From: schnee	Date: July 5th, 2009 08:43 am (UTC)		(Link)

Maybe someone told them that there's this guy, called Darwin or something, who's giving out awards for the best show of illegal fireworks. :)

	From: altivo	Date: July 5th, 2009 01:34 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Eventually I expect to see something like that happen over there. They have no common sense at all. Absolutely none. He has nearly squashed his house by cutting down a huge tree on his own, nearly burned down his garage more than once (and put my barn at risk too,) let a two year old wander freely, wading in a running stream and getting into the road with no one watching, etc. We just love they way they let livestock wander loose, including full grown horses.

	From: schnee	Date: July 5th, 2009 01:45 pm (UTC)		(Link)

*nods* Sounds like a prime example of a responsible adult. x.x

	From: felder	Date: July 5th, 2009 09:04 am (UTC)		(Link)

Ah silk.. I love silk..

*squirms* ;)

	From: altivo	Date: July 5th, 2009 01:35 pm (UTC)		(Link)

o.O

	From: felder	Date: July 5th, 2009 02:43 pm (UTC)		(Link)

one for a more.. private conversation dear stallion ;)

*nuzzles*

	From: altivo	Date: July 5th, 2009 03:27 pm (UTC)		(Link)

*starts braiding up a silken bridle*

>:D >:D >:D

	From: felder	Date: July 5th, 2009 05:51 pm (UTC)		(Link)

oohs and hurrrr's "oh my.."

	From: zenicurean	Date: July 5th, 2009 11:01 am (UTC)		(Link)

Well, surely the best way to celebrate the birth of the country is to blow it up.

	From: altivo	Date: July 5th, 2009 01:36 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Right. I only wish more of these idiots would blow themselves up and reduce the surplus population. A few do manage it every year, but not enough to make a dent in the stupidity quotient. It's not for want of trying, however.

	From: hrrunka	Date: July 5th, 2009 06:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

...and I fear far too many of them blow other people up instead?

	From: altivo	Date: July 6th, 2009 03:20 pm (UTC)		(Link)

There are incidents of that sort, yes. Fires and property damage are the most common problems though.

	From: deffox	Date: July 5th, 2009 12:49 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I used to love fireworks when growing up. We had everything up to four inch diameter mortars and rockets. The only ones that we stopped using were ones that rapidly spun on the ground because they'd lunge at cars and people. To my father's credit he kept a garden hose on hand and turned on the sprinkler system when done.

Then I grew up. At my current place I can watch multiple municipal displays from my balcony, and many neighbours go crazy with the things. I just wish they'd all be quiet.

	From: altivo	Date: July 5th, 2009 01:42 pm (UTC)		(Link)

It's blessedly quiet this morning, but that's probably because they are all sleeping off hangovers now.

When we lived in the city, it was far worse. The noise would start a couple of days before the holiday, and by the afternoon and evening of the fourth it would be a continuous roar, like thunder that never quit. I hated it with a passion, and so did our dogs. They went crazy from it every year, sometimes hurting themselves or damaging other things as they tried to hide from it.

Now we just get individual pops and booms, though this year someone had a bunch of stuff with screams and sirens in it. The horses don't like that, and get very antsy and irrational.

All of it is highly illegal in Illinois. Bringing it into the state without licenses and permits carries nasty fines. Selling it carries prison sentence penalties. Unfortunately, the enforcement is non-existent. I noticed the WalMart in Woodstock is selling bundles of stuff that I'm sure are illegal under state law. Probably the local authorities are afraid to take on WalMart, and since the chain is based in another state where fireworks are probably legal, they don't care either.

	From: deffox	Date: July 5th, 2009 01:59 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Cops are usually happy to ignore it. My parent's neighbour was a sheriff, and he was always blowing off stuff that couldn't be legal either.

As for locally, I really wish they'd stop at a reasonable hour. Not this 1am nonsense.

	From: altivo	Date: July 5th, 2009 02:05 pm (UTC)		(Link)

What used to really bother me in the city was the gunfire. Midnight on New Year, and always on the Fourth. No question about it, and I'm sure the stuff wasn't blanks either.

	From: typographer	Date: July 5th, 2009 06:23 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I love fireworks. But to play with myself, I liked little fireworks, and I do miss those. Especially sparklers.

I'm in the middle of a city, and it still sounded like an artillery range for a while last night. I haven't checked the local news yet to see if there were any fires.

	From: altivo	Date: July 6th, 2009 03:22 pm (UTC)		(Link)

In my experience the noise is much worse in cities than it is out here. In Chicago it used to sound like continuous thunder for hours unless there was a hard rain falling.

	From: drelonek	Date: July 5th, 2009 10:51 pm (UTC)		(Link)

In my case I'm fairly surrounded by houses and my attempts to sleep for work last night were somewhat thwarted by constant fireworks for hours on end.

	From: altivo	Date: July 6th, 2009 03:35 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I agree. That's part of a wider problem though. People generally have no consideration for others when it comes to noise levels, regardless of the time of day, the location, or the kind of noise. Where I live, it can just as easily be loud music or bad mufflers, or noisy motorcycles or snowmobiles traveling in large groups at 1 or 2 am.

	From: heavens_steed	Date: July 6th, 2009 04:25 am (UTC)		(Link)

I'm not sure if you know what "Roman Candles" are but just in case you don't, they are basically long sticks you hold in your hand and they fire 10 different bursts ignited gun powder which are projected to about 50 feet or so, like a small cannon. I actually think they are kind of cool but not as cool as the guys across the street who were having a war with them at my sister's block party :P I'm sure at least some of them were drunk. While firing at each other they almost hit other people and there were a lot of kids around.

And I guess that's why they are illegal in Oregon. You may find it hard to understand why people buy illegal fireworks but I find it harder to understand why they even have such laws to begin with when so many people people just ignore them. Having a law that is neither obeyed nor enforced is not really a law.

	From: altivo	Date: July 6th, 2009 03:30 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Because the problem is so widespread, and social attitudes fail to put pressure on offenders for the most part, enforcement usually focuses on sales and shipments of fireworks. I have no idea how that is handled out there, but Illinois used to be pretty strict about it. Unfortunately, some neighboring states have no regulations at all so people go there and smuggle the stuff in.

Your Roman candle example shows why these laws were passed. If the product only endangered the person who was dumb enough to play with it, that would be bad enough when it gets into the hands of children; but as used in practice, it often is a risk to bystanders, property, children, AND the immediate user.

The news here had several bad accidents reported that involved licensed professionals and public displays. It's a bad situation all around, every year, but trying to do something about it would be about as popular as outlawing football or television. Very difficult.

From: saythename	Date: July 6th, 2009 01:40 pm (UTC)		(Link)
Fireworks Epic Fail

On the way to work on 07/04/09 I had to stop at the red
light that leads out of Wrights Corners. Theres a car
dealership to the right and a Sheriff's car was sitting
there with lights out. I thought it was a check point
or something like that 'cause of the holiday.

As I waited at the light a house about a block up started
using HUGE, looked like almost pro-grade fireworks for
about fifteen seconds.

The light turned green, I kept to the speed limit strictly
and the Sherrif's car kept its lights off and followed
me slowly and pulled into the houses driveway.

Oh boy, thats gonna be in the papers.

Epic Fail!

	From: altivo	Date: July 6th, 2009 03:33 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: Fireworks Epic Fail

Unfortunately, the sheriff here has little interest in enforcing laws that might be "unpopular" with voters. In Michigan, when I lived there, enforcement was taken much more seriously. Even so, there are just so many people scoffing at the law in this respect that it's impossible to do much but get the most flagrant offenders (like the one you just described.)

	From: hellmutt	Date: July 6th, 2009 04:15 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Over here the main firework nights are 31 October and New Year's Eve. The effect on pets is, of course, much the same.

We've generally gone to public displays rather than buy our own. A friend of mine buys a case of fireworks for 31/10 and goes to his family's remote cottage (in the pretty Lake District) to set them off.

	From: altivo	Date: July 6th, 2009 04:22 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Guy Fawkes has always seemed like a really bizarre celebration to me. So you celebrate a failed attempt to blow up Parliament by trying to blow yourself up instead?

Attempts to focus on public displays here have failed to reduce the incidence of private violations and accidents by much. Every year we hear about deaths and destruction caused when errors or malfunctions occurred at public displays being put on by supposed professionals.

	From: cabcat	Date: July 7th, 2009 10:55 am (UTC)		(Link)

How about moving to Samford Valley :), no guns, no fireworks (except for special days) No snow, and room for the horsies :)

Unfortunately we do have stupid people too so I can't guarantee anything.

	From: altivo	Date: July 7th, 2009 11:23 am (UTC)		(Link)

But I *like* snow. I might be able to move as far as Canada, but at this point in my life, moving to the other side of the world has no appeal, even if I have friends there.

Besides, as you say, there are stupid people everywhere. Probably even in Antarctica...

	From: cabcat	Date: July 7th, 2009 12:42 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Actually there wouldn't be any at Antarctica :)
They'd all have frozen to death or starved or something similar.