July 4, 2024

Good morning, kids.

In case you somehow missed it, today is Independence Day in the United States.

"In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

The United States' Declaration of Independence- Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Roger R. Livingston; 1776

Text courtesy of the National Archives.

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Here with a quick rundown of what's happening since Sunday.

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Heart has postponed the remaining shows on their Royal Flush tour after lead singer Ann Wilson announced Tuesday that she would be undergoing treatment for cancer.

Representatives for the band encouraged fans holding tickets for the postponed shows can hold onto those tickets, which would be honored when the shows are rescheduled.

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E-Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt has gotten the documentary treatment. Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple examines the 73-year-old's life and career as a singer/songwriter/actor.

Van Zandt told the Associated Press that "(it’s) an honor that somebody cared enough about my life to make a movie about it. And I’m happy that the work is going to be seen."

Director Bill Zeck said he's been after the rocker to make the film since 2006, not getting the go-ahead until 2018, and that "(it) seemed like every rock star in the firmament was eager to speak about Stevie." To that end, the film includes interviews with Van Zandt's long-time friend Bruce Springsteen, as well as musical icons Paul McCartney, Bono, Bill Wyman, Eddie Vedder and more.

Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple is showing on HBO and streaming on their Max platform.

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Wimbledon kicked off last month (I always forget just how long the tournament is). Not the point, though. Take a look.

That's Foo Fighters' front-man Dave Grohl checking out the center court action Tuesday.

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A pair of blue suede shoes worn by Elvis Presley sold for £120,000 at auction last week. 

Presley bought the shows recording the Carl Perkins song Blue Suede Shoes and wore them during interviews and performances, including his appearance on The Steve Allen Show performing Hound Dog.

Presley gave the shoes to a friend when he was drafted into the US Army.

The shoes have displayed at various museums since then, and their authenticity was verified by singer Jimmy Velvet- a close friend of Presley's.

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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will open the 81st Venice Film Festival on August 28. Tim Burton's sequel to his 1988 movie will screen out of competition, according to a spokesperson for the festival. The movie opens internationally on September 4, and in US theaters on September 6, and sees the return of original cast members Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara- with Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe joining the cast.

The festival also announced that Sigourney Weaver and director Peter Weir will be awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The full lineup of films for this year’s festival will be announced July 23.

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Pearl Jam European shows continue to be beset by illness, forcing the cancellation of tonight and last night's shows in Berlin after last week's cancellation of their Tottenham Hotspur Stadium show.

In a post to Twitter, the said Eddie Vedder had "yet to make a full recovery" after getting sick last week. "The impacts of this decision are not lost on us. We feel deeply that so many people spend their time, money, and emotional energy to get tickets and then to come see the band and it is heart wrenching to have to disappoint you."

The added they'd been unable to reschedule the shows, but would return to Berlin for make up shows.

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Here's an interesting bit (to me, anyway) I came across: Will Reeve, son of the late actor Christopher Reeve, will have a cameo in James Gunn's upcoming re-re-reboot of Superman. Reeve, a reporter with ABC News, is said to be playing a reporter in a "pivotal" scene in the movie.

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See ya soon. Maybe.