Santana & Dave Matthews & Carter Beauford - Love of My Life

Where you are, that's where I wanna be.... not moving furniture.
OPEN THREAD FOR MY FRIENDS....HAVE AT IT

Question Girl

NAVY DATA FOUND ON PUBLIC WEBSITE

Data, data, data. Funny, the administration that is obsessed with getting our data, can't seem to protect our data. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

For the second time in two weeks, Social Security numbers and other personal information of Navy personnel have been discovered on an Internet site, triggering an investigation.

The Navy said Friday that information on more than 100,000 naval and Marine Corps aviators and aircrew was on the Naval Safety Center Web site and on nearly 1,100 computer discs mailed out to naval commands.

Read more here

Question Girl

RITA MARLEY KEEPS UP THE FIGHT IN AFRICA

Gotta love this woman......

July 7, 2006 — Bob Marley's powerful and passionate lyrics — "Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight" — still call many to action, most notably his widow, Rita Marley.

She heads The Bob Marley Foundation and The Rita Marley Foundation, and her fight is the eradication of poverty in Jamaica and Africa.

"We have been funding ourselves in whatever we have been doing, especially in Ghana and Ethiopia," Marley said. "We've been doing it out of our own pockets in terms of what Bob left us."

The greatest needs are "water, food, clothing, toothbrush to brush their teeth and someone to love them," she said.

Read more here

Check out the Rita Marley Foundation here

Question Girl

Paul Butterfield live 76

A train song for Elizabeth....hope you had some good eats yesterday! he
he

I love Paul Butterfield....hope you all have a great weekend!!

Question Girl

NORTH KOREA DEMANDS JAPAN END SANCTIONS

What a mess we have here......


N Korea demands Japan halt sanctions, warns of consequences
Friday, July 7, 2006 at 12:18 EDT

PYONGYANG — North Korea on Friday demanded that Japan halt sanctions it has imposed on the country in reaction to Pyongyang's test-firing of ballistic missiles, warning that the North would take "stronger measures" should Tokyo continue along the current path.

"Japan is translating its criticism against us into action," Song Il Ho, North Korea's ambassador in charge of diplomatic normalization talks with Japan, told reporters in Pyongyang. "This may force us to take stronger physical actions" as a response, he said. Asked what the steps may be, he said, "I leave that to your imagination."

Read comments about this story here

Question Girl

BUSH IN CHICAGO.....THIS AIN'T NO CAMELOT

My phone rang last night about 9:30. It was my daughter in Chicago. She says to me.."You're not going to believe this.....I am sooooooo mad." Now, my daughter has had ALOT of drama in her life of late, so I'm freaking out thinking now what!! Well, it ends up, she took the train downtown to meet her brother and his girlfriend. They were going to go to the Taste of Chicago. On the way, the train stops. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes.....she gets up and askes the conductor what the problem is. He says, the problem is President Bush. Trains stopped because he was going to be somewhere in the area of Randolph Street. So, she finally gets down there. She meets up with her brother and girlfriend, and they do their thing. When she called me, they were standing on Lake Shore Drive, waiting to cross.....along with hundreds of other Taste of Chicago visitors. They had totally shut down Lake Shore Drive, and wouldn't allow people to cross the street because the King's motorcade was supposed to come that way. The people were yelling and getting really mad. I can tell you, from the sounds of things.....these people weren't just upset because they had to stand there. They genuinely don't like Bush. The comments were NOT kind. They were totally ready to blast the guy once he drove by. Ends up, after about 25 minutes.....Lake Shore Drive is opened back up and they can cross. He never showed. Too bad.....because he would have gotten an earful if he had.

This is so sad. Do you remember the days of JFK? Camelot? Do you know what people would do to get a glimpse of him? Oh my God it was such a big deal. You felt blessed to be able to even see the guy drive by!!! What an honor that was. And now......we've come to this.

And what is Richey Daley doing having dinner with him?? The people of Chicago weren't happy about that. They were talking about it on Lake Shore Drive last night.....and they were wondering.....WTF were you thinking Richey??? Don't you know you played right into Rove's strategy? Gee, why would you do that? I wonder if it involves the name Patrick Fitzgerald. Oh wait....it does.

Read about the dinner here


Read about Bush's Chicago visit here

Question Girl

NOW THIS IS NEWS YOU CAN USE!! WD-40

WD-40......who knew!


Water Displacement #40. The product began from a search for a rust
preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was
created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical
Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a "water
displacement" compound. They were successful with the fortieth
formulation, thus WD-40. The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect
their atlas missile parts.

The workers were so pleased with the product, they began smuggling (also
known as "shrinkage" or "stealing") it out to use at home. The executives
decided there might be a consumer market for it and put it in aerosol
cans. The rest, as they say, is history.

It is a carefully guarded recipe known only to four people. Only one of
them is the "brew master." There are about 2.5 million gallons of the
stuff manufactured each year. It gets its distinctive smell from a
fragrance that is added to the brew.

Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40
that would hurt you.

When you read the "shower door" part, try it. It's the first thing that
has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works
just as well as glass. It's a miracle!

Then try it on your stovetop... Voila! It's now shinier than it's ever
been. You'll be amazed.

Here are some of the uses:
Protects silver from tarnishing.
Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making it slippery.
Keeps flies off cows.
Restores and cleans chalkboards.
Removes lipstick stains.
Loosens stubborn zippers.
Untangles jewelry chains.
Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing .
Removes tomato stains from clothing.
Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
Keeps scissors working smoothly.
Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.
Gives a children's play gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding
mowers.
Rids kids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises.
Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as
vinyl bumpers.
Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy
handling.
Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running
smoothly.
Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
Removes splattered grease on stove.
Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
Removes all traces of duct tape.
Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis
pain.
Florida's favorite use is: "cleans and removes love bugs from grills and
bumpers."
The favorite use in the state of New York--WD-40 protects the Statue of
Liberty from the elements.

WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a LITTLE on live bait or lures and you will be
catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the
chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep in mind
though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not
allowed in some states.

Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops
the itch.

WD-40 is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray on the mark and wipe
with a clean rag. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter
has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate
the lipstick spots with WD-40 and re-wash. Presto! Lipstick is gone!

If you sprayed WD-40 on the distributor cap, it would displace the
moisture and allow the car to start.

It removes black scuff marks from the kitchen floor! Use WD-40 for those
nasty tar and scuff marks on flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish
and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember
to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.

Bug guts will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly! Use
WD-40!

The basic ingredient is FISH OIL

Question Girl

ITALY ARRESTS TWO IN ALLEGED CIA PLOT

Spy officials accused in cleric's abduction

By Christine Spolar and Alessandra Maggiorani, Chicago Tribune. Tribune senior correspondent John Crewdson in Washington and Sherine Bayoumi in Cairo contributed to this report
Published July 6, 2006


ROME -- Two high-level Italian intelligence officials were arrested and four Americans, including the CIA's former Rome station chief, were being sought Wednesday as part of a long-running investigation into the abduction of a Muslim cleric in Milan in 2003.

The arrest of the veteran agents of the Italian secret service known as SISMI is the first judicial action against Italian agents allegedly involved in the case of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, who disappeared from the streets of Milan on Feb. 17, 2003.

Prosecutors have pursued the case as a violation of Italy's sovereignty by the CIA. The Italian government has denied that Italy's intelligence service was informed of the abduction.

Prosecutors released no names of the six accused but provided professional details of the Italian officials arrested.

A spokesman for the law office of Luca Lauri confirmed late Wednesday that Marco Mancini, chief of espionage for SISMI, was arrested. Gustavo Pignero, chief of an anti-terrorism unit in which Mancini once worked, was placed under house arrest, according to media reports.

Americans identified

The Americans involved were identified in a statement from the Milan prosecutor's office as three CIA workers and an active-duty military man who worked out of the U.S. air base at Aviano in northern Italy.

The CIA employees included the former Rome station chief and his deputy, according to Italian police officials who had worked with the two men. Twenty-two other CIA employees are being sought in previous arrest warrants in relation to the Egyptian cleric's case. It was unclear, however, whether the new warrants included charges not in the prior warrants.

The Italian prosecutor in Milan argued for extradition of the 22 CIA agents in 2005, but Italy's justice minister, under the government of Silvio Berlusconi, refused to forward the request to Washington.

Berlusconi lost his bid for re-election in April. The government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi could reconsider the allegations of the CIA abduction and cooperation of Italian intelligence. These new arrest warrants allow prosecutors to make another case for extradition.

The CIA practice of forcibly transporting terror suspects from Europe to countries in the Middle East where they allegedly suffer harsh treatment and even torture has been a controversial part of the U.S. effort to combat terrorism.

The cleric known as Abu Omar has been imprisoned in Egypt for more than three years and recently was charged under the country's emergency law on the grounds that he was a danger to public safety.

His attorney, Montasser el-Zayat, reached by phone in Cairo, said Wednesday that the High Court of Emergencies agreed last month with an appeal that Nasr was being wrongly held and ordered his release. But enforcement of the emergency law against Nasr means he can be held indefinitely.

At the time of his abduction in Milan, Nasr was under surveillance on suspicion of recruiting Islamic militants. The prosecutors have argued that his abduction upended a sensitive anti-terrorism operation run by Italian authorities.

Newspaper office searched

In apparent coordination with the arrests Wednesday, law enforcement agents searched the Milan office of an Italian daily newspaper, Libero, and confiscated the hard drives of two journalists who had been reporting on the cleric's case, a newspaper spokesman said.

Police also searched the homes of Deputy Editor Renato Farina and court reporter Claudio Atonelli at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and took personal computers from both homes. Dozens of officers turned up at the newspaper about 9 a.m., said spokesman Alessandro Sallusti.

Sallusti said Libero had consistently supported the alleged U.S. involvement in the abduction of Nasr, and the paper supports strong anti-terror programs. "We're ever so pleased that the Italian SISMI [the intelligence agents] did what they did, helping the Americans," Sallusti said.

Sallusti said Farina and Atonelli were asked by police to report for questioning in the next two days; Farina is covering the World Cup in Germany.

"This happened because we had internal sources at SISMI and, of course, we were talking to people inside," Sallusti said.

Question Girl

INCREASE IN WILDFIRES MAY BE RESULT OF GLOBAL WARMING

Ya think?

Researchers Say Increasing Wildfires May Be Result of Global Warning, Researchers Say

A California Department of Forestry air-tanker drop retardant on wild fire on north side of Lake Don Pedro, near La Grange, Calif., Monday, July 3, 2006. The Pedro fire has already burned 500 acres at this time. (AP Photo/Al Golub)

Picking on Moms in the Workplace
Discovery Starts Space Station Docking
Woman Jailed for Mouse-in-Soup Scam | PHOTOS

Ken Lay Dies of Heart Attack
Discovery Blasts Off Successfully
Horrific Charges for Ex-Soldier

WASHINGTON Jul 6, 2006 (AP)— The increase in the number of large western wildfires in recent years may be a result of global warming, researchers say.

An analysis of data going back to 1970 indicates the fires increased "suddenly and dramatically" in the 1980s and the wildfire season grew longer, according to scientists in Arizona and California.

"The increase in large wildfires appears to be another part of a chain of reactions to climate warming," said Dan Cayan, a co-author of the paper and director of the climate research division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

He said that while part of the increase may be attributed to natural fluctuations, evidence also links it to the effects of human-induced climate warming.

Read the rest here

Question Girl

INTEL CENTERS CAUSE CONFUSION

Whodda thought, eh? All that easedropping and all those phone records and bank records are so confusing!!! All this new fangled intel is tough to deal with. If you don't believe me, just ask Ted Stevens!!!

Report: New Intel Centers Create Coordination Problems
Thursday, July 06, 2006

STORIES

WASHINGTON — Lack of coordination and other problems with government-run centers are hurting the effort to provide better analysis of the nation's intelligence, according to a report in a CIA journal.

Some of these centers have existed for years to improve U.S. efforts against terrorism, weapons proliferation and other threats. But the creation of new ones — such as the National Counterterrorism Center — has become a commonly used remedy in the intelligence overhaul sparked by Sept. 11 and the botched prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The article in the newly declassified Studies in Intelligence argues that experts on particular countries or regions should not be split up into centers that focus on single issues that cross the borders of nations or continents.

Continue reading here

Question Girl

JOURNALIST ALAA HASSAN KILLED IN BAGHDAD

Wednesday, July 5th in News by Matt Barganier |

Iraqi journalist Alaa Hassan, who reported for the international news agency IPS (Inter Press Service) and whose work often appeared on Antiwar.com, was shot and killed in Baghdad.

Hassan was killed on June 28 by armed men as he drove to work. It appears he was not targeted, but was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, part of the senseless violence engulfing Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

Read the full story at Antiwar.com

Question Girl

TOKYO ROSE TURNS 90

Shame follows woman once called traitor, later pardoned

By Corky Siemaszko
New York Daily News
Posted July 4 2006

NEW YORK · They branded her Tokyo Rose, but Iva Toguri was no traitor.

But when she turns 90 today -- the Fourth of July -- that fact will give her little comfort.

Because to many Americans, Toguri was Tokyo Rose -- the sultry siren whose radio broadcasts from Japan demoralized GIs fighting in the Pacific during World War II.

Never mind that President Gerald Ford pardoned Toguri after her treason trial was revealed to be a sham. Never mind that U.S. veterans groups have since embraced her.

Continue reading here

Question Girl

Selena - La Carcacha (en Acapulco)

I liked this chick.....I think she would have been huge in the U.S. had she not been killed. She was fun....and she had a great voice.

Question Girl

GI CHARGED IN RAPE/MURDER HAD ANTISOCIAL DISORDER

This incident leaves me sick, for many reasons.


Officials: Ex-GI Had Antisocial Disorder

By STEVE QUINN
Associated Press Writer
Posted July 5 2006, 9:40 AM EDT


MIDLAND, Texas -- A former Army private accused in the horrific rape and killing of a young Iraqi woman and the execution-style slaying of her family had been discharged because of an "antisocial personality disorder," U.S. military officials told The Associated Press.

Investigators say Steven D. Green and other soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division plotted to rape a young Iraqi woman they first saw at a traffic checkpoint in the village of Mahmoudiya. Green is accused of rounding up three family members in a room of the woman's house and shooting them before raping and killing her.

Previously, in a federal court affidavit, investigators said only that the 21-year-old Green had been given an honorable discharge for a "personality disorder" this spring before the March murder case came to light.

Read more here

Question Girl

G8 SUMMIT

The G8 summit: A chronicle of wasted time
By M K Bhadrakumar

With less than 10 days before the Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting at St Petersburg, the United States has quietly yanked the carpet out from under the prestigious forum.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced last week a list of countries that will initiate consultations to "produce a common vision for action, with balanced contributions and collective benefits, to address vulnerabilities that affect ... the international financial system". The list of countries is headed by the US, of course, and includes China, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Washington has implied that the G8 [1] is not necessarily the lead forum for exercising "multilateral surveillance" when it comes to dealing with the issues and imbalances of the world economy. The list of invitees to the IMF high-level talks on global financial imbalances is a virtual "who's who" of countries that Washington considers relevant to addressing pressing issues of financial imbalances in the world economy. And the list excludes Russia, the host of the G8 summit on July 15.

Curiously, the development came on the eve of Russia making the ruble a fully convertible currency effective July 1, joining a select group of 20 countries (including the US, Canada, Japan, the eurozone and Scandinavian countries, Britain, Australia and New Zealand) that do not put restrictions on currency control and regulation.

Continue reading here

Question Girl

NORTH KOREA'S MISSILES MET BY JAPANESE SANCTIONS

TOKYO - Just hours after North Korea's provocative series of missile launches, Japan has reacted by banning the docking of the Mangyongbyon-92, a ferry that shuttles between Wonson in North Korea and Niigata, and which is the main direct link between the two countries.

As of Wednesday morning, the ship was anchored in the Sea of Japan about two kilometers off Niigata prefecture.

Read the full story here

Question Girl

Jimi Hendrix Star Spangled Banner LIVE 1970

Question Girl

INDEPENDENCE DAY

I'm going into the 4th of July mode. My favorite holiday. We are starting a move this week, so the place is in a huge disarray.....but I plan on celebrating as usual.

Fly the flag....and contemplate where our country is today and where it should be. We've been taken wayyyyy off the course the founding Fathers envisioned for us. This administration has no respect for this country. They thrive on self centered greed and power. They have stooped to the lowest depths to obtain power and fill their coffers. Breaking laws, stripping the U.S. citizens of their rights, torture abroad, a senseless war that has not brought the world to a better place, a congress that rubber stamps this abuse of power, and the dying of a democracy. We are faced with a huge challenge, but one that every patriot must step up to. It's time to take our country back. Pay attention. Express your outrage at the voter fraud, encourage people to vote, drive an elderly or poor person to the polls in November, keep writing and calling your representatives about the injustices that are occurring in this country and abroad. Support candidates who will uphold the constitution, not one's who think it's just a piece of paper. Support candidates who want us out of Iraq, not one's who think 2,533 is just a number. Support candidates who will question the executive power and not rubberstamp anything they want to do. Support candidates who think the President is NOT above the law, not one's that do.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day. I hope you all have shelter, good food and are surrounded by people who love you.

I love this country, and the principals it was founded on. And I want it back......


THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
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.

Click to view full size image (537KB)

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 shown, 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 of 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 harass 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 attention 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.


JOHN HANCOCK, President

Attested, CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary

New Hampshire
JOSIAH BARTLETT (My ancestor, a doctor and a curmudgeon to
be proud of, by all accounts)
WILLIAM WHIPPLE
MATTHEW THORNTON

Massachusetts-Bay
SAMUEL ADAMS
JOHN ADAMS
ROBERT TREAT PAINE
ELBRIDGE GERRY

Rhode Island
STEPHEN HOPKINS
WILLIAM ELLERY

Connecticut
ROGER SHERMAN
SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
WILLIAM WILLIAMS
OLIVER WOLCOTT

Georgia
BUTTON GWINNETT
LYMAN HALL
GEO. WALTON

Maryland
SAMUEL CHASE
WILLIAM PACA
THOMAS STONE
CHARLES CARROLL
OF CARROLLTON

Virginia
GEORGE WYTHE
RICHARD HENRY LEE
THOMAS JEFFERSON
BENJAMIN HARRISON
THOMAS NELSON, JR.
FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE
CARTER BRAXTON.

New York
WILLIAM FLOYD
PHILIP LIVINGSTON
FRANCIS LEWIS
LEWIS MORRIS

Pennsylvania
ROBERT MORRIS
BENJAMIN RUSH
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
JOHN MORTON
GEORGE CLYMER
JAMES SMITH
GEORGE TAYLOR
JAMES WILSON
GEORGE ROSS

Delaware
CAESAR RODNEY
GEORGE READ
THOMAS M'KEAN

North Carolina
WILLIAM HOOPER
JOSEPH HEWES
JOHN PENN

South Carolina
EDWARD RUTLEDGE
THOMAS HEYWARD, JR.
THOMAS LYNCH, JR.
ARTHUR MIDDLETON

New Jersey
RICHARD STOCKTON
JOHN WITHERSPOON
FRANCIS HOPKINS
JOHN HART
ABRAHAM CLARK


THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
THE SIGNERS
Have you ever wondered what happened to the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence? This is the price they paid:

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships resulting from the Revolutionary War.

These men signed, and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor!

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers and large plantation owners. All were men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty could be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

Perhaps one of the most inspiring examples of "undaunted resolution" was at the Battle of Yorktown. Thomas Nelson, Jr. was returning from Philadelphia to become Governor of Virginia and joined General Washington just outside of Yorktown. He then noted that British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headqurt, but that the patriot's were directing their artillery fire all over the town except for the vicinity of his own beautiful home. Nelson asked why they were not firing in that direction, and the soldiers replied, "Out of respect to you, Sir." Nelson quietly urged General Washington to open fire, and stepping forward to the nearest cannon, aimed at his own house and fired. The other guns joined in, and the Nelson home was destroyed. Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis's Long Island home was looted and gutted, his home and properties destroyed. His wife was thrown into a damp dark prison cell without a bed. Health ruined, Mrs. Lewis soon died from the effects of the confinement. The Lewis's son would later die in British captivity, also.

"Honest John" Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she lay dying, when British and Hessian troops invaded New Jersey just months after he signed the Declaration. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid to waste. All winter, and for more than a year, Hart lived in forests and caves, finally returning home to find his wife dead, his chidrvanished and his farm destroyed. Rebuilding proved too be too great a task. A few weeks later, by the spring of 1779, John Hart was dead from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

New Jersey's Richard Stockton, after rescuing his wife and children from advancing British troops, was betrayed by a loyalist, imprisoned, beaten and nearly starved. He returned an invalid to find his home gutted, and his library and papers burned. He, too, never recovered, dying in 1781 a broken man.

William Ellery of Rhode Island, who marveled that he had seen only "undaunted resolution" in the faces of his co-signers, also had his home burned.

Only days after Lewis Morris of New York signed the Declaration, British troops ravaged his 2,000-acre estate, butchered his cattle and drove his family off the land. Three of Morris' sons fought the British.

When the British seized the New York houses of the wealthy Philip Livingston, he sold off everything else, and gave the money to the Revolution. He died in 1778.

Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward Jr. went home to South Carolin tight. In the British invasion of the South, Heyward was wounded and all three were captured. As he rotted on a prison ship in St. Augustine, Heyward's plantation was raided, buildings burned, and his wife, who witnessed it all, died. Other Southern signers suffered the same general fate.

Among the first to sign had been John Hancock, who wrote in big, bold script so George III "could read my name without spectacles and could now double his reward for 500 pounds for my head." If the cause of the revolution commands it, roared Hancock, "Burn Boston and make John Hancock a beggar!"

Here were men who believed in a cause far beyond themselves.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the America revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

Question Girl

GUANTANAMO, IRAQ DAMAGE U.S. CREDIBILITY

Funny how the world can see this, but the knuckleheads running our country can't. God help the next President.....the clean up is going to take years.


By Andrew Hammond

RIYADH (Reuters) - The United States has critically hurt the democracy and human rights agenda around the world through its treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees and its Middle East policy, a Saudi rights official said on Sunday.

Turky Al Sudairy, head of the Human Rights Commission set up by King Abdullah last September, said rights abuses by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and support for Israel crushing the Palestinian fight against occupation had ruined U.S. credibility on rights.

U.S. authorities say two Saudis were among three suicides last month at its Guantanamo Bay prison, where around 450 Islamic militant suspects including some 90 Saudis are being held outside the jurisdiction of international law.

"People say they did not commit suicide, that they were killed ... It's part of a bigger problem, American policy in the Middle East," Sudairy told Reuters in an interview.

"When the Americans do what they do in Iraq, people will judge them by what they can see going on," he said, referring to revelations about killings and abuse of prisoners.

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Question Girl

FUN WITH TESTS

Here's a simple IQ test. Have some fun!

Question Girl

DISCOVERY LAUNCH IN QUESTION

Not looking too good here today.....





CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Thunderstorms threatened NASA's plan to launch space shuttle Discovery on Sunday on a mission critical to the future of the shuttle program and the half-built International Space Station.

NASA forecasters predicted a 70 percent chance that weather would delay the launch, as it did a planned launch on Saturday. Flashes of lightning were visible before dawn at Cape Canaveral, where the Kennedy Space Center is located.

No other problems were noted at the center, as U.S. space agency workers began the process of filling the shuttle's massive fuel tank with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Launch is set for 3:26 p.m. (1926 GMT).


The flight is only the second since the 2003 Columbia accident, and another disaster or serious problem likely would end the program. NASA is hoping to fly 16 more missions to finish building the $100 billion space station before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.


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Question Girl

CORZINE SHUTS DOWN STATE

By TOM HESTER Jr.
Associated Press Writer
Posted July 2 2006, 7:50 AM EDT


TRENTON, N.J. -- As the state government shutdown entered its second day, lawmakers who have been unable to agree on a budget planned to return to the Statehouse to try to reach a compromise.

The rare Sunday morning gathering would come a day after Gov. Jon S. Corzine shut down nonessential government services amid a bitter intraparty dispute. The Legislature failed to adopt a budget by its July 1 deadline, leaving the state without the means to spend money.

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Question Girl

Staple Singers

Sunday Services at Question's house....Peace be with you today!! Somebody HEP ME NOW...

Question Girl