Who said we learn nothing from these late night phone-in shows. Last night on Talk Sport Radio there was a live 3-way link up with the presenters of an American and Canadian radio station whose names i never caught.
After the initial Barack Obama bashing where all 3 agreed he had turned out to be a bit of a dud, talk turned to Boxing Day.
I wasn't aware that only the Australians, Canadians and us celebrated Boxing Day (or St Stephens Day for the pedantic among us) although i'm not really sure what it is or what we are supposed to do with it.
We use it mainly to return Christmas gifts to the shops and exchange them for the correct size, an alternative to the same value or make up stories about how it was broken when we got it and can we have the money back please.
So you Americans are not missing out on much, a national holiday to get over Christmas Day after all those mince pies and anyway you get July 4th off which is kinda ironic.
If you hadn't have thrown all that tea into Boston Harbour all those years ago, you wouldn't have had to get up so early this morning and you could have exchanged that Sarah Palin autobiography for something of equal value at the 99c store. Thank your ancestors for that.
8 comments:
lucy,
have you been drinking... you kinda rambled all over the place on this post... and I thought boxing day had something to do with giving to the needy?
q
I do my best remabling when i have had a drink. Hope you had a good Christmas q.
Lucy,
I did have a good Christmas. I spent the day with my wife and daughters. We opened gifts. We thankfully took account of all that we have knowing that most people in the world hvae very little. I prepared "drunken" shrimp with pan roasted asparagus and buttered carrots for our Christmas dinner.
Also spent time with my mother, all 3 sisters, and some close-as-family friends.
It is kind of odd that we go to extremes to get together on Thanksgiving and Christmas when my entire family lives in San Antonio and are always just a few minutes away.
q
The capitalist system has destroyed many thing, Q !
The functioning, close-knit extended family is one of them.
David,
I agree capitalism has destroyed many things. On the other hand, the reason Ameicans have anything in the first place is due to the capitalist system.
And, as with religion, the problem isn't the ideas or the ideals. The problem is the people.
I was raised to save 10% of my gross income, invest in low risk bonds, pay cash, and avoid credit. Simple, but not easy.
The current and last three generations of my family have done this and we are all economically sound - okay, I have this one cousin...
I say the problem is individual sloth, greed, and avarice. I say no system fixes the problem. I say you raise your kids to be flexible and teach them to evaluate the situation and adjust. If need be re-educate. If need be move. Make whatever adjustment is needed and avoid extremes. Everything in moderation, including occasionally moderation.
q
David,
if any written history can be trusted, then allegedly Benajmin Franklin gave a speech when he submitted his approval of the newly proposed U.S. Constitution. In his speech he said something along the lines of "...no system can eliminate human misuse... any system with the proper leadership will succeed... an occasional overthrow of abusive leaders is required and inevitable...".
Life is complex, truth is simple, simple is not easy: humans make or break every system.
no original thoughts from me. the Chinese, Egyptians, and Greeks already thought everything...
Q
'okay, I have this one cousin...' seems every family has at least one cousin like that q. You have got off quite lightly to only have the one.
Q, I agree with your comment about the Chinese, Greeks and Egyptians except for one thing: they didn't have to contend with a world full of nuclear weapons and a rogue, imperial Superpower which is quite likely to use them given Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Also, capitalism has brought infinite greed which has always existed but now it's reached the stage where some people will happily destroy the world to increase their insatiable demand for more and more wealth and power.
There is much fear in the world especially among those who are aware of the perils we face!
Post a Comment