yeah, since it was really a French military victory over the British Empire anyway

In all seriousness, it was more of a political victory for us than a military victory. We basically "won" by losing almost every battle and just making the British tired of continuing.

 

[Broken_Erika]

I dunno I think tanks are pretty cool to parade with.

Especially those brand new Sherman tanks.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

dae feel like writing hundreds of job applications is one of the most soul crushing things to do? for most of them I don't even get a "no" back, they just vanish. many of them weren't even read. I feel like I'm begging for someone to abuse me, make me work for no pay just so I can have a better looking resume. even though I have experience, excellent work samples and a finished bachelor degree with a very good grade. unless I fill XYZ prerequisite I'm automatically only considered for an internship, and even those are hard to get nowadays, what the ****?

 

[Takhisis]

Most TV presenters know little or nothing about basic astronomy. There used to be a "journalist" (I question which box of Lucky Elephant popcorn her credentials came out of) on CBC.ca named Aleksandra Sagan, who wrote the most idiotic astronomy articles I've ever seen. I remember being appalled and after looking her up, I thought at least she's not related to Carl Sagan - his ashes would be spinning if he had such a stupid relative.

Her idea of a proper source to use for articles on eclipses are... astrologers. And according to her, lunar eclipses can be seen everywhere in Canada except Quebec, and she couldn't seem to remember the names of the Western Canadian provinces, or the name of Nunavut. Her idea of solar eclipses are that they are so rare that they occur only every 50, 100, or 1000 years, depending on who you ask. Not once in that article did she mention how often they actually do occur.

When she wrote an article on exoplanets, she "explained" the term "Goldilocks zone" by regurgitating the story of The Three Bears... and getting half of it wrong.

I got so fed up that I wrote to Customer Relations and complained about slipshod, crappy job she was doing, and pointed out that her own online information shows that she has zero background in science. She was less qualified to write a science article than a junior high school student who was actually taking this stuff in their science classes.

Somebody must have passed my complaint up the food chain and listened. She was fired, and now they have a science writer who actually knows what they're talking about and uses proper sources (ie. real astronomers).

Eurgh. Yes, but combine that with radio-style sports broadcasting. I.e. not stopping talking, ever.

Lunar eclipses are cool.

Yes, they are.

@Hygro I know that you want me to talk you out of coming to Argentinistan, but I must point out there's another such solar eclipse scheduled for 2020. I know, any true civver knows that the world ends in 2020, but you should think about it.

It's not just a fun summer day out though. It is a celebration of the birth of our nation.

And a visit to certain parts of the internet will show that not all of your countrymen have forgotten it, and are still quite butthurt over it.

Please don't make such a crass reference to anal rape if you want to be taken seriously.

I dunno I think tanks are pretty cool to parade with.

Fun for the people driving the tanks, probably less fun for those who have to use the road after the parade.

Snerk, I thought you knew better English. The tanks are the ones that have caterpillar tracks and don't poop.

 

[Cutlass]

Yeah, since it was really a French military victory over the British Empire anyway

In all seriousness, it was more of a political victory for us than a military victory. We basically "won" by losing almost every battle and just making the British tired of continuing.

Don't knock it. It's a strategically sound way of winning a war. Vietnam beat the US that way. Afghanistan beat the USSR that way. Many of the wars of liberation/independence were won that way.

 

[Takhisis]

Didn't George Washington fight the war for personal profit, following the example of the Boston Tea Party who were basically a bunch of smugglers who disagreed with changes in taxation that would have ended their ‘business’?

Or is that totally subversive history spread by losers™?

 

[Hygro]

@Hygro I know that you want me to talk you out of coming to Argentinistan, but I must point out there's another such solar eclipse scheduled for 2020. I know, any true civver knows that the world ends in 2020, but you should think about it.

Not my schedule but might be worth it separately. Especially as I should know a bit of Spanish then. You yourself HAVE to see it. Make it your biggest priority I'm not kidding. Photos, videos, totally unrelated. You gotta go. 100% in person, 100% totality. Must see.