Good Morning!
Happy Independence Day!
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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: 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.
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Quotes of the Day
“The U. S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.”
Benjamin Franklin
“There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles!”
John Hancock
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In this next one, note the young fella at the 4:21 mark. 🙂
And as requested….
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QoD
How are you spending the holiday?
Wandering Views 
Maybe this should go on the prayer thread. Loretta and Conway sing my prayer for today.
I think you can skip the 30 sec. commercial.
Everyone celebrate Independence Day carefully. We are going to Columbia for a couple of days. We’ll visit USC, I don’t know what else.
I wish Arizona had the three inches of rain I got yesterday. We’re under flood warning here in Western NC and Upstate SC.
The radio stations in Hendersonville still play gospel and patriotic music.
🙂
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I hope your input is faster than my DSL.
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Morning Chas.
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Thanks for the music, AJ. I feel like I just celebrated the holiday. I could not get the Kate Smith one to play as they said there was an error. Any ideas how to hear it?
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I am hoping to celebrate by perhaps skyping with some grandchildren
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oh, yeah, it worked, what a lovely song and Kate Smith is the best. Thanks so much, AJ.
Yes, it was fun to see the young gentleman at 4:21. Wish he was still around.
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Thanks for the prayer, Chas. It was good to be reminded to pray when the rest of the news can be so discouraging.
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You’re welcome Jo.
The Kate Smith version is my favorite too. They play a portion of her singing it during the 7th inning stretch at Yankee home games, so I hear it a couple times a week. Never gets old. 🙂
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Cartoon in today’s paper has Mark Twain saying, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it diserves it.”
Kate Smth tried to make “God Bless America” our national anthem. It would have been better. “Star Spangled Banner” is about a flag, not America. And is unsingable.
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Good morning. We’re spending the holiday with hubby’s family. His brother and sister and their families are visiting. My MIL lives on Lake Conroe, about an hour north of us. Her community has a parade this morning and there will be fireworks over the lake tonight.
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Good morning all. I don’t understand why I keep dreaming about a job that is now in my past. I am better today.
Last night Sweet Baby Boy’s other grandparents and our hosts had a get together. It made our visit start off well. It wasn’t so much like we are here entertain us. One of the guests is a widow, but in talking to her it turns out her husband was from my little slice of heaven town.
The “kids” have made an offer on a house. The other grandpa tools SBB “Did you here that? Your parents are moving out.”
Have a good day everyone.
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Happy 4th!!! Our little town of Carlsbad has grown into a city of 100,000, but we are going to a 4th of July party today where a lot of the old small town people will be. Looking forward to it.
Also, rejoicing today for the many answered prayers for the 3rd of July, Independence Day 2.0 for Egypt.
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It’s time to turn it around. God already blessed America with more freedoms and liberties than any nation in history. Then we turned liberty to license, and basically told God to get lost, we don’t need you anymore. Or, in the words of the church at Laodicea, we said as a nation “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:17 NKJV). So listen to Kate Smith all you want, but until America blesses God, He is going to ignore us. Judgement is coming and it will begin with those of us who claim to be God’s people.
To be truly independent, one must declare total dependence on God. (I forget who first said that, but it is the truth.)
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I hope you all enjoy your national holiday. It sounds like a lot of people will be visiting with their families.
That is the first time I’ve read the full declaration through. It is interesting to look at it in the light of history. Was the ‘neighbouring Province’ which was given an ‘Arbitrary government’ referring to Canada?
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Has anybody else seen this: Tea Party Members Fit Profile of Domestic Terrorists, Obama Claims? I have never heard of The National Report, but a friend I trust posted this link on Facebook.
I guess I will now proclaim that I am a “Domestic Terrorist”, according to our President.
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Here’s a good piece (“America’s most disagreeable holiday”) on the 4th by author and Yale professor Stephen Carter:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-03/america-s-most-disagreeable-holiday.html
“… the one symbol of patriotism that has yet to fade is our love of dissent — loud, raucous, passionate, sometimes impolite — and it is dissent that we should be celebrating on Independence Day.
“It’s hard sometimes. If you’re like me, at least twice a week you encounter some opinion that makes your blood boil. Maybe it comes from a friend or colleague, maybe from a politician or pundit; whatever the source, a part of you surely wonders how any seemingly intelligent person can possibly believe that drivel, much less express it. The Fourth of July is exactly the right occasion to pause and give thanks for those disagreeable views — and for a country that was founded on our right to express them. …
“The essential function of dissent is to remind the rulers that they serve the ruled. It is a paradox of our era that even as the digital world opens new avenues for conveying ideas, effective dissent becomes more and more difficult. In particular, the growing bureaucratization of government has a stifling effect on dissent. A large and complex government, distant from those it governs, tends to handle disagreement in the same way as a corporate customer-relations department: The complaint is reduced to a standardized input to be processed, cataloged, digitized and ultimately forgotten.
“I suspect that one cause of the growing fury of our political age is that a large, distant, essentially diffident federal establishment is not terribly well-suited to give ear to the disgruntlements of the ordinary citizen. Dissenters feel ignored, and their frustration leads them to anger. … “
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I got to sleep in today, which was so wonderful! But I woke up to some firecrackers being set off in the street. Within seconds I had two large dogs on the bed — and on my head.
Time to get up.
Trying or figure out a place to go out for lunch today with some friends — everything near the water will be jam packed today.
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Peter,
There are many stories out there on our FBI, CIA, IRS, DHS, ATF and other govt bureaus including such things in their training material. So yes, and for a long time now. Christian, right-wing, small govt, you name it, it earns you the potential terrorist label now from our govt. Top down. All this while groups like CAIR and the MB have any reference to Islam removed from said material. The ones actually committing it, Boston the most recent example, is removed for PC reasons. Religion of peace and all. Up is down, left is right, and anyone on the political right is wrong.
Those are the rules. Welcome to the Revolution. It will be televised, but only on Fox. The rest of the MSM will continue to fill the roll of Pravda, so they won’t air it. Except of course pieces that label the aforementioned folks as domestic terrorists.
And it turns out, that yes, Big Brother is watching, and has been for a loooong time. The future is so bright, it won’t require shades. Maybe a nightlight, but no sunglasses.
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Had a nice lunch out and toured the Iowa with a friend who hadn’t been on her yet. Beautiful day out there, with the big container ships gliding by us — sunny, about 80 degrees.
Now it’s off to the dog park, meeting a friend there to give our dogs a last break before the sun goes down and chaos erupts.
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We had a pretty quiet day, just the five of us. Lee mowed the lawn late this morning, with little Forrest trailing after him with his play mower. Like his Papa, he had on eye protection & his “mow ears” (his word for ear protectors). 🙂
Later in the afternoon, Lee fired up the grill, & grilled up a bunch of hamburgers, hot dogs, & chicken.
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I had to work at the cave today. We are allowed to “dress up” on the Fourth, and some of the guides dress up as Tom Sawyer or Becky Thatcher, especially those that were “official” Toms and Beckys when they were younger. Anyway, I just put a couple of patriotic pins on my shirts. One is the yellow flag with the snake and the slogan “Don’t tread on me”. The boss questioned it when she saw it. So I explained that it was one of the slogans from the Revolution. She didn’t know that. Three customers commented that they liked it.
Now comes the yearly war. All kinds of fireworks going off around us. I am actually staying hime this year instead of going to the city sponsored show. D3 is with cousins in Hannibal, so there is no one to enjoy them with. I miss having little children who get excited about such things. ~sigh~ Maybe next year I’ll take the grandchildren to a display.
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Am I alone here tonight? It’s just getting dark and the big neighborhood fireworks are being set off — triggering car alarms. My neighbors are gone for the evening, the asked me to make sure I get their 2 dogs and cat out of the house in case the canyon (which runs next to their house) catches on fire. Oy.
But I did get the dogs out for some time at the coast where it was nice and cool — and beautiful.
Now my dogs are medicated and were bracing for the usual 3 or 4-hour onslaught of illegal fireworks (the formal show is at the beach from a barge — looked jam packed already when I drove by there earlier today.
No grill to fire up, but I guess I could microwave a hot dog while consoling the pups. 🙂 And it’s back to work for me tomorrow.
The single girl’s 4th of July.
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Fireworks everywhere around here tonight. But it’s calmed down now. 🙂
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No fireworks around here at all. But husband has taken the three older girls to town to see if they could find some. We did have around thirty people for dinner and that was fun, as always.
Husband and daughter are off for about a week and a half so feel free to pray extra for us. We will need it as always.
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The noise is finally slowing down here at 10 p.m. My poor dogs!
The “Die Hard” movie that was on tonight helped some, masquerading and covering up some of the real booms with less-scary, fake TV booms.
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just had to pop back over here to listen to the Stars and Stripes again 🙂
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