I am on my father's slow dial-up connection, so posting will be limited and my comments (perhaps mercifully) brief.

I would like to second the excellent posts by Puggs and AK. We have much to be thankful for, and many reasons to pause in quiet reflection on this day. I consider many of you my friends, even though I have never met you. To me, calling someone "friend" is a significant event - it is not a title I bestow lightly, or take for granted. If you are my friend, I will do anything in my power to help you in a time of need. If you are my friend, I would do whatever I could to protect you, and would expect no less from you.

I would like to thank AK and Puggs for being a part of RNS - I suspect it would have become just another abandoned site in the blogosphere if not for them. They add a different perspective, expertise, and life experiences than mine, and I think RNS is a better place because of it.

This is a small blog. We have a core of dedicated readers/commenters, with the occassional visitor and lurker thrown in for good measure. We appreciate you all, and wish you the best of the season.

This has already gone on longer than I expected. I guess the final thing I have to be thankful for are those things that make America unique - and the men and women who protect our way of life by potentially sacrificing theirs.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Neal