Thanksgiving UnDived photo version

I am thankful to live in the comfort and security of an American home. So many Americans have made this possible.

I am thankful to the founders for securing my life, my liberty and my tranquility. I can speak freely. I can worship freely. I can protect myself and my family, thanks to the fathers.







I am thankful for the American economy. Economic freedom has given me the means to buy my home, my food and my comforts. I have the freedom to work for a job I enjoy, and save for my retirement.





I am thankful for the Americans who built the home that shelters me from the rain and the snow. I did not have to saw my own lumber, nail my own shingles and plaster my own walls.





I am thankful for the Americans who bring fresh clean water to my home. I do not have to trudge out in freezing weather with a bucket. I can bathe with my water. I can drink my water. I can cook with my water.





I am thankful for the Americans who remove the waste from my home. They keep disease and vermin away. I don't have to trudge out to an outhouse in freezing weather. I don't have to dig my own landfill.





I am thankful for the Americans who bring heat and light to my home. Without this energy, I would have to chop my own wood, light my own lamps and stoke the fire of my own furnace. I would not have the freedom to cook when I please. I would not be able to preserve my food.





I am thankful for the Americans who grow, pick and slaughter the food I eat. I do not have to dig for potatoes. I do not have to eviscerate poultry. I do not have to wait in long lines for hours, with hunger in my belly.





I am thankful for the Americans who built my car, deliver my mail and packages, and ship all the goods I buy and consume every day. They are the blood in the arteries of the country. They bend the branch of American prosperity to my home, so I can just reach out and pick the fruit.





I am thankful for the Americans who bring electricity and communications to my home. I don't have to wait for letters, or send telegraphs or venture out. I have emergency services at my fingertips at all times. Thanks to you, I can rejoice in good news. Thanks to you, in tragedy, I can reach out to my family for comfort.





I am thankful for the Americans who protect me and my home from fire and crime. You see the worst in us all, while you give us your best.





I am thankful for the Americans who protect my home from foreign invaders. They stand between my civilization and the barbarians. They protect my American rights from the tyranny abroad.





I am thankful for the Americans who will take me from my home when I die. They will let me pass with dignity and grace. My family will not have to dig my grave.





I am thankful for the Americans who fix my body when it fails. They provide the skills, the medicine, the machines and the science, to help me live a long life.






I am thankful for animal companions. They bring comfort and loyalty into our homes. We may live and work in places of steel, concrete and glass. Our pets remind us we always have a foot in the natural world.







I am thankful for every small questing hand that grows to the old experienced hand. I thank those hands that span many years, by bearing arms, turning wrenches and shifting gears. Hands that touch young shoulders to calm young fears, and lift up cloths to wipe away tears.





Our founders, who lived in the past, never experienced the wonders of their future. They still gave thanks during this holiday. America gives us so much. The least we can do, is give thanks.

Preview of the New America

The subject of gayness has been in the blog, as of late. As it has many times in history, Massachusetts is leading the way. Only this time, it is damn scary, not funny.

From the Kimberly Atkins of the Boston Herald:

In a move slammed by Gov. Mitt Romney as “the triumph of arrogance over democracy,” lawmakers took a pass on a proposed gay marriage ban and virtually dashed any hopes voters will get to decide the issue in 2008.



Same-sex marriage on the ballot:
Outraged proponents of the ban loudly protested outside the House chamber, with one of their leaders waving a copy of the state constitution.
“The oldest living constitution in the world, and this Legislature is thumbing its nose at it - is playing games with it,” shouted Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute and spokesman for VoteOnMarriage.org. “That’s not democracy. Welcome to the People’s Republic of Massachusetts!”


Backers of same-sex marriage, currently allowed in the state, said the issue is a matter of civil rights that should not be decided by voters. Lawmakers must approve the proposed constitutional amendment two consecutive times to clear the way for the issue to make the ballot.


Backers of the citizen initiative gathered 170,000 signatures, more than enough to put it before lawmakers. Under Massachusetts law, it needs the approval of at least one quarter of the Legislature, or 50 lawmakers.

Romney said the 109 lawmakers who voted to recess the Constitutional Convention session, virtually killing any chance of the question appearing on the 2008 ballot, “disgraced their oaths of office.”

By recessing until Jan. 2, the last day of the legislative session, lawmakers made it highly unlikely the measure will be acted on before the session ends.
Sen. Jarrett Barrios, a Cambridge Democrat who is gay and married, pointed to his wedding ring and warned that putting the question on the ballot will open the doors to a campaign vilifying gays.


“You don’t have to live next to us, you don’t have to like us,” said Barrios. “We are only asking you today to end the debate so that we can sleep easily knowing that while you may not live next to us or even like us that we will at least have the right to enjoy the same rights the rest of you enjoy.”

Insol: End the debate. Squash the discussion. That is what the Gay fascists in Mass. Think of the process of free speech. In spite of their cultural stereotype, they some of the most violent, uncivil and narcissistic people mingling about in their ranks. When they don’t get their gay way, you had better get out of the way.

Gov.-elect Deval Patrick favors gay marriage, which was legalized by the state’s highest court in November 2003. Romney, aggressively courting conservatives and the evangelicals in his bid for the White House, has made national headlines attacking it.
Praising the 87 lawmakers who voted against recessing, including Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, Romney said, “Whether or not you favor same-sex marriage, you should be very concerned that the rule of law and sovereignty of the vote of the people have been trampled.”

What Mitt is talking about is article 48.

-- http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/07/09/a_mockery_of_the_rules/
Jeff Jacoby

The Massachusetts Constitution could not be clearer on the point. Article 48, which establishes the right of initiative and referendum, specifies that when amendments proposed by initiative petition come before the Legislature, a roll call is mandatory. They ``shall be voted upon" as written, the Constitution directs (unless amended by a three-fourths supermajority). What's more, the Legislature is permitted to take action on them ``only by call of the yeas and nays." (Italics added)

Lawmakers are not given a choice in the matter. The Constitution requires them to vote. If it didn't, initiatives opposed by the legislative leadership could be aborted by simply refusing to bring them up for a vote. Instead of operating as a check and balance on the Legislature, Article 48 would then be a toothless sham.
--

The vote came after two hours of emotional debate.
At the urging of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, many lawmakers were planning to block the ballot question.


Gay marrage advocates, who crowded into the State House by the thousands, praised DiMasi as “a true champion of individual and civil rights.”


Way to go, champions. Civil rights cannot be championed by uncivil, lawless behavior. Without the rule of law, none of us have civil rights.