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Lift everyone up.
Author: Raine    Date: 07/06/2008 13:23:05

Good morning. I am getting a late start of things. I have been thinking lately of patriotism and what it means. One of the most patriotic things you can do is vote. It was no more than 40 years ago - 40 - that people in America were still dying for the right to perform the simple act of voting.

This weekend we celebrate our nation's independence, and we are still fighting for that very right.
http://www.high.org/img/exhibitions/rtf_mherron_188w.jpg

A patriot forces change in order to make this country better. A patriot questions the status quo. A patriot raises all Americans up. A patriot is one who loves the American experience and knows that in its flaws we can strive to be a better country by fixing what is broken.

Those who marched for civil rights are patriots; those who fight to save our Constitution are patriots. We have patriots today walking among us. They don't need a flag pin or purple bandaids. They have the courage to risk it all for our country. Our soldiers are not the only patriots, and we must stop the co-opting of patriotism for politican gains.

Patriotism was striking in Birmingham. Patriotism is sitting down and performing acts of non-violence to end injustices. Patriotism is what drives each one of us to commit random acts whatever they may be to make this country a better place -- not for a few -- but a better place that lifts every American up.

Patriotism forces the change that might never happen if no one speaks up. Someone has to be the rabble rouser; otherwise, no one will pay attention.

Go -- be a little patriotic today.

:heart: and :peace:

Raine

68 comments (Latest Comment: 07/07/2008 03:25:16 by capt)

Lazy Libertarians!
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/05/2008 13:25:04

Morning, folks. Running late this Saturday....'twas "Festival" last night.

Last night was the 35th annual Boston Pops concert at the Hatch Shell along the Charles River in this city.

Apologies to everyone outside the local area that got the canned 'national broadcast', apparently beginning with the 1812 Overture. Here, that's the finale, with the "Stars and Stripes Forever" as the encore...the same way we've done it since 1972. The entire concert used to be carried nationally, but now it seems that only the last few minutes are worth showing to everyone.

You see, we highbrow liberal elitists love our classical music, but the rest of the country can only stomach the bizarreness that is a Russian piece of music to celebrate a victory over Napoleon in a war we weren't even involved in, but I digress.

I didn't watch too much of it last night; we were out at our local celebration at the nearby football field...fireworks in the middle of a residential neighborhood make for some great viewing.

Although he didn't post it on his blog, local wag John Keller was musing last night over how blue this commonwealth is...and yet us liberal, fancy-pants, elitist, cheese-eating, gay-marryin', America-hating, godless, terrorist-sympathizers celebrate the 4th better than anyone else.

How is it that the Boston Pops (America's Orchestra, as they have been called) seem to be the semi-official "National Birthday Party", where obviously more patriotic places like Alabama, Texas, or Iowa are given short shrift?

Who hates America now?

81 comments (Latest Comment: 07/06/2008 04:30:12 by Mondobubba)

Independence Day
Author: BobR    Date: 07/04/2008 04:40:37

"When in the Course of human events...."

These infamous words begin one of the most infamous documents in the history of mankind. The sheer audacity of a group of men in a rustic colony of the mightiest empire on earth to create a new country from scratch - designed from the bottom up - was breathtaking for its time. Before they could create a new country, however, they had to sever themselves from their existing overseas sovereign. Beginning in the late spring of 1776, they began to craft the document to do just that.
Continue reading...

142 comments (Latest Comment: 07/05/2008 05:06:58 by livingonli)

Due to increased Security
Author: Raine    Date: 07/03/2008 12:27:05

For the upcoming holiday weekend, We at four Freedoms will need to tighten security regulations for Visitors at Four Freedoms. Being that we are a co-operative Blog, and ask members to participate in decision making for the good of the Whole, I asked for a little help from our bloggers here. The following are the new Four Freedoms Blogger Security memorandums to ensure the safety of all users this holiday weekend. All Memo's are heretofor considered official memorandums and shall be called 4F BS memos.
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147 comments (Latest Comment: 07/04/2008 03:18:02 by TriSec)

The Cost of Our For-Profit Press
Author: Shane-O    Date: 07/02/2008 21:53:36

Start rant:

Have you ever just wanted to at the television or radio during a press conference or an interview with political officeholders or operatives? Stomping up and down I often yell, “Why didn’t you ask [X]?” Well, the press “why” is the same “why” we don’t have single-payer health care: profit-motive.

Yearning for the almighty dollar has trumped the overall good that Our Founders sought from a Free Press
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2 comments (Latest Comment: 07/02/2008 22:51:26 by capt)

Interactivity...
Author: Raine    Date: 07/02/2008 20:46:37

Please fill out the following with either an Emoticon or an Audicon. This does not have to be a perfect fit. For example, if I were to ask for an expression, you can use {idiot} or something like that. Representative expressions of the noun verb adverb etc. are perfectly acceptable.
1) Noun
2) Noun
3) Noun (item)
4) Noun (vehicle)
5) Noun (living creature, non human)
6) Noun (plant form)
7) Adjective
8) Noun
9) Verb
10) Noun (body part)
11) Noun (device)
12) Noun (item)
13) Noun (weather type occurrence)
14) Noun (Proper Name)
15)Noun (Media related)
16) Noun (punishment)
17) Adjective

A noun is a person place or thing. We are going to allow for emoticons and audicons to REPRESENT nouns.
A verb represents and action, occurrence or a state of being.
A adjective modifies a noun, it describes it. For example *big* as in he is a BIG boy.

Once again, if something is asking for a noun, but an emoticon or audicon may REPRESENT a noun go for it.

Copy and paste the 17 listed Items above, and fill them out. Tomorrows blog should be interesting. ;)
22 comments (Latest Comment: 07/03/2008 08:00:23 by livingonli)

The tragedy of Zimbabwe
Author: Will in Chicago    Date: 07/02/2008 08:40:46

African leaders are calling for unity in Zimbabwe after Friday’s sham election – an election that points out how a regime can abuse its power and use fear and violence to achieve political ends. The story of Zimbabwe should be seen not just as a tragedy, but as a cautionary tale of what can happen when one man or one branch of the government has too much power and when those with power chose to ignore the humanity of others.

While the administration of George W. Bush has condemned the fraudulent elections and the violence, the power and prestige of the United States is greatly diminished. Beyond the problems here with the 2000 and 2004 elections, the torture of prisoners at places like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, extraordinary rendition of prisoners to foreign countries, and the wire-tapping of American citizens without a warrant has undermined the claim to moral authority that the United States could have made in the recent past. John F. Kennedy’s shining city on a hill has gone dim under the shadow of the Bush administration and its policies and the world no longer looks to us for moral leadership.
Continue reading...

223 comments (Latest Comment: 07/03/2008 01:24:04 by Random)

Reality Check?
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/01/2008 17:39:33

So, we got our Federal Stimulus Check yesterday.


It’s already deposited, and I skimmed a few hundred bucks off the top that we’re going to use for spending money on vacation at the end of August. Our contribution to revitalizing that American economy, I suppose.

Mrs. TriSec needs a new muffler; there’s a few hundred bucks there that’s going to a long-deferred repair, so I guess that’s going back into the economy too. I bet the repair shop will be glad to see it…I’d imagine there’s a lot of people in the same boat that have been deferring repairs because they can’t afford them.

I tell you though, it’s what I thought to do with the rest of the money that has really and truly upset me. We’re not buying any electronics…aside from throwing a few extra bucks at the credit card companies and some other bills, over the weekend I was thinking what I could do with this money.

So…I’m planning on heading for the supermarket. Maybe I can buy some bagels, we haven’t had them for breakfast in a long time. Or brand-name orange juice, so we don’t have to drink the bitter ‘from concentrate’ stuff for a few days. Maybe some better cuts of meat for a change from chuck or chicken thighs. Hell, even a bottle of spaghetti sauce instead of the 99-cent cans of Hunt’s we’ve been eating for years, or a pound of bacon for breakfast, or something other than bologna out of the deli….

This morning, when I was thinking about making a shopping list, I just got incredibly sad over the whole thing. We’re not starving, not by a long shot. But all those little things we once took for granted in our middle-class lifestyle have slowly become luxury items. So here I am, relying on a government handout so I can buy decent orange juice.

Where has America gone?

4 comments (Latest Comment: 07/02/2008 04:48:12 by livingonli)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/01/2008 10:33:23

Good Morning.

Today is our 1,931st day in Iraq.

We'll start as we always do, with the latest casualty figures from the warron terra, courtesy of antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4113
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 3974
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3652
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3254
Since Election (1/31/05): 2676

Other Coalition Troops: 314
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 537

We find this morning's cost of war passing through: $ 532, 935, 700, 000.00

Given the national mortgage crisis, focusing in on just one state: Taxpayers in Massachusetts will pay $3.9 billion for the cost of the Iraq War in FY2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
13,505 Affordable Housing Units.

Check out the website; you can see the cost in your community too.

Continue reading...

179 comments (Latest Comment: 07/02/2008 04:38:43 by Raine)

Speculators? How about insider Trading?
Author: Raine    Date: 06/30/2008 12:30:19

Iraq Announced the Oil Contracts... And Surprise Surprise... The US advised them on who to give the No-Bid Contracts to.
A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say.

The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts’ announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraq’s oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism.

In their role as advisers to the Iraqi Oil Ministry, American government lawyers and private-sector consultants provided template contracts and detailed suggestions on drafting the contracts, advisers and a senior State Department official said.

...At a time of spiraling oil prices, the no-bid contracts, in a country with some of the world’s largest untapped fields and potential for vast profits, are a rare prize to the industry. The contracts are expected to be awarded Monday to Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Total and Chevron, as well as to several smaller oil companies.

Continue reading...

222 comments (Latest Comment: 07/01/2008 02:25:18 by clintster)

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