“Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: ‘For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.’”
Michael W Smith
.@JoeRogan grills Dr. Peter Hotez for exclusively promoting vaccines while disregarding exercise, vitamins, and a healthy diet:
"There's a large body of data that connects poor diet to a host of diseases... You don't think vitamins are needed while you eat junk food?"
The African Slaver-Kings
"Africans who sold other human beings were not bandits or pirates. They were, in most cases, kings. Slavery was enforced by the coercive power of the state – right up to the moment when it was snuffed out under British pressure."
https://t.co/nyTl4RdcKh
"The call for a new social order based upon the glorification of ancestral blood and ethnic background acts as a call to cultural and aesthetic chaos. Yet while this unfolds, the irrepressible movement of American culture toward the integration of its diverse elements continues."
Let’s be very clear: intimidation and stochastic terror are the core tools of Trump and the fascist movements that support him.
They rely on it to skirt consequence and silence others - and each time it works, they grow more brazen. One reason why accountability is so important
If we really want to celebrate #InternationalWomensDay, the most important thing to do is recognize that women exist and are biologically different from men. We as women are not an imaginary construct in someone’s mind. Unless we speak up about this obvious truth, women will be erased as an entire category of people. #IWD2023
Watch this clip of Damar Hamlin NOT answering what caused his heart to stop. Then remember that Pfizer is the NFL's 7th largest advertiser, spending nearly $120 million per season.
it's not aliens
i wish it were aliens
but it's not aliens
it's just the ol' engineered panic, an attractive nuisance ensuring natsec reporters get assigned to investigate balloon bullshit rather than budgets or bombings (à la nordstream)
until next time
Let’s examine one of the GOP’s arguments yesterday: that criticism of US/Israeli gov’s role in the Palestinian human rights crisis, which orgs from @hrw to @amnesty are sounding the alarm on, is equivalent to antisemitism.
It’s a dangerous conflation, and we must recognize that.