Free Republic

WHAT KIND OF MINDLESS HORSESQUEEZE IS THIS? I spent the first part of the Independence Day weekend at the Grove Park Inn & Spa in Ashville, North Carolina playing a bit of golf, relaxing and working on "Somebody's Gotta Say It" While there I was treated to several editions of The Asheville Citizen-Times. This is a Gannett newspaper ... same folks as USA Today. Needless to say, the slant is decidedly leftists. That seems to fit in quite well with the Asheville community which, I'm told, is quite proud of its liberal leanings. A quick glance at the letters to...

Renewing our Declaration of Independence July 4, 2006 Alan Keyes As we family, friends, and countrymen again gather in our beloved America to observe the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, let us emulate our Founders in their faithfulness to the truth. Theirs was a bold faithfulness that gave birth to this nation in a time of great troubles and trial--but which brought forth a community of decency and equality which remains the last, best hope of mankind on earth. Let us recite aloud, as we gather, the great words and lessons of the Declaration, and reflect on a Founding...

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, when Americans celebrate Independence Day. But a YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph suggests that the Stars and Stripes will be flying at half mast in the eyes of most Britons. There has probably never been a time when America was held in such low esteem on this side of the Atlantic. A majority of Britons think American culture and the actions of the present American administration are making the world a worse place to live in, and almost no one believes America is now, if it ever was, a beacon to the world....

by Edward Hudgins, The Atlas Society & Objectivist Center On July 4 we celebrate the creation of the United States of America. Our birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence, reads, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal." It states that we're each endowed with "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It concludes that "to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed." Most Americans give lip service to these sentiments. But how many of us understand...

This year's nine day festival here in Philly will feature: On Independence Day - Justice Samuel Alito giving a speech at Independence Hall on Independence Day, the tapping of the Liberty Bell by descendants of the signers, and the laser scanning of the Liberty Bell. Also there will be the Southwest Airlines parade and a concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the steps of the Art Museum by Lionel Ritchie, American Idol winner Fantasia, and the Philly Pops orchestra. Followed by a fireworks and laser show spectacular. On July 3 there will be another concert by Peter Nero and...

Reflection.. on all men being created equal. I want to preface this note with one disclaimer... this is in no way, shape or form yet another George W. Bush justification. This clearly comes from the mind of markbureau! I was walking down Peachtree Street in Atlanta today (I am still there, by the way) coming from the Credit Union heading for a bite to eat when this, for lack of a better term, toothless, filthy bum approached me and just shouted .... "End the War, Stamp out Bush".

Let’s see if you can guess who wrote the statement below: "Land, because of its unique nature and the crucial role it plays in human settlements, cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes. Social justice, urban renewal and development, the provision of decent dwellings-and healthy conditions for the people can only...

GOVERNMENT BY THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED In 1998, the people of Arizona approved public funding of state political campaigns as a means to reduce the influence of special interest money in our electoral process. A Citizens Clean Elections Commission was created to regulate this public funding program with the power to levy fines and in certain circumstances to require participating candidates to forfeit office for violating commission rules. The Citizens Clean Elections Commission has determined that David Burnell Smith, a participating candidate elected by the voters of his district to the Arizona House of Representatives, has violated commission rules...

Israel, PA sign joint economic declaration In London conference, representatives of Israel, Palestinian Authority back calls by business leaders to drive forward creation of economically, politically viable Palestinian state AFP Representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Authority backed calls by business leaders to drive forward the creation of an economically and politically viable, independent Palestinian state. They supported a joint declaration signed by Palestinian and Israeli private sector leaders that identified regulatory reform, private sector participation and security as keys to revitalizing the Palestinian economy. It was signed and presented at a conference, entitled 'Promoting Economic Growth in the West...

Poem penned by U.S. Founding Father discovered in English schoolBy Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service LONDON (CNS) -- A poem written by one of the U.S. Founding Fathers has been discovered in the archives of a Catholic high school in England. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the signers of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, wrote the poem in Latin in 1754 when he was a student in his final year of high school in Saint-Omer, France. It was found in the archives of Stonyhurst College in Clitheroe, England, by Maurice Whitehead, a professor at the University of Wales, Swansea,...

When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted; and so far from being a guarantee for the enjoyment of those inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their oppression; when the Federal Republican Constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed...

1. Last night I went to Mana to watch the drag races and they played the national anthem and I was one of a very few spectators who stood, hand over heart, in silence. That’s Hawaii for you. The demographic at the dragstrip was probably equivalent to that of a Nascar event, but I can’t imagine mainland Nascar-ians being so disrespectful. Having said that, I bet a lot of people in the stands are veterans- local people join the military in huge numbers- and (other things being equal) any veteran who chooses to drink his beer and fart during the...

The Declaration of Secession and Independence, July, 1776 An early act of American independence occurred in Rhode Island on May 4, 1776. The legislature and the governor met as an extra ordinary assembly, and adopted a statute which stated that Rhode Island was seceded from the British Empire. A few weeks later, Virginia declared itself in secession from the British Empire on June 12 then later on the 29th, 1776, again apart from the Declaration of Independence. These declarations were the first examples of a convention of the people of a State assuming the attributes of a sovereign power, passing...

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. The declaration came 442 days after the first volleys of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts and marked an ideological expansion of the conflict that would eventually encourage France's intervention on behalf of the Patriots. The first major American opposition to British policy came in 1765 after Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. Under the banner...

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.

What does the Fourth of July mean to contemporary Americans? For many it means a day off from work and little more. To others it means an opportunity to "party," roast hot dogs, drink beer and watch fireworks. But to the Founders of our nation, it meant far more. Upon the completion of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams, known as the "Father of the American Revolution" said, "We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun,...

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,...

The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men by John Witherspoon May, 1776 In the first place, I would take the opportunity on this occasion, and from this subject, to press every hearer to a sincere concern for his own soul's salvation. There are times when the mind may be expected to be more awake to divine truth, and the conscience more open to the arrows ofconviction than at others. A season of public judgment is of this kind. Can you have a clearer view of the sinfulness of your nature, than when the rod of the oppressor is...

This week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on government displays of the Ten Commandments. Apparently some of the justices have enrolled in the John Kerry School of Advanced Nuance and Nonsense. Displaying the Ten Commandments outside the Texas state capitol is OK, but displaying them inside Kentucky courthouses isn’t. Bringing some common sense to the matter was, as usual, Justice Antonin Scalia. In his dissent he wrote: "What distinguishes the rule of law from the dictatorship of a shifting Supreme Court majority is the absolutely indispensable requirement that judicial opinions be grounded in consistently applied principle." Consistency? Principle? In present...

G-8 to push N. Korea to abandon nuke plans The Yomiuri Shimbun A nuclear nonproliferation declaration that pressures North Korea to abandon its nuclear development program is to be adopted at the upcoming Group of Eight major nations summit meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, government sources said Monday. The declaration, which has been tentatively called the "declaration concerning nonproliferation," will express "grave concern" over North Korea, which declared in February that it possessed nuclear weapons. According to the sources, if the schedule for resumption of the six-way talks is not decided at the July 6-8 summit meeting, the G-8 will demand...