Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Magna Carta: The Early Rumblings of a Constitutional Democracy

[Preamble] Edward by the grace of God King of England, lord of Ireland and duke of Aquitaine sends greetings to all to whom the present letters come. We have inspected the great charter of the lord Henry, late King of England, our father, concerning the liberties of England in these words:
Henry by the grace of God King of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and count of Anjou sends greetings to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, sheriffs, reeves, ministers and all his bailiffs and faithful men inspecting the present charter. Know that we, at the prompting of God and for the health of our soul and the souls of our ancestors and successors, for the glory of holy Church and the improvement of our realm, freely and out of our good will have given and granted to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons and all of our realm these liberties written below to hold in our realm of England in perpetuity.
Image of Magna Carta

[1] In the first place we grant to God and confirm by this our present charter for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church is to be free and to have all its rights fully and its liberties entirely. We furthermore grant and give to all the freemen of our realm for ourselves and our heirs in perpetuity the liberties written below to have and to hold to them and their heirs from us and our heirs in perpetuity.
[2] If any of our earls or barons, or anyone else holding from us in chief by military service should die, and should his heir be of full age and owe relief, the heir is to have his inheritance for the ancient relief, namely the heir or heirs of an earl for a whole county £100, the heir or heirs of a baron for a whole barony 100 marks, the heir or heirs of a knight for a whole knight’s fee 100 shillings at most, and he who owes less will give less, according to the ancient custom of (knights’) fees.
[3] If, however, the heir of such a person is under age, his lord is not to have custody of him and his land until he has taken homage from the heir, and after such an heir has been in custody, when he comes of age, namely at twenty-one years old, he is to have his inheritance without relief and without fine, saving that if, whilst under age, he is made a knight, his land will nonetheless remain in the custody of his lords until the aforesaid term.
[4] The keeper of the land of such an heir who is under age is only to take reasonable receipts from the heir’s land and reasonable customs and reasonable services, and this without destruction or waste of men or things. And if we assign custody of any such land to a sheriff or to anyone else who should answer to us for the issues, and such a person should commit destruction or waste, we will take recompense from him and the land will be assigned to two law-worthy and discreet men of that fee who will answer to us or to the person to whom we assign such land for the land’s issues. And if we give or sell to anyone custody of any such land and that person commits destruction or waste, he is to lose custody and the land is to be assigned to two law-worthy and discreet men of that fee who similarly will answer to us as is aforesaid.
[5] The keeper, for as long as he has the custody of the land of such (an heir), is to maintain the houses, parks, fishponds, ponds, mills and other things pertaining to that land from the issues of the same land, and he will restore to the heir, when the heir comes to full age, all his land stocked with ploughs and all other things in at least the same condition as when he received it. All these things are to be observed in the custodies of archbishoprics, bishoprics, abbeys, priories, churches and vacant offices which pertain to us, save that such custodies ought not to be sold.
[6] Heirs are to be married without disparagement.
[7] A widow, after the death of her husband, is immediately and without any difficulty to have her marriage portion and her inheritance, nor is she to pay anything for her dower or her marriage portion or for her inheritance which her husband and she held on the day of her husband’s death, and she shall remain in the chief dwelling place of her husband for forty days after her husband’s death, within which time dower will be assigned her if it has not already been assigned, unless that house is a castle, and if it is a castle which she leaves, then a suitable house will immediately be provided for her in which she may properly dwell until her dower is assigned to her in accordance with what is aforesaid, and in the meantime she is to have her reasonable necessities (estoverium) from the common property. As dower she will be assigned the third part of all the lands of her husband which were his during his lifetime, save when she was dowered with less at the church door. No widow shall be distrained to marry for so long as she wishes to live without a husband, provided that she gives surety that she will not marry without our assent if she holds of us, or without the assent of her lord, if she holds of another.
[8] Neither we nor our bailiffs will seize any land or rent for any debt, as long as the existing chattels of the debtor suffice for the payment of the debt and as long as the debtor is ready to pay the debt, nor will the debtor’s guarantors be distrained for so long as the principal debtor is able to pay the debt; and should the principal debtor default in his payment of the debt, not having the means to repay it, or should he refuse to pay it despite being able to do so, the guarantors will answer for the debt and, if they wish, they are to have the lands and rents of the debtor until they are repaid the debt that previously they paid on behalf of the debtor, unless the principal debtor can show that he is quit in respect to these guarantors.
[9] The city of London is to have all its ancient liberties and customs. Moreover we wish and grant that all other cities and boroughs and vills and the barons of the Cinque Ports and all ports are to have all their liberties and free customs.
[10] No-one is to be distrained to do more service for a knight’s fee or for any other free tenement than is due from it.
[11] Common pleas are not to follow our court but are to be held in a certain fixed place.
[12] Recognisances of novel disseisin and of mort d’ancestor are not to be taken save in their particular counties and in the following way. We or, should we be outside the realm, our chief justiciar, will send our justices once a year to each county, so that, together with the knights of the counties, that may take the aforesaid assizes in the counties; and those assizes which cannot be completed in that visitation of the county by our aforesaid justices assigned to take the said assizes are to be completed elsewhere by the justices in their visitation; and those which cannot be completed by them on account of the difficulty of various articles (of law) are to be referred to our justices of the Bench and completed there.
[13] Assizes of darrein presentment are always to be taken before our justices of the Bench and are to be completed there.
[14] A freeman is not to be amerced for a small offence save in accordance with the manner of the offence, and for a major offence according to its magnitude, saving his sufficiency (salvo contenemento suo), and a merchant likewise, saving his merchandise, and any villain other than one of our own is to be amerced in the same way, saving his necessity (salvo waynagio) should he fall into our mercy, and none of the aforesaid amercements is to be imposed save by the oath of honest and law-worthy men of the neighbourhood. Earls and barons are not to be amerced save by their peers and only in accordance with the manner of their offence.
[15] No town or free man is to be distrained to make bridges or bank works save for those that ought to do so of old and by right.
[16] No bank works of any sort are to be kept up save for those that were in defense in the time of King H(enry II) our grandfather and in the same places and on the same terms as was customary in his time.
[17] No sheriff, constable, coroner or any other of our bailiffs is to hold pleas of our crown.
[18] If anyone holding a lay fee from us should die, and our sheriff or bailiff shows our letters patent containing our summons for a debt that the dead man owed us, our sheriff or bailiff is permitted to attach and enroll all the goods and chattels of the dead man found in lay fee, to the value of the said debt, by view of law-worthy men, so that nothing is to be removed thence until the debt that remains is paid to us, and the remainder is to be released to the executors to discharge the will of the dead man, and if nothing is owed to us from such a person, all the chattels are to pass to the (use of) the dead man, saving to the dead man’s wife and children their reasonable portion.
[19] No constable or his bailiff is to take corn or other chattels from anyone who not themselves of a vill where a castle is built, unless the constable or his bailiff immediately offers money in payment of obtains a respite by the wish of the seller. If the person whose corn or chattels are taken is of such a vill, then the constable or his bailiff is to pay the purchase price within forty days.
[20] No constable is to distrain any knight to give money for castle guard if the knight is willing to do such guard in person or by proxy of any other honest man, should the knight be prevented from doing so by just cause. And if we take or send such a knight into the army, he is to be quit of (castle) guard in accordance with the length of time the we have him in the army for the fee for which he has done service in the army.
[21] No sheriff or bailiff of ours or of anyone else is to take anyone’s horses or carts to make carriage, unless he renders the payment customarily due, namely for a two-horse cart ten pence per day, and for a three-horse cart fourteen pence per day. No demesne cart belonging to any churchman or knight or any other lady (sic) is to be taken by our bailiffs, nor will we or our bailiffs or anyone else take someone else’s timber for a castle or any other of our business save by the will of he to whom the timber belongs.
[22] We shall not hold the lands of those convicted of felony save for a year and a day, whereafter such land is to be restored to the lords of the fees.
[23] All fish weirs (kidelli) on the Thames and the Medway and throughout England are to be entirely dismantled, save on the sea coast.
[24] The writ called ‘praecipe’ is not to be issued to anyone in respect to any free tenement in such a way that a free man might lose his court.
[25] There is to be a single measure for wine throughout our realm, and a single measure for ale, and a single measure for Corn, that is to say the London quarter, and a single breadth for dyed cloth, russets, and haberjects, that is to say two yards within the lists. And it shall be the same for weights as for measures.
[26] Henceforth there is to be nothing given for a writ of inquest from the person seeking an inquest of life or member, but such a writ is to be given freely and is not to be denied.
[27] If any persons hold from us at fee farm or in socage or burgage, and hold land from another by knight service, we are not, by virtue of such a fee farm or socage or burgage, to have custody of the heir or their land which pertains to another’s fee, nor are we to have custody of such a fee farm or socage or burgage unless this fee farm owes knight service. We are not to have the custody of an heir or of any land which is held from another by knight service on the pretext of some small serjeanty held from us by service of rendering us knives or arrows or suchlike things.
[28] No bailiff is henceforth to put any man on his open law or on oath simply by virtue of his spoken word, without reliable witnesses being produced for the same.
[29] No freeman is to be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his free tenement or of his liberties or free customs, or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go against such a man or send against him save by lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. To no-one will we sell or deny of delay right or justice.
[30] All merchants, unless they have been previously and publicly forbidden, are to have safe and secure conduct in leaving and coming to England and in staying and going through England both by land and by water to buy and to sell, without any evil exactions, according to the ancient and right customs, save in time of war, and if they should be from a land at war against us and be found in our land at the beginning of the war, they are to be attached without damage to their bodies or goods until it is established by us or our chief justiciar in what way the merchants of our land are treated who at such a time are found in the land that is at war with us, and if our merchants are safe there, the other merchants are to be safe in our land.
[31] If anyone dies holding of any escheat such as the honour of Wallingford, Boulogne, Nottingham, Lancaster or of other escheats which are in our hands and which are baronies, his heir is not to give any other relief or render any other service to us that would not have been rendered to the baron if the barony were still held by a baron, and we shall hold such things in the same way as the baron held them, nor, on account of such a barony or escheat, are we to have the escheat or custody of any of our men unless the man who held the barony or the escheat held elsewhere from us in chief.
[32] No free man is henceforth to give or sell any more of his land to anyone, unless the residue of his land is sufficient to render due service to the lord of the fee as pertains to that fee.
[33] All patrons of abbeys which have charters of the kings of England over advowson or ancient tenure or possession are to have the custody of such abbeys when they fall vacant just as they ought to have and as is declared above.
[34] No-one is to be taken or imprisoned on the appeal of woman for the death of anyone save for the death of that woman’s husband.
[35] No county court is to be held save from month to month, and where the greater term used to be held, so will it be in future, nor will any sheriff or his bailiff make his tourn through the hundred save for twice a year and only in the place that is due and customary, namely once after Easter and again after Michaelmas, and the view of frankpledge is to be taken at the Michaelmas term without exception, in such a way that every man is to have his liberties which he had or used to have in the time of King H(enry II) my grandfather or which he has acquired since. The view of frankpledge is to be taken so that our peace be held and so that the tithing is to be held entire as it used to be, and so that the sheriff does not seek exceptions but remains content with that which the sheriff used to have in taking the view in the time of King H(enry) our grandfather.
[36] Nor is it permitted to anyone to give his land to a religious house in such a way that he receives it back from such a house to hold, nor is it permitted to any religious house to accept the land of anyone in such way that the land is restored to the person from whom it was received to hold. If anyone henceforth gives his land in such a way to any religious house and is convicted of the same, the gift is to be entirely quashed and such land is to revert to the lord of that fee.
[37] Scutage furthermore is to be taken as it used to be in the time of King H(enry) our grandfather, and all liberties and free customs shall be preserved to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, Templars, Hospitallers, earls, barons and all others, both ecclesiastical and secular persons, just as they formerly had.
All these aforesaid customs and liberties which we have granted to be held in our realm in so far as pertains to us are to be observed by all of our realm, both clergy and laity, in so far as pertains to them in respect to their own men. For this gift and grant of these liberties and of others contained in our charter over the liberties of the forest, the archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, earls, barons, knights, fee holders and all of our realm have given us a fifteenth part of all their movable goods. Moreover we grant to them for us and our heirs that neither we nor our heirs will seek anything by which the liberties contained in this charter might be infringed or damaged, and should anything be obtained from anyone against this it is to count for nothing and to be held as nothing. With these witnesses: the lord S(tephen) archbishop of Canterbury, E(ustace) bishop of London, J(ocelin) bishop of Bath, P(eter) bishop of Winchester, H(ugh) bishop of Lincoln, R(ichard) bishop of Salisbury, W. bishop of Rochester, W(illiam) bishop of Worcester, J(ohn) bishop of Ely, H(ugh) bishop of Hereford, R(anulf) bishop of Chichester, W(illiam) bishop of Exeter, the abbot of (Bury) St Edmunds, the abbot of St Albans, the abbot of Battle, the abbot of St Augustine’s Canterbury, the abbot of Evesham, the abbot of Westminster, the abbot of Peterborough, the abbot of Reading, the abbot of Abingdon, the abbot of Malmesbury, the abbot of Winchcombe, the abbot of Hyde (Winchester), the abbot of Chertsey, the abbot of Sherborne, the abbot of Cerne, the abbot of Abbotsbury, the abbot of Milton (Abbas), the abbot of Selby, the abbot of Cirencester, H(ubert) de Burgh the justiciar, H. earl of Chester and Lincoln, W(illiam) earl of Salisbury, W(illiam) earl Warenne, G. de Clare earl of Gloucester and Hertford, W(illiam) de Ferrers earl of Derby, W(illiam) de Mandeville earl of Essex, H(ugh) Bigod earl of Norfolk, W(illiam) earl Aumale, H(umphrey) earl of Hereford, J(ohn) constable of Chester, R(obert) de Ros, R(obert) fitz Walter, R(obert) de Vieuxpont, W(illiam) Brewer, R(ichard) de Montfiquet, P(eter) fitz Herbert, W(illiam) de Aubigné, G. Gresley, F. de Braose, J(ohn) of Monmouth, J(ohn) fitz Alan, H(ugh) de Mortemer, W(illiam) de Beauchamp, W(illiam) de St John, P(eter) de Maulay, Brian de Lisle, Th(omas) of Moulton, R(ichard) de Argentan, G(eoffrey) de Neville, W(illiam) Mauduit, J(ohn) de Baalon and others. Given at Westminster on the eleventh day of February in the ninth year of our reign.
We, holding these aforesaid gifts and grants to be right and welcome, conceed and confirm them for ourselves and our heirs and by the terms of the present (letters) renew them, wishing and granting for ourselves and our heirs that the aforesaid charter is to be firmly and inviably observed in all and each of its articles in perpetuity, including any articles contained in the same charter which by chance have not to date been observed. In testimony of which we have had made these our letters patent. Witnessed by Edward our son, at Westminster on the twelfth day of October in the twenty-fifth year of our reign. (Chancery warranty by John of) Stowe.

Source: Archives.gov

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2011 List

1. New Zealand (95 index)
2. The Netherlands (90)
3. Switzerland (90)
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5. Singapore (90)
6. Norway (90)
7. Luxembourg (90)
8. Ireland (90)
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10. Hong Kong (90)
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12. Finland (90)
13. Denmark (90)
14. Canada (90)
15. Austria (90)
16. United States (85)
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18. Chile (85)
19. Japan (80)
20. France (80)
21. Estonia (80)
22. Cyprus (80)
23. Belgium (80)
24. Barbados (80)
25. Uruguay (70)

Source: The Heritage Foundation

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The Gettysburg Address

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

-- Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

List of the Enumerated Powers of Congress

Section 8: The Congress shall have power To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;—And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

A List of American Third Parties

* America First Party (2002) * American Party (1968) * America's Independent Party (2008) * Boston Tea Party (2006) * Communist Party of the United States of America (1919) * Constitution Party (1992) * Florida Whig Party (2006) * Green Party (1996) * Independence Party of America (2007) * Libertarian Party (1971) * Moderate Party (2006) * Modern Whig Party (2008) * National Socialist Movement (1959) * New American Independent Party (2004) * Objectivist Party (2008) * Party for Socialism and Liberation (2004) * Peace and Freedom Party (1967) * Pirate Party of the United States (2006) * Progressive Labor Party (1961) * Prohibition Party (1869) * Reform Party of the United States of America (1995) * Socialist Party USA (1973) * Socialist Workers Party (1938) * United States Marijuana Party (2002) * Unity Party of America (2004) * Workers Party (2003) * Working Families Party (1998) Source: Wikipedia

Best States for Business (2009)

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Speakers of the House

1st Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, Apr 01, 1789

2nd Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut, Oct 24, 1791

3rd Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, Dec 02, 1793

4th, 5th Jonathan Dayton, New Jersey, Dec 07, 1795

6th Theodore Sedgwick, Massachusetts, Dec 02, 1799

7th-9th Nathaniel Macon, North Carolina, Dec 07, 1801

10th, 11th Joseph B. Varnum, Massachusetts, Oct 26, 1807

12th, 13th Henry Clay, Kentucky, Nov 04, 1811

13th Langdon Cheves, South Carolina, Jan 19, 1814

14th-16th Henry Clay, Kentucky, Dec 04, 1815

16th John W. Taylor, New York, Nov 15, 1820

17th Philip P. Barbour, Virginia, Dec 04, 1821

18th Henry Clay, Kentucky, Dec 01, 1823

19th John W. Taylor, New York, Dec 05, 1825

20th-22nd Andrew Stevenson, Virginia, Dec 03, 1827

23rd John Bell, Tennessee, Jun 02, 1834

24th, 25th James K. Polk, Tennessee, Dec 07, 1835

26th Robert M.T. Hunter, Virginia, Dec 16, 1839

27th John White, Kentucky, May 31, 1841

28th John W. Jones, Virginia, Dec 04, 1843

29th John W. Davis, Indiana, Dec 01, 1845

30th Robert C. Winthrop, Massachusetts, Dec 06, 1847

31st Howell Cobb, Georgia, Dec 22, 1849

32nd, 33rd Linn Boyd, Kentucky, Dec 01, 1851

34th Nathaniel P. Banks, Massachusetts, Feb 02, 1856

35th James L. Orr, South Carolina, Dec 07, 1857

36th William Pennington, New Jersey, Feb 01, 1860

37th Galusha A. Grow, Pennsylvania, Jul 04, 1861

38th-40th Schuyler Colfax, Indiana, Dec 07, 1863

40th Theodore M. Pomeroy,New York, Mar 03, 1869

41st-43rd James G. Blaine, Maine, Mar 04, 1869

44th Michael C. Kerr, Indiana, Dec 06, 1875

44th-46th Samuel J. Randall, Pennsylvania, Dec 04, 1876

47th J. Warren Keifer, Ohio, Dec 05, 1881

48th-50th John G. Carlisle, Kentucky, Dec 03, 1883

51st Thomas B. Reed, Maine, Dec 02, 1889

52nd, 53rd Charles F. Crisp, Georgia, Dec 08, 1891

54th, 55th Thomas B. Reed, Maine, Dec 02, 1895

56th, 57th David B. Henderson, Iowa, Dec 04, 1899

58th-61st Joseph G. Cannon, Illinois, Nov 09, 1903

62nd-65th James Beauchamp Clark, Missouri, Apr 04, 1911

66th-68th Frederick H. Gillett, Massachusetts, May 19, 1919

69th-71st Nicholas Longworth, Ohio, Dec 07, 1925

72nd John N. Garner, Texas, Dec 07, 1931

73rd Henry T. Rainey, Illinois, Mar 09, 1933

74th Joseph W. Byrns, Tennessee, Jan 03, 1935

74th-76th William B. Bankhead, Alabama, Jun 04, 1936

76th-79th Sam Rayburn, Texas, Sep 16, 1940

80th Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Massachusetts, Jan 03, 1947

81st, 82nd Sam Rayburn, Texas, Jan 03, 1949

83rd Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Massachusetts, Jan 03, 1953

84th-87th Sam Rayburn, Texas, Jan 05, 1955

87th-91st John W. McCormack, Massachusetts, Jan 10, 1962

92nd-94th Carl B. Albert, Oklahoma, Jan 21, 1971

95th-99th Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Massachusetts, Jan 04, 1977

100th, 101st James C. Wright, Jr., Texas, Jan 06, 1987

101st-103rd Thomas S. Foley, Washington, Jun 06, 1989

104th, 105th Newt Gingrich, Georgia, Jan 04, 1995

106th-109th J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois, Jan 06, 1999

110th, 111th Nancy Pelosi, California, Jan 04, 2007

112th, 113th, 114th John Boehner, Ohio, Jan, 2011

BLOATED Bastids: List of US Government Departments and Agences

Conservative, Republican & Libertarian Celebrities

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  • Lee Ann Womack
  • Lee Greenwood
  • Lee Ving
  • Leeann Tweeden
  • Lorenzo Lamas
  • Loretta Lynn
  • Lorrie Morgan
  • Lou Ferrigno
  • Louella Parsons
  • Lynard Skynard
  • Lynn Swann
  • Margaret Hamilton
  • Marie Osmond
  • Mark Chesnutt
  • Martina McBride
  • Mary Hart
  • Mary Lou Retton
  • Matt Hasselbeck
  • Maureen O'Hara
  • Meat Loaf
  • Mel Gibson
  • Merle Haggard
  • Michael W. Smith
  • Mike Ditka
  • Mike Love
  • Morgan Brittany
  • Naomi Judd
  • Nick Lachey
  • Nolan Ryan
  • Norm McDonald
  • Pat Sajak
  • Patricia Cornwell
  • Patricia Heaton
  • Paula Prentiss
  • Pete Sampras
  • R. Lee Ermey
  • Rachel Hunter
  • Randy Travis
  • Rebecca St. James
  • Ric Flair
  • Richard Petty
  • Rick Schroeder
  • Ricky Skaggs
  • Rip Torn
  • Robert Conrad
  • Robert Davi
  • Robert Duvall
  • Roger Penske
  • Ron Silver
  • Salvador Dali
  • Sam Shepard
  • Sammy Haggar
  • Sara Evans
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar
  • Scott Baio
  • Sela Ward
  • Shannen Doherty
  • Shawnee Smith
  • Shirley Jones
  • Shirley Temple
  • Skrewdriver
  • Stephen Baldwin
  • Styx
  • Susan Lucci
  • Tammy Grimes
  • Ted Nugent
  • Tim Tebow
  • Tippi Hedrin
  • Tom Clancy
  • Tom Selleck
  • Tony Danza
  • Trace Adkins
  • Tracy Scoggins
  • Travis Tritt
  • Type O Negative
  • Victoria Jackson
  • Vince Flynn
  • Vincent Gallo
  • Wayne Newton
  • Wilfred Brimley
  • Yaphet Kotto
  • Yvette Mimieux
  • Zig Ziglar

The Interested American Ranking of the Presidents of the United States of America

Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington
John Adams
James K. Polk
William McKinley
Calvin Coolidge
William Taft
George W. Bush
Theodore Roosevelt
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry S. Truman
Benjamin Harrison
John F. Kennedy

Zachary Taylor
Benjamin Harrison
Ulysses Grant
Grover Cleveland
Chester Arthur
Martin Van Buren
John Tyler
William Henry Harrison

George HW Bush
John Q. Adams
Gerald Ford
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
Rutherford B. Hayes
Warren Harding
Andrew Johnson
James Buchanan
Herbert Hoover
Bill Clinton
Richard Nixon
Franklin D. Roosevelt
James Carter
Woodrow Wilson
Barack Hussein Obama
Lyndon Baines Johnson


45 Goals of the Communist Party (1963)

  • 01. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
  • 02. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
  • 03. Develop the illustion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
  • 04. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
  • 05. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
  • 06. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
  • 07. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
  • 08. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under the supervision of the U.N.
  • 09. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
  • 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
  • 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
  • 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
  • 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
  • 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
  • 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
  • 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
  • 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
  • 18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
  • 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
  • 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
  • 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
  • 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
  • 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
  • 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
  • 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
  • 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
  • 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
  • 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
  • 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
  • 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
  • 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
  • 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
  • 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
  • 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
  • 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
  • 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
  • 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
  • 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
  • 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
  • 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
  • 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
  • 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
  • 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
  • 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
  • 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

List of All United States Supreme Court Justices

Jay, John (1789-1795)
Rutledge, John (1789-1791), (1795)
Cushing, William (1789-1810)
Wilson, James (1789-1798)
Blair, John Jr. (1789-1795)
Iredell, James (1790-1799)
Johnson, Thomas (1791-1793)
Paterson, William (1793-1806)
Chase, Samuel (1796-1811)
Ellsworth, Oliver (1796-1800)
Washington, Bushrod (1798-1829)
Moore, Alfred (1799-1804)
Marshall, John (1801-1835)
Johnson, William Jr. (1804-1834)
Livingston, Henry Brockholst (1806-1823)
Todd, Thomas (1807-1826)
Duvall, Gabriel (1811-1835)
Story, Joseph (1811-1845)
Thompson, Smith (1823-1843)
Trimble, Robert (1826-1828)
McLean, John (1829-1861)
Baldwin, Henry (1830-1844)
Wayne, James Moore (1835-1867)
Barbour, Philip Pendelton (1836-1841)
Taney, Roger Brooke (1836-1864)
Catron, John (1837-1865)
McKinley, John (1837-1852)
Daniel, Peter Vivian (1841-1860)
Nelson, Samuel (1845-1872)
Woodbury, Levi (1845-1851)
Grier, Robert Cooper (1846-1870)
Curtis, Benjamin Robbins (1851-1857)
Campbell, John Archibald (1853-1861)
Clifford, Nathan (1858-1881)
Swayne, Noah Haynes (1862-1881)
Miller, Samuel Freeman (1862-1890)
Davis, David (1862-1877)
Field, Stephen Johnson (1863-1897)
Chase, Salmon Portland (1864-1873)
Strong, William (1870-1880)
Bradley, Joseph P. (1870-1892)
Hunt, Ward (1872-1882)
Waite, Morrison Remick (1874-1888)
Harlan, John Marshall (1877-1911)
Woods, William Burnham (1880-1887)
Matthews, Stanley (1881-1889)
Gray, Horace (1881-1902)
Blatchford, Samuel M. (1882-1893)
Lamar, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus (1888-1893)
Fuller, Melville Weston (1888-1910)
Brewer, David Josiah (1889-1910)
Brown, Henry Billings (1890-1906)
Shiras, George Jr. (1892-1903)
Jackson, Howell Edmunds (1893-1895)
White, Edward Douglass (1894-1921)
Peckham, Rufus Wheeler (1895-1909)
McKenna, Joseph (1898-1925)
Holmes, Oliver Wendell Jr. (1902-1932)
Day, William Rufus (1903-1922)
Moody, William Henry (1906-1910)
Lurton, Horace Harmon (1909-1914)
Hughes, Charles Evans (1910-1916), (1930-1948)
Van Devanter, Willis (1910-1941)
Lamar, Joseph Rucker (1910-1916)
Pitney, Mahlon (1912-1922)
McReynolds, James Clark (1914-1946)
Brandeis, Louis Dembitz (1916-1941)
Clarke, John Hessin (1916-1922)
Taft, William Howard (1921-1930)
Sutherland, George (1922-1942)
Butler, Pierce (1922-1939)
Sanford, Edward Terry (1923-1930)
Stone, Harlan Fiske (1925-1946)
Roberts, Owen Josephus (1930-1945)
Cardozo, Benjamin Nathan (1932-1938)
Black, Hugo Lafayette (1937-1971)
Reed, Stanley Forman (1938-1980)
Frankfurter, Felix (1939-1965)
Douglas, William Orville (1939-1980)
Murphy, Frank (1940-1949)
Byrnes, James Francis (1941-1942)
Jackson, Robert Houghwout (1941-1954)
Rutledge, Wiley Blount (1943-1949)
Burton, Harold Hitz (1945-1964)
Vinson, Frederick Moore (1946-1953)
Clark, Tom C. (1949-1977)
Minton, Sherman (1949-1965)
Warren, Earl (1953-1974)
Harlan, John Marshall (1955-1971)
Brennan, William Joseph Jr. (1956-1997)
Whittaker, Charles Evans (1957-1965)
Stewart, Potter (1958-1985)
White, Byron Raymond (1962-2002)
Goldberg, Arthur Joseph (1962-1965)
Fortas, Abe (1965-1969)
Marshall, Thurgood (1967-1993)
Burger, Warren Earl (1969-1995)
Blackmun, Harry Andrew (1970-1999)
Powell, Lewis Franklin Jr. (1971-1998)
Rehnquist, William Hubbs (1971-2005)
Stevens, John Paul (1975-2010)
O`Connor, Sandra Day (1981-2005)
Scalia, Antonin (1986-present)
Kennedy, Anthony McLeod (1988-present)
Souter, David Hackett (1990-2009)
Thomas, Clarence (1991-present)
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader (1993-present)
Breyer, Stephen Gerald (1994-present)
Roberts, John Glover Jr. (2005-present)
Alito, Samuel A. Jr. (2006-present)
Sotomayor, Sonia (2009-present)
Elana Kagan (2010-present)

Ranking Countries by Economic Freedom

Hong Kong
Singapore
Australia
New Zealand
Ireland
Switzerland
Canada
United States
Denmark
Chile
United Kingdom
Mauritius
Bahrain
Luxembourg
The Netherlands
Estonia
Finland
Iceland
Japan
Macau
Sweden
Austria
Germany
Cyprus
Saint Lucia
Georgia
Botswana
Lithuania
Belgium
South Korea
El Salvador
Uruguay
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Spain
Norway
Armenia
Qatar
Barbados
Mexico
Kuwait
Oman
Israel
Peru
United Arab Emirates
The Bahamas
Malta
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Latvia
Hungary
Jordan
Albania
Costa Rica
Trinidad and Tobago
Macedonia
Jamaica
Colombia
Malaysia
Panama
Slovenia
Portugal
Romania
France
Saudi Arabia
Thailand
Turkey
Montenegro
Madagascar
Dominica
Poland
South Africa
Greece
Italy
Bulgaria
Uganda
Namibia
Cape Verde
Belize
Kyrgyz Republic
Paraguay
Kazakhstan
Guatemala
Samoa
Fiji
Dominican Republic
Ghana
Mongolia
Lebanon
Burkina Faso
Morocco
Croatia
Rwanda
Egypt
Tunisia
Azerbaijan
Tanzania
Nicaragua
Honduras
Zambia
Kenya
Swaziland
Bhutan
Serbia
Algeria
Nigeria
Cambodia
Vanuatu
Philippines
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mozambique
Mali
Brazil
Indonesia
Benin
Gabon
Pakistan
Gambia
Senegal
Sri Lanka
Yemen
Malawi
Cote d'Ivoire
India
Moldova
Papua New Guinea
Tonga
Tajikistan
Niger
Nepal
Suriname
Cameroon
Mauritania
Guinea
Argentina
Ethiopia
Bangladesh
Laos
Djibouti
China
Haiti
Micronesia
Russia
Vietnam
Syria
Bolivia
Ecuador
Maldives
Sao Tome and Principe
Belarus
Equatorial Guinea
Central African Republic
Guyana
Angola
Lesotho
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Uzbekistan
Chad
Burundi
Togo
Ukraine
Liberia
Timor-Leste
Comoros
Kiribati
Guinea-Bissau
Iran
Republic of Congo
Solomon Islands
Turkmenistan
Democratic Republic of Congo
Libya
Venezuela
Burma
Eritrea
Cuba
Zimbabwe
North Korea

Not Indexed:
Afghanistan
Iraq
Liechtenstein
Sudan

Source: 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.


The Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.



Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.



Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.



Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.



Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.



Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.



Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.



Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.



Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.



Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Right to Work States

  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Wyoming

Top Conservative Colleges in America

Ave Maria University, CONS
Benedictine College, CONS
Brighham Young University, PR08, CONS,
Calvin College, USN06,
Cedarville University, EHOW
Christendom College, YAF10, CONS,
College of the Ozarks, YAF10, PR08,
Evangel University, CONS
Franciscan University of Steubenville, YAF10, CONS, EHOW
Grove City College, YAF10, PR08, CONS,
Harding University, YAF10
Hampden-Sydney College, PR08,
Hillsdale College, YAF10, PR08, CONS
The King's College, YAF10, CONS,
Liberty University, YAF10, USN06, CONS,
Newberry College, CONS
Ohio Wesleyan University, EHOW
Patrick Henry College, YAF10, CONS,
Regent University, YAF10
Saint Vincent College, YAF10
Thomas Aquinas College, YAF10, CONS,
Thomas More College, YAF10
United States Airforce Academy, PR08
United States Coast Guard Academy, CONS
United States Merchant Marine Academy, PR08
United States Naval Academy, PR08
University of Dallas, PR08, CONS
Wheaton College, PR08
Wisconsin Lutheran College, YAF10

Sources:
CONS — Conservapedia
EHOW — eHow.com
PR08 — Princeton Review 2008.
YAF10 — Young America's Foundation 2009-2010.
USN06 — US News and World Report 2006.

The Worst Mass Murderers in History

1. Mao Tse Tung (China) Roughly 70 million murdered.
2. Josef Stalin (Soviet Union) Roughly 23 million murdered.
3. Adolf Hitler (Germany) Roughly 12 million murdered.
4. Ismail Enver (Turkey) Roughly 2.5 million murdered.
5. Pol Pot (Cambodia) Roughly 1.7 million murdered.

Hirohito (Japan)
Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Kim Il Sung (North Korea)
Ion Antonescu (Romania)
Fidel Castro (Cuba)
Che Guevara (Argentina)
Robespierre (France)
Idi Amin (Uganda)
Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
Radovan Karadzic (Bosnia)
Francisco Franco (Spain)
Osama Bin Laden (Al-Qaeda)