New Summer 2010 Tees

Our new summer tees are now available for purchase on line.  We've taken the tradition of the July 4th tee and added a twist to make it more thought provoking for those who wear it and those who read it.  We also added a childrens collection for toddlers and babys....they are for the love of the Declaration of Independence in the spirit of the July 4th holiday and everyday!!  Take a look at the guys and gals Protect the US Constitution 2010 tee. 

Don't just wear a message tee...make a statement that cause people to think!! Order a tee for each family member and show that you support conservative views that are in step with the Constitution and principles laid by its Founding Fathers. Check 'em out at

http://www.standupberead.com/.

History Teaches Everything!!

We just finished reading Federalist Number 19 written by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.    Everyday  my thoughts on the direction of this country are validated.  Its eerie how the founders knew the troubles that lay ahead if citizens become complacent on their role to govern.   If you read the documents you learn about history and the cautionary words the founders wrote to educate people on how to safeguard the Constitution and the Republic.  Become part of the national conversation on the Founding Fathers and the founding principles... http://www.constitutingamerica.org/  .

Get Rally Ready!

We've been overwhelmed with response to our apparel line and message tees. So excited that people are engaged and get it!!  We have Large and XLarge sizes still available in Abraham Lincoln 1863 & 1864, Uncle Sam, and Thomas Jefferson Question with Boldness.  All sizes are available in the Alexander Hamilton tee.  Get Rally Ready and recieve a 10% coupon on all Stand Up. Be Read.TM apparel.  Redeem your coupon using the code Rally at Check Out.  Offer ends April 30, 2010..hurry and place your order today!!  www.standupberead.com

Day 4: AAM - VOTE IN NOVEMBER

Its the last day at the Atlanta Apparel Mart.  We met so many interesting people...all of them business owners-wholesalers, designers, and buyers. The modo of day 4: VOTE IN NOVEMBER!  Over the past four days we shared stories with business owners about anxiety over the economy but also hope for the future.  In short, business owners want government out of their business, they want corporate taxes lowered, they want healthcare repealled, they want incentives to keep manufacturing jobs in the US, and they want politicians who are truthful.   Many of us are small business owners who, based on principle, use US companies to manufacture goods to support the American workforce. On the flip side we are penalized and at times not competitive because the cost to produce goods is more expensive and sets up our cost of goods to be more than the competition who don't care about 'USA made' labels and prefer to make their products overseas to take advantage of the lower costs.  
The bottom line is that there is a feeling that Washington DC talks a big story about looking after the small business owner, but they don't act on the talk...and this has been going on for years.  Policies just add to the burden in a sluggish economy.  'Where is Reagan?'
That being said, we are all hopeful that through the election process politicians will be forced to get out of the way of small business and the free market will pull the economy out of the recession.
Oh and one last note...consumers, please support the American workforce and buy products made in the USA!!  Go to this website for more information:  www.americansworking.com

Day 3: Atlanta Apparel Mart

Yesterday was day 3 at Atlanta Apparel Mart.  We continue to get great feedback from buyers and guests alike - "Great tees, great message, perfect timing."  Modo of the day: stay true to your passion and have faith in yourself.

Day 2: Atlanta Apparel

Day 2: Atlanta Apparel Mart...another fab day of runway and showing Stand Up Be Read apparel. See the runway video of Question with Boldness - Thomas Jefferson and 1863 - Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg. Modo of the day: the word 'unconditional' is totally under rated! Over the past few days we've meet so many genuine and transparent people - designers, wholesalers, buyers...we are all is this together.

Atlanta Apparel Mart: Nichola Originals

Tomorrow starts Atlanta's Apparel Mart.  Nichola Originals and the Stand Up. Be Read.TM apparel will be featured there.  Our booth is like none other and we are very proud to be representing an awesome collection with a honorable message.  We are all very excited and plan to blog during the event so keep checking the blog or website for updates.  Thanks!!

Amazing Talent: Rhodes Design Group

Bringing Nichola Originals to market and defining the brand Stand Up. Be Read. TM, has been a collaborative effort on many fronts and involved many players. It all started with an idea and Rhodes Design Group was able to convert it into graphics and scope a brand. They are amazing at what they do!! Find out more about them and their work at

http://www.rhodesdesigngroup.com/.

A New Day in America?

And so its the morning of Monday 3/22/2010. I woke up feeling different, like someone died and I know I won't 't see them again. Its a new age in America, freedom as we knew it will never be, what will it bring? History tells us what it will bring. I don't want to believe it....I don't want my children to experience it...I don't want to change my business practices because of it.... All these feelings swirl because I'm being forced to give what is mine and give it to someone else. But don't I do that already willfully and gladly? Don't most Americans do that already?

The Health care Bill is not about better health care it is about forced charity: in the definition of Pelosi - bundled up and packaged as if it is the continuation of the Founding Fathers' will. Please don't insult my intelligence. You couldn't be more wrong. This is so against their intentions and declaration when the United States of America became an independent nation. What Pelosi said last night didn't make sense, to combine the goals of the Health care bill with the Founding Fathers and Constitution. So much so, that she stumbled and had to look back at her notes. I was embarrassed for her.

Another quote from Ronald Reagan....

"I've never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a 'fat cat' and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a 'public-spirited philanthropist.'

Obama and Pelosi refer to Democrats voting for the bill as being for the people's welfare and Republicans who don't vote for it, well, they are just out for themselves. How wrong you are!!! No one became self reliant being given entitlements and handouts all their life....but those who are given opportunities to create themselves and earn an honest living excel.

Lets hope...hope that we can find a way back to a free America, free to make choices for our own lives, choices for our own children, choices to give and be charitable in our own way.

Verify, Then Trust

9 votes needed here, 13 votes needed there....and amoung the circus it's not about the policy but about who can be bought and bribed. So sad...and I ask, how did we get here.

Today I read a little about Ronald Reagan and his relations with the Soviet Union. During which he used the phrase Trust, but Verify...he used that phrase alot especially when dealing with the Soviet Union and when asked why he always repeated the phrase, he responded "because I like it."

That phrase didn't start with Ronald Reagan and it has been used by lots of people since. I feel much the same as Reagan felt working with the Soviets, but it is with my country's leaders. We, the people, took our eye off the ball and blindly trusted our leaders, never feeling the need to verify; after all we had the protection of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights on our side.

Look where we are now. Politicians gasp at the notion that we the people are now asking the tough questions and demanding to be heard. It is amazing to see the disregard to states' rights and the noise about how they, politicians, are the grantors of the people's rights. I feel like this country has been sucker punched by both side of the isle!

I also like the phrase trust, but verify; but I'll twist the phrase around a tad - verify, then trust...with a watchful eye.

A call to action: Let's assemble, rally, and pull together to turn this ship around and get this country back on course. Then vote for leaders who have demonstrated and verified that they govern based on Constitutional principles and who honor this country's place in history.

Will Our Country Transform This Week?

Its time to push harder, fight with more viligance...get the phone lines fired up with calls to your representatives!! There is no time to waste!!! CAll NOW!!!

"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No.1, December 19, 1776

Ready, Set, Launch...

Its count down to the launch of our new website! See a preview at http://www.standupberead.com/. Our photoshoot was a success thanks to our fabulous models (nothing but the best...true all American young adults - Macy, Kelsey, and Kevin) and Hollie Lytle of Lytlefoto, http://www.imageryforlife.com/ for capturing the story!!

Soon the site will be graced with the Faces of Stand Up. Be Read.TM and stories of young adults taking a stand to restore American ideals.

Samuel Adams: The Rights of the Colonist 1772

The Rights of the Colonists by Samuel Adams, 11/20/1772 brought tears to my eyes knowing how close we are to loose the Republic and all for which our Founding Fathers fought. But it also brought hope in my heart knowing that the few leaders who have been fighting the honorable fight now have the power of the people behind them to push back the transformation. We've all heard the phrase 'the sleeping giant has awaken'...we must stay awake, stay alert, be viligant, question with boldness, assemble, be heard!!!

The Rights of the Colonists by Samuel Adams, The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting 11/20/1772
http://www.constitution.org/bcp/right_col.htm

Cradle to Grave Agenda

I've come across this quote many times and it is so true. Take the emotion out of the issue and look at the wasted money pouring into programs ill utilized on those who have become dependent on the government with no motivation to support themselves and improve their life style. Stop the government's cradle to grave agenda already!!

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer." Benjamin Franklin, On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, November 1766