I’m Thankful For The Fact We Are Going Drive Safely Over Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving almost here, it is a good time to reflect on the reasons we are thankful.

(Above–Picture mostly unrelated to subject matter of this blog post.)

One reason I’m thankful this holiday is that we are not going to drive like a moron or drive drunk over Thanksgiving.

Okay?

Have a good Thanksgiving.

Don’t kill yourself or kill others because you are an aggressive driver or a drunk driver.

Here is a link to road conditions in Texas from the Texas Department of Transportation.

American Companies Report Record Profits—I Guess That Means More Layoffs

American companies have reported record profits for the third quarter of 2010.

From the New York Times-—

“The nation’s workers may be struggling, but American companies just had their best quarter ever. American businesses brought in $1.66 trillion at an annual rate in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or non-inflation-adjusted terms. Corporate profits have been going gangbusters for a while. Since their cyclical low in the fourth quarter of 2008, profits have grown for seven consecutive quarters, at some of the fastest rates in history. This breakneck pace can be partly attributed to strong productivity growth — which means companies have been able to make more with less — as well as the fact that some of the profits of American companies come from abroad.”

What do you think these profits mean for working people?

Layoffs?

Wage cuts?

Benefit cuts?

More temporary workers instead of full-time positions?

Who should we blame for the hard times facing the American worker?

Obama?

Immigrants?

What a country this is right now.

And when things are seen as in batter shape by American companies, will they hire at decent wages or will they keep folks unemployed and underemployed with temporary workers and two-tiered wage scales?

I’m Thankful For Black People

Thanksgiving is almost here. This being so, it is time to reflect upon the things for which we are thankful.

One of the many things I am thankful for is black people.

So few black people are in the so-called Tea Party. Look at the pictures of Tea Party groups–You’ll see hardly black folks at all.

This is a good call by our nation’s black people.

I just finished a book called The Warmth of Other Suns. This book, written by Isabel Wilkerson, details the migration of black people from the south to the north in the 20th century.

Black people wanted out of the south because , as far as I can tell, the way blacks were treated in the Jim Crow south was little better than how Jews were treated in the Germany of the 1930’s.

Below is a picture I took in Houston yesterday. While I don’t know for 100% that the people who painted this fence were black, I do know that I took this picture in a black part of town.

Instead of going on about Muslims, immigrants and the government, the folks who painted this fence were looking  towards a better future.

To proceed in this way in these hard times ,and given the history of black folks in America ,takes character.

I’m Thankful For Immigrants

With Thanksgiving almost here, it is a good time to reflect upon the things for which we are thankful.

One thing I am thankful for are immigrants to the United States of America.

I’m mindful of the many issues involved with immigration to our nation.

Yet in the end, these folks are going to come to America one way or another as long as this remains a nation where you can tart over and make something of yourself.

I wager that when the immigrants stop coming that will be a sign that we are in deep decline.

My call is to be welcoming and to be open to people who want to come here and have a more decent life.

I don’t care from where  in the world immigrants to the United States are arriving. I welcome them all.

(Below–Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in 1902.)