July 3,
2000
Click here EVERY week to discover the most
useful and informative websites and tips we can find to help you get things
done faster and smarter. Happy 4th (or hope you had one)!
One of the
areas we are all concerned about is "Am I being hacked?". The answer is a 99%
YES and you don't even know it! This is particularly applicable if you have a
cable modem, DSL, T1 or other direct connection to the Internet. Most hacks are
probably not malicious. Many are the result of automatic scans, however you are
vulnerable and you should have a firewall installed! In other words, without a
firewall, anyone who knows how, can easily obtain personal information about
you including, credit card numbers, bank account balances, and so forth.
Also, some malicious hackers may not care about your personal
information, but may be looking for a computer to use to for a 'denial of
service' attack against other systems or as a means of forwarding a virus.
So, what can you do to prevent this? Click
here to go to
website where you not only get a FREE firewall, but you can use it to
test your existing firewall or the freebie you should download and install.
Remember, check back here again next week to get the BEST OF THE BEST!
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. 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 America. The history books
never told much about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight
just the British. We were British subjects at that time, so we fighting our own
government!
Some of us take these liberties too much for granted, but
we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday
and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they
paid. Remember: FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE!
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