• Why do elected idiots all over America continue to pass local laws banning personal fireworks use when they know nobody will enforce them?  Parts of Palm Bay on Saturday night sounded less like fireworks fun and more like Normandy Beach on D-Day.  It’s bad enough for terrified pets jumping over and tunneling under fences; I can only imagine how war veterans endured it.

• The present political divisions in the USA are overwhelming. Now even the Fourth of July has become a political event. Before it was a day of unity where everybody got together to celebrate no matter your political affiliation. The country needs more unity and less politics.

• When, oh when, will this miserable excuse for a so-called “game” tournament be over?  I have agonizingly watched 68 minutes of Spain and Portugal each trotting around in circles and neither ream has scored, or apparently, even wants to score.  Further, closeups of the players show that none of them has even broken a sweat.  Soccer is not a game.  Rather, it is an activity but with less athleticism.

The flip side

• It was the 4th of July, the morning after Red Hot and Boom, when I went walking around Cranes Roost in Altamonte. It was meticulously clean, and there was not a single bit of litter anywhere in the park. I really want to commend the wonderful staff at Cranes Roost for always doing such an extraordinary job at keeping the park beautiful and clean.

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