Liberty Calling

The original Declaration is now exhibited in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in Washington, DC. It has faded badly, largely because of poor preservation techniques during the 19th century. The document measures 29-3/4 inches by 24-1/2 inches. See picture . Here is the link to the text as published by The Avalon Project at Yale University Law School.

Reading of the Declaration of Independence – Audio

Bob Edwards and the staff of NPR’s Morning Edition radio news program read the Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1776. Excellent rendition. Download the reading and listen to it. You will be glad you did.

Historical Background of the Declaration of Independence

The clearest call for an "American" independence up to the summer of 1776 came in Philadelphia on June 7. On that date in session in the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall), the Continental Congress heard Richard Henry Lee of Virginia read his resolution beginning: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." FULL ARTICLE=>

The Writing of the Declaration of Independence, 1776

he summer of 1776 was a harrowing time for the British colonies in America. Open warfare with the mother country had erupted a year earlier and the future was filled with political and military uncertainties. In this tense climate, the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia with the intention of voting for independence from England.

In anticipation of this vote, the Congress selected a committee to draft a declaration of independence. The committee, composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, in turn instructed Thomas Jefferson to write the declaration. In 1822, John Adams wrote a letter to Timothy Pickering responding to Pickering's questions about the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Adams' letters were published in 1850. FULL ARTICLE=>

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death – Patrick Henry -- Audio

Reading of Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death! speech by Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry's Speech Electrified Virginia's Patriots on March 23, 1775. Excellent, moving rendition.

Independence Days

By George F. Will,

The Washington Post,

July 3, 2008

The impatient patriots here had splendidly short fuses in 1775. Those who tilled the startlingly red clay or who lived in the town named for George III's wife, Charlotte, might have been bemused had they foreseen the annual hoopla that commemorates July 4, 1776. FULL ARTICLE=>

Special Report -- Sue Arrigo

Government Corruption and Treason – By Sue Arrigo, M.D., Former Special Operation Advisor for Directors of CIA

Case 20 – Our Shadow Government--Skull and Bones, Bohemian Club & CFR

pdf file or doc file (Uncheck the little white box on downloading panel) NEW!

Click on the SPECIAL REPORT link on the left side of this page to access files for the previously published cases in this report.

News and Commentary

Secret Report: Biofuel Caused Food Crisis

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body. The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. FULL ARTICLE=>

Judge Rejects Bush’s View on Wiretaps

A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government’s claim that the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law. FULL ARTICLE=>

Judge Orders Google to Turn Over YouTube Records

A federal judge in New York has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom a database linking users of YouTube, the Web’s largest video site by far, with every clip they have watched there. The order raised concerns among users and privacy advocates that the online video viewing habits of tens of millions of people could be exposed. But Google and Viacom said they were hoping to come up with a way to protect the anonymity of YouTube viewers. FULL ARTICLE=>

July 2, 2008

We, the Salt of the Earth, Take Precedence

By Paul Craig Roberts,

Antiwar.com

July 2, 2008

Which country is the rogue nation? Iraq? Iran? Or the United States? Syndicated columnist Charley Reese asks this question in a recently published article. Reese notes that it is the U.S. that routinely commits "acts of aggression around the globe." The U.S. government has no qualms about dropping bombs on civilians, whether they be in Serbia, the Middle East, or Africa. It is all in a good cause – our cause. FULL ARTICLE=>

Starbucks Closing 600 Stores in the US

By Jessica Mintz,

The Associated Press

July 1, 2008

For a decade it appeared there was no such thing as too many Starbucks for U.S. coffee drinkers, whose willingness to buy its $4 lattes and dark drip brews rationalized a second green-and-white mermaid awning just down the street - and sometimes even a third. But in a sign that those days are over, Starbucks Corp. announced Tuesday it will close 600 c