What do you think of when you think of Pennsylvania?  Independence Hall and the Declaration of Independence?  Ben Franklin?  The Liberty Bell?  How about Broadband satellite internet?

Pennsylvania is named after its founder William Penn, late of jolly old England.  Penn, a real estate entrepreneur, was owed a large sum of money by King Charles II and the transfer of property in 1681 settled the debt. Penn promptly sailed to his new holdings and set up a government based on his Quaker principles, quite controversial at the time. Some of the colonists, mainly Dutch and Swedish and English, didn’t care for this deal and eventually were allowed to split off three counties to become Lower Delaware.

Actually, the whole thing was a lot more complicated than that but that will do for now.  It’s quite fascinating if one wishes to research and dig deeper.  William Penn was also a prolific writer and, among other things, went on to urge unification of the colonies and his writings about government later were influential in the drafting of the Constitution.

“Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”

Thus is the inscription on the old Statehouse Bell, rung to call the people of Philadelphia together to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Imagine how it must have felt to colonial Americans; loyal to the Crown for all their lives, considering themselves to be Englishmen as did countless British colonials of all around the world.  Revolution!  A few disjointed colonies standing up to the mightiest military power on earth!

The bell remained simply the Statehouse bell until the 1830′s when abolitionists adopted it and its message as a symbol of freedom for all Americans.  The name Liberty Bell took hold and has been used ever since.  Popular history records that the famous crack appeared when it was rung on George Washington’s birthday in 1846.  Actually, it had cracked earlier and had been previously patched (by Davy Crocket?) but the patch failed and the bell was forever silenced, though it remains a symbol of freedom around the world.

Now, the bell was originally ordered to commemorate, guess what, the 50^th anniversary of the publishing of William Penn’s Charter of Privileges, the model for Pennsylvania’s government!  Cast in England, it cracked immediately and was recast locally.  It sounded terrible and was recast again.  Still not good enough, another was ordered from the foundry in Whitehall, England.  This one worked fine and was used to toll the hours as well as for every sort of occasion.  It is recorded that neighbors were known to complain about the noise!

It could be said that the Liberty Bell is an apt symbol for America: powerful and full of hope for all, flawed, damaged and repaired many times, yet still representative of that human striving for independence and equality that drives mankind to move ahead in the face of adversity.  A bell to ring out the song of liberty as broadband satellite internet spreads the message of freedom across the world!

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of New York State? It’s a dairy farm in Brunswick, isn’t it. No? A cider mill in Canisteo? No, again? Well, what are you thinking of if it’s not that? Oh, I know, you’re thinking about New York City, Niagara Falls, High Speed Satellite Internet and the Statue of Liberty.

All very important components of the Empire State but don’t leave the rest of the place out of the picture. And don’t forget that Rural High Speed Satellite Internet is available all over. It’s one of those things that the East Coast States share along with a history that goes back to colonial times. Truly amazing 17^th and 18^th century architecture that has survived whatever wars or revolutions have thrown at it. You can see a home built at the time of the Declaration of Independence that had been revamped with tunnels leading to and from a river to a safe room where slaves of the Underground Railroad were hidden on their trek to Canada.

The aptly named Finger Lakes region is famous for its fishing, camping, hiking or just plain sight-seeing. They also have world-class vineyards if you would like to go for a tour and a tasting.  Would you like something a little softer? There are many orchards and cider mills to go to and stock up while watching the apple press do its magic.  Florida may tout its fresh-squeezed orange juice but there’s nothing like a newly pressed apple dripping that fine amber liquid into a vessel for your tasting.

Dairy farms dot the countryside and produce the milks and cheeses we all enjoy. Many of these same farms have been around for a couple of centuries! I know you want to get to the Big Apple but enjoy a little trip of discovery around the state that will maybe rival one of those shows on Broadway.

Ok, now you’re in the biggest and best city in the world. Horns are honking; people are rushing en masse on the sidewalks while the taxi cabs are trying to run you over. Don’t worry, just go along with the crowd in whatever direction you are heading since the drivers will usually avoid hitting a whole group of people (you hope). Walk fast and don’t act like a tourist. Don’t loiter by any dark alleys and by all means don’t leave your money in your pocket. Pick pockets are every where and they hide in dark alleys. Too many rules to remember? Then get out of that city and get back up state!

Just kidding (about some of it). Have some fun in the big city by wining and dining in the world’s finest restaurants and go see the best that Broadway has to offer. Take a walk around Central Park where it seems most movies are filmed and grab a taxi (if you dare) back to whatever star hotel you are staying. Just watch out for the bedbugs (not kidding) and make sure they have some of that High Speed Satellite Internet! That will make the whole trip worthwhile no matter where you end up in New York State.

The High Plains of Nebraska are a treeless wonder. When settlers made their way to this area many were forced to construct and live in sod homes (called a ‘soddy’) because there was no wood handy for building.  Imagine living in a dirt and grass structure with no rural satellite internet available. Doesn’t sound like a good time to me but the homes stood the test of time and weather and were an inexpensive way to live in such a barren landscape.

If repairs were needed you just had to cut out more sod, which was plentiful, and voila, your house was livable again! A little bit damp and probably buggy but survivability was the goal, not creature comforts. I did a little research and found that because of the lack of trees this used to be called a Great American Desert! No one believed anything could be grown here so it remained uninhabited and avoided by pioneers passing through to what they considered better destinations.

It wasn’t until the government started giving away land to anyone who could make a living there that settlers started to trickle in. Surprising to everyone was that this Great Plains state was perfect for grazing cattle and the soil was ideal for farming. Once the word got out the rush was on to get to Nebraska and find yourself and your family a nice little, or big, piece of land. Of course, you may have had to live in a dirt house for awhile but it was worth it to many.

With the increase in population, statehood was not far behind. The intrepid citizens of Nebraska turned this so-called desert into the leading cattle and farming state it is today. Not only that but one of their own, Edwin Perkins, invented Kool-Aid! What can’t these people do? I suppose a nice fruit-flavored beverage would taste pretty good at the end of a long day tending to your ranch or farm. Little did Mr. Perkins know that one day little tykes would be selling his soft drink from little stands in their front yards; their first real lesson in big business courtesy of an inventor in Hastings, Nebraska!

The next story has a not-so-happy ending. The Vise-Grip tool was invented and manufactured in De Witt for over 80 years but then closed down and moved to China! Ach, another one lost overseas. So sad. The good news (besides Kool-Aid) is that Nebraskans embrace technology and change so I have no fear for their future. They are accessing the internet through high speed rural satellite service from anywhere they live which gives them opportunities galore.

From sod homes to brick and wood abodes with internet service: what more can you ask for? Well, maybe a little Kool-Aid!

I bet it would have made a big difference in the outcome had they had access to computers and high speed broadband satellite internet but unfortunately we’ll never know. They didn’t know that the Indians had already driven back 10 cavalry companies at an earlier battle which prevented that contingent from getting word to the other columns, including Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, that there were huge numbers of Native Americans involved.

Had they been able to plan this battle with the use of satellite internet, the improved communications would have forewarned these ill-fated men that they were outnumbered. Instead, they went ahead to certain death.

This all took place in Montana, which is called the ‘Big Sky Country’ for good reason. It is BIG! Larger than all other states of the Union besides California, Texas and Alaska, it also has very few people living there leaving miles upon miles of empty glorious land. I’m not condoning this, but I hear there are no speed limits on some of the longer stretches of highways around the state because there is just no traffic!

This may explain the problems encountered by the troops attempting to move the Indians onto reservations. In such a vast land the Arapaho, Lakota and Cheyenne were able to move about without notice and combine to become the great fighting force that brought down Custer.

Even without modern day technology to help the troops, they did have the benefit of using scouts to go ahead of them to find the lay of the land and report any sightings of hostile Indians. This resulted in the scouts informing George Custer that there were large herds of horses and a village in the distance indicating the possibility of a very strong opposition force. Custer went back with them to the lookout point and could see none of the things the scouts could see so decided to go ahead with a dawn attack.

Uh-oh, not a good decision as it turns out. There are still a lot of questions surrounding the stories of this famous battle, especially the ones that do not shed a good light on the Lieutenant Colonel. All that is known for sure is that these Indigenous tribes, led by the likes of Crazy Horse, planned their response and were very successful. Sitting Bull is said to have had a vision of this event which was the inspiration for the tribes to come together in one of their final efforts to keep from being sent to reservations.

We know that the Indians of the area were eventually moved off of their land or died trying to avoid it. Not a great moment in our history but this does not, in any way, overshadow the fact that Montana is a great place to be.

So, whether you are travelling through from the eastern plains to the western mountains of Montana, remember you will also be able to hook yourself up to high speed broadband satellite internet wherever you roam or live. You can make Montana your last stand against a busy and crowded world. Enjoy!

Exploring St Louis And Rural Satellite Internet

Saint Louis, Missouri, the Gateway to the West, certainly lives up to its description. This was the place to get to from the original states and territories if you planned on moving further west. From here the Mississippi River will take you all the way down to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. From here you can take the Missouri River and meander west and link up to other waterways all the way to the Pacific Ocean. From here you can use your satellite internet linkup to travel the web to anywhere in the world!

The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803 didn’t have the advantage of rural satellite internet like the people of Missouri enjoy now, but that didn’t stop them from taking on the monumental task of finding and mapping a water route from here to the west end of our continent. This ushered in the beginnings of a massive trade route with St. Louis at its center. What an exciting time to live here! Lewis and Clark decided to stay here after the successful completion of their trek.

It was a little more difficult to live here during the Civil War. Blockades were set up on the rivers to keep goods from being shipped to or from the south. This did hinder trade and to a great extent, the economy, but they re-geared themselves and started producing ironclad warships for the Union to the north. Trade did pick up again after the war when the warships were no longer needed.

The adjective, bustling, certainly described St. Louis for the next few decades culminating with the hosting of the 1904 World’s Fair and the 1904 Summer Olympics. From antebellum to Victorian times this graceful, energetic city continued to grow and prosper.

And how about that Gateway Arch?! Talk about an engineering feat; it is the highest man-made structure in the US with views from the top that stagger the mind. Don’t worry, views are all from inside the arch, no sitting on top on the outside, although I’m sure someone will try someday, if they haven’t already!

Trade continues to this day making this area a heavily travelled route just as it once was. Companies like Anheuser-Busch and Ralston Purina have made St. Louis their headquarters.

Unfortunately, urban sprawl overwhelmed the city and the lack of housing created the need for suburban migration. The city has worked hard to improve the housing problems and made so much progress that they were selected to receive the World Leadership Award in urban renewal in 2006. Luckily, no matter where you move to in Missouri you can use your high speed broadband internet connections.

Today there are still riverboats and barges moving up and down the ‘Big Muddy’ going to wherever the currents take them. Chances are you have been to St. Louis because it is a hub of transportation, but if it is just to the airport, take some time, leave the terminal and do some exploring of your own.

“…By the shining Big-Sea-Water…” What a wonderful way to say Lake Superior, the northeast border of Minnesota! There are just as many ways to say Satellite Internet: Rural High Speed Satellite Internet, High Speed Rural Broadband Satellite Internet, and so on and so forth.

Just by keying in Gitche Gumee on your computer browser you will find Lake Superior. There are numerous lakes in Minnesota, and this state is called the Land of 10,000 Lakes. That’s a lot of water and a lot of satellite internet service.

Over 60% of the population lives in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, so that leaves a lot of rural citizens living in some of the most beautiful countryside in the plains states. Along with Lake Superior, Minnesota shares a border with Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, North and South Dakota to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba to the north. Awesome neighbors, don’t you think?

If you like fresh-water fishing, you’ll need to make a long beeline to the International Boundary Waters in the far northern part of the state. In waters so clear you can see your prey finagle for your bait, you don’t need to guess when a fish takes the hook, you watch them do it! Set up a camp on the beach and have a delicious shore lunch and swim before you head back out. Because it is so far north the summers are short but sweet. June is going to find it very cold still although it is a great time for catching (and releasing those you don’t eat) some monster fish.

If you tire of having fun in the country, head to the big cities and enjoy world-class dining, arts, entertainment, and the professional sports teams. Please root for their teams, no matter where you’re from because they sure love their Twins baseball and Vikings football teams! Purple and gold are good colors to wear to the games. Don’t forget a trip to the largest shopping place in the USA – The Mall of America. It is a tourist destination to astound even the most shop-til-you-drop pros around.

Minnesota has the distinction of being the source of the great Mississippi River. Between the Great Lakes and rivers, commerce thrives. The port of Duluth continues to be an important shipping point for mining and agricultural products.

Iron ore mining has been tapped out but they have replaced this with taconite mining which is a lower grade ore but very profitable.

The Saint Anthony Falls of the upper Mississippi River powered many flour mills in the mid-to-late 19^th century, which helped build Minneapolis up to a flourishing metropolis. This gave the city the title of Flour Milling Capital of the World until the 1930’s.

Wow, I’m exhausted just writing about how much there is to do in Minnesota. I don’t know if mythical Hiawatha or Minnehaha ever made it to the Minnesota shores but if they did they would not want to wait long to spread the word. Too bad they didn’t have High Speed Rural Satellite Internet to expedite the process!

No natural lakes, that is. The glaciers didn’t quite make it all the way to Maryland so there was no carving out of the deep water lakes that can be found north of the state. There are plenty of ponds and marshes though and of course there is the beautiful Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to more than make up difference. The use of rural high speed satellite internet connections keep this state accessible to everyone in this place that is nicknamed ‘America in Miniature’ due to its vast array of topographical features.

The ‘Star Spangled Banner’ was penned here after an attempt by the British, in the War of 1812, to capture Baltimore. Fort McHenry provided the protection needed and drove them back, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write one of the most patriotic songs ever written in America. The words were put to music and the song slowly made its way around the states and into people’s homes. In a world of IPods and high speed satellite internet service you have to wonder how long it would take to spread that same song today!

Baltimore is also home to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, the second leg of the Triple Crown Stakes in horseracing. Any thoroughbred horse that can win the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness Stakes on the third Saturday in May, followed by the Belmont Stakes, earns the rare privilege of being named a Triple Crown Winner. So rare, we haven’t had one since 1978!

Maryland is also base to over 350 biotechnology companies. Research and development is a big draw to the state which is technologically ahead of most others. The names of John Hopkins University and the Goddard Space Flight Center head the list of numerous facilities famous for high standards of excellence in their respective fields.

Talk about history, there is not a step you can take that hasn’t a great story behind it or a war fought on it.  From Fort McHenry, drive on over to Harpers Ferry for a visit. The Appalation Trail runs straight through the town and a short walk can take you to West Virginia and back! Harpers Ferry has seen the dawn of the first American railroad right in its own backyard, the John Brown anti-slavery campaign and became the site of the largest surrender of Federal troops in the Civil War. In keeping with its Civil War history the next stop should be at Antietam National Battlefield where the ghosts of so many of the victims of the war between-the-states may still roam. Say a prayer and wish them peace.

You can call Maryland the Old Line State, the Free State, or the Chesapeake Bay State but don’t ever call it the unconnected state! With high speed rural satellite internet service widely available they are always united in communications availability and technology. The best using the best has kept this state way ahead of the rest of the nation in so many ways that I’m thinking we could all learn a thing or two from the great state of Maryland!

There are many stories that come out of the Smokey Mountains and none better than the tales of a valley named for a blue-eyed 14 year old; Maggie Mae Setzer.

At the turn of the century a post office was the only means of staying in touch with the outside world. You couldn’t just log onto your computer and catch up on things through rural satellite internet like you can today in that area.

Because of the importance of the post office many times residents of these mountain valleys would set up an office right out of their homes. As such, many of these posts were named for one of the children of the postmaster, such as Maggie Valley. Family lore says that poor Maggie was embarrassed and devastated that her name was chosen and ran off to sulk in the old cabin where she had been born.

Since she lived into her eighties, she was most likely around to see the many great innovations slowly make their way into her valley, like the automobile and electricity. She did miss out on seeing computers and the rural satellite internet that makes it possible to reach your family and friends from these great mountains.

Maggie Valley also holds the secrets of past settlers. Some say that there are stills hidden deep in the hills and the ghosts of moonshiners still run their liquor along the old forest roads to phantom customers. The official histories tend to leave out the illegal goings-on that took place but there are still many people around who remember and will share those stories.

This special valley has become very popular of late with tourists and vacation homeowners due to its special beauty, history, ski resorts and new roads which make it easier to reach your destination. Even without a car the trails are breathtaking and fun to explore. This new breed of person who visits the area loves the hidden mountains and valleys but also need their modern-day conveniences, such as computers.

A computer in this wilderness is as important today as the post office was in Maggie’s day. Just as the earlier locals brought the world to them by setting up a rural postal system in their homes, today’s venturer can do the same with the aid of a satellite. This can bring the high speed internet you want right to your home or vacation destination just as the mail used to do.

So if you ever visit the lovely Maggie Valley and look deep into the trees you may see a young girl crying from shame or the happy face of the woman she became. Maggie married, had children and ended up moving back to the beloved valley that her family helped build. She lent her name to an area that, although takes you back in time, also brings you into the future. Thank you, Maggie!

A satellite is now on the market; any takers? The original owner filed for bankruptcy and left a perfectly good Telstar satellite orbiting out there with no particular job to do anymore. What a waste. All you have to do is come up with a few million dollars and plan on how you are going to move it into an orbit where it will do some good for you or potential satellite internet customers.

Or you could go the charitable route and move it into a position where it can provide unlimited satellite internet access to billions who have had to do without it all of this time. Can you imagine a world with no internet service at all? Neither can I, but the reality is that it is not accessible to a good portion of the population for no other reason than they live someplace not accessible by standard internet connections.

The good news is you don’t have to rob a bank to get the benefits of great satellite internet service. You can utilize this service because others have already launched satellites to allow you the same type of access. Did you know there are over 2,200 man-made satellites out there and this doesn’t include the 8,000 or so pieces of space junk that have been left up there over the past 30 years of space exploration?

It’s good to know that this particular satellite is sparking so much interest in satellite broadband internet because its time has come and more attention should be brought out about the tremendous benefits it affords.

Of course, we should also be aware of the fact that a satellite can be owned and operated by people who can use it to transmit the information they want imparted to certain countries and people groups. An outfit like Wiki-leaks could have a heyday sending their accumulated information to anyone they wanted without having to go through news organizations and other traditional outlets. They would be able to beam directly from space to whatever destination they have selected. It is now also known that Osama bin Laden and his group were using satellite internet connections in their million-dollar compound. But it is also presumed that this aided the US in finding him.

The good, the bad and the ugly. For as long as we’ve had very good people using new technologies to benefit mankind, we’ve also had the very bad who use it for their own dastardly deeds. That will probably never change but at least we can change the way we look at how satellite broadband internet can make our lives better.

If you’ve read previous articles then you probably already know it is a go anywhere, do anything internet service. Your limitations have been lifted and you can be free to connect wherever you happen to be.

So, even though you may not actually own a satellite you become part of special group of people who use satellites. And you can also rest assured that the invincible Telstar will again be doing the job it was put up in space to accomplish: Transmitting from earth to space and back again at your beck and call.

Remote desktop computing with Satellite Internet is something that rural households across the nation have been wanting since the invention of computers.  Actually, it is likely that you have had a need for this type of wireless satellite connection even if you don’t reside in a rural area.  Surely, most of us have been on a weekend camping trip…in the middle of nowhere…where we desperately needed to access a file from work.  However, we didn’t even bring our computer with us because we knew there was no chance we could get an internet signal.  Now you can, with the collaboration of a Satellite Internet connection service and services like GoToMyPC and LogMeIn.

GoToMyPC and LogMeIn are services that allow you to download some software on your computer and then access that computer over an internet connection anywhere in the world, just like you were sitting in front of it at home.  These services even allow you to control your computer from your mobile phone…unbelievable right?!  Actually, it gets even better when you add satellite internet service to the mix.  We all know that most wireless companies have a difficult time getting an internet signal in the most remotes parts of the world, but satellite internet does not have this challenge.  All you would have to do is invest in a mobile satellite internet device and set it up when you got to camp, and you could do all the work you wanted.  Actually, there is one more option, you could call ahead to make sure the camping spot you were going to had a satellite internet subscription service like WildBlue.  This would save you the money of having to invest in your own equipment.  For those of you in rural areas, WildBlue service is also what you would need to be able to connect your primary computer to the internet, as these remote access software solutions will not work on dial up.  If you are one of the people in this situation here is the link to get access to WildBlue Satellite Internet.

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