I’m sorry…WHAT…?!

Call me Mrs. Grinch (it’s okay - my kids already have) but my family isn’t exchanging gifts this season. Alright, that’s not entirely true, but instead of material gifts, we are taking a trip. This means no wrapping, shipping or returning unwanted presents and no staying up ’til the early hours of Christmas morn’ wrapping more gifts for the sake of consumption. Instead, we’ll be beachside, far from home, soaking up some sun.

Sadly, though, no one but me is happy about this. The husband reports that he enjoys waking up at home on the big day to see all of the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree. The children claim, “It’s not fair.” They inform me that they’re angry that they didn’t have any say in the decision to pack up and get out of town for the holidays. They want “things,” like a dog… or a dog… or a dog. Or a laptop. And since we aren’t in the market just now for a dog or a laptop, I can’t bare to shop for “things” that will only add to the surplus of “things” we already have and don’t “need.” So rather than waste the time, energy, money and pretty paper it would take to bring more unnecessary stuff into our home, I’ve chosen not to further increase our carbon footprint this winter season. Santa’s little helper is going on holiday this year.

In the spirit of the season, I’m choosing instead to celebrate my family and special friends. I am letting each of them know that I am grateful for all of the good in our lives, our health, our home, our feet on the ground, My gift to them is to help them focus on what truly matters, and do my best to show them that our good fortune is a gift in and of itself. My gift to myself, a by-product of this approach to the holiday season, is to spare my sanity.

Turns out I’m not the only one who’s trying to redefine the holidays. The Dalio Family Foundation, led by Bridgewater Associates Founder snd Chairman Raymond T. Dalio, is running weekly advertisements this season in The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Wall Street Journal. The ads promote the redefinechristmas.org website and encourage us to redefine Christmas by giving donations to charities on behalf of others and in turn, asking that they make contributions on our behalf.

For tips on giving and making charitable gifts click through to:
• www.justgive.org to search for and purchase gift certificates for charities that are “right” for you
• www.networkforgood.org which brings together donors, volunteers and charities to accomplish good
• www.tisbest.org delivers an electronic charity gift card
• www.changingthepresent.org lets donors choose which nonprofit to support but also what they want to accomplish.
• www.GiveWell.net begins with a “simple question: where should I donate?” They seek to help donors find great charities by identifying the best by cause (in which they can compare apples to apples). No easy feat but one to watch.
• subscribe to GOOD magazine for one year if you must have something beneath the tree. 100% of your money goes to help an organization of your choice.

The spirit of redefinechristmas.org is what the “world needs now.” And forever. And now, let’s sing.

‘Tis the gift to be simple,
’tis the gift to be free,
’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.
by Joseph Brackett, Jr., 1848

For more holiday season tips , click here for more from Huffington Post’s Living! More

admin :: Dec.24.2007 :: Seriously from huffpuff :: No Comments »

It’s that time of year — or at least it’s almost that time of year — when we get out our checkbooks and give some money away to worthwhile causes. And it crossed our minds that because you’re feeling full of the holiday spirit, you might be looking for someplace new and interesting to give money to. So here’s one of the charities I’m giving money to this year. Post a comment and tell us what you’re giving to. Just one charity. And tell us why. We’re especially looking for charities you’re giving money to for the first time.

This year I’m making a contribution to the Innocence Project for a simple reason — I keep reading about them. Almost every time someone is freed from prison and exonerated, it turns out to be because of DNA evidence and the legal help of this organization. It seems to me that the Innocence Project has done a huge amount to undermine support for the death penalty — which this week was outlawed in the state of New Jersey. What’s more, they’re a relatively small organization that my contribution will make a difference to.

You can go to Innocenceproject.org and read about them and give them money if you feel like it.

And meanwhile, post a comment below and tell us what you’re giving money to this year. Just one charity. Tell us why. And include its URL and email address, so that anyone you inspire can easily send money. Happy holidays to all…

Read more holiday-themed posts from HuffPost bloggers.

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Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come.

An Associated Press analysis of financial data from the country’s largest card issuers also found that the greatest rise was among accounts more than 90 days in arrears. More

admin :: Dec.24.2007 :: Seriously from huffpuff :: No Comments »

Several have asked who I am backing to be the next President. I have not decided on a final choice because, to be candid, I have little say in the matter. I live and vote in Maryland. By the time primary season rolls around in my neck of the woods and bay inlets, the die will be cast.

Of the current field of democratic candidates I like three in particular-Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards. If I were participating in an Iowa caucus or voting in New Hampshire, I’d go for Joe. But he is not getting any traction. So that leaves me with Hillary and Edwards.

I favor giving Hillary more coverage at No Quarter for a very simple reason-no other candidate for president in my memory has been subjected to as many vile, baseless attacks as this good woman. You don’t have to be a rightwing nut to know or believe some of this garbage. According to these critics Hillary is a murderer, a practicing lesbian who is getting it on with her Saudi chief of staff, a swindler, a cheat, and a coverup artist. Oh yeah, her and Bill employ, so we are told, their own hit squad who run around silencing critics.

What I find amazing is how inept that Clinton “hit” squad is? If they were worth a damn (or REAL) then critics like this bozo in Texas, Robert Morrow, would be a worm buffet by now (I will not link to anything written by Morrow). Ain’t it amazing that Bill and Hill are known to kill their opponents and yet so many opponents and critics are still walking around unscathed?

The evil witch, bitch caricature of Hillary is a lie readily embraced by many in America. But it is not the Hillary I have met. I am not a good friend nor a close advisor. And I am not lobbying for a slot in a Clinton Administration. I’m not ready for a pay cut and I like to sleep until 9am. But I have been in her office twice and briefed her on issues concerning terrorism and Iraq. If you had asked me before my first visit in 2005 if she could be president I would have said, “There are two ways-no way and no way in hell”. Sadly, much of my initial opinion about Senator Clinton was based on the filth I had heard about her lack of character and private behavior.

The briefing occurred shortly after I had testified on the Hill about the harm done to Valerie Plame. Senator Clinton was aware of my testimony and congratulated me on standing up for Val. The Senator was very gracious, engaging, and charismatic. And she does not have fat legs (the number of guys who have dissed her for not having great gams is obscene). She is an attractive 60-year-old woman. But that was not what stood out for me. She is scary smart.

I was not alone at the briefing-there were two other participants who are well-known experts on the Middle East and Iraq. We had not submitted our briefings in advance. We made our respective presentations and had a genuine, in-depth discussion about viable options. She asked us tough questions and could think on her feet without having to look at notes. She focused on what could be done to achieve U.S. interests in Iraq without bleeding our country’s treasury and military.

As we talked about the limits and efficacy of using military assets to go after terrorist targets, the Senator brought up the book, Not a Good Day to Die by Sean Naylor. She did more than bring it up. She described in detail the challenges that special operations military forces actually face on the ground. I was stunned. This is not an easy book to read. It is an excellent work and provides enormous detail on special operations and CIA military activities in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda. But it is tough sledding for folks not familiar with military terminology. She had it nailed, and it was not a mere pre-planned politician’s trick. She knew what she was talking about.

I came out of that meeting and realized I could be seeing the next President. If people could always see the real Hillary she would win in a cake walk. I admit her main failing is to over-think the politics of every situation and, as a result, she has at times appeared rigid, robotic, and programmed. But that is not the real her. She’s funny, quick, and can think and talk on her feet without choking on a pretzel.

So if No Quarter appears to be a pro-Hillary site, it is simply me trying to balance out the mountain of shit tossed her way.

I also like John Edwards. But he has not tasted even a hint of the personal and political attacks that have been launched against Hillary. Therefore I do not feel as much of a need to “defend” him. However, I have given my friends-Wayne Williams and Brad Parker-full permission to publish any John Edwards piece they want. They are rabid Edwards promoters.

Who would be the strongest national candidate for the Democrats? I think it is Edwards. That’s my analytical conclusion. I worry that the hatred and prejudice against Senator Clinton is so deep that it will be a tough obstacle to overcome. But then I think back to a time when I had accepted the anti-Hillary propaganda and what subsequently happened to my thinking after meeting her. The Hillary I saw behind the closed doors of her office is a genuine, smart, very likable person. If America is permitted to see that woman then she has a chance.

I also believe that Americans, not just Democrats, can afford the risk of Obama. If you think that Obama has the seasoning and the smarts to be President, please watch Obama turn in a Bush-esque performance, brought to us originally courtesy of Taylor Marsh. We are talking moron territory here, people. I have not seen a performance this lame since George Bush struggled to name a foreign leader. Obama cannot provide a clear, cogent answer to why he declined to vote in favor of allowing sexual abuse victims to have their court records sealed and their privacy protected. My god, folks. Can we afford another dummy in the White House? More

admin :: Dec.24.2007 :: Seriously from huffpuff :: 1 Comment »

Onion Radio News - with Doyle Redland More

admin :: Dec.24.2007 :: the onion :: No Comments »

The Iranian government has decided “at the most senior levels” to rein in the violent Shiite militias it supports in Iraq, a move reflected in a sharp decrease in sophisticated roadside bomb attacks over the past several months, according to the State Department’s top official on Iraq.

Tehran’s decision does not necessarily mean the flow of those weapons from Iran has stopped, but the decline in their use and in overall attacks “has to be attributed to an Iranian policy decision,” David M. Satterfield, Iraq coordinator and senior adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said in an interview. More

admin :: Dec.24.2007 :: Seriously from huffpuff :: No Comments »