The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced.
Frank Zappa
I woke up sobbing today.
I am grieving for my beloved country and feel like I am watching a loved one die at bedside.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
War of the World's
Patriot Post newsletter I found.
Makes some very good points, but I don’t agree with the hard/far right stuff. I am beginning to realize that I am a “Liberal Conservative”, especially in the eyes of conservatives. The liberals always regard me with suspicion LOL.
Either way, I am still Republican to the core basics of what the country stands for, (A Republic!) and I believe you shouldn’t SHOOT the messenger. I’m only trying to share both sides of the picture as much as possible. Any time the Obama camp begins to make sense (real sense) I share those things too. What I don’t share, and am not willing to entertain is promises which are impossible to keep, regurgitated and repeated over and over again.
I am sorry but I am not that gullible.
Extreme Liberals, I love ya, but listen to my side of the story for one second,
The “Givernment” (my word people) is not to be trusted, period, right? So how and why continue to give all of our freedoms away, shedding the responsibility for vigilance.
All in all, I fear that our willingness to tolerate the ridiculous demands of the extreme leftist/socialists, (not you true in the flesh liberals) who certainly seemed to romance & influence those who were easily led away from both the more extreme American values, all of which I may not agree with and the most basic of American values MOST of which I completely agree with.
Many people who call themselves “liberal” have been easily led away because of what a “liberal society” (which ends up being revealed as socialism) offers but never seems to really deliver.
From where I sit, more extreme Liberals believe that they will still have all of the freedoms they still have left such as free market economy, while gaining all of these benefits and carrying less responsibility which is conveniently transferred to the "givernment" (this is my new term for our slave owner/puppetmasters) along with all of the decisions regarding our well being. If we continue to trade away our freedoms for a dole, we will be soon living on “reservations” similar to what the American Indians have endured. I truly believe this.
I believe in a sense that I am getting “kicked out of” the republican party because our values are parting ways. I also feel the same about the democratic party, which to me has always teetered on the brink of being “taken over” by those who want to destroy us. Think I don’t absolutely LOVE some of the great presidents? Kennedy and Lincoln are my favorites.
There is nothing wrong with Liberals. If they stopped attacking us “middle” or “Liberal Conservatives” long enough to truly listen to what we have to say, maybe they would understand and possibly even find common ground with why we feel that throwing caution to the wind and allowing the down slide of conservative America so chaotically wasn’t such a good idea.
I mean: Look at where we are now. You can’t possibly blame this mess (society, the erosion of the family) on conservative thinking.
You need to remember that “Liberalism” is a bedfellow to Democrats; they are NOT one in the same. There are conservative Democrats.
On the other hand.
Conservatives are bedfellows to the Republican party. There are Republicans who believe in Liberty, in fair play which means a level playing field.- That’s me.
“neo” or Elitist’s have “hijacked” the far right, and wage war NOT to preserve the good and solid basics of American values but to preserve the PROFITS & benefits from it.
Plain and simple people; That won’t do either.We allowed "liberalism" to slowly take away the freedoms we had in order to "spread the wealth", when simply and honestly leveling the playing field would work much better while preserving the incentive to be "self made" instead of living on “givernment” handouts. PLEASE understand that I am not against, or blaming nor am I willing to demonize liberalism or democrats. My belief is that the Liberal movement has been perverted or maybe hijacked to a certain extent (in the same way the conservative movement has been hijacked by (corporate elitist’s) to the point where even expression of faith in GOD, many liberties, and Liberty itself has become fair game. Reminds me of two people standing on one tree limb, opposed to each other so much so that they are both sawing the limb they stand on.The only real conclusion any intelligent person can come to is that this dismantling of our country and its values not only began many years ago, but it was much more carefully planned and thought out than any of us, even the most extreme "conspiracy theorists" dreamed of.
BOTTOM LINE:
Take American BACK now, or forever hold your peace.
We need to ask ourselves: Will McCain OR OBAMA do this for us?
Please don’t delude yourself. They are two sides of the same coin!
Excerpt:
THE FOUNDATION
“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate—look to his character.” —Noah Webster
“Under an Obama administration, it is not far-fetched to see the day when liberal federal judges decide that religious organizations must lose their tax exemptions should they refuse to employ homosexuals or others they regard as engaging in deviant behavior. Court challenges against those who believe homosexual behavior is sinful seem to be occurring with greater frequency... The aim of the gay rights lobby is to destroy all remnants of biblical values and societal norms. Gay rights advocates will take their agenda to federal courts as soon as sufficient numbers of liberal judges are there to give them what they want. Watch them vote in overwhelming numbers for Barack Obama. He is their future. This election is, among other things, about the future of the majority and whether we want this country to be shaped by the courts, or by ‘we the people’.” —Cal Thomas
LIBERTY
“The left subscribes to the French Revolution, whose guiding principles were ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’ The right subscribes to the American formula, ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.’ The French/European notion of equality is not mentioned. The right rejects the French Revolution and does not hold Western Europe as a model. The left does. That alone makes right and left irreconcilable. The left envisions an egalitarian society. The right does not. The left values equality above other values because it yearns for an America in which all people have similar amounts of material possessions... The right values equality in opportunity and strongly believes that all people are created equal, but the right values liberty, a man-woman based family and other values above equality.” —Dennis Prager
OPINION IN BRIEF
“Consider the magnitude of these problems or the sheer, dumb size of the institutions. Another phrase of financial usage familiar everywhere now is ‘too big to fail.’ But if something is too big to fail, isn’t it... too big? Look in any direction and what you see are institutions that are Too Big. Too big to fully understand, and thus too big to manage efficiently. Faced with Godzilla-sized problems, logic flees: If they’re too big to fail, the solution is... make them bigger! The big, fat government we know about, with its $2.942 trillion annual outlays. The problem of unmanageable public bigness is also seen in state legislatures in a condition of permanent nonperformance, as in New York, California or Michigan. We become numb to these outsized and failing public institutions, which grind in circles while the pols purport concern about massive, forward-crawling monoliths like Medicare, Social Security or public pension debt. By contrast, the starkness and hourly reporting of the financial crisis has made the dilemma of size impossible to duck.” —Daniel Henninger
GOVERNMENT
“The government is seeking to buy up shares in healthy, well-run small businesses all across America so it can get those businesses to behave as the government wants them to behave... But isn’t that how we go into this mess—with the government trying to get banks to make more loans? Just as one lie leads to another, imprudent government intervention in the free market leads to further imprudent government intervention in the free market. Each step of the way, we are told we have no choice but to do what the government wants us to do. The original transgression that led us to the current crisis was committed by elected officials in Washington who wanted to buy additional incumbency insurance for themselves by saying to voters: We will help you buy a house. They worked to accomplish this through legislation (such as the Community Reinvestment Act) that pressured banks to make riskier loans and through tax-exempt government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which started buying up riskier loans (so the original lenders did not have to carry the risk) and wrapping them into mortgage-backed securities (which mixed bad loans with good loans)... So we have gone from government pressuring banks to make riskier mortgages, to government-sponsored enterprises buying riskier loans from banks to facilitate even more risky lending, to government buying stakes in the banks themselves... What will be the next unprecedented measure government officials never thought would be necessary?” —Terence Jeffrey
“The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership... for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. They tell us they have done the most that humanly could be done. They say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.
My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view. The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation. I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose. We have come together here because the American people deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nation’s highest offices, and we stand united in our resolve to do something about it.” —Ronald Reagan
Makes some very good points, but I don’t agree with the hard/far right stuff. I am beginning to realize that I am a “Liberal Conservative”, especially in the eyes of conservatives. The liberals always regard me with suspicion LOL.
Either way, I am still Republican to the core basics of what the country stands for, (A Republic!) and I believe you shouldn’t SHOOT the messenger. I’m only trying to share both sides of the picture as much as possible. Any time the Obama camp begins to make sense (real sense) I share those things too. What I don’t share, and am not willing to entertain is promises which are impossible to keep, regurgitated and repeated over and over again.
I am sorry but I am not that gullible.
Extreme Liberals, I love ya, but listen to my side of the story for one second,
The “Givernment” (my word people) is not to be trusted, period, right? So how and why continue to give all of our freedoms away, shedding the responsibility for vigilance.
All in all, I fear that our willingness to tolerate the ridiculous demands of the extreme leftist/socialists, (not you true in the flesh liberals) who certainly seemed to romance & influence those who were easily led away from both the more extreme American values, all of which I may not agree with and the most basic of American values MOST of which I completely agree with.
Many people who call themselves “liberal” have been easily led away because of what a “liberal society” (which ends up being revealed as socialism) offers but never seems to really deliver.
From where I sit, more extreme Liberals believe that they will still have all of the freedoms they still have left such as free market economy, while gaining all of these benefits and carrying less responsibility which is conveniently transferred to the "givernment" (this is my new term for our slave owner/puppetmasters) along with all of the decisions regarding our well being. If we continue to trade away our freedoms for a dole, we will be soon living on “reservations” similar to what the American Indians have endured. I truly believe this.
I believe in a sense that I am getting “kicked out of” the republican party because our values are parting ways. I also feel the same about the democratic party, which to me has always teetered on the brink of being “taken over” by those who want to destroy us. Think I don’t absolutely LOVE some of the great presidents? Kennedy and Lincoln are my favorites.
There is nothing wrong with Liberals. If they stopped attacking us “middle” or “Liberal Conservatives” long enough to truly listen to what we have to say, maybe they would understand and possibly even find common ground with why we feel that throwing caution to the wind and allowing the down slide of conservative America so chaotically wasn’t such a good idea.
I mean: Look at where we are now. You can’t possibly blame this mess (society, the erosion of the family) on conservative thinking.
You need to remember that “Liberalism” is a bedfellow to Democrats; they are NOT one in the same. There are conservative Democrats.
On the other hand.
Conservatives are bedfellows to the Republican party. There are Republicans who believe in Liberty, in fair play which means a level playing field.- That’s me.
“neo” or Elitist’s have “hijacked” the far right, and wage war NOT to preserve the good and solid basics of American values but to preserve the PROFITS & benefits from it.
Plain and simple people; That won’t do either.We allowed "liberalism" to slowly take away the freedoms we had in order to "spread the wealth", when simply and honestly leveling the playing field would work much better while preserving the incentive to be "self made" instead of living on “givernment” handouts. PLEASE understand that I am not against, or blaming nor am I willing to demonize liberalism or democrats. My belief is that the Liberal movement has been perverted or maybe hijacked to a certain extent (in the same way the conservative movement has been hijacked by (corporate elitist’s) to the point where even expression of faith in GOD, many liberties, and Liberty itself has become fair game. Reminds me of two people standing on one tree limb, opposed to each other so much so that they are both sawing the limb they stand on.The only real conclusion any intelligent person can come to is that this dismantling of our country and its values not only began many years ago, but it was much more carefully planned and thought out than any of us, even the most extreme "conspiracy theorists" dreamed of.
BOTTOM LINE:
Take American BACK now, or forever hold your peace.
We need to ask ourselves: Will McCain OR OBAMA do this for us?
Please don’t delude yourself. They are two sides of the same coin!
Juan Iota
Excerpt:
THE FOUNDATION
“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate—look to his character.” —Noah Webster
“Under an Obama administration, it is not far-fetched to see the day when liberal federal judges decide that religious organizations must lose their tax exemptions should they refuse to employ homosexuals or others they regard as engaging in deviant behavior. Court challenges against those who believe homosexual behavior is sinful seem to be occurring with greater frequency... The aim of the gay rights lobby is to destroy all remnants of biblical values and societal norms. Gay rights advocates will take their agenda to federal courts as soon as sufficient numbers of liberal judges are there to give them what they want. Watch them vote in overwhelming numbers for Barack Obama. He is their future. This election is, among other things, about the future of the majority and whether we want this country to be shaped by the courts, or by ‘we the people’.” —Cal Thomas
LIBERTY
“The left subscribes to the French Revolution, whose guiding principles were ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’ The right subscribes to the American formula, ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.’ The French/European notion of equality is not mentioned. The right rejects the French Revolution and does not hold Western Europe as a model. The left does. That alone makes right and left irreconcilable. The left envisions an egalitarian society. The right does not. The left values equality above other values because it yearns for an America in which all people have similar amounts of material possessions... The right values equality in opportunity and strongly believes that all people are created equal, but the right values liberty, a man-woman based family and other values above equality.” —Dennis Prager
OPINION IN BRIEF
“Consider the magnitude of these problems or the sheer, dumb size of the institutions. Another phrase of financial usage familiar everywhere now is ‘too big to fail.’ But if something is too big to fail, isn’t it... too big? Look in any direction and what you see are institutions that are Too Big. Too big to fully understand, and thus too big to manage efficiently. Faced with Godzilla-sized problems, logic flees: If they’re too big to fail, the solution is... make them bigger! The big, fat government we know about, with its $2.942 trillion annual outlays. The problem of unmanageable public bigness is also seen in state legislatures in a condition of permanent nonperformance, as in New York, California or Michigan. We become numb to these outsized and failing public institutions, which grind in circles while the pols purport concern about massive, forward-crawling monoliths like Medicare, Social Security or public pension debt. By contrast, the starkness and hourly reporting of the financial crisis has made the dilemma of size impossible to duck.” —Daniel Henninger
GOVERNMENT
“The government is seeking to buy up shares in healthy, well-run small businesses all across America so it can get those businesses to behave as the government wants them to behave... But isn’t that how we go into this mess—with the government trying to get banks to make more loans? Just as one lie leads to another, imprudent government intervention in the free market leads to further imprudent government intervention in the free market. Each step of the way, we are told we have no choice but to do what the government wants us to do. The original transgression that led us to the current crisis was committed by elected officials in Washington who wanted to buy additional incumbency insurance for themselves by saying to voters: We will help you buy a house. They worked to accomplish this through legislation (such as the Community Reinvestment Act) that pressured banks to make riskier loans and through tax-exempt government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which started buying up riskier loans (so the original lenders did not have to carry the risk) and wrapping them into mortgage-backed securities (which mixed bad loans with good loans)... So we have gone from government pressuring banks to make riskier mortgages, to government-sponsored enterprises buying riskier loans from banks to facilitate even more risky lending, to government buying stakes in the banks themselves... What will be the next unprecedented measure government officials never thought would be necessary?” —Terence Jeffrey
“The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership... for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. They tell us they have done the most that humanly could be done. They say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.
My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view. The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation. I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose. We have come together here because the American people deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nation’s highest offices, and we stand united in our resolve to do something about it.” —Ronald Reagan
Thursday, October 9, 2008
700 Billion $windle of the Century
I read somewhere:
"Great. The financial system is melting down and the solution is welfare checks for people holding morgages that are underwater and that have no equity associated with them. How about sending some of those "desperate" people who lied about their income to get mortgages they couldn't afford to jail for fraud? "
"This insensitive and ignorant statement displays what propaganda intends.
What exactly do you know about the mortgage business? I am amazed that so many people are willing to willynilly blame working america for their "theivery". I could give this whole discussion forum an education on this issue. I assure you, the American people should not be demonized for this. This is a lame cop out.
I also want to say something about Welfare".
Many of you speak of it as if its evil charity given to murdering scumbags. I have been paying taxes since I was sixteen, -paying into this system. A few times in my life, in the past such as when I had a six month old infant at home by myself with no help or family near, and after I had already gone through 38K worth of my own savings, and when I was backed against a wall- I relied on the werlfare system to help me get through the rough times until I got my new single parenting act together.
I am not ashamed in THE LEAST for taking advantage of something that is there for a reason, something that I to this day help support.I propose that ONLY a selfish, insensitive scumbag will ridicule hard working people, who are either temporarily down and kick them for needing help. This same person uses the plight of the people to pretext reasons for giving government MORE control of our lives and then in the next breath disparages people who are having trouble making it on their own. If you think it cant hapen to you, that you couldnt possibly have had some kind of misfortune occur to you as a result of this sub prime debacle, I propose you are arrogant and ignorant, forgetting that it could have AND DID happen to many people of different classes, rich, middle class & poor as well. I have been working with homeowners, who are having trouble with these very issues for the past year or more. These arent theiving people, they are the salt of the earth. Its too bad many ignorant people want to give this money away, which will go almost directly out of the country rather than to US Americans.
"Great. The financial system is melting down and the solution is welfare checks for people holding morgages that are underwater and that have no equity associated with them. How about sending some of those "desperate" people who lied about their income to get mortgages they couldn't afford to jail for fraud? "
"This insensitive and ignorant statement displays what propaganda intends.
What exactly do you know about the mortgage business? I am amazed that so many people are willing to willynilly blame working america for their "theivery". I could give this whole discussion forum an education on this issue. I assure you, the American people should not be demonized for this. This is a lame cop out.
I also want to say something about Welfare".
Many of you speak of it as if its evil charity given to murdering scumbags. I have been paying taxes since I was sixteen, -paying into this system. A few times in my life, in the past such as when I had a six month old infant at home by myself with no help or family near, and after I had already gone through 38K worth of my own savings, and when I was backed against a wall- I relied on the werlfare system to help me get through the rough times until I got my new single parenting act together.
I am not ashamed in THE LEAST for taking advantage of something that is there for a reason, something that I to this day help support.I propose that ONLY a selfish, insensitive scumbag will ridicule hard working people, who are either temporarily down and kick them for needing help. This same person uses the plight of the people to pretext reasons for giving government MORE control of our lives and then in the next breath disparages people who are having trouble making it on their own. If you think it cant hapen to you, that you couldnt possibly have had some kind of misfortune occur to you as a result of this sub prime debacle, I propose you are arrogant and ignorant, forgetting that it could have AND DID happen to many people of different classes, rich, middle class & poor as well. I have been working with homeowners, who are having trouble with these very issues for the past year or more. These arent theiving people, they are the salt of the earth. Its too bad many ignorant people want to give this money away, which will go almost directly out of the country rather than to US Americans.
High Noon here in the Republic United States of America
If you don’t mind, "We use to be a culture of respect. Respect of fellow neighbors, family, and in generally each other was always an accepted social tenet/practice.
We simply have no respect, honor, loyalty and disgracefully not even for our on minds, body, and planet. IE: Our grandparents life was dramatically different from our own. You knew who your real friends were, you knew your neighbors, your children's teachers, your religious "leaders", etc..."
To postulate further: I have been noticing the trend towards this social environment since I was a very young man. Even when I thought some of the old school-era was being a bit extreme, I still had to agree with them: We were becoming a society of over indulgence, and we were being it seemed, "Egged on", encouraged by an unseen benefactor.
I noticed the "establishment" encouraging this behavior, and questioned it in my mind. The one recurring logical answer I have been coming up with all these years has always been: This is beiong done purposely. Someone WANTS to dismantle this country. We could spend a month contributing to a thread on this subject alone, but the point is:
TO sufficiently weaken and make pliable a civilization/society that was as strong as ours was, attacking all of the basic tenets which support it was necessary. The attacks on our solid foundation included programming young people to disrespect and disregard all of the reasons why if is so many of us (EVEN IF IT IS SEPERATE RELIGIONS) believe in GOD, They removed Prayer from our public lives, removed GOD from our books, banned any type of “creationism” consideration, removed the ten comandmants from our walls, etc.
We have allowed the system to take our children from us because it was much more convenient for us to allow it, while sent our second parents to work, and added another job to the single parents. They took them and began to brainwash them, while we just kept working more and more hours instead of spending all the time we can with our children. NOW our system has already expressed the legal opinion that “the State” (basically society) own our kids. WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN OURSELVES ANY LONGER. WE CAN FACE JAIL FOR REFUSING TO FORFEIT OUR CHILDREN FOR INDOCTRINATION INTO THE NATIONALIST SYSTEM. We just sat there and took it.
I have felt like an idiot fighting to get people to listen to me for years, faced ridicule attacks and such. TO see all of these things gathering momentum and happening faster (in real time) now doesn’t scare me as much as the anticipation of when I wasn’t quite sure I was right. (if that makes sense).
The point is: This has been happening for many, many years. If I am a kook, it’s because I saw all of this coming many years ago and refused to become "well adjusted to it". Its one thing to have to be a part of the society, but in my opinion, I don’t have to be compelled to be part of the sickness.
” It is no measure of ones health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society"-Krishna Murti
"For what good is it for a man to gain the whole world if he trades his soul away in the bargain" -Holy Bible
We simply have no respect, honor, loyalty and disgracefully not even for our on minds, body, and planet. IE: Our grandparents life was dramatically different from our own. You knew who your real friends were, you knew your neighbors, your children's teachers, your religious "leaders", etc..."
To postulate further: I have been noticing the trend towards this social environment since I was a very young man. Even when I thought some of the old school-era was being a bit extreme, I still had to agree with them: We were becoming a society of over indulgence, and we were being it seemed, "Egged on", encouraged by an unseen benefactor.
I noticed the "establishment" encouraging this behavior, and questioned it in my mind. The one recurring logical answer I have been coming up with all these years has always been: This is beiong done purposely. Someone WANTS to dismantle this country. We could spend a month contributing to a thread on this subject alone, but the point is:
TO sufficiently weaken and make pliable a civilization/society that was as strong as ours was, attacking all of the basic tenets which support it was necessary. The attacks on our solid foundation included programming young people to disrespect and disregard all of the reasons why if is so many of us (EVEN IF IT IS SEPERATE RELIGIONS) believe in GOD, They removed Prayer from our public lives, removed GOD from our books, banned any type of “creationism” consideration, removed the ten comandmants from our walls, etc.
We have allowed the system to take our children from us because it was much more convenient for us to allow it, while sent our second parents to work, and added another job to the single parents. They took them and began to brainwash them, while we just kept working more and more hours instead of spending all the time we can with our children. NOW our system has already expressed the legal opinion that “the State” (basically society) own our kids. WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN OURSELVES ANY LONGER. WE CAN FACE JAIL FOR REFUSING TO FORFEIT OUR CHILDREN FOR INDOCTRINATION INTO THE NATIONALIST SYSTEM. We just sat there and took it.
I have felt like an idiot fighting to get people to listen to me for years, faced ridicule attacks and such. TO see all of these things gathering momentum and happening faster (in real time) now doesn’t scare me as much as the anticipation of when I wasn’t quite sure I was right. (if that makes sense).
The point is: This has been happening for many, many years. If I am a kook, it’s because I saw all of this coming many years ago and refused to become "well adjusted to it". Its one thing to have to be a part of the society, but in my opinion, I don’t have to be compelled to be part of the sickness.
” It is no measure of ones health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society"-Krishna Murti
"For what good is it for a man to gain the whole world if he trades his soul away in the bargain" -Holy Bible
Monday, October 6, 2008
A Momentary reflection on a big chunk of the whole.
I believe there is no worse feeling in life than investing years in a loving relationship or a friendship only to wake up one day and realize that your world isn’t everything you thought it was: Whether it’s personally, perceptively or both. In life, during it’s course, sometimes you repeatedly realize that a friend, or loved one has been all the time insincere and in the end may sell you out at any and sometimes every time. It is very difficult to understand. It shakes your world.
“Is it all my fault”? You ask yourself several times. If in the end, even you feel to a large degree justified, you realize there is more to the conflict within.
When it happens once, you think: "Shame on them". When it happens twice, by the same friend or love? Well it's the old cliché: "Shame on me". I recently realized that I had truly lost all the fight in me. I realized that if I didn’t re-invent myself, I wouldn’t survive long in what is SURELY coming our way in this current world, and very soon. I still may not survive, but I have decided I will go down swinging. This decision ended a phase of calamity within the calamity. I got some rest, recharged my psyche, took an audit of my life and made decisions to reapply myself in the areas of priority. I woke up around 4:40 AM few mornings ago renewed, feeling fantastic and ready to produce. Took a swim and sat down to work at what I have invested myself for the past 7 months in. and 5 hours later or so, I didn’t "have a job" anymore. Then I realized for the first time that it wasn’t what was sold to me, it was simply a job, and I was simply an employee, no matter what bullshit I had bought- (which is why I normally won’t work for anyone, but myself and if it’s with anyone, it’s usually someone I hire on).
Honestly? Devastating. I have had many business ventures, and several of them successful ones. I can remember making promises and/or agreements with people who went to work for me and I can remember never once going back on one of those commitments. I have lost money on contracts willingly to ensure completion of my obligation. Not Once in my recollection, have I ever made the decision walked away from a job unfinished! I am prideful of that, if not mush else. Out of the few things I have done in my life that I can be proud of, this is among them. While I can not evade the truth regarding many of my actions & mistakes in my life, both logical and ethical, my integrity in this area has been without failure. I have never said I love you, and not meant it, willing to prove it beyond just words. I have never betrayed a true friend and never will. I have never evaded a mistake I have made with a true friend by “silencing” (or doing away with) that friendship. I am very happy about this realization, and I declare that no matter what has been “done” or happened to me, it doesn’t take away from this integrity. No matter what mistakes I have made, who and what I have done wrong, I can still consider myself a good, loving friend. I have lost a friend whom I thought was true, but in the end I was kidding myself as I am prone to do. IF I didn’t have several true friends, whom I have been friends with for in many cases thirty years or more, than I might question myself more. I did everything I could. Nothing and no one is perfect, but there will always be something I can only describe as “honor among thieves” (not that we are thieves you understand). I must question: Is it the nature of true Pirates to sacrifice each other, forsaking any bonds to advance themselves? I grew up believing the opposite. Honor and integrity among Pirates? As far as I am concerned, there are certain things which transcend the changing of times. Love, respect, friendship, loyalty, honesty, fair play are among these. The questions of basic ethics are not in my opinion, a changing thing. When you invest yourself in a long term endeavor, and find out you’ve proceeded based upon deceptive tenets, it can be so very discouraging that it will bring you to the border of depression. Hard stuff to admit to oneself. It is also hard to swallow when that you know your fault in the issue, yet know deep inside that your overall premise is true and correct. You have no choice but to stand your ground. ( I mean, you could swallow your pride and be patronizing.) The best you can do is to HEAR, consider and hope to be heard. When and if you are silenced, YOU SHOULD understand that you have been validated in THAT alone. It doesn’t make it any easier to swallow, but you should still be a little prideful of your behavior. If a friend makes a commitment or pledge to another friend and doesn’t live up to that pledge or obligation, no amount of justification or shift in ethics will veil the contradiction. He will attack you, blame you, insult you, disregard and invalidate your efforts thinking "this is necessary because I am right. I know." Denying everything he has learned and benefitted from a supportive fan.
Have you ever asked yourself that given the dilemma of “jumping on the grenade, or allowing the friend or loved one to die, what would I do”? When you carry a flag, any flag, you have no expectations. Well, maybe a few. I mean, “Gunga Din” got a poem.
But back to “your friend”:
He must convince himself he had a reason to betray that commitment. As you watch the hypocrite build that house of cards, you watch your friend disappear, absorbed into the world he originally set out to conquer and change for the better until he is just another carpetbagger in a den of carpetbaggers. I once told a friend: "Be careful who you sleep with, when you wake up, you may find that you have lost your identity. You won't know where you end and they begin".
I say this: There is no lower form of life than one that commits and purports to want to change the world, right wrongs and help those who need help while all the time holding truly only their own self interest and gain in mind. You can only wonder about the type pf person who expresses nothing but hate and contempt for mankind in one breath, and extols his own capacity for love and desire to help these very same “poor morons” in the next.
It is extremely narcissistic to portray your perception of mankind as a flawed, mediocre or even pathetic race, and yet proclaim yourself elevated, separated from it. You can say all of the nice "politician" type’s words, phrases and clichés you like. You can copy and paste all of the famous quotes, pander and deliver lip service to all the right people who will pave the way for you to get what you want but in the end- every man reveals his true nature at some point.
Takers and givers, that’s what human beings are but mostly takers, There are very few who earnestly endeavor to find a balance among this entropic chaos, but balance is the true serenity in this life. A good agreement between men is a very important part of life among them, and so is the word of a man. Convincing yourself you are something you are not only convinces you, not those around you. In the end, you may be "successful" in gathering material wealth, but there will always be a price to pay from yourself, for doing so even if it is at the expense of others as well.
The way you treat people in this world says more about you than them, and will make you feel just the same about yourself, as you make them feel in one way, or another..... I could be wrong, but this is my observation. In the end, what is most important is I want to be fair. I hope my son has the opportunity to read these words in the way I mean them someday. I believe this world is changing drastically, and very soon, the world will have little in common with the one some of us older people have known. I believe the cliche' that: Soon, my father wouldnt even recognize the world we live in, certainly not the society.
I have decided I will spend every minute doing the most important thing I can think of: My son Thomas and I had a swim together at dawn this morning, and we discussed the universe. I am prayiong it will be one of those conversations he remembers for the rest of his days. I know I will. I believe this has been the second happiest dawning of a day in my life. I truly believe that regardless of how momentarily unhappy, unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and materially un-nerved I may be.
I could die a happy man today if GOD wills it. Contrary to what they want to tell you, there IS a creator, and we are part of that whole.
Everything beyong that is supposition.
I truly pray the blessings of the creator, the architect of this universe will be with us. “No matter what mistakes I have made, who and what I have done wrong, I can still consider myself a good, loving friend long. I have lost a friend whom I thought was true, in the end I was kidding myself as I am prone to do.”-
"It is no measure of one's health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” - Krishna Murti
“Is it all my fault”? You ask yourself several times. If in the end, even you feel to a large degree justified, you realize there is more to the conflict within.
When it happens once, you think: "Shame on them". When it happens twice, by the same friend or love? Well it's the old cliché: "Shame on me". I recently realized that I had truly lost all the fight in me. I realized that if I didn’t re-invent myself, I wouldn’t survive long in what is SURELY coming our way in this current world, and very soon. I still may not survive, but I have decided I will go down swinging. This decision ended a phase of calamity within the calamity. I got some rest, recharged my psyche, took an audit of my life and made decisions to reapply myself in the areas of priority. I woke up around 4:40 AM few mornings ago renewed, feeling fantastic and ready to produce. Took a swim and sat down to work at what I have invested myself for the past 7 months in. and 5 hours later or so, I didn’t "have a job" anymore. Then I realized for the first time that it wasn’t what was sold to me, it was simply a job, and I was simply an employee, no matter what bullshit I had bought- (which is why I normally won’t work for anyone, but myself and if it’s with anyone, it’s usually someone I hire on).
Honestly? Devastating. I have had many business ventures, and several of them successful ones. I can remember making promises and/or agreements with people who went to work for me and I can remember never once going back on one of those commitments. I have lost money on contracts willingly to ensure completion of my obligation. Not Once in my recollection, have I ever made the decision walked away from a job unfinished! I am prideful of that, if not mush else. Out of the few things I have done in my life that I can be proud of, this is among them. While I can not evade the truth regarding many of my actions & mistakes in my life, both logical and ethical, my integrity in this area has been without failure. I have never said I love you, and not meant it, willing to prove it beyond just words. I have never betrayed a true friend and never will. I have never evaded a mistake I have made with a true friend by “silencing” (or doing away with) that friendship. I am very happy about this realization, and I declare that no matter what has been “done” or happened to me, it doesn’t take away from this integrity. No matter what mistakes I have made, who and what I have done wrong, I can still consider myself a good, loving friend. I have lost a friend whom I thought was true, but in the end I was kidding myself as I am prone to do. IF I didn’t have several true friends, whom I have been friends with for in many cases thirty years or more, than I might question myself more. I did everything I could. Nothing and no one is perfect, but there will always be something I can only describe as “honor among thieves” (not that we are thieves you understand). I must question: Is it the nature of true Pirates to sacrifice each other, forsaking any bonds to advance themselves? I grew up believing the opposite. Honor and integrity among Pirates? As far as I am concerned, there are certain things which transcend the changing of times. Love, respect, friendship, loyalty, honesty, fair play are among these. The questions of basic ethics are not in my opinion, a changing thing. When you invest yourself in a long term endeavor, and find out you’ve proceeded based upon deceptive tenets, it can be so very discouraging that it will bring you to the border of depression. Hard stuff to admit to oneself. It is also hard to swallow when that you know your fault in the issue, yet know deep inside that your overall premise is true and correct. You have no choice but to stand your ground. ( I mean, you could swallow your pride and be patronizing.) The best you can do is to HEAR, consider and hope to be heard. When and if you are silenced, YOU SHOULD understand that you have been validated in THAT alone. It doesn’t make it any easier to swallow, but you should still be a little prideful of your behavior. If a friend makes a commitment or pledge to another friend and doesn’t live up to that pledge or obligation, no amount of justification or shift in ethics will veil the contradiction. He will attack you, blame you, insult you, disregard and invalidate your efforts thinking "this is necessary because I am right. I know." Denying everything he has learned and benefitted from a supportive fan.
Have you ever asked yourself that given the dilemma of “jumping on the grenade, or allowing the friend or loved one to die, what would I do”? When you carry a flag, any flag, you have no expectations. Well, maybe a few. I mean, “Gunga Din” got a poem.
But back to “your friend”:
He must convince himself he had a reason to betray that commitment. As you watch the hypocrite build that house of cards, you watch your friend disappear, absorbed into the world he originally set out to conquer and change for the better until he is just another carpetbagger in a den of carpetbaggers. I once told a friend: "Be careful who you sleep with, when you wake up, you may find that you have lost your identity. You won't know where you end and they begin".
I say this: There is no lower form of life than one that commits and purports to want to change the world, right wrongs and help those who need help while all the time holding truly only their own self interest and gain in mind. You can only wonder about the type pf person who expresses nothing but hate and contempt for mankind in one breath, and extols his own capacity for love and desire to help these very same “poor morons” in the next.
It is extremely narcissistic to portray your perception of mankind as a flawed, mediocre or even pathetic race, and yet proclaim yourself elevated, separated from it. You can say all of the nice "politician" type’s words, phrases and clichés you like. You can copy and paste all of the famous quotes, pander and deliver lip service to all the right people who will pave the way for you to get what you want but in the end- every man reveals his true nature at some point.
Takers and givers, that’s what human beings are but mostly takers, There are very few who earnestly endeavor to find a balance among this entropic chaos, but balance is the true serenity in this life. A good agreement between men is a very important part of life among them, and so is the word of a man. Convincing yourself you are something you are not only convinces you, not those around you. In the end, you may be "successful" in gathering material wealth, but there will always be a price to pay from yourself, for doing so even if it is at the expense of others as well.
The way you treat people in this world says more about you than them, and will make you feel just the same about yourself, as you make them feel in one way, or another..... I could be wrong, but this is my observation. In the end, what is most important is I want to be fair. I hope my son has the opportunity to read these words in the way I mean them someday. I believe this world is changing drastically, and very soon, the world will have little in common with the one some of us older people have known. I believe the cliche' that: Soon, my father wouldnt even recognize the world we live in, certainly not the society.
I have decided I will spend every minute doing the most important thing I can think of: My son Thomas and I had a swim together at dawn this morning, and we discussed the universe. I am prayiong it will be one of those conversations he remembers for the rest of his days. I know I will. I believe this has been the second happiest dawning of a day in my life. I truly believe that regardless of how momentarily unhappy, unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and materially un-nerved I may be.
I could die a happy man today if GOD wills it. Contrary to what they want to tell you, there IS a creator, and we are part of that whole.
Everything beyong that is supposition.
I truly pray the blessings of the creator, the architect of this universe will be with us. “No matter what mistakes I have made, who and what I have done wrong, I can still consider myself a good, loving friend long. I have lost a friend whom I thought was true, in the end I was kidding myself as I am prone to do.”-
"It is no measure of one's health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” - Krishna Murti
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Liberty
"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. "
The Declaration of Independence - 1776
Somebody wrote today: "Are you advocating the overthrow of the US government?
That's a pretty serious, Ayers-like view. I'd be watching out my front window for the black helicopters to be coming for you, dude.... "
She say's that as if it's nasty sinful treason, but I assure you, That is exactly what the Declaration of Independance is ALL about. Just have a quick read in this context:
"Gentlemen, Altho it is not possible to forsee the consequences of human actions, yet it is nevertheless a duty we owe ourselves and posterity in all our public councils to decide in the best manner we are able and to trust the event to That Being who governs both causes and events, so as to bring about his own determinations. "
"Impressed with this sentiment, and at the same time fully convinced that our affairs will take a more favorable turn, The Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve all connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies, and to declare them free and independent States as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you"
As someone said:These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were men of means and education. They were resourceful. They had security, but they valued liberty more.
Unwavering, they pledged:
"For the support of this declaration, with the firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
by Thomas Jefferson
"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."
These men and women gave birth to, and gave you & I a free, independent American Republic, and........LOOK WHAT WE HAVE ALLOWED TO BECOME OF IT! - JUST LOOK WHAT WE HAVE ALLOWED TO BECOME OF IT!
Here is the rest of the document, just in case anyone cares to scan it. I just cant bear to post one part without the other:
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 harass 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. 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 benefit 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 ColoniesFor 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: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.-- John Hancock
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
That's a pretty serious, Ayers-like view. I'd be watching out my front window for the black helicopters to be coming for you, dude.... "
She say's that as if it's nasty sinful treason, but I assure you, That is exactly what the Declaration of Independance is ALL about. Just have a quick read in this context:
"Gentlemen, Altho it is not possible to forsee the consequences of human actions, yet it is nevertheless a duty we owe ourselves and posterity in all our public councils to decide in the best manner we are able and to trust the event to That Being who governs both causes and events, so as to bring about his own determinations. "
"Impressed with this sentiment, and at the same time fully convinced that our affairs will take a more favorable turn, The Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve all connection between Great Britain and the American Colonies, and to declare them free and independent States as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you"
As someone said:These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were men of means and education. They were resourceful. They had security, but they valued liberty more.
Unwavering, they pledged:
"For the support of this declaration, with the firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
by Thomas Jefferson
Declaration of Independance
"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."
These men and women gave birth to, and gave you & I a free, independent American Republic, and........LOOK WHAT WE HAVE ALLOWED TO BECOME OF IT! - JUST LOOK WHAT WE HAVE ALLOWED TO BECOME OF IT!
Here is the rest of the document, just in case anyone cares to scan it. I just cant bear to post one part without the other:
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 harass 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. 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 benefit 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 ColoniesFor 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: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.-- John Hancock
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
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