Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. Growing up in an Italian family meant that Thanksgiving was less then “traditional” with lasagna and cannelloni instead of turkey and yams. Now, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to spend a long weekend in Montreal visiting my family.

Every time I visit, I am amazed at the changes: my 4 nephews are growing so quickly, they each have such great enthusiasm for all of the extra curricular activities scheduled for them by my sisters: skating, swimming, Italian school, karate. Their passion is amazing, never a complaint for having to wake up early on the weekends to attend. In addition, one of my sisters is expecting her second son and every time I see her I wonder if she is not due this month rather then February.

However some things don’t change even years later. I found something that was very familiar down in my parents’ basement. It is a poster that was hung next to one of my mom’s sewing machines and it used to be hung in my sister’s room at least 28-29 years ago. The words were so simple and yet so important. My Thanksgiving gift to the world is those words and they are especially dedicated to all the parents and teachers out there.

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate.

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with acceptance and friendship he learns to love the world.

-Dorothy Law Nolte

So what did you watch at 9pm EST last night? I believe most people had their eyes glued on political debates. As a Canadian my duty should have been to watch the Canadian Party leaders battle it out: Harper, Dion, Layton, May and Duceppe argue what direction they would take the country if elected. Well not so much Duceppe, as he admits that he will never be Prime Minister.

Instead, I opted to watch the US Vice Presidential debate live. After watching media interviews with Palin how could I miss watching her live in a debate. I have to give it to Palin, she did an excellent job of staying on script; but is that what America will elect someone who can memorize a script but can’t actually formulate arguments of her own?

If I look back on the debate what I remember from Palin is:  1- Maverick (if I hear the word maverick one more time I’ll scream), 2-She always comes back to her comfort zone Energy & Alaska, 3-She did not answer a single question. Biden, well he did a better job at attempting to answer the questions and he actually substantiated his arguments with facts.  I think he completely lost the average American when he got into specifics of his experience in the judiciary committee, while attempting to answer the last question.

My question to Americans: Of the the two candidates who would you trust as the President of your country? The answer for me is obvious (and again I’m a Canadian). If you can’t trust them to be President then how can you trust the person who selected them to run as Vice President?

Read the entire debate on the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-DebateCloud081002-DD.html

I look forward to watching the Canadian Federal debates tonight- heard the round table approach worked.

Have you ever Stumbled? Maybe you heard of StumbleUpon but you’ve never actually tried it. StumbleUpon is a great social networking site that helps you find and recommend websites based on your personal preferences and the viewing patterns and recommendations of your friends and other Stumblers.

StumbleUpon recently launched a new version- so why not try it: http://www.stumbleupon.com/ and find out which of your friends is already Stumbling.