[PLUG-TALK] Re: [PLUG] Sounds good to me ;)

J Henshaw jeff at jhenshaw.com
Sun Jun 30 00:21:14 UTC 2002


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeme A Brelin" <jeme at brelin.net>
To: "PLUG off-topic discussion" <plug-talk at lists.pdxlinux.org>
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2002 8:46 PM
Subject: RE: [PLUG-TALK] Re: [PLUG] Sounds good to me ;)


>
> On Fri, 21 Jun 2002, Craighead, Scot D wrote:
> > >Which definitions?
> >
> > I make a statement like "Most people in the United States speak
> > English" and no one can agree with that.
>
> I don't think anyone disagrees with that.
>
> I just think that it's ridiculous and self-contradictory to say that you
> don't want majority rule, but you want english to be the sole official
> language because most people speak english.
>
> > >Are you saying that you really don't agree in the idea of sharing your
> > >excess and having a default accept, rather than default deny, policy
> > >with regard to helping others?
> >
> > I share what I have with who I decide to.
>
> I'm not asking what you do.  I'm asking if you agree with the idea of
> sharing your excess and having a default accept, rather than deny, policy.
>
> > I don't feel that others have a right to tell me what I should share
> > or call me greedy if I disagree.
>
> Everyone has the right to tell you what you should do.  Nobody has the
> right to tell you what you must do.
>
> Dig the difference?
>
> I think (and will tell you) that you should share everything you don't
> think you really need.  Does that mean you have to do it?  Nope.  That's
> tyranny... even if I'm a duly elected delegate of the people.
>
> You've just been convinced that everyone who wants you to share is trying
> to tell you WHAT to share and HOW to share it.  Your insecurities and
> fears are making it impossible for you to listen to what people are
> saying.  You only hear what you expect them to say.  (This is, of course,
> metaphorical.  None of us are saying anything, just writing.  And you're
> not listening, but reading.)
>
> J.
> --
>    -----------------
>      Jeme A Brelin
>     jeme at brelin.net
>    -----------------

The Price They Paid

Have you ever wondered what happened to those men who signed the Declaration
of Independence?


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 the hardship of the
Revolutionary War.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven
were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, all 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.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred
honor.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept
from the sea 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 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.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. noted that the British General
Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner
quietly urged General George Washington to open fire, which was done. The
home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his
wife, and soon after she died.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13
children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid
waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home
after the war to find his wife dead, his children vanished. A few weeks
later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Morris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American 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 a firm reliance on the protection
of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our
fortune and our sacred honor."





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