THANKFULNESS

Steve Clemons, Director, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation:  “Arianna Huffington asked a number of us to think about what we were most thankful for this weekend.  What I am most thankful for is that President Obama and his team have made debate and policy challenges patriotic again.  I remember when Chuck Hagel’s patriotism was rudely challenged by the Vice President for asking fundamental questions about the White House’s strategy in Iraq.  I don’t agree with everything the Obama administration has done — but I do respect the embrace of divergent views and heterodoxy.  All the best to you and your family this Thanksgiving — and may you have a great and civil debate on something you care about in the next year.”

Mark Willcox:  “My nephew and his wife spent two years in Senegal with the Peace Corp.  The first year, they lived in a small village.  The second year, they moved to a large town.  In front of their new digs, only a short walk away, was a pipe coming up from the ground which, with the turn of a handle, dispensed WATER.  Any time of the year.  They were in heaven!  So, I am thankful for having running water RIGHT IN MY HOUSE.”

STORIES OF HOPE

Click on any of these faces and hear a quick story.  Like the story of Rwandan cassava farmer Celestine Nzamurambaho or Harlem restaurateur Karl Williams. 

THE FRUGRAL HEIRESS:

A NEW YORK HOTEL VALUE

I’m not saying it’s cheap, exactly – I would try naming my own price at priceline.com first, if I were you – but an heiress I know, who has a healthy respect for a dollar, turned me on to Dream, a remarkable hotel value in the heart of Manhattan.  On the same nights in January where a room could be had for less than $250, the Four Seasons was quoting $850.  (All this before the various taxes and surcharges.)  Headed East?  Eager to preserve your inheritance?  Check it out.  (Cheaper still, as noted here before, but in no way swank:  Leo House.)