A brief history of the United States

[morti]

May 10, 1773. The British government passed the "Tea Act". This act allowed the East India Company to export tea directly to the Colonies. It upheld the three pence Townshend duty on tea imported to the colonies.

This was an unpopular tax because colonists had no say in the matter. A group known as the "Sons of Liberty" demanded that the ships containing taxed British tea not be allowed to dock. The Governor of Massachusetts refused to turn away ships containing tea. On December 16, 1773, after a long struggle to end things amicably, a group of citizens disguised themselves as Native Americans, boarded the ship, and dumped the entire boatload of tea into the Boston Harbor.

Parliament responded in 1774 with the "Coercive Acts" which closed all of Boston's commerce until the East India Company had been repaid for their damages.

On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress was called in order formulate a plan to deal with escalating unfair treatment by the Brits. A boycott of all trade with Great Britain was called if the "Intolerable Acts" were not repealed.

A direct chain of events can be traced from here to the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States of America.

The moral of this story: Our country was founded on the notion that oppressive government should not have the right to interfere with free enterprise. We again find ourselves in a situation where agents of the Government seek to oppress us by removing our rights to trade freely... in this case we will no longer be allowed to freely trade in Pythons.

I don't propose that we go dump a load of tea into Boston Harbor over this, but I do propose that we all should become "Political Activists." Every Single One of us has a voice that MUST be heard by our elected officials.

Right now, Senate Bill 373 is in Committee. We need to stop this bill. If it passes in it's current form, it will end the reptile trade as we know it.

The best thing we can do is support USARK. Send Money and become a member. Write letters and call your senators... especially if they are members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. We need to remind these elected officials who's votes gave them their jobs.

[Sakara]

this country is getting ridiculous... as it has been stated before, the military is sworn to protect the citizens of the united states and fight ALL enemies foreign AND domestic... I feel our government is working itself to become the enemy and when they start taking our rights and freedoms, I nor any of my battles will fight for a corrupt government, we will fight against it

[Caleb Bryant]

Morti For President!
lol jk
but I do agree with everything you're saying here, and you make a very good point based on the interference of our free enterprise system.
I've been doing lots of e-mailing lately due to this bloody situation T.T

[EricIvins]

Although I agree with all said points above - The sadist in me says I before E, except after C................Had too..........

[JOSE]

So lets not dump tea, how about dumpping pythons on their steps(lol) no but on a real note ,im all for keeping the trade like it is now (fight against this sorry bill)!!!

[morti]

Originally Posted by EricIvins

Although I agree with all said points above - The sadist in me says I before E, except after C................Had too..........

Ok... I went back and looked... What did I misspell?

[morti]

I feel that the following picture, attributed to Ben Franklin, is highly appropriate in this situation:

[EricIvins]

Originally Posted by morti

Ok... I went back and looked... What did I misspell?

Re: A breif history of the United States

[morti]

Originally Posted by EricIvins

Re: A breif history of the United States

Thank you. That was an obvious typo.

[Ranger]

Originally Posted by Sakara

this country is getting ridiculous... as it has been stated before, the military is sworn to protect the citizens of the united states and fight ALL enemies foreign AND domestic...

Unfortunately, the domestic enemies seem to be outnumbering the foreign ones and are far more dangerous. The foreign enemies merely attack the United States. The domestic ones fundamentally change the United States into another Euro-socialist nanny state, where the government controls citizens' lives from cradle to grave.

This country was created for and based on individual liberty! Give me liberty or give me death, for life without liberty is a more despicable and disgusting circumstance than death could ever be.

[BlackLava]

i was under the understanding that the USARK was for the banning of burms....

[morti]

Originally Posted by BlackLava

i was under the understanding that the USARK was for the banning of burms....

The concept of USARK throwing burm keepers to the wolves comes from here:

USARK • View topic - FLORIDA- Help USARK Fight S373 "Python Ban"

That link contains the "Sample Letter" for residents of Florida to send to Bill Nelson. In it, they are requesting that Senator Nelson change the verbiage of S373 to only include banning import of Burmese Pythons and still allow interstate commerce to proceed. As it reads currently, it would completely ban both import and commerce for all members of Genus Python.

While I am aghast that such a compromise would even be entertained, I can certainly see why. It is the lesser evil.

I still think that USARK is our best (And perhaps Only) ally in these matters and I still think they need everyone's support, but I am glad this was brought up so everyone can make their own decision about this compromise.

[KyleZ]

Originally Posted by Ranger

Unfortunately, the domestic enemies seem to be outnumbering the foreign ones and are far more dangerous. The foreign enemies merely attack the United States. The domestic ones fundamentally change the United States into another Euro-socialist nanny state, where the government controls citizens' lives from cradle to grave.
This country was created for and based on individual liberty! Give me liberty or give me death, for life without liberty is a more despicable and disgusting circumstance than death could ever be.

Thank you for stating that. Seems so many these days are totally overlooking the fact that legislation that fundamentally changes who we are as a nation is being rushed through at unprecedented speeds. It's frightening and disgusting.

[Icicle]

I said it once and I will say it again:

Ever since the USSR became a free state, Our own USA is slowly moving in to a dictatorship. and if you are so blinded to see it, then you have no right to take a side.

[Stigma]

Originally Posted by KyleZ

Thank you for stating that. Seems so many these days are totally overlooking the fact that legislation that fundamentally changes who we are as a nation is being rushed through at unprecedented speeds. It's frightening and disgusting.

I couldnt agree more. I don't like to talk politics a lot, but I will say that our government has gotten WAY out of control. The problem is that its no longer the republicans vs the democrats. Its the rich vs the poor, and the rich will get what they want.

I know this is kinda off topic, but I was watching "The Revolution" on the history channel the other day (I also think the history channel is BS but thats another rant.) and it really made me wonder about what our forefathers would think of the mess we have made of their country.


Here is something I found about a year ago that I found really interesting:

Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, < SPAN>Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Perm it Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax,
Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax.

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the
world.

[Icicle]

Originally Posted by Stigma

Road Usage Tax (Truckers),

Do you also know that a portion of the gasoline also goes under this tax?

[HastetheDay]

To be quite honest, as much as I love my snakes, there are bills I am much more worried about.. A few months ago it was the ridiculous and wasteful stimulus bill they pushed through in a blind rush. Today, it is the health care bills floating around in both the House and the Senate that are both 1000+ pages. It has NEVER been, and NEVER should be the governments job to provide health care to its citizens, especially when it involves taking preposterous amounts of said citizens money for health care that gets spent on other people as well. [sarcasm] I am definately looking forward to being able to help pay the health bills of every hobo in our country who spends all their money on cancer sticks and gets treatment on our dollars. [/sarcasm]

[morti]

This topic started on the very edge of the TOS. Please keep to the topic at hand. It is very important that we do not talk about politics here, except for where they affect reptiles.

[HastetheDay]

Sorry! Will keep that in mind.

[Stargazer]

Originally Posted by EricIvins

Although I agree with all said points above - The sadist in me says I before E, except after C................Had too..........

to, Mr. back-up Spelling Nazi