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….

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 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 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 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 depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

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.

(Via Daily Kos)

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(original article: Politics, Theory, & Photography)

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Shooting guard Bol Kong has drawn interest from a number of universities and recently received a scholarship offer from Gonzaga. It is the defense he has met off the court that has slowed him — and could prevent him from ever playing for the Bulldogs or anyone else in the United States. Kong, 20, is originally from Sudan, which is listed by the United States as a state sponsor of terrorism. Although he has lived in Canada since age 7, he does not hold citizenship there. He has been denied a visa to study in the United States three times, and it is unclear if he will ever satisfy the requirements for entry.

In other words, our wonderful government, in its infinite wisdom, assumes that every citizen of a country listed as a ’state sponsor of terrorism’ is considered a terrorist regardless of his background or circumstances.

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Never mind that a kaffiyeh is merely a piece of wardrobe worn by most people in the Arab world, which has nothing to do with political beliefs. It takes a big stretch of imagination to even suggest that Rachel Ray’s frilly scarf vaguely resembles a kaffiyeh.

I plan to join the boycott against Dunkin’ Donuts. No more Sunday morning coffee & bagels from them.

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We have a marriage ‘protection’ amendment on the ballot here in November. This decision in California is a dream come true for the amendment’s supporters. It will energize their base with the fear of it happening here and help them get out the vote. This means a much bigger Republican turnout.

Although Obama is already expected to lose Florida, this will almost certainly guarantee it and by a much bigger margin.

California could have done us (and the entire country) a big favor if they had waited until after the election to make this decision.

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There was actually rioting in Philadelphia caused by tensions between Protestants and Catholics. At the time, Protestant religious doctrine was part of the daily school activities. The school day began with the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, readings from the King James Version of the Bible, and often group singing of Protestant hymns. In addition, the Bible was frequently used as a textbook in spelling classes and to teach other secular subjects.

Bible reading occurred “without comment.” The teacher simply read a set number of verses - usually 10 - without elaborating or interpreting them. Most Protestant groups found the practice acceptable, but Catholics considered the practice alien and heretical.

Some textbooks had a clear anti-Catholic bias. One even referred to the pope as the anti-Christ. Catholic clergy finally began planning a protest.

In 1842 Philadelphia bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick approached the Board of School Controllers to ask that the blatantly anti-Catholic books be removed. Kenrick also requested that Catholic students be permitted to use their own Bibles - the Douay version - during morning devotionals.

In February 1844, a rumor started that a school director in the heavily Catholic north Philadelphia suburb of Kensington had ordered a teacher to suspend Bible readings. In reality the director, Hugh Clark, had merely suggested a temporary suspension of the devotionals to a principal who complained that allowing Catholic children to leave every morning was disruptive. In Clark’s view the religious exercises could be resumed once a plan was worked out that allowed the Catholic students to leave peacefully.

Another school director, Henry Moore, a strident evangelical Protestant, began whipping up hysteria. A series of rallies were quickly organized to “save the Bible” (does this sound familiar?).

Pennsylvania’s leading anti-Catholic political unit, the American Republican Party (ARP), quickly added a plank to its platform reading, “Resolved, that the Bible, without note or comment, is not sectarian - that it is the fountainhead of all morality and all good government, and should be used in our public schools as a reading book.” Most “Save the Bible” rallies were organized by the ARP.

The conflicts boiled over into full riots, in which several people were killed.

Unfortunately politicians are still exploiting religious differences for their own benefit.

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1. In a race that includes a former First Lady of the United States and a multimillionaire Republican senator rumored to share up to eight residences with his wife, the black guy from Chicago is unforgivably elitist.
2. Racism in America is caused primarily by black Chicago preachers.
3. The guy who keeps getting confused over the relationship between Iraq, Iran, and al Qaeda is the foreign policy expert.
4. The guy who goes to campaign stops on his wife’s private jet aircraft is the most down-to-earth.
5. The guy who changed his stance on tax cuts, Roe v. Wade, immigration, gun control, the confederate flag, torture, public financing, and his own anti-earmark rhetoric is the “straight talker”.
6. People in the heartland don’t like it when you call them bitter, but they do like it when you explain to them that they’re too dumb to understand issues more important than whether or not they like to be called bitter.
7. Arugula is the measure of a man.
8. Bowling is the measure of a man.
9. Orange juice is the measure of a man.
10. Flag pins are the measure of a man.
11. Success in Iraq consists of any reduction in violence, except when violence increases that’s good too.
12. A recession is only a recession if you call it one.
13. Bill Kristol, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Karl Rove, Maureen Dowd, David Brooks, David Broder, Charles Krauthammer and Bob Novak are all intensely interested in giving advice to the Democratic candidates because they just want to be helpful.
14. There are people in this world dumb enough to believe every one of these things.

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