A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-04-06....Happy Birthday USA - 2006

July 4, 2006 | DollyCali

[DollyCali]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Dutchess, DollyCali, GodBlessUSA, JustAmy ~

PATRIOT'S DECLARATION

"The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth." —Thomas Paine (1776)



"I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not." —John Adams (1776)



"Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!" —George Washington (1779)



"[T]he flames kindled on the 4 of July 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them." —Thomas Jefferson (1821)



"If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us." —Patrick Henry (1775)



"In its main features the Declaration of Independence is a spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but spiritual conceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man—these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We cannot continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth and their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress." —Calvin Coolidge



"Today's Americans cannot escape the responsibility that the words of the Declaration have thrust upon us; we stand for some things whether we will or not. We stand for freedom, for the hope of human dignity for all, for what is meant when men speak of the West, whether its values are threatened by European totalitarianisms in one era, or a murderous fanaticism out of the darkest Ages in this one. This is the strangest of wars that has been thrust upon us, this conflict waged against innocent workers in office towers and passengers in airplanes. It is a war wages by a hidden enemy who has no clear purpose except revenge—revenge against History, which has passed him and his hatreds by. Once again, uncertainties abound, but no doubts. For this is a war in defense of freedom, and a freedom tide is still rising in the world. It has been since 1776." —Paul Greenberg



"The day of our nation's birth in that little hall in Philadelphia, [was] a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words 'treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe,' and the issue remained in doubt. [On that day] 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor... In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history. Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government. Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should." —Ronald Reagan

07-01,02-05 ~ Hall of Fame #16

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 07-03-06 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[DollyCali]

[Mama_Bear]

Am I first in the door? Now I shall go back and read your post. :-)

Love your pledge, Dolly. Happy 4th of July to you!

[Mama_Bear]

Good job, Dolly. The quotes from our founding fathers and those patriots who came after them are a wonderful way to remember the birth of our Nation.

Happy Birthday America!

[DollyCali]

[Justice]

230 years old!

[JennysCool]

Extremely well done! A happy Independence Day to you and yours!

[DollyCali]

Thanks Lori! and Good morning!

I had a stray ">" in the table for the ping & COULD NOT find it for the longest time! You know how much fun that is.

I am dog watching this week. (just what I need right?). Neighbor up street is gone. The fireworks here were very loud & plentiful & so my pooches & I spent PM there. NOw here at home God is putting on a firework display that puts man to shame!

Have anything exciting planned for today?

[DollyCali]

well it is good now & then to have "something" here OLDER THAN ME!

Happy Birthday America!

[DollyCali]

Thank you! Hope you have a wonderful & safe holiday!

[Mama_Bear]

I had a stray ">" in the table for the ping & COULD NOT find it for the longest time! You know how much fun that is.

Yes, indeed, I do! Have been at the point of tearing my hair out looking for errors. It doesn't happen as much anymore, but the memories of the endless searches live on. LOL.

Have anything exciting planned for today?

Nope, nothing exciting. Just going to throw some steaks on the grill. We will need to stay home to comfort our dogs, they get so upset by the noise of the fireworks. Fortunately, we don't have the constant thunderstorms like you folks do, so they haven't been at all conditioned to loud noises.

[Mama_Bear]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ........

..........

[DollyCali]

must close down as the electrical activity here is intense. Unless I lose my power, will see all here tomorrow!

All, be safe today.. on the highway, on the water, with fireworks, playing sports...

[The Raven]

[stopem]

Good Morning Happy 4th of July!!!

Wow Mama Bear you have outdone yourself. This is a really great graphic.

God Bless America!!

[Vanders9]

Happy Independence day America

[lysie]

Good morning.

[MEG33]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
*AMERICA*
***
Home Of The Free
Because Of The Brave

Beautiful thread Dolly!
Wishing All A Great Fourth!

[Wheelbarrow]

Your presentation is an excellent presentation of HOW our country has come to be. WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET THIS HERITAGE! You have done a great service for us to pause and remember and BTW be sure to fly the flag!

[DollyCali]

some have inquired....

Paul Greenberg

Recent articles of Paul Greenberg

Pulitzer Prize-winning Paul Greenberg, one of the most respected and honored commentators in America is Editorial page editor, Arkansas Democrat Gazette. In the early years of watching Clinton climb to power, he coined the term 'slick willie.'

A contiributor to Townhall.com Mr. Greenberg is President, The 56 Group

In addition to being the author of the best-selling (1) Leaving Katya and (2)CRM at the Speed of Light: Capturing and Keeping Customers in Internet Real Time, Paul Greenberg is President of The 56 Group, LLC, an enterprise applications consulting services firm, focused on CRM strategic services including go-to-market strategies for vendors and integrators, CRM strategic planning and vendor selection. The 56 Group also provides writing, speaking and educational services.

His book, published in January 2001 by McGraw-Hill is now in 8 languages and been a runaway best seller. It is used as a text in more than 50 universities across multiple continents. It was called "the number 1 CRM book" by SearchCRM.com in July 2002. The Asian edition of CIO Magazine named it one of the 12 most important books an Asian CEO will ever read. It has even been called "the bible of the industry."

Considered one of CRM's leading authorities on strategy and on the state of the market, Paul has been quoted in multiple national magazines and newspapers as a subject matter expert and writes a number of regular columns for publications like CRM Magazine and SearchCRM.com. Paul is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars across the world.

Paul is a member of the Board of Advisors of Baylor University's MBA CRM major, a unique national program. He also has been selected as a member of the Destination CRM Board of Experts, SearchCRM Expert Advisory Panel and the CRMGuru Expert Guru Panel among many others.

Paul was recently named a co-chairman of the newly created CRM Research Center at Rutgers University.

Prior to his current position as President of the 56 Group, LLC, Paul was the Executive Vice President of Live Wire, Inc. a Massachusetts-based enterprise applications staff augmentation company. Before that, Paul was vice president of marketing for Atlantic Duncans International (now Optimos) where he was responsible for developing and securing strategic relationships with critical vendors and partners. In addition, Paul was the director of strategic relations for Nexgen Solutions, Inc., where he was directly responsible for generating business development working with Fortune 500 clientele.

Paul has years of experience with both CRM and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). He has built SAP and PeopleSoft practices and has extremely deep ties into the CRM and enterprise applications communities.

Paul received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism with majors in editorial journalism, sociology, and a minor in English Literature from Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism. He currently lives in Northern Virginia with his beloved wife Yvonne and their two cats.

Some journalist "types" are honorable!

[Mama_Bear]

Wow Mama Bear you have outdone yourself. This is a really great graphic.

Thank you! That table is from a thread I posted at the Finest July 4th 2002. It was only a couple weeks after Billie started "A Few of FR's Finest". You can see the rest of the fireworks display here:

Happy Birthday America 2002

Have a nice 4th of July, stopem.

[GatorGirl]

Happy Birthday America!!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Happy...

I hope you all will have a wonderful day.

and...

[DollyCali]

Nice thread Lori! Borrowing from that thread

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM..........A PATRIOTIC MEDLEY..........GOD BLESS THE USA

[DollyCali]

Okay, meg! that is adorable.. and I was all ready for a knock your socks off planting of RWB flowers ..and there you go surprising us! Have a great day. Raining here still this AM.. the sun is starting to peek through

[DollyCali]

Long time no see....I haven't been on line as much this summer as before the weather broke & life got a little crazy so I may have missed you. Lovely offering as usual & a few more "items" added to my 4th stash! Thanks for stopping by & enjoy your family this fine day!

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you, Dolly. And the music links still work! It is amazing that all my fireworks graphics are still there too. I know that is not the case with some of my other older threads. Don't know what happened to them, they just seem to disappear over time.

[Majie Purple]

[Mama_Bear]

What a pretty post, Mrs. N.

Happy Independence Day to you!

[Mama_Bear]

Happy 4th of July, Maj. I love that sparkly graphic!

[Majie Purple]

Thanks again Mama Bear for my Patriotic bun bun!

[Majie Purple]

You too!...Me too!

[DollyCali]

once about a year ago I did a copy /paste of view page etc.. NONE of the music worked ... I hadn't tried. I did try this first!(learned my lesson). Victoria has helped me with loading music now & then when I want it.

[DollyCali]

Look at this fun ping graphic for the life thread on launch HERE IS LIVE THEAD HOT LINK)

[NicknamedBob]

Independence?

The Lady holds a tablet. There is a date engraved.
July 4, 1776. A memo that we saved.
Within that page of History, we hold the American Rose.
Pressed by weight of moments, the album now we close,

To mark the beginning of Man’s finest striving,
Wherein heroes, villains, and events were arriving,
At a small town we call Philly, (That’s where we keep the bell.)
To speak their piece, and start a war, and put them all through Hell.

It was a needed moment. We had to take our place,
Among the giants of the earth, for Life stepped up the pace.
We had to shoulder burdens, that no one else could bear,
And send the finest of our land, to fix things ‘over there.’

The blood we shed has nourished the Freedom that we sowed,
And gave the homeland back ten-fold, all debts that we had owed.
Just to ensure survival of the plantings that we nourished.
We went back for a second time, to make sure that it flourished.

We thought that we could take a break, and live a private life,
Unburdened by the problems of the world and all its strife.
But this small world kept shrinking, and our moat gives no protection,
From enemies who should be friends, except for their infection.

We’ll need to cure their illness, whatever the cost may be,
Or we will not enjoy the life we have, a life of liberty.
It’s not enough to shine a light beside the door,
We have to go among them, and boost the ‘yearnings’ of the poor.


NicknamedBob . . . . . . . . . . . . July 3, 2004

[dutchess]

Hi Dolly. What a great thread!!!! Happy Birthday America indeed!!!!

Can relate to storms and poor pooches. We actually had a tornado warning at 4:00 p.m. yesterday (one was cited not far from here) We're on a slab and the only room without windows is our walk in closet. Dad and I spent about 1/2 hour there with Rusty and Giz. What a trip!!!

Anyway, thanks for bringing us this lovely thread!!!

[Majie Purple]

Just sharing a fact about me is all...Had I not been born 2 and 1/2 months early, my Birthday would have been on July 4th! and not April 19th.

[Mama_Bear]

Well, all the midis that are linked and the graphics are on either my server at the studio or Domania, so they should still be there, but on some of my threads many of my links are broken. Guess I must have deleted them without realizing it. I rarely link to graphics or music at their original location. I figure if it's worth linking to, it's worth uploading to one of my servers....at least then I have control over whether it appears or goes away. LOL.

Thanks again for bringing the music over here. I love that Yankee Doodle Dandy midi. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Another graphic I had forgotten about that still lives on my server from long ago! Wish I had left more space around it, but I think I recall that it was included on a larger black table when originally posted.

Anyway, I always enjoy your poetry and wish you a Happy 4th of July!

[Majie Purple]

Cool! Thanks for the shuttle launch thread link Dolly!

[ConorMacNessa]

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

---

Happy Fourth of July to our troops, veterans and families!

[Riley]

Happy Independence Day to you, too!

I'm going to skip the DC fireworks show this time around, though- too much to do to be ready for work tomorrow. :-(

[Mama_Bear]

Love that graphic. What a cutie! LOL

Have a Happy Independence Day!

[DollyCali]

I am going to be expanding my server space so I can do music (need to learn how this fall) and also videos..

Here is a picture of "Snowflake"..my friend John's pup that I am helping to watch while he is on vacation in the Smokies

Sweet girl about 10+.

[NicknamedBob]

Yes, it did look better when originally posted back here, but the type font seemed a little pale.

[Mama_Bear]

When I lived in DC, many years ago, we could see the Washington Monument and the fireworks display from our house. I was never overly fond of living in DC (my dad was in the Navy and we were stationed there through two tours of duty), but I do miss having all those National Treasures and Monuments so close and getting to watch such an awesome fireworks display from our front lawn. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Yep, there it is. Thanks for the link. I had forgotten what it looked like on the table. The type font doesn't seem pale to me, but it is most likely the difference in our monitor settings. :-)

[Aquamarine]

Enjoyed the Fourth of July opener Dolly. Thanks so much.

Here is a link to put your very own signature to the Declaration of Independence. I've already signed it and was thrilled to do it! :)

Happy Independence Day All!

Sign The Declaration Of Independence

[daisyscarlett]

This is a fantastic thread, Dolly. Thank you for including all those wonderful words of our founding fathers...gives me chills to read them.

I understand W gave an eloquent speech today to the troops. Hope I can catch a rerun.

Happy Fourth of July to all and

[Mama_Bear]

I am going to be expanding my server space so I can do music (need to learn how this fall) and also videos..

Linking to music is easy. You link to it just like you would hyperlink to a webpage....< a href="">song title< /a>. We used to be able to embed music here. Embedding music is a little more difficult, but, sadly that went away when John decided to shore up the security holes in FR. I used to have music embedded on my profile page....'til John pulled the plug. I understand why he had to do it, but I sure miss my music. :-(

If you ever need help with your music links, give me a holler. :-)

[Majie Purple]

Hi Ri...! Thanks.
Because of delayed steet maintainance repairs completion,
I am stranded,
and can go nowhere this year to celebrate.
Stuck watching the festivities on tv...:(
Can't believe they waited till 2 days prior to
The 4th do do that work on the street.
Such maroons!