It is what it is – Jen Brien

by Jennifer Brien, contributing writer, commentary

AMERICA 2024

Well gang, here we are… hard to believe it’s already July 4th! TIME is flying by! In one month, the folks who hate summer will don their scarfs and toss up their fall wreaths… grab a pumpkin spice coffee and start watching Halloween movies! That’s just how we roll these days. We can’t seem to enjoy the present.

I mentioned on FB that a few days ago I heard a back-to-school ad for Staples. WHAT THE? These kids literally are still sleeping off their school year and have barely had any time to run wild, go see a few concerts, and hang out with their pals. TOTALLY UNREAL. BUT IS IT IS WHAT IT IS. It’s who we have become I suppose. I’m not sure how you all feel, but the way I see it, 2024 in AMERICA has been a really weird year so far… AND don’t even get me started on that debate the other night or the crazy sounding dissent from JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR who’s whipping up the crazies into a frenzy screeching TRUMP is going to poison his staff or bust out SEAL TEAM SIX to shoot up his political rivals after the IMMUNITY ruling… what the hell is THAT insanity?

LOOK, I know we have a lot of problems, and we are in a cycle of right is wrong, bad is good, good is bad, wrong is right, and reality seems like a far-off horizon. HOWEVER, today we are going to talk about what’s SO GREAT about AMERICA – instead of all that’s wrong with us! I’ll provide fun filled facts about this nation, quirky stuff you definitely didn’t know, and why 10 million people in the last 3 years have come through our border ILLEGALLY to be a part of who we are! I mean, do we see MILLIONS OF people heading to IRAN or TURKEY? Nah! BECAUSE THEY aren’t GREAT LIKE US… and don’t have an open border policy… well… also because they’ll get killed in a hot second for sure if they try that stunt over there… just saying, but none the less, AMERICA AND HER GREATNESS and curiousness is what the doc ordered today, so to quote the profundity of Tom Brady—LFG!

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WEIRD FACTS EVEN HISTORY BUFFS DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN AMERICA!

*THERE was a SECRET plan to KILL George WASHINGTON! Evidently his own personal bodyguard, THOMAS HICKEY, the NY GOVERNOR and the Mayor were all involved! The committee who saved his life would go on to become the “modern-day CIA”!

*200 COPIES of the Declaration of Independence were printed! Only ONE COPY was signed by all 56 members of the Continental Congress. Only 26 copies are around today the rest “were lost in HISTORY”

*INVISIBLE INK was used “to communicate TOP SECRET MESSAGES!

*DEBORAH SAMPSON “disguised herself as a man to fight in the REVOLUTIONARY WAR”… YOU GO, GIRL! NOW THAT’S A PATRIOT!

*More troops died from DISEASE than battle. SMALLPOX being the most common killer during the war.

*MANY Revolutionary women were SPIES! Maids and “market-sellers” were eavesdropping on BRITISH soldiers who occupied their communities!

*PAUL REVERE was also a DENTIST!  SAY CHEESE!

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DID YOU KNOW?

AIR CONDITIONING WAS INVENTED IN AMERICA! 

Willis Carrier is the “FATHER of AIR CONDITIONING” and invented what YOU enjoy now, thankfully, in 1902. You know what those poor SOBs did before AC? Get this…

*SOME HUGE FOUNTAINS in the middle of cities were originally created as “large troughs” where people would submerge their heads to stay cool…

*PAPER FANS

*SHADE

*BLEW FANS ACROSS MASSIVE BLOCKS OF ICE

Sorry… these options all stink. AMERICA IS GREAT BECAUSE SHE GAVE US AC!

DID YOU KNOW: BEFORE SUPER MARKETS…

You had to hand a list of items you wanted to the clerk at a general store, and he would gather them for you. YOU didn’t have the freedom to SHOP or enjoy perusing the aisles for things you needed! That is UNTIL “PIGGLY WIGGLY” came along. Clarence Saunders was a clerk who “saw the extra work that went into filling orders for customers” and decided to do something about it! On SEPTEMBER 11th, 1916, the first grocery store in the world was opened in MEMPHIS and the customer had the freedom to shop and pick their own items at their leisure!  AMERICA IS GREAT for giving us GROCERY STORES!!!!

DID YOU KNOW: THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL WAS INVENTED IN THE U.S in 1927!

John W. HANNES was an architect working in Wisconsin when he came up with the ‘In-Sink-Erator” in 1927! His disposal hit the market in 1940 and is used almost exclusively in the United STATES!!!  AMERICA IS GREAT!

DID YOU KNOW: SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

…was created in 1966 with the merger of the NFL and the AFL. Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs jokingly called the CHAMPIONSHIP that year the “SUPER BOWL” and it stuck! A media, sport and music extravaganza it is now watched on the second Sunday in February by over 100 million people worldwide.

DID YOU KNOW: THE INVENTION OF RANCH DRESSING

…was born by a Nebraska native who worked in ALASKA in the 1950″s! Steve Henson “created the recipe out of necessity while working in the kitchen to keep his hungry work crews in ANCHORAGE happy!

AMERICA IS GREAT!!!!

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LAST WORDS FROM SOME OF OUR PRESIDENTS!

GEORGE WASHINGTON – “TIS WELL” 

JOHN ADAMS – “THOMAS JEFFERSON SURVIVES” (ADAMS didn’t know JEFFERSON passed away hours earlier)

THOMAS JEFFERSON- “NO DOCTOR, NOTHING MORE”

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS- ” THIS IS THE LAST OF EARTH. I AM CONTENT”

ANDREW JACKSON – ” I HOPE TO MEET EACH OF YOU IN HEAVEN”. BE GOOD, CHILDREN, ALL OF YOU, AND STRIVE TO BE READY WHEN THE CHANGE COMES”

MARTIN VAN BUREN – “THERE IS BUT ONE RELIANCE”

ZACHARY TAYLOR – “I REGRET NOTHING, BUT I AM SORRY TO LEAVE MY FRIENDS”

JAMES BUCHANAN – “OH LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY, AS THOU WILT”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN – “SHE WON’T THINK ANYTHING ABOUT IT” (HIS REMARK WAS TO HIS WIFE ABOUT A FRIEND REGARDING HER CLINGING TO HIM DESPERATELY)

ULYSSES S. GRANT – “WATER” (HE WAS SUFFERING FROM THROAT CANCER)

GROVER CLEVELANDN – “I HAVE TRIED SO HARD TO DO RIGHT”

TEDDY ROOSEVELT – “PUT OUT THE LIGHT”

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WHY I LOVE AMERICA

I LOVE AMERICA because you can hate it, burn her flag, and speak your mind, and not be persecuted. I LOVE AMERICA because we can praise God without fear of going to prison or being executed. I LOVE AMERICA because we are good despite our troubled past. I LOVE AMERICA BECAUSE WE ARE A MELTING POT that comes together to make our communities strong. I LOVE AMERICA because WE THE PEOPLE can be heard in the voting booth. I LOVE AMERICA because we are generous and care deeply about our fellow man. I love AMERICA because we have BASEBALL, barn fires, picnics and valuable traditions that help us find and keep a deeper faith. I love AMERICA because I served this great nation and gave her my best as an ARMY MP in the K9 UNIT. I love AMERICA because I WAS BLESSED TO BE BORN HERE IN THIS TIME and have seen her rise above the chaos during storms. I LOVE AMERICA, the GREATEST LAND IN THE WORLD. GOD BLESS you all during this holiday week, and GOD BLESS AMERICA THE LAND OF THE FREE.

Till next week my friends,

Jennifer

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Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.

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