Jonathan Bleakley’s Post

Annie Wittenmyer led a life well lived. Fortunately, her life wasn’t cut short by a sniper’s bullet when her train came under attack during the Civil War. Read more about that incident in our latest blog! https://lnkd.in/gP_UDfu5

Tips for Maintaining Independence as We Age https://conta.cc/45M0Ert

https://lnkd.in/dPPjVGe8 A life well lived in pursuit of justice. 

In the era of the #earlymodern ‘secret state’, two notorious brothers set up an elaborate intelligence network, managing a vast array of spies and informers. 🔒 If you have an Archive subscription, you can read this article from the new issue at https://lnkd.in/g4cgNEyX The April issue of History Today is on sale now, find out what else is inside and where to get it at https://lnkd.in/drZQCXx

Tips for Maintaining Independence as We Age https://conta.cc/45M0Ert

Fireworks, picnics, and BBQ—today in the United States, we’re celebrating Independence Day and freedom. Thanks to the life-changing sacrifices thousands of people made over two centuries ago, we can choose how we want to live our lives. We get to dream and work hard to achieve those dreams. Unfortunately, many of us limit this advantage. We tell ourselves stories about why something won’t work when our soul cries out for more. We won’t act when we see something wrong because we fear retribution. The biggest enemy of freedom is judgment. Judgement is the root of all obstacles. It starts with assessing our environment and can quickly spin into self-censorship. We are not free and independent if we let judgment stop us. So, here’s my summer plan: I’m gonna turn judgment into discernment. Whenever I issue a verdict on myself and others, I will stop and adjust my thinking. I will turn judgy rants into observations and lessons learned. Because the worst prison is the one we build for ourselves. #IndependenceDay #FourthOfJuly #Freedom

Make decisions, Avoid costly mishaps? Listen to Christian's transformation of his life/business described as a self imposed prison to now living part of the year in America and reaping the rewards of growing his business working with Gary from Advice4business. https://lnkd.in/dFfSgRX2

Happy Fourth of July from the Cato Institute! 🇺🇸💥🗽 The simple, timeless, fundamentally libertarian principles of the American Revolution—individual liberty, limited government, and free markets—are even more powerful and more important today. More thoughts on liberty this Independence Day: https://lnkd.in/ghpH7yRz

Our documentary is mentioned in this presentation.

“The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me...This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn...What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” - Frederick Douglass, 1852 "What To A Slave Is The 4th of July?" is one of, if not the, best questions the U.S. has never been prepared nor willing to answer. This video is a fantastic display of Frederick Douglass' descendants reading famous his speech from July 5, 1852. Personally, I don't celebrate the 4th because my ancestors were still property on July 4, 1776 and remained property until the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. The U.S. continues to be an experiment with continual and collective room for improvement. If you have not done so already, I highly encourage everyone to read Project 2025. Yes, it is long. But that's the game being played: they always hide the realness in text because they know the majority of us will not read. I read it and while I have always known about these agendas, it has never been so overtly consolidated and aimed at our collective society of human beings. Everything about this is pulling us all in the wrong direction: from immediately halting of CISA's cybersecurity and disinformation efforts and that "CISA should not be significantly involved closer to an election," (page 155) to ending the focus on climate change and green subsidies/eliminate energy efficient standards for appliances (page 378). As we must consider where our nation has come from, where it is now, and where it is headed, July 4th is a solemn reminder that not everyone desires nor takes action for continual and collective improvement. If all of us are not free, none of us are.