Happy Holidays to all
with love
Sammy..in Arizona

From Dicken’s, “A Christmas Carol”: “Mr. Marley has been dead these seven years,” Scrooge replied. “He died seven years ago, this very night.” “We have no doubt his liberality is well represented by his surviving partner,” said the gentleman, presenting his credentials. It certainly was; for they had been two kindred spirits. At the ominous word “liberality,” Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back. “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.” “Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge. “Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. “And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?” “They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.” “The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge. “Both very busy, sir.” “Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.” “Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?” “Nothing!” Scrooge replied. “You wish to be anonymous?” “I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since… Read more »

Dan
Come back up here anytime, spend your dollars, make sure you sample the local shellfish liberally and then go home.

Wow Dan,
And congratulations, you have managed to take a couple of hundred words to say “humbug”.

OldTimeLefty – always with the quick, stale rejoinder.
Please regale us again with how all of Rhode Island’s problems would be ameliorated if only this left-leaning state would lean a little bit farther. How business would flourish if taxes were only raised a little bit more. How people would behave properly if only government intervened a bit more firmly. How things would be better if only you, and those exactly like you, were given the power to change them with your brilliant top-down planning solutions. As if history has never heard that one before.
The only Christmas miracle would be if you actually engaged in some introspection for once, or even attempted to see societal problems in terms of anything but a black and white solution handed down by the self-appointed intellectual and moral elite- namely yourself.
The real tragedy is that getting old doesn’t always mean that you have to turn into a crotchety, condescending know-it-all. It may surprise you to learn that *some* actually approach their golden years as a new opportunity to broaden their horizons. I’d recommend some works by Friedrich Hayek or Nassim Taleb as a good starting point in tearing down the massive amount of hubris you’ve spent years fortifying.

“If I had one Christmas present to give to all Rhode Islanders, it would be the gift of progressive self-deception that keeps hope alive in the failed, corrupt, socialist experiment gone horribly awry that educated young professionals flee like deer and rabbits of the winter forest running terrified before a blazing fire consuming everything in its path.”
LOL.
You know, this is a state where the very rich and government cronies do quite well, the destitute, parasites and illegal aliens get feted like they were living in Norway and the working and middle classes get SCREWED.

joe,Dan and Monique
Too many words for you? Try:
1 Corinthians 13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
OldTimeLefty

Phil,
I did make sure to spend some money during my trip on presents, clothes, and other things…
In Massachusetts. And if New Hampshire were within a 30 mile radius, I would have spent my money there instead. It’s not even about the money at this point, it’s the principle of the thing.
Enjoy the many Wintery years ahead in the North Korea of New England. I’m not referring to the weather.
P.S. My county in Virginia ran a surplus this year. Want to know what that feels like? Keep wishing.

The scriptures teach that charity is measured by what is in a person’s heart. If one’s gift of a penny to someone even less fortunate is truly a sacrifice, it counts more than Ted Turner’s $1 billion gift to the U.N.
Sometimes when I give, I get a sense of guilt that I didn’t give enough. I believe that’s God’s way of saying I could have done better.
Having money taken away from me because someone else has decided someone else “needs” it (…often out of greed), is not charity, it’s larceny… it certainly does not come from my heart.

I’m glad you’re happy as well, Phil. Please don’t ever leave Rhode Island. In particular, please do not move to Virginia or New Hampshire or to any other states that are flourishing because of their low taxes, excellent union-less schools (pardon the redundancy there), and reasonable social safety nets designed to get people working again instead of loafing about on unemployment for years.
Perhaps someday you will be able to see the causal connection, that is so obvious to everyone else, between the corruption and abuses of Rhode Island’s politicians and the very same special interests that you claim are protecting you from them. Until that day, Rhode Island will be the same as it ever was, the same as it ever was. Perpetual 12% unemployment, skilled young professionals such as myself fleeing by the thousands, and municipal bankruptcies being consolidated by an equally bankrupt state that lives year to year begging for handouts from the federal government.