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RE: Frank & stupidity



I agree wholeheartedly with Frank Zappa, especially when seeing those funny
scenes Jay Leno is so expert at squeezing out of the common folk on Los
Angeles streets.  It's a sad fact that this country has been going on
inertia for some time.  More than this country, I think our whole "Western
Tradition."  The fact that I have the freedom to sit down and loop with my
Echoplex and my synths and my guitar gives me great pleasure, and would 
have
been unheard of only three hundred years ago.  In many ways, my life is
better than many a king from the medieval ages— make that many of our 
lives.
They should be turning in their graves at the joy I get when I stop playing
at times and just sit quietly to listen to the loops I've been able to 
make.
I don't think they were ever so happy, perhaps only when they were 
torturing
somebody.

But there is more to what Frank was talking about.  I think many of you
don't get it, so here's something to illustrate which I got on an e-mail 
and
have now the pleasure of sharing with you:

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the
Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before
they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.  Two lost their sons serving 
in
the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.  Nine of the 56
fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.  They
signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred 
honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.  Eleven were merchants, nine were
farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.  But  
they
signed the Declaration of Independence knowing  full well that the penalty
would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships
swept from the seas by the British Navy.  He sold his home and properties 
to
pay his debts, and died in rags.  Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the
British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.  He served
in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.  His
possessions were taken from him, and
poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton,
Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General
Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.  He quietly
urged General George Washington to open fire.  The home was destroyed, and
Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.  The enemy jailed his
wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.  Their 13
children fled for their lives.  His fields and his gristmill were laid to
waste.  For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home
to find his wife dead and his children vanished.  A few weeks later he died
from exhaustion and a broken heart.

Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.  Such were the stories and
sacrifices of the American Revolution.  These were not wild-eyed,
rabble-rousing ruffians.  They were soft-spoken men of means and education.

They had security, but they valued liberty more.  Standing tall, straight,
and unwavering, they pledged:  "For the support of this declaration, with
firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually 
pledge
to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

They gave you and me a free and independent United States.  The history
books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War.  
We
didn't fight just the British.   We were British subjects at that time and
we fought our own government!  Some of us take these liberties so much for
granted, but we shouldn't.  So, take a few minutes while enjoying your
Fourth of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.  It's not much to
ask for the price they  paid.  Remember: freedom is never free!

Next time you stop playing at your looper, stop and think of the great
freedoms you enjoy in your life in this year 2000.  And may Frank be 
playing
to his heart's content up in heaven, wherever that may be.  Hey, maybe he's
looping!



  | -----Original Message-----
  | From: Gregor Zavcer [mailto:gregor.zavcer@kiss.uni-lj.si]
  | Sent: Friday 23 June 2000 8:23 PM
  | To: Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
  | Subject: Re: Frank & stupidity
  |
  |
  |
  |
  |
  | >You *don't* see an incredible amount of stupidity around you in your
  | everyday life?
  | >Not seeing rampant stupidity in our modern society is like not
  | seeing the
  | forest for the trees.
  | >
  | >steve
  | >
  |
  | hey,
  |
  | a friend of mine said: "if stupidy hurt, people would be
  | screaming all the
  | time"
  |
  | just had to say that.
  |
  | greetz
  |
  | gregor
  |
  |