Atlanta Criminal Defense Lawyer

Atlanta Criminal Defense Lawyer Richard Rice has a new website. Richard has worked as a Assistant United States Attorney, an attorney with one of the largest and most-highly regarded law firms in the United States, and a defense counsel in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG Corps). As a result, Richard Rice has prosecuted or defended criminal and civil cases in federal and state courts across the nation

Atlanta Criminal Lawyer.
posted: 12/22/2008 12:19 am direct link email link

Firefox anti-alias, choppy text, smooth text

On noticing that Firefox was rendering choppy html text, I did a little research and discovered that a Windows XP setting called ClearType will anti-alias the display of text for all applications. Visit the following link using Internet Explorer (it requires an ActiveX plugin) to set up and tune ClearType.

ClearType
posted: 10/03/2008 05:31 pm direct link email link

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean
Pennsylvania: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Morton, Benjamin Rush, George Ross, James Smith, James Wilson, George Taylor
Massachusetts: John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
New York: Lewis Morris, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, William Floyd
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Virginia: Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, Thomas Nelson, Jr.
North Carolina: William Hooper, John Penn, Joseph Hewes
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Thomas Heyward, Jr.
New Jersey: Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon
Connecticut: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
Maryland: Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca

UShistory.org
posted:   7/04/2008 03:15 pm direct link email link

Memorial Day 2008 - Remembering General George S. Patton's Prayer

December 8, 1944

Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.


Patton's Prayer
posted:   5/26/2008 12:15 am direct link email link

Blackberry, SMS, t-mobile, Invalid mandatory information, Network out of order

I had a problem due to my service center setting (which was 2063130004) where I was receiving SMS messages but could not send from my Blackberry 8700g on T-mobile. The first error message was Invalid Mandatory Information. When I added a plus sign to the beginning of the service center that was resolved, but I got a new error, Network out of order. Through further research I learned that I was also missing a 1 at the beginning of the service center number.

The Options > SMS > Service Center setting that worked for me: +12063130004

posted:   3/15/2008 11:19 pm direct link email link

Mozilla Lightning, Invite Attendees, Send attendees invitations via email does not work

I was using Mozilla Lightning version 0.7 add-on in Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.9 and was having difficulty with a invitation that was not generating a email for attendees even though I had checked the "Send attendees invitations via email" box. It turns out that this check box has to be selected the first time the event is created in order for this function to work. In other words, you cannot create a event, save it, reopen it and generate a email invitation by checking the box.

SOLUTION: To fix this I deleted the event, recreated it, and checked the box.

When I clicked save, a e-mail appeared with the attendees in the TO: field and a .ics file attached. At that point I could modify the email subject and message and send the email.

As a side note, I temporarily gave up Lightning for Sunbird, but the 0.7 release of Lightning has been running well for the most part and I plan to stick with it.
posted:   1/11/2008 06:29 pm direct link email link

FireFox find as you type, FireFox find, typing

In FireFox, if you turn on the...

Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Accessibility > "Search for text when I start typing"

...option then the find bar will automatically come up and begin searching the current page for the characters you are typing.
posted: 11/05/2007 09:48 am direct link email link

Thunderbird reply headers (date, from, to, cc)

To include all of the "standard" reply headers instead of "so and so wrote..." I've been using the following extension:

Change quote and replay format

Download the extension, install it through Thunderbird add-ons, and then after re-starting Thunderbird go back into add-ons and configure the options by selecting extended reply header.
posted: 11/04/2007 07:20 pm direct link email link

Coldfusion, IIS, 64-bit Windows, ERROR: is not a valid Win32 Application

%1 is not a valid Win32 Application

This error, the only thing displayed by my web browser, resulted immediately after I loaded Coldfusion 8 on a Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition OS running IIS.

The solution was here:Windows Tech Note

To enable IIS 6.0 to run 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows

1. Open a command prompt and navigate to the %systemdrive%\Inetpub\AdminScripts directory.

2. Type the following command:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs set W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32BitAppOnWin64 "true"

3. Press ENTER.



I ran the command, and IIS resumed working.
posted:   8/17/2007 09:28 am direct link email link

Flash 8, How to print actionscript code

  • View the actionscript that you want to print in the actions panel.
  • In the far right of the actions panel title bar is a icon for a menu, click the icon to display the menu.
  • Click the print option in the menu
posted:   7/09/2007 05:58 pm direct link email link

Happy Independence Day

posted:   7/04/2007 02:03 pm direct link email link

Memorial Day 2007

On this day our Nation recognizes and honors our soldiers who have fallen in battle. Thank you to the men and women who stand in harms way to protect our freedoms, and thank you to the family members who support them and endure their absence.

America the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Lyrics by: Katherine Lee Bates (1913)


posted:   5/28/2007 01:50 pm direct link email link

James Madison's Preface to the Notes of Debates

An excerpt from the Preface to the Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, written by James Madison

...there never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and ardurous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or more exclusively or anxiously devoted to the object committed to them, than were the members of the Federal Convention of 1787, to the object of devising and proposing a constitutional system which should best supply the defects of that which it was to replace, and best secure the permanent liberty and happiness of their country.

quoted from: American Heritage and Civilization
(Gary L. Marshall, Eric Walz 2002)
posted:   2/21/2007 02:27 am direct link email link

Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation

While the Civil War raged on Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It began:

By the President of the United States of America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

...

Read the entire proclamation HERE.
posted:   2/14/2007 09:13 pm direct link email link

BlackBerry 7290 negative unread messages, negative message count, negative inbox

I recently purchased a BlackBerry 7290 and have set up two e-mail accounts. Each account is represented by an icon on the main menu and when I highlight the icon the e-mail address displays along with the number of unread messages following in parenthesis, like this: "account@email.ext (1)". For some reason the unread messages on both of my accounts are negative numbers, which could only happen if I were to read more messages than I have yet received, which is impossible because I am not a fast reader. I tried toggling different configuration settings, reading new emails, saving emails, and deleting e-mails but the count remained negative.

The following steps worked:
1) Turn it off.
2) Remove the battery for 30 seconds.
3) Reinstall the battery.
posted:   1/24/2007 12:56 am direct link email link

It's 2007

A belated Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
posted:   1/01/2007 12:26 am direct link email link

Samuel Adams - Principles and Manners

Samuel Adams in a letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779 ( source )

A general Dissolution of Principles & Manners will more surely overthrow the Liberties of America than the whole Force of the Common Enemy. While the People are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their Virtue they will be ready to surrender their Liberties to the first external or internal Invader. How necessary then is it for those who are determin'd to transmit the Blessings of Liberty as a fair Inheritance to Posterity, to associate on publick Principles in Support of publick Virtue.

posted: 12/10/2006 03:25 pm direct link email link

The Rights of the Colonists

An excerpt from Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists, The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, November 20, 1772.

Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.

posted: 12/06/2006 11:54 am direct link email link

Samuel Adams speaks Candidusly

This was written by Samuel Adams and published under the name "Candidus" in The Boston Gazette on October 14, 1771. ( source )

The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have receiv'd them as a fair Inheritance from our worthy Ancestors: They purchas'd them for us with toil and danger and expence of treasure and blood; and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle; or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men. Of the latter we are in most danger at present: Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeath'd to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. — Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom." It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.

posted: 11/30/2006 02:59 pm direct link email link

Proclamation Of Thanksgiving, 1863

An excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1863 "Proclamation Of Thanksgiving" ( source )

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

posted: 11/24/2006 08:43 am direct link email link

The Alamo

The following letter was written by William Barrett Travis at the Alamo ( FreedomDocuments.com ):

Commandancy of the Alamo------

Bejar Fby. 24th 1836

To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world------

Fellow citizens & compatriots------

I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna ----- I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannonade for 24 hours & have not lost a man ----- The enemy has demanded a Surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken ----- I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the wall ----- I shall never Surrender or retreat.

Then, I can on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with an dispatch ----- The enemy is
receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this can is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country ----- Victory or Death

William Barret Travis
Lt. Col. Comdt

P. S. The lord is on our side- When the enemy appeared in sight we had not three bushels of corn--- We have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels & got into the walls 20 or 30 head of Beeves---

Travis

posted: 11/10/2006 05:37 pm direct link email link

The Normandy Invasion - Story In Pictures

posted:   9/21/2006 04:16 pm direct link email link

Quote of the day September 6, 2006

General Ulysses S. Grant ( source ):

Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can, and strike him as hard as you can. And keep moving on!

posted:   9/06/2006 03:47 pm direct link email link

Admiral Horatio Nelson

Never break the neutrality of a port or place, but never consider as neutral any place from whence an attack is allowed to be made.

posted:   8/20/2006 08:04 pm direct link email link

9/11 Pictures

Bill Briggart and his photography equipment were found in the ruins of the World Trade Center rubble. Bill did not survive but some of his digital pictures from that day did, see them at Bill Briggart's 9/11 photos
posted:   8/10/2006 06:54 pm direct link email link

Winston Churchill

Jun 4, 1940 - speaking from the British Parliament

We shall never surrender!

posted:   8/04/2006 03:19 pm direct link email link

Battle Hymn Of The Republic

Julia W. Howe, 1861

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

posted:   7/26/2006 10:48 pm direct link email link

God Bless America

By Irving Berlin

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

posted:   7/25/2006 10:55 pm direct link email link

The Fourth Of July

This year Liberty Vista travelled to celebrate Independence Day with family and their neighbors. We enjoyed fireworks from a distance, viewed from a richly wooded country mountain ridgeline. Eventually thunder, lightning, and heavy rain blew through the elevated yard party and spurred our families short walk-jog back home. There, dry now, we continued with a view of colorfull fireworks artfully distorted by the irregular cascade of water on big immaculate porch windows.

The great blessings of freedom and prosperity in the United States of America have been made possible through the inspired innovations, determination, and sacrifice of men and women who were often serving away from their homes, family, and friends. Today members of our military who are serving abroad amidst armed conflicts do not have the luxury of fleeing to their homes when storms arrive, they are called in to create storms, to quell them, to withstand them, and all to often to lose their lives or suffer terrible injuries in their efforts. Liberty Vista joins the voices of millions of Americans to express gratitude to those serving in the United States military services and other support organizations who, along with their loved ones, bear the difficult mental and physical burdens of maintaining our nations freedoms while risking their lives. May God bless you all with strength, wisdom, and peace in your daily tribulations, may He bless the difficult regions in which you serve with progress in building institutions and customs that will bring a modicum of freedom, peace, and stability, and may He bless the rest of us with inspiration in supporting your efforts and the humility to remember and honor your sacrifices.
posted:   7/18/2006 11:44 am direct link email link

Adblock Plus FireFox extension

This extension's features include:
  • The ability to disable all images that originate from outside of the root URL
  • The ability to right click on a embedded object (image, video, flash, java) and block that specific object from display
Available here:Adblock Plus
posted:   6/22/2006 01:22 pm direct link email link

House Resolution 861 (HRES 861)

HRES 861 IH

109th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. RES. 861

Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 12, 2006

Mr. HYDE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

RESOLUTION

Declaring that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.

Whereas the United States and its allies are engaged in a Global War on Terror, a long and demanding struggle against an adversary that is driven by hatred of American values and that is committed to imposing, by the use of terror, its repressive ideology throughout the world;

Whereas for the past two decades, terrorists have used violence in a futile attempt to intimidate the United States;

Whereas it is essential to the security of the American people and to world security that the United States, together with its allies, take the battle to the terrorists and to those who provide them assistance;

Whereas the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other terrorists failed to stop free elections in Afghanistan and the first popularly-elected President in that nation's history has taken office;

Whereas the continued determination of Afghanistan, the United States, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will be required to sustain a sovereign, free, and secure Afghanistan;

Whereas the steadfast resolve of the United States and its partners since September 11, 2001, helped persuade the government of Libya to surrender its weapons of mass destruction;

Whereas by early 2003 Saddam Hussein and his criminal, Ba'athist regime in Iraq, which had supported terrorists, constituted a threat against global peace and security and was in violation of mandatory United Nations Security Council Resolutions;

Whereas the mission of the United States and its Coalition partners, having removed Saddam Hussein and his regime from power, is to establish a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq at peace with its neighbors;

Whereas the terrorists have declared Iraq to be the central front in their war against all who oppose their ideology;

Whereas the Iraqi people, with the help of the United States and other Coalition partners, have formed a permanent, representative government under a newly ratified constitution;

Whereas the terrorists seek to destroy the new unity government because it threatens the terrorists' aspirations for Iraq and the broader Middle East;

Whereas United States Armed Forces, in coordination with Iraqi security forces and Coalition and other friendly forces, have scored impressive victories in Iraq including finding and killing the terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi;

Whereas Iraqi security forces are, over time, taking over from United States and Coalition forces a growing proportion of independent operations and increasingly lead the fight to secure Iraq;

Whereas the United States and Coalition servicemembers and civilians and the members of the Iraqi security forces and those assisting them who have made the ultimate sacrifice or been wounded in Iraq have done so nobly, in the cause of freedom; and

Whereas the United States and its Coalition partners will continue to support Iraq as part of the Global War on Terror: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives-

(1) honors all those Americans who have taken an active part in the Global War on Terror, whether as first responders protecting the homeland, as servicemembers overseas, as diplomats and intelligence officers, or in other roles;

(2) honors the sacrifices of the United States Armed Forces and of partners in the Coalition, and of the Iraqis and Afghans who fight alongside them, especially those who have fallen or been wounded in the struggle, and honors as well the sacrifices of their families and of others who risk their lives to help defend freedom;

(3) declares that it is not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment of United States Armed Forces from Iraq;

(4) declares that the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq;

(5) congratulates Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and the Iraqi people on the courage they have shown by participating, in increasing millions, in the elections of 2005 and on the formation of the first government under Iraq's new constitution;

(6) calls upon the nations of the world to promote global peace and security by standing with the United States and other Coalition partners to support the efforts of the Iraqi and Afghan people to live in freedom; and

(7) declares that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the noble struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary.


Source: Georgia Representative Jack Kingston's Website
posted:   6/16/2006 09:33 am direct link email link

D-Day

On June 6, 1944, a date known ever since as D-Day, a mighty armada crossed a narrow strip of sea from England to Normandy, France, and cracked the Nazi grip on western Europe.

Encyclopedia Brittanica's guide to Normandy 1944
posted:   6/06/2006 12:02 am direct link email link

Memorial Day - General Order #11

Headquarters, Grand Army of the Republic
Washington, D.C., May 5, 1868

I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose, among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foe? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their death a tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the Nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and found mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of free and undivided republic.

If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation's gratitude,--the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.

II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to call attention to this Order, and lend its friendly aid in bringing it to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

III. Department commanders will use every effort to make this order effective.

By command of:
JOHN A. LOGAN,
Commander-in-Chief.

N. P. CHIPMAN,
Adjutant-General.
posted:   6/02/2006 12:57 am direct link email link

Dewey Defeats Truman

An excerpt from T.S. Mathews, the managing editor of Time, letter to editor-in-chief Henry Luce regarding Harry S. Truman's election in 1948 after unanimous consensus, in the press, that Dewey would win.

I think the press has been pretending to much more wisdom (or is it smartness?) than it had any right to claim, and has been getting away with murder for some time. The plain fact now appears to be that (as far as politics is concerned, at least) the press hasn't known what time of day it is for years.


Source: David McCoullough's, Truman
posted:   4/27/2006 03:05 pm direct link email link

Christopher Columbus

a quote:

Riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier.

source: thinkexist.com
posted:   4/20/2006 12:54 am direct link email link

Harry S. Truman's address to Congress

Monday, April 16th, 1945, excerpted:

At this moment I have in my heart a prayer. As I have assumed my duties, I humbly pray Almighty God, in the words of King Solomon: "Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this Thy so great a people?" I ask only to be a good and faithfull servant of my Lord and my people.

source: David McCullough's, "Truman" pages 358-360
posted:   4/13/2006 01:39 pm direct link email link

Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural address

excerpted:

...Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights. But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the strong. While ever careful to refrain from wrongdoing others, we must be no less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think it is right and not because we are afraid. No weak nation that acts manfully and justly should ever have cause to fear us, and no strong power should ever be able to single us out as a subject for insolent aggression...

March 4, 1905

The complete address is available at bartleby.com
posted:   4/09/2006 09:39 pm direct link email link

Sayeth Truman

I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.


Harry S. Truman
posted:   4/06/2006 10:59 am direct link email link

Censure, a symbolic rebuke

From the Cornell Law website

Presumably, censure of the President would take the form of a resolution adopted by both the House and Senate and then publicly announced. Legally, the resolution would have no effect. Censure derives from the formal condemnation by either the House or the Senate in rebuke of a Member of their own body. After a majority vote, the Member is publicly denounced, but still retains the position of Representative or Senator. However, the House removes the offending Member from any leadership positions in committees or sub-committees.

read more at law.cornell.edu.
posted:   3/31/2006 01:35 pm direct link email link

The Star-Spangled Banner

Fourth verse:

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!



Francis Scott Key, 1814
posted:   3/26/2006 09:15 pm direct link email link

Thunderbird And Lightning

If you are a fan of the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client, you may be interested in the newly released calendar extension: Lightning 0.1 available here. The only thing I miss from MS Outlook is the calender / reminder functionality. I've installed Lightning, and it looks like Mozilla is making progress.
posted:   3/21/2006 06:09 pm direct link email link

Paul Revere

The following is an excerpt from Paul Revere's account of his famous ride to alert the minute-men of the impending British invasion. The full account is available at the masshist.org website.

...I likewise mentioned, that we had better allarm all the Inhabitents till we got to Concord; the young Doctor much approved of it, and said, he would stop with either of us, for the people between that and Concord knew him, and would give the more credit to what we said. We had got nearly half way. Mr Daws and the Doctor stoped to allarm the people of a House: I was about one hundred Rod a head, when I saw two men, in nearly the same situation as those officer were, near Charlestown. I called for the Doctor and Daws to come up;—in an Instant I was surrounded by four;—they had placed themselves in a Straight Road, that inclined each way; they had taken down a pair of Barrs on the North side of the Road, and two of them were under a tree in the pasture. The Docter being foremost, he came up; and we tryed to git past them; but they being armed with pistols and swords, they forced us in to the pasture;—the Docter jumped his Horse over a low Stone wall, and got to Concord. I observed a Wood at a Small distance, and made for that. When I got there, out Started Six officers, on Horse back, and orderd me to dismount;—one of them, who appeared to have the command, examined me, where I came from, and what my Name Was? I told him. He asked me if I was an express? I answered in the afirmative. He demanded what time I left Boston? I told him; and aded, that their troops had catched aground in passing the River, and that There would be five hundred Americans there in a short time, for I had alarmed the Country all the way up...

posted:   3/21/2006 02:21 am direct link email link

The US Constitution Preamble

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

posted:   3/17/2006 01:16 am direct link email link

Stars And Stripes Forever

Music and lyrics by John Phillips Sousa

Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand
A flag appears 'mid thunderous cheers,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom's shield and hope.

Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom's nation.

Hurrah for the flag of the free!
May it wave as our standard forever,
The gem of the land and the sea,
The banner of the right.
Let despots remember the day
When our fathers with mighty endeavor
Proclaimed as they marched to the fray
That by their might and by their right
It waves forever....

Learn more about Sousa at dws.org/sousa
posted:   3/14/2006 03:40 pm direct link email link

The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate...we cannot consecrate...we cannot hallow...this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will lieel note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.


posted:   3/13/2006 11:18 am direct link email link

Joseph Pulitzer

May, 1904:

Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together. An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations.

posted:   3/09/2006 08:47 pm direct link email link

The Liberty Bell

liberty bell

The Liberty Bell was ordered by the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751 from the Whitechapel foundry in England. The Whitechapel bell cracked before it was ever used. Two Philadelphia foundrymen, John Pass and John Stow, melted down and recast the bell which we have today, still bearing the names "Pass and Stow". In 1846 the bell was retired from service due, again, to a crack, but it remains a symbol of the principle of liberty that guided the founding of the colonies and eventually the United States of America.


It is inscribed with Leviticus 25:10...

Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants therof LEV. XXV X

Learn more about the bell at ushistory.org
posted:   3/06/2006 03:54 pm direct link email link

Patrick Henry

(March 1775, Virginia) Patrick Henry speaks to the Second Virginia Convention to recommend that Virginia raise a militia. The famous last words of his address, as recollected by those in attendance:

It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Read his entire speech at history.org.
posted:   3/03/2006 07:36 pm direct link email link

The First Amendment

A recent poll by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum concluded that Americans are more likely to be able to name characters from television's cartoon family The Simpsons than the rights declared in the first amendment. In my opinion, the poll accurately describes our nations enthusiam for Homer and his yellow bulbous-eyed family, but doesn't really shed any light on the general knowledge that we Americans possess of our government. It's more important that citizens understand what rights they have, and what means are established for protecting those rights, than to know the particular rights specifically identified in the first amendment. That being said, a more honest survey would still have likely resulted in the same conclusion: We Americans take somewhat for granted our constitution and the freedoms which it has helped establish.

The first amendment: (emphasis added):

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.

posted:   3/01/2006 12:40 am direct link email link

1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Signed by George Washington and on behalf of both houses of Congress, the United States government...

"recomend[ed] to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."


The entire text is available here at founding.com

posted:   2/24/2006 11:39 pm direct link email link

John Adams On Declaring Independence

Quotes from a letter dated July 3, 1776. John Adams writing to his wife Abigail regarding the July 2nd vote that the "Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States, and as such, they have, and of Right ought to have full Power to make War, conclude Peace, establish Commerce, and to do all the other Acts and Things, which other States may rightfully do.'

But the day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epocha, in the history of America.- I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfire and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.


You will think me transported with enthusiasm but I am not. - I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. And that posterity will triumph in that days transaction, even altho we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not.

posted:   2/21/2006 01:09 pm direct link email link

Founding Documents At The National Archives

posted:   2/20/2006 11:32 am direct link email link

America—My country, 'tis of thee

Lyrics by: Samuel F. Smith

My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
posted:   2/18/2006 04:56 pm direct link email link

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