Simple Country Girl

Uhm Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:58:00 +0000

So Osama Bin Laden got his killing done. I'll give credit where credit is due. Well done Navy SEAL, well done.

Obama needed something to boost his approval rating, so he may get a slight bounce, big whoop. He needed to do something to totally tick off terrorists. Well done Mr. President.

Why did he need to tick them off? Because nothing short of another terrorist attack on American soil will get him re-elected. Congratulations. If there is another attack on American soil because he ticked off the terrorists so he could get re-elected then there is no one to blame but him. Narcissism at its finest is now on display for all the world to see.

The three ringed circus is set to begin any day now. For anyone who wants a ringside seat. Point them in the right direction. White House. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Our Narcissist in chief is both ring master and show.

First Amendment Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 02:41:00 +0000

(told you political blogging was back in my system again)

I have seen so much political hash made of the First Amendment that it makes me sick. This is what it says in very plain English:

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Keep in mind, I'm no scholar. I'm not a Constitutional Lawyer. I'm just a Simple Country Girl.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion: meaning our government can't favor one religion over another as the British Government had in the day and age in which this was written.

[Please note there is nothing there that says government has to stay out of the religion business. That came from this letter http://www.constitution.org/tj/sep_church_state.htm

Some people want to say this letter was written before the Bill of Rights was penned. Not so. The letter was written in 1802, the Bill of Rights was written in 1789 by James Madison and ratified in 1791 a full 11 years before Jefferson made his now infamous statement.]

Or the FREE EXERCISE THEREOF: meaning our government can't tell us we can't worship when and where we see fit, including public places. If they wanted to study Jefferson's letter a bit more they would also know that he felt government should only take action not give opinions. However, asking a slobbering liberal to actually read before jumping to a conclusion and spouting as the God's honest truth is like asking Paula Dean to please not use all that butter in her recipes. Not gonna happen.

or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press Well would you look at that it says the government can't abridge our speech, interestingly enough it is placed ahead of freedom of the press, it says the government can't deny us the right to peacefully assemble, TEA PARTIES, for example, and that we are well within our rights to petition our government for a redress of our grievances and boy don't we have a lot of them of late?

But is anyone in the elected cesspool listening?

Apparently not.

Old establishment GOP thinks the tea party cost them the senate when they themselves demonstrated just how tone deaf they are by saying they felt they ought to be more like the democrats. Hello, did you not note we're rather pissed off at the democrats? Hello? Tone Deaf much? Democrats, on the other hand, knew damn well we weren't happy and went ahead with business as usual.

Now there's a truckload of them jobless.

One would think they would get the message, but noooo. Now they're going to try to compromise with the Democrats. I-D-I-O-T-S.

Is it 2012 yet?

What has she done?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:37:00 +0000

My dad posed the question "What has she [Sarah Palin] done to deserve such hatred?" Indeed, what has she done? Let's count the ways:

Ran for vice president? Geraldine Ferraro ran for vice president. Maybe the difference is that Ms. Ferraro was a democrat?

Didn't abort a 'defective' baby? Since when is this a crime? Some people have a great deal of respect for life no matter how imperfect it might be.

Is a drop dead gorgeous 40 something? Didn't know you had to be butt ugly to be a politician. Maybe it's another one of those deals where had she been a democrat everyone would love her.

Is a conservative? I strongly suspect that is the problem people have with her.

Her daughter had a baby out of wedlock? Talk about hypocrisy! One of my face book friends had a comment posted about Bristol Palin's performance that said "If her mother wasn't' famous she'd be dancing on a pole!" Really? Is that what you think about every girl who has had a baby outside of marriage or just her? What? Dancing with the stars is fan vote based. It can't be rigged so put that in your pipe and smoke it buddy. Think had she been a democrat everyone would be singing her praises? you betcha!

Is it that she hunts? Probably that too.

Is it that she wields a gun quite well? Heaven forbid the little woman should be able to defend herself instead of waiting on the big bad cops or feds to come rescue her.

I want to know what is wrong with people? What happened to take care of yourself because no one else will? No such thing as a free lunch? Stand on your own two feet? (yeah yeah, figuratively speaking) Want it done right do it yourself? Own your own responsibilities?

Do you not understand you are where you are in life because of the choices you made? Own your choices. Stand on your own two feet already because I'm tired of carrying you!

As big a mess as our elected government has made of things, no one party is more guilty than the other, do you really want them governing how you spend your money, what, if, and when you can eat, what health care you deserve to receive and when or if you receive it? Get a clue people! Every time you demand someone else's rights be infringed upon you lose some of your own freedom. If the government can do it to 'the rich' they will do it to you too.

Sarah Palin will be the least of your worries. Whether or not Bristol Palin remains on Dancing with the Stars won't matter in a year's time. what matters is what you're willingly signing over to the government. Uncle Sam isn't your big brother, he's becoming your worst enemy and you're blindly allowing it. Wake up. Get a clue.

Hi there!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 02:55:00 +0000

Cough! cough! cough! ack!

Swipes at the cobwebs on this blog.

EEEEsh!

I am still around, life took a bite out of me so I bit back.

I have a new blog chronicling my weight loss efforts. No politics involved over there. However, Political blogging is starting to seep into my blood stream again so, I'm going to pick up where I left off over here. Soon. Very Soon.

In the meantime, feel free to hop over to my new blog and take a look at it. Tell me what you think, yeah yeah, libs, I know you'll enjoy taking a good swipe at the not so much fat me anymore. Enjoy it while you can.

Heh, I'm a loser in the good sense!

The NO EXCUSES Zone

Beautiful tributes to America

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:53:00 +0000

One Beautiful Military Tribute Blog

The Declaration of Independence

America The Beautiful

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Let me introduce you to MY America Mr. Obama

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:04:00 +0000

Lee Greenwood God Bless The USA

Faith Hill sings National Anthem

Red Skelton Pledge of Allegiance

John Wayne, America, Why I love her

Some Gave All

Ragged Old Flag Johnny Cash

Aaron Tippens Where the stars and stripes and eagles fly

Tennessee: The VOLUNTEER State:Leading the way

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:49:00 +0000

State Sovereignty

And we have a DEMOCRAT for a governor.

Apparently several other states have passed the same resolution but their governors have yet to sign it. One such state is Alaska and another is Louisiana. C'mon Sarah Palin step up to the plate already.

Hattip: Conservative Thoughts

Obama's Healthcare plan in a nutshell...take a pill

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:22:00 +0000

Hug your parents and grandparents and pray Socialized/Public/National Health Care isn't passed.

Those of you all for Socialized/Nationalized Health care, take a look at how well run government medicine is. It's been here all along. Under Medicare(all but bankrupt), Social Security (all but bankrupt) and Veteran's Hospitals where incompetence runs rampant

And what of Mr. Obama?

Why should he take public health care? He and his family is set for life simply because he was elected. Our other elected officials (congressmen/senators/governors) get free high dollar health care on our dime. So don't look for them to go on the public health care dole either. If they are 'public servants', which is what an elected official is, then shouldn't they too have to take 'public health care'? But then, I don't know of any deities who need medical care. Do you?

A Bit Disturbed and Surrendering the Fight

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:13:00 +0000

I was sent a link to Thomas Paine's Common Sense, revisited here Revisited

While I applaud the effort, I find some of the others who reference the site and their beliefs a bit disturbing. The most disturbing are those who still believe 9/11was an inside job followed by those with Bush Derangement Syndrome. Give it a rest already!

Stop trashing what can't be changed and do something about what can be changed...leadership in the US government. For heaven's sakes get out and vote this next election cycle. Stop belly aching/complaining/whining/moaning and campaign for real change, wield your voting power, and show elected officials that you won't tolerate their gluttonous behavior with our money and resources.

VOTE is the most powerful tool you have, no gun can surpass it. Use it well.

In the meantime go read the above website, look up Thomas Paine's Common Sense and read it,t hen decided for yourself what you want to do.

[After thoughts] Something I find even more disturbing is the number of people willing to call it quits. I see things like the end of Conservatism, the end of Federalism, the end of Freedom 'as we know it' touted all over the Internet.

Then I see those who are willing to stand up and be counted as those who would rather die trying than just lay down and call it quits. I can't help but wonder where the disconnect is? Where is the hope? Where is the fighting spirit of those who say it's over? Perhaps it's over for you but don't tell me what to think, feel, or speak. I stand with the fighters. My children stand with the fighters. The children who are watching all this drama play out are taking their cues from the adults in this three ringed circus. Which lesson do you want them to learn? Quitters never win?

Teach them right from wrong. Teach them American History. Why wait for someone else to do it? If you're waiting for permission to teach your children something they should know then you've already surrendered. It isn't too late to turn around, start teaching them today.

Don't know where to start? Try the beginning, the reason for the colonies. You can find almost anything you want simply by using Internet search engines, read through the materials to make sure it isn't tainted by liberal political correctness, go to used bookstores and look for old history books because they'll have the best material for colonial and early American history. Find older copies of the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, Mayflower Compact, and other early documents.

Cotton Mather's Work for a good look at the way early Americans looked at the world around them.

Pamphleteer Thomas Paine

Might I also suggest The Patriot, with Mel Gibson? True it's a bit bloody and intense, but it's a good history lesson.

Roots? Glory? North and South?

There's all sorts of information to be had to teach your children, raise them knowing their history, you just have to look.

As for just giving up, I can't make you do anything you don't want to, but I refuse to surrender.

The Underemployed should be considered unemployed?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:54:00 +0000

I was listening to the Kit Craddock morning show on the way to school with my kids.

The morning crew thinks that a person who lost a 70k plus salary a year job should still be considered unemployed even if said person is now delivering pizza's for $10 an hour.

Perhaps this employed unemployed person isn't living the lifestyle they're used to. Perhaps they don't get the salary they're used to but, BUT said person is no longer unemployed. Said person is making more than he/she would have been able to draw on unemployment by delivering pizza (not counting tips). Said person is not under the stress/pressure of the former 70K a year, nor do they have to remain a pizza delivery person for the rest of their lives. THEY HAVE A JOB!

Even if 'under employed' they're still employed.

Seems they'll try anything to make things look worse than they are.

Observation: Stimulus Package = Help for the rich

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Let me be clear on that observation. If the stimulus package truly were to help the "poor people" struggling to make payments on their mortgage/not lose their home then it would have been given to the people who needed it most: THE PEOPLE.

Instead it went to the Bankers/Car Manufacturers/Insurance Companies' pockets as evidenced by all the headlines about bonuses granted to those companies who received bailout monies.

Now, tell me who that helped? People in foreclosure are still in foreclosure.

It didn't save jobs. It didn't create jobs.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not complaining. Not about that really. I am complaining about the people who are still whining that 'my boss makes more money than I do!"

So?

Those bank CEOs, your 'boss', anyone who makes more money than you do got where they are by the decisions they made.

They have the experience.

They have the education.

If you want what they have do what they did.

EARN IT.

No one ever got rich by working for someone else. The government has never made a constituent rich. Money doesn't grow on trees nor does good jobs or successful businesses.

You have to WORK.
You have to GET AN EDUCATION.
You have to put in SWEAT EQUITY.

That's how you get what they have.

Stop sticking your hands in my pocket. I earned what I have and you don't deserve it no matter what your excuse of the minute is.

Taking something you didn't earn is theft no matter how you paint it. Robin Hood was a thief. So are you if you're whining that you want what I have and want the government to take it from me.

If you're going to whine that expecting you to work and get an education is too hard and not fair, then you deserve to be exactly where you are.

I don't want to hear about your reasons why you CAN'T, JUST CAN'T! do what you have to in order to get rich. It's just a whiny assed excuse.

And I'm tired of hearing them.

Go whine somewhere else.

A Message to President Obama

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:59:00 +0000

I've been offline for a while and I have many thoughts,all directed to the president I didn't vote for.

Mr. Obama has it not occurred to you that this massive spending plan you're shoving down the throats of the average working class might come back to haunt you and your cronies in 2010 and 2012?

Have you even considered how we, the American people, will ever begin to pay it back?

There are limits to just how much anyone, the rich and the employed alike, are willing to pay toward taxes.

Those of us who are in the working class know something your overly educated so-called financial experts seem to want to ignore. You can't borrow your way out of debt.

You cannot create jobs out of thin air.

You cannot find employees willing to do the labor out of thin air.

You create favorable spending conditions by removing the barriers/penalties: TAXES, not increasing taxes.

You create a need for supply generation by increasing demand. Spend what you have, not creating more debt (borrowing).

Those of us who don't have accountants and financial experts are pros at balancing budgets and dodging the debt bullet. Try listening a bit more closely to the common man.

Bail Outs

Fine and dandy, let's discuss bail outs.

If you're going to put a cap on the amount a CEO who took the bail out money can earn then why can't we put a cap on welfare recipients?

What is a welfare check, exactly? I don't mean food stamps, I mean disability, AFDC...those checks. They're bail outs for people who chose not to work. I know there are legitimately disabled people out there. I don't' mean them. I mean people like my former renter who kept complaining to her doctor that her knee hurt until he recommended knee surgery and declared her disabled. She filed for and got her disability check, never had the surgery, and sits around all day gossiping, eating, writing bad checks, and smoking pot/popping Oxycontin.

Here's an idea

Or better yet, my former neighbor whose rent was paid by the government while he owned nice lakeside property in a popular tourist resort area, owned two cars and a boat. HE claimed his back was hurt so he couldn't work.

He freelanced drafting projects for contractors (he was paid under the table), mowed the back yard of our rural apartment 'five'plex, and chopped wood for the little fire pit he dug behind the apartment 'five'plex.

Those are the people I mean.

If you're going to take welfare payments then perhaps you shouldn't be able to buy lottery tickets, beer, cigarettes, alcohol, cell phones, TV converter boxes, satellite or cable TV, big screen TVs, gold chains, diamonds, three cars, boats, or computers. After all, you're so desperately poor you can't afford to buy food, what makes you able to buy all those LUXURY items? Of course the answer to that is, you took my money from me in the form of taxes so I can't buy them for myself.

It's only fair after all, everyone should be on equal footing.

I think, Mr. Obama, that if the economy were truly on the brink of collapse,a s it allegedly has been since October last year, that it would have already collapsed. It has been more than one business quarter since imminent collapse was announced and, well, Mr. President, we're still here. The economy is still creeping along, sure jobless claims are up, but then Christmas seasonal workers were just laid off last week so that is to be expected.

Have you checked your job description? It isn't to create jobs. It isn't to spend taxpayer money. It's to protect and uphold the US constitution. You know that super important paper you're trying your darnedest to trample on? You're supposed to be protecting us. You're not doing a very good job of it, sir.

Try letting us handle our own problems. Let the automakers go bankrupt. Let the major banks go bankrupt. After all, the airline industry went bankrupt, but it's still here, leaner, meaner, and running quite well, not the all the same players as before, but it's still with us.

Have you not noticed our history?
We've survived recessions.
We've survived a depression.
We've survived two devastating attacks on our soil.
We've stared down the Russians.
We've survived numerous wars.
We've stared down disease and starvation.
We've stared down the entire British empire, 13 measly ne'er do well colonies took on the once mighty British armada and won.
As a result we colonized and cultivated a now mighty nation.
We revolutionized and industrialized the world with cotton gins, trains, automobiles, airplanes, and spacecraft. Better yet, we have re-usable spacecraft.
We put a man on the moon.
We developed nuclear weapons.
We are the most reviled country, next to Israel, yet we're the first other countries turn to when they suffer devastating natural disasters or attacks.

We have a generous and giving people.
We have a creative and innovative people.
There is a reason why it's called American Ingenuity.
We are survivors.

Don't stifle us with yet more taxes, fines, and regulations or you're going to find out about another facet of the American people.

We like to work, think, speak and vote for ourselves.

*THAT* Mr. President is what we do best.

And that, Mr. President, is not why you were elected.

Let me tell you one more thing, sir, People didn't vote for you.

They voted for your lies.

They voted for themselves out of greed.

They voted for you to prove they weren't racist.

An open letter to racists vote Obama

And most of all, Mr. President, they were voting against a man who wasn't even running for office.

They voted against Bush.

So if you want to consider that a mandate for spending every penny of my money you can get your greedy fingers on for 'failed programs and policies of the past' then please continue to do so.

You provide us bloggers with plenty of entertainment and you're only sealing your own re-election bid.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out in 2012.

Say Again please?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:57:00 +0000

When you don't know the numbers....make something up.

Government Created Jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:38:00 +0000

My home computer is having Internet connectivity issues. However, I would like to know where Obama thinks he will get the employees to man these massive infrastructure projects he wants to government to fund?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the current unemployed are tech workers, production workers, and thousands of finance employees and construction workers (okay, so they will be first in line for the alleged millions of government created jobs in construction. But these particular construction workers build houses and buildings not roads...there is a difference). These people are not trained to operate heavy machinery. Most road construction workers are STATE EMPLOYEES and are not unemployed.

Tech workers, finance workers and the dozens of white collar titles who are unemployed went to school, did the work to get a degree, many have advanced degrees, to be white collar employees, not go dig ditches. They went to school to be able to get a job where they didn't have to do 'hard labor' like their parents or grandparents did. How are you going to convince them to pick up a shovel? How do you plan on telling them their effort to make their own lives better was a wasted effort and now they should suck it up for the good of their elected officials and get to work in the sewers and pipelines and by the way they STILL have to pay back that student loan for the education they now can't use because Obama said so.

I'm certainly not about to go build roads, dig ditches, or operate heavy machinery. Call me lazy if you want, but I'm not standing in line with my hand out to the government either.

My husband is 43 with a master's degree in education and 20 years experience in mental health and working in the juvenile court system. I doubt he'll join the government road crew.

Obama's efforts at reviving the economy might be better served by sending money to individual states who need it most, like California, to resuscitate their sagging economies. What about juicing up efforts to get that border fence built? There's a construction job that this country actually needs for him to undertake.

Point out to me, in the Constitution, where it is the government's responsibility to make sure everyone in the United States has a job, and eductaion, and healthcare. If you can find it, I'll happily be quiet on the issue.

Trickle Down vs Trickle Up

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 05:50:00 +0000

What Does Trickle Down Theory Mean?
An economic theory which states that investing money in companies and giving them tax breaks is the best way to stimulate the economy.

Investopedia explains Trickle Down Theory
Proponents of this theory believe that when government helps companies, they will produce more and thereby hire more people and raise salaries. The people, in turn, will have more money to spend in the economy.

Quick example (hypothetical): I have a small in home pet care business that expands into two counties because the rich need and want my services while they are at work (earning more money) or on vacation (spreading their own wealth around). This means more money in my pocket, but I need help now that business has expanded so I hire 4 people. More money in their pocket and they go out to buy the products and services they need and want.

As a result of expanding business I make purchases of products and services to make my business grow. More money in those business's pockets therefore in their employees pockets as well so they start purchasing more products and services from their vendors and so it goes. That's how trickle down works.

Trickle Up

Investopedia did not offer a Trickle Up definition

The trickle up effect is an economic theory used to describe the flow of wealth from the poor to the affluent; it is opposite to the trickle down effect.

Relationship to the trickle down effect

Proponents of the trickle down effect[who?] believe that a free market, which is uninhibited by heavy taxation and other forms of government controls, will cause an increase in wealth for society as a whole, part of which will "trickle down" from the affluent to the less wealthy, making the latter group better off. In this model, relative poverty may increase, but proponents state that this is a moot point because absolute poverty decreases. Opponents to this theory may point out that a large gap in the distribution of wealth can lead to a similarly large gap in power and influence, thus making this economic model undesirable.

The trickle down effect is usually used to describe a process by which benefits to the wealthy "trickle down" to benefits for the poor. The trickle up effect, in a corollary to this, states that benefiting the poor directly (for example through micro loans) will boost the productivity of the society as a whole and thus those benefits will, in effect, "trickle up" to benefits for the wealthy.[1]

Possible causes
The trickle up effect states that benefits to the wealthy will be realized due to an increase in sales relative to the amount of benefits that are given to the poor. The trickle up effect argues itself as more effective than the trickle down effect because people who have less tend to buy more. In other words, the poor are more inclined than the wealthy to spend their money. This being so, proponents of the trickle up effect believe that if the lower and lower-middle classes are given benefits, such as tax breaks or subsidies, the increased funds would be spent at a much higher rate than would the upper class, given similar fund increases. Furthermore, the trickle up effect argues, many upper-class individuals do not spend their entire yearly salary to begin with, which is an indication that they will not spend any additional funds. Instead, they will save additional funds, thereby withholding those funds from the economy and increasing the gap between the rich and the poor. The trickle up effect avoids this pitfall by giving more money to those who would be more inclined to spend it.
*****************************************

In other words, take money from the rich, give it to the poor to spend. What incentive is there for the poor to save their money instead so that they too could become richer? Isn't this rewarding bad decision making and encouraging yet more bad decision making?

The rich are rich because they made good decisions ie...saved/invested their money. Fine art, valuable jewelry, property purchases, stocks/bonds/mutual funds, nice homes . . . all have high resale values. They INVESTED their money in things of value.

Trickle up is simply another term for Marxism or socialism. Take your pick. It's a redistribution of wealth taken from laborers in the form of taxes. It's another way to incite class warfare/envy.

Swaminomics

I chose this article/example simply because of its absurdity. However its author does live in a socialist country so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised.

First, the cotton farmer grows his crop, pays the agricultural labour involved, and then sells the crop at a profit. Note that the agricultural worker gets his money first, the grower second. Next the cotton moves to a ginning factory to remove the seed. The transporter and ginner make their living in the process. Then the cotton moves to a mill. The staff there are paid their wages and salaries even while processing the cotton, whether or not the mill is profitable. When the cloth is ready, it is sold through agents or traders who also earn commissions or profits. Only at this final point, when the sales are made, does any profit accrue to the textile magnate. At this point, profit trickles up the top.
************************

My questions are: Where did this supposedly poor (since we're using trickle up economics) cotton farmer get the money to purchase his cotton seed, fertilizer, and irrigation, his land, the implements needed to plant/harvest the cotton seed, and pay the taxes on the property? Borrow it? Let's say he borrowed it, because if he stole it he'd be in jail and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Now, who does the lending? The rich. Or did he get a government small business loan which is actually a redistribution of wealth gleaned from some taxpayer somewhere.

Why and how is he paying his employees before he sells his crop?

Did the transporter buy the crop from the farmer so he could sell it to the ginner?

And you can see where the rest of this is going. How do you pay staff if your mill is not profitable? How long can you possibly stay in business if you are not turning a profit? If you have employees does that not make you one of the rich?

But wait, the author isn't done with his article yet: The business magazine Fortune discloses that the average profit of the 500 largest companies in the world is only 3 per cent of sales. That means 97 per cent goes first to other participants in these businesses, and only 3 per cent trickles to the top.

Could the other participants in these businesses who swallow up the 97% of sales be employees? Share holders? Suppliers? They do have to be paid too.

Screech about evil capitalism/rich/trickle down all you like, it works far better than things that trickle upward defying the laws of physics.

Questions regarding climate change

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Okay all of you who have bought into the evil greedy man caused climate changes because we dared to make life better by driving cars, refining oil, preferring electric light to candle light, and dare to exhale co2 or defending ourselves against our enemies, I have some questions for you and I'm certain you will be able to provide answers for this simple country girl.

First and foremost, why did you change from global warming to just climate change? Is it because you needed something that would cover all the bases?

1)What caused the warming trend that turned a large part of the African Continent into a desert?

2) At one time most, if not all of the US and Canada was under water, take the Badlands in South Dakota for example, ocean fossils have been found there, but where did the water go? Freeze or dry up? How could man cause that if we weren't around then?

3) Why is the cure the same for both global warming and global cooling?

4) What effect do the ocean currents La Nina and El Nino have on the climate? How would man affect their influence?

5) What effect do the sun and moon cycles have on the the climate? How would man affect their influence?

6)If you look closely at geologic studies, you will find the layers of the earth clearly demonstrate that there have been wildly fluctuating 'global climates' in its existence, evidenced by sea/water creature fossils found in now arid dry deserts or high atop mountains in areas that haven't' been under water in many millenia. Where did the water go and how did man cause it (never mind we weren't around then)

7) Does the Earth's rotation, which has been know to 'wobble', have any effect on the climate? How would man affect this influence?

8)Does the Earth's geomagnetic field have an influence over the climate? How would man affect its influence?

9) Would catastrophic natural events (like CAT5 Hurricanes, Tsunamis, or high magnitude earthquakes have an influence on the global climate? How would man affect this influence?

10)How does war, wealth (or lack of), education (or lack of) affect the Global climate?

11) If it's mans fault that the climate is changing and animal species are going extinct then why do scientists keep finding new animal species and 'discovering' some species thought long extinct in different and or remote areas of the world?

12)Use google search using this term 'thought extinct found'. Tell me what you find.

And I have several more questions that just devil the hell out of me: Why would I want to purchase carbon offsets/credits? To assuage my burdensome guilt over killing a tree? Who determines how much credit I need? How do they determine this? If all these carbon credits do is pay for someone to go plant trees for me, why can't I buy my own trees and plant them? What kind of trees do they plant and where? How do I know they really went and planted trees? Do I get one of those nifty certificates with a picture of my tree?

Enquiring minds wanna know!

What happened to tradition? In my little world anyway.

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:00:00 +0000

I have been busy with my job with the 3rd largest retailer, finally the holiday season is winding down and I can't help but feel blah. I worked Christmas Eve. Slept most of Christmas day only to return to a 9 hour shift the day after Christmas. I know I went to my sister's house after work on Christmas Eve for the yearly family get together. The kids opened gifts. We ate finger foods.

No turkey. No dressing. The only deviled eggs I ate were the ones the HR manager made for our finger foods dinner at work. I'm coming to loathe finger foods in lieu of holiday dinners.

I didn't cook for Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, I did cook for Thanksgiving, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, that is. I don't feel like there was even a holiday season this year because I was either working or so thoroughly exhausted I barely noticed blinking festive lights, had heard Christmas music every single day since November 1st, it just didn't register.

I had to force my kids to put the Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve. How sad is that? I even threatened to just put their gifts on the table, unwrapped, and forget the whole holiday existed. We have some lights in the front window. Nothing else. I have tons of decorations no one bothered to put up this year because it was only my two sons home. My husband and I were just too tired to care about decorating or celebrating. And I hate that.

I'm not doing this again next year.

This house will be fully decked out for the holidays. Trees, wreaths, lots of red and gold and holiday plaids. I will cook REAL holiday dinners, have friends and family over. Huge piles of gifts under the tree. Candles, lots of candles. Christmas music (of my own choosing)

I know it's about being with family and friends and being happy and healthy, but where did tradition go? We didn't even go to church. We didn't go to any of the Christmas programs we usually do. We went to see the Nutcracker with the school. The boys marched in a Christmas parade with military veterans. Know what was missing in that parade? Santa Claus. How do you have a Christmas parade with no Santa Claus? Where was Santa Claus this year? I didn't see him anywhere near this end of TN. Sure, he was at the mall, 55 miles from here. WalMart and Kmart used to have a little Santa House where Santa sat and had his picture made with the kids. Not this year.

Have we become so very politically correct that kids can't enjoy the holidays themselves for fear of offending someone else? What if that offends me or my kids? Maybe I'm old fashioned. But I'd love to be able to sit around the table fully decked out with Christmas table linens and Christmas dinnerware, bow my head as my husband gives the blessing, then carves into a huge turkey that I spent all night preparing. I'd like to have seen my kids eyes shimmer with anticipation and glee while eyeing stuff stacked under the tree. Instead I slept in. Oh, they waited impatiently for me to wake up. There was some anticipation and glee, but not as much as 'aw c'mon mom getup already!' in their attitude. I'm not upset with them over it, they're just kids, I'm more upset with me.

No one cooked the usual Christmas morning breakfast that has been tradition in this house for twelve years. Instead they waited for me to wake up while my husband slipped around and hid the Wii. Then I had to deal with two very upset kids who'd been promised a Wii, knew I had the Wii, they'd seen it in the car and now... it wasn't there. My husband thought it was funny. I wanted to cry because my kids looked like they were going to cry. They thought we'd had to return because we really didn't' have the money to buy it, but did anyway. I hated that they thought that. All the while, my husband had this evil glint to his eyes, enjoying that they were disappointed. He has a strange sense of humor.

I was mad at myself for going along with it so I finally told them where it was, along with an electronic dartboard they'd seen at a store. I found one like it, just not as expensive. They're happy. I'm happy, but disappointed with this Christmas overall because it never really felt like Christmas. Next year will be better, because, as I said, I'm not doing this again. Retail can kiss my backside.

So here it is, New Year's Eve. I'm off. My husband is at work. My kids are here.
I'm cooking a New Year's Day dinner, but where will I be New Year's Day? Working a 10 hour shift. Hope there's left overs....

The Carbon Credit/Foot Print Hocus Pocus

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:58:00 +0000

Obama has little time to curb global warming Mother Nature, of course, is oblivious to the federal government's machinations. Ironically, 2008 is on pace to be a slightly cooler year in a steadily rising temperature trend line. Experts say it's thanks to a La Nina weather variation. While skeptics are already using it as evidence of some kind of cooling trend, it actually illustrates how fast the world is warming.

Does anyone think that last sentence is about as dumb as it gets? '...cooling trend demonstrates how fast the world is warming'? Where did that line of reasoning come from? Perhaps they're listening to Katy Perry's Hot and Cold?

I also note that one of their 'experts is claiming we're out of time because things are going extinct.Really? Better yet use the following google search 'thought to be extinct discovered'. Amazing what a little simple research of your own will reveal.

While I'm all for a cleaner earth as in don't litter, I'm not at all convinced man is the sole perpetrator in global warming. It's ocean currents, sun and moon cycles, that play the major role in determining what our global climate is. Yammer all you like about carbon dioxide, carbon credits, whatever...carbon dioxide is what humans and animals alike breath out in exchange for the oxygen breathed in and there is nothing to change that (unless you die of course), no matter how many non existent carbon credits you buy.

What is a Carbon Credit, anyway?

Who's keeping count of how much carbon I emit? EPA? Nope, YOU are trusted (at this point) to tell the truth about your reckless carbon emitting ways.

Who profits from them and what do they really do with the money?Fear mongering through guilt.

So, lets see if I understand this correctly: As a human I inhale oxygen produced by trees (what a bitch I am for stealing that tree's oxygen!). I exhale carbon dioxide that the tree needs to survive. (Do I get to charge the tree for using up my co2?). My home emits co2 as well. (Okay, now I'm overworking the trees. Do they get paid overtime or do I just buy an extra carbon credit to cover all my bases?) My car actually emits Carbon Monoxide, not the same as carbon dioxide, (ask any chemistry teacher that one). So why would I buy a carbon credit to cover that?

Where was I? Oh. Let the guilt set in. I'm killing innocent trees and wildlife.(Evidently wildlife gets a free pass on its carbon dioxide emissions) I go online to any carbon credit calculator and figure out how much carbon dioxide I emit, then find someone to sell the credits to me and they go plant trees using my money? Why does every carbon calculator come up with a different amount of carbon use? Can they prove they actually planted the trees? Why can't I just go plant a couple trees of my own and be done with it? They already trust me enough to tell them how much carbon I emit,

Because it's a get rich quick scheme, that's why. It's a form of power and control over the useful idiots who buy into this stuff and would rather pay a couple hundred dollars to 'offset' their guilty lazy asses from actually doing anything substantive toward cleaning up litter from the side of the road or dragging trash out of the river or ocean.

It's also listing toward government control over our daily lives. It's listing toward wealth redistribution. We are being repeatedly told we have to learn to do more with less conveniences. It's only a matter of time before we either revolt or submit. Right now, it looks like people are more willing to submit. Anything else is too much like work, self reliance, and responsibility.

UPDATE
Strong As An Ox compares carbon offsets (now being sold at an airport kiosk near you!) to the pet rock fad. I humbly suggest a chia pet instead, as they're green!

My Annual Christmas Prayer Post

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:52:00 +0000

It always bears repeating as it squarely hits the nail on the head.

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good", but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that.
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery,
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare,
We have killed our unborn and called it choice,
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable,
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem,
We have abused power and called it politics,
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition,
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression,
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these things in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen" ~ Reverend Joe Wright, before the Kansas State Legislature, 1996

Wait wait, back up here

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:25:00 +0000

So we, the tax payers, are giving the big three 15 billion dollars to save their back sides until Obama can get sworn in and stroke a big check while calling it a loan?.

We're effectively purchasing jobs for the union workers and their underlings so we can continue to buy cars they produce? WHY?????

We, the people, are the guarantors. If we don't' purchase the cars we just paid them to continue to produce, then we lose our money. Not that it isn't lost anyway, but still this ticks me off.

Someone want to buy my job so I can keep it too, not that I'm in any danger of losing it yet.

Anyone?

Any takers?

Thought not.

Big Three Auto Makers... and other selfish thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:07:00 +0000

What did congress expect to accomplish by forcing the CEOs of the big three to drive or fly business class to come before them to beg for money they're obviously not going to get any time soon?

Did they save any money that way? No.

Did it cause less impact on the environment? No.

Did it fan the fires of class war fare the Democrats are intent on continuing to stoke? Yes.

Make them travel the way the rest of us (except most of Congress and the Senate) do so they know how it feels.

Guess what. Next week, they'll be back to flying in jets and being driven around. Those company jets aren't they only jets they own. They have fleets of them. For example: The CEO of Ford may have driven a hybrid to Washington, but what do you want to bet his secretary flew in on one of the company jets? Or that his lawyer drove too? What are the odds of said CEO staying in the local Motel 6? Highly unlikely, that's what.

Where do we get off telling people who are in business, people who worked their asses off to get where they are, how they are to live? They didn't claw and bite their way to the top of Chevrolet Motor company only to have to fly coach.

I have no intention of driving a 10 year old Toyota Camry by the end of next year which is when MY BUSINESS will be in full swing. It'll be my money I'll spend it the way I want to. Same for these CEO's and corporate big wigs. They earned what they have why shouldn't they be allowed to use it? No one goes into business to not make a profit. No one goes into business because they want to be told how much they can earn. If we wanted that we'd remain with our current employers.

Errr, sorry, KMart only pays minimum wage, and if I had to live only on minimum wage I'd starve. That minimum wage increase was another way the government has decided to continually fan the flames of class warfare. Us 'poor' people who have to work for minimum wage need a higher minimum wage. Uh, no we don't. We need to learn a set of skills in our minimum wage jobs that will propel us to the next level of the work force. Minimum wage jobs are where we learn the discipline we need, the skills we need, to move ahead.

Those who don't learn deserve to be exactly where they are. Raising minimum wage only makes the less inclined to work more comfortable with where they are and with what they have.

I am a little more ambitious than that. I want more. I deserve more and by golly, I'll have more. It took me 20 years to figure it out and to get over being complacent with what I have, but I'm over it.

The rest of the world should get over it too. Pull yourself up, dust your ass off, and get busy. If you want more, learn more, do more. Stop looking at me for a hand out already.

The big three probably shouldn't get a bail out. They should have to start over at square one, learn their lesson, apply it, get it right this time. Otherwise there's probably some younger, up and coming automakers, not embedded with union workers, that will happily fill their shoes. That's called free market. It's competition. It's capitalism. And that is what America is built on. Good, old fashioned hard work and ingenuity. It's her firmest foundation. Shame on those who want to say otherwise.

In a holding pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:17:00 +0000

I'm not entirely convinced we've been in a recession since December of last year. Isn't the conventional definition of recession two quarters of negatvie growth?

And we haven't had that. . . yet.

I think I'll just watch and wait.

In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the abbreviated history lessons I've been posting.

And a shout out to friends and co-workers who just discovered I'm a blogger (a wannabe anyway. There are some of my readers and linked blogs who are much better at this than I am, though I'm happy to be in their company, maybe some of their intelligence and greatness will eventually rub off on me).

American Revolution Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:10:00 +0000

Courtesy of The History Place

Conflict and Revolution
1775 to 1776

April 14, 1775 - Massachusetts Governor Gage is secretly ordered by the British to enforce the Coercive Acts and suppress "open rebellion" among colonists by using all necessary force.

April 18, 1775 - General Gage orders 700 British soldiers to Concord to destroy the colonists' weapons depot.

That night, Paul Revere and William Dawes are sent from Boston to warn colonists. Revere reaches Lexington about midnight and warns Sam Adams and John Hancock who are hiding out there.

At dawn on April 19 about 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen stand face to face on Lexington Green with the British advance guard. An unordered 'shot heard around the world' begins the American Revolution. A volley of British muskets followed by a charge with bayonets leaves eight Americans dead and ten wounded. The British regroup and head for the depot in Concord, destroying the colonists' weapons and supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, a British platoon is attacked by militiamen, with 14 casualties.

British forces then begin a long retreat from Lexington back to Boston and are harassed and shot at all along the way by farmers and rebels and suffer over 250 casualties. News of the events at Lexington and Concord spreads like wildfire throughout the Colonies.

April 23, 1775 - The Provincial Congress in Massachusetts orders 13,600 American soldiers to be mobilized. Colonial volunteers from all over New England assemble and head for Boston, then establish camps around the city and begin a year long siege of British-held Boston.

May 10, 1775 - American forces led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York. The fort contains a much needed supply of military equipment including cannons which are then hauled to Boston by ox teams.

May 10, 1775 - The Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, with John Hancock elected as its president. On May 15, the Congress places the colonies in a state of defense. On June 15, the Congress unanimously votes to appoint George Washington general and commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army.

June 17, 1775 - The first major fight between British and American troops occurs at Boston in the Battle of Bunker Hill. American troops are dug in along the high ground of Breed's Hill (the actual location) and are attacked by a frontal assault of over 2000 British soldiers who storm up the hill. The Americans are ordered not to fire until they can see "the whites of their eyes." As the British get within 15 paces, the Americans let loose a deadly volley of musket fire and halt the British advance. The British then regroup and attack 30 minutes later with the same result. A third attack, however, succeeds as the Americans run out of ammunition and are left only with bayonets and stones to defend themselves. The British succeed in taking the hill, but at a loss of half their force, over a thousand casualties, with the Americans losing about 400, including important colonial leader, General Joseph Warren.

July 3, 1775 - At Cambridge, Massachusetts, George Washington takes command of the Continental Army which now has about 17,000 men.

See also: George Washington Picture Gallery

July 5, 1775 - The Continental Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition which expresses hope for a reconciliation with Britain, appealing directly to the King for help in achieving this. In August, King George III refuses even to look at the petition and instead issues a proclamation declaring the Americans to be in a state of open rebellion.

July 6, 1775 - The Continental Congress issues a Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms detailing the colonists' reasons for fighting the British and states the Americans are "resolved to die free men rather than live as slaves."

July 26, 1775 - An American Post Office is established with Ben Franklin as Postmaster General.

November 28, 1775 - The American Navy is established by Congress. The next day, Congress appoints a secret committee to seek help from European nations.

December 23, 1775 - King George III issues a royal proclamation closing the American colonies to all commerce and trade, to take effect in March of 1776. Also in December, Congress is informed that France may offer support in the war against Britain.

January 5, 1776 - The assembly of New Hampshire adopts the first American state constitution.

January 9, 1776 - Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" is published in Philadelphia. The 50 page pamphlet is highly critical of King George III and attacks allegiance to Monarchy in principle while providing strong arguments for American independence. It becomes an instant best-seller in America. "We have it in our power to begin the world anew...American shall make a stand, not for herself alone, but for the world," Paine states.

March 4-17, 1776 - American forces capture Dorchester Heights which overlooks Boston harbor. Captured British artillery from Fort Ticonderoga is placed on the heights to enforce the siege against the British in Boston. The British evacuate Boston and set sail for Halifax. George Washington then rushes to New York to set up defenses, anticipating the British plan to invade New York City.

April 6, 1776 - The Continental Congress declares colonial shipping ports open to all traffic except the British. The Congress had already authorized privateer raids on British ships and also advised disarming all Americans loyal to England.

April 12, 1776 - The North Carolina assembly is the first to empower its delegates in the Continental Congress to vote for independence from Britain.

May 2, 1776 - The American revolutionaries get the much needed foreign support they had been hoping for. King Louis XVI of France commits one million dollars in arms and munitions. Spain then also promises support.

May 10, 1776 - The Continental Congress authorizes each of the 13 colonies to form local (provincial) governments.

June 28, 1776 - In South Carolina, American forces at Fort Moultrie successfully defend Charleston against a British naval attack and inflict heavy damage on the fleet.

June-July, 1776 - A massive British war fleet arrives in New York Harbor consisting of 30 battleships with 1200 cannon, 30,000 soldiers, 10,000 sailors, and 300 supply ships, under the command of General William Howe and his brother Admiral Lord Richard Howe.

June-July, 1776 - On June 7, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, presents a formal resolution calling for America to declare its independence from Britain. Congress decides to postpone its decision on this until July. On June 11, Congress appoints a committee to draft a declaration of independence. Committee members are Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Livingston and Roger Sherman. Jefferson is chosen by the committee to prepare the first draft of the declaration, which he completes in one day. Just seventeen days later, June 28, Jefferson's Declaration of Independence is ready and is presented to the Congress, with changes made by Adams and Franklin. On July 2, twelve of thirteen colonial delegations (New York abstains) vote in support of Lee's resolution for independence. On July 4, the Congress formally endorses Jefferson's Declaration, with copies to be sent to all of the colonies. The actual signing of the document occurs on August 2, as most of the 55 members of Congress place their names on the parchment copy.

July 4, 1776 - United States Declaration of Independence

July 12, 1776 - As a show of force, two British frigates sail up the Hudson River blasting their guns. Peace feelers are then extended to the Americans. At the request of the British, Gen. Washington meets with Howe's representatives in New York and listens to vague offers of clemency for the American rebels. Washington politely declines, then leaves.

August 27-29, 1776 - Gen. Howe leads 15,000 soldiers against Washington's army in the Battle of Long Island. Washington, outnumbered two to one, suffers a severe defeat as his army is outflanked and scatters. The Americans retreat to Brooklyn Heights, facing possible capture by the British or even total surrender.

But at night, the Americans cross the East River in small boats and escape to Manhattan, then evacuate New York City and retreat up through Manhattan Island to Harlem Heights. Washington now changes tactics, avoiding large scale battles with the British by a series of retreats.

September 11, 1776 - A peace conference is held on Staten Island with British Admiral, Lord Richard Howe, meeting American representatives including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The conference fails as Howe demands the colonists revoke the Declaration of Independence.

September 16, 1776 - After evacuating New York City, Washington's army repulses a British attack during the Battle of Harlem Heights in upper Manhattan. Several days later, fire engulfs New York City and destroys over 300 buildings.

September 22, 1776 - After he is caught spying on British troops on Long Island, Nathan Hale is executed without a trial, his last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

September 26, 1776 - Congress appoints Jefferson, Franklin and Silas Deane to negotiate treaties with European governments. Franklin and Deane then travel to France seeking financial and military aid.

October 9, 1776 - San Francisco is established by Spanish missionaries on the California coast.

October 11, 1776 - A big defeat for the inexperienced American Navy on Lake Champlain at the hands of a British fleet of 87 gunships. In the 7 hour Battle of Valcour Bay most of the American flotilla of 83 gunships is crippled with the remaining ships destroyed in a second engagement two days later.

October 28, 1776 - After evacuating his main forces from Manhattan, Washington's army suffers heavy casualties in the Battle of White Plains from Gen. Howe's forces. Washington then retreats westward.

November, 1776 - More victories for the British as Fort Washington on Manhattan and its precious stores of over 100 cannon, thousands of muskets and cartridges is captured by Gen. Howe. The Americans also lose Fort Lee in New Jersey to Gen. Cornwallis. Washington's army suffers 3000 casualties in the two defeats. Gen. Washington abandons the New York area and moves his forces further westward toward the Delaware River. Cornwallis now pursues him.

December 6, 1776 - The naval base at Newport, Rhode Island, is captured by the British.

December 11, 1776 - Washington takes his troops across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. The next day, over concerns of a possible British attack, the Continental Congress abandons Philadelphia for Baltimore.

Among Washington's troops is Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, who now writes "...These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country: but he that stands it NOW deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered. Yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

December 25-26, 1776 - On Christmas, George Washington takes 2400 of his men and recrosses the Delaware River.

Washington then conducts a surprise raid on 1500 British-Hessians (German mercenaries) at Trenton, New Jersey.

The Hessians surrender after an hour with nearly 1000 taken prisoner by Washington who suffers only six wounded (including future president Lt. James Monroe). Washington reoccupies Trenton. The victory provides a much needed boost to the morale of all American Patriots.

American Revolution Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:12:00 +0000

Prelude to Revolution
1763 to 1775

From: The History Place

1763 - The Proclamation of 1763, signed by King George III of England, prohibits any English settlement west of the Appalachian mountains and requires those already settled in those regions to return east in an attempt to ease tensions with Native Americans.

1764 - The Sugar Act is passed by the English Parliament to offset the war debt brought on by the French and Indian War and to help pay for the expenses of running the colonies and newly acquired territories. This act increases the duties on imported sugar and other items such as textiles, coffee, wines and indigo (dye). It doubles the duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies and also forbids the import of foreign rum and French wines.

1764 - The English Parliament passes a measure to reorganize the American customs system to better enforce British trade laws, which have often been ignored in the past. A court is established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that will have jurisdiction over all of the American colonies in trade matters.

1764 - The Currency Act prohibits the colonists from issuing any legal tender paper money. This act threatens to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it.

1764 - In May, at a town meeting in Boston, James Otis raises the issue of taxation without representation and urges a united response to the recent acts imposed by England. In July, Otis publishes "The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved." In August, Boston merchants begin a boycott of British luxury goods.

1765 - In March, the Stamp Act is passed by the English Parliament imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies, to offset the high costs of the British military organization in America. Thus for the first time in the 150 year old history of the British colonies in America, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England.

Under the Stamp Act, all printed materials are taxed, including; newspapers, pamphlets, bills, legal documents, licenses, almanacs, dice and playing cards. The American colonists quickly unite in opposition, led by the most influential segments of colonial society - lawyers, publishers, land owners, ship builders and merchants - who are most affected by the Act, which is scheduled to go into effect on November 1.

1765 - Also in March, the Quartering Act requires colonists to house British troops and supply them with food.

1765 - In May, in Virginia, Patrick Henry presents seven Virginia Resolutions to the House of Burgesses claiming that only the Virginia assembly can legally tax Virginia residents, saying, "If this be treason, make the most of it." Also in May, the first medical school in America is founded, in Philadelphia.

1765 - In July, the Sons of Liberty, an underground organization opposed to the Stamp Act, is formed in a number of colonial towns. Its members use violence and intimidation to eventually force all of the British stamp agents to resign and also stop many American merchants from ordering British trade goods.

1765 - August 26, a mob in Boston attacks the home of Thomas Hutchinson, Chief Justice of Massachusetts, as Hutchinson and his family narrowly escape.

1765 - In October, the Stamp Act Congress convenes in New York City, with representatives from nine of the colonies. The Congress prepares a resolution to be sent to King George III and the English Parliament. The petition requests the repeal of the Stamp Act and the Acts of 1764. The petition asserts that only colonial legislatures can tax colonial residents and that taxation without representation violates the colonists' basic civil rights.

1765 - On November 1, most daily business and legal transactions in the colonies cease as the Stamp Act goes into effect with nearly all of the colonists refusing to use the stamps. In New York City, violence breaks out as a mob burns the royal governor in effigy, harasses British troops, then loots houses.

1765 - In December, British General Thomas Gage, commander of all English military forces in America, asks the New York assembly to make colonists comply with the Quartering Act and house and supply his troops. Also in December, the American boycott of English imports spreads, as over 200 Boston merchants join the movement.

1766 - In January, the New York assembly refuses to completely comply with Gen. Gage's request to enforce the Quartering Act.

1766 - In March, King George III signs a bill repealing the Stamp Act after much debate in the English Parliament, which included an appearance by Ben Franklin arguing for repeal and warning of a possible revolution in the American colonies if the Stamp Act was enforced by the British military.

1766 - On the same day it repealed the Stamp Act, the English Parliament passes the Declaratory Act stating that the British government has total power to legislate any laws governing the American colonies in all cases whatsoever.

1766 - In April, news of the repeal of the Stamp Act results in celebrations in the colonies and a relaxation of the boycott of imported English trade goods.

1766 - In August, violence breaks out in New York between British soldiers and armed colonists, including Sons of Liberty members. The violence erupts as a result of the continuing refusal of New York colonists to comply with the Quartering Act. In December, the New York legislature is suspended by the English Crown after once again voting to refuse to comply with the Act.

1767 - In June, The English Parliament passes the Townshend Revenue Acts, imposing a new series of taxes on the colonists to offset the costs of administering and protecting the American colonies. Items taxed include imports such as paper, tea, glass, lead and paints. The Act also establishes a colonial board of customs commissioners in Boston. In October, Bostonians decide to reinstate a boycott of English luxury items.

1768 - In February, Samuel Adams of Massachusetts writes a Circular Letter opposing taxation without representation and calling for the colonists to unite in their actions against the British government. The letter is sent to assemblies throughout the colonies and also instructs them on the methods the Massachusetts general court is using to oppose the Townshend Acts.

1768 - In April, England's Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Hillsborough, orders colonial governors to stop their own assemblies from endorsing Adams' circular letter. Hillsborough also orders the governor of Massachusetts to dissolve the general court if the Massachusetts assembly does not revoke the letter. By month's end, the assemblies of New Hampshire, Connecticut and New Jersey have endorsed the letter.

1768 - In May, a British warship armed with 50 cannons sails into Boston harbor after a call for help from custom commissioners who are constantly being harassed by Boston agitators. In June, a customs official is locked up in the cabin of the Liberty, a sloop owned by John Hancock. Imported wine is then unloaded illegally into Boston without payment of duties. Following this incident, customs officials seize Hancock's sloop. After threats of violence from Bostonians, the customs officials escape to an island off Boston, then request the intervention of British troops.

1768 - In July, the governor of Massachusetts dissolves the general court after the legislature defies his order to revoke Adams' circular letter. In August, in Boston and New York, merchants agree to boycott most British goods until the Townshend Acts are repealed. In September, at a town meeting in Boston, residents are urged to arm themselves. Later in September, English warships sail into Boston Harbor, then two regiments of English infantry land in Boston and set up permanent residence to keep order.

1769 - In March, merchants in Philadelphia join the boycott of British trade goods. In May, a set of resolutions written by George Mason is presented by George Washington to the Virginia House of Burgesses. The Virginia Resolves oppose taxation without representation, the British opposition to the circular letters, and British plans to possibly send American agitators to England for trial. Ten days later, the Royal governor of Virginia dissolves the House of Burgesses. However, its members meet the next day in a Williamsburg tavern and agree to a boycott of British trade goods, luxury items and slaves.

1769 - In July, in the territory of California, San Diego is founded by Franciscan Friar Juniper Serra. In October, the boycott of English goods spreads to New Jersey, Rhode Island, and then North Carolina.

1770 - The population of the American colonies reaches 2,210,000 persons.

1770 - Violence erupts in January between members of the Sons of Liberty in New York and 40 British soldiers over the posting of broadsheets by the British. Several men are seriously wounded.

March 5, 1770 - The Boston Massacre occurs as a mob harasses British soldiers who then fire their muskets pointblank into the crowd, killing three instantly, mortally wounding two others and injuring six. After the incident, the new Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, at the insistence of Sam Adams, withdraws British troops out of Boston to nearby harbor islands. The captain of the British soldiers, Thomas Preston, is then arrested along with eight of his men and charged with murder.

1770 - In April, the Townshend Acts are repealed by the British. All duties on imports into the colonies are eliminated except for tea. Also, the Quartering Act is not renewed.

1770 - In October, trial begins for the British soldiers arrested after the Boston Massacre. Colonial lawyers John Adams and Josiah Quincy successfully defend Captain Preston and six of his men, who are acquitted. Two other soldiers are found guilty of manslaughter, branded, then released.

1772 - In June, a British customs schooner, the Gaspee, runs aground off Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay. Colonists from Providence row out to the schooner and attack it, set the British crew ashore, then burn the ship. In September, a 500 pound reward is offered by the English Crown for the capture of those colonists, who would then be sent to England for trial. The announcement that they would be sent to England further upsets many American colonists.

1772 - In November, a Boston town meeting assembles, called by Sam Adams. During the meeting, a 21 member committee of correspondence is appointed to communicate with other towns and colonies. A few weeks later, the town meeting endorses three radical proclamations asserting the rights of the colonies to self-rule.

1773 - In March, the Virginia House of Burgesses appoints an eleven member committee of correspondence to communicate with the other colonies regarding common complaints against the British. Members of that committee include, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee. Virginia is followed a few months later by New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and South Carolina.

1773 - May 10, the Tea Act takes effect. It maintains a threepenny per pound import tax on tea arriving in the colonies, which had already been in effect for six years. It also gives the near bankrupt British East India Company a virtual tea monopoly by allowing it to sell directly to colonial agents, bypassing any middlemen, thus underselling American merchants. The East India Company had successfully lobbied Parliament for such a measure. In September, Parliament authorizes the company to ship half a million pounds of tea to a group of chosen tea agents.

1773 - In October, colonists hold a mass meeting in Philadelphia in opposition to the tea tax and the monopoly of the East India Company. A committee then forces British tea agents to resign their positions. In November, a town meeting is held in Boston endorsing the actions taken by Philadelphia colonists. Bostonians then try, but fail, to get their British tea agents to resign. A few weeks later, three ships bearing tea sail into Boston harbor.

1773 - November 29/30, two mass meetings occur in Boston over what to do about the tea aboard the three ships now docked in Boston harbor. Colonists decide to send the tea on the ship, Dartmouth, back to England without paying any import duties. The Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Hutchinson, is opposed to this and orders harbor officials not to let the ship sail out of the harbor unless the tea taxes have been paid.

December 16, 1773 - About 8000 Bostonians gather to hear Sam Adams tell them Royal Governor Hutchinson has repeated his command not to allow the ships out of the harbor until the tea taxes are paid. That night, the Boston Tea Party occurs as colonial activists disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships and dump all 342 containers of tea into the harbor.

1774 - In March, an angry English Parliament passes the first of a series of Coercive Acts (called Intolerable Acts by Americans) in response to the rebellion in Massachusetts. The Boston Port Bill effectively shuts down all commercial shipping in Boston harbor until Massachusetts pays the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor and also reimburses the East India Company for the loss of the tea.

1774 - May 12, Bostonians at a town meeting call for a boycott of British imports in response to the Boston Port Bill. May 13, General Thomas Gage, commander of all British military forces in the colonies, arrives in Boston and replaces Hutchinson as Royal governor, putting Massachusetts under military rule. He is followed by the arrival of four regiments of British troops.

1774 - May 17-23, colonists in Providence, New York and Philadelphia begin calling for an intercolonial congress to overcome the Coercive Acts and discuss a common course of action against the British.

1774 - May 20, The English Parliament enacts the next series of Coercive Acts, which include the Massachusetts Regulating Act and the Government Act virtually ending any self-rule by the colonists there. Instead, the English Crown and the Royal governor assume political power formerly exercised by colonists. Also enacted; the Administration of Justice Act which protects royal officials in Massachusetts from being sued in colonial courts, and the Quebec Act establishing a centralized government in Canada controlled by the Crown and English Parliament. The Quebec Act greatly upsets American colonists by extending the southern boundary of Canada into territories claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia.

1774 - In June, a new version of the 1765 Quartering Act is enacted by the English Parliament requiring all of the American colonies to provide housing for British troops in occupied houses and taverns and in unoccupied buildings. In September, Massachusetts Governor Gage seizes that colony's arsenal of weapons at Charlestown.

1774 - September 5 to October 26, the First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia with 56 delegates, representing every colony, except Georgia. Attendants include Patrick Henry, George Washington, Sam Adams and John Hancock.

On September 17, the Congress declares its opposition to the Coercive Acts, saying they are "not to be obeyed," and also promotes the formation of local militia units. On October 14, a Declaration and Resolves is adopted that opposes the Coercive Acts, the Quebec Act, and other measure taken by the British that undermine self-rule. The rights of the colonists are asserted, including the rights to "life, liberty and property." On October 20, the Congress adopts the Continental Association in which delegates agree to a boycott of English imports, effect an embargo of exports to Britain, and discontinue the slave trade.

1775 - February 1, in Cambridge, Mass., a provincial congress is held during which John Hancock and Joseph Warren begin defensive preparations for a state of war. February 9, the English Parliament declares Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. March 23, in Virginia, Patrick Henry delivers a speech against British rule, stating, "Give me liberty or give me death!" March 30, the New England Restraining Act is endorsed by King George III, requiring New England colonies to trade exclusively with England and also bans fishing in the North Atlantic.

1775 - In April, Massachusetts Governor Gage is ordered to enforce the Coercive Acts and suppress "open rebellion" among the colonists by all necessary force.

The American Revolution Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:01:00 +0000

English Colonial Era
1700 to 1763

From The History Place

1700 - The Anglo population in the English colonies in America reaches 275,000, with Boston (pop. 7000) as the largest city, followed by New York (pop. 5000).

1700 - In June, Massachusetts passes a law ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave the colony within three months, upon penalty of life imprisonment or execution. New York then passes a similar law.

1701 - In July, The French establish a settlement at Detroit. In October, Yale College is founded in Connecticut.

1702 - In March, Queen Anne ascends the English throne. In May, England declares war on France after the death of the King of Spain, Charles II, to stop the union of France and Spain. This War of the Spanish Succession is called Queen Anne's War in the colonies, where the English and American colonists will battle the French, their Native American allies, and the Spanish for the next eleven years.

1702 - In Maryland, the Anglican Church is established as the official church, financially supported by taxation imposed on all free men, male servants and slaves.

1704 - In April, the first enduring newspaper in America, The Boston News-Letter, is published.

1705 - In Virginia, slaves are assigned the status of real estate by the Virginia Black Code of 1705. In New York, a law against runaway slaves assigns the death penalty for those caught over 40 miles north of Albany. Massachusetts declares marriage between African Americans and whites to be illegal.

1706 - January 17, Benjamin Franklin is born in Boston. In November, South Carolina establishes the Anglican Church as its official church.

1707 - England, Scotland and Wales are combined into the United Kingdom of Great Britain by the Act of the Union, endorsed by Queen Anne.

1710 - The English Parliament passes the Post Office Act which starts a postal system in the American colony controlled by the postmaster general of London and his deputy in New York City.

1711 - Hostilities break out between Native Americans and settlers in North Carolina after the massacre of settlers there. The conflict, known as the Tuscarora Indian War will last two years.

1712 - In May, the Carolina colony is officially divided into North Carolina and South Carolina. In June, the Pennsylvania assembly bans the import of slaves into that colony. In Massachusetts, the first sperm whale is captured at sea by an American from Nantucket.

1713 - Queen Anne's War ends with the Treaty of Utrecht.

1714 - Tea is introduced for the first time into the American Colonies. In August, King George I ascends to the English throne, succeeding Queen Anne.

1716 - The first group of black slaves is brought to the Louisiana territory.

1718 - New Orleans is founded by the French.

1720 - The population of American colonists reaches 475,000. Boston (pop. 12,000) is the largest city, followed by Philadelphia (pop. 10,000) and New York (pop. 7000).

1725 - The population of black slaves in the American colonies reaches 75,000.

1726 - Riots occur in Philadelphia as poor people tear down the pillories and stocks and burn them.

1727 - King George II ascends the English throne.

1728 - Jewish colonists in New York City build the first American synagogue.

1729 - Benjamin Franklin begins publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette, which eventually becomes the most popular colonial newspaper.

1730 - Baltimore is founded in the Maryland colony.

1731 - The first American public library is founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin.

1732 - February 22, George Washington is born in Virginia. Also in February, the first mass is celebrated in the only Catholic church in colonial America, in Philadelphia. In June, Georgia, the 13th English colony, is founded.

1732-1757 - Benjamin Franklin publishes Poor Richard's Almanac, containing weather predictions, humor, proverbs and epigrams, selling nearly 10,000 copies per year.

1733 - The Molasses Act, passed by the English Parliament, imposes heavy duties on molasses, rum and sugar imported from non-British islands in the Caribbean to protect the English planters there from French and Dutch competition.

1734 - In November, New York newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger is arrested and accused of seditious libel by the Governor. In December, the Great Awakening religious revival movement begins in Massachusetts. The movement will last ten years and spread to all of the American colonies.

1735 - John Peter Zenger is brought to trial for seditious libel but is acquitted after his lawyer successfully convinces the jury that truth is a defense against libel.

1737 - The first colonial copper coins are minted, in Connecticut.

1739 - England declares war on Spain. As a result, in America, hostilities break out between Florida Spaniards and Georgia and South Carolina colonists. Also in 1739, three separate violent uprisings by black slaves occur in South Carolina.

1740 - Fifty black slaves are hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, after plans for another revolt are revealed. Also in 1740, in Europe, the War of the Austrian Succession begins after the death of Emperor Charles VI and eventually results in France and Spain allied against England. The conflict is known in the American colonies as King George's War and lasts until 1748.

1741 - Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, sponsors an expedition by Danish navigator Vitus Bering to explore the coast of Alaska.

1743 - The American Philosophical Society is founded in Philadelphia by Ben Franklin and his associates.

1747 - The New York Bar Association is founded in New York City.

1750 - The Iron Act is passed by the English Parliament, limiting the growth of the iron industry in the American colonies to protect the English Iron industry.

1751 - The Currency Act is passed by the English Parliament, banning the issuing of paper money by the New England colonies.

1752 - The first general hospital is founded, in Philadelphia.

1753 - Benjamin Franklin and William Hunter are appointed as postmasters general for the American colonies.

1754 - The French and Indian War erupts as a result of disputes over land in the Ohio River Valley. In May, George Washington leads a small group of American colonists to victory over the French, then builds Fort Necessity in the Ohio territory. In July, after being attacked by numerically superior French forces, Washington surrenders the fort and retreats.

1755 - In February, English General Edward Braddock arrives in Virginia with two regiments of English troops. Gen. Braddock assumes the post of commander in chief of all English forces in America. In April, Gen. Braddock and Lt. Col. George Washington set out with nearly 2000 men to battle the French in the Ohio territory. In July, a force of about 900 French and Indians defeat those English forces. Braddock is mortally wounded. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley then becomes the new commander in chief.

1756 - England declares war on France, as the French and Indian War in the colonies now spreads to Europe.

1757 - In June, William Pitt becomes England's Secretary of State and escalates the French and Indian War in the colonies by establishing a policy of unlimited warfare. In July, Benjamin Franklin begins a five year stay in London.

1758 - In July, a devastating defeat occurs for English forces at Lake George, New York, as nearly two thousand men are lost during a frontal attack against well entrenched French forces at Fort Ticonderoga. French losses are 377. In November, the French abandon Fort Duquesne in the Ohio territory. Settlers then rush into the territory to establish homes. Also in 1758, the first Indian reservation in America is founded, in New Jersey, on 3000 acres.

1759 - French Fort Niagara is captured by the English. Also in 1759, war erupts between Cherokee Indians and southern colonists.

1760 - The population of colonists in America reaches 1,500,000. In March, much of Boston is destroyed by a raging fire. In September, Quebec surrenders to the English. In October, George III becomes the new English King.

1762 - England declares war on Spain, which had been planning to ally itself with France and Austria. The British then successfully attack Spanish outposts in the West Indies and Cuba.

1763 - The French and Indian War, known in Europe as the Seven Year's War, ends with the Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up east and west Florida to the English in return for Cuba.

1763 - In May, the Ottawa Native Americans under Chief Pontiac begin all-out warfare against the British west of Niagara, destroying several British forts and conducting a siege against the British at Detroit. In August, Pontiac's forces are defeated by the British near Pittsburgh. The siege of Detroit ends in November, but hostilities between the British and Chief Pontiac continue for several years.