United States of America Bill of Rights

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

PISICUŢĂ

This is the name that was given to me by the Romanian Captain that worked with us on our missions in Afghanistan in 2004. Radu Paderescu was on our team, and an awesome guy. In fact, I got along well with all the Romanians. They provided our security most of the time, and I felt safer with them than I did with American security.

I met a lot of great people from Romania and I want to go visit them. I have a lot of respect for them and their country. They don't have a lot, but they love their country and their people. They would always be telling me about how pretty Romania was, and they would always talk about the history and folklore of the country.

I can't really say that for Americans. I love my country so much, but so many people take what we have here for granted. They think that they are owed what they have, and more. Americans say so many negative things about this country and it's leadership - in a country like Afghanistan, they would be killed for saying such things.

While overseas in Kandahar Afghanistan, I didn't have much. I lived in a tent with five other guys stationed there that were attached to my unit. I was the only female from the 320 Psyop Company there, and running combat missions almost every day - though I never received fire. It was hard work, but so interesting to be able to talk to the people outside the wire. My job was amazing, but disheartening to see what people in a third world country have to go through.

Well, it's been four years and I still think about Afghanistan and my time there. In a way, I miss it. I made a lot of friends there. Mostly Romanian friends, and I started to learn the language. I could understand a little bit, and speak even less - but it was fun.

So i'm still saving up for my trip to Romania, and I really hope my friends are still there. By the way, PISICUŢĂ means kitten in Romanian. It was my nickname because I was the youngest person and the only female on our team.

Calling You

This has been my absolute favorite song lately. I'm not what anyone would call a romantic person, but this is really beautiful. Every song that I've heard by Blue October I would consider very inspiring.

Calling You

by Blue October

Theres something that i cant quite explain
i'm so in love with you
you'll never take that away

and if i said a hundred times before
expect a thousand more
you never take that away

well expect me to be
calling you to see
if you're ok when i'm not around
asking if you love me
i love the way you make it sound
calling you to see
do i try too hard to make you smile
to make a smile

well i will keep calling you to see
if you're sleepin are you dreamin and
if you're dreamin are you dreamin of me
i cant believe
you actually picked...me

i thought that the world had lost its sway
(its so hard sometimes)
then i fell in love with you
(then came you)
and you took that away
(its not so difficult, the world is not so difficult)
you take away the old
show me the new
and i feel like i can fly
when i stand next to you
so what if I'm on this phone
a hundred miles from home
i take the words you gave
and send them back to you

i only want to see
if you're ok when i'm not around
asking if you love me
i love the way you make it sound
calling you to see
do i try too hard to make you smile
to make a smile

i will keep calling you to see
if you're sleepin are you dreamin and
if you're dreamin are you dreamin of me
i cant believe
you actually picked...me

well i will keep calling you to see
if you're sleepin are you dreamin and
if you're dreamin are you dreamin of me
i cant believe
you actually picked...me

i will keep calling you to see
if you're sleepin are you dreamin and
if you're dreamin are you dreamin of me
i cant believe
you actually picked...me

Cherry Blossom Bathroom?

My bathroom decor for the last few years has been, well, kind of childish. I've always liked rubber ducks, but now that my life is going in a different direction I've thought a lot about how I wanted my bathroom to look.

I have two options. I really like vertical stripes. They look nice, and since they have lots of colors usually, they would go with almost anything. I also like the look of a red and black cherry blossom motif. In fact, I think I like that better. But unlike the vertical stripes look, it's been more difficult for me to find cherry blossom bathroom decor - even online, and most of what I've found isn't exactly what I'm looking for.

I have decided to go with the vertical stripes. Its much more me. :)

Is there a God?

That's an interesting question. I do believe there is a God. And I believe that you don't have to attend church to prove it. But when somebody asks me, "If He is a loving God, why would He let bad things happen to good people?" I'm stumped. Why would he? And the reason that everything happens for a reason is kinda hokey. That just sounds like an excuse.

I was brought up to believe that faith was most important. You don't question it - God is there. God loves me. God wants me to go to heaven. God died for my sins. But why? Why would he take the time to do all that, and yet let bad things happen. Look at the world now - wars, famines, floods, tornados, earthquakes, cancer, murder. And most of the people that are affected aren't bad people. They were in the wrong spot at the wrong time when God got mad.

Don't get me wrong. I love God, I always have. But I have always had doubts that no one could answer since I was in high school. I keep getting the cliche answer, "Everything happens for a reason..." I believe that though, I just want a more detailed answer once in a while.

I still believe that there was a reason that I decided to join the Army. To go through that matured me for the most part. I don't know what that reason was though - I'm not really a people person anymore. I can't "bring people to God." And I refuse to be a hypocrite. I can't stand those people who go to church on Sunday, but then the rest of the week God is the furthest thing on their mind. If I go to church on Sunday, it's because my family asks me to, and so I can see them. I don't believe that God is keeping a tally of the Sunday's that I make it to church, and that's a reason why I will or won't get into heaven. I believe that a relationship with God is important, and it should be private. If your relationship with God is out in the open for anybody to see, then its a show and not meant.

But I'm getting off the subject. Why would God allow bad things to happen to good people? Is it to teach them a lesson? To prove to them that people they love can be taken away at any moment?

I just need answers. What do I tell people that ask me that? And I'm not going to give the answer, "Everything happens for a reason..."

My cats...

Swiffer, my siamese queen

Coaster, friendly and curious

Trigger, my cuddly lap cat

MC Hammer, arnry and into everything

New Blog

Well, I guess we'll see how this works. I will write, and you will read. Sound good? Yeah, me too. I have different interests that I will be typing about - so you will get to know me better. Here are some things about me that I bet you didn't know...

Favorites...
1. Number - 7
2. TV Show - Law and Order - Criminal Intent and SVU
3. Sound - Trains, driving on concrete, and rain on a metal roof
4. Kid - My nephew, Jonathan. (actually, the only kid I like)
5. Quote - A misty morning does not signify a cloudy day...

I don't look at expiration dates when shopping, I like to drive, I love movies with a lot of action/violence/drama and not a fan of romance crap, I like music that means something and that I can sing to, etc...

Well, this is a start for you getting to know me... enjoy.