Happy 250th Birthday, U.S.A.!

The signing of the Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull

In honor of our nation's 250th birthday, here's my program on "Orange County During the Colonial / Revolutionary War Era," from the Orange County Historical Society.

More significantly, here are transcripts of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These documents are the foundation of the best form of government yet devised. They would work as well today as ever if we actually followed them rather than trying to warp and stretch them in corrupt and imaginative ways.

We'll have to see how the next 250 (or even 50) years go. Will Americans continue the work of building a more perfect nation using the uniquely powerful and effective tools our founding fathers gave us? Will individuals continue to be able to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or will the American dream be destroyed by those who perpetually want to rekindle every horrific, failed, disproven system of the past: Communism, socialism, theocracy, and real fascism.

Where do we start to fix our significant drift? Well,... At the start. 

Let's go back and immerse ourselves in these three documents. If we take them seriously, commit ourselves to their purposes, stand ready to fight for their principles -- and if we aren't all enslaved by A.I. -- we might stand a chance of making it to our tricentennial with a form of government that supports freedom, serves as a source of national pride, and continues to be a beacon of hope to the world.

But today it's time to run up the red, white and blue, shoot off fireworks, crank up some John Philip Sousa, and have a few hot dogs. Happy birthday to the country we love!

The Balboa Pier turns 120

Balboa Pier, festooned with American flags, circa 1906

The Newport Bay Investment Co. established the town of Balboa in 1905. But they didn't complete construction of the iconic Balboa Pavilion, the first Balboa Pier, and the Balboa Hotel until just days before the grand opening of the Pacific Electric's Balboa trolley line, on Independence Day, 1906. All three new features were intended to draw tourists and potential investors to the fledgling town. 

On the day of the celebration, 1,200 people visitors arrived via the trolley, nine packed Southern Pacific passenger trains, and 500 carriages. Every boat in the bay was rented, many went swimming, picnickers camped on the beach, throngs promanaded along the new walkway between Newport Beach and Balboa, and there was dancing until midnight. Well into the next morning, bleary-eyed revelers were still being stuffed into cars for the trip back to Los Angeles.

Crowds throng the Balboa Pier, July 4, 1906

Since then, the Balboa Pier has been used as a fishing pier, as a dock for launches taking fisherman to and from fishing barges, as a grandstand or finish line for various nautical races, and as a pleasant place to stroll. It's seen many repairs and improvement over the years, including a total replacement in 1921 and another after the hurricane of 1939. The first Ruby’s Diner opened on the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach in 1982.

Balboa Pier, 2013 (Photo by author)