Giving Thanks

As you probably know, it’s Thanksgiving week in the US.  Just thought would list out a few things I’m thankful for this year.  Maybe some will make you think of yours. In no particular order:

• My wife and two children.  Because of my job, they have to put up with a lot of absences.  Yet, they still somehow manage to put up with me.  Tell people all the time it takes a special spouse to put up with someone with a job like mine.  My wife is definitely one of them.  Love all three more than they can ever imagine;
• My extended family.  Don’t get to see and talk to them as much as I would like, but we manage to keep up with each other in one form or another;
• God loves me (and you) even though I don’t love Him as much as He deserves;
• Live in a country where I’m free to worship God as I please.  Don’t have to worry about going to jail, getting executed, or whatever because I believe in God and choose to worship Him.  You can also not worship Him, if you choose, with no repercussions…from the government, anyway;
• My friends.  Known a few for nearly all my life.  Many it just seems that way (which is good).  Some only know through Twitter and Facebook.  Am thankful for each and every one of you.  My life wouldn’t be the same without you.  Hope to meet my online friends face-to-face someday;
• The internet.  Without it, wouldn’t be able to find all my old friends, make new friends, keep up with the latest news and sports, and the various ways we use it to pass away the day;
• Music and the ability to hear it.  Music does so many things in our lives can’t possibly list them all.  Tells stories, brings back memories, offers praises, and eases pain just to list a few.  A lot of the new stuff sounds the same to me, but still grateful for it;
• Anyone who reads my blogs.  Do this thing just to get the voices out of my head, but have to admit it feels good to know, every now and then, there’s a few people out there interested in what I ramble on about;
• Our government.  Yes, they don’t always do what makes sense and they catch a lot of grief (deservedly so), but, we couldn’t live in a relatively peaceful society without them.  While our government may not be perfect, there are certainly worse ones throughout the world;
• Veterans and their families.  Without veterans (and their support systems), we wouldn’t have the freedom to enjoy blessings we have.

Well, these are ten things I can think of just off the top of my head.  There’s many more but time doesn’t permit me to list them all.  Feels good to know I have so many blessings.  Am sure you have many more blessings than you realize, too.

Y’all have a good one!

Thank a Veteran!

Thank you, Veterans, for serving our country and preserving our freedoms!

Sure most of you know Thursday, November 11 is Veteran's Day here in the good ol’ US of A. The holiday was originally known as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I, the (first) War to End All Wars. Well, since it wasn't, we now use the day to honor all veterans, whether they served during war time or peace time. Think most people would agree every day should be Veteran's Day, but it is great to have one day which is specifically set aside for just for our veterans.

These heroes walk among us every day. Many of our heroes are buried around the world because they were fighting for us (and our allies). Please take the time to thank our veterans on their special day. Also encourage you to lift up special prayers for them (and their families) whether they are currently serving (domestically or abroad) or are no longer on active duty.

We should give general thanks to each and every one of them for voluntarily (now, anyway) serving our country. However, there are some things we should specifically thank them for. So, thanks, Veterans, for the following (this is only a partial list):

• The right to speak freely without worrying about going to jail (or worse)
• The right to vote without fear of repercussions such as getting fingers chopped off, going to jail, etc
• The right to criticize our government
• The ability to criticize our way of life
• The ability to have a new government without military coups, bloodshed, etc
• The freedom to read this blog (and lots of others) without having to hide in the basement or closet
• The freedom to write your own blog
• The freedom to practice your chosen religion  
• The freedom not to practice any religion (though personally not sure why you would want to do that)
• The ability to sleep at night without worrying about our enemies attacking
• The ability to live in a country people literally risk their lives everyday trying to get here
• The hope that you can become a millionaire regardless of where you start in life
• The right to a free press (whether you like them or not)
• The ability to travel anywhere in the country you want anytime you want
• The freedom to learn how to read and write
• The ability to live a life where your biggest obsession can be if your team wins or not
• The right to protest (or sue) your government to protect your rights
• The freedom for Jimi Hendrix (a veteran) and others to put their own spin on our national anthem

These are but a few things we can (and should) thank veterans for. Please feel free to add anything you would like to thank them for in the comments below. Know there are several veterans who read this blog so at least some of them will see it.

So, again, thank you, Veterans, for all you have done for me and our country! May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America!

My Take

Well, every yahoo who can string together a few words is commenting on the election results.  Reckon I might as well, too.

Back when the health care reform was passed, lots of folks said they were going to remember it come November.  Looks like they weren’t kidding.  Not only did Congress pass a bill few people understood, they pushed through a bill they said had to be passed now or else.  According to polls at the time (and now, for that matter), a majority of people were agin the bill.  When people found out it was going to be 2014 before most of the major provisions kicked in, folks really got to wondering what the rush was when about 10% of Americans don’t have jobs.  Have said it before, folks ain’t gonna be happy ‘til there’s more jobs out there.  FDR figured that out and created several job programs.  Didn’t really help the economy at the time, but people felt better cuz they had paying jobs.

One exit poll I saw last night said people were mad about the economy first then health care reform then a list of other things including taxes, the war, and some other things.  Another poll I saw said just as many people were wanting to “fire” Nancy Pelosi with their votes as were wanting to send a message to President Obama they ain’t happy with his agenda.  Thought that was kind of interesting.

There are several other things I found interesting about the election.  In no particular order:

• Maybe it was just my perception, but seemed to be several media folks with long faces last night.  Not really sure what that means.  Can say I saw one Chicago reporter talking about the e-mails and tweets she was getting from the Dem party and President Obama asking the recipients to encourage people to get out and vote.  One can only wonder why she would be on those e-mail lists much less reporting on the content?  Maybe she’s on the Pub lists, too, but they just weren’t sending out that stuff. Yeah, right.;
• The last time the Pubs gained this many seats at once was right after Social Security was passed, which was very unpopular when it was passed, too;
• Was reminded last night if the Pubs do manage to pass a bill reversing the current health care reform bill, it will have to be signed by Mr. Obama, who has the power to veto it.  Just sayin’; 
• Many Dems wanted nothing to do with Obama during this election and actually called on Bill Clinton to campaign for them rather than the president.  Neither one of ‘em seemed to have helped much;
• Guess the American people didn’t really give the Dems a mandate back in ‘08.  Or, if they did, it was quickly revoked.  Voters sure can be fickle sometimes;
• Some exit polls reflected Pub voters think the gov’t is going too far and the Dem voters think the gov’t ain’t going far enough.  What a shock;
• All of a sudden, the Dems think both parties should work together rather than just one party dictating everything.  Imagine that;
• The Pubs claim they are not interpreting this election as being given a mandate…for now.  They say this is the American people saying it’s time to put up or shut up.  Voters ain’t happy with the Dems and the Pubs are the only alternative.  Imagine if they don’t like what the Pubs do the next two years, they’ll kick them out, too;
• California elected Dems in the two major races but weren’t so liberal-minded when it came to Prop 19, which would have legalized marijuana.  Got voted down by a purty healthy margin.  Guess they don’t want their weed taxed.  How anti-establishment of them;
• The Tea Party did fairly well.  They won some and they lost some.  Hear they don’t want to be a third party.  They just want to reform the GOP.  Think they would be better off splitting off on their own.  They’ve tapped into a lot of voter anger.  If their candidates in DE and NV hadn’t been so out there, they probably would have won those seats, too;
• Maybe it’s just me, but think the media is giving Sarah Palin a little too much credit for last night.  Yes, she endorsed some people who went on to win.  But, think people voted for those candidates despite Mrs. Palin rather than cuz of her.  Have my doubts many people will want to vote her into the Oval office as I heard insinuated several times last night.  Only time will tell…

Hope both parties learned an important lesson with this election.  While sometimes you have to show leadership courage and take folks down a path they may not want to go, there are times you have to listen to what the people are tryin’ to tell ya and change accordingly.  Ultimately, we voters have the final say-so on your job performance.  We the people have the power to pick and choose our leaders, and we ain’t afraid to use it.

Anyway, that’s what this yahoo thinks about the election.  Whether you are happy with the results or not, they are what they are.  It’s long been past time for folks to come together and find solutions rather than being hard-headed ninnies thinking they are the only ones with the answers.  If this bunch wants to be the latter, reckon they’ll find out who’s boss two years from now, too.

Y’all have a good one.