Arkansas Blog

Happy Thanksgiving to Max and family in the Big Apple! What a wonderful place to spend Thanksgiving...though we're mighty happy to all be together today at the DBI compound. It's 35 degrees, but the sun is shining brightly....no rain as predicted! Soon I'll go retrieve Ma from the rest home for about 6 hours of non-stop smoking on her part....no doubt.

And while those of us in Arkansas enjoy the company of family and friends, a report in the NY Times shows America's friends are not as friendly as we thought. Click on my name while the dressing sets up and be thankful the word Iran doesn't show up but 4 times and that's in an explanation of how they AREN'T the ones killing our troops.

November 22, 2007
Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

BAGHDAD - Saudi Arabia and Libya, both considered allies by the United States in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior American military officials.

The data come largely from a trove of documents and computers discovered in September, when American forces raided a tent camp in the desert near Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The raid's target was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign fighters into Iraq.

Happy Thanksgiving. Our weather to the south of DBI's Fort Baptist is the same. We will soon be picking up my 95 year old mother at her home (she lives alone and "goes" everyday) and venture out in the country to our daughter's home. Child number three arrived last night from the Uof Texas (where he is employed after graduating in Oct. from Oxford) and we will sin and stuff ourselves unmercifully and watch the Cowboys dismantle a poor east coast team representing Max today. I refuse to get on the scales until this time next week after walking three miles per day to pay for this sin.
Cheers

The wife, the daughter, and I made the three-hour trip up from Little Rock to Springdale to see my folks today.

My mom will be ninety in March (on International Women's Day, no less!) and is frying crappie--not traditional, but one of her favorite foods (and one of mine, and I should think of most people who get to try it). My dad will be eighty-eight in February (he shares a birthday with Ronald Reagan and Bob Marley, and I'd like to point out they've died in very much the wrong sequence). She had a TIA recently, and my dad just finished chemo for bladder cancer.

They're well as can be expected, though I'm anxious to augment their wood heating with gas. I don't trust their wiring to run the space heater they've got, and while my nearby uncle puts wood on the porch for my dad, my mom is still taking out the ashes.

Tomorrow we'll truck into Fayetteville for lunch with as many local friends as can show up, then head to Hot Springs (maybe via Little Rock, maybe not), where the wife's family does Thanksgiving on Saturday.

It is a good Thanksgiving, if a bit melancholy, as my mom's baby brother died last month, and the time I (and my daughter, who is four) have left with my parents is more on my mind every time we visit.

Two observations and a question: 1: Wally says he has five bosses, none of whom appears to be an editor. 2: The Centerton mayor who wears a Bob Wills belt buckle and leads two lives is the best news story of the year. 3: What the heck are creamed onions? They sound awful.

i must take advantage of the one time each year when i can tell everyone to

GET STUFFED !!!

(and it be taken in a good way :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

from Ft. Worth(less) Texas
(where it's 34 degrees and FALLING)

If you can do so without embarrassing your young uns, gather them around the old PC and click on my name below. It's Aristotle's Turkey Facts Test. There aer 20 questions about Turkey lore and history. I got 13 of 20 (made some lucky guesses, mind you).
The kiddos (and even you) might find it interesting to see how the Thanksgiving bird fits into our culture and history.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!! Company will be here shortly and we're ready for a wee sip of champagne, a little bit more cooking, and getting down to some serious American consumerism at the dinner table. You might call it Gluttony on the Bounty, starring Clark Gobble.

Go Cowboys, Go Packers, and Go Hogs. And Go Houston. Please go.

Jake,

Great minds think alike, even if not on the same subject. Click my name for proof.

"Cummy photo, I know." -- Max

No need to be so apologetic, there. The photo of Mr Potato Head gives an excellent idea of what it's like to live in a place like Manhattan, plus you obviously have a vantage point for viewing the entire parade--one "frame" at a time, so to speak. No need to brave the crowds on the street or spend hours on your feet. I'm envious.

Max,

I always like the pure happiness that comes through your keyboard when you are with your loved ones on special days. We could all learn from that. You capture what it is like to gather over good food with family and friends...and why it matters so much. (When President Huckabee is sworn in you should consider writing an Arkansas cookbook to sell in DC.)

I don't know any of you...but this little blog is a great link to Little Rock and I give thanks for that.

I am not sure if it ran in the Central edition, but there is a fine piece in the NWA DG today about a young Marine who was seriously injured in Iraq and is rebuilding his life. He and his young wife are simply remarkable. I give thanks that I live in a country that still produces young people like this. We are a troubled nation but there are people and moments that remind us that our core is still what it should be.

Sitting this morning listening to the Eagles, sipping good coffee, and getting ready to drive to a huge family gathering. It is my first holiday where I can't call my Dad and just talk. During this moment of solitude I find that reading what each of you give thanks for is a reminder of why I love our little state.

God bless.

Max,

I always like the pure happiness that comes through your keyboard when you are with your loved ones on special days. We could all learn from that. You capture what it is like to gather over good food with family and friends...and why it matters so much. (When President Huckabee is sworn in you should consider writing an Arkansas cookbook to sell in DC.)

I don't know any of you...but this little blog is a great link to Little Rock and I give thanks for that.

I am not sure if it ran in the Central edition, but there is a fine piece in the NWA DG today about a young Marine who was seriously injured in Iraq and is rebuilding his life. He and his young wife are simply remarkable. I give thanks that I live in a country that still produces young people like this. We are a troubled nation but there are people and moments that remind us that our core is still what it should be.

Sitting this morning listening to the Eagles, sipping good coffee, and getting ready to drive to a huge family gathering. It is my first holiday where I can't call my Dad and just talk. During this moment of solitude I find that reading what each of you give thanks for is a reminder of why I love our little state.

God bless.

very quiet here with my son and daughter in law staying home this year. they started doing that a couple of years ago. i can remember when we did that. maybe it will change when they get older. my wife and mother in law are fixing a wonderful meal while i am getting over the cold from hell. i am in the 5th day so it is no bad but i am still sleepng a lot. there are great smells coming from the front of the house so i just want to say happy holiday to all and lets don't fight today.

Hey Max et al!
I've been watching the parade in the kitchen on my husband's ancient RCA black and white tv. The turkey's in the oven and gravy, stuffing, green bean cassarole, roles, potatoes, and sweet potato cassarole are to come.
This year (with our friends) we're being thankful for UAMS and the amazing medical professionals that are keeping two of the spouses happy as they battle various health issues.
Gotta love the cold!

That's a great picture, Max.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wonder if Max saw this float today? Liberty takes a stand.. at my name. *S* (originally posted at americablog)

If the food is half as good as my kitchen smells right this moment.....mmmmmmmmmm

Max, if you'd push back those beige poka-dot curtains a little more we could see Mr. Potato head better... Happy Thanksgiving!

Number One Son , now an adult, signed on to cook w/ me for the whole crew. Of course we eat in 3 hrs and Number One is M.I.A.
Oh well.....

......tooooo full...............ta type.................burp

napnapnapnap

Perhaps too late for many but there is an excellent video on NYT website featuring Ray Veneiza carving the turkey.
Go to bluename link, then video section (front page) select "The butcher carves a turkey."

This Thanksgiving, progressives have a lot to be thankful for. Here's our list:

We're thankful for our country's troops.

We're thankful the minimum wage has been increased for the first time in a decade.

We're thankful MC Rove has more free time to work on his dance moves.

We're thankful Congress has "wasted time" trying to end the war in Iraq.

We're thankful radio stations don't play "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."

We're thankful for journalists like Molly Ivins, who was never afraid to "raise hell."

We're (not) thankful for wide stances.

We're thankful to Michael Moore, whose documentary SiCKO started a national discussion on health care reform.

We're thankful people don't call us Buzzy, Cookie, Brownie, or Scooter.

We're thankful we can now call Al Gore the "Oscar-winning, Emmy-winning, Nobel Prize laureate" former vice president of the United States.

We're thankful Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales won't visit our bedside if we're
sick in the hospital.

We're thankful not all Dick Cheney's cousins think like he does.(bluename)

We're thankful to be considered one of the "ten most dangerous organizations in America."

We're thankful that visiting the Mall of America isn't really like visiting Iraq.

We're thankful President Bush isn't giving out any more back rubs.

We're thankful for 12-year olds who can take down Rush Limbaugh in a fight.

We're thankful our Halloween costumes aren't very "original."

We're thankful no one (except the birds) gets hurt when Dick Cheney goes hunting now.

We're thankful for "phony soldiers" who have the courage to speak out about the war in Iraq.

We're thankful the "Commander Guy" has only 425 days left in office.

And last but not least: We're thankful to ThinkProgress readers for their tips, energy, and support.

Happy Thanksgiving! - The Think Progress Team

our meal turned out great and it's snowing in dallas. we can start wearing sweaters finally.

Hear, hear, eLwood.

Great to see all these good Thanksgiving messages. It was a good 'un for my household, too. Of course, any time the young grandson and granddaughter show up, it is a joyful time 'round here.

Didn't see a word about it in the paper or here on the blog, but JFK was shot dead 44 years ago today. It was a day I shall never forget, and a happening still so difficult to believe. I think the country has never been quite the same since.

Among my memories of that day is one of standing out on the front lawn of Little Rock Central High School with some of my buds looking for the contrails of Air Force One and its escort planes as they flew over Little Rock taking JFK, Jackie, LBJ, and Ladybird from Dallas back to Washington. Our search of the sky was in vain.

I always remember it, durango, partly because my sister was born on this day one year after.

On the day itself, I was a freshman at Tech and was working the day after Thanksgiving at my family's drive-in on the south side of Russellville, listening to the radio when I heard the news. Usually business would have been brisk, but it dried up during the afternoon, so my Dad closed early and we went home and turned on the TV. There was supposed to have been a Community Concert event at the campus (a French mime, I think), but that was cancelled. Driving around town that evening, the streets were empty, and the campus was already deserted because of the holiday.

I felt like the world had come to an end.

I'm thankful that I don't live in Manhattan, where the only tree in sight is in a concrete pot on somebody's balcony eight or ten floors above the pavement.

ARK. BLOG: Central Park is still in nearly full fall colors, maybe three square miles of greenery.

Yep, and the day JFK was killed, classrooms full of kids broke out in cheers all across the country, reflecting their home enviornment of religious bigotry, hostility and right wing loonacy.

ARK. BLOG: Not in Lake Charles, La. We were stunned. Many girls cried. There were a couple of punks in the "Opportunity Class" -- the alternative class -- who ran down the hall shouting, but they were quickly silenced. This was junior high.

It wasn't that way at all in Russellville, Cato. Let me make it clear I was talking above about November 22, 1963, not my sister's birthday in 1964.

I saw it both ways, Cato -- shock and horror that afternoon as I sat with politically active friends and listened to the reports from Dallas. And then there was the phone call from an ultra-religious Baptist in-law thanking god for delivering our country from the pope's hands. Funny thing is she now has a best friend who is a devout Catholic.

24 plus hours of cooking paid off, but I was really a little too tired and a little too sick of messing with food to eat like a teenager again. I know the grave looms when I can be satisfied with just one plate of food on Thanksgiving day. I cooked enough for an army and I bet by Sunday I'll hate turkey and dressing....oh say it ain't so Joe!

November 22nd is imprinted on my brain like December 25th or the 4th of July. It jumps out at me when I see it written on a page. So I was well aware of yesterday's anniversary. I think it is very telling that when told at school, everyone was stunned and saddened and a lot of us cried. But I was shocked at the party atmosphere at my little Baptist church the following Sunday. I have hated my Sunday school teacher, Mr. Sprouse all these years for dancing and singing in front of a pack of 8 year olds...joyous that our President had been killed.

The last 7 years has made me lighten up on old dead Mr. Sprouse. I now fully understand how much he hated John Kennedy. Nothing would delight me more than to see something bad happen to Cheney or Bush. Hopefully I'd have more sense than to let my feelings be known to a bunch of children...but now I know why Mr. Sprouse was happy over a tragic event, though I don't agree with him. I wouldn't be happy to see Cheney and Bush go for personal reasons....that's not it at all. But on behalf of all the Katrina dead, all those senselessly killed in Iraq and everyone yet to be killed for nothing...for the sake of my children, anything that removes Cheney and Bush from power would be a very good thing. For the record, I much prefer legal removal to the assassin's bullet.

It makes me sad to write such stuff. I am a civilized man. But my view of Bush & Cheney make them equal to terrorists with bombs strapped to their bodies heading into a crowd. Our White House is a haven for American terrorists, not to mention greedy criminals and that makes it difficult to feel like a good American these days....what a bad feeling..... Historians will wonder why we allowed such a terrible bad turn. I don't have to wait to wonder.