Birthday 235 ... Thank you England!

[Clanad]

235 years ago today:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...

What's often overlooked in our celebration of this event is that almost all signers of the Declaration as well as the citizens of the fledgling Republic were of British descent. The values of freedom, self-determination, dislike of tyranny and orderly government were mostly inherited from the mother-land. King George's insanity notwithstanding, the struggle towards personal and national freedom came not from Europe, but from Milton's "Green and Pleasant Land" ... Thanks!

"There'll always be an England, while there's a country lane. Wherever there's a cottage small, beside a field of grain..." (1939 Song). (With apologies to my Scottish ancestors).

[rojash]

And Happy July 4th (probably his last) to Humberto Leal, the Mexican citizen, deprived of his legal right to consular assistance and due to be executed by the state of Texas on 7th. In 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the U.S violated Mr. Leal's rights.

All those fine words, Clanad. It's a shame that that's all they amount to.

[Clanad]

Thanks 237Sierra Juliette! Time was businesses were closed at least part of the 4th... now it's sale day.
Thanks one and all... especially DTcroswwordfan... even cut and paste can be entertaining.
Beg your pardon, but I can't resist: (Someone's sure to say "Been done to death..." Ah, well...
Peter starts his new job at the London Zoo and is given three tasks. First is to clear the exotic fish pool of weeds. As he does this, a huge fish jumps out and bites him. To show who is boss, Peter beats it to death with a spade. Realising his employer won't be best pleased; he disposes of the fish by feeding it to the lions, as lions will eat anything.

Moving on to the second job of clearing out the chimp house, Peter is attacked by the chimps that pelt him with coconuts. He swipes at two chimps with a spade killing them both. What can he do?

Feed them to the lions, Peter says to himself, because lions eat anything. He hurls the corpses into the lion enclosure.

Peter moves on to the last job which is to collect honey from the South American Bees. As soon as he starts, he is attacked by the bees. He grabs the spade and smashes the bees to a pulp. By now he knows what to do and throws them into the lion's cage because lions eat anything.

Later that day a new lion arrives at the zoo. He wanders up to another lion and says, 'What's the food like here?'

The lion replies, 'Absolutely brilliant!..... Today we had fish and chimps with mushy bees.'