tagged w/ Monticello
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This just past Saturday (3/10/2012) this author attended the Wright County MN BPU Convention in Buffalo Minnesota. (In a previous article, this author exhorted: Why you must attend your Caucus this year! http://bit.ly/AyRuGRaka walking the walk)
Among the items of business on the Agenda was an Invocation at about 9:30am.
As the author listened to the invocation, I heard words to this effect:
“Thank God we live in a country free of oppression.”
And this author found himself taking exception to this statement. It is not this author’s life experience that citizens of this country are free of oppression, suppression nor repression.
As the meeting continued, this author thought to himself, seeking just to go along to get along, perhaps the person giving the invocation has not been exposed to the oppression, suppression and repression that is America.
[Article Continues below almost universal translator]
Vertaal na Afrikaans |Translate në shqip | ترجمةإلىالعربية | Թարգմանելհայերեն| Azərbaycan Tərcümə | Euskal Translate| Перавесці на беларускай| বাংলাঅনুবাদ | Превод на български| Traduir al català | 转换为中文（简体)|翻譯到中國（傳統） | Prevedi na hrvatskom | Translate to Czech | Oversæt til dansk | Te vertalen naar het Nederlands | Tõlgi eesti | Isalin sa Filipino sa| Käännä Suomen | Traduire en français | Traducir a Galego | თარგმნეთსაქართველოს| Übersetzen auf Deutsch | Μετάφραση στα ελληνικά| ગુજરાતીઅનુવાદ | Tradui kreyòl ayisyen | תרגוםעברית | सेहिन्दीअनुवाद| Fordítás magyar | Þýða til Íslenska | Terjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia| Aistrigh go Gaeilge| Traduci in italiano | 日本語に翻訳| ಕನ್ನಡಗೆಭಾಷಾಂತರಿಸಿ | 한국어번역| Translate to Latine | Tulkot uz latviešu | Latvian Tulkot uz latviešu| Versti į lietuvių| Преведете на македонски| Terjemah ke Bahasa Malaysia| Ittraduċi għall-Malti| Oversette til norsk |ترجمهبهفارسی| Przekłada się na polskim | Traduzir para Português | Traduceţi în română |Перевести на русскую|Преведи на Српском | Preložiť na slovenský |Prevedi v slovenski | Traducir al español | Tafsiri kwa Kiswahili | Översätt till svenska | தமிழ்மொழிபெயர்க்கவும்| తెలుగులోఅనువదించడానికి | แปลเป็นไทย| Çevir Türkçe>| Перекласти українською| اردومیںترجمہکریں | Dịch cho người Việt Nam| Cyfieithu i'r Gymraeg | איבערזעצןצוייִדיש|
Perhaps the person who gave the invocation was merely thinking about the recent violence in Syria, Egypt, Libya and the long running oppression in North Korea. Or even China’s Tiananmen Square Tragic expression of Tyranny…
Trying to give the benefit of the doubt, the author postulated that perhaps the person who gave the invocation, was not familiar with the various kinds of oppression, suppression and repression.
But as hard as this author tried to let the statement go, something kept clawing at him to not let this misstatement stand unchallenged.
And so, in the early afternoon, this author privately asked the chair of the convention for 5 minutes as a point of personal privilege (Look it up in Robert’s Rules http://bit.ly/yjCYqc) for 5 minutes to address the misstatement.
This request was summarily denied. The Chair stating that oppression was a matter of opinion. But this author appealed to the parliamentarian who ruled, “A point of personal privilege is always in order”
Before a pause in the proceedings occurred that this author might force the chair and floor to hear my point of personal privilege, the recalcitrant chair announced (to CYA) that the “person who wished to express a point of personal privilege could address the floor”
With that, this author stepped to the nearest mike and did address the floor. However, this author does not think he did the point justice. But given the circumstances, this author did the best he could extemporaneously.
And, therefore, this would like to take this opportunity to put my thoughts on the alleged “lack of oppression in America” to writing. So here goes.
Oppression, Suppression and Repression comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. Many think of oppression coming at the point of a gun. While that ultimately is true in all circumstances, most suppression in America is presented in such a way so as to not cause WE THE PEOPLE to think our government is bad or evil. At least not as bad or evil as WE THE PEOPLE think due to the propaganda, media bias and indoctrination regarding Oppression in Countries such as Russia (Stalin’s Purge), China (Tiananmen Square), Iraq (Hussein’s Rape Squads), and the current situation in Syria.
WE THE PEOPLE, the rank and file citizens of America like to believe the fairytales about Oppression that we were indoctrinated with in Public School, and which are later supplemented with by a compliant, duplicitous and corruption enabling major media.
This author remembers how happy, secure in his person and superior he felt in the aftermath of his indoctrination in the public schools. Superior in the knowledge that our Country’s Government was honest and trustworthy unlike all the other Government in the world, especially the Communists. Happy and Secure in my person that my government, unlike other government in the world, made decisions based on the best interests of its citizens… Ah… ignorance is most assuredly bliss.
In a peremptory attempt to ward of a public lynching, this author again states that our government, is still the best form of government in the world, despite its current issues. But WE THE PEOPLE would be remiss to not weld ourselves to the truth rather than the fiction of what our government is and isn’t.
Our current elected officials have just stopped obeying Natural Law, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and common sense. And with that peremptory attempt to reduce the possibility of this author’s spontaneous lynching out of the way, here goes:
KENT STATE MASSACRE
The associated video speaks for itself. 4 students at Kent State were gunned down for exercising their Constitutional Rights to protest the War.
THE PROPOSED NDAA
This bill calls for American citizens who commit “belligerent acts” to be imprisoned indefinitely.....
Continue reading for free here: INVOCATION: Thank God we live in a country free of oppression?
http://exm.nr/I3FnLW
Those were my thoughts.
In Closing:
Thank you, my fellow citizens, for taking your valuable time to read and reflect upon what is written here.
Please join with me in mutually pledging to each other and our fellow citizens our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to our mutual endeavors of restoring liberty and economic opportunity to WE THE PEOPLE as our Founding Fathers envisioned and intended. [Last
This article is written with the same intentions as Thomas Paine http://ushistory.org/paine. I seek no leadership role. I seek only to help the American People find their own way using their own “Common Sense” http://amzn.to/kbRuar
TellMyPolitician http://goo.gl/1FWfz
Keep Fighting the Good Fight!
In Liberty,
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashak
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Critical Thinking Notice - This author advises you as no politician would dare. Exercise Critical Thinking (http://bit.ly/ubI6ve) in determining the truthfulness of anything you read or hear. Do not passively accept nor believe anything anyone tells you, including this author... unless and until you verify it yourself with sources you trust and could actively defend your perspective to anyone who might debate you to the contrary of your perspective.This just past Saturday (3/10/2012) this author attended the Wright County MN BPU... more
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Thomas Jefferson’s very existence was shaped and enabled by slavery. Slaves placed newborn Thomas in his cradle, and slaves comforted the former president on his deathbed.Thomas Jefferson’s very existence was shaped and enabled by slavery. Slaves... more
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Our freedom was just as much about agriculture in Colonial America as it is now part of our current fight for food sovereignty. Thomas Jefferson exemplified this at Monticello.And it it now the spirit of the sustainable/local food movement today that exemplifies the spirit that birthed our nation. To plant our seeds, to save them, to cultivate them and to use them in a way that cherishes and supports healthy soil and provides healthy food for our citizens is what freedom is all about.
Our country is now on the cusp of a new Revolution, the sustainable food revolution and I think Jefferson, Adams, Washington and those who fought for freedom then would approve of it. Industrial agriculture deems to subject us to the slavery of monoculture seeds and thought. It deems to leave us subervient to the corporate agriculture kings who do not respect true freedom. So in that spirit we must fight as hard now as we did then to preserve our freedom to plant our seeds in this good Earth to preserve our environment, our soil and our future.
You can join us in celebrating that spirit every day:
http://current.com/groups/sustainable-agriculture/Our freedom was just as much about agriculture in Colonial America as it is now part... more
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Tweet
This is a teaser to an article i wrote on Examiner.com"
"Proverbs 23:7a, "As a person thinketh in their heart, so are they." http://bit.ly/lOnOzU
On Twitter.com, there is an atmosphere of constructive intellectual exchange that challenges and causes each of us to think about why we believe what we believe. The internet represents a similar component of technological advance as Movable Type did to the First Enlightenment* (1650AD-1800AD). Twitter.com, Facebook.com and MySpace.com are analogous the coffeehouses and debating clubs of First Enlightenment. Through these electronic forums, Information and Ideas are being freely exchanged at a rate too fast for most governments to adapt to (for the purpose of maintaining their own power and the status quo)
One of my fellow Citizens and Patriots, responding to one of my “tweets” suggested that a split was occurring amongst WE THE PEOPLE in general and, in particular, those of us who take a greater interest in Liberty, Freedom and Politics.
My fellow citizen and cohort described this perceived split as "Libertarian" vs "Conservative". Before I say more, I thank my said cohort for bouncing their ideas off from me, so I would be inspired to reflect upon what causes me to believe what I believe in this regard. I hope that each of you are enlightened by our exchange of ideas...."
Continue reading on Examiner.com Strap on your thinking caps if you love Freedom - Locke vs Hobbes - Minneapolis Independent | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-minneapolis/strap-on-your-thinking-caps-if-you-love-freedom-locke-vs-hobbes#ixzz1QQHPGWNR
Thank you for taking the time to read and reflect upon what i have written.
I write this article with the same intentions as Thomas Paine http://ushistory.org/paine. I seek no leadership role. I seek only to help the American People find their own way using their own “Common Sense” http://amzn.to/kbRuar
Those were my thoughts.
In Liberty,
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashak
TellMyPolitician
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This is a teaser to an article i wrote on Examiner.com"... more
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This is a teaser for an article that I posted on my Blog MINNESOTA JUDICIAL REFORM
AND ACCOUNTABILITY [ http://bit.ly/jPM1H8 ]. It includes Proposed Legislation that I have sent to my Minnesota US 6th District Representative, Michele Bachmann. In my humble opinion, this should be the single most important issue of the 2012 Elections.
Upon reading my article and proposed legislation, I believe you will reach the same conclusion that I have: Sovereign Immunity is a fraud. It was not provided for in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It results from a deliberate and fraudulent Judicial Interpretation to the 11th Amendment. Sovereign Immunity is what prevents WE THE PEOPLE from suing and holding accountable our Elected Officials, Judges, Government and Government Agencies and Government Bureaucrats. For we rank and file citizens, the political party that you belong to should not be a consideration in supporting this proposed legislation. After reading my article, I believe you will be as angry and motivated for this proposed reform as I am.
If Upon reading this, you find yourself in agreement with my assessment and proposed Legislation Please contact Representative Michele Bachmann [ http://bachmann.house.gov ] at the following voice and fax numbers.
Washington D.C. Office
103 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2331 Fax: (202) 225-6475
Woodbury Office
6043 Hudson Rd, Suite 330 Woodbury, MN 55125
Phone: 651-731-5400 Fax: 651-731-6650
St. Cloud/Waite Park Office
110 2nd Street S, Suite 232 Waite Park, MN 56387
Phone: 320-253-5931 Fax: 320-240-6905
LEGAL EVIL? In their own words - Revised and Updated to include Proposed Legislation Language sent to my MN US Representative, Michele Bachmann [ http://bit.ly/jPM1H8 ]
With the US Judiciary's reputation for integrity and honesty firmly embedded in the minds of WE THE PEOPLE, what standing does any single Citizen have to challenge their reputations? To overcome this handicap, I will use the American Legal System’s own words to expose the true nature of their integrity and character.
Let us begin with the words of former FBI director J Edgar Hoover:
"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists.''
Next, I am going to use the words of Judges themselves. Judges allege that they reach conclusions by citing existing case law aka previous rulings of judges.
In my research on immunity for Judges and States, I was astonished and dismayed to learn the liberties the Judges had taken, and leaps of logic they had used, to interpret and write case law and rules in their favor.
The first cases I will cite are:
Wiggins v Hess (1976, CA8 Mo) 531 F2d 920
"Judicial immunity applies even when judge acts maliciously and corruptly; judge loses his immunity from liability for damages in violation of 42 USCS &1983 ONLY if he acts in clear absence of jurisdiction."
and:
Holloway v Walker (1985, CA5 Tex) 765 F2d 517
"Judges absolute immunity from suit under 42 USCS & 1983 for actions take under jurisdiction is not avoided by allegation that the acts are performed pursuant to bribe or conspiracy."......
To read the rest of the story and the proposed reform bill for free please click here:
Minnesota Judicial Reform and Accountability [ http://bit.ly/jPM1H8 ]
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Don Mashak's Minnesota 10th Judicial District Free Press - http://bit.ly/XYVN4This is a teaser for an article that I posted on my Blog MINNESOTA JUDICIAL REFORM... more
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The following is an excerpt from an article I wrote on one of my blogs:
"The following Elements of Natural Law are fundamental to the Citizens of the USA understanding the problems our Country (the USA) faces. And it may also be helpful in allowing the rank and file Citizens of other Countries in understanding the problems in theirs.
The fundamental understanding our US Founding Fathers had in drafting our constitution, is People under Natural Law have free will, and are not virtuous by nature. Therefore, governments must be constructed in anticipation of the nature of man. Acting on this knowledge, our Founding Fathers built into our Government and Constitution, various checks and balances.
Amongst these checks and balances were transparency and accountability. All of our problems today emanate from the slow, persistent rolling back of the checks and balances, transparency and accountability our Founding Fathers built into our Government and Constitution.".....
To read the rest of the article for free Click here:
Minnesota 10th Judicial District Free Press News
http://donmashaksmn10judicialdistrictfreepre.blogspot.com/
Those were my thoughts.
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashakThe following is an excerpt from an article I wrote on one of my blogs:
"The... more
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The following is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
"From now until the 2012 elections, I am going to write a series of articles with the express purpose of trying to get the average reader to "think outside of the box" At the same time, I hope I am up to the task of keeping the subject matter entertaining. Before the next election occurs, it is my hope to get WE THE PEOPLE aka the Common person aka the General Public to experience a paradigm shift in their thinking with regard to poltics and voiting.
Ultimately, I want to change your perception of reality to one that reflects your own true thought processes. This as opposed to the your current perception of reality induced by the propaganda, censorship and duplicity of America's Major Media, Entertainment Industry, Big Business and our own alleged political leaders. All this with the goal of having you vote your own mind, rather than vote in the manner your Government and major media have manipulated you to.
That having been said....
I was first introduced to Chaos theory in college. It was one of those hazy late night philosophical discussions we often had in college.
FREE WILL vs CHAOS THEORY
In America, during our youthful years of public education we are indoctrinated with a belief that everything we choose to do is a matter of free will. If I choose to turn left, kick a can, drink water, blow off class, cast a vote or any act you can think of, we are taught to believe we had the ability aka free will, to choose to do something else. Turn Right, not drink, not skip class, not vote. We are taught that every action we take is fully within our personal control and we make our choices of our own free will.
Chaos Theory (Determinism) states that no matter what we do, we have no choice... we have no free will. According to Chaos Theory, so many external factors have acted upon you that you have no choice but to do what ever action you have done. Your choice has been predetermined by a multitude of previously occurring, external influences.
Being much younger then, of course I knew it all and immediately dismissed this proposed Chaos Theory as psycho-babble. Yet, almost half a life time later, I am willing to consider chaos theory as a viable explanation of certain political events and attitudes.
WISCONSIN PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
My personality is that of an analytical driver. I gather facts and make decisions. It has been my life’s presumption that the vast majority of people also act out of reason and logic.
It escapes me by what logic Rank and File Wisconsin Public Employees do not recognize..."
Continue reading for free on Examiner.com: Chaos Theory,Rank & File Wisconsin Public Employees & True Grassroots TEA Party - Minneapolis Independent | Examiner.comhttp://www.examiner.com/independent-in-minneapolis/chaos-theory-wisconsin-public-employees-and-justice-minnesota#ixzz1GJLiEqpL
Those were my thoughts.
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashakThe following is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
"From now... more
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This is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
Announcing the Reorganization of Minnesota Judicial Reform and Accountability TEA Party.
Don Mashak, the leader of Minnesota Judicial Reform and Accountability TEA Party has announced a name change and reorganization of said group. (Don Mashak is also the author of this article)
The groups name will change to "TEA PArty Transparency, Accountability and Reform" or Tea Party TAR for short. It also will appear as #TPTAR on Twitter.
The group will be organized around issues rather than localities, as most other TEA Party groups are.
The primary issues of the group will be:
1) Judicial Transparency, Accountability and Reform
2) Fiscal Transparency
3) Public Education reform
To read the rest of the Article, Please visit Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-minneapolis/reorganization-of-minnesota-judicial-reform-and-accountability-tea-party
Those were my thoughts.
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashakThis is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
Announcing the... more
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This is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
Announcing the Reorganization of Minnesota Judicial Reform and Accountability TEA Party.
Don Mashak, the leader of Minnesota Judicial Reform and Accountability TEA Party has announced a name change and reorganization of said group. (Don Mashak is also the author of this article)
The groups name will change to "TEA PArty Transparency, Accountability and Reform" or Tea Party TAR for short. It also will appear as #TPTAR on Twitter.
The group will be organized around issues rather than localities, as most other TEA Party groups are.
The primary issues of the group will be:
1) Judicial Transparency, Accountability and Reform
2) Fiscal Transparency
3) Public Education reform
To read the rest of the Article, Please visit Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-minneapolis/reorganization-of-minnesota-judicial-reform-and-accountability-tea-party
Those were my thoughts.
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashakThis is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
Announcing the... more
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This is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
"As Joan Rivers would say, "Can we talk?" Simply, I don't understand why anyone would be a willing follower of any Leader who said they were a Progressive... Could it be my inability to understand flows from a different perspective of what it means to be a "man" than is currently in vogue?
Before I say more - ladies, I apologize but being a man is what I know... It is likely my perspective of reality will not be relevant and/or make sense to you. On the other hand, after reading what I have to say about the qualities and values that constitute being a real man, you might find it useful to communicate what your expectations of a "real man" is to the men in your circle of freinds, your peer group and any man with whom you happen to be metriculating.
For we men who have celebrated several anniversaries of our 29th birthday, there is a certain manner in which we were either taught or instinctively carry ourselves. For this article, i will ascribe the terms "Real Men" or "Real Man" to reference men who carry themselves in that particular manner."
To read the rest of the Article, Please visit Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-minneapolis/progressive-followers-please-help-me-understand
Those were my thoughts.
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashakThis is an except from an article I wrote on Examiner.com:
"As Joan Rivers... more
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Please retweet this on twitter or repost on facebook.
#MN TEA Time on 1280AM The Patriot, 7a-9a Saturday 11/27/2010 Minnesota State TEA Party talks issues http://bit.ly/eg41NZ Click LIVE LISTEN
Though this is Broadcast on 1280AM the Patriot in the Twin Cities of Minnesota USA, you can
listen to this TEA Party Patriot Radio broadcast any place in the world http://bit.ly/eg41NZ Click LIVE LISTEN
Visit Minnesota North Star TEA Party Patriots website here: http://northstartpp.com
Those were my thoughts.
Don Mashak
The Cynical Patriot
http://twitter.com/dmashak
Minnesota Judicial Reform and Accountability
TEA Party and Lawful Independent Political DissentPlease retweet this on twitter or repost on facebook.
#MN TEA Time on 1280AM The... more
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Visitors to Monticello don't learn how Jefferson cultivated poppies, and his personal opium use may as well never have happened.
March 3, 2010 |
The following is an excerpt from Jim Hogshire's "Opium for the Masses: Harvesting Nature's Best Pain Medication" (Feral House, 2009).
Thomas Jefferson was a drug criminal. But he managed to escape the terrible sword of justice by dying a century before the DEA was created. In 1987 agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency showed up at Monticello, Jefferson's famous estate.
Jefferson had planted opium poppies in his medicinal garden, and opium poppies are now deemed illegal. Now, the trouble was the folks at the Monticello Foundation, which preserves and maintains the historic site, were discovered flagrantly continuing Jefferson's crimes. The agents were blunt: The poppies had to be immediately uprooted and destroyed or else they were going to start making arrests, and Monticello Foundation personnel would perhaps face lengthy stretches in prison.
The story sounds stupid now, but it scared the hell out of the people at Monticello, who immediately started yanking the forbidden plants. A DEA man noticed the store was selling packets of "Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Poppies." The seeds had to go, too. While poppy seeds might be legal, it is never legal to plant them. Not for any reason.Visitors to Monticello don't learn how Jefferson cultivated poppies, and his... more
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As July 4th is this weekend, and as we know our Founding Fathers not only cultivated wisdom and individual freedom but also crops, the Sustainable Agriculture Channel will be paying tribute to our Founding Father Farmers now through July 4th. Various articles and other entries will be posted regarding their love for agriculture and how agriculture corrolates to the individual freedom that is our right.
This entry is about Thomas Jefferson and his farm at Monticello which became his life's work among all his other pursuits. For me the freedom to grow your own food on your own piece of land is the essence of personal freedom.
Thank you to Thomas Jefferson and the legacy that he left behind that was not only one that will live forever on paper, but in the fields of Monticello.
http://current.com/topics/86293911_sustainable-agriculture/As July 4th is this weekend, and as we know our Founding Fathers not only cultivated... more
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This year at Monticello in celebration of the inauguration of a new Visitor's Center, this film, Thomas Jefferson's World is being presented to show the real Jefferson. The man who loved his farm, his family, his home, and his books more than politics and pomp and circumstance.
He wrote this in a letter in 1809 to P.S. Dupont de Nemours:
"Within a few days I retire to my family, my books and farms; and having gained the harbor myself, I shall look on my friends still buffetting the storm, with anxiety indeed, but not with envy. Never did a prisoner released from his chains feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions."
Thomas Jefferson was an architect, horticulturist, scientist, writer, inventor, public servant, and a man of controversy. But above it all he was a man who believed in a spirit that birthed a nation. This Monday April 13th is also the celebration of his 226th birthday. America was that much more enriched to have his brilliance and the legacy he left behind.This year at Monticello in celebration of the inauguration of a new Visitor's... more
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Jefferson's design of the University of Virginia is a dialogue with sunlight and landscape. As the landscape architect Anne Spirn wrote, the lawn "linked two sources of knowledge: books and nature."
When I served as the dean of the school of architecture at the University of Virginia, I had the privilege of living in a house designed by Thomas Jefferson. Had I simply inhabited a singular Jeffersonian home, the experience would have been a source of profound and inspiring pleasure, but the house was only one part of a magnificent whole. Known as Pavilion IX, one of 10 classical pavilions facing each other across the university lawn and linked by colonnaded walkways to Jefferson’s domed Rotunda, the house is part of a unified “academical village” widely considered the greatest piece of architecture in America. So to live in Pavilion IX was to be immersed in an exquisite essay in architecture, and to feel a deep appreciation for the legacy of design.
Indeed, I think Jefferson saw himself first and foremost as a designer. Among all the achievements of his productive life, he wanted to be remembered for three things, inscribed on a stone obelisk over his grave at Monticello: “Author of the Declaration of Independence, Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, And Father of the University of Virginia.” This from a man whose distinguished career included eight years as president of the United States. For Jefferson, his activities were less important than the things he designed, suggesting a mind keenly attuned to the ways in which the poetic ordering of things could create a vital legacy.
And it is a vital legacy. In the things Jefferson made—from Monticello to the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, which matured into the Bill of Rights—we see a design sensibility that speaks to us today. We see balanced composition subtle enough to include tradition and invention, science and aesthetics, nature and culture, freedom and responsibility. We see a breadth of interest that took in politics, economics, natural history and an agrarian’s attention to the living earth, and rendered them visible in actions that changed the world. We see an architect, embracing both the practical and the poetic. We see a man who, were he with us today, would likely be calling for “Declarations of Interdependence” that recognize that our ability to pursue wealth, health and happiness is dependent on other forms of life, and that the rights of one species are linked to the rights of others.
"TODAY Jefferson would be calling for "Declarations of Interdependence" that recognize that our ability to pursue wealth, health and happiness depends on other forms of life."
William McDonough, FAIA
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Simply inspiring, and a legacy we must continue.Jefferson's design of the University of Virginia is a dialogue with sunlight and... more
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