DNC Irritation

One of the methods conservatives use to diminish the position of intellectuals is to say we are "uninformed" or "ill-informed" or "childish" or don't understand how the world "really worlks" or that we are "hysterical" or that we "rant."

My first experience with this was in the men's locker room at the YMCA in downtown Boston. A friend who has fluctuated from far-left to far-right and is a poster child for neo-conservatism did not agree with my position on a political issue and he demeaned me using one of those choice neo-con phrases that implied he was enlightened and I was somehow idiotic for not understanding that his position was the only accurate position. (Hmmmm! I wonder what he thinks of his Bush.)

I have since watched conservatives and their tedious apologists, the neo-cons, use this tactic in debate. They do not actually use any knowledge, facts or information in their argument, they simply treat their opponent like a child and use words like "liberal" and "intellectual" to diminish our facts and positions.

Friday evening I was walking home from the subway and I encountered a young man wearing a t-shirt of New York's most powerful neo-con organization, the Democratic National Committee. He looked smart, was attractive, and it was encouraging to see a young person wearing a bright blue shirt emblazoned with the letters "DNC." It is my experience that young people today think that Reagan was a revolutionary and that being interested in, or active in, a political organization is stupid.

I approached the young man and asked if he was involved with the DNC and he said he was a fund-raiser.

I asked what he thought of Hillary Clinton's upcoming campaign. He said that she had no competition and she would win handily.

I asked if he had heard of Jonathan Tasini and he said he had.

I asked if he supported the war in Iraq. He said no.

I asked if he knew that Hillary Clinton supported the War in Iraq. He looked a bit sheepish and said yes.

I asked what he thought of NAFTA and he didn't have an answer.

I suggested that NAFTA had not been good for Americans and he agreed.

I asked if he knew any homosexuals and he offered that he himself was a homosexual.

I asked if he knew that Hillary Clinton was opposed to gay marriage. He said that she personally supports gay marriage.

I said that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals and he said that Hillary Clinton was very supportive of gay people.

I asked if I say that I support gay marriage and then I vote against it, doesn't that mean that I am really against it.

I asked if he was a conservative, he said no with a giggle.

I asked if he knew that Hillary Clinton was a conservative and he responded: "Look, I've listened to plenty of rants from Tasini supporters!"

I said that I was not ranting, and that he was using a standard conservative tactic to avoid the issues I was raising.

He apologized and admitted I was not ranting. I said: "I am sorry I upset you, but I am not ranting, and it is positions like yours that will keep the DNC out of power."

I finished my walk home.

I am convinced that the gay community has no idea that Hillary Clinton is NOT a liberal. How any homosexual that earns less than a million dolalrs a year can be a neo-con is beyond me. If you supprt Hillary Clinton, you are supporting a neo-con. I am convinced that most New York Democrats think she is a liberal. Democrats and liberals who support Hilalry Clinton musn't read the papers or watch the news.

If any New York Democrats are reading this, please note:

Hillary Clinton is not a liberal. She is a conservative.

She supports the war in Iraq.

She supports Israel's murder of Lebanese civilians.

She supports the abridgment of personal freedom by continuing to vote for the misnamed Patriot Act.

She opposes a woman's right to choose her own reproductive course of action.

She supports economic policies that rob Americans of jobs.

She is opposed to equal legal protection of homosexuals.

Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton.

If you are a New York Democrat, you do yourself a disservice, you undermine your own well-being and the future of New York by voting for her.

Hillary Clinton is bad for New York and bad for America.

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Gil Scott-Heron

A Girl Like Stalin

The woman personally responsible for over 100,000 deaths in Iraq is upset at Howard Dean.

Hell, I'm upset with Howard Dean, but that's because he is a total sell-out.

Katherine Harris, the woman who put George W Bush in the White House, is upset that Dean has put the spotlight on her fascist election policy: leading a campaign for which she was the legal vote-counter.

This from AP:

Dean said in Wednesday's speech that Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is "going to beat the pants off Katherine Harris, who didn't understand that it is ethically improper to be the chairman of a campaign and count the votes at the same time. This is not Russia and she is not Stalin."

Harris, the worst American alive, had her campaign manager point-out that Stalin was "responsible for millions of deaths" but she fails to acknowledge that if she had not personally put Bush in the White House, there would be no immoral war in Iraq fabricated by the president, in which thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed.

Harris is exactly like Stalin: manage a campaign, count the votes, certify the results, and declare your guy the winner. Sounds exactly like Stalin's Russia!

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Gil Scott-Heron

Anthems - Walk On The Wilds Side

Lou Reed live at The Bottom Line, New York City, 1983:




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Nicholas Roeg, David Bowie

The Mess That Is The Middle East

The United States brought to the region an instability not known in years by attacking a sovereign nation and opening it to a murderous insurgency that will never be repressed.

Iran funds a militia that has invaded and established a nation-within-a-nation in Lebanon and is attacking a questionably sovereign state across the border.

Israel attacks civilians and United Nations peace-keepers with impunity while defending itself against Hezbollah.

The United States refuses to call for a cease-fire in Lebanon, and leaves that job to the French (a nation to whom the USA would never acquiesce).

The United Nations is ignored by the Iran, the United States and Israel, and can do nothing about it.

It seems to me that the problem is the United States, Iran and Israel.

Hezbollah must be stopped, eradicated if possible. Hamas must come back to the table and act as a political party and not a band of terrorists. The United States must withdraw from Iraq and let those idiots fight a civil war for which American taxpayers are responsible, and Israel needs to continue their withdrawal from immoral, if not illegal, settlements.

Since the United States long-ago abdicated its role as the world's peacekeeper and now uses its military to secure resources for a small number of Texan businessmen, where does the world turn for peace?



Dick Mac Recommends:

Shut-off your computer and march in the streets for peace.

Free Money

Kuwait has spent $690,000,000 giving each of its million citizens $690.

In the United States, we only give money to the wealthy, and lots of it. The wealthier you are, the more tax dollars you get. In America we have socialism for the super-rich and free-enterprise for the rest of us.

Kuwait and its good friend Saudi Arabia fund a lot of terrorism. Oddly, unlike the United States, those terrorists support their citizens while working Americans are expected to support America's rich.

You can de-fund both the Saudi/Kuaiti cartel and the Texan terrorists. Next time you buy gasoline, remember what you are supporting. Take that opportunity to disarm terror and refuse to purchase oil from the Middle East, buy Citgo!

Find a Citgo station near you.

Oil-rich Kuwait gives citizens 690 dollars each
Sun Jul 23, 11:00 AM ET

The one million citizens of Kuwait, where government financial assets have topped 166 billion dollars, are to receive a grant of 200 dinars (690 dollars) each, the government has announced.

"In accordance with directives by the emir, the cabinet decided to provide all Kuwaiti citizens with a grant of 200 dinars each," state minister for cabinet affairs Ismail al-Shatti said Sunday after the cabinet weekly meeting. . . . Read more at Yahoo! . . .

Ask your elected officials why Kuwaitis get so many American dollars and Americans do not!


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Craig Unger

On-The-Job Thinking

It started out innocently enough . . .

I began to think at parties now and then . . . just to loosen up, to fit in with others.

Inevitably, though, one thought led to another, and soon I was more than just a social thinker.

I began to think alone, "to relax," I told myself; but I knew it wasn't true. Thinking became more and more important to me, and finally I was thinking all the time. That was when things began to sour at home.

One evening I had turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life. She spent that night at her mother's.

I began to think on the job.

I knew that thinking and work don't mix, but I couldn't stop myself. I began to avoid friends at lunchtime so I could read Thomas Paine and Thoreau and Kafka. I would return to the office feeling vague and confused, wondering, "What is it exactly we are doing here?"

One day the boss called me in. He said, "Listen, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking has become a real problem. If you don't stop thinking on the job, you'll have to find another job."

his gave me a lot to think about. I came home early after my conversation with the boss. "Honey," I confessed, "I've been thinking."

"I knew you were thinking, and I've had enough" she said. "I want a divorce!"

"But Honey, surely it's not that serious."

"It is serious," she said, lower lip aquiver. "You think as much as college professors, and college professors don't make any money, so if you keep on thinking, we won't have any money!"

"That's a faulty syllogism," I said impatiently.

She exploded in tears of rage and frustration, but I was in no mood to deal with the emotional drama.

"I'm going to the library," I snarled as I stormed out the door.

I headed for the library, in the mood for some Nietzsche. I roared into the parking lot with NPR blaring on the radio, and ran up to the big glass doors, but they didn't open. The library was closed.

To this day, I believe that a Higher Power was looking out for me that night.

Leaning on the unyielding glass, whimpering for truth, a poster caught my eye.

"Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?" it asked.

You probably recognize that line. It comes from the standard Thinker's Anonymous poster.

Which is why I am what I am today: a recovering thinker.

I never miss a meeting. At each meeting we play on-line poker, Grand Theft Auto and watch non-educational videos. Last week it was "Porky's."

The week before that it was hours of "Reno 911" reruns.

Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting.

I still have my job. Since I quit thinking I've been promoted to a management position. Things are a lot better at home.

Life just seems . . . easier, somehow, now that I've stopped thinking. The road to recovery is nearly complete for me. Today, I registered to vote as a Republican.

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Hot Pigs In England

The English are very good to their pigs.

Pinky and Perky two four week old miniature piglets cool off at Pennywell Farm and Wildlife centre near Buckfastleigh, south western England Wednesday July 19, 2006 in this photo provided by the centre. The piglets were keeping cool with a huge lolly packed with carrots and other vegetables. 'The recent heatwave has been exhausting for everyone and animals are no exception,' said Catherine Tozer, assistant manager of the farm. 'All the animals have been struggling with the heat so we have just tried to do everything we can to make them more comfortable. 'After the initial shock and a bit of investigation, the ice lollies went down a real treat,' she said.(AP Photo/Pennywell Farm and Wildlife Centre, Catherine Tozer)

In England, besides giving their pigs frozen treats, there is a law that bans transporting livestock at a temperature above 81F. On the other hand, during the heatwave the temperature on the London Tube surpassed 100F.

It's good to be a pig in London.


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David Tossell

Israel Hints At A Full-Scale Invasion

And I guess they are getting warmer!

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second straight day, and Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion. . . .

If Israel's military has crossed into Lebanon two days in a row, I think there is no need to hint, I think the invasion has already taken place.

Republicans and Israelis gathered in Washington yesterday to decry the notion that israeli civilians have been killed. I would like to point out to the few of you who read this blog that over 300 Lebanese have been killed and more the 95% of them have been civilians.

When will the Republicans speak-up for the hundreds of dead Lebanese, including all the dead Lebanese children?


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Gil Scott-Heron

Bush Did It!

The current president of the United States proved once again that he knows nothing about medicine, science, religion, the world, or even his own nation's place in history as the leader in medical development.

Embryos that are not viable (that is, they can never and will never become fetuses) have been used in stem cell research. Embryonic stem cell research offers the American medical and scientific communities countless opportunities to save and cure people.

The wrong-wing, cloaked in the Christus and the flag, have made it almost impossible for people of science and medicine to enjoy the benefits of this technology by pretending that embryos as God's gift to humanity are not ever to be used to save humanity.

The current America president referred to non-viable embryos as "little boys and girls" as he vetoed funding for stem cell research.

The president of the United States does not know the difference between a boy and a girl, and a fetus and an embryo.

George W Bush is an idiot. And those who support him should ask themselves why they oppose peace, and medicine, and progress.

Why do conservatives hate America?

United States Senate Approves Stem-Cell Research Funding

In a move that flies in the face of our backward presidency and the backward thinking so-called Christians that support him, the United States Senate approved funding for the most sophisticated form of medical research that can produce the most advanced medical breakthroughs of our lifetimes.

Although the current administration, its billionaire supporters, and the idiot born-again fundamentalists would rather wait until a third-world nation invents the next great medical breakthrough, it seems that there are enough thinking people remaining in Washington to realize that the United States used to be the greatest nation in the world and that we can return to that place on top of the world by embracing progress instead of regression.

The Senate on Tuesday backed the bipartisan legislation that expands federally-funded stem cell research, but the tally was only 63-37, four shy of the sixty-seven votes be needed to overturn the presidential veto that could come today.

All but one Democrat voted for the bill.

The research that has ALWAYS been proposed regard stem-cell research is to be carried out with embryos that would never have been children. Any politician that equates embryonic research with murder is either stupid or a liar. Since we are talking about Republican politicians, either and/or both are quite possible.

Sadly, the president will likely veto the bill, because he is stupid and a liar.


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Pen Pals Pen Pals Yummy Yummy Pen Pals Pen Pals Pen Pals Eat Em Up Yum

What do you say about a culture that encourages little girls to write messages on bombs that are to be dropped on other little girls in a nearby nation?





It's Israel. These little girls are writing notes on bombs that will rain down on Lebanese civilians. 93% of those killed in recent attacks are Lebanese civilians. And here's a little piece of information for Americans: Israelis are not just killing Muslims, so don't hide behind the popular anti-muslim sentiment. Many Lebanese are Christian, and one of the first homes that was bombed was the home of Christians not involved in the Jewish-Muslim conflict.

Read more about these lovely photos at the WIIIAI blog.



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Desmond Dekker

It's My Job To Remind You Of The Past

#9 Dream - John Lennon:



If it won't play in this page, go here.


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Safety Quiz

Scenario:

You are driving in a car at a constant speed. On your left side is a valley and on your right side is a fire engine traveling at the same speed as you.

In front of you is a galloping pig which is the same size as your car and you cannot overtake it. Behind you is a helicopter flying at ground level. Both the giant pig and the helicopter are also traveling at the same speed as you.

What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?

Solution:
Get off the carousel and don't drink so much.

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Bowie/Cher Duet

David Bowie and Cher sing Can You Hear Me:




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Lodger
David Bowie

Windows Notepad

Open Notepad
Type "this app can break" (without the quotes)
Save the TXT file to the Desktop
Close Notepad
Open the file by double-clicking it

Wow!
Thanks to Jordan for this.


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World Cup 2006 Follow-Up

Play the Zizou game!

See the Materazzi montage at Google Video.

2006 World Cup

The 2006 World Cup final was played on Sunday, and Italy are the champions of the world, for the fourth time.

The final was everything you'd want, except for one thing: a winning goal!

As France substituted Patrick Viera, then Thierry Henry, then watched Zinedane Zidane destroy his reputation (see below), it became more and more obvious that the powerful Italian team would easily win the match.

Well, they didn't.

The Italians hunkered down and prevented France from finishing.

Then Italy won on penalty kicks. Not exactly winning by a goal.

Americans hate soccer because there is no action. That is absurd, of course, because soccer (a/k/a football) is loaded with action. Americans, however, equate action with scoring, and here they win the argument: most soccer matches lack much scoring.

The fact that a nation can win the world championship without scoring a goal, or a winning goal, is absurd. No championship should ever be decided on penalty kicks or penalty shots or coin flips. Teams should play until a winning goal is scored. If that takes 90 minutes, 240 minutes, or 360 minutes, then so be it!

Zisou lost it in extra time:


After all that, Zidane won the Golden Ball, which designates him as the Best Player of the 2006 World Cup! I know, it seems absurd to give the Golden Ball to a player who disgraced himself, his nation, and his team team. He should have gotten a golden shower instead.

I loved the 2006 World Cup. I loved Italy beating Germany and France beating Brazil. I loved watching Christiano Ronaldo undercutting his club teammate. I was disappointed that the USA failed to get past the first round.

Spain stil has won more matches than any nation without winning a World Cup. Japan and Korea both failed to pass the first round, and that's enough about the strength of the Asian teams.

Mexico and USA will likely drop down the world standings as they should. They basically play only each other to qualify for the tournament, and the fact that the USA was ranked 5th in the world was shown as folly in the past month.

Czech Republic and Ivory Coast failed to go through, as did the allegedly powerful Iran side.

Ukraine and Ghana were the big surprises for me. I wanted Ukraine to go further, but they have no reason to be ashamed.

In the second stage matches, Germany beat Sweden and Argentina before losing to Italy. England beat Ecudor before losing to Portugal. Portugal beat Holland and England before losing to France. Ukraine beat Switzerland before losing to Italy. Argentina beat Mexico before losing to Germany. Brazil beat Ghana before losing to France. France beat Spain, Brazil and Portugal before losing to Italy in the final. And Italy beat Australia, Ukraine, and Germany before winning it all in penalty kicks agains France.

Did I forget anyone?

Oh, yeah! And Giorgio Di Cerbo was fan of the match for the final!



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Gil Scott-Heron Jailed

I have written about Gil Scott-Heron previously, and in that article I said:

At the start of the evening, he appeared on stage alone to tell a number of stories in an attempt to de-bunk all the recent publicity about arrests, court sentencing, cocaine addiction, and the like. Looking rather drawn, his skin seemingly draped over his lanky skeletal frame, his voice cracked, and his tone ringing of confusion and defensiveness, he told of a Bay Area reporter leaving a message on his answering machine asking for someone to please contact the radio station to make a statement about Gil Scott-Heron's death. Nervous laughter from the audience.

It was uncomforatble and disquieting that night to watch an obvious drug addict deny his drug addiction and criminal behavior.

Scott-Heron entered a New York drug rehab, but failed to complete the program and left. His departure was a violation of the plea bargain that kept him out of prison. He has plenty of stories to tell you about why he left the rehab. Sadly, his dishonesty has caught up with him and Scott-Heron has been sentenced to serve 2-4 years in prison.

Read the story at NME.

The Bottle
by Gil Scott-Heron

See that black boy over there, runnin' scared
his ol' man's in a bottle.
He done quit his 9 to 5 to drink full time
so now he's livin' in the bottle.
See that Black boy over there, runnin' scared
his ol' man got a problem
Pawned off damn near everything, his ol'
woman's weddin' ring for a bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

See that sista, sho wuz fine before she
started drinkin' wine
from the bottle.
Said her ol' man committed a crime
and he's doin' time,
so now she's in the bottle.
She's out there on the avenue, all by herself
sho' needs help from the bottle.
Preacherman tried to help her out,
she cussed him out and hit him in the head with a bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

See that gent in the wrinkled suit
he done damn near blown his cool
to the bottle
He wuz a doctor helpin' young girls along
if they wuzn't too far gone to have problems.
But defenders of the dollar eagle
Said "What you doin', Doc, it ain't legal,"
and now he's in the bottle.
Now we watch him everyday tryin' to
chase the pigeons away
from the bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

Gil-Scott Heron's drug addiction has robbed the world of a powerful voice.

If you pray, please pray for him.

Tomorrow, World Cup Commentary. Zisou, Zisou, Zisou!

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Church of England

There is a potential schism in the Church of England regarding homosexuality and the rights of women.

You probably know that I have no patience for homophobia and mysogyny, especially when homophobes and mysogynists say they are being discriminated against because they take an unpopular position.

It is unChristian, unPatiotic, and unAmerican to be homophobic or mysogynistic, and/or to tolerate homophobes and mysogynists.

I always thought Episcopalians were the most open-minded of Christians, but they sure can give The Vatican a run for the money!

A recent Commentary in The Guardian by Simon Jenkins includes this tidbit:

This is a Church whose Episcopalian members embrace those supporting the electric chair and military torture: it can surely stretch to homosexuality and female emancipation.

The commentary is good reading.

Thank you to Richard for sending this along.


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Adverbs

Oddly, the word funnily is listed as an adverb form of funny!

Who knew?

This is a public apology to those I have corrected. Funnily is, indeed, a word.

Those of you, however, who continue to use the word uncomfortability will be derided!


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Killer Aerosmith Tunes

A 12-year-old boy was found dead on the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM Studios.

Disney boasts of the ride on its Web site, "Zoom from 0-60 mph with the force of a supersonic F-14, take in high-speed loops and turns synchronized to a specially recorded Aerosmith soundtrack and zip through Tinseltown in the biggest, loudest limo you've ever seen." Full article at cnn.com . . .

Love them killer Aerosmith tunes, dude!


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July 4, 2006

Today is the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the first of the Charters of Freedom that make the United States the greatest nation in the world.

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: Read more . . .

Freedom is good.

Is the mere existence of Hollywood indicative of American freedom at work? Here's a Hollywood reading of the DoI:


(14:24)

What is the philosophy of freedom?

What is political freedom?

Who enjoys Freedom?

Who politically defends everyone's freedom?

How can you support those employed to protect our freedom?

What is patriotism?



Enjoy your freedom!

God Bless America!



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Health Care in America

Two patients limp into two different clinics in the United States. Both proffer the same complaint: both have trouble walking and appear to need a hip replacement.

The first patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

The second sees a doctor after waiting a week for an appointment, then waits eighteen weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn't reviewed for another month and finally has his surgery scheduled for 6 months from then.

Why the different treatment for the two patients?

The first is a Golden Retriever; the second is a Senior Citizen.


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