Right: That which is just, morally good, legal, proper, or fitting. “The personal right to acquire property, which is a natural right, gives to property, when acquired, a right to protection, as a social right.” – James Madison

“The right of the police of Boston to affiliate has always been questioned, never granted, is now prohibited…. There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time.” – Calvin Coolidge

Opportunity: A favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances or a chance for progress or advancement.

‘O opportunity! thy guilt is great,

‘Tis thou that execut’st the traitor’s treason;

Thou set’st the wolf where he the lamb may get;

Whoever plots the sin, thou point’st the season;

‘Tis thou that spurn’st at right, at law, at reason;

And in thy shady cell, where none may spy him,

Sits Sin to seize the souls that wander by him. – William Shakespeare

Need: A condition or situation in which something is required or wanted.

“We need not only a purpose in life to give meaning to our existence but also something to give meaning to our suffering. We need as much something to suffer for as something to live for.” – Eric Hoffer

Freedom: The condition of being free of restraints

“Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self-reliant enough to be free.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Liberty: The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one’s own choosing. Also, the condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor.

“Freedom of enterprise was from the beginning not altogether a blessing. As the liberty to work or to starve, it spelled toil, insecurity, and fear for the vast majority of the population. If the individual were no longer compelled to prove himself on the market, as a free economic subject, the disappearance of this freedom would be one of the greatest achievements of civilization.” – Herbert Marcuse

Do Americans still believe that if a man does not work he shouldn’t eat, generally speaking? Do Americans believe that our current political rights are “inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness,” to quote FDR again?

“A wise and frugal government … shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” – Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

More like this at Sweetness & Light. (via Rush Limbaugh)

The 10th century mine could be one of King Solomon’s mines. That is super cool.

This is one of the reasons I vote for the people I do. “More than 600 adults have been arrested and 47 children were rescued in a three-day roundup targeting people who force children into prostitution.” I expect our officials and law enforcers to this very thing, and I worry about certain political leaders/opportunists who actively or passively promote various perversions and immorality in the name of privacy. No one would defend child prostitution, of course, but some people take a few steps down the road to protecting all manner of deviancy and ridiculing morality. These are the kinds of raids I want the feds to being working on, not ripping Elian Gonzales from his family to take him back to Castro.