If I am right about this, today marked the 234th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence of the thirteen colonies that were to form the United States of America.

Of course they should have said of North America, so that Brazil in due course could have marketing positioning as the united states of South America.

Now according to a report in The Raw Story about one in four American citizens do not know from whom the colonists were declaring their independence. As they suggest the respondents may have been just bored with the question. England or Great Britain would be acceptable, although the latter would be more correct.

Not everybody in the independent country following the War of Independence had equal providence. Frederick Douglas in 1852 pointed out the state of the slave. An issue that was not resolved by the Civil War but awaited the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement. Right Wing Republicans seems to want to turn the clock back. Read more »

I’m going to vent this one before I head out the door.

I’m sick and tired of people – usually self-identifying right-libertarians (or pseudo-libertarians if the association offends “true” libertarians) – claiming that taxation is taking their money. That it’s theft.

Bollocks.

It’s not your money. It’s the state’s money. You see that head of state printed on the note or stamped on the coin? Over wondered why it’s a crime to mint our own cash in the same currency? Yeah. Exactly.

It’s the state’s money - it’s been allocated to you in recognition of your productivity.

The real debate, if you are interested, is between the means of allocation. Read more »