“Bless Ben Bernanke for giving us a lifeline when we were about to sink like rock in September…for taking us poor, scared multimillionaires into the Federal Reserve family by approving our application to be a bank holding company, and for waiving the pesky waiting period to review our application and perform due diligence. Bless Ben for all the other multibillion dollar “accommodations” he has bestowed on Goldman Sachs in this year of turmoil.”

“Thank Hank Paulson, our Godfather, for killing our competitors Bear Stearns and Lehman, for knee capping Merrill Lynch, for saving our behinds from billions of $ of counterparty risk at Fannie, Freddie, and AIG. Thank Hank, truly a family man, for allowing the Goldman Sachs “family” to control key positions at the U.S. Treasury and to advise him on how best to fleece the taxpayers. In these dire times, when even we Masters of the Universe may be exposed and cut down, let us thank Hank for giving us every chance to survive…to scam taxpayers, municipalities, pension funds, and widowers to support our gambling-with-other-peoples-money empire. We kiss your ring, Hank, for giving Goldman Sachs, the company, a $10 billion bonus (TARP) from hard-working taxpayers. Yes, though times are tough, we have a lot to be thankful for at Goldman Sachs.”

and, much like hip, nearby, above, I, too, am most Thankful for my Mom. There’s a long list of a great many reasons why, though, simply, from her I’ve learned the Signal Truth: “Everyday is Thanksgiving.”

Of course, it’s good to hear that so many realize there’s much to be Thankful for, and, at least, there’s one Day of our Year named, specifically, for it, though, I think, we forget that, while, we start each Day with an L and endeavor to end it +E, Giving Thanks, for the opportunity to do so, at the minimum, is an, additional, A.

yes, from A=L+E

and, with time between course prep(Cooking, things are getting ready to hit the Table) drawing less, I’ll, just, add, that if we Are Thankful for our Tree of Liberty, and its nourishing Fruits, we should do the necessary work to spy its Roots, understand what it needs, and proceed to sustain and husband it.

and, yes, karen, that was a fine, plenty, # of commas..

For the more minor stuff, I’m endlessly thankful to have discovered the joy of outrigger canoe paddling on the ocean. And for the support and camaraderie of my paddling buddies.

And for the least important: I’m thankful my discipline took me out of U.S. markets in January and out of everything by June.