I chose to be an American citizen. I was born in Uzbekistan a country which is majority Muslim which means it will be a primitive and backward country until it stops being a Muslim majority country. It is a genuine craphole which ranks 171st in GDP among the nations of the world and the only countries doing worse are from Africa or some small Polynesian Islands.

I would like to see those born in this country take the oath of allegiance and to be able to pass a test equal to the one required by immigrants. Those refusing to do so would have all the rights of citizenship except one: the right to vote. Of course, most liberals would not be able to swear allegiance to this country.

It is gratifying to see that Google is finally doing the right thing. It has an appropriate logo on their splash screen commemorating the day. On Memorial Day 2006 Google did not put up a distinctive logo to honor our fallen heroes.

Notes

(1):

The Jawa Report, 3 Jul 2009, Independence Day

What kind of men were the 56 signers who adopted the Declaration of Independence and who, by their signing, committed an act of treason against the crown? To each of you the names Franklin, Adams, Hancock, and Jefferson are almost as familiar as household words.

Most of us, however, know nothing of the other signers.

Who were they? What happened to them?

I imagine that many of you are somewhat surprised at the names not there: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry. All were elsewhere.

Ben Franklin was the only really old man. Eighteen were under 40; three were in their 20s. Of the 56 almost half -24- were judges and lawyers. Eleven were merchants, 9 were landowners and farmers, and the remaining 12 were doctors, ministers, and politicians.

With only a few exceptions, such as Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, these were men of substantial property.

All but two had families. The vast majority were men of education and standing in their communities. They had economic security as few men had in the 18th century.

Each had more to lose from revolution than he had to gain by it. John Hancock, one of the richest men in America, already had a price of 500 pounds on his head.

He signed in enormous letters so "that his Majesty could now read his name without glasses and could now double the reward." Ben Franklin wryly noted: "Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately." Fat Benjamin Harrison of Virginia told tiny Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts: "With me it will all be over in a minute, but you , you will be dancing on air an hour after I am gone.

These men knew what they risked. The penalty for treason was death by hanging. And remember: a great British fleet was already at anchor in New York Harbor.

They were sober men. There were no dreamy-eyed intellectuals or draft card burners here. They were far from hot-eyed fanatics, yammering for an explosion.

They simply asked for the status quo. It was change they resisted. It was equality with the mother country they desired. It was taxation with representation they sought. They were all conservatives, yet they rebelled.

It was principle, not property, that had brought these men to Philadelphia. Two of them became presidents of the United States. Seven of them became state governors. One died in office as vice president of the United States. Several would go on to be U.S. Senators.

N.B. Snopes has a report on stories similar to the one in Jawa Report article that disputes some of the material, although as noted in the comment section, they are minor corrections at best.