When I revamped the website, I dropped the “Featured Blog” section.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am bringing it back … with a twist.  At the bottom of the page, you with find two Featured Blog boxes with content that I find interesting and may not necessarily related to any other articles I have written.  I plan to update this section each weekend, so check back periodically, read what other bloggers are saying, and then take a moment and visit their website. 

The following comes from Tom Rants:

Everyone is out hat in hand looking for a bailout, so let me throw in my two cents. Bail out bloggers. Pick the million most serious bloggers in the US and give loan them $500,000 each. This would be the last big bailout the economy needed. It would fix everything.

1. It’s cheaper than TARP, the standard by which all such boondoggles will be judged in the future, and no worse for the economy.
2. Instead of a million bloggers complaining about how the bailouts favored the rich or the well connected or the corrupt, you’d have a million bloggers singing the praises of the bailout.
3. Instead of a million bloggers saying the economy was doomed and the bailouts only make it worse, you’d have a million happy bloggers blogging about all the new things they were buying.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

The following is brought to you by Washington Interns Gone Bad:

It’s that day again. The day that the retail branch of corporate America wants you to go out and buy shit. It’s like the high holy day in the church of consumerism. You always hear about how every year in some other part of the world, some pilgrims of some other religion trample each other to death while racing to some holy thingamagiggy or other. Well it’s no surprise that it’s finally happened here, and it’s no surprise that the place it happened was in one of the grand cathedrals of everything that is wrong with American consumerist society.

A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said. [full story]

Wake up, America! It’s just the mall, not a Who concert in Cincinnati. Was one day at home with your family so much to bear that you need to ditch them to go shove through throngs of strangers the very next day, devolving into wild animals on the hunt for your consumable prey?

Read the rest of the article HERE.

As I’m sure you have heard, terrorists have laid siege to the city of Mumbai in India yesterday. Many locations were attacked, including the headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch (orthodox Jewish group), the hotel Oberoi, and the Taj Mahal hotel. While the events over there are worth writing about, I want to write more on a personal note tonight.

In 1993, back when I was sailing commercially, my ship anchored in Back Bay to the West of Bombay (the name of Mumbai at the time). We arrived into the bay in the early evening and started doing cargo operations. Unfortunately, the crane aboard ship had a cable fail, halting operations for the evening. Due to the delay, a handful of us from the ship decided to go ashore for the evening.

In the dark, you could see the Gateway of India rising up from the water, glowing in the night. The launch (small boat) from the ship to shore dropped us off down near the monument. We walked along the streets, checking out the local shops and the nightlife, gradually making our way up to the Taj Mahal hotel. From the sidewalk outside the hotel, the ornate structure dominates the skyline, with the classic Indian architecture creating a unique look compared to other hotels I’ve seen before. At the front door, a doorman in colonial dress would greet hotel guests arriving by limo and taxi alike, highlighting all the touches of luxury.

However, walking along the right side of the hotel along the street was a totally different story. For even though Bombay was the growing financial center for the nation, there was still many living in poverty. Built up along the side of the hotel were little shanty huts, with many poor people hoping for handouts from the tourists. I remember one kid running up to me with his hands out asking for money. His eyes were wide open and excited, seeing a group of Americans walking around, almost as if he was thinking to himself that he hit the jackpot. Needless to say, he did walk away a richer person, though I know it was hardly enough to make a major change in his position in life.

Bombay was just one of the three Indian cities I would visit on that trip (the other two being Madras to the South and Visakhapatnam to the East), but I distinctly remember my night there. Watching this magnificent hotel burn in the dark is a distinctly different image than what I remember that night. To hear that one wing of the hotel is severely damaged, and the thought of what additional damage all that water is doing to the structure, makes me wonder what the future holds for the building. I hope and pray that the local authorities are able to bring the current crisis to a quick resolution with no further loss of life.

If I can find my photos from Bombay, I will upload them for you to see.

We at the U.S. Common Sense blog wish you and your family the very best on this day of Thanksgiving.  If you and/or your family are traveling, may you/they reach their destination safely.  While many look at this day as a day to feast on Turkey and green bean casserole, we need to remember the true reason for the day.  Give thanks for all the blessings you received.  If you are able to read this site, then you are already blessed by having access to unregulated speech as well as being in a financial position to afford a computer and internet access.  Be thankful that you have access to food, as many do go hungry on this day.  Give thanks for being warm if you live in a cool climate, since you can afford to pay for your heat.  If you are faithful, give thanks to your Creator for yet another day.

On a personal note, I want to give thanks to all of you for making the past two years worth while.  I noticed this week was the first time my Feedburner count exceeded 20 readers.  There has also been over 300 comments on the site to date.  Thank you for your mature and constructive responses, and allowing me the opportunity to expand the discussions on the issues facing our nation.  And lastly, I want to thank you for allowing me to raise funds through the site to donate $40.00 towards the Arthritis Foundation this year.  Only you can generate that level of funding since I am not allowed to click on the Google Ads on my own website.

Again, may you have a wonderful day with friends and family, and my this be the start to a wonderful holiday season.