When, in the continuing course of human events, it again becomes increasingly necessary for the collective people of a free and democratic society, to dissolve political differences that previously divided them, and reaffirm the power of those principles by which this Great Nation were founded and assume again the separate and equal station anointed to them by God and the framework of the Constitution of these United States against a government lost in its own agenda, we affirm with this Declaration our grievances against the unlawful processes of the government and our intention of separation by election.
   We have throughout our history, embraced the self-evident truths of the equality of man, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, chief among them Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, which shall not through subversion or tyranny be abolished nor abridged but yet weighed as the foundation of a free society, nor shall the ambitions and success of individuality in a free-market to construed a right of the masses with confiscation and redistribution of wealth. —- We have created government amongst ourselves to uphold these truths, with limited powers, assigned to it by consent of those governed and held accountable for transgressions against the populace by any nature or action. That those appointed and approved by Popular vote shall at all times represent the collective voice and will of the people without self-service or benefit. —- That when that government of men becomes, within itself, an agent of repression and destructive to the ends by which it was created, it is the responsible and Divine Right of those governed to abolish and/or replace that Assembly or Office and ascend into power that Institution or body of men, which shall safeguard the peace and security of our Nation, without discrimination or retribution. And that for the sake of Prudence, such action shall only be effected after the acknowledged establishment of a long train of abuse or usurpations and not light and transient cause. That from the shadows of repression and despotism, it is the people’s right, their duty, to abolish that government and effect such safeguards as to provide for the future security of our collective States.
   We have forged amongst ourselves as freemen, a spirit of prosperity and well-being, and embrace the obligation of cooperation to share within our communities and society, voluntarily, portions of the blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator and the Laws of Nature, and the moral obligations as members of humanity, but which Government may not assign by laws or decree. And in that light, we have recognized our sufferings and injustices at the hands and temperament of This Administration, those sworn, and whose duty it is, to protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and we make this presentment of grievances against that Government and outline within this document, those injuries to freedom, peace and security which shall confirm our desires for change and seperation by election. Let these facts be presented to the governed, and the world, in order to justify the removal of absolute despotism from within the framework of our Government, and to show that we, the people, shall not be deprived those rights given us by the sacrifice, toil and blood of our forefathers.

• They conspired to place into the Office of the President of the United States a person unqualified by birth in accordance with the law set forth in the Constitution;

• They have, in unison, refused to abide by the principles of transparency in government, opting rather to proceed against the will and interests of the governed in the darkest shadows of deception;

• They have suspended and ignored the common will of the people, declaring themselves invested with Absolute Powers to legislate for us in whatever manner they deem appropriate.

• They have taken away or suspended our Constitutional Rights, abolished Laws and changed against the will of the people, the fundamental framework of our Government;

• They have combined with other nations to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving their assent to their Acts of Pretended Legislation;

• They have imposed upon us Taxes without our consent and in violation of the Constitution;

• They have attacked representative governments for opposing with manly firmness their invasions on the rights of the people;

• They have appointed individuals to positions of Absolute power and budget without congressional approval to achieve self-serving goals. and expanded the Government beyond its Constitutional allowance;
• They have declared war upon those seeking to exercise free speech and expression through intimidation and coercion;

• They have conspired with special-interest opportunities to advance and achieve personal agendas against the popular demands of their constituents;

• They have obstructed the Administration of Justice by unlawfully removing those persons legally and rightfully appointed to investigate and report illegal activities by organizations funded wholly, or in part, by the taxes imposed upon the populous;

• They have created a multitude of New Offices outside the framework and structure of law and sent officers to harass people and enforce personal agendas against the common laws. They have attempted to usurp Constitutional provisions through deception and secrecy, and against the collective will of the people;
• They have attempted to usurp Constitutional provisions through deception and secrecy, and against the collective will of the people;

• They have allowed criminal immigration into this country, refusing to enact provisions and laws that lead to the prosecution these individuals;

• They have refused to support and defend the military forces of this country by providing sufficient provisions or adequate force levels by which to achieve victory and stability;

• They have illegally appropriated taxpayer monies and property for personal gains;

• They have attempted through words and deeds to incite domestic unrest targeting opposition groups as “terrorists” and “extremists.”

   In each stage of these oppressions we have attempted to voice our desires for redress in peaceful protest and gathering, to be met only be injury and ignorance. A President, whose character is thus marked by every trait and act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be President of a free people.

   We, therefore, the people of these United States, in a General assembly, and by authority of Constitutional documents, solemnly publish and declare, that we are, and of Right shall remain, a free and independent people and abolish and absolve all allegiance to not the State, but rather the tyrannical administration and that we shall wage political revolution against repression and despotism.

IRS loses challenge to prove tax liability...
Lawyer acquitted after arguing income levy lacks legal foundation

"I believe that, in both spirit and substance, our tax system has come to be un-American. Death and Taxes may be inevitable, but unjust taxes are not!"
-- Ronald Reagan, White House Address to the Nation.

   When one considers how hard we work in order to keep what little many of us have and to provide for our families' basic needs, its frustrating to see the IRS, whether federal or state agencies, continue to raise taxes for frivolous pork-barrel projects and further intrusion into our lives by unconstitutional federal agencies.
   So when a person is able to stand up to the thugs who enforce these laws and win, it gives hope, if only for a fleeting moment, that maybe we ALL have a chance to restore government to the people of the United States.
   I want to make it clear though off the bat, that I am NOT an across-the-board tax protester... I understand the economics of infrastructure and providing for common defense and emergency services, whether it be on a local, state or national level. And THAT I don't have a problem with. What I AM in protest of is the blatant and unconstitutional authority government assumes with respect to our private lives... an ironic twist considering it was this totalitarian control we rebelled against nearly 225 years ago.
   This was again brought to mind following a news story this morning concerning an "Accident Tax" being levied in many municipalities nationwide to recoup the cost of emergency services called to investigate and assist following an accident.
   The "tax" is assessed against individuals involved in accidents in order to recoup the cost of fire, police and ambulance personnel and the services rendered in response to these incidents. Then why in the hell am I aying Personal Property and Real Estate taxes to begin with? Am I expected to not only pay my share of emergency services personnel salaries, but pay for them to actually DO their job as well? I guess it just reinforces the adage, "Any tax is a good tax..."
   The tax is currently active in some form of local government in 26 states, while 9 states have now banned the taxation outright as illegal and unconstitutional. There may be hope for government yet. So back to the main focus...

   The Internal Revenue Service recently lost a lawyer's challenge in a jury trial to prove a constitutional foundation for the nation's income tax, and the victorious attorney now is setting his sights higher.
   "I think people are beginning to realize this has got to be the largest fraud, backed up by intimidation and extortion and by the sheer force of taking peoples' property and hard-earned money without any lawful authorization whatsoever," lawyer Tom Cryer reflected just days after a jury in Louisiana acquitted him of two criminal tax counts.
   Although the legal citations in the case tend to run the length of paragraphs, Cryer explained the underlying issue is not that complicated. Essentially, he argued, income is not necessarily any money that comes to a person, but rather categories such as profit and interest.
   He said the free exchange of labor for compensation has been upheld as a right by the Supreme Court, but that doesn't necessarily make the compensation income.
   If ever such an argument were to be presented widely, Cryer said, the income to the federal government would plummet. But not to worry, he said, the expenses could be reduced equally by eliminating programs, departments and agencies that also have no foundation in the Constitution.

"Income tax is the instrument of totalitarianism, it is the means by which the government can manipulate people and put you into a condition of servitude."
-- G. Edward Griffin

   "The Founding Fathers intentionally restricted the taxing powers of the new federal government as a measure of restraint on its size," he explained. By exceeding that limited taxing authority the federal government has been able to obtain resources beyond its intended reach, and that money has enabled the federal government to exceed its authority."
   For example, he said, the Constitution does not empower the federal government to regulate education, or employment, and agriculture, yet it does so.
   The jury in U.S. District Court in Louisiana voted 12-0 to find Cryer, of Shreveport, not guilty of failure to file income taxes for two years. He had been indicted in 2006 on charges of failing to pay $73,000 to the IRS in 2000 and 2001. The next step in his personal case will be up to the IRS and prosecutors, if they choose to continue the issue, he said.
   "There are three points that are important," he commented. "There's no law making the average working man liable [for income taxes], there's no law or regulation that allows the IRS to contend that earnings are 100 percent profit received in exchange for nothing, and the right to earn a living through any lawful occupation is a constitutionally protected fundamental right, and it is exempt from taxation."
   When asked about this comment, spokesman Robert Marvin in Washington's IRS office said the Internal Revenue Code provides for taxation on salaries or wages, but when pressed for a specific citation, or constitutional provision, he said, "I can't comment."
   He said throughout his battle [with the IRS], he's offered at every turn to pay taxes if the IRS could show him the authorization, and that never has happened.
   "The Criminal Investigation Division and Department of Justice both responded only with 'your position is frivolous.' I had never stated a position, so how could they know whether it was frivolous or not?" he said. "Imagine me sending you a bill for $1,000 and when you call and ask what the bill is for I simply say, 'that position is frivolous, just write the check and send it in.'"
   His acquittal, he said, was a precedent because it means "people can see and recognize the truth."
  He said multiple Supreme Court opinions have affirmed an individual's ownership of his or her own labor, and exercising your fundamental rights" is not taxable. "It is definitely a trade. What most people receive in the form of wages, salaries or in my case fees that they personally earned for their labor is not received in exchange for nothing."
   He said there might be a profit that should be taxable, but there might not.
   "The IRS lets Wal-Mart sell a [billion] dollars worth of goods, but they can back out their cost of goods [before being taxed,]" he said. "The IRS considers, in the case of a Wal-Mart wage earner, 100 percent of what he takes in is profit."
   "But he's using his life, energy and work lifespan, and depleting it as he goes," Cryer explained. "[Working] is a God-given fundamental right that is protected under the Constitution and can't be taxed any more than exercising freedom of speech."
   While he waits to see what, if anything, the IRS and Justice Department will do next in his case, he's working to coordinate the groups that are battling taxation as unconstitutional.
   "I have started a campaign to unify [the work] and we've got a number of organizations that are sponsoring and supporting this campaign," he said. The goal is to get everyone "who is aware of the truth" organized so they can spread the word.
   He warned without a restoration of constitutional basics, the nation is lost.
   "Read your Constitution and you will see that the federal role does not include ANY authority to regulate or tax any citizen directly and that WE expressly reserved the right to rule and govern ourselves as States, not as mere political subdivisions," his website says.
   "The Constitution does not allow the government to run your lives, but the money it is stealing from millions of Americans is the fuel for its over-reaching and kibitzing. Take the money back and we and our states and communities can again be free," he said.
   The fight is over "our FREEDOM from rule by a DISTANT RULER, just as we fought to free ourselves of a distant England over 200 years ago," he said.

The White Paper Report
"...because not everything in life is black & white"

"...there has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayers' expense, when even Hillary (Clinton) had three; Jackie Kennedy, one; Laura Bush, one, and prior to Mamie Eisenhower, social help came from the President's own pocket."

Fact: According to the 2009 Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff, as of July 1, 2009, there are currently 16 staff members with a title specifically indicating they work for Michelle Obama. In other words, there are 16 people with "First Lady" specifically in their title such as Dana Lewis, Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady, with an annual salary of $60,000.
   The 29-page report lists not only Michelle Obama's staff but collateral employees assigned dual positions such as Camille Johnston who serves as both Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communication for the First Lady with an annual salary of $102,000. Additionally, the report lists six other staffers who do not have "First Lady" in their title but are a part of the Michele Obama's office staff, such as Desiree Rogers, Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary ($113,000), and Natalie Bookey, Staff Assistant ($36,000).

Claim: "There has never been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady’s social life."
Fact: Kim Coryat, an archives technician at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, explained it can be difficult to nail down a precise count of staff considering "White House staffing for all offices ebbs and flows with time." However, she further explained that White House telephone directory records indicate Hillary Clinton had at least a staff of 13 as of October 1993; 18 as of April 1997; and 19 as of March 2000.

   With respect to Laura Bush, Katie McCormick Lelyveld, Michelle Obama’s press secretary, emphasized that Obama's staff is conparable to Bush's in size and resembles a very similar staffing model. We were able to verify that Laura Bush maintained a staff of some 24 assistants, though the actual number fluctuated in accordance to event requirements while 18 maintained a reference to the "First Lady" in their title. Additionally, the combined annual salaries for the 22 staffers we can specifically identify as working for Michelle Obama comes to $1.6 million. For the 18 we could identify as working for Laura Bush in 2008, the total is $1.4 million.
   What is most disturbing about the facts surrounding the "Office" of First Lady is that while she is assigned NO specific duties or job function, she employes more personnel than most corporate CEO's and in true Washington bureaucratic redundancy, maintains "special assistants to the executive Assisant to the Director of..." And none of this takes into account her hair stylist and clothing designer.
   Case in point, Camille Johnston, Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady, $102,000; Catherine Lelyveld, Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady, $84,000; Tyler Lechtenberg, Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady, $45,000; Deilia Jackson, Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady, $36,000. But equally disturbing, there are some 30 unspecified "Staff" and "Executive" assistants assigned to the White House and First Lady.
   We can conclude nothing from this report except that the Obama White House, in their pledge to decrease the rate of unemployment in America, has taken the lead by increasing administration staff in positions that provide no tangible benefit to the gross national product but rather contribute to the increase in national debt... however minor in substance.

Credits for this Report:
FactCheck.org
Canada Free Press
White House/Office of the Press Secretary
Congressional Record
The Last Crusade

Posted May 29, 2009
The Agnostic Review

The Origins Of Agnosticism:
How I Fell from Grace...

AGNOSTIC
Pronunciation: \ ag-näs-tik, əg-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek agnōstos unknown, unknowable, from a- + gnōstos known, from gignōskein to know
1. a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable: broadly one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god...

I really can't count the number of times I've been asked, "Do you believe in God?" There was a time I wouldn't have hesitated to answer yes. But I find the cynicism born of a half-century of experience (did I REALLY just say "a half-century?") coupled with the contradictions of religion, and the hypocrisy that follows behind as if it were the Pied Piper, has raised doubts and questions about the true existence of a God. A God that would allow His "children" to suffer through a world full of disgust and violence while at times appearing to reward the most vile among us. I've seen no physical manifestation of God in ANY form short of a sunrise and the birth of a child. I've personally witnessed no miraculous healings.
Most importantly though, I've found it increasing more difficult to justify the terms by which God allows up to spend eternity in paradise. I found the following recently that somewhat summed up the rational argument many agnostics and atheists alike share in common. In a roundabout way I want first to explain why I am NOT an agnostic. It may help in providing answers for those who are still confused:

I am NOT an Agnostic because...

I hate God
I prayed to God and my prayers weren’t answered
Militant/fundamentalist atheists converted me away from God
I worship science and the works of man instead of God
I’m rebelling against God like I rebelled against my parents & teachers in high school
I think I’m better than God
I had a bad experience with a priest or church or religious person
I can’t decide which religion to subscribe to
Agnosticism is my religion
I think religious people are idiots
I worship Batman
I worship Satan
I’m immoral/amoral and would rather do what I want
I want to destroy religion

Hopefully one can see that the reasons behind agnosticism are somewhat complex taken in definition beside each bullet. I didn't just wake up one day and say to myself, "Well, that was fun, let's be agnostic for a while", but rather slowly drifted without recognition that my mind was seeing things around me that were tipping the scales in favor of a universe created by something but not what mainstream Christianity may believe.
I have ALWAYS believed religion would be the death of Christianity. As I look around me I see more and more people becoming disenchanted with its interpretation, its abuse and its specific discrimination against individuals whose relationship with God as they see him is tantamount to a banishment from paradise. The reasons for me are not much more varied than those of others who have genuine concerns and questions, mainly...

• religious people often tend to pick & choose from, or “interpret” their holy texts, discarding what does not conform to modern standards of morality, law & political freedom; they then bizarrely imply that modern morality, law and political freedom rests on the foundations of their particular religion...
• many Christian churches seem primarily concerned with attracting money and keeping it rather than using it charitably, building huge monuments to themselves...
• as well as innumerable separate religions; there are so many separate & often violently opposed sects within each that it is more likely that none of them are correct rather than just one of them being so...
• there is such a wide spectrum of religious belief & adherence to dogma, ranging from light, barely-existent deism to the kind of rigid fundamentalism that oppresses and kills many, many people in its name, that it leads me to conclude that either their God wasn’t clear enough with his message, didn’t spread it to enough people or that humans have basically made their religions, and associated rules, up as they went along and have been in conflict with each other about them ever since...
• many religious people & groups attempt to cherry-pick science (as they do their scriptures) for those parts which conform to their belief system while actively denying others, e.g. creationists agreeing with “microevolution” while denying “macroevolution” (which is like believing that matches cannot start bushfires) or attempting to use the Second Law of Thermodynamics to debunk the theory of evolution (which is like adjudicating a baseball game with a cricket rulebook)...
• some religious groups deny the efficacy of modern medicine in favor of treating an ill person with prayer, a practice which has led to many preventable deaths, often of children...
• they all make extraordinary claims based on their scriptures, provide no evidence beyond referring to their (unsurprisingly) self-confirming scriptures and then insist that the onus is on non-believers to disprove their claims...
• many religions have become inextricably intertwined with the laws of the patriarchal or tribal cultures which spawned or adopted them, leading to divine justifications for such horrors as female circumcision and “honour killings”, which more often than not punish women, already under the thumbs of domineering males, for seemingly minute transgressions of law...

That, I hope, clearly sums up both why I am NOT an agnostic and some of the reasons why I find it difficult to have an across-the-board, blind-faith attitude in my beliefs about who God really is. And in a parochial defense, I'm exploring more reasons each day as to why I should return to the embrace of a belief I once held firmly and defended.

This is not an easy road. When you look into the mirror of belief, what you find staring back may not always be the person you want to see. I'm the only one that can make the decisions that cement the foundations of my relationship with God and while I have had unbiased support from a wide variety of people, its taken some time to sort out the contradictions.

Faith, in its purest form, is a blind dedication to an understanding that can't necessarily be proven by reason or intellect. There's no physical manifestation that confronts you with undeniable truth. Maybe that's my problem. Maybe I'm become, in the latter years, cynical of the world around me. Maybe I can't have faith in the deity of a god because I just don't have faith in myself...

Will there be some blinding light that strikes me as it did the Apostle Paul, waylaying my doubts and concerns? I tend to believe not. I believe everything I need to seek out the truth in undeniable terms is right in front of the my eyes already. But that distance between the heart and mind, as I've stated already, is one of the longest and most difficult journeys I have to make, blindly heading toward a destination that can't be zeroed in on with GPS.

The spiritual implosion that left me where I am today can only be restructured once the past has been bulldozed from the site and the groundwork laid for a new foundation. Only then can I begin to rebuild a relationship I once had. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, it will be an all or nothing proposition, no half-hearted hypocrisy, no half-ass efforts on my part... Maybe I should be glad there's a carpenter on my side.

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Posted May 26, 2009The Agnostic Review

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