Will This Video Be Banned?

I think it will. How about you?

* * *

Persevero,

Independence Day

"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 Brittish 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."

Now for some laughs ('cause there are people who think we should be apologizing to the British)...

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

* * *

Persevero,

God Forgive Us

"It concerns us all to seriously reflect upon our own sins, and the sins of our land--which have brought these calamities upon us.

~

We and our countrymen are sinners, aggravated sinners! God proclaims that we are such--by His judgments now upon us: by withering fields and scanty harvests, by the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war!

~

O my country, is not your wickedness great, and your iniquities infinite? Where is there a more sinful spot to be found upon our guilty globe? Pass over the land, take a survey of the inhabitants, inspect into their conduct--and what do you see? What do you hear?

~

You see the gigantic forms of vice bidding defiance to the God of heaven--while true religion and virtue are forced to retire, to avoid public contempt and insult!

~

You see herds of drunkards swilling down their cups, and drowning all morality within them!

~

You hear the swearer venting his fury against God--trifling with that Name which prostrate angels adore, and imprecating that damnation, under which the hardiest devil in hell trembles and groans!

~

You see avarice hoarding up her useless treasures, dishonest craft planning her schemes of unlawful gain, and oppression unmercifully grinding the face of the poor!

~

You see prodigality squandering her stores! You see luxury spreading her table!

~

You see vanity laughing aloud and dissolving in empty, unthinking mirth; regardless of God, of time and eternity!

~

You see sensuality wallowing in carnal pleasures, and aspiring, with perverted ambition--to sink as low as her four-footed brethren in the stalls!

~

You see cards more in use than the Bible; the backgammon table more frequented than the table of the Lord; novels and romances more read--than the history of the blessed Jesus!

~

You see trifling, and even evil diversions and amusements, become a gigantic business! The outcome of a horse-race is more anxiously attended to--than the concerns of eternity!

~

And where these grosser forms of vice do not shock your senses--you often meet with the appearances of a more refined impiety, which is equally dangerous!

~

You hear the conversation of reasonable creatures, of candidates for eternity-- engrossed by trifles, or vainly wasted on the affairs of time! These are their important subjects of conversation, even at the threshold of the house of God!

~

You see swarms of prayerless families all over our land! You see ignorant, wicked children, unrestrained and untaught by those to whom God and nature have entrusted their souls!

~

You see the holy religion of Jesus--abused, neglected, disobeyed, and dishonored by its professors!

~

You see crowds of professed believers, who are in reality, practical atheists! These nominal Christians are really unholy heathens! They are abandoned slaves of sin--who yet pretend to be the servants of the holy Jesus!

~

You see multitudes lying in a deep sleep in sin all around us! You see them eager in the pursuits of the vanities of time--but stupidly unconcerned about the important realities of the eternal world just before them! So few are concerned what shall become of them--when all their connections with earth and flesh must be broken, and they must take their flight into strange, unknown regions! So few lamenting their sins! So few crying for mercy and a new heart! So few flying to Jesus!"


This is an excerpt from a sermon orginally written in 1755 by Englishman Samuel Davies. And yet we in modern day America would do well to reflect on his words. Look around. Look around and consider the wickedness which abounds in this country. Among other things, we condone abortion and infanticide, and excuse the very perversions for which God destroyed Sodom and Gommorah. Do we honestly think that the Almighty will allow such rampant iniquity to go unpunished? Have we really persuaded ourselves that man may spit in the face of God with impunity? If so, then the Apostle Paul's words to the Galations should sound as alarm bells in our ears: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." America has sown judgment for herself. And she will reap judgment if she does not repent and beg God for mercy; the mercy of which she is so undeserving, the mercy with which He is so generous.

* * *

Persevero,

Being the LOTR Fan That I Am...

... I just had to share this.

* * *

Persevero,

"The Gods of the Copybook Headings"

"During the 19th century, students were required to learn and memorize important truths by writing them down as axioms in copy books. In "The Gods in the Copybook Headings," Kipling reveals the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of those who view progress as a constant evolutionary process of finding new trendy philosphies by which to live. In the final analysis, the historic truths of Christianity will vanquish the platitudes of modernity."

Douglas W. Phillips, Poems for Patriarchs

-----------------------------
As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
~
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
~
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
~
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch.
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch.
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market-Place Who promised these beautiful things.
~
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes should cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."
~
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."
~
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing collective Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."
~
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four -
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
~
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man -
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began: -
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the fire;
~
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return.

Rudyard Kipling

* * *
Persevero,

Bringing a Lawsuit Against a Law You Haven't Read

"Arizona has enacted a new law cracking down on illegal immigrants in response to a dramatic rise in violence along the Arizona-Mexico border. The new law authorizes law enforcement officers to arrest anyone reasonably suspected of being an illegal immigrant. Under the new law, state and local law enforcement officers are authorized to determine during lawful stops the immigration status of people for whom there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country illegally. Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard requiring that before someone is arrested or detained there must be reasonable belief that the person has been, is or is about to be engaged in criminal activity."

Student News Daily

On Sunday, May 9 on NBC's "Meet the Press", Attorney General Eric Holder called for a federal lawsuit against Arizona's recently passed illegal immigration law (a law which is supported by 60% of Arizona voters). Then, on Thursday, May 13, Holder "told...the House Judiciary Committee the following about his knowledge of Arizona's recently passed immigration law-enforcement measure:

'...I've glanced at it. I have not read it.'

'...I have not been briefed yet.'

'... I've only made, made the comments that I've made on the basis of things that I've been able to glean by reading newspaper accounts, obviously, looking at television, talking to people who are on the review panel, on the review team that are looking at the law.'"

~

I'm going to bed. Wake me up when it's over. We have way too many morons in high places. 

~

"Holder Profiles Arizona -- Isn't that really what the Attorney General is doing?

He hasn't read the Arizona immigration law, even though reading the law is the basic duty of any lawyer (let alone the U.S. Attorney General) who is called on to assess a legal situation.

Thus, he hasn't got reasonable suspicion that Arizonans are violating the Constitution, even though reasonable suspicion is the basic investigative standard we expect law-enforcement to satisfy before officials harass Americans with stepped up scrutiny.

And we know he has a bias because he told us, unabashedly, that he thinks Americans are "cowards" on matters of race.

Think about it this way: If a police officer, without taking elementary investigative steps to inform himself about the facts of a situation, and thus without reasonable suspicion, simply assumed a person must be guilty of wrongdoing based on the police officer's avowed prejudice, what would Eric Holder call it?"

Andy McCarthy @ nationalreview.com

~

Watch this video of the Attorney General admitting that he hasn't read Arizona's law (first 1:30)

* * *

Persevero,

The New Sheriff

Courtesy of Student News Daily

"Did You Hear the One..."

This article by Marvin Olasky of WorldMag is just to good to be missed!

Hope it provides you with some laughs!

* * *

Persevero,

Nip It in the Bud

Courtesy of World Magazine

"What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"

"Let me get this straight—we’ve got a health care plan passed by a Congress that hasn’t read it but exempts themselves from it, signed by a president that hasn’t read it and smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes... and financed by a country that’s broke. What could possibly go wrong?”

~ Kim Coghlan, Life in a Shoe

* * *

Persevero,

A Tough Interview

"When President Obama gives TV interviews, the treatment he gets is typically soft, if not reverential. This is not because of the interviewers' respect for the presidency--they were much tougher on George W. Bush--but because of ideological and personal sympathy for the man who now holds the office. Yesterday was an exception--perhaps the first time Obama has ever faced a tough interview. The interviewer was Bret Baier of Fox News Channel, and the president was clearly unprepared, coming across as petulant and evasive.

~

"If the rest of the so-called adversary press had been doing its job for the past few years, Obama might not be in the political trouble he is. Then again, he might not have withstood the scrutiny and become president either."

~ excerpted from OpinionJournal.com's "Best of the Web"

written by the editor, James Taranto

Been There, Done That...

An Obesity Problem

From the School Library...

"A major requirement for sucessful investing is the constant awareness that there is a new religion in the world. The god of this new religion government, and the ritual the worshippers perform is legislation. Faith in this new religion is deep and profound. The worshippers are convinced their god can solve almost any problem, if only the right legislation can be performed...

~

There is an abundance of legislation for every problem known to mankind, especially financial problems. The worshippers are convinced that this legislation is truly protecting them from financial rip-offs, so they feel less need to protect themselves...

~

The ritual does not work. The god is a false god, and we are on our own."

~ Richard Maybury, Investment Frauds, Rip-offs, and Cons (1984)

* * *

Persevero,

Bonehead Legislation

In Whatever Happened to Justice?, Richard Maybury recommends a book entitled The Trenton Pickle Ordinance and Other Bonehead Legislation. In this book, journalist Dick Hyman cites 600 examples of absurd laws in America. Here are just a few...


In Massachusetts, it is illegal to put tomatoes in clam chowder.
~
In South Carolina, you are breaking the law if your trousers have hip pockets.
~
In Vermont, it is against the law to whistle under water.
~
A Texas law says that when two trains meet at a railroad crossing, each shall come to a full stop and neither shall proceed until the other has gone.
~
The Arkansas legislature once enacted a law forbidding the Arkansas river to rise higher than the Main Street bridge in Little Rock.

... yes, you did read that correctly. No, I didn't make it up.

* * *

Persevero,

Logical Fallacies of Global Warming

Click here to read a fascinating article on the American Vision website adressing the logical fallacies of Global Warming. Enjoy!

* * *

Persevero,

Pay Raise

Courtesy of Student News Daily

What If They Used A Shotgun

           ABORTION. MURDER. IT'S THE SAME THING.

* * *

Persevero,

Scribe

Can the Government Fix It?

Courtesy of Student News Daily

A Politically Correct Christmas

Courtesy of Student News Daily