A Subversive Document...

It is the Fourth of July... This is worthy reading. Enjoy! - p

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.

A bit of everything...

I am back to recording this week. It is scary after such a long hiatus. My singer has developed Bell’s Palsy; it is a temporary condition that results in facial paralysis, a real bummer for a vocalist. I have been rehearsing a blues number. I envisioned it as a simple shuffle with a short guitar solo and a bass solo. I still have to write words. It sounds good, so far. Really, the thing is so simple that it almost does not belong on my album. Maybe this is the proof that I can do music that has no more than three chords! If I can play the guitar solo it must be simple!!!

MM and I hit a short-lived but intense bump (as evidenced by my last posting). We worked it out and are, I believe, on better ground because of it. We are spending more time here and I am doing things that I find valuable and important. We came to the conclusion that spending all of our time together is probably not the best choice. We are both fiercely independent, even though we spend more time together than most couples, married or otherwise. Neither of us was looking for a partner when we met. We met and became each other’s partner very quickly. It is so intense that without some management it could be difficult. For the record I do love her St. Bernards. I can see us together in the years to come and hope that we will be life-partners. Yes, I do love her and want to be her partner and best friend that stands beside her in the years to come.

I am becoming worried about finances in the next several months. I am certain that I can work it out, it is just becoming tight again. MM is such a capable financial manager. I wish that I were better at this.

I need to begin soliciting employment for the upcoming year. I also have to take RICA and CSET. Both are intense and expensive. I have time to study and will do well, I’m certain. They are just a pain in the royal ass.

Today is the fourth of July. I really have no desire to do anything special because of the day. Ventura has a neat street fair which I enjoy. MM and I will go together and I will just enjoy the party for its own sake. Given the political reality it is hard for me to be excited about America when I feel that our country is being held hostage by the oligarchic nabobs of despair and corporate greed. All of the talk about defense of freedom is a canard to this administration: a cynical irony that robs us of our most American of all freedoms: the right to dissent. I fear that all of the talk about freedom is nothing more than a rouse that conceals the theft of the freedoms that we hold most dear: the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I know of no other county that enshrines the pursuit of happiness in its formative letters.

Australia’s national anthem is about an outlaw outrunning a policeman. But that is what is expected of a country that was founded as a penal colony. But I digress…

R is in Philadelphia visiting GH, her boyfriend. She is showing all of the symptoms of a young woman in love. I think that she may have been a bit high when I called her. Her voice sounded like she was enjoying some of her favorite herbal recreation. As her father I can be worried, but truly she is the only one that can make the decisions regarding her life. It is hard for me to be the elder friend and mentor when I want to tell her what to do. It is harder when she asks me to tell her what to do. All I can say is follow your heart…

A’s snake, Cuddles, at a mouse today. I noticed that Cuddles’ eyes were glazed over. She struck at the mouse with her usual enthusiasm, but stuck at its hind-legs. It was harder for the snake to suffocate and consume this mousie. I think that she will be shedding her skin soon. A is taking guitar lessons and is showing all the signs of being a rock chick. Like father, like daughter? I gave her my beat up Telecaster. She likes it. She likes the Tele-twang…