Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death

Below is the first paragraph of that infamous Patrick Henry speech given at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia on March 23, 1775.

"No man, Mr. President, thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings." Read more!

What Are The Odds...

of an individual taxpayer in the U.S. getting audited this year by the I.R.S.? 10%

What was the odds of an individual taxpayer getting audited in 2000? 5%

What are the odds of a corporation that has assets above $250 million getting audited this year by the I.R.S.? 25%

What was the odds of a corporation that has assets above $250 million getting audited in 1990 by the I.R.S.? 75%

The more assets the company has, the least likely the company is to be audited.

Last year the I.R.S. brought in an additional $59 billion (with a "B") in tax revenue from companies that WERE audited.

$359 billion in tax revenue is brought in by corporations yearly. An additional $60 billion is caught by the I.R.S. That means 15% of yearly corporate tax revenue was trying to be hidden from the I.R.S.

And with the lack of oversight by the I.R.S. over those corporations, who knows how much more tax revenue is not being caught by the I.R.S. This isn't additional money the I.R.S. is sqeezing from them, it is what corporate America is supposed to pay.

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It's Only Been A...

Decade, but a Pope has apologized ONCE (but just for that far off continent of Australia) for all the priest fuckin'. While he was just one of the Pope John Paul's henchmen, I'm sure he spent every waking hour (while Paul spent every "shaking" hour) finding ways to bribe, lie, cheat, and discredit every victim who came forward.

Christian Religion At It's Finest.

Also Filed Under "Religion At It's Finest", What Priest/Preacher, who operates in Bellaire, Ohio, recently went on a cruise with his wife and allegedly told her that he wanted a divorce, and he has been "seeing" the CHURCH SECRET-ARY? HINT: he married a B-Town Boy.

I leave you all with a quote from Penn & Teller's Showtime show "Bullshit". It exemplifies the very nature of RELIGIOUS BELIEF.

Quoting Penn Gillette, "But believing something sincerely, without finding out if it is true, is actually a little worse than lying. It shits on the very idea of TRUTH. To lie, you have to understand how to find out the truth, and then choose to fake it. To be sincere, you don't have to know anything. You just say whatever makes you feel good, and spin in smug circles in your tiny, fucked up little head. Happy as long as you're true to yourself. In other words, sincerity is BULLSHIT."
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Random Thoughts and Questions

Already the Right Wing Press has attacked Obama as a "flip-flopper". That term is incorrect. When has changing your mind became a negative label on a person who can change their mind over new information, evidence, or observation? If people were never allowed to change their mind, what kind of world would us Americans be living in today?

Answer: read the Bible. We would still be living in that era.

Also, Obama is criticized for changing his position with what the polls say. Again, what is wrong with that. Isn't the idea of "Representative Government" is a person representing the population as a whole? So shouldn't our politician's ideas be the same of what the public wants? Or does the media want the only viable candidates to be afraid from diverging from party lines? Because polarizing the people = ratings!

But Corporations never change their idea of what they want. They want power and control and money.

Who represents the interests of America, us citizens who hold no control, no power of persuasion (i.e.: not being a campaign contributor)? a "flip-flopper" or a "hard-liner"?

And if the people want a President who doesn't deviate from his or her's political or contributor's causes, and tells us Americans that the decisions he or she makes is "good for you" no matter what the polling says is the people's will, then why is the Nation called a Democratic Nation? Shouldn't we just turn into a Dictatorship? Then will we never have to worry about what the country should do?
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Is Anything Not Political?

Or Privileged?

Once again, the Bush Administration has claimed "Executive Privilege" in the Valerie Plame CIA outing case. For weeks, the House Oversight (which is an oxymoron now that Bush has turned the Federal Government into a one branch government) have been holding hearings over who told State Department official Richard Armitage to leak the Top Secret information (Plame's covert occupation) to the columnist Robert Novak, who used Carl Rove as the confirming source in 2003. Around that time Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson (who was based in Niger and knew Iraq wasn't looking for enriched "yellow-cake" uranium), was criticizing Bush's justifications in marching to war in Iraq.

I have been watching the hearings whenever I can. Also, I checked out the torture hearings. Just listening to these witnesses lie and "can't recall" their way through questioning by Democrats, then get praised by Conservative Republicans during their questioning.

Then when one man decides to tell the truth, Conservatives attack him. Scott McClellan: White House Former Press Secretary. He is the only Bush Administration official who is speaking out and answering the most TRUTHFUL way I have ever heard from a Bushie.

If you want to see a glimpse into the workings of the Bush White House, watch McClellan's testimony before Congress.

WATCH THE FIRST 6 MINUTES AND YOU WILL WANT TO KNOW MORE!

Especially see some important questions being asked by some of those Democrats (though some are too political). And see how the Republicans lambaste him as a wistle-blower and ask him essentially "Why didn't you keep your mouth shut? Traitor!" McClellan, I think, is doing this for US, America. Maybe there was one American in Washington.
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