O', Cyber Monday...

The long weekend is over -- welcome back to reality.

So who was he thanking? - "Yet again, President Obama’s Thanksgiving message eschewed any direct reference to thanking God, making this the fourth straight year in which the President of the United States has ignored the central message of the holiday in favor of political grandstanding."

Just a photo opp?


From NorthJersey.com: Donna Vanzant struggled through flooded streets and downed power lines two days after superstorm Sandy to reach the ravaged marina she owns in Brigantine [NJ]. Secret Service agents were combing the area when she finally arrived, and by the time the afternoon was over, she had met President Obama and shared an emotional hug with him. The following morning, the image of that embrace, [above], was published and broadcast by news outlets around the world. [The photographer] returned to Brigantine last week to see how she was doing.

All but one of the boats in her North Point Marina that were pushed as far as three blocks away by the storm surge have now been recovered, but there is much left to do. Vanzant estimates that her business losses will amount to at least $500,000, including the cost of repairing the marina. Her son Stephen, 26, took a two-week leave from the Navy to come home to help out. He has started a Facebook page called Rebuild North Point Marina to seek contributions. Vanzant has been moved by the many kindnesses she received from friends, family and customers. She heard from countless people after the photograph of her hug with the president was published, including from strangers as far away as Vietnam who wished her well.

She said she was honored to meet Obama, but she is also frustrated that she has yet to receive help from either her insurance companies or the government. "The president told me I would get immediate help," she said.

"Looking back on it, it wasted a lot of people’s time," she said of the visit.

Regarding our economic predicaments...




Do you live in a "death spiral" state? - "Thinking about buying a house? Or a municipal bond? Be careful where you put your capital. Don’t put it in a state at high risk of a fiscal tailspin." 

Wanna guess which states are the worst? Here's a hint: they're "blue states." 


California Gov. Jerry Brown: killing it...

It pays to know the right people: "Obama Donors Got $21,000 in Government Money for Every $1 They Gave." There is a "recovery"...for some folks.


"What's in your wallet?"


"Lord and Savior?" Really? - Actor/comedian Jamie Foxx (at the BET Awards) praises Barack Obama...



Yes, Virginia, there is a liar: Disagreeing with Obama can ruin Christmas, says White House report.

Giving thanks...

...and getting an aggressive pat-down?

In preparation for Thanksgiving Day, many around the nation will be making their way to loved ones' homes, via - yes - "trains, planes and automobiles." And much like the hapless characters from the movie of the same name, starring Steve Martin and the late John Candy, holiday travelers will be facing all sorts of challenges.

Especially if they choose to fly.

By now, we've heard countless stories of invasive pat-downs, "porno scans" and other assaults on the dignity of the American flying public...all in an effort to quash terrorism!

Now, along with having to deal with TSA's play on the administration mantra, "Grope and Change," fliers - frequent and otherwise - now have to contend with a list of "no-nos." The list (supplied by The Folks Who Feel You Up), doesn't cover sharp objects, items that can be used to club people with, or anything remotely construed as a possible weapon.

Here's the TSA's list of "Foods That Don't Fly." (Man, I am so glad Uncle Al Qaeda won't be bringing his lousy cranberry sauce again this year!)

Traveling with Food or Gifts

How to Pack Food and Gift Items

When it comes to bringing items through checkpoints, we've seen just about everything. Traveling with food or gifts is an even bigger challenge. Everyone has favorite foods from home that they want to bring to holiday dinners, or items from their destination that they want to bring back home.
Not sure about what you can and can't bring through the checkpoint? Here's a list of liquid, aerosol and gel items that you should put in your checked bag, ship ahead, or leave at home.

• Cranberry sauce

• Cologne

• Creamy dips and spreads

• (cheeses, peanut butter, etc.)

• Gift baskets with food items

• (salsa, jams and salad dressings)

• Gravy

• Jams

• Jellies

• Lotions

• Maple syrup
• Oils and vinegars
• Perfume
• Salad dressing
• Salsa
• Sauces
• Snowglobes
• Soups
• Wine, liquor and beer

Note: You can bring pies and cakes through the security checkpoint, but please be advised that they are subject to additional screening.

Remember! – do not wrap gifts you're taking on the plane. Security officers may have to unwrap gifts if they need to take a closer look. Please ship wrapped gifts ahead of time or wait until your destination to wrap them.

Giving thanks...from the man who gave us Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was not formally made a federal holiday until 1941. However, it has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November annually since President Abraham Lincoln delivered the address below in 1863.

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. (h/t: Heritage Foundation)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May God protect those who protect us and keep our nation free.