There are some headlines that one simply does not want to encounter, due to the fact that with any actual consideration they will make one's blood run cold.
1
Stuff like this is why Putin wins the propaganda war.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed Jul 23 20:54:42 2014 (RqRa5)
2
Stuff like this is why cockroaches look forward to the future.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Wed Jul 23 21:36:44 2014 (aDkEL)
3
It's amazing the number of headlines with "Obama" in them that fuel nightmares. I've taken to eating Welsh Rarebit before bed just to get a little relief.
Posted by: Mauser at Thu Jul 24 01:04:55 2014 (TJ7ih)
Oh. It appears they are having some minor difficulties with their discovery, so let us reassure you that these huge Dobsonflys are basically harmless. In fact, they've been know to the locals for some time and are recognized as a leading indicator of high water quality, which means that if current trends continue these magnificent animals probably won't be startling anybody for much longer.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Jul 22 16:54:37 2014 (RqRa5)
3
It will be interesting to watch how this does, because the director (Hiromasa Yonebayashi) is only 41, and the question for years has been what will happen to Ghibli once Miyazaki and Takahata are gone. And it certainly looks the part.
95 Years Ago TodayWingfoot Air Express was a passenger dirigible that ran a route between Grant Park in Chicago and the White City Amusement Park south of the city.
The dirigible was one of several aircraft that operated from a short airstrip and a pier in the big urban park, which, being right next to The Loop, provided air service directly to and from downtown Chicago.
On July 21st 1919 this all came to an end when, shortly after takeoff from Grant Park, Wingfoot Air Express caught fire directly over the Chicago Loop. The crew and passengers attempted to use their parachutes, but only the captain and mechanic survived as the dirigible exploded, fouling the other chutes in the collapsing rigging or setting them afire.
However the disaster was about to get worse. Even given the fact that a position directly over the Chicago Loop is a most unfortunate place for an aircraft to explode, what happened next was improbably bad. The flaming dirigible crashed directlythrough the skylightof the Illinois Trust and Savings Building, rupturing the ships gas tank and spewing flaming gasoline all over the interior of the building.
37 bank employees and customers were burned, hit by debris or both. 10 of them died.
The reaction from the city was swift. All air operations out of Grant Park and over the city were banned. An airfield was built outside of town but Chicago's unique and growing air commuter businesses were all shut down as a result of the tragedy.
A Caption With Worrisome Implications
New Jersey has a snake problem of a sort that is, hype notwithstanding, fairly unremarkable. However, this caption is troubling.
I find that I'm far more alarmed about the 30-40 foot tall man holding it.
How far have we come as a nation since that triumph 45 years ago?
Well, for one thing, here is big chunk from the sidebar of the YouTube page linked above.
A dark age does not come about because a society simply can't do something they did before. That can happen because of a setback, changing conditions or hard times. Rather, a dark age is when the members of a society no longer believe that the society's great accomplishments could have possibly been achieved by mortals.
1
I'm too young to remember the sixties, but I'm told by reliable sources that there was no shortage of idiots; they just didn't have internet access.
As a wise man once said, the stupid you will always have with you.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sun Jul 20 15:37:45 2014 (2yngH)
2
Have you heard that Dark Ages were much better than Roman Empire for a common European? The caloric intake went up, for one. The lovers of the powerful state shed the tears for the fall of Rome, naturally, and they weaved all sorts of myth about the awful Dark Ages, but I'm not sure which one was actually darker. Rome was an awful society.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sun Jul 20 17:21:03 2014 (RqRa5)
3
That sidebar is a wonderful source of names to write down in This Book
Posted by: Mauser at Sun Jul 20 22:40:55 2014 (TJ7ih)
Superbusy
I'm taking a very compressed summer class in Japanese. Most classes, even the most challenging ones, give me the satisfaction of learning new stuff. However, this one is unpleasantly nonfacillitative to my hubris as it drives home just how much I don't know.
I have a big test tomorrow and am cramming, so to tide you over, here is a comprehensive selection of dessert choices.
Nightmare
I am awake, and as a result find myself pondering the following...
Green Lantern's power ring has at least some ability to determine if its user is sufficiently noble to be entrusted with its power. The ring is not actually magical but can be safely described as "sufficiently advanced."
Could THE THING sufficiently duplicate a Green Lantern to use the ring or would the ring reject the user after/during the absorption process? Would it be useable only until such time as THE THING shape-shifted again?
This may not seem like a productive line of inquiry, but it seemed REALLY important a little while ago.
1
I thought the Thing duplicated only the physical aspects of a person, and not the minds and thoughts of the person. No matter what it looked like, its thoughts were far from noble...
Posted by: Siergen at Wed Jul 16 21:03:37 2014 (8/vFI)
Dear Japanese Spammers
Neither I, nor my few readers are your target audience. We're just not.
Your business plan is, therefore, flawed.
I hope this helps.
In other news, I've been a tad under the weather lately and it came to a head today as I left work, when I was afforded the rare oppertunity to examine everything I'd eaten (but not fully digested) over the last two days.
After spending the day in bed, this evening I staggered up and went to the gas station...where I had my card declined...subsequent investigation revealed that someone had purchased all manner of stuff including an Amazon Prime membership with my card number until they emptied my account.
What, pray-tell, is someone going to DO with an Amazon Prime membership bought from a stolen card number? Seriously...
Anyway... since you just sat through all that...Here is a catgirl.
The spammers don't care about your readers. They only care about the googlebot. This is one form of SEO.
Ironically, it doesn't work. Google got wise to it a long time ago, and now it actually reduces their page-rank. But the SEO-service companies don't tell their customers that, for obvious reasons.
2
Precisely, Spammers don't advertise their OWN product, the spam IS their product. They get people to pay them for "Internet Marketing" and this is what they get.
I once contacted a company that I was getting e-Mail spam from, and they were horrified and promptly apologized and said they were firing that marketing company.
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Jul 15 04:11:07 2014 (TJ7ih)
3
Seriously though, turn on the registered users only option, at least until the spambots drop you from their list as not working. And I notice that they concentrate on certain old posts (probably because they have a list of links as input), I wouldn't hurt to lock those particular posts.
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Jul 15 04:17:47 2014 (TJ7ih)
4
I did not even bother with enabling mandatory registration. Locking alone works great. I can't see why Ken is so obstinent about permitting comments on very old posts. Perhaps there were valuable comments.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thu Jul 17 00:11:50 2014 (RqRa5)
5
He's probably just busy and hasn't gotten around to it yet.
I have a couple of weeks off work starting Monday to catch up on stuff, and I'll be putting an autolock option in place first thing.
15 PeopleRWBY is interesting not the least because it shows how much technology empowers small groups of limited means to do things that not long ago would have been possible only with a major company, considerable capital outlay and then only after persuading the suits to back the project.
Volume two builds on the lessons they learned by doing volume one and boasts a greatly expanded production staff....of 15 people (about a third of whom are also part of the cast).
Thus, the total cast and crew of this series is now in the vicinity of 20 people. This vastly lowers the hurdles to producing ones vision, and the internet largely solves the distribution issue. This is a game changer, and it's just starting. The production diaries remind me of some of the things I've read about the early years of silent films, before the studio system was established,where things had to be figured out, but there was a lot of creative freedom.
Now, while I've liked RWBY, it is true that there are criticisms of this particular show,...it's a superhero version of a Japanese highschool show set in a high-tech Hogwarts. Plus there are technical issues and the first volume ended on a bit of a nonsequiter. However, the show's cast and crew are, in a lot of ways, blazing new trails which will become very interesting paths indeed as more and more people get out there and produce stuff. A lot of it will be utter crap of course, Sturgeon's Law will still apply, but a group of people no bigger than a mid-sized doujin circle (or an APA for those that remember that niche of American fandom) and with similar initial capital outlay ( Poser Pro costs $450.00) will be able to do animated shorts and distribute them, free of the gatekeepers who even today presume to tell us what we shall see.
This is an exciting time. If I had talent, I'd be ecstatic, as it is, I'm merely pleased and hopeful.
UPDATE: Heavily edited the post.
There was a paragraph that seemed to be dubiously psychoanalyzing those who hate the show with awhite hot fury. It was actually in response to a particular article that ranted about how these people were nobodies doing glorified fanfic. Well, upon reading the comments I belatedly realized I had not provided a hyperlink and spent an hour trying to track down the article...to no avail. Unfortunately, without the context of the article, the post came off as mocking those for whom the show was simply not their cup of tea, thus I've removed the paragraph which without the specific and somewhat crazy example could indeed be taken as offensive. ....note that any comment that seems to be a nonsequiter was actually spot on and insightful when written.
1
Poser Pro plus YouTube = eBook conversion software plus Amazon.
The gatekeepers have been circumvented, and those who are committed to impressing the gatekeepers are feeling very threatened.
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Jul 15 04:15:14 2014 (TJ7ih)
2
Sorry, but I do not consider these attempts at second-guessing very successful.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Jul 15 10:54:24 2014 (RqRa5)
3
As for the "venom" directed at this show, I think there have always been people who "hate" something that they could easily avoid (just ask my dad about any sci-fi). Before the Internet, they had to actually leave their house and go somewhere else to vent at fans of their "hated" activity. But now, thanks to the miracle of modern technology, they can find fans to annoy with only a few mouse clicks.
As for me, I found the show uneven, but still enjoyable. And you can't argue with the price...
Posted by: Siergen at Tue Jul 15 17:00:53 2014 (8/vFI)
4
Actually, the bit about the venomous criticism was supposed to have a hyperlink to a particular article THAT I CANNOT FIND NOW.
It was going on a tear about how this is hust glorified fanfic and they shouldn't be getting all this attention when they're basically nobodies. I only now realized that I didn't include the hyperlink.
Alas.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Jul 15 19:25:59 2014 (DnAJl)
5
I don't mind RWBY existing in the abstract, but showing it on Crunchy materially impacts my intrerests due to incremental opportunity costs. At least all the K-junk and Live Action stuff they show has own section.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Jul 15 21:34:02 2014 (RqRa5)
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Jul 16 05:32:23 2014 (DnAJl)
7
The idea being that Crunchy only has X resources and spending those resources on RWBY means that there are other shows that they're not showing? Not sure I buy that, for a few reasons:
-It's unlikely Crunchy is spending significant cash to get the rights in the first place.
-Nor is Crunchy primarily limited by physical factors such as storage space; bandwidth sure, but I doubt that RWBY is a major portion of the bandwidth of a service that streams Naruto and several other shounen offerings. And, to the extent that it is, it's directly proportional to the popularity of the show, so if lots of people are watching, that's an argument by itself that people are interested.
-It's perfectly fair to note that RWBY has some flaws. It's got a disjointed narrative, it's got Teen Titans syndrome (where it's taking a more Western kind of story, but throwing in a lot of anime facial cues and takes for humor, even more jarring here because they're not always suited to the 3D rendered medium), and the acting is, well...
I hate to criticize any voice actors because it's bloody goddamned hard to do well. The average US viewer has been exposed to top-quality Hollywood acting and production values, not that I'm saying that everything Hollywood does is top-quality, but if you've seen some Japanese live-action you can appreciate the gap in general production values. With respect to voice acting, we're partly insulated from bad Japanese voice acting because most of us don't speak the language and even a mediocre performance doesn't necessarily set off the "this is poor quality" alarm when it's in Japanese. In English not so much. I suck at voice acting and people who can give a good performance in the booth, and get a good performance out of actors in the booth, have a rare talent; I prefer subtitles for the obvious reasons but can appreciate a good dub.
Let us just say RWBY's acting falls short even with that in mind.
-And yet... it's still a good thing that RWBY is on Crunchy, because it's got its own charm, I happen to enjoy it despite the above, and above all, giving this kind of project some oxygen is a positive development. If RWBY can do well, other teams can emulate them with their own stories (and Rooster Teeth can follow up with a new offering and take advantage of some hard-won experience.)
Think of it like e-books and self-publishing. Yeah, at the beginning many of the projects were mediocre quality, but a few successes gave a lot of people opportunities they simply wouldn't have had before, and while there's a lot of crap, there are quite a few gems to be found here and there.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Wed Jul 16 13:55:06 2014 (ZeBdf)
1
I presume that these are your classmates at university that are "quizzing" you, and I can guess the nature of the "social justice bugaboos" they're quizzing you on. In my opinion, if they're spurning you over disagreements like this, they weren't really your friends to being with, they're just recruitment officers for The Cause. You're better off without them.
Besides, we learn to despise those to whom we must lie.
OTOH, some people automatically despise those who disagree with them--and the only lying necessary is when they pat themselves on the back for their tolerance and openmindedness. (I think it was J Greely who wrote something like, "...and they'll never realize that they're the ugly bigots".)
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Sat Jul 12 17:29:59 2014 (2eP1J)
I presume that these are your classmates at university that are "quizzing" you, [/quote]
Sadly no. Of course I get a little bit of that on occasion, but it would not merit comment. I any event, being so close to graduation, I keep the mask firmly fitted while on campus.
No, this warrented comment because these are people I've known for years.
6 months ago my twitter feed began filling up with bile.
The culprit was a fellow I've known for 24 years, who is a bit of a hippy but has always been an interesting fellow and a very decent guy. He was someone that In a lot of ways I'd admired because he'd overcome some serious obstacles to raise a family and pursue an education. I hadn't heard from him except in short tweets and E-mail exchanges for about two years.
The bile in question was rage aimed at MSNBC for firing Martin Bashir as my friend was of the opinion that what Bashir said
, that Sarah Palin should be tied down and have someone crap in her mouth, was quite reasonable. Now I am not a fan of the school of thought that saying anything that offends someone is a hate crime...but there are points at which one is no longer engaged in reasoned discourse, and that seems to not qualify as such. My friend felt that
she should be raped as well and linked approvingly to a Dan Savage piece
that suggested that she have nails driven into her during the process so that her screaming in agony would prevent her from closing her mouth .
I pointed out that my friend had a daughter, and surely he did not want her to grow up in a world where talking about a woman that way was acceptable. He responded that his daughter was a progressive and so this was not about her and I was a fool and a misogynist for suggesting that it was. I asked if he'd still love his daughter if she came home from college a Tea Partier. He said no he wouldn't...he'd disown her. I made some clumsy analogy to the tragedy of homophobic parents cutting off their gay children and the conversation deteriorated from there cumulating in a multi question quiz, which I failed.
A few weeks ago I was asked to sign a petition by someone I've been on friendly terms with for over 15 years, though like the other one I hadn't seen him IRL in a couple of years. I did not sign the petition which I considered well intentioned but flawed. The fellow was floored and hurt. When I explained my concern he expressed his deep and profound disappointment at discovering I had a diverging opinion....all messages from the mailing list we were both members of stopped shortly thereafter.
I could go on, but won't, the point is that over the last 6 months 3, possibly 4 people I've known for over a decade have decided to do an assessment of my views, found me wanting and cut me off lest they be associated with me.
It used to be possible to have friends with wildly different worldviews, but we are becoming so polarized that society is breaking up in an almost tribal fashion. Said tribes don't associate and membership in the tribes is determined by questions that are graded digitally.
How I long for the days of analog.
Even more than the current fusillade of scandals and the stuff happening overseas, this dynamic worries and saddens me.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jul 12 21:13:39 2014 (DnAJl)
3
Hmmm...I have NO idea what happened with the formatting there...odd.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jul 12 21:15:06 2014 (DnAJl)
4
These individuals lack real compassion. The real thing has no political filters. Compassionate understanding does not require that you agree with a person's viewpoint, but it can be a starting point for honest dialog.
I suspect these 'friends' found the self-examination and openness that real compassion requires too strenuous, and have found comfort in conforming to The Narrative. Now that they are well mired in it, for you to say anything that questions that comfort is something only The Enemy would do.
Progressive Fundamentalism. The penultimate comfort of those who have abandoned hope.
Posted by: thornharp at Sun Jul 13 10:44:54 2014 (yDzeG)
5Sadly no...this warrented comment because these are people I've known for years.
I was mistaken about that; it must be upsetting to have long-time friends turn on you like that. (I must admit that sort of thing hasn't happened to me yet, at least not to that level of viciousness.) OTOH, my original opinion hasn't changed--at the end of the day, you're better off without these people in your life. (Especially that first fellow you mentioned--what a nasty piece of work! You showed him much more forbearance than I would have if I were in your shoes.)
It used to be possible to have friends with wildly different worldviews,
but we are becoming so polarized that society is breaking up in an
almost tribal fashion.
If I may express another opinion: that bodes very ill for the future. I'd wager that, in history, this sort of "us vs. them" mentality has helped start civil wars, or has weakened countries to the point that they become easy prey for invaders.
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Sun Jul 13 18:25:22 2014 (2eP1J)
Wait. What? Express an OPINION?...in the USA? What disgracious heresy is this?
I'd wager that, in history, this sort of "us vs. them" mentality has helped start civil wars, or has weakened countries to the point that they become easy prey for invaders. You would win that wager I'm afraid.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Jul 13 20:31:09 2014 (DnAJl)
7
As a secondary wager, how much would you like to bet that that is the goal?
Posted by: Mauser at Mon Jul 14 03:23:20 2014 (TJ7ih)
8
On the bright side, you have some truly persistent spambots.
9
Indeed! If I can just harness their power then world domination will be in my grasp!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Jul 14 19:21:25 2014 (DnAJl)
10As a secondary wager, how much would you like to bet that that is the goal?
That wouldn't surprise me...however, if that is the goal of certain people out there, they may want to think twice. "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it."
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Mon Jul 14 19:47:44 2014 (2eP1J)
In the 50 + years I have been on this earth one word to the wise I recieved early on and stuck with me was that in this life one has in truth only a few "True" friends. Most can be counted on your fingers. All the others you cross paths with in live are really just acquaintances.
Posted by: JWR at Tue Jul 15 17:02:01 2014 (egLlQ)
"Jet liners returning to their spawning ground to breed"
So that's why Boeing originally built its factory in the Pacific Northwest...
Posted by: Siergen at Mon Jul 7 19:45:13 2014 (8/vFI)
3
I realized immediately what had occurred, but only because a recent issue of Trains magazine
had an article on odd rail cargo... submarine reactor vessels, blades
for windmills, other trains, buildings, 737 fuselages, that sort of
thing.
It's hardly a "fiasco," it's an unfortunate derailment at a bad spot for it. Insurance, either Boeing's or the railcarrier's, will cover replacement costs.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Mon Jul 7 19:58:02 2014 (wd10W)
4
And only losing three fusilages like this is going to affect their shipment schedules, but not by damned much.
7
"Loggers in Montana are shown harvesting 737 Fuselages. These three will soon be floated down the river to the mill...."
Yeah, we joked a bit about this at work.
That's barely a day's production at the Renton plant. They send 43 737's a month out the door, and that's still not enough. They're working on pumping it up to 47.
All without the morale-busting levels of mandatory overtime we have to deal with on my line.
Posted by: Mauser at Tue Jul 8 04:24:20 2014 (TJ7ih)
8
Actually, this IS a big enough concern, it could disrupt production for about three days.
Posted by: Mauser at Wed Jul 9 03:24:10 2014 (TJ7ih)
Hell in a Handbasket...no this is not about current events, and in fact is a happy post!
James R. Rummel's excellent Hell in a Handbasket is back. WEell, it has been for a while it seems, but this is pleasant news to me.
You see, some time ago he had posted to the effect that he was giving up on blogging, but it appears that he changed his mind.
IRL, he teaches a pro-bono firearms safety class for people of limited means who have been the victims of violent crime. Mr. Rummel blogs primarily on self defense with a focus on personal protection issues facing the elderly, handicapped, weak and poor. though he does occasionally opine on history, pets, and the junction between gun safety and art criticism.
1
I've recently seen some "pretty-girl-with-big-gun" pictures (both real-person photographs and manga-style drawings) where the people involved actually seem to understand the basics of firearms safety, i.e. the pretty girl keeps her finger off the trigger. That makes a refreshing change of pace in the world of cheesy, exploitative imagery.
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Mon Jul 7 21:02:27 2014 (2eP1J)
2
Now if only she were holding it correctly. the butt goes against one's shoulder, not the crook of one's elbow. She's gonna hurt herself if she sets it off like that.
Posted by: Mauser at Sat Jul 12 15:29:55 2014 (TJ7ih)
1
I see robot-girl returns. I wonder if we'll learn more about her manufacture back-story...
Posted by: Siergen at Sat Jul 5 13:57:03 2014 (8/vFI)
2
I'm pretty sure we will. She and her team are seen briefly in the OP.
(...and she does not look to be happy to be there).
I note that it looks like Pyrrha is going toe to toe with one of the big three baddies. Yangs new uniform looks very Matsumoto-ie.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sat Jul 5 14:43:49 2014 (DnAJl)
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, 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; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The Signatures.....
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett William Whipple
Massachusetts: Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton
11 years later, after over 5 years of war and 6 years of learning how not to run a government, a different Continental Congress gathered to hammer out a constitution.
When Ben Franklin left the Pennsylvania State House afterwards, a woman is said to have asked him, "What sort of government have you given us, a republic, or a democracy?" to which Franklin is said to have replied..."A Republic Madam, if you can keep it."
Posted by: DougO at Fri Jul 4 14:29:42 2014 (8qU9I)
9
Well, based on that effects reel, he used the actual faces from other footage, so it would naturally look right. Although to me there were a few issues matching angles/focal length, especially the shot with Clara.
Posted by: Mauser at Fri Jul 4 16:19:22 2014 (TJ7ih)
10
My first thought was "wow, Clara's eyes got even bigger; she's almost an anime girl now".
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...no this is not about current events, and in fact is a happy post!
