Obama '08?

Thanks, teeny, and I also endorse that. Even to the guys on my ignore list, ci, dyslexia, Debra Law, Walter Hinteler, and Setanta, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

And remember, Thanksgiving helps us remember how capitalism and freedom brought prosperity and plenty to eat, those long many years ago in our nation's history.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/27/thanksgiving-economy-history-oped-cx_jb_1127bowyer.html

"Famine came as soon as they ate through their provisions. After famine came plague. Half the colony died. Unlike most socialists, they learned from their mistakes, giving each person a parcel of land to tend to for themselves.

"At length, after much debate of things, the Governor ... gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves ... And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number, for that end."

The results were overwhelmingly beneficial. Men worked hard, even though before they had constantly pleaded illness. Fields were not only tilled and planted but also diligently harvested. Colonists traded with the surrounding Indian nation and learned to plant maize, squash and pumpkin and to rotate these crops from year to year. The harvest was bountiful, and new colonists immigrated to the thriving settlement.

"This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression."

The colonists threw off the statist intellectual fashions of their day. They concluded that the ancient principles of private property as recorded in the Ten Commandments were superior to the utopian speculations of Plato and his 17th-century imitators. Human nature was a fact of life, self-centered, fallen. No cadre of elite philosopher kings could change the cold facts of reality.

I will second that thought. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

My sentiments exactly! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY.

you americans are weird

thanksgiving was last month

Canada's thanksgiving is in October.

Okie,
Remember, collectively, we are ALL Americans, no matter our religion, or political philosophy. I pray for the day, that we can all stand together as brothers and sisters. It's the easiest thing to do. At times, you want to hate your enemies but deep down the enemy is your friend, wanting what you have, achieved and worked hard for.

There is still the myth, that the streets are paved with gold, here, but it is the dream of many to ultimately achieve a sort of, utopia. Utopia is in your mind. What a wonderful place this would be if everyone had a full stomach, dry clothing and warmth, during winters' chill.

While I have deep respect for authority, do they always do as they preach? Unfortunately, no. It's sad to see videotapes of authority overstepping their bounds, politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths, cheating their constituents, while we suffer from them not guaranteeing us what they promised. Everybody in these threads have an opinion and that's all I hope we have.

I don't really take politics seriously, because a "new" messiah is just on the horizon, be they Republican, Democrat or independent. It's a game that they play and prey upon us to keep us at each others' throats, instead of getting on with living in harmony. I'm 65 now and wiser than I ever imagined. I've lived a "charmed" life, protected by loving parents, that sacrificed for me to have a quality education even though where I lived it was segregated.

I am not bitter and I embrace everyone, regardless of their color or station in life. It's when I see the poor or homeless that I endeavor to take a stand for the downtrodden and the misbegotten of us, in a land of plenty and the selfishness of those in authority to continue letting others suffer while they thrive. It just reminds me of the societies in India and the UK when they were a world super-power, where "class" was the standard.

My father taught me that when you're in the trenches with someone, we're all the same. I've got your back and I hope you've got mine. This is the America I keep looking and hoping for. I wish you the best!

spendi takes onion from pocket.

geographicaly that's true, in my case. i live in the americs (the north of the north so to speak), so please refer to me as a candian american

I've been away for a while and this is was worth coming back to, very good post, teenyboone.

I see Obama has come to a decision regarding Afghanistan; as usual it makes nobody happy and criticism from all sides. What was that saying about making nobody happy?

War speech to outline escalation and exit



ANALYSIS

UGH, Rasmussen, a source NO ONE shoulod rely on!

teeny, Very well written, and I believe as you do that everybody should be treated equally. ITMT, I also do not cater to people who do not tell the truth or have any basic understanding of what they share on a2k to be factual information. I will challenge them, and they are welcomed to challenge me.

I do this with my own siblings, because their politics and religion differs from mine. I see nothing wrong with this.

There are, of course, several variables that can indicate the state of an economy (rates of increase/decrease of: employment, GDP, inflation, mortgage interest, bankruptcy, etc.). However, we both realize that total employment is the most pertinent indicator of the health or illness of the economy, because it is most directly related to the primary effect of the economy on economic opportunities for most individual Americans and their families.

My disagreement with you is based on my belief that private charity--actions and/or money--is most EFFECTIVE for rescuing "the downtrodden and the misbegotten of us, in a land of plenty and the selfishness of those in authority to continue letting others suffer while they thrive." AND government--actions and/or money-- are most INEFFECTIVE for helping "the downtrodden and the misbegotten of us, in a land of plenty and the selfishness of those in authority to continue letting others suffer while they thrive." The reason for that is private charities are more easily held accountable by their supporters and participants for what they do and accomplish than are government bureaucrats.

I wish all Americans have a happy and satisfying Thanksgiving!

I wholeheartedly agree, because sometimes private charities provide ways for people that are in drugs, alcohol, and other dysfunctional life habits to get help if they actually want it, moreso than government would do or be able to oversee. Also private charities can put the help right where it is needed and it does not end up as often wasted. And private charities do not waste the money nearly as much, less corruption than a government bureaucracy, and less ability of people to game the system.

Unfortunately, I also have been compelled to conclude from observation and from dealing with some down and outers that many of them choose to live that way. Fact is, I have some distant relatives, one that reportedly lives under bridges, etc., by choice. He could do better but simply doesn't want to, and actully has told some of my cousins that. He actually prefers the life of the homeless, if you can believe it, and he knows where to go to get all the creature comforts when he feels like it. I used to have a distant relative by marriage, he no longer lives because he drank himself to death, but he would intentionally do petty burglaries and wait for the police to arrive to go back to prison where all of his buddies were. This after he was out for a while and got tired of working jobs. He actually was an excellent bricklayer and could do all manner of other carpentry and construction work, but he preferred drinking and doing nothing.

I know of no person, personally, that chooses to be responsible and stay off of drugs and alcohol, that are homeless. I know of hundreds of people, personally or almost, and none that I know of that are responsible have any significant problems making it in this country, and way over 90% are living very comfortably and happy. And in good functional families, families often help when somebody is down on their luck out of a job or whatever, but families know when somebody wants to be responsible, and the old saying, God helps those who helps themselves, and so do others tend to help those that are truly trying to be responsible. That system works far far better than a government bureaucratic system that can be gamed and corrupted.

Why would somebody thumbs down my previous post, which is just plain common sense? How could anyone disagree with the obvious truth?

It's because you don't know what the phuck you are talking about. More middle class and poor are getting their food from charitable food pantries to feed their families while they continue to lose jobs (their homes) and their health insurance.

You are knub in the brain from not understanding the hardships many families are now having. Charitable giving is way down, because most of the generous people of the past are now those who need assistance.

Somebody has to pay for the gigantic knees-up ci and I hope you aren't naive enough to think its going to be the top half.

you know it's true