Rummaging through a junk drawer the other day, I ran across a little government pamphlet that says on the back: "This book is valuable. Do not lose it." It is from the United States office of Price Administration and titled, "War Ration Book No. 3." Inside the book are four pages of 48 ration stamps each.

Darned if I can remember exactly how these ration stamps were used -- I was just a kid during the Second World War. But, this book has my name on it, so I kept it. No reason. I just did.

My childhood wasn't a bit unique, compared to those around me. But, in today's litigious world, nearly everyone I knew back then would have either been heavily fined or sued for most of the things we did matter-of-factly.

Every day, in school, was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Lord's Prayer. No exception. And everyone participated -- even when they didn't use our version of the Lord's Prayer. It was just something we did. We had a neighborhood of immigrants. So what? No one was ever harmed by it.

Everyone I knew was either a first generation American or their family had just arrived. Nonetheless, every kid in school learned in English because "that was our language." If you couldn't do the lessons, you flunked. Again, no exceptions.

Back then the term "Board of Education" had a uniquely different connotation to students than the term does to today's kids. That "Board" was applied liberally, too. Which means, we behaved in school. Because, if you got paddled at school, sure as hell they would call your parents and you could expect more of the same at home that evening.

As children, we had "wars" with BB guns. No shooting above the neck, of course. We had serious fistfights as well as friendly wrestling matches. We scheduled bike races, often down a large hill. We made go-carts, many of which were able to violate the speed limit on neighborhood streets and the police yelled at us about it.

Also, we all worked at whatever jobs we could get. It was not uncommon to see a 12 year old putting up stock in a store or washing dishes in a restaurant.

Most of us shoveled show in the winter and cut grass in the summer for money. Some of us had paper routes and a few of us were lucky enough to get in caddying at the fancy golf course. I did all of that before I was 14 years old.

Also, as a kid, I had a job filling kerosene lanterns and "road bombs" weekends for ten cents an hour. As soon as I was able to carry the five gallon can of kerosene down the highway, I had that job. I can still remember the smell of the kerosene on my hands and pants, as well as that dirty black soot that made a mess of everything.

After I was 14, I worked in a poultry market, butchering and cleaning chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys by the hundreds. Yet another stinky job.

No seatbelts or other contraptions were used in cars back then. When we took the occasional family trip (I was the oldest of nine), the kids were milling around in the back of the large car, arguing and doing whatever until our father threatened to stop the car and "put and end" to the foolishness. I knew plenty of kids. Yet, no kid I ever knew was ever hurt for lack of a seatbelt. In fact, I cannot remember hearing of any person being hurt because of not having a seatbelt. Only race cars and aircraft had seatbelts back then. Years later, some guys drag racing got hurt, but that's different. Seatbelts would not have helped with what they were doing. They needed roll-bars.

At the fine old age of 14, we were allowed to have 22 caliber rifles. Well . . . I wasn't . . . not exactly, anyway. I worked and had money, though. So, one fine summer day I rode my bike over to Wards and bought myself a single shot 22 rifle. Kids could do that back then. We all had great fun with our rifles out in the woods. No one ever got hurt, nor did we ever bother any person with our shooting. We were only yelled at once by a sheriff's deputy, and then just because we were too close to a road. And, of course we carried the guns home through a residential area -- how else would we get home again? No adults seemed to care.

Also during that magic summer when we all turned 14, our parents started allowing us an occasional beer. We cheated, of course, especially on holidays. Together, we would walk to each of our family homes and have "a drink" (or two) with the parents. We thought we might be getting away with something, stopping at five or six homes. We were not. Our parents all knew each other and kept close track of us those holiday nights via the telephone. We just didn't know that at the time. Our parents also knew that the route we walked to everyone's home totaled over four miles, so we worked it off as we went.

High school was a chore. But, other than lots of girls, it had some benefits. There was a shooting range in the basement and we were allowed to bring guns to school as long as we did not keep both guns and ammunition in our lockers at the same time. Not being likely to bring a rifle to school without ammunition, we always stored the guns down at the range. There was never any argument about that.

And yes, we usually walked the three miles to school. Well, sometimes we would hitch-hike, but that was frowned upon by our elders even back then so we didn't mention it. Unlike today's kids, we got plenty of exercise. Our parents never drove us anywhere. We either walked or rode a bike.

Other than smoking and skipping occasional classes, we never got in much trouble in high school.

Today they talk of mercury and lead poisoning. Back then, nearly every boy I knew played with mercury, often during class on the school desk. And, I cannot remember how many times I tasted leaded gasoline while siphoning -- for reasons that need not be related here. I can also remember all those lead castings we did as kids. Between the six of us guys, we made many thousands of them on cold winter afternoons. Yet, here we are, all senior citizens today. Relatively speaking, none of us are slow learners or crazy yet.

The point is, as kids, we got into just about everything today's environmental whackos say will harm children; and we usually did these things multiple times over years. We even played "war" in the dense smog that blanketed the area next to the Ford Rouge Plant where we couldn't even see across the street. We liked that because it made our game more interesting.

Now let's look at the toll all those harmful activities had on us:

After high school, all of us were in the military and attended at least a couple years college. Four of the guys retired after 30+ years in the skilled trades. One was a master toolmaker and built the prototype robots for his company. One is just now retiring after a long career as a rated neurologist. I was a medical researcher most of my adult life. Four of them are out in the woods for the week deer hunting as I write this. All of us can (and do) walk our target rate of four miles within an hour still today. Two of us would do well to lose a couple pounds. But, four of us always pass our yearly physicals with ease.

Yes, I have joined the ranks of the Senior Citizens. But, excuse me if I do not yet feel the need to act like it. My mother (in her 90s) is old. I think I'll pass on that title for a while yet.

And, for those environmental jerks and other do-gooders who would make everything fun verboten -- in the immortal words recently popularized by John Kerry's mouthy wife during the election campaign: Shove It!

Has anyone else noticed that the silent majority seems to be involved in a silent boycott of all the biased news outlets that have been attacking President Bush, our military and the nation's Christian heritage this past year?

If we believe a new report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations[1], which collects and monitors circulation data for newspapers and magazines, the liberal press is in deep doo-doo. Some of the nation's largest daily newspapers reported steep circulation declines and overall circulation is down across the industry. The top 20 papers suffered the biggest weekday and Sunday declines, among them the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. Fancy that, eh.

Earlier, Newsday, Hoy, The Dallas Morning News and The Chicago Sun-Times were caught overstating their circulations by tens of thousands of copies each day. The parent companies of these papers had to set aside over $130 million to reimburse advertisers.

Even AP admitted it on November 1: "Circulation declined at most major newspapers across the country in the last half year, the latest blow for an industry already rocked by a scandal involving circulation misstatements that has undermined the confidence of investors and advertisers."[2]

The liberal L.A. Times reported a major loss in circulation numbers -- down by over 53,000 subscribers in just the first six months of this year and still declining.

Earlier this month, The Washington Post's Executive Editor, Leonard Downie, Jr., met with hundreds of employees to outline new plans to combat ever-declining circulation.

As repeatedly reported here, the newspaper industry has struggled for years with stagnant or decreasing readership levels. Most liberal newspapers are losing money. Many are almost bankrupt. So, they inflate their actual sales numbers so they can charge advertisers more. That keeps them in business for a few years longer. Until they get caught, that is.

The problem is, these companies are also lying to stockholders about the health of the corporation when they do that. The Securities and Exchange Commission kind of frowns on that stuff. Which means, these newspapers will soon see multi-million dollar fines -- some are arguing their case for that already. Then, they will realize much less income because they will be forced to lower advertising rates to where they should be, based on their actual circulation. That will put them even deeper in the red.

For those newspapers already running in the red, this means they will probably be going out of business soon. Interestingly enough, this mostly seems to apply to the liberal rags. Many conservative publications seem to be doing just fine.

Of course, this is a natural shakeout. Old Media -- the liberal contingent, anyway -- is no longer respected, or even believed, by what is approaching a majority in this country. After all, this is the dawning of the age of the New Media, and a more honest and fact-based viewpoint. The palpable media bias so obvious in the last election cycle went far to show the American people just how completely twisted and out of touch Old Media really is.

Unfortunately, though, Old Media is too stupid and/or bullheaded to realize they are stabbing themselves in the gut by being so blatantly biased. They refuse to clean house and hire reporters to report the news instead of "journalists" who want to twist the news to the left. Or, maybe stockholders are willing to sacrifice their corporations for the promotion of socialism.

Anyway, we look for a major wave of lay-offs to begin at the larger newspapers starting at the beginning of next year. By this time next year, there will be a few thousand well experienced liberal scribblers out of work and wandering the streets. (Unfortunately, some will then become teachers.)

Those who can do straight reporting, and/or write from a conservative viewpoint, may be very much in demand. As Old Media gives out one last gasp of reorganization to save their newspapers -- their publishing corporations -- their stockholders may very well demand that they dump the "journalists," try a round of honest "reporting" and perhaps tend towards a more conservative bent. If not, the writing is on the wall for them all. Few will survive the next five years.

Should we care? Yes. We still need local newspapers.

But, after the way the mainstream liberal media trashed President Bush these past many months, I'll have to say that they deserve what they get. Which, ultimately, could be bankruptcy.

1. <http://www.accessabc.com/>

2. <http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBCHP9911E.html>

There is quite a lot to be thankful for this year. On the home front, everyone is as healthy as they were last year at this time and doing well. Governments in our metropolitan area are seeing shortfalls, as usual. But, we just consider who is running them. Overall, the economy looks good here. Unemployment, even here in the center of the so called rust belt, is way down now.

Of course, we're thankful that the Republicans kept the executive and legislative branches in Washington. Not because we like them all and everything they do, understand. But, consider the socialist alternative.

We are grateful that the Republicans won simply because this now gives us "one stop shopping" for the liberty oriented laws we want passed and enforced. And yes, we expect the Bush administration to continue reining in the regulatory bureaucracy. Along with that, we expect to see justices and judges nominated who believe the judiciary should uphold the Constitution, as written, rather than legislating from the bench as the liberals have been doing.

You bet we were thankful to see Slick Willy and his devious spouse back in the news again, too. That is necessary, lest voters forget just how conniving these Democrats can be when they control a branch of government.

The new Clinton Lie-brary made its own type of news this month. First, the thing looks like a huge doublewide on stilts (a hillbilly high-rise?) would look if the installers forgot to install the bay windows. Some of the inside displays, we are told, are little more than socialist and criminal propaganda attacking Republicans. In other words, the joint is typical Clinton inside and out.

Oh, and yes we have asked if Monica's kneepads and blue dress were on display in there someplace but did not get an answer yet. Perhaps we will have better luck if many of us start asking. . . . .

We are also thankful that the likes of James Carville, Eleanor Clift and Hillary Clinton are still around to remind us of how they manipulated the news during the crass Clinton years.

Hillary seems to already be chomping at the bit for the 2008 presidential race. Lately she was even professing to be a "conservative evangelical," whatever that may be. Let her dream. Sixty million Americans will be pulling back on the reins connected to her bit, all yelling a collective "Whoa, Nelly! You ain't going there."

We are even thankful for the anti-American, anti-Christian socialists filing lawsuits against Christmas, God, the Boy Scouts and the whole of our American heritage. That low rumble we hear in the background around the nation is the real Americans of every nationality, religion, race and creed getting ready to join together in action against those who do not believe in "One Nation Under God."

Any atheist with a questions about how our government was intended need only read the 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation[1] by a man who was the President of the Constitutional Convention and first President of our United States. If they still do not get an idea of how religion fits in with our life here, perhaps they are living in the wrong country.

We are also thankful to hear that Dan (make up the news as you go along) Rather is (fired) stepping down finally. That's a start. Tom Brokaw is leaving soon, too. That's two down and thirty to forty to go.

We are also thankful that California-based Move America Forward[2] wants the United Nations' New York headquarters shut down and its officials kicked out of our country. "The UN has become an apologist and defender of terrorist organizations and their agents," claims their 60-second commercial. They also cite the oil for food scandal. "It's time we sent a message to the UN: We are not going to tolerate your conduct anymore. We tell other countries not to harbor organizations that support terrorists, why then do we harbor the UN here in America?", the group correctly reasons.

Of course, the UN ran Saddam's Oil for Food program for many years. We're thankful to see that our public officials now see some of the resulting corruption -- and how so many UN employees suddenly became millionaires.

Congressional hearings continue looking into that scandal-ridden Oil-for-Food program and more evidence keeps popping-up, proving that Saddam was able to funnel more than $21 billion away from the food and medicine program into the pockets of UN criminals and various assorted terrorists.

"In essence, the Hussein regime created a system of kickbacks, as we have heard today, skimming schemes and smuggling operations to bilk the international sanctions regime of all its potential value and profits," Juan Carlos Zarate, an assistant secretary at the Treasury Department, told lawmakers last week. Saddam used much of the money to pay for his palaces and buy new weapons. And, of course, to bribe UN officials.

Also at the UN, officials working in the Congo have been accused of repeated rape, pedophilia and prostitution. This time, there is photographic and video evidence for some of the allegations.

Maybe next year we can say we are thankful to see that the corrupt and decrepit UN was permanently kicked out of our country.

1. <http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/kwash-11.html>

The Thanksgiving link can be very slow. Patience. Keep trying.

2. <http://www.moveamericaforward.org/>

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