SpaceX in Orbit

This is so cool....

HAWTHORNE, CA – Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announces that Flight 4 of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle has successfully launched and achieved Earth orbit. With this key milestone, Falcon 1 becomes the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.

Oh, a lot of folks are impressed that the Chinese have also put men in orbit and performed a space walk this week. Well I am not impressed. The United States and the USSR both did that over 40 years ago. So I'm not very impressed.

All Tournament

I made a quick run out of town today to watch my oldest daughter and her varsity volleyball team compete in the 25th annual Scorpion Volleyball Tournament at Hesperia High School in Hesperia.

Her team did OK in the tournament. There were 10 teams divided into two pools of 5. In pool A the Burroughs team beat Victor Valley Christian 25-22, they beat San Gabriel 25-16, they lost to the host team Hesperia 23-25 and beat Lucerne Valley 25-14 for a second place finish in their pool.

Since the top two teams in each pool played this afternoon in the Championship Bracket. In the first semifinal Burroughs had to face the number one team from pool B - Quartz Hill. This was not a pleasant match for the Burroughs as they lost in straight games 14-25 and 12-25. Quartz Hill had three really good hitters to did a masterful job of hitting around the Burroughs blockers while completely overwhelming the back row defenders.

In the 3rd place match Burroughs faced Victor Valley. After leading most of the game the Burros got themselves to a 22-19 lead and then several of the senior members of the team decided the game was won and dialed in the rest of the game. They lost 23-25. The frustration over this loss carried over into the next game where it pretty much just took over the entire team. They lost the second game 13-25.

The team went home with a fourth place finish out of 10 teams and they got a pretty good look as several teams that they will have to play against when conference play starts in a couple weeks.

For our family the highlight of the day was my daughter being awarded an All Tournament award. This award means that in the opinion of the tournament organizers she was the best volleyball player from Burroughs High School on the court today.

I agree with them completely. Although I think their sophomore outside hitter probably gave my daughter a good run for the money in the voting. But that is just my opinion.

Who Am I?

This has flashed through my email several times in the last couple days.

Who Am I?


I am under 45 years old,
I love the outdoors,
I hunt,
I am a Republican reformer,
I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
I have many children,
I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president,
I have less than two years experience in the governor's office.


I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900.


And he ended up on Mount Rushmore

An Honest Politician?

Finally a breath of fresh air?

A hint of honesty?

A politician saying what he really thinks?

Yesterday on Good Morning American while discussing negative campaign ads Barack Obama made this comment:

"If we're going to ask questions about, you know, who has been promulgating negative ads that are completely unrelated to the issues at hand, I think I win that contest pretty handily,"

Now if I was a cynic I would say that he obviously meant to say that John McCain should win the unrelated attack ads contest. But in this case I think we may have actually caught a politician telling the truth.

Big-O? Are you paying attention?

This is a campaign ad for John McCain. But it is also a lesson to everyone out there who thinks that the war in Iraq was a mistake.

It is less than 2 minutes long. Watch the whole thing.

$3.69

Gas in Mojave, a wide spot in the road about 45 miles from here is $3.69 a gallon.

Gas in Bakersfield just 90 miles away is $3.69 a gallon.

Why the hell are we paying $4.15 a gallon here in Ridgecrest?

9-11

I thought long and hard all day about what to write about the seventh anniversary of the attacks of 9-11-2001.

First off, I don't intend to spend the day "remembering" 9-11. How the hell will I ever forget it. Fox News spent the day telling us that 9-11 was the day American changed. I disagree. 9-11 was the day that American finally admitted the truth - we had been under attack by islamic extremists for over 25 years leading up to 9-11. The attacks on the world trade centers were just a wake up call for most Americans who were too caught up in their day to day existence to pay attention enough to realize that we were already at war, we just wouldn't admit it.

I don't like to think of 9-11 as the day America changed. Because so much of America hasn't changed. A large portion of the population still doesn't recognize the dangers we face. A large portion still will not recognize that some wars must be fought. A large portion of the population still hates our military and everything they stand for.

So for me today was a day to memorialize the 3000 Americans who lost their lives on 9-11-2001. But in the fight against terror and tyrany, it was just another day. The enemy is still out there. The war goes on. In that regard, today is just like yesterday and just like tomorrow will be.

Carrot Sneeze

It is slowly becoming fall around here. That means that there is something in the air that is making me sneeze. It's not a lot of sneezing. But several times a day I really let loose with a series of loud, usually unexpected sneezes.

I discovered something yesterday. Sneezing with a mouth full of freshly chewed carrot is messy. Well, not as messy as it could have been if I hadn't gotten my hand up in front of my mouth in time.

There, never let it be said that I don't occasionally supply more information about my life than any normal decent person should ever know.

and yes, I did wash my hands.

Sarah Palin

I had read several rumors the last few months about who John McCain's running mate may end up being. I discounted most of them. After all the people spreading the rumors didn't know or have any more information than I did, and I certainly didn't know who he was going to pick. The only thing I knew for certain was that it wasn't me. After all, no one had called to get any information for the vetting process.

I won't mince words here. I am not a John McCain fan. I admire the hell out of the guy, but his pro illegal immigration attitude and the fact that he has bought into the global climate fraud are enough that I do not want him to be President. However, I am getting used to not voting for a President. Ronald Reagan's second term was the last time I walked into a voting booth and voted FOR a President. Usually I spend several minutes trying to decide who to vote for based on my guess as to who as the best opportunity to beat the guy (or girl) that I am voting against.

I had resigned myself that this election would be no different. I would be casting a vote against Barack Obama. The only thing that would change my mind on that would be John McCain's Vice-President selection. Personally I was hoping for Governor Bobby Jindal from Louisiana. My second choice was Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas.

Sarah Palin didn't come out of the blue as far as I was concerned. Her name had been tossed around by the media for several weeks. I had read up on some of her background but didn't really think of her as a serious contender, until last week.

This week is totally different. What I have read about this woman has me totally impressed. The fact that the liberal antique media is trying to generate a fire storm of controversy over her is even better news. Anyone who has the liberals in this country that scared of her, has got to be doing something right.

I especially like that all of the attacks are personal. Politically they don't seem to be able to find a chink in her armor. Its like Margaret Thatcher said:

“When they attack one personally it means they haven’t a single political argument left.”

So this election I am taking a different approach. Something I have never tried before. I am voting for a vice-president.

25%

The Burroughs High School Freshman Volleyball Team made their final cuts last night. They started freshman tryouts last week. Since then they made three cuts. One of the six players who played in Middle School for me last year did not make the second cut. This really surprised me. I was sure this player would do really well in High School. Once she got cut, I got really worried. I suddenly realized that if the new coaches at the high school were willing to cut a girl who was probably the best defensive specialist the had in the tryouts, then they would be willing to cut anyone.

Actually there was one girl who is a better defensive specialist than the one they cut. But she is also the best setter at the tryouts. So they probably won't be playing her as a defensive specialist.

When the tryouts started I was sure that all six of my players would make the team. They were, to me, the best six volleyball players at the tryouts. So when one of them got cut, suddenly, I got nervous. This nervousness manifested itself in me not sleeping well, or not at all, for the last week.

So last night I finished with my middle school practice at 7 PM. One of my players was waiting outside for her ride home when I left. Her older sister was one of my players trying out for the freshman team. Since her mother was picking up her sister, then coming for her, I told my assistant coach that she could go and I would wait with my player. I figured this was the quickest way for me to find out how the final cuts went.

So my youngest daughter and I tortured my player while waiting for her ride. Waiting for a ride while I wait with them is usually torture for my players, because I force them to talk to me. I'm not talking about what passes for conversation between many middle school girls and adults. They cannot just respond to my questions with monosyllable grunts. They have to talk to me.

After a few minutes which I am sure to my player felt like several hours her ride pulled into the parking lot. I could see her sister in the back seat but could not see her face clearly. I got up and started to walk towards the car and felt like I was walking with cement blocks on my feet. My thoughts were a massive jumble of what-ifs. What do I say if any of them got cut? What do I say or do depending on which one got cut? What if this? What if that? I was almost physically sick. I had been waiting for two weeks for this news and suddenly I didn't think I really wanted to know what happened. I was trying to decide whether to keep walking towards that car or just turn around and run away.

Then suddenly the back door of the car opened, and the brightest ray of sunshine I have ever seen leapt out with a huge smile on her face and both hands raised in the air and yelled "We all made it."

Suddenly, for the first time in 9 days I felt like I could breathe again. Just that easily all my what-ifs just vanished. I tried to talk to her parents for a few minutes but I am afraid that I may have been babbling. I did manage to gather myself together long enough to make it clear to my ex-player (which is not fully true, she is planning on playing on my club team again this winter. But for the next 10 weeks she has a different coach) that I never for the briefest moment doubted her, nor any of her teammates, ability to to make that freshman team. The only doubts I had were about the new coach's abilities to recognize talented players when they saw them.

So the point to this posting is to brag a little bit on my five girls who will be all wearing BHS green during this upcoming volleyball season.

The title, 25% is a little bragging on the five newest Burros freshmen and my volleyball players who have come before these five. Burroughs High School is the only public high school in this town. Each year the student body averages somewhere around 1700 students. Of those 1700 students, graduates from Saint Ann Middle School make up about 1.8% of the student body.

The three volleyball teams at Burroughs High School are made up of 36 girls. Twelve freshmen, twelve Junior Varsity and twelve varsity. Out of those 36 high school volleyball players 9 of them graduated from Saint Ann School. That is where the 25% title comes from. Our students make up 1.8% of the student body, but 25% of the volleyball team. We have five freshmen, 3 JV players and one Varsity player (my oldest daughter) playing volleyball in high school. The best part of this is hopefully we can up that percentage next year. The oldest of the Saint Ann Players is only a Junior. I only have three 8th grade players this year and I'm sure that one of them will make the freshman team next year. The other two are going to need a lot of work. But we have a year to get them ready. We will have to wait and see.

The hardest thing about all this is trying to get to all the high school games. I have my middle school teams who need to be my first priority. But I now have nine other reasons, who are all very precious to me, to be in the stands cheering on the high school volleyball teams.

It is going to be a very busy volleyball season.

Gender Determination?

Mike of the Mike On Ads blog has created a little tool that will scan your browsers history and try and determine if you are a male or female based on your browsing habits.

So I decided to give it a try. My results were:

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 5%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 95%

This is a great relief to me. I was getting worried. I spend a lot of my free time around tween and teen aged volleyball players. I worry that in some ways these young ladies are starting to effect my brain. I find myself wondering about what they are thinking, what they are feeling and stuff like that. That kind of thinking worries me at times. I'm a guy, and I'm not supposed to be worrying about stuff like that.

So this week I started preparing for the new middle school volleyball season to start next week. I was making some notes to myself about a few things to concentrate on this season.

Note No. 1 - It doesn't matter what they are feeling and thinking as long as they are running laps and suicides while they are thinking and feeling it.

Note No. 2 - If she starts crying, she obviously has too much time on her hands and needs to be doing more push-ups.

Note No. 3 - Nothing fixes a sad or depressed mood like spiking till you puke.

But now that I know that at least my browsing habits verify that I'm still a guy maybe it will be OK if I go ahead and worry about what my players are thinking and feeling during this season. Maybe it will be OK for me to concentrate on making sure my players are having fun and playing like a team instead of just running them into the ground.

Or, maybe I should start just leaving myself notes like:

DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY YOU SISSY!

USS New York

The Amphibious Transport Dock: USS New York(LPD-21), was partially constructed from 24 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Centers.

"An amphibious transport dock (also called a landing platform dock or LPD) is a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions."

The USS New York will be commissioned into military service with the US Navy in New York City on September 12th 2009. Exactly 8 years and a day after Al-Qaeda terrorists destroyed the World Trade Centers the very buildings themselves will be joining the fight against them.

Vocabulary Score

Not bad for a guy who got Cs and Bs in English in high school. Maybe all the reading I have done in my life has been good for something after all. Even if I do waste my time reading all that Sci-fi and fantasy crap.

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Earthquake!

There was a 5.4 earthquake down in Chino Hills yesterday. If you watch the main stream media, you might think that California has broken up and fallen into the Pacific Ocean. The rest of the country should be so lucky. Sorry we are all still here.

Now, all this carrying on over a 5.4 earthquake is just silly. For most California residents a 5.4 earthquake is a lot like a tropical storm is to Florida. With a 5.4 earthquake things get shaken up a bit. But there usually isn't much damage. Like with Tropical storms, for the most part everything just gets wet.

For the uninitiated I have stolen from Erin a guide to understanding earthquake intensities:

A 3.0 is a CalPoly 'cause you have to be in the room with a seismograph to notice it.

A 3.5 is a Dish Rattler

A 4.0 is a Dog Barker because the dog barks like she does when the garbage truck goes by or a mouse farts behind the baseboard. Cats will hide in the closet and demand that Something Be Done; natural political action committees, most cats.

A 4.5 is a Car Alarm for obvious reasons, though you have to be close by for it to trigger. They sell a gadget to hang on your wall that works just like a car alarm; it scares hell out of you for no reason at the oddest times.

A 5.0 is a Hug-a-Tourist. That's when a perfect stranger in the mall grabs you and hangs on for dear life and you know they're from out of town.

A 5.5 is a Ceiling Check, all the natives and people who've been here for twenty years or more will look up then at the nearest door, just to make sure they know where it is.

A 6.0 is a Kneehole, you get down on the floor and scoot under your desk and you pull your idiot friend from Iowa who's still looking at the ceiling under with you.

A 6.5 is a T-Shirt Slogan, you can buy one that says, "I survived the such-and-such earthquake" afterwards.

A 7.0 is a Wake-Up-The-Governor to call the National Guard; they may need to go dig some unlucky people out from under collapsed buildings and freeways.

A 7.5 is what Californians call a Real Earthquake.

An 8.0 is The Big One.

AAA Jumps Ship

California State Automobile Association, an affiliate of the national AAA, announced it is closing all three of its call centers in the state at a loss of 900 jobs.

Is the California State Automobile Association going to change its name to the Arizahoma State Automobile Association?

Spokeswoman Cynthia Harris was quite blunt about the reason: "It costs more to do business in California than other states." Her group will now will be answering calls from California motorists from new centers in lower-cost Arizona and Oklahoma.

We have the California Car Culture here. Sometimes it seems like everything in this state is all about the car you drive. If you look at almost any advertisement for the State of California and a predominate feature of them all is - cars. Yet the one orgaization in the state dedicated solely to drivers, the California Automobile Association is leaving the state because of the onerous cost of doing business in Taxifornia.

How about we get our state legislature and our RINO Governator Arnold to outsource themselves to Arizona or Oklahoma? That way they can harass someone else for a while and leave us poor working stiff alone.

700

According to Blogger this is my 700th entry into this blog. Considering that when I started this I could only think of about 20 things to say I guess that since I managed to ramble on for 680 entries more than that must mean that I have a lot more crap floating around in my brain that I thought was necessary to share with you than I thought I would.

Now the depressing part. 700 blog entries since March 11, 2005. That is 700 posts in 1225 days. Which works out to one an entry every 1.75 days.

Which doesn't really make me very prolific. Now my critics will tell you that me not being prolific is a good thing. My response to those folks is if I bore you, piss you off, or insult you, don't click over here any more. If that doesn't satisfy you than I can shorted it to "Bite Me."

If you like what I write here and want me to write more, be patient, I am trying. My life has changed a lot since I started this blog. My kids are older and while they don't seem to need more of my attention, they do need more of my time. Gone are the days when I could sit at the computer and work with a bundled baby laying on my lap or on the desk between my chest and the keyboard. (try typing like that some time. It will do wonderfully horrible things to your wrists and shoulders. But it kept the baby quiet so my dear wife could sleep.)

I am now a volunteer volleyball coach for 8 months a year instead of just 2.5 months a year. This takes up a lot of my free time. I described to a friend a while back that coaching this club team was like having 13 kids. Three of my own, and 10 extra daughters that I only get to see 3 days a week on the volleyball court. But in between the practices and the games there is a lot of other stuff to do. Practice plans, travel plans, newsletters for parents, pictures, paperwork, etc. But as time consuming as this has been, I can't imagine not doing it. My one regret is that I waited so many years to start doing this.

I have a new job that is not as flexible with my hours as my older job was. This doesn't really cut into my blogging, but it is an handy excuse that I have been using for other things way too often lately.

Well it's late and needed to be in bed a couple hours ago. I have to get up and go to that new pain in the neck job early in the morning.

Quiz

All my kids were making and taking this quiz. So I got badgered into making one also.

The link to it is here -

Coach's Lame Quiz

Summer Rain

We are having some summer rain this afternoon. Actually we are having what back home they would call a gully washer. Around here they call them flash floods. The rain comes down so hard and fast that they ground cannot soak it all in.

I love these summer rains. But I really dislike the aftermath of them. The humidity level shoots way up and then our swamp coolers don't work anymore. That is where we are right now. There is still a few drops falling, and some thunder and lightening in the distance. But it is getting humid and warming up quickly. It cooled down while the rain was falling to somewhere in the low 80s. But once the rain stops the temperature shoots up rapidly.

************** UPDATE **********************

I think the rain has finally quit. It has stopped, started, stopped and started again. Each time it was raining a little harder than the time before. The last stretch included some pretty good wind. We could hear it pounding against the garage doors as well as pelting the roof.

I'm including a few more pics. The first two are taken over the back fence looking north. There was quite a substantial puddle there. Of course none of the desert dwellers here would ever consider turning around and taking an alternate route.

This last pic is of some neighbor kids playing in the puddles in the desert behind our house. The one that is standing in the knee deep water was wearing midcalf rain boots, which are obviously not going to keep his feet dry now. Not that it mattered, a few moments after I took this pic, he was laying down in the water.



Of course my own family enjoyed the rain. The kids were out in the street laying in the gutters that had overflowed the sidewalks. My dear wife was running around in the front and back yard playing also. Of course I also got soaking wet. But I wasn't playing. I was wondering around the yard checking on possible floods that could potentially cause some water damage. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it and I certainly wasn't enjoying playing in the rain....

New Link

I added a new link to the External Ridgecrest Links on the right side.

Photographic History of NAF and VX-5

Make sure you have plenty of time when you sit down and start clicking on the links there. Gary has done a fantastic job of collecting a lot of photos.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day

Two hundred and thirty two years ago a bunch of rabble rousing malcontents got together and decided that they were fed up with being oppressed by their government. So they wrote down some complaints, signed the list and told their King to go jump in the lake.

Who would have thought that their little insurrection would grow into the nation we live in today.

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 in the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a 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 the 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 Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislature.

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 the 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 in 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 Powers 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 and 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 among 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 British 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 the 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 the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.


Signed by ORDER and
in BEHALF OF THE CONGRESS
JOHN HANCOCK,
PRESIDENT.