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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Man arrested for insulting the King

Police in Thailand have arrested a man on charges of insulting the monarchy on Facebook.

Nothing changes over the centuries.  Governments always try to crush freedom of thought.  Big Brother government warns us not to insult our "betters" in life.  We are jailed, tortured or killed if we dare to speak our minds.

Surapak Puchaieseng is accused of posting images and messages believed to be insulting to the royal family.
Thailand's lese-majeste law prohibits any criticism of the monarchy. Offences are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand was the winner
of the "Lucky Sperm Club" and became King
by popping out of the correct womb. 
 This case is thought to be the first under Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's new government says the BBC.

The 40-year-old computer programmer says he is innocent, and denies all allegations of insulting the monarchy. He is now being held in a Bangkok jail.

The law was first introduced in Thailand the early 20th Century, and covers anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the regent".

Thailand’s rulers have long used criminal insult charges to silence political opponents. Surapak’s case, however, appears to be the first of its kind since a new government under Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra took power in August. Shinawatra pledged to crack down on alleged online royal insults.

Lomrak said his client insists he is innocent, and denies all allegations of insulting the monarchy. He is now being held in a Bangkok jail. Police have also confiscated his desktop and laptop computers.

July 9, 1776 an equestrian statue of King George III stood menacingly on Bowling Green in New York City. On that date Patriots toppled the structure and cut it into pieces, many of which were melted down and cast into bullets for firing against British soldiers.

This is how we do it in America


Americans traditionally show no respect at all to their leaders.  They are mocked and ridiculed at every opportunity.

In 1766, New York City decided to erect statues of William Pitt and King George III. The King George statue was cast in lead and gilded, shipped to America, and erected at Bowling Green, near the tip of Manhattan on Aug. 21, 1770. This was the birth date of the king's late father, Prince Frederick. The statue was massive estimated at 4,000 pounds. The king was depicted on horseback, in Roman garb, after the style of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome.

The statue quickly became unpopular with the public, and in 1773 an anti-graffiti, anti-desecration law was enacted to discourage vandalism.

After the early battles of the Revolution, the Americans began to covet the 4,000 pounds of lead towering above them. On the night of July 9, 1776 - when the Declaration of Independence was received and read in New York City - the statue met its demise. In a burst of patriotic fervor, a number of soldiers, sailors and citizens decided to act. They threw ropes around it, succeeded in pulling it down, and cut it into pieces of manageable size.

Capt. Oliver Brown of Wellsburg, West Virginia, in a statement made in 1845 said that he was in command of the soldiers and sailors at the destruction of the statue. There were 40 of them. On the first attempt the ropes broke, but on the second they were successful.  The Sons of Liberty also claimed responsibility for the act.

It is traditional for Americans to show no respect at all
to their leaders be they Kings or Presidents.

They kept the head of the king aside, intending to impale it upon a stake, but by the next morning it had been stolen by Tories, who smuggled it to England. It showed up there, a year later, in the home of Lord and Lady Townshend (of the hated Townshend Acts) and was seen there by Thomas Hutchinson, who noted it in his diary. It has not been seen since.


Making Bullets Commences


The balance of the statue was shipped to Norwalk, Connecticut from whence it would be carted to Litchfield, the home of Gen. Oliver Wolcott.

The statue reached the dock in Norwalk and was loaded onto oxcarts in the charge of Henry Chichester of Wilton. When they reached Wilton, they stopped overnight at the Clapp Raymond Tavern (now owned by the Wilton Historical Society) and presumably continued northward the next day.

At Litchfield, Gen. Oliver Wolcott erected a shed in his orchard and supervised a group of family members and neighbors in casting 42,088 bullets. This count was meticulously recorded in a document, which has survived. Gen. Wolcott's young son Frederick was credited with casting 936 bullets.  -  Sons of the American Revolution.

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