Whenever you watch those "very special" Thanksgiving episodes on television everyone spends time talking of hat they’re thankful for.  In real life my family has never done anything so hokey, but I thought I would take a moment to talk about a few things I’m thankful for:

1. My family.  Of course, they are the most important thing.  As a group they can really piss me off, but when push comes to shove I know they will always be there for me; and me for them.
2. Election 2006.  Yeah, it may seem like something very silly and stupid to be thankful for, but on November 7, 2006, American stood up for itself.  America said "Enough is enough!" and voted the Republicans out of office nationally by giving the Democrats decisive control of the House and a small amount of control in the Senate.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the Dems won’t squander this vote of confidence from the American people.
3. Great television.  The Fall 2006 television season has been one of great surprise.  From Heroes to Ugly Betty to Jericho the networks have taken chances on show that historically have been failures.  Who knew a little show based on a tacky telenovella featuring an Hispanic family and an awkward unattractive girl would be one of the breakout hits of the 2006/2007 season?  Even better, science fiction and genre television seems to be making a much-needed comeback!
4. My health.  After two years of fight diabetes, high blood pressure and being overweight I’m finally getting everything under control and becoming very health conscious.
5. The troops.  I know it may seem disingenuous, but I’m thankful for the men and women who serve our country.  I may not agree with the war they’re fighting, and many of them would agree with me, but they make the greatest sacrifice to keep our country safe and free.  Something we should always be thankful for and never forget.

Does anyone really remember why we celebrate Labor Day? Contrary to what Americans think Labor Day is about, the holiday means much more than a three-day weekend or barbecues or automobile dealership sales.

The far right of the Republican Party is really starting to get pathetic, and making the party as a whole even more pathetic.  Once again, they’ve tried to pass a gay marriage ban and once again it failed to get the required votes to amend the constitution.  Actually, to amend the constitution, the bill would have to pass both house of Congress and then be approved by 38 of the 50 states.  I seriously doubt that would happen.  Every time Republicans try to get this passed it loses by more and more votes.  Hell, even a chunk of their own party doesn’t want this thing.  It says a lot about the GOP and their priorities that you can’t get them to even discuss raising the minimum wage, or fix Medicare, or increase funding to education, but they’ll waste our tax dollars on BS like this just to give a sop to their far right constituency.

President Bush has had a relatively easy 6 years thanks in no small part to the Republican-held government and GOP politicians willing to fall into line when the president needed them to.  Apparently, that may be changing.  In what I think is an unexpected move, the House Appropriations Committee voted 62-2 to block DP World from holding leases or contracts on US ports.  Of course, there are still a lot of hurdles for this deal, not the least of which is President’s Bush’s threatened veto.  This will be interesting to watch.

Is pithy really the best way to describe your upcoming agenda to win back the House and Senate?  I don’t think so.  There needs to be something concrete behind that pithy agenda or Americans will just ignore Democrats and either not vote, or vote for the same old guy they’ve always voted for.

So, my girlfriend purchases a couple of items for me from Undergear (see here and here).  I wear them, of course, but they are VERY uncomfortable.  They pack everything into a tight spot and even for a modestly equipped man such as myself they are just way too uncomfortable.  The things we do for love!

By the way, having never heard of Undergear before this and having never seen one of their catalogs I find myself wondering this:  is it a pre-requisite that you be hung in order to model Undergear’s form-fitting undies?  Come on, people!  Oh, well, my girlfriend was quite pleased with how I filled them out.  Lowered expectations, I guess.