Happy Thanksgiving 2

Digby has a wonderful, moving Thanksgiving post today from reader James Armstrong.

The original American Thanksgivings were religious ceremonies most likely derived from old-world harvest festivals, as the Pilgrims gave thanks to their god for the abundance of food in the new world.

The harvest festival is a good festival, it celebrates man's ability to provide for itself. So, a modern atheist/socialist can still celebrate a modern Thanksgiving. In that, I give thanks to:

I give thanks to the many workers, both documented and undocumented, who harvest the fields that provide us our food from farms, that keep us from starvation.

I give thanks to those farmers who dedicate themselves to sustainable farming techniques, so this bounty will not just be mine, but will be there for generations in the future.

I give thanks to people like Norman Borlaug, who won the 1970 Peace Prize for advances in wheat harvests, and scientists like him, who have helped make it easier to feed the world.

I give thanks to those who transport the food--the loaders, truckers, train engineers and signalmen, and others--responsible for getting fresh meat and produce to outlets throughout the world.

I also give thanks to those who are dedicated to the locavore movement, where freshness is not dependent on anything but time and speed to market, and where you know the plans (sic) are freshly picked.

I give thanks to those merchants who accept the deliveries and who provide us the opportunity to buy from the cornupoia of the American harvest.

I thank those few thankless food inspectors--too few and overworked--who are straining to keep the food supply as safe as they can.

And, finally, I give thanks to those who prepare and serve the meals we eat. If it is my own cooking, I thank those who came before and taught me how to cook, and who derived the recipes I use. When others cook, I thank them for the work they do for me.

It is for these workers, scholars, and ordinary people to whom I am thankful on this day of Thanksgiving, 25 November, 2010.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Today is Thanksgiving Day here in the USA. Many people gather with their families for a big dinner (most often turkey), many others are alone by choice or circumstance. However it happens for you, do yourself and others a favor and be happy.

The following The 9 Timeless Secrets of Being Happy arrived in my email this morning from the author, Brian Vaszily. Some of these are easier to do than others, but they're goals, not permanent states. We can always be more flexible, truer, more detached and forgiving, kinder, more caring of ourselves and our relationships, more thankful for what we have, and more vigorous in doing what inspires us.

1) Embrace New Experiences.
Most people suffer from merely existing versus really living. Don’t get caught in a rut; get out of it if you are. Explore. Play. Go beyond your comfort zone. Don’t lean on the excuse “I don’t have time to try new things.” It is as tragic and ridiculous as saying “I don’t have time to breathe.” New experiences are life. Live deeply.

2) Be Who You Are.
Recognize and clear through what others expect of you, including society’s expectations, your parents’ expectations, the opposite genders’ expectations, and anyone’s expectations. Recognize and clear through the guilt, anger, fear and other emotions that are sabotaging you. What are your dreams? Your goals? Your loves? Who are you? Be that person.

3) Let Go of the Past.
The past is good for two things: the happy memories, and the lessons it provides. Clinging to resentment and sadness for past events hurts one person the most: you. Don’t let the past suck the gift of the present out of you. Forgive. Let go. Be here now, and go forward.

4) Be Kind.
It is easy to act kindly to those who have been kind to you. Do so, but also remember that is not where kindness is needed most. Recall those many times where you made mistakes, where you reacted out of negative emotions instead of responding from who you really are. Recall how you felt, or how you would have felt, if others responded to your mistakes with kindness instead of harsh criticism or a cold shoulder. Negativity only breeds more negativity. Empathize, and choose to be kind. It spreads rapidly.

5) Be Responsible for Yourself.
Whatever happens, however promising or tragic, only one person is responsible for how you respond to it: you. There are no greater wastes of energy and potential than blame, envy, a desire for revenge, and wallowing in self-pity. You and only you are responsible for how you respond to anything and how you act. You wish others were a certain way? You wish the world were a certain way? Be the example.

6) Nurture Relationships.
Think of your most joyful moments. Think of all you have learned. Think of what has helped you grow. Chances are great these all involve other people, and other relations such as pets and nature too. There are over six billion people on this earth. There are infinite relationships to be had. Everyone has something to understand and to learn from. There is infinite love to be had, and to give. You can choose to be lonely, but you are never alone.

7) Recognize All You Have, and Be Grateful for It.
If you are alive, you are fortunate. If you can read this, you are fortunate. If you can walk, talk, see, smell, taste, or feel, or all of these, you are fortunate. You are what you focus on, so if you focus on what you lack, you become that lack. Focus on all that you do have, on the gifts inside and all around you. Be grateful to be great.

8) Do What Inspires You.
Painting, singing, writing, biking, swimming, gardening, reading, dancing, walking, woodcarving … what is your flame? What ignites you, inspires you, enlightens you, restores your life? Do it, and do it often. Do not believe your excuse of having too much work to do and too little time for what inspires you. Doing what inspires you is the very fuel that will give you the strength and motivation to do the other things you need to do, and do them well.

9) Remember that Happiness is a State, Not a Circumstance
Happiness is a state of being, not merely a moment of pleasure or joy. By committing to your happiness you acknowledge and accept that there will be times of challenge and suffering, but by staying true to who you are you will not just endure but thrive. Happiness is not just the bird floating serenely on the water, and happiness is not made unhappy by the rock that falls and temporarily disturbs the water. Happiness is the water itself, always being exactly what it is.

Lots of love to all of you....M.E.

The Book on Bush....

Have a thought to buying or reading W's new "memoir"/collective writing project, Decision Points? It perches on top of Amazon's best-seller list today, but a better book about Bush and his family is Family of Secrets, by Russ Baker. Subtitled, "The Bush Dynasty, America's Invisible Government, and the Hidden History of the Past 50 Years," Baker's book is full of eye-openers.

Before I say anything else, I wish to say regarding George W. Bush--and even more his family--that we, the American people, do need eye-openers and not the kind that come in glasses or with ice cubes. Sad to say, we are not going to get this from either Bush's new book OR the American media, and I leave it to your imagination--if it hasn't already been blown by the events of the past 10 years--to tell you why.

Here's a hint. In Chapter I, "How Did Bush Happen?" of Family of Secrets, author Russ Baker begins,

This is the story of a family we thought we knew--and a country we have barely begun to comprehend.
George Bush, father and son, are vastly more complicated, and their doings are vastly more troubling, than the conventional wisdom would have it. This book reveals the story behind their story, documenting the secrets that the House of Bush has long sought to obscure.
These revelations about the Bushes lead in turn to an even more disturbing truth about the country itself. It's not just that such a clan could occupy the presidency or vice presidency for twenty of the past twenty-eight years and remain essentially unknown. It's that the methods of stealth and manipulation that powered their rise reflect a deeper ill: the American public's increasingly tenuous hold upon the levers of its own democracy.

Intrigued? By all means, buy or borrow Family of Secrets and prepare to lose yourself in its almost 600 pages of substantiated revelations that at the very least clearly illuminate the transfer of America's vast wealth to the very few.

Late night around the web

Early Sunday morning....these three items caught my interest. Frank Rich lays out just what's specious about the arguments for not letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire on time. FireDogLake has an amusing (?) counterproposal to making the rich richer. Helen Philpott lets fly against Republican obstructionism. For the life of me, I don't see WHY the very few superrich need any more money, especially when it will come at the expense of the rest of the country. And I don't see why the Republicans have taken on themselves such an ugly mantra: doing everything they can to ruin Barack Obama's presidency. I like to believe that ugliness does not win in the end.

Frank Rich, NYT:
on the Bush Tax Cuts....

The G.O.P.’s arguments for extending the Bush tax cuts to this crowd, usually wrapped in laughably hypocritical whining about “class warfare,” are easily batted down. The most constant refrain is that small-business owners who file in this bracket would be hit so hard they could no longer hire new employees. But the Tax Policy Center found in 2008, when checking out similar campaign claims by “Joe the Plumber,” that only 2 percent of all Americans reporting small-business income, regardless of tax bracket, would see tax increases if Obama fulfilled his pledge to let the Bush tax cuts lapse for the top earners. The economist Dean Baker calculated that the yearly tax increase at the lower end of that bracket, for those with earnings between $200,000 and $500,000, would amount to $700 — which “isn’t enough to hire anyone.”

Jon Walker, FireDogLake:
$1,000 to everybody....

I have a counter-proposal to the Republican demand that we must temporarily extend all the Bush tax cuts. They want to include tax cuts for those making over one million dollars a year, for the next two years, despite the fact that it will add hundreds of billions to the deficit. I suggest President Obama demand that instead of using the money to extend tax cuts for the rich, that it be used to mail every taxpayer a $1,000 check.

Helen Philpott: Margaret and Helen
on bringing the country together...

For there to be common ground, both sides have to be looking for it. Kind of hard when the new Republican leader John Boehner has declared that Republicans will not compromise. Funny. They’ve been compromising on their principles about smaller government for years. Why change now when compromise is exactly what we need?

Sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder how much better life would be if Americans still had to turn a page in a newspaper rather than flip a channel on the boob tube to get the news. But such is life. You live and you learn. And at my age you learn too much. For instance, I have learned that when Democrats over-reach, we end up providing health insurance coverage for children who have pre-existing conditions. When Republicans over-reach, we go to war.

When a liberal activist judge over-reaches, a disenfranchised group of Americans have their constitutional rights restored. When a conservative activist judge over-reaches, the country’s elections get handed to corporations on a silver platter.

Sour grapes? Maybe. I never said I was without prejudice. In fact, I have openly admitted to being a bitch. But the difference between my being a bitch and Sarah Palin being a bitch is huge. When I am a bitch, a few people get a good laugh over an old lady’s blog writing. When Sarah Palin is a bitch, some of God’s most beautiful handiwork gets reduced to a line item on Exxon’s annual report.

I have lived all my life speaking my mind. And I don’t intend to stop now. You want to know what I really think? I think Fox News has no problem telling lies. And I think a whole lot of white people don’t like having a black President. And I think gay people scare straight people. And religious people forget the basic teachings handed down by the founders of their religion. At the crossroads of every major religion, you’ll find the Golden Rule. Too bad they’ve deleted it from their GPS.

Do you really expect me to believe that a bunch of Republicans were swept into office because Democrats covered pre-existing conditions for children? Or because Health Insurance Companies can’t drop you when you are no longer profitable? Or that Cap and Trade is killing our country? Please. I bet you can’t find 10 Tea Party voters who can even tell you what Cap and Trade is. I know for damn sure that bitch from Alaska can’t.

Michele Bachmann is a lunatic who wants Democrats investigated. Sarah Palin quit her job as Governor so she could get rich. Sharron Angle told a bunch of hispanic students that they looked a little Asian – as if the Asians got together with the Hispanics to create a bigger voting block ??? I mean what the hell was that all about anyway?

Wake up America. John Boehner is orange for goodness sakes. Orange people don’t have to be asked because you can tell just by looking at them. Where is Michele Bachmann’s investigation on orange people?

And this lot is better than Obama? I’m not buying it.

Ten percent of the vote came out of a nation frustrated by unemployment. The other 90% remains divided. As soon as the jobs return we’ll be back to dealing with the hard problems: Racism. Sexism. Ageism. Religious fanaticism. Ignorance…ism. And Sarah Palin.

Two years ago, the pundits predicted that the Republican party had become a regional party reduced to the southern states. Clearly they were wrong. Why? Because hate has no boundaries and Sarah Palin found a flight out of Wasilla.

Today the pundits are saying that Democrats are out of touch with the main stream. Guess what? So were abolitionists. Pundits come and pundits go. I’ve been around for more than 80 years. Deal with it.

For everyone who is currently considering removing their Obama sticker from the back of their car… for every Democrat who made the effort to get out the vote and today is feeling a little down… for every progressive American who is thinking about moving to Canada…. I say this:

Christine O’Donnell might not have been a witch, but Sarah Palin is definitely a bitch. Three steps forward. One step back.

We’re still two steps ahead of the game with a Senate and a White House. Washington will be grid-locked for the next two years, but the ground war just came to the States. Democrats need to stop looking for middle ground and start looking for higher ground. And for goodness sakes, grow a pair and quit apologizing for it.

As I see it, the Democrats have one job between now and the next election - figuring out how to get those who stayed home mad enough to get off their asses. Democracy isn’t a spectator sport. I mean it. Really.