In today’s world of political correctness (a true mental disease if ever there was one) Thanksgiving seems to be largely rewritten by elitist swine in our education system. I remember that Maryland public school kids were allowed to thank anyone for Thanksgiving — except God!? Now I’m reading that a 40-year Thanksgiving dress-up tradition in a California school district is being scrapped by un-testicled school officials who are cowering to some young Indian mother with a tomahawk up her butt about the whole thing.

For a fresher perspective on Thanksgiving read Rush Limbaugh’s recent chronicling of the early settlers’ experiments with socialism and free enterprise. Apparently William Bradford learned very quickly what many today will never learn.

Despite the consistent stream of idiocy surrounding me in virtually every facet of my existence on this rock there is MUCH I am thankful for. Much. I am thankful that there are still some around me who believe in truth. There are still some who will stand against stupidity and political correctness — who will rebuke “offended” people just like Jesus did. I am thankful that my life (despite the pool of unintelligence I have to wade through daily) is relative a day in the park… an amusement park… a big amusement park with lots of rides and fried junk food. I’ve got it good, and I am commanded to share what I have been blessed with to those in need – and to do it in God’s name and in an effective manner.

So, happy cynical Thanksgiving!

• I have nearly completed the new design for the blog… but it’s still weeks away because my schedule’s too tight.
• I am reading The Golden Compass and will be posting my commentary on it, on the book series, on the movie (when it comes out and I see it right away), and on the whole controversy.
• I read a very interesting piece from The Skeptic (a non-religion friendly magazine) on the four possible origins of the universe, and it was very well written and worthy of commentary.
• I spent Thanksgiving in Virginia visiting my new nephew – there are a few pictures below.

The 2006 Congressional Pig Book is the latest installment of Citizens Against Government Waste’s (CAGW) 16-year exposé of pork-barrel spending. This year’s list includes: $13,500,000 for the International Fund for Ireland, which helped finance the World Toilet Summit; $6,435,000 for wood utilization research; $1,000,000 for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative; and $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, N.C.

I’ve got an idea for “wood utilization”… and it’s tied very closely to the United Armenian Guitar Fund. [NOTE: I'm Armenian and I play guitar]

For as much as our political system is better than others, I still shake my head most of the time. It pains my mind to comprehend how obvious this all is… that our self-serving “representitives” (please hold all laughter to the end) use our dollars to keep their careers moving, rather than using their careers toward us keeping more of our dollars. And it isn’t just one political party who’s to blame… they all graduated from sheister-school (well, the vast majority of them anyway).

When we ram through a gigantic bill, spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer’s dollars with little or no debate because we want to go home for Thanksgiving, we send the message to the American people that we are not serious enough about our jobs. We essentially accomplish little almost all year long because everything requires 60 votes, and then, at the very last minute, we scramble around and throw together a 1,632 page bill like the one before us today.
- John McCain, from his statement on the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

Today I will pray and thank God for a few things in particular:

• 1) Thank you for this undeserved, unearned life filled with health, wealth, security and ease. I pray that I do not take it for granted or begin thinking it’s the norm.
• 2) Thank you for this country without which this comfort would not be possible… that we are so richly blessed by You that even the poor here struggle with obesity (and with finding a place for their large color televisions and multiple cell phones).
• 3) Thank you for the strong leaders throughout our history that were unswayed by opinion polls and deceptive emotional sentiments.
• 4) Thank you for intelligently designing this wonder of a universe… and for all the scientific discoveries that have been tucked into its fabric like Easter eggs.

There is more that I am thankful for… but if I didn’t stop now I would exceed my service provider’s hard drive space (and so could you).