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This is a Vanity. If it shows up in the wrong place, would some kindly soul remove it to a better place. I have recently seen the movie "Amazing Grace", with Ioan Gruffudd, about William Wilberforce and his efforts to end British participation in the slave trade. At one point, his friend, PM Pitt, tells him that one of the reasons he's having trouble is that it is rumored that WW was corresponding with Thomas Jefferson. Is it true? Does anyone know what they were writing about? Jefferson had slaves, and WW was against it.

Let us approach the question from another perspective. Much as injustice against black slaves is used to discredit the men who wrote and signed the Declaration and Constitution, hypocrisy is also used to discredit advocates of social conservatism. Whether due to divorce, infidelity, homosexuality, or some other moral violation, guilty politicians, preachers, and commentators are called out for violating the family values they otherwise advocate. Often, the argument against such offenders extends to the principles they support. We are led to believe, because a man gets a divorce or has an affair, he may not credibly argue in defense of...

I found this enjoyable and wanted to share it.

"Here's to You Mr. Jefferson" Awesome! by Mike Church

A Library of Congress curator is on a worldwide mission to find exact copies of the books that belonged to Thomas Jefferson For more than a decade, Mark Dimunation has led a quest to rebuild an American treasure—knowing he will likely never see the complete results of his efforts. On an August day 195 years ago, the British burned the U.S. Capitol in the War of 1812 and by doing so, destroyed the first Library of Congress. When the war ended, former President Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his personal library, which at 6,487 books was the largest in America,...

Law Of The Sea: The U.S. seeks U.N. authorization to fight Somali pirates from the air, on land and at sea. When American cruise ships become targets, maybe it's time to renew a proud tradition: Send in the Marines.On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally presented to a special U.N. session on Somalia a draft Security Council resolution saying that member states fighting against piracy "may take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including its airspace, to interdict those who are using Somali territory to plan, facilitate or undertake acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea and to...

John F. Kennedy once said to a assembled group of scholars in the White House, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." The quotes below could prove his point. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would...

IN THE battle over how to teach evolution in public schools, Thomas Jefferson’s demand for a “separation between church and state’’ has been cited countless times. Many argue that the controversial alternative to Darwinian evolution, intelligent design, is an exclusively religious idea and therefore cannot be discussed under the Constitution. By invoking Jefferson’s principle of separation, many critics of intelligent design assume that this visionary Founding Father would agree with them. But would he? For too long, an aspect of Jefferson’s visionary thought has been ignored, hidden away as too uncomfortable for public discussion - his support for intelligent design....

Thomas Jefferson, The First Amendment and the separation of church and state - most are surprised to discover that neither the Constitution nor the First Amendment contain these words. The First Amendment simply states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The fact that the phrase “separation of church and state” appears in no founding document does not prevent many judicial and social activists from invoking that phrase as the basis for many public policy decisions. Today, Thomas Jefferson (author of that phrase) is portrayed as the authority on the First...

Next time someone tells you intelligent design is “based on religion,” you might point him to American Founder Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. As I explain in a special July 4th edition of ID the Future, Jefferson not only believed in intelligent design, he insisted it was based on the plain evidence of nature, not religion. Ironically, the critics of intelligent design often think they are defending the principles of Jefferson. The National Council for the Social Studies, for example, claims that intelligent design is religion and then cites Jefferson’s famous Letter to the Danbury Baptists calling...

John Adans: Yesterday, the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." ...

For more than 200 years, buried deep within Thomas Jefferson's correspondence and papers, there lay a mysterious cipher -- a coded message that appears to have remained unsolved. Until now. The cryptic message was sent to President Jefferson in December 1801 by his friend and frequent correspondent, Robert Patterson, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. President Jefferson and Mr. Patterson were both officials at the American Philosophical Society -- a group that promoted scholarly research in the sciences and humanities -- and were enthusiasts of ciphers and other codes, regularly exchanging letters about them. There is no evidence...

Frequently Asked Dead Presidents Questions Which Two Presidents Died On The Same Day?? I don't know why (maybe it's on a lesson plan for schools around the country) but this little question with a quick answer (and one that is quickly found in any ready reference) has been asked of me so often that I finally decided to list the answer here. The answer is John Adams (second President) and Thomas Jefferson (third President). These two men died on the same day. But that's not all; read on....The question with an even more interesting answer is, "On which day did...

Three descendants of Venus' son, who was called West Ford, say that according to a family tradition two centuries old, George Washington was West Ford's father. They hope to develop DNA evidence from Washington family descendants and his hair samples to bolster their case... There is, however, reason to believe that if the child's father was not Washington, it might have been someone closely related to him. The cousins' claim has several elements of truth, enough to set up a historical mystery as to the identity of West Ford's father and to add a new strand to the emerging links...

“That brought us to our essential difference, the difference of the Evolutionary Collectivist and Marxist, the question whether the social revolution is, in its extremity, necessary, whether it is necessary to over throw one economic system completely before the new one can begin. I believe that through a vast sustained educational campaign the existing Capitalist system can be civilised into a Collectivist world system;” - H.G. Wells, Russia in the Shadows

President Thomas Jefferson's own words (the right-wing extremist that he was!):"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government." "Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state." "I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive." "No free man shall ever be debarred the use...

The Navy’s efforts are highly commendable, our President’s orders are troubling and leave us with a few questions. Did Obama’s administration plan to negotiate and pay a ransom? Mr. Obama is quite well acquainted with the Qur’an in its original language, is his knowledge of America’s history just as deficient as his many faux pas at the recent G20 Summit showed his judgment is? Should not a President of a country know its history well enough to learn from what worked and avoid what didn’t? Or was the American taxpayer to be soaked again and again in “bailing out” Somalia’s...

U.S. been fighting Islamic fundamentalism since colonial era April 10, 2009 By Bryan Fischer As we watch the Somali pirate incident unfold in the Middle East, it serves as a reminder that, besides 9/11, Islam has had one other shaping influence on the history of the United States: we have a navy, thanks to the sea-going Islamic thugs of Thomas Jefferson's day, the Barbary Pirates. Even prior to our Declaration of Independence in 1776, Islamists under the control of an Ottoman warlord in Algiers were pirating American ships and enslaving their Christian crews. Thus our forefathers had early experience with...

Somalia Standoff Generates US Policy Debate Voice of America - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎US officials said the group, which controls parts of Somalia, poses a dilemma. They point to its rapid expansion, ties between its leaders and the al-Qaida ...http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-11-voa12.cfm   The Pirates Challenge Obama's Pre-9/11 Mentality Wall Street Journal - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎As the eminent military historian Sir Michael Howard argued shortly after 9/11, the status of al Qaeda terrorists is to be found in a distinction first made ...http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123940383654409651.html   Somali Pirates Tied to Jihad Intellectual Conservative - ‎Apr 8, 2009‎Since 2003, Somalia has witnessed the growth of a...

April 10, 2009 U.S. has been fighting Islamic fundamentalism since colonial eraBy Bryan Fischer As we watch the Somali pirate incident unfold in the Middle East, it serves as a reminder that, besides 9/11, Islam has had one other shaping influence on the history of the United States: we have a navy, thanks to the sea-going Islamic thugs of Thomas Jefferson's day, the Barbary Pirates. Even prior to our Declaration of Independence in 1776, Islamists under the control of an Ottoman warlord in Algiers were pirating American ships and enslaving their Christian crews. Thus our forefathers had early experience with...

The video speaks for itself. No additional commentary is necessary. So, instead of commentary, I merely provide some of Thomas Jefferson's wisdom to introduce this fine piece: "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases." "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." Video after the jump.

For young Somalis, piracy offers power, prosperity The Associated Press There are several known pirate groups in Somalia. One is based in the southern port town of Kismayo, which is controlled by Islamic insurgents. ... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iR9XICoYi0CQt77GJUw5lNAPpG_AD97EGS200 Hot Air » Blog Archive » Somali pirates seize American ship, crew ... by Ed Morrissey Jefferson Versus the Muslim Pirates …one cannot get around what Jefferson heard when he went with John Adams to wait upon Tripoli’s ambassador to London in March 1785. When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping ... So here was an early instance...

The Mike Church take on the Simon & Garfunkel classic, "Mrs. Robinson"

"Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people--a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword...

I found the video at MRC but it wont open. Anyone know where I can find this video showing Gore stating after looking at our founding fathers busts "Who are these guys" when touring Monticello?

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which, if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense...

Just thought I would post an email I just received from my politically astute friend. Although I don't agree with most of Thomas Jefferson's policies, it really doesn't matter because he is long gone! John Kennedy once said to a assembled group of scholars in the White House, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." The quotes below could prove his point. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in...

“If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, and give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses. And the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they do now, on oatmeal and potatoes, have no time to think, no means...

Later this month, an archaeologist at Thomas Jefferson's historic home of Monticello in Charlottesville, Va., will speak at Smith College about the use of the late president's plantation by the estate's residents, both free and enslaved. Sara Bon-Harper, archeological research manager, will lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, in McConnell Hall, Room 103, about "Defined Spaces: Landscape on the Monticello Plantation." The event is sponsored by the Program in Archaeology and the Lecture Committee and is free and open to the public. Bon-Harper's work at Monticello focuses on an archaeological survey of the original 5,000-acre plantation and the excavation...

On the morning of Wednesday, March 4th , 1801, Thomas Jefferson emerged from the Conrad and McMunn boarding house at New Jersey Avenue and C Street, where he had been residing for several months. Demonstrating his desire for “republican simplicity,” Jefferson broke the precedent set by his predecessors Adams and George Washington, who had worn elegant suits and swords for their inaugurations and been driven to the ceremonies in liveried coaches. The tall, 57 year-old Virginian wore, the Alexandria Times reported, the clothes “of a plain citizen without any distinctive badge of office,” and walked the short distance to the...

Learning From Conservative History: Main Trails . . . and Less-Traveled Paths - 01/02/09 This is part three of a symposium on contemporary conservatism hosted by ISI at Yale in November, 2008. Read part one. Read part two.By training, I am an historian. I love the discipline and believe that historical mindedness—the ability to see and understand the grounding of current institutions, issues, and events in the complex matrix of the past—this is the superior way to make sense of reality.All the same, I have been troubled for over a decade by the growing interest of American conservatives in...

Jefferson, in Some Cases, Could be Called a Prophet. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. -- Thomas Jefferson The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -- Thomas Jefferson It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle, which, if acted on, would save one-half the wars of the world. -- Thomas Jefferson I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent...

Loading up the nation with debt and leaving it for the following generations to pay is morally irresponsible. Excessive debt is a means by which governments oppress the people and waste their substance. No nation has a right to contract debt for periods longer than the majority contracting it can expect to live. "I sincerely believe... that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, 1816. ME 15:23 "[With the decline of society] begins, indeed, the bellum omnium in omnia...

Subject: Words of Thomas Jefferson Our third President could very easily be called our greatest prophet. Here are some quotes from his prolific writings. When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. I predict future happiness...

The irony in this story is thicker than Rosie O’Donnell’s thigh. A hijacked Saudi tanker, the Sirius Star, taken by pirates off the coast of Somalia last week, is being threatened by Islamic militants who say they will “rescue” the ship from the pirates. Stating the hijacking is a crime against Islam (and really, what isn’t these days?), members of the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab arrived in the town of Harardhere to battle the pirates. Now before we go any deeper into this story let us get some things straight. Piracy is in fact against Islam...

Maritime officials said pirates off the coast of Somalia Friday hijacked another ship and released one that had been held for more than two months. Officials said three crew members escaped as pirates boarded the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Biscaglia. A warship on patrol near the ship sent a helicopter to intervene. It arrived after pirates seized the ship, but rescued the three crew members who had jumped into the Gulf of Aden. At least 25 other crew members are still on board the hijacked ship. They are reported to be mostly from India and Bangladesh. Also Friday, Kenyan authorities said...

Details about another ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates and one that was released with the crew unharmed. Question: Why not have weapons aboard ships that sail these waters similar to our troops with rocket launchers that home in on a target painted with a laser beam. My guess is that putting a few prirate boats in orbit might discourage other pirates in the area...just a thought.

WASHINGTON -- Piracy has long been the consequence of disorder. America's first foreign war -- undeclared but authorized by Congress -- was waged by President Thomas Jefferson against the Barbary pirates. It is instructive history for those who believe that the problem of Somali piracy can be solved the same way. By the late 1700s, the European powers were incapable of maintaining maritime law and order, and Islamic piracy became a flourishing enterprise in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast of North Africa. Despite "tribute" payments to the "governments" in Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and Morocco by the British, French...

This Thanksgiving Day while we are eating turkey and stuffing and watching the Philadelphia Eagles get trounced by Denver, one of our allies is on the brink of all-out war with radical Islam. The Indian Navy has taken lawful action to protect maritime commerce in the Gulf of Aden from the Somali Pirates (above right). Is the Muslim terrorist attack on Mumbai (above left) retaliation for India’s defense of shipping. MFP pities the fool that underestimates the Indian military.

I have heard of tough women before. And mean women. And women most men wouldn't dare cross. But to end the Somali Piracy industry . . . with a satellite phone? Now that is tough. More . . .

<p>Despite the Indian Navy's claims that it sank a so-called pirate "mother ship" last week, there is no evidence to suggest that any pirates were on board, and the destroyed ship may simply have been an innocent commercial fishing vessel, a U.S. official with knowledge of last week's incident told FOX News.</p>

It's a safe bet, dear reader, that the title of this column has caused you to either (a) roll your eyes and wonder, What century do you think we're living in? or (b) scratch your head and ask, Yes, why don't we? Wherever you come down, the question defines a fault line in the civilized world's view about the latest encroachment of barbarism. Year-to-date, Somalia-based pirates have attacked more than 90 ships, seized more than 35, and currently hold 17. Some 280 crew members are being held hostage, and two have been killed. Billions of dollars worth of cargo have...

NAIROBI - SOMALI pirates have hijacked another vessel, a Yemen cargo ship, in the Gulf of Aden, a regional maritime official said on Tuesday. Mr Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, identified the vessel as the MV Amani, but no other details were immediately available. Word of the latest attack at sea came 10 days after gunmen from Somalia seized a Saudi supertanker in the largest hijacking in maritime history. The Nov 15 capture of the Sirius Star - with US$100 million (S$151.6 million) of oil and 25 crew members from Britain, Poland, Croatia, Saudi...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) — Shipping officials from around the world called Monday for a military blockade along Somalia’s coast to intercept pirate vessels heading out to sea. But NATO, which has four warships off the coast of Somalia, rejected the idea. Somali pirates have become increasingly brazen, seizing eight vessels in the last two weeks, including a huge Saudi supertanker with $100 million worth of crude oil. Peter Swift of the International Assn. of Independent Tanker Owners said stronger naval action and aerial support were necessary to battle rampant piracy in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. About 20...

By Leslie SacksOff Somalia's vast Indian Ocean coastline, a set of entrepreneurial Somalis have found gainful employment in one of the world's most impoverished settings. The Horn of Africa is the setting for a latter day "Barbary Pirates," where ragtag groups equipped with GPS devices, rocket-propelled grenades and assorted machine guns roam at will, boarding supertankers and cargo vessels at a rate of about two per week. As a result, some 15 dormant ships are now berthed in lawless yet booming Somali ports. Perhaps oil-thirsty America can bid for some of those oil-filled supertankers on the cheap and quietly...

>snip< Geoffrey Cheng, analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research, said insurance companies had raised premiums by 12-15 percent this year. With many shipping firms already operating at a loss, he said "they are actually burning money now." A terrorist attack on shipping would further raise insurance premiums. The impact of Somali piracy on premiums shows the extent to which costs can suddenly spike -- corporate security firm BGN Risk estimates the special risks insurance levy for crossing the Gulf of Aden has leapt to $20,000 per vessel per transit from $500. And an attack aimed at shutting down a major...

Civilization walks the plank Caroline Glick , THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 20, 2008 www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404794131&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull A Somali pirate and a former US defense secretary are flying to London for vacation. One of them is stopped at immigration at Heathrow airport and arrested on suspicion of committing war crimes. Which one do you think it was? On Tuesday, Somali pirates, sailing in little more than motorized bathtubs, armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, and sustained by raw fish and narcotics, successfully hijacked the Sirius Star, a Saudi-owned oil tanker the size of a US aircraft carrier. The tanker was carrying some...

(CNN) -- Five Indian sailors who were among the crew of a Japanese-owned cargo ship hijacked by pirates and held for two months before a ransom was paid said Monday their captivity was "total desperation." "I wish that no one else ever has to go through this -- (hijackers) are not human but rather animals," said Alister Fernandes, one of the sailors, at a news conference in Mumbai, India. They arrived in Mumbai on Monday after several days of rest and medical and psychological treatment following the release of their ship on November 16. The Stolt Valor, a chemical tanker,...

Once again, piracy captures the world's attention, though it seems unlikely that Hollywood will ever cast Johnny Depp in Pirates of Somalia. It's equally unlikely that a Somali immigrant got carried away on National Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th) here in the States and sent word to his friends back home. Greed and jihad represent the motive of this resurgence of maritime larceny off the coast of Africa, while the opportunity was provided by Somalia's civil wars and the loss of central state control. Piracy has been with us since at least the 13th century BC, with every...

MOGADISHU (AFP) - - Somali Islamist fighters on Sunday urged pirates holding a Saudi super-tanker to free the ship or face armed action. ADVERTISEMENT "If the pirates want peace, they had better release the tanker," Sheikh Ahmed, a spokesman for the Shebab group in the coastal region of Harardhere, told AFP by phone.The Sirius Star, a huge tanker carrying around 100 million dollars worth of crude oil and owned by Saudi Aramco, was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on November 15.Pirates have since anchored it off their base in Harardhere and have demanded a ransom of 25...