This weekend, millions of Americans will gather in stadiums across the country to celebrate a myth - one that has been carefully constructed over many years to elicit the highest levels of emotion and devotion, while just as carefully concealing the historical facts which undermine it. The myth: we commemorate the birth of our nation on the 4th of July.

The truth is that there was no birth of an American nation on 4 July 1776. Instead, there was merely a joint declaration of independence of thirteen States from their former allegiance to the British Crown - an allegiance that each, while in their colonial character, owed separately, not collectively, to the King via their individual charters. The official title of this declaration was "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." This was a shortened form of "The unaminous Declaration of Georgia, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, etc." The lower case letters in the words "united" indicated that their association with each another was one of purpose, not of a political nature. Prior to 1781, the closest the several States had ever come to establishing a common political bond between themselves was the First Continental Congress, which met briefly in Philadelphia in 1774 and consisted of delegates from twelve of the colonies (Georgia was not represented), chosen to consider an economic boycott of British trade and to petition King George III for a redress of their grievances. The Second Continental Congress was simply a reconvening of the First, for the purpose of organizing the defense of the colonies against British invasion and whose power was limited to issuing resolutions which had no legally binding authority whatsoever over any of the thirteen coloinies. In fact, its resolutions and requests for funding for the Continental Army were frequently ignored. more...

The bicentennial observance of the birth of Confederate President Jefferson F. Davis will take place throughout this year, with the highlight being the reopening of Beauvoir, his final home, in Gulfport, Miss., on June 3.

The magnificent Southern shrine, which survived a pre-emptive strike by Hurricane Camille in 1969, was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The cost of the restoration is expected to exceed $4.1 million for the house alone; the total restoration will run about $20 million, and donations are still being accepted.

The reopening ceremonies will feature a keynote address by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. more...

Check out what Rep. Ron Paul had to say on Bill Mahr's program about the so-called "Civil War."

Now well past 90, Judith MacKnight Jones is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, the illness that robbed her of all of her memory, her most precious asset.

She has been lying here for the past 11 years, covered by a patchwork blanket, made from pieces her great-grandmother brought from the United States between 1865 and 1885, after the Confederacy lost the Civil War.

Unable to speak or remember now, her book "Soldado Descanso" ("Rest Soldier") is written in Portuguese, but soon will be translated into English, as the publisher thinks Americans should know about the proud history of Confederate immigrants settling in Brazil, finding a new home here but maintaining many of the traditions they brought from Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, the Carolinas and Georgia.

Her daughter-in-law, Heloisa Jones, said patchwork is only one of the values the Americans have brought. This blanket is not just any patchwork, she said, "these pieces are very old and reflect a valuable tradition," she said.more...

After being held as a prisoner of war for a little more than a year, Seth Gregory was released.

But that happened to be the same day his older brother Stephen Gregory was captured.

The Gregory brothers were Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. They are now buried in Murray County cemeteries — Seth in the Harrison Chapel Cemetery on Hyden Tyler Road and Stephen in the Sumach Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery on Highway 225 North.

Members of the Lt. Col. William Luffman chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans held memorial ceremonies and placed Southern Crosses of Honor on their graves last week, said the chapter’s commander, Steve Hall. more...