Thanksgiving History Trivia

The first Thanksgiving, painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Here are a few interesting facts about Thanksgiving.


1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.

2. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.

3. The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.

4. The Pilgrims arrived in North America in December 1620.

5. The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.

6. The pilgrims sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.

7. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621.

8. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

9. The drink that the Puritans brought with them in the Mayflower was the beer.

10. The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.

Thanksgiving History - A Proclamation

Read the following statement:

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness"

Do you know where this statement originated? It was George Washington making a Thanksgiving Proclamation on October 3, 1789. This was the first time such a proclamation was
designated by the new United States government.

I wonder what would happen if a President said this today? Your thoughts...

Part of original document.

Early Socialism in America

Did you know that some of the first settlements in America practiced socialism?

On May 13th, 1607 104 colonists arrived in the new world and established the Jamestown settlement, named after King James. The original settlers were all men or boys and lived under a communal system, a form of socialism.

All food was stored in a common pool and shared among the colonists. This eventually led to a small percentage of colonists who actually worked. The Jamestown colony was headed for failure and even called the period, "The Starving Time".

Realizing that communal sharing did not work, colony leaders decided to give each settler a plot of land to grow and produce what they wanted. Production increased and buying and selling of goods began. The colony had established a form of capitalism and started to prosper.

History once again reminds us that "spreading the wealth" is not an answer.

FB Group Discussion Board Hot Topic: "Here is what we need to do"

At this writing there are more than 30 posts in this forum about the steps that conservatives need to take in order to coalesce into a unified front.

The first poster started the discussion by suggesting that "the first thing that we need to do is to pull our middle leaning brothers and sisters back to the basic ideals and principles of the conservative movement." He pointed out that there are two obstacles to this goal. First is the "Bush Republicans", who tend to value emotion over reason. Second is the liberal agenda of public school education, which has biased the "educated vote" against conservative candidates. He then asked for constructive contributions to this discussion.

Some of the points made by subsequent posters included:

• A Conservative Party could be founded [actually, it exists] if the Republican Party continues to be perceived by voters as "Demo-lite".
• Both bipartisanship and reaching out to independents and undecided voters should cease.
• Stress the differences between the conservative movement and the Democrats. This should be preceded by BEING different from the Democrats.
• Publicly promote conservative ideals and principles (e.g., states' rights, limited government, fiscal responsibility). The return of the Fairness Doctrine should be prevented because it would limit a significant outlet for this information (namely, conservative talk radio).
• Conservative groups/websites could begin to reverse the ideological bias in public education [see Accuracy in Academia] by sponsoring military veterans who want to become teachers.
• Increase public awareness of the importance of teaching (unbiased) history and civics in school.
• Independent conservative education ("conservative boot camp") could be provided to counter the liberal bias of the education system [these exist -- see, for example, the Leadership Institute and the New Centurion Program].
• Infiltrating the fields of journalism and marketing [see Accuracy in Media] need to become conservative priorities.

Sign up and join the discussion!

The Conservative Underground Group on Facebook has reached its previous goal of 5,000 members! Our new target is 7,500. You can help by joining the group (if you're not already a member) and inviting to your Facebook friends.

Capital Gains taxes - do they matter?

Capital gains are taxes placed on profit from the sale of capital assets. The most common example would be stocks, bonds or certain real estate that do not fall under the exclusion of IRS Code Section 121.

Presently, the long term capital gains rate is 15% for taxpayers in the 25% marginal tax rate on up (the rate is 0 for the 10% and 15% marginal income brackets) and is set to expire in 2010, returning to 20%. President-elect Obama seems comfortable with the 20% rate but has hinted at possibly a 28% rate on long term gains. Short term gains, less than a year, are taxed at the seller's income rate.

What does all this mean? Given the fact the market has taken a nosedive there probably will not be too many 'gains' to tax. If sold, I suspect many will have losses, or investors may simply choose to hold their investments, hoping to recoup their losses. Take note losses can carry forward to the next year.

So why does the rate matter? Well there are several theories out on capital gains. Obviously if you raise the tax rate the government will raise more revenue per profitable sell. However, this doesn't necessarily lead to more total revenue.

If investors are taxed more on their investments they may simply choose to hold on to them longer or simply not invest at all. This will lead to less buying and selling and less revenue for Uncle Sam.

Lower capital gains rates may net less money per sell but will increase total tax revenue because there will be more buying and selling in the market.

An article on the National Center for Policy Analysis states:

Over the past 30 years a consistent pattern has emerged: every time the capital gains tax has been cut, capital gains tax revenues have risen. Every time the capital gains tax has been raised, capital gains tax revenues have fallen (1)

The new administration should take a look at history and realize that higher capital gains don't necessarily mean more revenue for Uncle Sam.

1. - NCPA.ORG - "The Bush Capital Gains Tax Cut after Four Years: More Growth, More Investment, More Revenues" <http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st/st307/st307f.html >

5,000 Members today!

The Conservative Underground reached 5,000 members today!

The facebook group started 8 days ago and grows several hundred members a day. Great job to all who promote the group.

You are all Great Americans!

Click HERE to join.

-EB

Why Obama as President can be a good thing

I cannot think of anyone who likes to lose, especially a hard fought Presidential election. The GOP in 2008 lost more seats in Congress as well as the Presidency.

Though this seems like a tough blow for conservatives, there may be a bright side to Obama winning the election.

Many conservatives do not regard Sen. John McCain as a "true conservative". Yes, he is a great American war hero and has served his country a long time in public office but on occasion gone against conservative values.

I am not in a position to debate McCain's conservative values but the obvious questioning by some, leaves the conservative base less unified.

If the GOP is going unify and stick to conservative principles the base must all agree their candidate is a true conservative. So how does Obama winning the Presidency help?

Well one way to prove someone wrong is to let them prove themselves wrong. Obama ran a campaign on big promises that sound good in speeches, but in practice do not work.

So what should the GOP do? Wait. Let Obama put his policies into play. If he follows the Democrat hard left agenda people may realize that this was not the change they were promised.

This does not mean the GOP should let the Democrats run over them. Issues like the fairness doctrine, which aims to silence conservative talk radio, should be met with strong resistance.

In the meantime, the GOP should reorganize, simplify the conservative message, and be ready for 2010 and 2012. Hard core Democrats are going to vote Democrat, but Independents and moderate Democrats might be ready for another "change" in two and four years.

 

The GOP shouldn't look at the 2008 election as a loss but a perfect time to rebuild and reorganize.

Obama visits President Bush at the White House

Notice how the title states “visit”? By listening to some accounts, you would think President-elect Obama was doing President Bush a favor. I sure the excitement in the Obama household was a 'stirrin' on their first trip to The White House.

Video showed the two walking together outside going to the Oval Office. Obama was giddy and smiling with a skip in his walk, while President Bush walked with the statesmanship of a World leader.

I mean who wouldn’t want to visit the Oval Office and chat with the President, learn the little secrets, and ask about Area 51.

A few things Obama should remember; It was President Bush who worked to make the transition easier between Presidents and the two wars and the economic crisis all have roots back to Democratic administrations.

President-elect Obama may find than running the most powerful country in the World is a little tougher than community organizing.

Facebook Board Hot Topic: "My Thoughts on the Future of the Republican Party"

At this writing there are more than 70 posts on this topic. The first post is a letter that was sent by a group member to several Republican leaders. The letter exhorts Republicans to act swiftly to prepare for future elections. Some of the points made include:

• The GOP must set its own agenda, which the Democrats and the mainstream media cannot be allowed to define.
• The GOP's policies must "resonate with all voters" while remaining consistent with GOP principles (e.g., free markets, a strong national defense, traditional values).
• The GOP needs to connect with young voters (e.g., through the College Republicans).
• The GOP needs to be more energetic in attracting women, African-Americans, Hispanics and blue-collar workers.
• The GOP needs to show voters not only that it is right on the economy, but that voters will benefit from fiscal conservatism and will be hurt by Democrats' taxing and spending.
• While cutting spending, the GOP must support national security through a strong military.
• The GOP must nominate strong, ethical candidates for every office.
• The GOP needs to dispel the liberal propaganda that the Democrats hold the intellectual high ground by supporting conservative scholars and writers.
• The GOP needs to harness the power of the Internet for disseminating its message, raising campaign funds and getting out the vote.
• Campaigning must be ongoing, not just focused on elections.

Many subsequent posters agree with the points made above. Some emphasize that conservative principles should not be sacrificed for the sake of attracting moderates. Others (including Independents) argue for more inclusiveness. Abortion, gay rights, and Christian social conservatism are also hot topics. Candidates discussed so far include Palin, Huckabee, Romney, Thompson and Jindal.

Sign up and join the discussion:

The Conservative Underground Group on Facebook has reached over 4,000 members. We are getting close to our current goal of 5,000. You can help by joining the group (if you're not already a member) and promoting it to your friends on Facebook.

Obama wants to bring terror suspects to US

One of the first things on President-elect Obama's agenda is to close down Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba which is holding terror suspects awaiting trial. Senator John McCain said if elected he would do the same.

The difference is Obama is going to setup a new system to system to carry out the judicial process. Currently they are tried through a military tribunal system. Though McCain may have closed Guantanamo he would have kept the current tribunal system.

So, is developing a new system risky? Well before President-elect Obama gets excited about undoing the Bush Administration, he should take note that we have not had any terror attacks since September 11, 2001.

Fox News article

The Conservative Underground Facebook Group Update

Guys-

We've had a great week! In just 3 days we've attained over 3,000 members. This is because of YOU! Remember there is Strength in Numbers.

A good foundation is key to any group. Use your enthusiasm to encourage others to join.

"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax” - Abraham Lincoln

If you haven't joined our facebook group you can join here:

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Enjoy your weekend

EB

What will Obama say to Iran?

Obama says he will sit down and talk with the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What will he say?

Some humor for the weekend...

Earl ~ alias 'jager'

Lessons Learned By History by Lori Kalner.

WORDS OF WARNING AND HOPE I was a young girl in Germany and lived through difficult times. Now I must write at least this one last time as diabetes advances. The world has remembered what happened politically in Germany with the Depression in the 1930s. You remember how it began and thus progressed with the horrors of war which followed.
The battle was at the beginning a SPIRITUAL battle. You have read some parts of my story in the Zion Covenant, from growing up in Germany in the days when evil men prevailed and TRUTH was turned upside down. White became black through a barrage of propaganda and constant repetition of lies against those who spoke the truth. Here is my warning to all: Perhaps it will be my last warning. (I wake up each day surprised that I am still here and not in heaven with those who wait for me!)

America and the whole world hangs in the balance now. I believe that America will stand or fall depending on who is elected President this year. Good Americans, like the good Germans of my youth, may think that the issues of their nation center around the economy. I tell you now that the fate of the greatest nation on earth does not depend on money.

Every issue must only be judged worthy and true by the Word of God. Prosperity comes to a nation and a people who serves the Lord first. That is a basic spiritual principle which is seen in every book of Holy Scripture.'If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.' (2 Chronicles 7:14)This is where the healing of America begins: Friend, you must begin with examination of your own life first and the confession of your sins. Then pray for your nation. Ask yourself now: who supports the rights of the unborn babies and also of those who are handicapped? History tells us why this is critical:

In the Germany of my childhood, everyone worried about the economy. Paying bills. Buying bread. Money! And there were 1 million abortions in the year before Hitler came to power. (A drop in the bucket compared to America.) The excuse given for the murder of unborn babies was that economic times were hard. How could a family feed another mouth?There followed the legalized forced sterilization of parents who had a handicapped child or who were judged 'racially impure.'Next came the legalized euthanasia of those who were handicapped. (An example of who would be killed is the Downs Syndrome child of Sarah Palin. He would have been killed immediately at birth.)

Do we not see such choices carried out with tiny babies being strangled or left to die by abortionists today? Evil advances forward in America by law! This is done with the support of men and women in office who have sold their souls for power. In those days in Germany all, who were, as I am now, elderly or ill, were gassed. These were all called 'useless eaters.'
Christians and Jews who spoke out against this evil were labeled as radical 'religious fanatics.' A campaign of false accusation, slander and persecution began, targeting people of faith. It was 'unpopular' to speak the TRUTH. (Were these persecuted Christians people like you?) Many were jailed and eventually killed. Some escaped with only their lives.Finally, by millions, Jews were hunted, imprisoned and killed. You know all this from the Zion Covenant books. I lived it. Now, today, I hear the words and know the deeds of this Barack Obama and I know that he is a 'gifted,' convincing, fellow. He is telling you how bad you have it and saying to Americans he is their messiah and the answer to all problems.

The propaganda machine loves Obama. The power of the media is much greater than in my childhood; a frightening thought.But here is TRUTH: of all men in the US government this Obama has most strongly encouraged and urged the on-going slaughter of the unborn'the useless mouths' of America. This slaughter is performed in the name of 'A woman's reproductive rights.' In the land of my birth, the Holocaust all began with the first step of legalized abortion. Abortion was ENCOURAGED by a downturn in the world economics. Scripture teaches us the survival of a nation is not about the economy. The only nation which will stand is the nation which follows the Lord and the true teachings of scripture. I warn you, my dear American friends, with love in my heart and with my last breaths that no man or woman, Protestant or Catholic,can remain in God's favor or blessing if they vote for this Obama. This is a man who voted four times to leave tiny babies who survived abortions to die!

I know many devout American Catholics in my life and many who have never voted for the Republicans because of tradition. Now I say that you who are Catholic must not follow after this man Obama who is gifted in his words but NOT speaking the TRUE WORDS OF OUR LORD OR THE CHURCH! You cannot be a true Catholic Christian and vote for Obama. To vote for him is to vote for continued infanticide.

To Protestant Christians, I say, you are not a Christian if you support the slaughter of the unborn! Christianity and abortion are spiritually impossible companions. Protestants and Catholics MUST UNITE in this battle. The victory must be overwhelming! Do you feel you cannot vote for Mr. McCain and Mrs. Palin, who are for the LIFE of the unborn and handicapped?If you cannot support these leaders, then for the sake of your soul, I, who have seen the spiritual destruction of many good people, Protestants and Catholics, urge you NOT TO VOTE for Obama or anyone who does not support protection of LIFE!

For all those American politicians who have the chance to change the course toward destruction, I who have been witness to national and worldwide tragedy, urge you protect those in your society who are the most helpless. Publicly deny your support of Obama. According to 2 Chronicles 7:14 you must turn your life around for the sake of your soul and your country! To those politicians who use 'FAITH' to get votes while they follow the path of destruction, I must speak this warning: 'God will not be mocked.'If you, Christian, can vote, and if you can encourage others to vote, then you must VOTE FOR LIFE.

In the judgment of heaven, there is no other choice but LIFE and protection of the innocent for a Christian. I am thankful to Bodie and Brock for letting me be heard once more. They agree with history and with the Truth of scripture. Most of my generation is gone now. You who are taking control of the world have a fight ahead of you as the memory of our peril dims.

I have heard and listened closely to the voices of Sarah Palin and John McCain, and my spirit bears witness that they speak truth and are the true Hope-Bearers of your generation. Sarah is a true Deborah. Pray for her and her family and also for John McCain. You must all remember what happened to us and not repeat the same mistake of apathy. If I cannot write to you again I pray we will meet in heaven and you will tell me I helped you encourage others to do the right thing for the sake of your soul and for the nation.

Obama's foot in mouth?

President-elect Barack Obama was asked by reporters today if he'd spoken with other president. Obama said, “I have spoken to all of them who are living", then smiled and continued, "I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any séances.

Even Joe Biden probably had to do a double take on that one. So I guess since you won the election you can now be rude, or is that just his nature?

Obama did have to suck it up and call Mrs Reagan to apologize. How ironic, after only 3 days you have to call the wife of Ronald Reagan, and to get your foot out of your mouth.

Biden, you get a pass today.

Fox News article

Discuss

EB

Mission Accomplished?

Remember George Bush's "Mission Accomplished" image that was heavily criticized?

I wonder if this is what's hanging in Ayer's bedroom?

EB

Board Hot Topic - Top 5 GOP Presidential Candidates 2012

The "Top 5 GOP Presidential Candidates 2012" topic on the facebook discussion board is a hot topic. Drop in and see what everyone is saying...

http://www.new.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=33394060889&topic=5562#topic_top

What Conservative Media do you like?

Just a quick post to see what Conservative Media everyone likes?

Web, News, Blogs, Radio?

One other question. Is Alan Colmes a closet conservative? be nice...

Wow High expectations for the POW?

It's no longer President of the United States (POTUS), Obama is now President of the World or maybe call it POW.

Fox reports many countries around the world see Barack Obama as President of the World. Talk about moving up fast. What's Next....Master of the Universe?

Fox News:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/06/nations-look-obama-president-world/

-EB

Some major wisdom....

Hey guys. Again, thanks for joining. Thought I would pop in and leave some thoughts. I've seen these 10 Cannot's all over the place but I've never really given them much thought. In light of the election, they are incredibly profound.

• You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
• You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
• You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
• You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
• You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
• You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
• You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
• You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
• You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
• You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.

Okay, now go back and read all of those again. I'm amazed by the simple logic here. These are some of the core principles of conservatism. So wise, yet so logical. These are the tenants we need to promote as we begin to revitalize the conservative base. Principles of hard work, personal responsibility, and fiscal accountability. This is what the new president-elect's policies are missing.

In case you were wondering, these pearls of wisdom were written by a man who saw them in action before our time. William J. H. Boetcker was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1873. He is well-known as one of the first motivational speakers, regarded as a forerunner for Tony Robbins. He was also a Presbyterian minister, and regularly used his morals and values as solid frameworks for his political ideas. He gained a reputation as a conservative speaker when he published the above "10 Cannot's" in 1916. You may recognize them from Reagan's 1992 Republican Convention speech.

The Mainstream Media dishonor

I personally will not watch any of the mainstream media channels anymore. I can't trust them.

If they can feed the public with their own agenda during an election what are they feeding us in the off season?

I caught some of CNN's, Wolf/Candy, comments on McCain and became very angry. They talked about McCain, his honor, his service etc... how dare they start talking about how distinguished McCain is after months of bashing.

To anyone in the MSM out there don't start with the McCain niceties now, you are not worthy.

EB

Goal #1 reached 1000 members

We started the group late Nov 4...after the news.

In less than 24hrs we have over 1,100 members join. Wow!

Let's keep the momentum going. Next goal 5,000

Welcome to The Conservative Underground

Welcome to The Conservative Underground. This will serve as the temporary blog for our group. 

We'll post news,updates, some humor :-) and more about our fast growing movement. 

We want this to be an active group with everyone participating. So please have some patience as we grow.

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