The American Flag

[sadaist]

With all the recent immigration rallies & protests where the Mexican flag has been flown, flown higher than the American Flag, and the American Flag was swatted to the ground, I thought I'd put this in this thread.

Feel free to move somewhere else if not Front Line material.

Anyways, my Grandpa passed back in 2003. I received a lot of his things that other family members had no interest in. (basically stuff that isn't valuable dollar wise). Going through some stuff the last few days and re-discovered this gem. This flag flew over our nations capitol on his 44th birthday. How fucking cool is that? I didn't remove the flag from the box, but I scanned the letter and also the small pamphlet that is inside along with it.

Thinking of getting a nice mount so I can start displaying this on national holidays. Anywho...check out the pics. Sorry if the scans came out large. Wanted to make sure the text was readable.

Special thanks to all who have defended this flag. A simple colored piece of cloth, yet more important than I can express here.


http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/American%20Flag/flagletter.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/American%20Flag/Flagbox.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/American%20Flag/flag1.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/American%20Flag/flag2.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/American%20Flag/flag3.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/American%20Flag/flag4.jpg

[GO-SPURS-GO]

Special thanks to all who have defended this flag. A simple colored piece of cloth, yet more important than I can express here.


Amen!! :beers8:

[ELVIS]

http://www.floppingaces.net/wp-content/ramirez10.jpg

[binnie]

What does the flag mean to the average American? It seems to be a much more emotive symbol than the British Flag is to the average UK citizen, so I'm curious.

[Blaze]

Thanks, cool stuff.

[Catfish]

Awesome!!!!

USA USA USA!!!

:usfl:

[bueno bob]

Probably get $20 for it on eBay...

;)

[Jagermeister]

What does the flag mean to the average American? It seems to be a much more emotive symbol than the British Flag is to the average UK citizen, so I'm curious.

It's a symbol of our freedom. Makes us proud.

[Hardrock69]

Right on man. How cool is that?

[bueno bob]

The flag means different things to different people. To some, it's a symbol of every sort of idealism Americans have about their lives. But, to others, it's a cloth, not much different than any others. I think most people in America hold a degree of respect for it, though, regardless of whether they fly it on their front porch proudly or don't even really think about it on a day to day basis.

[Seshmeister]

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled

[sadaist]

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled


I respectfully disagree.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/iwojima.jpg

[knuckleboner]

dude, you should take it out and fly it at least a few times (his birthday, flag day, july 4th, memorial day, veterans day, etc.) those flags are fairly sturdy, and if you fly them just on a couple days, and not in high winds / rain, they'll last. after a couple flies, you can frame it if you want to preserve it. but if it were me, i'd want to know that that flag was displayed somewhere.

(as an aside, at one point, i was a capitol intern, one of whose many jobs was to take the brand new flags to the architect of the capitol, so they could be flown. simple manual labor for me, but it felt very cool. though, i'm fairly certain i never brought down your grandfather's flag...)

[sadaist]

dude, you should take it out and fly it at least a few times (his birthday, flag day, july 4th, memorial day, veterans day, etc.) those flags are fairly sturdy, and if you fly them just on a couple days, and not in high winds / rain, they'll last. after a couple flies, you can frame it if you want to preserve it. but if it were me, i'd want to know that that flag was displayed somewhere.

(as an aside, at one point, i was a capitol intern, one of whose many jobs was to take the brand new flags to the architect of the capitol, so they could be flown. simple manual labor for me, but it felt very cool. though, i'm fairly certain i never brought down your grandfather's flag...)


Yeah. I really want to fly it before I would frame it up. At least 1 year making the holiday rounds. I read up a bit and went to my local congressman's website. Anyone can order these now and pick the date and who they want it flown for. Not very expensive either. For a 5x8 cloth flag, flown over Capitol, and shipping to you with certificate is only around $35 ( a bit less for a nylon flag). Would make a great present for someone to surprise them that it was flown for them on a special day. I think I might start doing this. Just have to give them 4-6 weeks notice of the date you want it flown.

That's awesome you got to do that. I was kinda wondering if maybe they just "say" it was flown over the capitol & it was BS. Great to know it's legit.

Now the hard part. Deciding what person & what day to have a new one done. Probably my brother. Something he can pass down to my nephew. Make a new chain and another family heirloom type thing.

[jacksmar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrV8QPQAhxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrV8QPQAhxo

[Mushroom]

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled


Yes it's true, my ancestors shot at the British Army without shame but it was for a greater cause.

[Mushroom]

my neighbors next door are african-american. they are my best neighbors. they are in their late 70's or early 80's. the man served in the military. On memorial day, on 4th of July, on labor day, on December 7th, maybe even on Thanksgiving and Christmas, they put out the american flag and I look over yonder and say "thank you Mr. Curry"

[Seshmeister]

Yes it's true, my ancestors shot at the British Army without shame but it was for a greater cause.

To protect the income gained from slavery.

[sadaist]

To protect the income gained from slavery.


One thing this flag represents is how a country can change for the better - as shown by this American woman belting out the National Anthem like no other on the worlds largest stage. From the video, it appears the soldiers defending this flag come in different colors as well. Looks to me like they are as proud as anyone can be of the flag.


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[Hardrock69]

My ancestors shot at the British Army to free the colonists from the oppression inflicted upon them from the British.

Jacksmar, I don't agree with a lot of what you post, but that was kickass.

And KUDOS TO RICK MONDAY for that fantastic play!

[Mushroom]

To protect the income gained from slavery.

no, to reject British tyranny and taxation without our representation in the British Parliament. maybe your comment was a little tongue-n-cheek, therefore I can laugh with you.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

i'm movin' to scotland. they do not, nor never have, had any social injustices there in the history of the world.:baaa:

[sadaist]

Here's a flag worth unfurling.

http://xumacao.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/american_flag_girl_bikini.jpg

[sadaist]

I'm saluting this one right now.

http://manuelschadl.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/american-flag-bikini-13.jpg

[Nitro Express]

What does the flag mean to the average American? It seems to be a much more emotive symbol than the British Flag is to the average UK citizen, so I'm curious.

Freedom. If you read the Declaration of Independance, The US Constitution, and The Bill of Rights these documents in writing defend the INDIVIDUAL's right to pursue life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness. That flag represents INDIVIDUAL freedom. The Union Jack represents several countries that were taken over by a monarchy. The US flag represents the ideal of individual freedom more than just some leaders taking over real estate. So that flag means a lot to people who understand the ideal; even though, at times we have fell short of reaching it.

[Nitro Express]

I'm saluting this one right now.

http://manuelschadl.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/american-flag-bikini-13.jpg

Let's me roll out on the sidewalk and take a look. She's beautiful! I'm talking about a Yankee Rose!

[Nitro Express]

To protect the income gained from slavery.

Slavery we inherited from the British slave and sugar trade.

[Nitro Express]

Those old Bull Dog flags are quality. I have an old 48 star one.

[Nitro Express]

They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled

I believe this is from the Rush Power Windows album

[Seshmeister]

You are correct.

Who knew drummers could come up with stuff like that... :)

[Nickdfresh]

You are correct.

Who knew drummers could come up with stuff like that... :)


Especially ones that subscribe to Ayn Randian bullshit. :)

[Hardrock69]

I have one that has a peace sign made of stars in the blue field, instead of a standard 50 stars. Always wanted one since I was little chilluns as I saw photos of hippies that had them back in the 60s.

But of course I also have one with 50 stars.

Call me strange, but I HATE flags that are made of polyester or any kind of plastic. They are just cheap pieces of imitation shit!

To me, it should be made of 100% cotton.

[Hardrock69]

I have one that has a peace sign made of stars in the blue field, instead of a standard 50 stars. Always wanted one since I was little chilluns as I saw photos of hippies that had them back in the 60s.

But of course I also have one with 50 stars.

Call me strange, but I HATE flags that are made of polyester or any kind of plastic. They are just cheap pieces of imitation shit!

To me, it should be made of 100% cotton.

[sadaist]

To me, it should be made of 100% cotton.


And NOT made in China.

[jhale667]

Here's a flag worth unfurling.

http://xumacao.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/american_flag_girl_bikini.jpg

That picture set just never gets old. God bless America indeed. :sex: But seriously...

I still have the one from my father's casket - he was a WWII vet, got the full military salute send-off. Pretty sure the standard Presidential "thank you for your service" letter Mom got was signed by Reagan (or y'know, the machine that copied his signature). Which means that was so long ago it probably wasn't MADE IN CHINA. :umm:

It's a symbol of freedom - that many hide behind. And though I get the "liberal" tag around here, seeing Immigration Reform functions marred by idiots flying the Mexican flag over ours infuriated me. Plus, "way to help your cause", y'know?

I'm also glad we live in a country where burning it as a form of protest isn't punishable by death, though it still makes you a douche-nozzle if you DO. So there doesn't need to be a law to "protect" it. It's already a universal truth.

And to Sesh's point , yeah we were the greatest country on the planet for a minute, but not without slaughtering an indigenous people while propped up on the backs of slaves. Stupid to deny it. We could be the greatest country in the world again without all the bloodshed, but not looking like it yet. Not to say you cant still Rock in America, though don't get it twisted... ;)

Thanks for posting this one sadaist
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/sadaist/iwojima.jpg

I always loved that pic too...:killer:

[knuckleboner]

Freedom. So that flag means a lot to people who understand the ideal; even though, at times we have fell short of reaching it.

exactly. especially when we try to outlaw desecrating in. that definitely falls short of the ideal.

[Nitro Express]

You are correct.

Who knew drummers could come up with stuff like that... :)

I met Niel Piert way back during the Signals tour. He's actually a Ontario farm boy and a trained jazz drummer. He was working at his father's farm implement store selling tractors and combines before he joined RUSH. Apparently he reads a lot and puts a lot of his own spiritual and political views into the lyrics. Rush lyrics make you think. Intelligent rock and roll so to speak as oppossed to being about chasing ass and getting stoned.

[Nitro Express]

Here's a flag worth unfurling.

http://xumacao.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/american_flag_girl_bikini.jpg

Makes me proud to be an American!

[Nitro Express]

I think the United States was a noble idea that got hijacked. I think it was put together by weathy and influencial people who really didn't like what was going on in their world at the time so they put together a system that over time would hopefully undo the ills of Monarchy dictatorship, Church rule, and multiple generations of elite families keeping the power.

What happened is the robber barons eventually bought everything up and the old system of tyranny is systematically coming back. The worst of it happened when the production of money was taken from the elected government and handed over to a group of private bankers. Much of the slavery and native genocide can be linked to the robber barrons who bought the politicians more than the average American citizen. The indians were in the way of mining, logging, railroads, ect... Slaves were needed until machinery could replace them. That being said, American companies like Wal-Mart and Hanes just use overseas slaves. Slavery hasn't gone away. The plantations and sweat shops just exist in the third world now. We export the work instead of bring the slaves here.

A good idea is still a good idea and that is what the US Constitution is. It's a standard to live by and sadly we have fell short of it.

[Seshmeister]

I met Niel Piert way back during the Signals tour. He's actually a Ontario farm boy and a trained jazz drummer. He was working at his father's farm implement store selling tractors and combines before he joined RUSH. Apparently he reads a lot and puts a lot of his own spiritual and political views into the lyrics. Rush lyrics make you think. Intelligent rock and roll so to speak as oppossed to being about chasing ass and getting stoned.


I've got his book lying around somewhere but I haven't got around to reading it.

The story of him trying to get over the death of his daughter and wife.

I don't think it is a laugh a minute...

[chefcraig]

I've got his book lying around somewhere but I haven't got around to reading it.

The story of him trying to get over the death of his daughter and wife.

I don't think it is a laugh a minute...

I assume you are talking about Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. The book is more a therapy course for the man, mixed with some solid travel writing. It is fairly tough sledding, as one can only imagine the grief and sorrow the man felt after first losing his daughter, then his wife shortly thereafter. He firmly believes his wife's spirit faded with the death of the girl, leading to her demise as well. It is also truly poignant in places, describing epic beauty amongst harsh conditions, which serves metaphorically for what the man was enduring. All in all, of the four books Peart has written, this is the most remarkable, yet it is a read that takes some conviction to get through.

[BigBadBrian]

exactly. especially when we try to outlaw desecrating in. that definitely falls short of the ideal.

I don't have a problem with people desecrating our flag.

However, those same people that desecrate our flag shouldn't have a problem with other people "desecrsting" their heads with baseball bats.

[Nickdfresh]

Yes, all hallowed is our sanctified, Chinese-made Old Glory banners!

[BigBadBrian]

I've got his book lying around somewhere but I haven't got around to reading it.

The story of him trying to get over the death of his daughter and wife.

I don't think it is a laugh a minute...

Read it.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41i8BnibtPL._SS500_.jpg

[Seshmeister]

I assume you are talking about Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. The book is more a therapy course for the man, mixed with some solid travel writing. It is fairly tough sledding, as one can only imagine the grief and sorrow the man felt after first losing his daughter, then his wife shortly thereafter. He firmly believes his wife's spirit faded with the death of the girl, leading to her demise as well. It is also truly poignant in places, describing epic beauty amongst harsh conditions, which serves metaphorically for what the man was enduring. All in all, of the four books Peart has written, this is the most remarkable, yet it is a read that takes some conviction to get through.

Yeah I think I read a chapter or two when I first got it.

I think you have to be in the right mood to take on something like that. Maybe I'll give it another go.

[Anonymous]

Flags are gay.

"Ooh, I HAPPENED to be born some place, so I'm better than anyone who HAPPENED to be born somewhere else."

Flags are symbols of stupidity. As long as people keep willingly dividing themselves, they're no better than the fanatical dogs that kill those who don't agree to their religion.

Pissed off at this post? You're one of them. You're EXACTLY like those that drove a plane through the twin towers. EXACTLY LIKE THEM.

Cheers! :bottle:

[chefcraig]

Yeah I think I read a chapter or two when I first got it.

I think you have to be in the right mood to take on something like that. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Agreed, you really need to be at a critical point to get the most out of it. I picked up and read a copy shortly after my brother passed away, almost one year to the day after my father died. It was an astoundingly rewarding read for me, yet to be fair it might have been the fact that I was seeking something along it's lines that resulted in the amount of comfort and insight it revealed to me. It is a fine and inspiring work, but like I said it requires a certain amount of purpose to get through it, as it is indeed overwhelming in parts.

[TongueNGroove]

Here's a flag worth unfurling.

http://xumacao.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/american_flag_girl_bikini.jpg

She looks like the one Dave was talking about in Yankee Rose....Raise 'em up fellas, Raise 'em up!


I proudly hang the American Flag every day of the week. Day and night, good or bad weather. In my opinion, there is no time when the flag should be hidden.

[sadaist]

Flags are gay.

"Ooh, I HAPPENED to be born some place, so I'm better than anyone who HAPPENED to be born somewhere else."



You are actually very wrong when speaking of the American flag like that. Yes, every other flag I can think of is like that, but the American flag is not just for people born here. Nation of immigrants. People abandon the country they are born in to be able to fly this particular flag & live under its ideals.

[knuckleboner]

I don't have a problem with people desecrating our flag.

However, those same people that desecrate our flag shouldn't have a problem with other people "desecrsting" their heads with baseball bats.

so by that logic, rush limbaugh shouldn't have a problem if i bash his head in with a baseball bat?

[Hardrock69]

Slavery we inherited from the British slave and sugar trade.

One more good reason to shoot them and form our own nation. Only took 80 more years to go the final distance and outlaw slavery.

[Seshmeister]

Over 60 years later than in Britain...

In fact you couldn't be a slave in England years before US independence.

[jhale667]

so by that logic, rush limbaugh shouldn't have a problem if i bash his head in with a baseball bat?

Just be sure and put an American Flag sticker on it first... ;)

[Nickdfresh]

Over 60 years later than in Britain...

In fact you couldn't be a slave in England years before US independence.

Let's be honest, the British fucked up many cultures and subsumed them to a level that was no better to slavery, and far more deceptively and disingenuously--whether you want to call it slavery or colonial, social-cultural engineering. "The Whitemans' Burden" anyone?

[Seshmeister]

That may be but not many British people worship their flag or claim it represents universal freedom.

[Nitro Express]

Over 60 years later than in Britain...

In fact you couldn't be a slave in England years before US independence.

Britain then was doing what corporate America does now. Outsource the slavery. Keep things cleaner on the home front and do the dirty deeds else where. Britain might have not had slaves in London but it was destroying China with opium. It was still very much involved in slavery and genocide. You only have to read about the plight of the aboriginies in Australia for one example.

The British never really got rid of slavery, they just hid it better.

[Nitro Express]

Let's be honest, the British fucked up many cultures and subsumed them to a level that was no better to slavery, and far more deceptively and disingenuously--whether you want to call it slavery or colonial, social-cultural engineering. "The Whitemans' Burden" anyone?

The British are still fucking people. In the 18th Century it was the East India Company and red coats. In the 21st century it's British Petrolium.

[sadaist]

That may be but not many British people worship their flag or claim it represents universal freedom.


They have a Queen.

[Seshmeister]

Britain then was doing what corporate America does now. Outsource the slavery. Keep things cleaner on the home front and do the dirty deeds else where. Britain might have not had slaves in London but it was destroying China with opium. It was still very much involved in slavery and genocide. You only have to read about the plight of the aboriginies in Australia for one example.

The British never really got rid of slavery, they just hid it better.

I think that's very fair comment.

The British were cunts in the 18th century and very slowly got a little better until by around the 1960s they were just a bit dodgy.

Not quite as bad in a lot of ways as some of the other colonial powers though.

[Seshmeister]

They have a Queen.

Like you have Mickey Mouse, for shits and giggles and they've been around for ages.

The main reason for keeping a monarchy at this point seems to be it stops a politician being head of state.

Politicians are 3 steps below realtor and just a couple above child rapist in the popularity ladder here.

[Hardrock69]

That may be but not many British people worship their flag or claim it represents universal freedom.

Of course not. It represents the British Empire, where subjugation of people with brown skin is the means to the end....that is, domination of the Earth.

Unfortunately for Britain, their plans did not exactly turn out the way they had hoped. :hee:

[Nickdfresh]

That may be but not many British people worship their flag or claim it represents universal freedom.

You have your share of patriots. The other site I mod has a part time TA officer that got pretty pissy when I reminded him we spanked the Redcoats at Saratoga...and I'm sure there are many with a reverence for the Union Jack. I don't think I'd burn one in front of a group of football hooligans...

[BigBadBrian]

Over 60 years later than in Britain...

In fact you couldn't be a slave in England years before US independence.

Yeah, they kept their inhuman policies away from the home island. Slavery: started Britain and the Netherlands and ended by the US. :gulp:

[BigBadBrian]

At least the Scots gave us great whisky (no "e" people!).

I bought another bottle of Highland Park yesterday, Sesh.

I'll be eternally grateful for you turning me on to that stuff! :)

http://intoxicologist.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/highland-park-18-600.jpg

[Anonymous]

... and there you have it - the "my country is better than yours" bullshit didn't take long to start.

Is it that hard to look upon someone from another country as your equal?

Why is it that inbred retards in your country are worth more to you than useful people from other countries?

Isn't your logic a "little" fucked up?

Ooh, 18 years single malt... I'm drooling like a motherfucker... how much is a cask of that stuff???

Cheers! :bottle:

[Seshmeister]

Yeah, they kept their inhuman policies away from the home island. Slavery: started Britain and the Netherlands and ended by the US. :gulp:

National abolition dates

Main article: Abolition of slavery timeline
Slavery was abolished in these nations in these years:
Hungary: Stephen I of Hungary, the first Hungarian Christian king, declared in his laws (near 1000) that any slave that lives, stays or enters the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary would become free immediately.
Sweden: Magnus IV of Sweden declared the end of thralldom in 1335 "for thralls born by Christian parents in the thing areas of Västergötland and Värend".[39] Swedish participation in the transatlantic slave trade was forbidden in 1813, and in 1847, slavery was abolished, after an initial decision taken in 1846.[40] (The last legally owned slaves in the Swedish colony of St Barthélemy were bought by the state and freed on 9 October 1847.)[41]
Japan: In 1587 Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered all slave trading to be abolished. His successor Tokugawa Ieyasu also continued abolition of slavery although severe servitude was still in practice until the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1860s.
Portugal: 1761 in Portugal and Portuguese India (1869, African colonies)
England and Wales: In practice, 1772, as a result of Somersett's case; although the legal effect of this was much more limited; see Slavery at common law
Vermont Republic: 1777, Commonwealth of Vermont, an independent republic created after the American Revolution, on 8 July 1777. Vermont joined the United States of America in 1791.
Bukovina: 1783, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor issued an order abolishing slavery on 19 June 1783 in Czernowitz.[42]
Central Great Lakes Region of the United States: 1787, pre-dating the United States Constitution by the Northwest Ordinance which re-affirmed it in 1789.
Haiti: 1791, revolt among nearly half a million slaves in the North; the French commissioner of the colony ended slavery in 1794.
Upper Canada: 1793, by Act Against Slavery (this free-womb act did not free any slaves, but stated that children of current slaves would become free at age 25)
France (first time): 1794–1802, including all colonies (although abolition was never carried out in some colonies, because of resistance by local assemblies, or because the colonies were under British occupation)
Scotland: 1799 by an act of the Parliament of Great Britain (39 Geo.III. c. 56).
Chile: The Spanish crown abolished slavery in 1683. 1811 partially, and in 1823 for all who remained as slave and "whoever slave setting a foot on Chilean soil".[citation needed]
Argentina: Freedom of wombs in 1813, full abolition in 1853
Gran Colombia (Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela): 1821, through a gradual emancipation plan incorporating free-womb laws and compensated emancipation (New Granada in 1853, Venezuela in 1854)
Federal Republic of Central America, present (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica): 1824
Mexico: 1829
British Empire: 1833, including all colonies (with effect from 1 August 1834; in East Indies from 1 August 1838). Slavery was ruled illegal in England in 1772. In 1807 slave trading was abolished, and the Royal Navy tasked with suppressing it, even when carried on by non-British subjects.
Mauritius: 1 February 1835, under the British government. This day is now a public holiday.
Spain: 1837, only for metropolis, not for colonies.
Denmark: 1848, including all colonies (3 July, Danish West Indies)
France (second time): 1848, including all colonies
Peru: African-Peruvian slaves were nominally released in 1821 by Gen. San Martin, but they did not get actual freedom until Ramon Castilla's decree of 1851. Chinese labourers replaced the African slaves since then and worked on a semi-slavery regime, until they were mostly freed by Chilean troops during the War of the Pacific in 1880. Native Peruvians in some regions of the country continued working in slave-like conditions under a regime that had begun as encomiendas during the Spanish rule,[citation needed] which was finally abolished by Gen. Juan Velasco in 1969, the year de facto slavery finally ended in Peru.
Moldavia: 1855
Wallachia: 1856
Russia: In 1861 Emancipation of Serfs, releasing 20 million, occurred under Tsar Alexander II; Emancipation reform of 1861
The Netherlands: 1863, including all colonies, but kept using 'Recruits' from Africa until 1940
The United States: 1865, after the American Civil War (Many states abolished slavery for themselves at various dates between 1777 and 1864)
Puerto Rico 1873 and Cuba: 1886 (both were colonies of Spain at the time)
Ottoman Empire: 1876.
Brazil: 1888. The last country in the Americas to abolish slavery.[43] The Imperial Princess Isabel de Bragança abolished all forms of slavery existent in the Brazilian Empire.
Korea: 1894 (hereditary slavery ended in 1886)
Madagascar: 1896
Zanzibar: 1897 (slave trade abolished in 1873)
Siam (Thailand): 1905[44]
China: 1910[45] (However, still in 1930, there were still about 4 million children treated as slaves in China.[46][47])
Somalia: 1920[48]
Afghanistan: 1923[49]
Sudan: Officially abolished in 1924, actually still practiced today.[50] See Slavery in Sudan.
Ethiopia: 1923 (slavery was officially abolished at this time as a prerequisite for admission into the League of Nations, though it took many years for the law to be enforced throughout the empire)
Iraq: 1924[51]
Nepal: 1926[52][53]
Iran: 1928
Burma: 1929
Morocco: Slavery was outlawed in the 1930s.[54]
Northern Nigeria: 1936[55]
Qatar: 1952
Saudi Arabia: 1962
Yemen: 1962
United Arab Emirates: 1963
Oman: 1970
Mauritania: July 1980 (still formally abolished by French authorities in 1905, then implicitly in the new constitution of 1961 and expressly in October that year when the country joined the United Nations), actually still practiced. Slavery in Mauritania was criminalized in August 2007.
Niger: 2003. Slave markets in Niger were closed during the French colonization, but slavery in Niger was finally criminalized as late as in 2003 (came into force a year later).[56]
Nepal: 2008. The government abolished the Haliya system of forced labour, freeing about 20,000 people.[57]

[Seshmeister]

Of course you could argue that slavery hasn't been abolished in the US.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8289



Human rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million - mostly Black and Hispanic - are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don't have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don't like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.

There are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, "no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens." The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world's prison population, but only 5% of the world's people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000. In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports.

What has happened over the last 10 years? Why are there so many prisoners?

"The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners' work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself," says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being "an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps."

The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. "This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. It also has direct advertising campaigns, architecture companies, construction companies, investment houses on Wall Street, plumbing supply companies, food supply companies, armed security, and padded cells in a large variety of colors."

According to the Left Business Observer, the federal prison industry produces 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98% of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93% of paints and paintbrushes; 92% of stove assembly; 46% of body armor; 36% of home appliances; 30% of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21% of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.

CRIME GOES DOWN, JAIL POPULATION GOES UP

According to reports by human rights organizations, these are the factors that increase the profit potential for those who invest in the prison industry complex:

. Jailing persons convicted of non-violent crimes, and long prison sentences for possession of microscopic quantities of illegal drugs. Federal law stipulates five years' imprisonment without possibility of parole for possession of 5 grams of crack or 3.5 ounces of heroin, and 10 years for possession of less than 2 ounces of rock-cocaine or crack. A sentence of 5 years for cocaine powder requires possession of 500 grams - 100 times more than the quantity of rock cocaine for the same sentence. Most of those who use cocaine powder are white, middle-class or rich people, while mostly Blacks and Latinos use rock cocaine. In Texas, a person may be sentenced for up to two years' imprisonment for possessing 4 ounces of marijuana. Here in New York, the 1973 Nelson Rockefeller anti-drug law provides for a mandatory prison sentence of 15 years to life for possession of 4 ounces of any illegal drug.

. The passage in 13 states of the "three strikes" laws (life in prison after being convicted of three felonies), made it necessary to build 20 new federal prisons. One of the most disturbing cases resulting from this measure was that of a prisoner who for stealing a car and two bicycles received three 25-year sentences.

. Longer sentences.

. The passage of laws that require minimum sentencing, without regard for circumstances.

. A large expansion of work by prisoners creating profits that motivate the incarceration of more people for longer periods of time.

. More punishment of prisoners, so as to lengthen their sentences.

HISTORY OF PRISON LABOR IN THE UNITED STATES

Prison labor has its roots in slavery. After the 1861-1865 Civil War, a system of "hiring out prisoners" was introduced in order to continue the slavery tradition. Freed slaves were charged with not carrying out their sharecropping commitments (cultivating someone else's land in exchange for part of the harvest) or petty thievery - which were almost never proven - and were then "hired out" for cotton picking, working in mines and building railroads. From 1870 until 1910 in the state of Georgia, 88% of hired-out convicts were Black. In Alabama, 93% of "hired-out" miners were Black. In Mississippi, a huge prison farm similar to the old slave plantations replaced the system of hiring out convicts. The notorious Parchman plantation existed until 1972.

During the post-Civil War period, Jim Crow racial segregation laws were imposed on every state, with legal segregation in schools, housing, marriages and many other aspects of daily life. "Today, a new set of markedly racist laws is imposing slave labor and sweatshops on the criminal justice system, now known as the prison industry complex," comments the Left Business Observer.

Who is investing? At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call "highly skilled positions." At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.

Thanks to prison labor, the United States is once again an attractive location for investment in work that was designed for Third World labor markets. A company that operated a maquiladora (assembly plant in Mexico near the border) closed down its operations there and relocated to San Quentin State Prison in California. In Texas, a factory fired its 150 workers and contracted the services of prisoner-workers from the private Lockhart Texas prison, where circuit boards are assembled for companies like IBM and Compaq.

[Former] Oregon State Representative Kevin Mannix recently urged Nike to cut its production in Indonesia and bring it to his state, telling the shoe manufacturer that "there won't be any transportation costs; we're offering you competitive prison labor (here)."

PRIVATE PRISONS

The prison privatization boom began in the 1980s, under the governments of Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr., but reached its height in 1990 under William Clinton, when Wall Street stocks were selling like hotcakes. Clinton's program for cutting the federal workforce resulted in the Justice Departments contracting of private prison corporations for the incarceration of undocumented workers and high-security inmates.

Private prisons are the biggest business in the prison industry complex. About 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states. The two largest are Correctional Corporation of America (CCA) and Wackenhut, which together control 75%. Private prisons receive a guaranteed amount of money for each prisoner, independent of what it costs to maintain each one. According to Russell Boraas, a private prison administrator in Virginia, "the secret to low operating costs is having a minimal number of guards for the maximum number of prisoners." The CCA has an ultra-modern prison in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where five guards on dayshift and two at night watch over 750 prisoners. In these prisons, inmates may get their sentences reduced for "good behavior," but for any infraction, they get 30 days added - which means more profits for CCA. According to a study of New Mexico prisons, it was found that CCA inmates lost "good behavior time" at a rate eight times higher than those in state prisons.

IMPORTING AND EXPORTING INMATES

Profits are so good that now there is a new business: importing inmates with long sentences, meaning the worst criminals. When a federal judge ruled that overcrowding in Texas prisons was cruel and unusual punishment, the CCA signed contracts with sheriffs in poor counties to build and run new jails and share the profits. According to a December 1998 Atlantic Monthly magazine article, this program was backed by investors from Merrill-Lynch, Shearson-Lehman, American Express and Allstate, and the operation was scattered all over rural Texas. That state's governor, Ann Richards, followed the example of Mario Cuomo in New York and built so many state prisons that the market became flooded, cutting into private prison profits.

After a law signed by Clinton in 1996 - ending court supervision and decisions - caused overcrowding and violent, unsafe conditions in federal prisons, private prison corporations in Texas began to contact other states whose prisons were overcrowded, offering "rent-a-cell" services in the CCA prisons located in small towns in Texas. The commission for a rent-a-cell salesman is $2.50 to $5.50 per day per bed. The county gets $1.50 for each prisoner.

STATISTICS

Ninety-seven percent of 125,000 federal inmates have been convicted of non-violent crimes. It is believed that more than half of the 623,000 inmates in municipal or county jails are innocent of the crimes they are accused of. Of these, the majority are awaiting trial. Two-thirds of the one million state prisoners have committed non-violent offenses. Sixteen percent of the country's 2 million prisoners suffer from mental illness.


Global Research Articles by Vicky Pelaez

[ELVIS]

In fact you couldn't be a slave in England years before US independence.

I'll bet the unemployment queue was long...

[Anonymous]

I like this one A LOT!

It's quite affordable, actually - less than a Jack Daniel's bottle. And it tastes SO FUCKIN' GOOD!

Pity I only ever found 3 bottles here in Portugal... and they're long, long gone. :(

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/4015/whiskyglenturner8b.jpg

Cheers! :bottle:

[PETE'S BROTHER]

i got a bottle of 12 y.o. macallan for my birthday, mmmmmm. the 18 is amazing, and the 25, superb.

[Seshmeister]

i got a bottle of 12 y.o. macallan for my birthday,

Hah so did I! :)

I prefer Highland Park though.

Actually at the moment I'm into Grey Goose vodka but it's an expensive habit.

[Igosplut]

And Americas contribution......

http://www.badgerwest.com/images/MD2020LineUp.jpg

[Seshmeister]

Hah.

Probably my favourite GNR song...

I was about to say Makers Mark but I'm really off bourbon these days.

I seem to have grown out of it.

[Seshmeister]

Agreed, you really need to be at a critical point to get the most out of it. I picked up and read a copy shortly after my brother passed away, almost one year to the day after my father died. It was an astoundingly rewarding read for me, yet to be fair it might have been the fact that I was seeking something along it's lines that resulted in the amount of comfort and insight it revealed to me. It is a fine and inspiring work, but like I said it requires a certain amount of purpose to get through it, as it is indeed overwhelming in parts.

Well I guess I'm lucky I have it to look forward too... ;)

[Seshmeister]

The 'wink' smiley around here really is shitty...

[Igosplut]

Hah.

Probably my favourite GNR song...

I was about to say Makers Mark but I'm really off bourbon these days.

I seem to have grown out of it.

Sorry, I edited that out on ya. I was tring to get a picture of all the rot-gut wines together but they were all separate links on this page...

http://www.bumwine.com/

[Jagermeister]

The 'wink' smiley around here really is shitty...

Post that in the web feed back forum and someone will get right on it. ;)