HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY ~ BUT REMEMBER THE COURAGE OF THE SIGNERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever wondered or wanted to know what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Their stories firmly establish the true sacrifice and personal courage it took to write and sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776 ~ which quite often gets lost in our annual celebration amidst the beer, hot dogs, and fireworks shows: Allen L Roland, Ph.D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 serving in the Revolutionary Army;

another had two sons captured.

 

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or

hardships of the Revolutionary War.

 

They 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;

men of means, well educated,

but they signed the Declaration of Independence

knowing full well that the penalty would 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 poverty and 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 looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

 

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that

the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson

home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General

George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,

and Nelson died bankrupt.

 

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.

The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

 

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.

Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill

were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests

and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his

children vanished.

 

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday an silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

 

Remember: freedom is never free!

The Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games.

See full story ~ http://www.barefootsworld.net/doi1776.html

 

And also remember that the average age of the world's greatest Civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. We are now almost 250 years old and our Republic is fast approaching if not already a plutocracy ~ so let's celebrate the people who originally signed on to this great Democratic experiment at the risk of their lives.

 

 Allen L Roland, PhD

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/happy-fourth-of-july-but-remember.html

Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L Roland can be contacted at  allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com. He is also featured columnist on Veterans Today and  guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

 

 

THE EMPIRE IS CRUMBLING / BRING IN THE CLOWNS

The last refuge of a scoundrel is patriotism and this Independence Day 2014 as we celebrate our independence with parades, picnics and fireworks ~ let us not forget the clowns and scoundrels who cloak themselves in patriotism and represent the worst of America. There is no more despised clown or scoundrel who still represents the worst of American values, yet continues to cloak himself in patriotism, than Darth Vader himself, Dick Cheney ~ the behind the scenes architect of the 9/11 attacks and cover up, the promoter of the illegal war with Iraq for Oil resources, the instigator of illegal rendition, Guantanamo as well as the torture memos and whose self-described travels on the dark side have left America's crumbling Empire morally barren and spiritually lost: Allen L Roland

Dick Cheney is like a deadly and now dormant vampire who lives in the darkness and can only be truly eliminated by a wooden stake of truth driven into his treasonous heart of denial whereas the truth of 9/11 will finally be revealed as well as Cheney's role in America's greatest act of treason ~ a 9/11 cover up which is still being protected and ignored by the Obama administration.

First, the crumbling Empire. Only Chris Hedges truly captures the true ghoulish face of a fading American Empire as seen in the current disintegration of Iraq ~ "The disintegration of Iraq is irreversible. At best, the Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunnis will carve out antagonistic enclaves. At worst, there will be a protracted civil war. This is what we have bequeathed to Iraq. The spread of our military through the region has inflamed jihadists across the Arab world. The resulting conflicts will continue until we end our occupation of the Middle East. The callous slaughter we deliver is no different from the callous slaughter we receive. Our jihadists ~ George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Thomas Friedman and Tommy Franks ~ who assured us that swift and overwhelming force in Iraq would transform the Middle East into an American outpost of progress, are no less demented than the jihadists approaching Baghdad. These two groups of killers mirror each other. This is what we have spawned. And this is what we deserve"  See article ~ http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/the_ghoulish_face_of_empire_20140623

Next, the barely living symbol and still performing clown of this crumbling Circus or Empire ~ Dick Cheney.

Cheney at Obama's 2009 inauguration

Suggested Caption: Obama's on board with the cover-up, now it's time to write my memoirs.

Dick Cheney's recent words of projection speak for themselves ~ " Rarely has a U.S. President been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is 'ending' the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ~ as though wishing is made it so." June 17,2014 op-ed with his daughter Liz in the Wall Street Journal.

Now let's review Dick Cheney's fabrications and wishful thinking during the concerted Cheney led effort to sell our illegal war and occupation of Iraq from 2003 to 2005.

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." August 22, 2002

"We believe he has reconstituted nuclear weapons"  March 16, 2003

"My belief is, we  will, in fact be greeted as liberators" March 16, 2003

"In Iraq, a ruthless dictator cultivated weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. He gave support to terrorists, has an established relationship with al Qaeda, and his regime is no more."  Nov 7, 2003

" What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to do. If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly the same course of action."  Oct 5, 2004

" I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency" June 20, 2005

Thom Hartmann briefly describes the true cost of the Iraq war ~ "The Iraq War was the single biggest foreign policy disaster in recent - or maybe even all - of American history. It cost the country around $4 trillion dollars, killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of innocent civilians, left 4,500 Americans dead, and turned what was once one of the more developed countries in the Arab World into a slaughterhouse."

The obvious question is why would Dick Cheney obviously lie and deceive both the public and everyone around himself in both the run up to and aftermath of our illegal occupation of Iraq?

The equally obvious answer is Dick Cheney sees himself as a patriot and was and is still committed to defending the lie of Iraq because if he didn't ~ he would have to defend his and the Bush/Cheney administration's role in the orchestration of the needed Pearl Harbor event or the Bigger lie of 9/11 which led to the attack of Iraq. Cheney's best defense has always been his belief in a strong offense which explains his current blatant denial of the facts regarding Iraq.

And here's the 11 minute YouTube must see documentary of the Cheney, Bush and the PNAC Criminal Conspiracy to invade Iraq which obviously was preceded by the PNAC announced need for a new Pearl Harbor ~ which lo and behold became 9/11 within a year and the now infamous and thoroughly discredited official 9/11 story. See video ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egqqCYSfV2k

And finally, in the spirit of this Independence Day ~ here's the world's shortest fireworks display when over 7000 fireworks went off at the same time because of a computer glitch  http://digg.com/video/happy-4th-america-heres-7-000-fireworks-going-off-at-the-same-time?

Mark Twain correctly wrote ~ Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it ~ and our government most certainly does not deserve to be supported when it comes to using a highly suspicious 9/11 attack as a justification for the illegal war and occupation of Iraq.

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism ….and today we sorely need it.

 

  

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-empire-is-crumbling-bring-in-clowns.html
 

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and heart centered spiritual counselor Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private Skype consultations at allen@allenroland.com

 

Allen L Roland is also a lecturer and shares a weekly political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

 

MARK TWAIN / AMERICA'S SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE DAY

America's greatest truth teller and spirit of Independence Day was Samuel langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) whose fierce independence and homespun humor personified the true American spirit before it was eventually diminished by greed, lies, unjust wars and apathy: Allen L Roland

Born: November 30, 1835 (with Halley's Comet)
Died: April 21, 1910 (also with Halley's Comet...Twain predicted that his own death would occur with the return of the comet)
Nationality: American
Education: Very little, other than self-education in a library
Occupation: Printer's apprentice, typesetter, printer, steam boat pilot, miner, actor, author, humorist, inventor
Interests/Hobbies: Cats, dogs, gadgets, parapsychology, science, travel and pundit on all things American.

"The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivalry of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain
official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise."  Mark Twain

Here are a few of my favorite Twain quotes;

On Patriotism ~

Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.

On Love ~

The heart is the real Fountain of Youth. -- Notebook, 1898

When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.-- Notebook, 1898

Love is not a product of reasoning's and statistics. It just comes
none knows whence and cannot explain itself.-- Eve's Diary

On Education and the wonder of Discovery                                                                                

Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned. -- Notebook, 1898

What is it that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a man's breast with pride above that which any other experience can bring to him? Discovery! To know that you are walking where none others have walked; that you are beholding what human eye has not seen before; that you are breathing a virgin atmosphere. To give birth to an idea ~ to discover a great thought. -- Innocents Abroad

( Note that this was exactly what I felt when I walked into a precognitive vision of the Golden Gate bridge from Fort Mason, San Francisco in 1987~ a vision that I originally had at 6 years old while living in New England ~ and KNEW in that instant that I was in a Unified Field of love and soul consciousness that existed beyond time and space and my task was to own it with the world )

On Congress

CONGRESS: The only "Distinctly Native American Criminal Class".
-- from The Devil's Dictionary

"No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law, and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more."-- The Gilded Age

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. -- Following The Equator

On War

"Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
...The Mysterious Stranger

By and by when each nation has 20,000 battleships and 5,000,000 soldiers we shall all be safe and the wisdom of statesmanship will stand confirmed.
-- Notebook, 1902

"Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out ... and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel .... And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man" ~ with his mouth"

On Nature

Change is the handmaiden Nature requires to do her miracles with. -- Roughing It

But it was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer that revealed the childlike wondrous heart that existed within Mark Twain as well as his profound connection to nature ~ and his words touched the innocent and adventurous hearts of millions, including myself, who also sensed the miracles that Tom Sawyer witnessed ~ “It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in the deep pervading calm and silence of the woods. Not a leaf stirred; not a sound obtruded upon great Nature's meditation ~ Gradually the cool dim gray of the morning whitened, and as gradually sounds multiplied and life manifested itself. The marvel of Nature shaking off sleep and going to work unfolded itself to the musing boy ~ All Nature was wide awake and stirring, now; long lances of sunlight pierced down through the dense foliage far and near, and a few butterflies came fluttering upon the scene.” Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Here's the trailer for the original Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1938 ~ two minute video   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbFzmQIw4ok

Now Journey to Arrow Rock Missouri for an old fashioned 4th of July celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the filming of the Hollywood classic, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Actors Johnny Whitaker and Jeff East recall what it was like to play Tom and Huck in the great outdoors of central Missouri. Uploaded on Jun 30, 2010 / 3 minute video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy__o_TbMGg

Happy Independence day but as Mark Twain wrote ~ The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it -- Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/mark-twain-americas-spirit-of.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and transformational counselor Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private Skype consultations (allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his web log and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net