Founding Fathers

Would the founding fathers be turning in their graves if they knew what has happened to their secular state?

The founding fathers wanted America to be a secular land, a land where the laws and government would be completely separate from religion.

Instead today we have an America where 47% of people say they would definitely not vote for an Atheist president. An America where the president cares more about God than poverty and human rights. What would they think?
KW – The majority of them were not Christians. Thomas Jefferson famously said "Christianity is the most perverted system that has ever shone on man". Try reading a book some time dear.

I don’t think they would care. It wasn’t that they wanted to eliminate religion and God. They just wanted everyone to be able to practice what ever they wanted or not have to practice at all. As long as the president doesn’t push religion on the people and oppress anyone I don’t really care what their personal religious beliefs are. I think people believe that a president who "says" he believes in God is somehow more moral than one who does not. We all know that is completely false but whatever.

Religion and the Constitution, Dr. LBaldwin4

Comments With Dr. James Haney Presents*Religion and the United States Constitution, with Dr. LBaldwin, Professor of Religion @ Vanderbilt University, and one of the foremost authorities on religion and the constitution, talks about some of the challenges faced by the founding fathers when they dealt with the issue of freedom and religion, and how the Declaration of Independence set the stage for the religious freedoms Americans enjoy today,Part 4,
I need your support to continue this site. Send me a donation at www.drjameshaney.com or write me at James Haney, P.O. Box 591, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, 37121-0591. I appreciate any help you can give, drjhaney

Duration : 5 min 35 sec

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Is it absurd to literally apply the Constitution to situations the founding fathers could not have envisioned?

Many people like to say they are for strict interpretation of the Constitution. Fine. However, there are many problems, issues, and situations that aren’t directly dealt with by the Constitution and/or were in fact totally inconceivable to the founding fathers.

For example, the internet. While it certainly affects interstate commerce and thus the Constitution would say that Congress has the power to regulate it, is that really what the founding fathers intended? How could we possibly know what they would have wanted or if they would have written the Constitution the same way if they had taken that into account?

Why should we assume the wisdom of a document at face value in any situation when the realities it is applied to could not have been predicted by its makers?

"Why should we assume the wisdom of a document at face value in any situation when the realities it is applied to could not have been predicted by its makers?

It’s not a question of the wisdom of the document. Interpretation is part of law. You can’t have a constitution without interpreting it. The idea is common law:

Common law refers to law developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals (called case law), rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law.
-Wikipedia

The Founders understood it well. It is what gives the judicial branch its power.

A constitutional scholar chimes in:

"The constitution does not give the government the power to regulate our markets."

Read section 8 of the US Constitution.

"Just like it didn’t give us the right to invade Iraq…"

Section 8 again. Powers of Congress. They voted to give
Bush the power to declare war. It was constitutional. not smart, but constitutional.

Ruth, I like your post but I have one problem with it:

Section 8 again Powers of Congress:

"To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;"

Learn2Discern – The Faithless Few

Were our founding fathers deists? Men who believed in a distant and impersonal God? Or did America get its start as a Christian nation built on biblical principles? Learn2Discern Americas Christian history! Distributed by Tubemogul.

Duration : 1 min 30 sec

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Attitude Adjustment is the Key to Solving Your Debt Problem

People ask me all the time, “What is the number one key to solving my debt problem?” Many were expecting me to say something like, debt consolidation, debt elimination, debt counseling and even bankruptcy. But actually, the number one key to solving any debt problem is a person’s attitude. When you make the proper attitude adjustment towards your debt problem, you will tackle it! Let’s find out how to get your attitude in check and get out of debt…

You’ll Never Tackle Your Debt Problem Because You’re…?
The mountain was as daunting and formidable as they get. His dream was to play in the pros but most people were saying he was too small at 6.0 and 200 lbs. Unfazed, (RL) Ronnie Lott, made it to the pros and became one of the most feared and fierce defensive backs in the game.

Opposing offensive players, much larger than RL dreaded playing against him because they knew about his unrelenting attitude. They new that his physical size didn’t matter, because he figured out how to make his opponents feel like they just got tackled by a Mack truck. When it comes to your debt problem, currently, you may think your debt load is insurmountable, don’t worry because your attitude determines your altitude! Here’s how to get your attitude in check.

Attitude Adjustment #1
You are the only one who can change you. Look in the mirror and be brutally honest with yourself. Tell the person in the mirror that you are going to be responsible for your attitude from henceforth forevermore. Tell yourself that you are not going to allow circumstances, debt, creditors, debt collectors, setbacks or situations to determine your attitude.

Attitude Adjustment #2
Make a firm commitment to never allow your finances to control you. That means, creating NO MORE NEW DEBT! You may have to be creative and even go without certain things, but do not cross that line of adding more debt. When you start feeling the financial pressure to whip out a credit card, reject that thought and go to plan “B.” You ask, “What’s plan B? Anything but adding more debt! Your debt problem will never go away until you make this critical adjustment. You can live without loans! You can live without credit cards!

Attitude Adjustment #3
You must come to the point, (and very quickly) that you HATE PERSONAL DEBT! Until you hate debt, it will always be able to control you in some shape, form or fashion. Even in his day and time, Ben Franklin understood the impact of debt. Ponder these profound insights made by one of our most popular founding fathers:

“The borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor, disdain the chain, preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency: be industrious and free; be frugal and free

“When you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty.”

“I’d rather go to bed without supper than rise in debt.”

“Creditors have better memories than debtors.”

Attitude Adjustment #4
Refuse to be misled anymore! Years ago, many of the big time become rich gurus were preaching the technique, (OPM) Other People’s Money. They held workshops, seminars and sold books, tapes, CDs and DVDs on using Other People’s Money to obtain wealth. Their primary source of OPM was credit card debt. They taught people to use credit cards to start businesses, buy real estate, invest in stocks, etc. It is true, a small percentage of people took their advice and succeeded.

But the majority found themselves wallowing in an ocean of debt and the sharks called debt collectors were out for blood. When the next great enticement comes along to lure you into creating another debt problem, don’t be misled; reject and move on with your life

Attitude Adjustment #5
Refuse to address your debt problem alone. Have you ever heard the term, “Suffering in silence?” I’ve been in the financial services industry over 15 years and I have witnessed people suffer in silence over their debt problems more times than I can count. The problem is, when you try and figure it out on your own, and you’re not an expert, there’s options on the table you may not be aware of that could be the difference between struggling with debt the next eight years versus being out of debt in three years.

I remember an incident in which a licensed real estate agent was having some financial difficulties and couldn’t afford to renew her RE license. She suffered in silence about the issue and eventually, her license expired. All she had to do to avoid that expensive incident was to call the licensing board and put her license in inactive status. When she was ready to get back in the game, make another call and have them to reactivate it. BUT! She had no way of knowing that because she attempted to address the problem alone.

It goes without saying, that life is much better when you have a good positive attitude. When it comes to getting out of debt, the right attitude makes all the difference in the world! So go ahead and give yourself the chance to move from drowning in debt to laughing at debt.

William Phillips
http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/attitude-adjustment-is-the-key-to-solving-your-debt-problem-683451.html

Key West Florida

Key West FL is the southernmost city in the Continental United States. Key West is a city and an island by the same name near the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys and encompasses the namesake island, the part of Stock Island north of US 1, Sigsbee Park and Sunset Key.

Many passenger cruise ships utilize Key West as a seaport. Key West International Airport also serves the area. Naval Air Station Key West offers a training site for Naval Aviation.

Key West is officially known for having the nation’s first and oldest continuous gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. Thus the city’s motto “One Human Family”

Kay West was inhabited by ancient peoples known as the Calusa People in Pre-Columbian times. Juan Ponce De Leon was the first European to visit the area and the island was known as Cayo Hueso. It was established as a fishing and salvage village with a small fort to protect the Spanish colony.

Cayo Hueso literally means “bone key” as it is said that the island is littered with the bones from an Indian battlefield or burial ground. It is thought that the name changed to Key West is an Anglicization of the word “Hueso” that could mean west in English. Many businesses on the island use the name.

Great Britain took control of Florida in the late 1700′s and relocated the Spaniards and Indians to Havana. Florida passed back to the Spanish 20 years later but they did not formally resettle. The island was used by fishermen from Cuba and joined by fishermen from the United States.

The island was deeded to Juan Pablo Salis in 1815 but when Florida was transferred to the United States Salas was eager to sell the island. First he sold it for a sloop valued at $575 and then to a US businessman named Simonton for about $2,000. The sloop trader sold it to a man named Geddes who could not secure rights to the property because Simonton had help from influential friends in Washington and gained clear title. Simonton bought the island because he had learned of the opportunities presented by the strategic location. Simonton’s friend John Whitehead, once stranded on the islands by a shipwreck had seen the deep harbor.

Lying 90 in a strategic location on the deep shipping lane Straits of Florida the harbor was considered the “Gibraltar of the West”. Matthew Perry said into the harbor in 1822 and physically planted the US flag to claim it as US property. He reported on the piracy problems and renamed it “Thompson’s Island” and named the harbor “Port Rodgers”. Neither name stuck. In 1823 Commodore David Porter took charge and tried to rule the island as a military dictator under martial law.

Simonton soon subdivided the island into plots and sold 3 undivided quarters of each plot to private individuals. Simonton spent the winter in Key West and then the summer in Washington to lobby for development of the island and for the establishment of a naval base. Among other first founders are Pardon Green who moved there permanently and became a prominent businessman. John Whitehead lived there for 8 years and partnered with Greene in the firm of “P.C. Greene and Company”. He left the island for good in 1832 returning only once during the Civil War. John Fleeming, active in the mercantile business in Alabama was a friend of Simonton. He spent only a few months in Key West before leaving to marry in Massachusetts. He returned to Key West intending to develop the slat manufacturing of the island but died soon after. The names of these founding fathers of modern Key West used as names for the main arteries of the island.

Many residents of Key West emigrated from the Bahamas. They were known as Counch. They arrived in ever increasing numbers after 1830. Sons and daughters of Loyalists fled to the nearest British soil during the American Revelation. Many of residents of Key West refer to themselves as Conchs and the term is now generally applied to all residents of Key West. The term “Fresh Water Counch” refers to a resident not “native born” but who has lived there for more than seven years. The name is derived from the tradition of placing a conch shell on a pole at the home of a new born baby.

“Bahama Village” is an area of Old town next to the Truman Annex largely inhabited by Bahaman immigrants.

Fishing, salt production and ocean salvage were major industries in the early 19th century. The salvage operations made Key West the largest and richest city in Florida and residents had a high concentration of fine furniture and fancy chandeliers which the locals used in their homes after taking them from shipwrecks on the Florida reefs.

During the Civil War Fort Zachary Taylor was established in Key West after Florida seceded and joined the confederate States of America. It was an important outpost and now contains the largest collection of Civil War cannons ever discovered in a single location.

In 1912 Key West was connected to the Florida mainland via the Overseas Railway extension. The railway created a landfill at Trumbon Point for rail yards. In 1935 the Labor Day Hurricane destroyed much of the railroad and hilled hundreds. About 400 World War I veterans living in camps there working on federal road projects and mosquito control projects in the Middle Keys were also killed. It was too expensive to restore the railroad. In 1938 The Federal Government rebuilt the rail lines as an automobile highway. Completed in 1938 it became an extension of the US Highway 1. The portion of US 1 running though the Keys is called the Overseas Highway.

Numerous artists and writers have come to the Keys but the two most associated with the island are Ernest Hemmingway and Tennessee Williams. Hemmingway reportedly wrote 2 novels “A Farewell to Arms” and “To Have and Have Not” while living in the Keys. The Ernest Hemingway House and Sloppy Joes Bar have become important tourist’s attractions. The Hemingway House is currently inhabited by six or seven toed polydactyl cats descended form Hemingway’s original pert named “Snowball”. The cats live on the grounds and are cared for by the Hemingway House even though the USDA complains about the number of them housed there. The Key West City Commission exempted the house from a law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household.

Tennessee Williams is said to have written the first draft of “A Streetcar Named Desire” while staying at the La Concha Hotel. He bought a permanent house and listed Key West as his permanent residence. Williams’ home in the “unfashionable” New Town neighborhood is quite the contrast to the elegant Hemingway house. It is a very modest bungalow. The house is privately owned and is not open to the public. The Tenn4essee Williams Theatre is located on the campus of Florida Keys Community College on Stock Island.

Key West is much closer to Havana than to Miami. In 1890 it had a population of nearly 18,800 which made it the richest and biggest city in Florida. The population was nearly half Cuban descent and the city had a succession of Cuban mayors. Cubans were reportedly active in nearly 200 factories in town producing cigars.

The Battleship Maine was blown up after sailing from Key West to Havana which ignited the Spanish American War.

Pan American Airlines was founded in Key West to fly visitors to Havana.

John Kennedy used the phrase “90 miles to Cuba” in his speeches against Fidel Castro.

There were regular ferry and airplane services between Key West and Havana until the revelation in 1959. Refugees flooded into Key West during the Mariel Boatlift and continue to come across the dangerous stretch of waters.

In 1982 Key West and the rest of the Keys tried to declare independence and become the “Conch Republic” in a protest over US Border Patrol blockades. The blockade was set up in response to the Mariel Boatlift. This blockade created a 17 mile traffic jam when the Border Patrol stopped every car to search for illegal immigrants. The Florida Keys were virtually paralyzed as tourism nearly ground to a halt. Couch Republic flags and T shirts are still popular souvenirs for visitors. The Counch Republic Independence Celebration is celebrated each April 23.

Key West was always an important military post. At the beginning of World War II the Navy built the first water line extending the length of the Keys to serve the Naval Air Station. The main facility on Boca Chica is where the navy trains pilots. There are 3400 civilians and 16oo active duty military personnel along with family members. The area next to the old For Taylor became a submarine pen and was used for the Fleet Sonar School.

Kamyar Shah
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/key-west-florida-271927.html