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the DON JONES
INDEX… |
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GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED
11/27/23... 14,884.45 11/20/23...
14,889.77 |
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6/27/13… 15,000.00 |
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(THE DOW
JONES INDEX: 11/27/23... 35,390.15; 11/20/23... 34,947.28; 6/27/13…
15,000.00) |
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LESSON for November 27th, 2023 – “DON
JONES GIVES THANKS!”
It
came a day late and a few hostages short of clemency, but Hamas and Israel
began swapping prisoners on Friday and, Sunday afternoon, the third release of
hostages included the four year old American girl...
also a day late for her birthday and orphaned by the Islamic gunmen... but
alive.
“She’s free and she’s
in Israel now,” Joe Biden said of four-year old Abigail Edan, a
dual US-Israeli citizen, who was released by Hamas on Sunday alongside 16
other hostages. (Guardian U.K, November 25th 12:05 PM EST,
Attachment One)
“What she endured is unthinkable,” he said,
adding that he expects additional Americans to be released by Hamas as well.
They weren’t, but optimism remains that the hostage swap may continue
beyond tomorrow’s expiration date.
Over
the long holiday weekend, negotiations between Israel, Hamas, Egypt and the
U.S.A. resulted in three tradeoffs brokered by the Qatar. (Financial Times, Attachment Two) Just hours after
Hamas’s devastating dawn assault on southern Israel, Qatari Prime Minister
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was preparing for action. He
established a task force and a working group to co-ordinate with Washington —
his government being one of the few with direct lines to the US, Israel, Hamas
and the Islamist group’s backer, Iran. Within 48 hours, Sheikh Mohammed, who is
also foreign minister, had spoken to Mossad chief David Barnea, US secretary of
state Antony Blinken, his Iranian counterpart, and
Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh to take the temperature of an erupting
crisis.
Israel,
enraged and traumatised after the deadliest attack on
its soil since the state’s founding in 1948, was in no mood for negotiations.
Instead, it demanded that Hamas released the hostages its militants seized
during its brutal October 7 raid, an official briefed on the talks told the FT.
Working
closely with Barnea and CIA chief Bill Burns, the quietly spoken 43-year-old
has co-ordinated diplomatic efforts to secure the
hostages’ release. On Wednesday, after weeks of tortuous negotiations, Israel
and Hamas finally agreed a deal in which the militant group will release 50
women and children from around 240 captives. In return, Israel paused its
offensive on Hamas-controlled Gaza for four days, beginning yesterday, allowing
more aid and fuel into the besieged strip and free 150 Palestinian women and
children from Israeli prisons.
So
far, Qatar has been praised for its brokering role but when the dust finally
settles, Doha’s ties to Hamas, including hosting their political office, may
become problematic.
It’s
been a divided year... whether in the world or in an America divided by race
and by class, by partisan inclinations and caprices of crime, climate economics
and even what to call that Thanksgiving stuff that goes along with the turkey. Some people won big, others didn’t. The billionaire class made out like
gangbangers – except for a few who didn’t, like Sam Bankman Fried. Victims of their own greed, God and Satan
shook hands over that... God over the lessons the losers learned and the
suffering they endured, the Devil for another soul to situate in his boiler
room by and by, next to the Messrs. Ponzi and Madoff and Ms. Holmes.
But
it’s also been a happy Thanksgiving for a few sectors of the proletariat...
specifically, those with the capacity to join or form unions, defy the mockery
of history and endure the ire of employers.
Some, of course, were involuntarily separated from their jobs for their uppitiness but, after the plague, other jobs hae been easier to find and the surveillance AI apps that
track the complicity or docility of the peasants is not yet applicable
(although the proliferation of beeping robot cashiers in the big box stores is
a forshadowing of a grim future for the working
classes), Vigorous, perhaps violent,
political action will be an option as America slinks throught
he rest of the twenties (where the roaring might be the bellow of
climate-engendered storms and tornadoes, as we have seen this week).
And
don’t forget the volcanoes... the hot ones over there in Iceland and the warm,
but menacing bubbling lava under Yellowstone Park.
But,
if nothing else, the world can be grateful that even if Iceland is cracked into
a million little rocks of steampunk sobriety, most climatologist aver that the
dreaded ash cloud that blanket the Earth, blinder the Sun and plunge us into
two or three decades of non-nuclear winter is not likely to occur.
Give
thanks.
Even
for 2023, there were plenty of lesser catastrophes averted and personal and
social triumphs to bless Don Jones over the course of the year – even admist disasters.
This week, while the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war paused and a fraction of
the hostages were freed, Russia’s imperialism in Ukraine stalled – mechanized
and cyberized into mutual drone attacks (tho’
Zelenskyy has yet to take the giant step forward and obliterate the Kremlin and
all within. China did not invade Taiwan
and none of the wars currently raging went nuclear (although North Korea seems
to want to make this som according to the V.O.A. News
– Attachment Three).
The United States
accused the NoKos on Monday of using the prohibited
launch of a military spy satellite to try to advance its nuclear weapons
program
North Korea’s envoy defended the
launch.
“It is a legitimate and righteous
exercise of the rights to self-defense, which fully belongs to the legal sphere
of our self-defense,” Ambassador Kim Song told the council.
He attributed North Korea’s need
for such technology to the United States’ “hostile policy” toward his country
and its joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea.
The Japanese and SoKos have lodged protests, and several U.N. council
members also expressed concern about reported military cooperation between
North Korea and Russia, according to the Voice of America
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Thomas-Greenfield also said U.S. information
indicates that Pyongyang has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of
military equipment and munitions for its war in Ukraine. But no further deployments have been made
this week.
In
health news, the Covid plague retreated in both frequency and lethality –
although it is by no means gone and new diseases are cropping up in places like
China and among animals like birds and dogs.
Noting that next year’s election will impact Don Jones’ health, as well
as his wallet, the business magazine Forbes surveyed three top healthcare
issues that may probably decide what is likely to be a Trump/Biden rematch.
“History doesn’t
repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” – Mark
Twain (Noted as Attachment
Four, November 16th)
While foreign policy
has vaulted to the top of voters’ minds in light of the conflicts in the Middle
East and Ukraine, and while it will almost certainly remain a critical issue
through next year, the financial journal Forbes allowed that: “healthcare policy
will also have significant influence on the election outcome.”
U.S. life
expectancy rose last year — by more than a year — but still isn’t close to what
it was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
(Stat News. Attachment Five)
The measure
of American longevity plunged, dropping from 78 years, 10 months in 2019 to 77
years in 2020, and then to 76 years, 5 months in 2021.
Steven Woolf,
a mortality researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he expects the
U.S. to eventually get back to the pre-pandemic life expectancy.
But “what I’m
trying to say is: That is not a great place to be,” he added.
Some
of the other boons to be thankful for included a lowered inflation rate –
particular as regards gasoline and, with winter approaching – fuel oil and the
cessation of Hollywood writers’ and actors’ and autoworkers’ sttikes which allows the studios to begin cranking out new
distractions for a disturbed public and release and promote other ventures
still “in the can” as the saying goes.
There
are new sequels, prequels and spinoffs... film and television candy for
consumers ranging from animated features for the kids to serious and sober
reflections on the human condition (some of which are new or continuint British family dramas).
There’s
even Thanksgiving perks for psychopaths after a haunted Halloween. Time, just in time for the holiday, reported
that creepy Eli Roth (creator of freaky franchises and other spooky seasonal
venues).
Roth has made a name for himself
finding innovative ways to get audiences to squirm in their seats (November 17th,
Attachment Six) and Thanksgiving is no different. An “homage” to holiday-themed slashers
like Black Christmas, Halloween, and April Fool's Day, Thanksgiving updates
and downgrades the Pilgrim/Indian meme (noted below) by chronicling “the
gruesome rampage of a serial killer dressed as Pilgrim John Carver, the first
governor of Plymouth Colony, who embarks on a murder spree in Plymouth,
Mass.—the birthplace of the film's titular holiday—in the wake of a tragic
Black Friday riot at the town's local superstore, Right Mart.”
Right!
"It was really a pleasure not
just to make a Thanksgiving movie, but to fill the November horror movie
void," Roth told People. "I felt like the calendar
has been missing a November horror movie. It's been my life's mission to bring
Halloween into November."
Apparantly, Time failed to share in the
pleasure, for its article concludes with that customarily verboten artifact of
the yellow press... a spoiler. A lot of
spoilers. Check out the attachment at
your own risk.
In addition to film and TV
sprouting, sports stood up over the holidays
and beyond as did the object of the day... the food.
Fox
ran the numbers on the cost pf 2023’s turkey gobble and found most of them
pleasant (Attachment Seven).
Time
dispatched its investigative team to the birdhouses and the markets to garner
the real reason why turkeys were so cheap (November 20th, Attachment
Eight) and deduced that is
due to the decrease in poultry affected by the bird flu outbreak that began in
2022.
“Birds that are infected with the
avian influenza have to be killed, causing more than 4.5 million birds to be slaughtered so far this year. That statistic is
steep, but still much lower than the 58 million birds that were impacted in
2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Time reported.
And,
if all the family, fun and feasting (and tryptophan) didn’t make Don Jones want
to take a nap, there were plenty of speeches.
Vital speeches! Viral speeches! Vital speeches going viral! Heart warming or gut wrenching speeches... the former crawling with children,
puppies, kitties and smiling grandparents; the latter... perhaps treating
Israel, Ukraine, the dear and departed, nasty weather or the occasional
outbreaks of salmonella populating the latter.
And the politicians, athletes and actors baring their souls and their
stomachs to Don Jones and the family began with none other than President Joe
and First Lady Jill attending another of their traditional dinners with the
military.
The
First Lady spoke upon faith – a quality which many Republicans accuse her
husband of lacking – during a tea break in the Blue Room of the White House
(Attachment Nine). Jill, an intellectual
who has read Kierkegaatd, taped her favorite quote (“Faith sees best in the dark.”) to
her mirror when theirr son, Beau, grew sick from
cancer, so that “every morning, Joe and I would be reminded of the power of
faith.
“But, when Beau died, I felt
betrayed by that faith. Shattered. I couldn’t imagine a way through the
darkness.
“And then Joe and I visited
Brookland Baptist Church in South Carolina...” rediscovering that “we all go
through darkness at some point in our lives – perhaps some of you are even in
it now. And I hope you have someone to help you find that light that can never
be extinguished.”
President Joe, for his part,
appealed to the (small “D”) democratic inclinations of the supporters gathered
to watch him pardon (or, perhaps, decapitate) the two turkeys, Liberty and Bell –
thanking the breeder, the other small farms and the National Turkey
Federation. (Whitehouse.gov, Attachment
Ten)
He cracked a joke: “This is the
76th anniversary of this event. And,” Biden (who had just turned 91 I
want you to know I wasn’t there at the first one. (Audience
Laughter.) I was too young to make it up. (More Laughs.)
And he lauded the military... a
simpler task than could be expected in years past.
“I’ve met so many incredible
people who do such extraordinary things — including, just yesterday, Jill and I
visited the largest naval station in the world, Norfolk Naval Station in
Virginia, to serve what they call “Friendsgiving” — a Thanksgiving meal — to a
thousand servicemen and their families. We owe them. We owe them
big.
“And let’s remember: We are the
United States of America, and there is nothing — nothing, nothing — I mean this
sincerely — nothing beyond our
capacity when we work together. We’ve never come out of a situation, a
bad circumstance not — without being better off when we come through it.
And this is always who we are as Americans.”
(Associated Press, Attachment Eleven, November 19th)
Perhaps so, but one thing
apparently beyond Old White Joe’s capacity was sorting out Beyonce, Britney
Spears and Taylor Swift in what Pink News called an “awkward Thanksgiving speech.”
“While
pardoning Liberty and Bell on
Monday (20 November) – which just so happened to be his 81st birthday,” Biden
joked that “the competition to be chosen as this year’s turkey was just as
fierce as the competition to get tickets to Beyonce’s Renaissance World Tour or Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras World Tour.
“You could say this is even harder
than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour, or, or, or for Britney’s tour.
It’s kind of warm in Brazil right now.”
But, not only is Britney Spears not on tour, neither is Beyoncé. Her
Renaissance tour finished in October.
Swifties (and, presumably, Spearchuckers) attacked on social media. “ENOUGH! sobbed a poster. “We as a country need to deplatform
Joe Biden for this unacceptable mistake. I am literally shaking as I write
this. Britney, I am so sorry!”
The White House did not issue a
comment on Biden muddling up the pop idols, “which comes as some voters express concerns about the president’s age ahead of
next year’s election.”
The man who stands to reap the
benefits of President Joe’s wandering memory, the 45th President of the United
States Donald J. Trump joined Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Tx) in serving meals to over
240 Texas National Guard soldiers, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
troopers, and other service members stationed on the border over Thanksgiving
for Operation Lone Star (OLS) in Edinburg. (gov.texas.gov, November 19th,
Attachment Thirteen)
“Texas is forever grateful for our
brave service members who work day and night to protect and defend our state
and our nation,” said Governor Abbott. “I am proud to be with President Trump
here today to thank the thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS
troopers who are stationed along the border for Operation Lone Star to respond
to President Biden’s border crisis.
It
was a lusty, luscious meal, attendees rubbing tummies in remembrance, but one
of them was left out for, according to his own tweets on Truth Social, former
President Trump complained that “there was no food left for him” at the Thanksgiving
luncheon for Texas state patrol officers noted above. (Newsweek, November 20th,
Attachment Fourteen)
"The
food looked very good. I wanted to have some, but they didn't have any for me.
They had none left. That's not good. That's my kind of food too," he said
as aired on RSBN and shared on X, formerly Twitter, by journalist Ron Filipkowski of MeidasTouch.
Newsweek
attempted to verify the snub, but was told that Trump was joking. He may or may not have received a free lunch,
but Ol’ 45 did, at least, garner Abbott’s endorsement
after also criticizing the Biden administration for, as the AP reported, “failing
to do more to crackdown on people entering the United
States illegally.”
"We
need a president who is going to secure the border," Abbott said in his
endorsement speech. "We need a president who is going to restore law and
order in the United States of America, not letting these criminals run ransack
over the stores that you see images of almost nightly.
"We
need a president who's going to restore world peace as opposed to this outbreak
of warfare under Joe Biden. We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of
the United States of America."
There were still plenty of disgruntled Don
Joneses who passed the 23rd in bitterness, envy and, perhaps,
indigestion.
Despite the charitable endeavors promoted by
public and private sources, from big business from individuals dropping a can
of beans into the food box, food insecurity continued among the bottom quarter
(or third, or...) of Americans
But as many of
us get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, this is a reminder that approximately
one in eight Americans lack consistent access to adequate food,” Balagtas said.
Food insecurity rates vary by region. The largest difference so far in 2023
occurs between the West (10%) and South (18%)
regions.Nov 8, 2023
“It’s
a good thing that the food insecurity rate is down from the higher rates we saw
in the spring and summer. But as many of us get ready to celebrate
Thanksgiving, this is a reminder that approximately one in eight Americans lack
consistent access to adequate food,” Balagtas said.
Food insecurity rates vary by
region the experts say. The largest difference so far in 2023 occurs between
the West (10%) and South (18%) regions. The prevalence of food insecurity is
highest in the South, followed by the Midwest, Northeast and West. These
findings are consistent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic
Research Service’s food insecurity statistics.
Diet well-being appears to
correlate with food insecurity. Consumers living in more food-secure regions
tend to rank their diets higher on the diet well-being index.
Slightly more consumers in the
West and Northeast, which are the regions with the lowest prevalence of food
insecurity, are categorized as “thriving” on the diet well-being index compared
to the South and Midwest.
“However, most consumers,
regardless of region, are ‘rather happy’ or ‘very happy’ with their diets,
showing the ability of the U.S. food system to satisfy the diets of consumers
from all regions of the U.S.,” Bryant said.
Happiest
of all – the prosperous princelings across America (and in a few foreign places
too), wined and dined in opulent, princely privilege... the paupers and
peasants (if fortunate) copped a meal at the local church basement or Salvation
Army cafeteria or, at least a turkey sandwich under their underpasses.
Amongst
the powerful and famous, Congresseaters flew back to
their home states and districts to gnaw bones, indulge boners and lobby
donors. Djonald
UnFull flew back from Texas and his busted barbecue
with Governor Abbott
(Attachments x11 x12above) and took a page from the Biden playbook by extolling the U.S.
armed forces, ICE, border patrol and first responders.while,
simultaneously, kicking the copied cat: “Crooked Joe Biden, who has WEAPONIZED
his Department of Injustice against his Political Opponent, & allowed our
Country to go to HELL!” (Palm Beach Post, Attachment Fifteen)
Not
to omit all of Joe’s and the Democrats’ demons from his blessing... “the other
Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Fascists, Marxists, Democrats, & RINOS”
and, of course, the judges and prosecutors of his various trials and the court
clerks (and, presumably, janitors) who “tell them what to do” – he wished a
“Happy Thanksgiving to ALL!” on Truth Social.
Not to be outdone,
President Biden's campaign issued what it called "Your Handy Guide for
Responding To Crazy MAGA Nonsense This
Thanksgiving" consisting mainly of Bidenesque
“accomplishments” from the good to the bad (in the eyes of
MAGA...infrastructure, gun control, fighting Big Pharma and their big donors)
to the ugly (“supporting Ukraine, strengthening NATO and
standing up to Putin”) as well as the Chinese.
Trump also blamed Old
White Joe for “weaponiz(ing) his Department of Injustice,” reported the Washington
Times (November 23, Attachment Sixteen) and bounced back to the base by
declaiming “Have no fear, however, we will WIN the Presidential Election of
2024, & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Returning
to Mar-a-Lago for the revenge feast, the Donald assuaged his Texas fasting with a
multi-coursed revenge diet of turkey, beef, lamb, fish and shortribs plus soups, salads, entrees
and eight desserts. NBC (Attachment
Seventeen, November 25th) was unable to confirm that the former
President said “Let me have ‘em all.”
“You thought you ate a lot for Thanksgiving?” asked NBC reporter Jason Cumming,
Thanksgiving
was also celebrated, or fell upon, the famous and the infamous alike, with the Notorious Rep. George
Santos (R-NY) also facing dire circumstances.
The embattled Congressman responded to critics with a wiggle and a
giggle... declaring that he missed his family,
being together around the dinner table to celebrate the festivities with loved
ones and promised to “give back and go serve the less fortunate and show them
there is still love in the world. We have allowed to [sic] much to divide us as
a nation, let’s overcome that by finding more ways to unite us,” as reported
the website Queerty (Attachment Eighteen)
“However…” cautioned correspondent David Hudson, “this is George
Santos we’re talking about. And the reaction online was, well, somewhat
skeptical.”
The
Queerty peanut gallery included sixty
eight comments denouncing him as a corrupt and venal “troll” who “farts
out of his mouth” and practices “performative religiousness” with the rest of
the far-right momzers (who, the gay Republicans argue online, bend the brand).
“The
only person I can see him serving is himself,” a pea (or lychee) nut concluded,
and another lumped George in with all the Christian right, saying “they are no
more religious than Putin.”
Well, speak of the prince among the
world’s worsest and wickedest and he will manifest.
Vladimir Putin reportedly availed himself of the American holiday and,
according to the Conservative Book Club a19x39, gifting the baby elephants with
a little toy – a little riddle or a joke that might, or might not, cloak a
croak of truth, expressed a Thanksgiving dish wish. See for yourself at the attachment or, if in
a hurry, here.
The CBC having pulled off this
nugget of right
wing humor, and
(with the return of little Abi) some even beginning to feel giddy enough to
satirize current events and the human condition. The San Diego Jewish World,
accordingly, published a guide to a proper Hebraic Thanksgiving from which
terror and politics are expelled, and from which Christian guests are
discouraged from bringing a baked
candied ham “telling you that at their Thanksgiving dinners they ‘always eat
ham as the second meat.’” Your Jewish relatives, no matter their
politics, will fixate on the words “ham as” and go ballistic. (Attachment
Twenty, November 21st)
Perhaps, amidst the zeit
of the geist of the day, there were plenty of Thankstaking critics dissenters, too shaming the gluttons
who feasted while (choose either) Israelis/Palestinians were dying and others,
around the world had little or nothing to give thanks for.
Many pointed out the ethnic implications of
poverty and, in particular, Native Americans - who welcomed the season with
only slightly less vitriol than they expressed on Columbus Day.
Revealing the “dark
truth behind the origins of Thanksgiving,” the wildly inappropriately monikered
Delish.com snarled that “most
popular retellings of the first Thanksgiving have been proven to be
riddled with mistruths” and that while you, the perpetrator of the world’s
miseries and oppression “may know that on some level, what's not often
discussed is the truth about the holiday's history and the effect it has on
many Native Americans (October 30th, Attachment Twenty One) in that
place amidst the Unhappy Hunting Ground where truth and lies mingle and clash.
“According to The New York Times, the Mayflower did, in fact,
bring settlers from England to land which they colonized and renamed Plymouth,
MA,” wrote the Delish-ish Kristen Salaky. “In 1621, those Pilgrims did hold a three-day
feast, which was attended by members of the Wampanoag tribe. However,
typically, when these settlers had what they referred to as
"thanksgiving" observances, they actually fasted. So
this feast and celebration was known as a "rejoicing," according
to The New Yorker.
Any food likely consumed was probably fish
and a cornmeal porridge, if anything.
The Pilgrims celebrated
"thanksgivings" in their traditional way of fasting and praying,
according to the The New Yorker (above) and, on occasion, massacring
the natives as from the murder of 700 Pequots in 1637 to the present, as
non-Natives choose to dress up in things like
headdresses in "honor" of Thanksgiving, which many see as a mockery of
sacred dress.
"Thanksgiving
day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the
theft of Native lands, and the relentless assault on Native culture," says
the United American Indians of New England. They've marked the occasion as
a day of mourning for 48 years.
A few assimilationists like Sean
Sherman, founder and CEO of The Sioux Chef and the author of The Sioux Chef’s
Indigenous Kitchen, believe that it is time to stop reliving the
grievances of the past and (like some RINO Republicans feel about 2024) reject
the poisonous 'pilgrims and Indians' narrative. “We do not need that illusion
of past unity to actually unite people today. Instead, we can focus simply on
values that apply to everybody: togetherness, generosity and gratitude. And we
can make the day about what everybody wants to talk and think about anyway: the
food.”
Instead of commiting
suicide out of guilt and despair, Salaky recommends
shopping... for Native American artifacts, for eaing
traditional foods (if produced by indigenous companies, all the better) and for
buying the books that she lists at the end of the article
Time, also, lists “8 Historical Moments more important to Native
Americans than the ‘First Thanksgiving’” (November 21st, Attachment Twenty One) and includes, among them, eight historical
moments differing than the myth of the First Thanksgiving, which, as above,
lacked turkey, wasn’t the first time colonists and Native Americans had
interacted, and many of those interactions were hostile.
Time’s Olivia Waxman interviewed
Paula Peters, a museum curator and a citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag, the
tribe that fed the pilgrims, who pointed out to TIME that her ancestors “didn't
come to have dinner” in the meal hailed as the First Thanksgiving. They were
armed, and “they came because they felt threatened.”
Peters listed the eight more
significant instances of Native American history as...
1. The Great Dying (1616-1619)
European and English sailors
brought a devastating plague to the area that would become known as Plymouth
colony
2. Colonists poison Native Americans in
1623
A year after war in the Chesapeake
broke out, during an expedition to rescue captives, colonial soldiers
distributed poison to 200 Powhatans even though they knew that doing so
violated the rules of war
3. King Philip’s war (1675-1676)
King Philip’s war of 1675-76
marked when the relationship between Plymouth colony and the Wampanoags finally
degenerated into large-scale bloodshed.
4. Pueblo revolt of 1680
Toward the end of the 17th century,
the Pueblos revolted against the Spanish New Mexico government, Catholic
missionaries until Spain recaptured the territory in 1692.
5. Pontiac’s rebellion and the
failed reclamation of Fort Detroit in 1763
Odawa war chief Pontiac (Obwaandi’eyaag), born in present-day Detroit around 1720,
warred on British forts – capturing several but failing to conquer
Detroit. (In 2009, General Motors
announced that they would discontinue the Pontiac brand.)
6. Forced assimilation at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879-1918)
In the mid-19th century Indigenous
children were rounded up and forced to leave their communities and attend
institutions where they were indoctrinated into rudimentary English and forced
to perform manual labor.
7. The 1969 occupation of Alcatraz
Island
On November 20, 1969, a group of
over 80 American Indians landed on Alcatraz Island. Known as the “Indians of
All Tribes,” this pan-Indian activist group claimed Alcatraz Island “by right
of discovery,” commencing a 19-month occupation.
8. Tribe that fed the pilgrims
gets official U.S. government recognition (1987)
On April 10, 1987, the Wampanoag
Tribe of Aquinnah (Gay Head), who met the Pilgrims in 1620 and had contact with
French and Spanish sailors for a century before that, was officially recognized
by the U.S. government as an American Indian tribe.
Coincidentally, a man who was on a
float for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts held up a Palestinian
flag and made it onto a NBC broadcast.
The action was denounced by the
tribe on social media, saying it “takes no stance on the conflicts overseas.”
“Our Tribal Nation remains focused
on the issues we face on our ancestral homeland,” the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
wrote on Facebook. “While we cannot speak for an
individual’s actions, his actions were not a Tribal decision.
The popular (and highly publicized) Macy’s
Thanksgiving Parade provided partisan MidEast
protesters a chance to get out into the streets and work up an appetite. One group of protesters in white jumpsuits
with words like “imperialism” and “genocide” written on them, blocked a
dinosaur balloon by Sinclair Oil Corporation, lying on the ground as fake blood
was poured on them, chanting “liberation for Palestine and planet.” (Time,
Attachment Twenty Three)
Current events also impeded the fun with some
random pro-Hamas extremists and civilians concerned about the attacks on Gaza,
taking to diverse streets and soapboxes for ideological and physical
confrontations with families and survivors of hostages and Jewish lobbies like
the ADL and JDL, who retorted: “Never again!”
(A few neo-Nazis here and there also poked their noses out of the cracks
in the walls and, in Illinois, an anti-Islamic killboy
landlord slaughtered a six year old Palestinian tenant
twenty six times.)
According to the Washington Post, thirty of the Gothan
protesters were issued summons for trespassing... another four were criminally
charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration,
trespassing and disorderly conduct related to the vandalism at the New York
Public Library. (Attachment Twenty Four)
New York Public Library
spokesperson Jennifer Fermino told The Post in a
Friday statement that while it “strongly supports the right to protest,” the
damage to the building will be costly amid budget cuts to the library system.
“On Thanksgiving, individuals
involved in a protest engaged in a shameful act of vandalism to the Library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman building, a space
devoted to the open exchange of ideas and intellectual debate,” Fermino said. “This comes at a time when the city’s
libraries are facing steep budget cuts that have left us unable to maintain our
current levels of service, and this vandalism will be costly to repair.”
Other
pro-Palestinian protesters invaded and occupied the offices of several U.S. senators,
including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
A plethora of police patrolled parades in the
larger cities and no Turkey Day terror was reported; just a few scuffles
between partisans. “But a pro-Palestinian protester in
California was arrested last week and charged with
involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Jewish
man who suffered head injuries in an
altercation between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters at a
demonstration in Southern California.”
Even the Founding Fathers were dragged into
the fray. According to the Washington
Post (November 23, Attachent Twenty
Five), no less an American Icon than Thomas Jeffersion
exclaimed that he hated Thanksgiving.
While it didn’t become an annual
national holiday until the days of Abraham Lincoln, religious feasts (and fasts) of
thanksgiving were commonplace. Both the Continental Congress and Gen. George
Washington declared days of public thanksgiving during the Revolutionary War
after big victories. And in 1779, Jefferson,Virginia’s wartime governor, signed a
proclamation declaring Thursday, Dec. 9, “a day of publick
and solemn thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God.”
As President, however, he turned to the new Constitution
instead of the Bible.
“Jefferson wasn’t an atheist, but he still held
theological ideas considered radical for his day,” according to the Post’s
Gillian Brockell. Though he believed in a benevolent
creator, he “questioned biblical miracles, divine intervention and the
Christian trinity” and defended the First Amendment’s applicability to heretics
like Quakers, Baptists... even Muslims!... and, in an inked-out portion of a draft
of a letter on the First Amendment recovered by the FBI in the 1990s, even lampooned the
heavy-handed thanksgivings of his predecessors as “performances of devotion”
more associated with King George III.
His successor, James Madison,
would revive the thanksgiving
proclamation tradition in 1815, but for the eight years Jefferson was in
office, there was no thanksgiving.
Fast forward a couple of centuries
and politics still tries to dig its claws into the Thanksgiving bird. Atop the wars, plague and inflation, America
has just squeezed through a month as might not belong to the giving of
Thanksgiving feasts or Christmas cheer... an occasion in April (that is not
Easter, nor, at least, Income Tax Day),
For... although consigned to the background
for the weekend... the prospect of another
Presidential impeachment (Biden’s removal for the crimes of his son,
Hunter) remains viable.
Eveb were this possible, however, would the hard
right really want President Joe replaced by President Kamalala?
Fox,
accordingly, chose not to cry out for the execution and consumption of the two
criminal White House turkens and, instead (November 20, Attachment Twenty Six), simply
noted that he was the “oldest president in U.S. history,” when, joined by unvegan co-conspirator Jill, pardoned Liberty and Bell, the
two lucky
turkeys before
accepting the delivery of the official White House Christmas
tree – an 18-and-a-half foot Fraser fir from Fleetwood, North Carolina, hosting
a meal for military members and their families – then sailing off to dinner on Nantucket, a Massachusetts
island, continuing a long family tradition.
“Friendsgiving with the military
has become a tradition for the Bidens. Last year, they dished out mashed potatoes and other sides as part of the buffet-style
meal in Cherry Point, North Carolina, home to more than 9,000 military
personnel and roughly 8,000 military family members,” recalled the Associated
Press (November 18th, Attachment Twenty
Seven), and, in 2021, “...the Bidens visited the Army’s Fort Bragg in
North Carolina for an early Thanksgiving meal in a hangar for about 250
service members and their families. Troops got chocolate chip cookies bearing
the presidential seal.
Prior to feasting, Joe and Jill hosted
a preview of the Willy Wonka preview (opening to the rest of us on December 15th)
for youngsters at the nearby Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads before
cutting out and saying: “I wish I could stay and watch Wonka with you.”
His destination was Norfolk Naval Station, where he assisted Chef
Robert Irvine in preparing a meal of turkeys (who, at least, died happily...
slow roated in bourbon) and the fixings for 400
service members and families from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford.
At the Wonka show, Jill remembered
Beau Biden’s deployment while, at Norfolk, Joe had a few words of rememberance for Roslyn Carter, describing the Carters as a
couple of grace and integrity, and praised Jimmy Carter as a person who worked
as hard for others after he left the White House as he did in office.
“Imagine, they were together for
77 years,” he added. “God bless them.”
He also told the service members
about watching Beau Biden’s children while he was deployed, but then appeared too overcome with emotion to
continue and said, “I don’t want to talk about this.”
Nobody
wanted to talk about Hunter but he was invited up to Nantucket and endured the
penitence of the polar bear swim that Joe has enjoyed for years – a plunge into
the frigid ocean where “(w)ater temperatures in
the Nantucket Sound were a bitter 48 F Thursday afternoon.”
Nantucket’s
annual Cold Turkey Plunge, “a charity event where
participants race into the icy salt water and hurry back to shore,” the New
York Post informs us (11/23/23, Attachment Twenty Eight).
“Annual
Biden fam polar bear plunge. Happy Thanksgiving!” Naomi Biden, the
81-year-old president’s granddaughter, wrote in an X post.
For
the hungering, following pressthings, the animal of
the hour was “duck”, as in ducking anys response to
questions about hostages prior to little Abi’s release for risk of blowing the
Qatari deal – a strategy that proved correct.
And asked if he had a message for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, (both detained in Russia on
espionage charges), Joe was able to respond: “We ain’t
giving up.”
Most Joneses however, unconstrained by war or
the pushy press corps, took advantage of the occasion to enjoy family, friends,
feasting and... in many cases... football; including Thursday night’s NFL
contest and then, for the still famished, Saturday’s banquet of NCAA rivalry
games, thrillers and upsets and a Sunday of more pigskin action – climaxed by
the news that more hostages, indeed, were being released – and little orphan
Abi (whose mother and father were butchered by Hamas) would be going home to
her grandparents.
And as the needy and the greedy pushed aside
the plates and ventured out for an early Black Friday, there was some more
Happy Thanksgiving news via U.S. News and World Report, the realtors, the
retailers and the Fed.
“This (is/was) the week Americans
give thanks,” compiler Tim Smart passed the smart and happy news onto Don Jones
in advance of T-Day, (November
20, Attachment Twenty Nine)
“Inflation is receding,
admittedly from a high level, down about two-thirds from the 9% annual rate
seen in the summer of 2022. The economy’s growth rate hit 4.9% in the third
quarter, well above what economists had expected... employment remains strong
if not quite at the red-hot levels of a year ago, the stock market has
rebounded from its recent swoon... gas prices are down while mortgage rates
have backed off their recent highs.”
Finally, there is
little expectation the Fed will raise interest rates in December at its next
meeting after being on pause since July and two benign inflation reports last
week. And Congress kicked the shutdown
can into the New Year.
|
Our
Lesson: November 20th through November 26th, 2023 |
|
|
|
Monday, November 20, 2023 Dow:
35,161.04 |
Tributes keep pouring in for
Roslyn Carter, whose funeral will be after the holidays. Thanksgiving travel to the fore –
airlines’ biggest day since 2005 and the highways and byways clogged with
grandchildren in Korean sleighs.
Completing the planes/trains/automobiles triad, Brightline proposes
high speed rail service from Miami to DisneyWorld
in 3 ½ hours (so drug dealers can take their kids to watch 95
year old Micky and 81 year old Bambi while newbies from Frozen Two)
and TranSec Pete Butt says it will make us “just
like Europe.” Bambi, a real deer,
revenges his fictional Mommy by ramming and killing a motorcyclist, to the
delight of vegetarians and climate activists. Open AI (aka Chat Bots) encounters crisis
as CEO Sam Altman is fired by the Board for being too gung-ho with the
robotization of everything, jumps to MicroSoft
(which promises to promote “nothing harmful”.
Most of the workers threaten to quit, so the Board fires its
pro-safety Ilya Sutskever and brings back Sam...
and on to Dystopia we go! Something harmful... neo and paleo-Nazi
content... is greenlighted by X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk and he is
promptly redlighted by People of Virtue. Worse, his latest Space X rocket explodes
on takeoff. |
|
|
Tuesday, November 21, 2023 Dow:
35,070.09 |
Brother Jason tops Kelce in
a Monday night Superbowl rematch – Kelce blames Taylor for not coming; she’s
down in Brazil, where she cancels her Rio concert after a fan dies in the
130° (some say 140°) heat. Victim Elon sues critic Media Matters over
reportage on X’s Nazi postings, whining: “I’ve been smeared!” he whines. Donald Trump, the template Smearboy, releases his lawyers on his various four
criminal, one known and many unknown civil cases... one lawyer, John Sour (?)
claims Djonald UnFairlypersecuted
has had his First Amendment rights trampled upon. Everybody predicts the cases will wind up
at SCOTUS. And Trump’s Supremes are also expected to
rule on a state court revocation of the Voting Rights Act that will
effectively disenfranchise millions of minority voters, making his
Restoration easier. |
|
|
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 Dow: 35,273.03 |
Anniversaries and birthdays
abound: JFK was killed 60 years ago, Billie Jean King turns 80, “Elf” turns
20 and “Frozen” turns ten. The complex deal on Hamas
prisoners brokered by Qatar seems to change by the hour. The base is that some 50 hostages will be
traded for 150 Palestinian prisoners, plus a cease-fire (that lasts first,
for three days, then five, then four) that allows trucks full of food,
medicine (and guns) to cross the border to aid the beleaguered Gaza
civilians. The media covers Jake Sullivan, who
appears on CBS – acknowledging that Israel knows Hamas will use any cease
fire for new attacks, and on ABC pimping fear of terror attacks on transit
systems, the Thanksgiving Parade and Black Friday sales. Pro-terrorist Hollywood celebrities like
Susan Sarandon are blacklisted while authoritative authorizes regret that not
all hostages are in the hands or cellars of Hamas but also prisoners of
“others”. Anti-terrorist Feds and local police make
ready for terrorist attacks on Thanksgiving and Black Friday mass gatherins in the U.S.A. while the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Parade in NYC introduces new balloons.
A complication is the wicked weather... storms that migrate from the
Gulf to Gotham and beyond – bringing flooding and tornadoes. |
|
|
Thursday, November 23, 2023 Dow:
Closed |
Thanksgiving Day arrives and turkeys tremble (although President Joe
pardons Liberty and Bell). The Qatari-brokered
MidEast cease fire and hostage swap is pushed back
to “imminently” (tomorrow). Families
are disappointed but still hopeful, partisans take to the streets and the al-Shaifa Hospital evacuates, leaving only two doctors and
two hundred of the sickest patients in a building that Israel alleges
concealed a network of Hamas hideaways and tunnels. American media are shown cells with running
water, electricity and, even, air-conditioning! Also proffered is evidence that hostages
were there, but now are gone. In the U.S.A., Don Jones celebreates with pomp and feasting – Macy’s in NYC and
other parade and parties occur with a few protests, but no major terror and
no plague. Snoopy returns as lead
balloon at the Macy’s spectacle – there are copycats in Philadelphia and
Chicago, and the Henry Ford Foundation in Detroit features 175 business
leaders and CEOs dressed up as clowns and having a clowning good time. As well they should, with the UAW strikes
settled, unsettled then re-settled and cars rolling off the assembly lines
once again. Holiday travel is dense, but
there are no major instances of terror or disgruntlement on board the planes
and trains, while automobiles speed merrymakers on their way courtesy of the
lowest gas prices in years. |
|
|
Friday, November 17, 2023 Dow:
35,390.15 |
It’s Black Friday and merchants are discounting their wares as
leftover Thanksgiving meals are sandwiched and gloomful experts warn that the
journey from will be more crowded and perilous than the journey to. The hostage swap... set for 9
AM EST... occurs without complications, but there are no Americans among the
released, who are exchanged at the Egyptian border and immediately set upon
by psychologists and journalists who want to know how they feel. Most, like the civilians in Gaza where
trucks of food, medicine and fuel are arriving, say they are hungry. Americans not affected by the
crisis surge out to shop, looking for the deepest discounts in the most
crowded retail emporiums. Biggest
sellers: games and guns. When noontime rolls around,
the Joneses eat leftoversand watch television...
mostly pro and college football. The
Dallas Cowboys’ halftime show featurs
Donny Parton who warbles a couple of Freddy Mercury classics. |
|
|
Saturday, November 18, 2023 Dow:
Closed |
The first hostage swap... forty two
Palestinian women and teenaged prisoners in Israeli jails for thirteen of the
hostages (including Israelis and Asian “contract workers”, mostly Thai)
bestows a measure of hope on an unthankful world. President Joe expresses hope that
Americans... rumoured to be around ten with two
women and little Miss Abigail Idan... will be in
the upcoming trades; critics dig into the Yankless releae as just another manifestation of his failed
administration. 127 trucks of
humanitarian aid... food, medicines and fuel that is almost certain to be
diverted to Hamas,,, cross the Rafah checkpoint. After Black Friday (which the
big boxers promise will last until Christmas Eve, or later) Small Business
Saturday arrives, urging Christmas celebrants to shoo local merchers for stuff made in America. Some do, some don’t. And the tide of holiday travelers begins
recede back into the ocean of “from where they came” with crowded airports
and plenty of traffic jams. The Joneses start pulling
their blinking lights from boxes, elves from shelves and radio stations
switch to All Christmas, All the Time. |
|
|
Sunday, November 19, 2023 Dow: Closed |
A second swap takes place after the Qatari-brokered deal nearly falls
apart over who will release which prisoners and in what order. Finally, Hamas and Israel agree to a
timetable and the third exchange proceeds with little Abigail the first (and
most publicized) American to go free.
(Video of a 9 year old Irish-Israeli girl
returning to her family goes viral in Europe... tensions between Ireland and
Israel mount due to anti-Sematic marches and rallies in the Dublin. Vigilante in Vermont shoots three
Palestinians for talking Arabic. On the Sunday talkshows experts and peanuts agree... the situation
being called “dire” in Gaza is actually an improvement over “cataclysmic” and
“apocalyptic”. People who don’t have
to livet here are full of opinions. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Ca) says that there re 40,000 Hamas so the only solution is a two-state
solution. Former Gov. (and Republican
candidate in fifth place in a field of five) Chris Christie says he’s not
running for Vice President, and if Djonald (still) UnChained loses either in the primaries or general
election of 2024 and has to slink back to Mar-a-Lago, “that’s alright with
me.” The ABC roundtable finds Rich
Klein asserting that the loathsome Trump/Biden rematch is inevitable, Gov.
John Sununu (R-NH) appealing: “Stop the chaos!”, liberal perennial Donna Brazille says Demsshould hope
Trump is nominated because he’ll be easier to beat. |
|
|
What is the measure of a healthy
society and/or good v. bad times. Is it the numbers... the cold hard facts of
life as might be good or bad, fleeting or long lasting? Or is it what the hippies and zippies used to call the “vibes”...
an abundance, not of caution, but of celebration occasioned by personal
fortune, a collective or nation interstice of celebration (like Thanksgiving,
this week, or Christmas coming up).
Even those might be hated on by some... Native Americans, the former,
infidel atheists, Islamicists and, to a lesser extent, non-Jihadist Muslims,
Buddhists, Hindus and other assorted faiths and unfaiths who believe that
Jesus was a villain, at worst, or a myth, at best. The Dow, too, might be expressed as a
function ot “vibes” inasmuch as most investors buy
or sell depending on the own gut relationships with thiw
or that stock, According to the numbers, Don Jones had a
very, very bad week. Unemployment is
skyrocketing... despite the abumdance of
Christmas-related jobs available.
Maybe not good jobs, maybe not even subsistence jobs – but jobs
nonetheless. And for the good jobs,
there is the problem of the requirements of education, which either takes
time or requires an investment in what may be a lifetime of debt. Better to watch the games and the parade on
TV, gripe on social media or take drugs. This week, numerous Thanksgiving private
and public celebrations took place – and without the terror and disasters
predicted by the Don and Debbie Downers.
Turkeys were killed and eaten, balloons floated and, if air and road
traffic was heavy, most everybody got to where they were going, sooner or
later. And then there was the social/global news...
one four year old American hostage was released by the scrofulous Hamas
terrorists in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners: some, no
doubt, terrorists who will strike again, others just loudmouths about the
crises of 1974 and 1948 and actions therewithin that leave Israel an apartheid state, though it
is not popular to say so excpt for billions of
Muslims and even some rich, white over-educated victim lovers marching and
chanting around their elite universities that America’s underclasses and
working classes would give their security to join. But the numbers – the rising rate of
unemployment in the face of a need for workers – and the collapsing real
estate market (which will have to collapse for a few more years until working
Americans can affort a place to live. Vibes or numbers? As ever, Joneses... based on their own
experience and outlook... will choose. |
|
|
|
CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE
ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000 (REFLECTING…
approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013) See a further explanation
of categories here… Get thestreet.com for restaurant bnnkruptcies ECONOMIC INDICES (60%)
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SOCIAL
INDICES (40%)
|
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|
ACTS of MAN |
12% |
|
|
||||||||
|
World Affairs |
3% |
450 |
10/9/23 |
+0.1% |
12/4/23 |
449,84 |
459.29 |
Murderous
grandma caught while trying to flee to... Vietnam???? Elections are polarizing in Poland (left
wing sweep)m Argentina (right winger defenders call
Libertarian, foes a Nazi) .
(American... except the harried and flummoxed donor class) relieved
that their politicians are
elsewhere for the holiday.) Irish
child hostage released but pro-Hamas riots raise Dublin-TelAviv
tensions. |
|||
|
War and terrorism |
2% |
300 |
10/30/23 |
+1.2% |
12/4/23 |
286.21 |
296.64 |
Thanksgiving
ceasefire and hostage swap returns Israeli citizens and visitors,
Palestinians and American Ami Idan to their
families – a little late, but welcomed all the same. West Bank celebrations and protests from
domestic MidEast and Native American factions
occur, but no terror. The terror is
off the Red Sea coast where American warship strikes back against Iraqi,
Syrian, Lebanese and Yemenese pirates... all backed
by Iran. Jake Sullivan warns of terror
at Pilgrim parties like parades and Black Friday retailers on ABC (doesn’t
happen), then says Israel knows
Hamas will use the cease fire to regroup.
Russia and Ukraine swap drone attacks in their forgotten war. |
|||
|
Politics |
3% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
+0.3% |
12/4/23 |
479.48 |
480.92 |
Tributes pour
in for Roslyn Carter, whose funeral will be next week. Diatribes pour in condemning Geore Santos who, with his giddy laugh, calls his fellow
GOP congressmen hypocrites but says the “Numbers” augur expulsion – also next
week. President Joe hails Gaza
ceasefire, rival Trump reiterates his grievances on the stolen 2020 election
and curses out all his persecutors and prosecutors. |
|||
|
Economics |
3% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
+0.3% |
12/4/23 |
429.59 |
430.88 |
Black Friday
sales will likely be the strongest in at least five years since before the
plague, and if that means going into debt – so be it! Weekend sees a one percent hike for big
boxes, but 8% increase online.
Mortgage rates drop from 7.44 to 7.29% but housing sales remain weak. |
|||
|
Crime |
1% |
150 |
10/30/23 |
-0.2% |
12/4/23 |
245.76 |
245.27 |
The
extension of old sex crime prosecutions ends with
2,500 rich, famous and other defendants accused... Diddy and Jamie, Axl Rose
and (surprise!) Russell Branc in the dock. Missing Florida woman found dead in storage
locker. Dad shoots 10
year old at Thanksgiving dinner table.
|
|||
|
ACTS of GOD |
(6%) |
|
|
||||||||
|
Environment/Weather |
3% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
-0.2% |
12/4/23 |
397.40 |
396.61 |
Climatologists
say global warming increasing faster than feared citing the New York City
600+ days of no snow. Louisiana oil
spill causes a million gallons to leak into the Gulf. Wicked weather in Wichita will feature
weekend storms for travelers, that migrate to Chicago, followed by Cold
Turkey (and people) for the East all next week. Maybe even Gotham! |
|||
|
Disasters |
3% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
-0.2% |
12/4/23 |
420.02 |
419.18 |
Police,
firemen and newsthings spread paranoia... after the
Thanksgiving traffic, turkey fryer and diet dangers, cold weather brings out
fiery space heaters and... soon... Xmas lights, dead atrees
and decorations. Navy plant
overshoots runway in Hawaii... 9 rescued.
Dozens die in Dominican Republic flooding. Giant explosion on LA freeway stalls
holiday traffic. |
|||
|
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX |
(15%) |
=1350 |
|
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|
Science, Tech, Educ. |
4% |
600 |
10/30/23 |
-0.3% |
12/4/23 |
639.22 |
637.30 |
Open AI guru
the safety and surveillance denier and defier Sam
Altman getsfired, moves to Microsoft but, when at
least 80% of the workforce threatens to follow him, is reinstated. Elon Musk sues left-wing muckrackers Media Matter for insinuating he’s a Nazi. |
|||
|
Equality (econ/social) |
4% |
600 |
10/30/23 |
+0.1% |
12/4/23 |
636.82 |
637.46 |
Pro-Hamas
celebrities like Susan Sarandon condemned by the mob. Girl groups and girls sweep awards
ceremonies and fanbabes look to snap up new music
by Taylor, her possee, even Madonna. And, of coure,
Mariah Carey is back again. |
|||
|
Health |
4% |
600 |
10/30/23 |
-0.1% |
12/4/23 |
472,97 |
472.50 |
Uh
oh!... there’s a mew mystery disease
bubbling up out of China. As most
Joneses vaxx up against old friends like plague and
flu, an epidemic also rages among dogs.
The W.H.O. is worried. Bird flu
is past, but TV docs say don’t eat turkey, stuffing and gravy – eat fruits
and vegetables (but not peaches, plums and nectarines found to be contaminated
with listeria) and tofu, drimk designer (not tap)
water instead of wine and repent of your sins. |
|||
|
Freedom and Justice |
3% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
nc |
12/4/23 |
471.51 |
471.51 |
As more old,
cold cases are resuscitated, moldy old convicts like South Africa’s “blade
runner” Oscar Pistorius join Bill
Cosby on parole still claiming he shot his girlfriend thinking she was a
burglar. Supremes join Congress in excaping Washington and its woes, but face a busy
December. |
|||
|
MISCELLANEOUS and TRANSIENT INDEX |
(7%) |
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
Cultural incidents |
3% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
+0.5% |
12/4/23 |
512.64 |
515.20 |
With the
Hollywood strikes settled and actors again free to pimp their productions swarms
of “in the can” blockbusters are being released... Beyonce conert film a hit but Disney’s “Wish” seems a (fishy)
flop, Wonka and Hnger Game prequels and plenty of
sequels. On the tube, new seasons of
“The Crown” and “Fargo” and new reality shows like “Squid Game”. Jason tops Travis in Monday night battle of
the brothers while Taylor remains down in South America and posthumous Jimmy
Buffet album celectates dogs. AARP to sponsor Rolling Stones’ tour. RIP Detroit pitcher Willie Hernandez,
kiddy TV producer Marty Krofft, (H. R. Pufnstuff) and singers Hall and Oates (survived by the
singularities of Hall and Oates). |
|||
|
Misc. incidents |
4% |
450 |
10/30/23 |
+1.5% |
12/4/23 |
491.58 |
498.95 |
Festive parades
in NYC (largest), Philadelphia (oldest) and across America as tryptophan puts
Don Jones and family to sleep, dreaming of Black Friday sales. Animal
righters cheer Bambi’s revemge – deer collides with
motorcyclist and kills him. Some
partisans call stuffing stuffing, others
dressing... dividing families. But again, orphaned 4
year old Abi is safe... facing a difficult future, to be sure, but...
at least... a future. |
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The Don Jones Index for the week of November 20th through November 27th,
2023 was DOWN 5.32 points
The Don Jones
Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman
and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator.
The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well
as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell,
environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna
Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The
Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial
“Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action against parties
promulgating this and/or other such slanders.
Comments,
complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.
ATTACHMENT ONE – From
FROM GUK
Biden
confirms US hostage freed
“She’s
free and she’s in Israel now,”
Joe Biden said of four-year old Abigail Edan, a dual US-Israeli
citizen, who was released by Hamas on Sunday alongside 16 other hostages.
“What
she endured is unthinkable,” he said, adding that he expects additional
Americans to be released by Hamas as well.
ATTACHMENT TWO – From the FINANCIAL TIMES
Person in the News Sheikh Mohammed
bin Abdulrahman al-Thani: Qatar’s hostage negotiator is no stranger to crisis
After weeks of torturous negotiations, the prime minister has mediated a deal
to release some of Israel’s captured civilians
By
Andrew England NOVEMBER 24 2023
Just
hours after Hamas’s devastating dawn assault on southern Israel, Qatari Prime
Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was preparing for action. He
established a task force and a working group to co-ordinate with Washington —
his government being one of the few with direct lines to the US, Israel, Hamas
and the Islamist group’s backer, Iran. Within 48 hours, Sheikh Mohammed, who is
also foreign minister, had spoken to Mossad chief David Barnea, US secretary of
state Antony Blinken, his Iranian counterpart, and
Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The initial intention was to take the
temperature of an erupting crisis. Israel, enraged and traumatised
after the deadliest attack on its soil since the state’s founding in 1948, was
in no mood for negotiations. Instead, it demanded that Hamas released the
hostages its militants seized during its brutal October 7 raid, says an
official briefed on the talks.
When
Sheikh Mohammed spoke to Hamas’s political leaders — in exile in Doha and
distanced from the group’s military wing in Gaza — they insisted that the
militants did not mean to capture so many hostages, including civilians. “OK,
show us by releasing all the civilians now,” replied Qatari officials. “It’s
more complicated,” was the response. It has been complicated for Sheikh
Mohammed ever since. Working closely with Barnea and CIA chief Bill Burns, the
quietly spoken 43-year-old has co-ordinated
diplomatic efforts to secure the hostages’ release. On Wednesday, after weeks
of tortuous negotiations, Israel and Hamas finally agreed a deal in which the
militant group will release 50 women and children from around 240 captives. In
return, Israel paused its offensive on Hamas-controlled Gaza for four days,
beginning yesterday, allowing more aid and fuel into the besieged strip and
free 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.
As
one of the main interlocutors between Israel and Hamas for a decade, Qatar’s
role has been crucial. It previously sent millions of dollars of aid to Gaza
each month in co-ordination with Israel and the UN. Just two weeks before
Hamas’s attack, Sheikh Mohammed hosted Barnea in Doha to discuss improving
economic conditions in Gaza. Qatar — like others — was stunned by the assault.
But Sheikh Mohammed, a low-profile member of the ruling family, is no stranger
to crises. The economics graduate was appointed foreign minister in 2016, just
18 months before four Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates, severed travel, trade and diplomatic links with his small, import-dependent
Gulf state. The quartet appeared to have then US President Donald Trump’s
backing, with Qatar accused of supporting Islamist movements and being too cosy with Iran. As rattled Qataris feared for the fate of
their nation, “many doubters” questioned the young diplomat’s ability, says
Tarik Yousef, director at the Doha-based Middle East Council on Global Affairs.
Unflattering comparisons were made with Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim
al-Thani, a flamboyant figure known as HBJ, who served as prime minister and
for more than a decade as foreign minister. “As the crisis unfolded, there were
calls for the established, larger-than-life figure of HBJ, a sharp contrast to
Sheikh Mohammed’s understated style,” Yousef says. “But within months, he began
winning admiration from a public that saw steady leadership, minus the flair.
And that’s exactly what Qatar needed.”
Sheikh
Hamad had overseen Qatar’s transition from desert backwater to vastly wealthy
gas powerhouse. But he also drove an assertive foreign policy that raised the
hackles of Doha’s neighbours and earned the Gulf
state a reputation as a meddling maverick. He was replaced when Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad al-Thani ascended the throne in 2013 after his father surprisingly
abdicated. It was the year Sheikh Mohammed entered the foreign ministry as an
assistant minister, and his rise through the ranks coincided with Sheikh
Tamim’s efforts to recalibrate Qatar’s foreign policy, anchoring it in the
partnership with Washington. The state actively projects itself as an “international
problem solver”, partly in the belief that carving out a niche as mediator will
ensure Doha remains relevant. Sheikh Mohammed has been central to the shift,
combining diplomacy with chairing the Qatar Investment Authority — a $450bn
sovereign wealth fund.
“He’s
the troubleshooter . . . the kind of
guy who understands opportunities and risks,” says a western diplomat. “He’s
been around long enough to understand the [dangers] of Qatar’s over-reach;
mopping up the pieces and suffering the delayed backlash.” Since the regional
embargo was lifted in early 2021, Sheikh Mohammed has defended his nation from
criticisms ahead of last year’s football World Cup; acted as interlocutor
between the Taliban and the west after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan;
helped facilitate a prisoner exchange between the US and Iran; and mediated
secret talks between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Washington. Even
while the Gaza crisis was raging, he and his team sealed a deal to reunite four
Ukrainian children with their families after they were separated during
Russia’s invasion.
After
Sheikh Mohammed was named prime minister in March, some questioned how much he
would be able to focus on his domestic duties, particularly Doha’s economic
plans, analysts say. And the next diplomatic challenge is never far away. So
far, Qatar has been praised for its brokering role but when the dust finally
settles, Doha’s ties to Hamas, including hosting their political office, may
become problematic. “While the role of mediator cements Qatar’s status as a
pivotal player, it also draws increasing scrutiny and leaves the nation
politically exposed,” Yousef says. “It is a moment of immense consequence — and
the risks cannot be overstated.” andrew.england@ft.com
ATTACHMENT THREE – From the VOICE of AMERICA NEWS
US: North Korea Trying to Advance Nuclear Program With
Satellite Launch
UNITED NATIONS
—
The United States accused North
Korea on Monday of using the prohibited launch of a military spy satellite to
try to advance its nuclear weapons program, a charge Pyongyang denied.
“The DPRK is unabashedly trying to
advance its nuclear weapons delivery systems by testing ballistic missile
technology in clear violation of this council’s resolutions,” U.S. Ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield told council members, using the abbreviation for North
Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Pyongyang is prohibited by several
Security Council resolutions from carrying out nuclear or ballistic missile
activity. Thomas-Greenfield noted that North Korea has launched three Satellite
Launch Vehicles this year and 29 ballistic missiles, including four
intercontinental ones.
The United Nations said North
Korea issued a pre-launch notification to the Japanese Coast Guard about its
space launch vehicle but failed to issue airspace or maritime safety
notifications to international sea and air organizations about its November 21
launch, which flew directly over Japan.
“The DPRK’s launches represent a
serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic,” U.N.
Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari said in his
briefing.
Japan’s envoy condemned
Pyongyang’s “appalling” and “reckless behavior.”
“The international community must
express grave concern over such an irresponsible act by North Korea and take
decisive action to address it,” Ambassador Kimihiro Ishikane said.
South Korea’s envoy said the
launch was far from peaceful, as its northern neighbor claims.
“Any launch that uses ballistic
missile technology, regardless of its success or payload, can contribute to the
further advancement of ballistic missile technology, in particular ICBMs
capable of delivering nuclear weapons,” Ambassador Joonkook
Hwang said.
North Korea’s envoy defended the
launch.
“It is a legitimate and righteous
exercise of the rights to self-defense, which fully belongs to the legal sphere
of our self-defense,” Ambassador Kim Song told the council.
He attributed North Korea’s need
for such technology to the United States’ “hostile policy” toward his country
and its joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea.
Washington has repeatedly offered
to open talks with Pyongyang without pre-conditions.
“The DPRK can choose the time and
the topic, but the DPRK needs to make that choice,” Thomas-Greenfield said on
Monday.
China’s deputy envoy said if
Washington is sincere about talks, it should build trust and stop engaging in
“pressure tactics” such as the joint military exercises.
The council last adopted a
sanctions resolution on North Korea in 2017. Russia and China have used their
veto or the threat of it to prevent further council action.
Several council members also
expressed concern about reported military cooperation between North Korea and
Russia.
Thomas-Greenfield said U.S.
information indicates that Pyongyang has provided Russia with more than 1,000
containers of military equipment and munitions for its war in Ukraine.
ATTACHMENT FOUR – From FORBES
Healthcare On The 2024 Ballot: These Are The
Issues To Track
Joe Harpaz Nov 16, 2023,08:00am EST
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often
rhymes.” – Mark Twain
Foreign policy has vaulted to the top
of voters’ minds in light of the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and
while it will almost certainly remain a critical issue through next year,
healthcare policy will also have significant influence on the election outcome.
Healthcare ranked as
a key issue for over 60% of voters in the 2022 midterm election, according
to Pew Research, and the healthcare policy
issues on that ballot undoubtedly shaped numerous races. The U.S. spends more
per capita on healthcare than any other developed country, while
achieving poor outcomes when measuring
life expectancy and maternal and infant mortality rates. Forecasters should
expect a “rhyming” outcome in the 2024 presidential race, as many of the same
healthcare issues that influenced the midterms remain at the forefront of
voters’ minds.
Heading into an election year,
these are the healthcare policy issues that may help determine the presidential
race—and the next four years of healthcare reform—and deserve close attention
from industry stakeholders.
Reproductive
Rights
Increased restrictions on
abortions have created ripple effects across the entire continuum of care,
including impacts on care providers and insurers. More patients are seeking
care across state lines, straining resources in blue states such as Illinois,
which borders highly restrictive Missouri. Nonprofit hospitals can help to
cover bills for some patients, but the University of Illinois Health in Chicago, for instance, cannot provide
financial assistance for out-of-state residents and may be on the hook for care
provided. For insurers, the issue is also complicating care for an at-risk
patient population and creating delays that can make the final costs higher per
patient.
Nearly 70% of
respondents to a KFF/AP poll called the Supreme Court
overturning Roe v. Wade an important factor, or the single most
important factor, in the 2022 midterms, and voters came out in force to back
pro-choice candidates. It showed clearly in Congressional races in states such
as Pennsylvania and Kansas, where voters also
rejected a referendum to ban abortion.
Ohio voters
scored another win for abortion rights this
November, passing an amendment to the state constitution that protects the
right to choose. The 2022 midterms set the stage for the amendment when voters
in that swing state soundly rejected a measure that
would have required a supermajority to alter the state constitution—a
Republican-backed proposal tied to the party’s efforts to restrict abortion
access.
With those results in mind, the
few Republican candidates who have taken a moderate stance on abortion may have
some advantages at the polls. Both former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum oppose a federal ban on abortions.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor
Nikki Haley have taken hardline positions against abortion. If this issue
drives Democratic voters to the polls as it did in 2022, it may mark a major
boon to President Joe Biden’s reelection bid.
Entitlement
Program Protection
An AARP survey of voters in the most
contentious districts after the 2022 midterms found people aged 65-plus helped
to swing the race for Democratic candidates. A quarter of those surveyed cited
threats to Social Security and Medicare as a top issue, alongside inflation and
threats to democracy. Entitlement program protection will only grow more
influential as our population ages. By the year 2060, over 90 million people will be
eligible for Medicare coverage—a significant climb from the 60 million who
qualified in 2020.
In the deep purple
state of New Hampshire, Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan handily defeated U.S. Army
veteran Don Bolduc in the midterms, thanks in part to her commitment to
protecting Medicare. Bolduc came out in favor of privatizing Medicare to disastrous
results.
Any Republican candidate thinking
about making cuts to Medicare spending should consider reading the giant
flashing neon sign that says: voters like Medicare. Some polls have shown as many as 70% of Americans support the
progressive Democratic idea of “Medicare for all.”
Since the Covid-19 public health
emergency ended last spring, 10 states have refused to accept federal funds to
expand Medicaid coverage, which would have prevented millions of people from
losing coverage. Nearly 400,000 people in Florida, for instance,
fall in a “coverage gap” that disqualifies them from Medicaid coverage, but
they cannot afford the premiums of an Affordable Care Act plan.
Candidates such as DeSantis and
Haley, who hail from states with that coverage gap, may feel a negative impact
from it at the ballot box. Their most notable rival in the Republican primary,
former President Donald Trump, has repeatedly opposed entitlement reform. Other
candidates, including Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and Governor Christie,
already enacted Medicaid expansion in their home states.
Voters’
Mindset On Healthcare
Presidential candidates dating to FDR have made
national healthcare a key talking point in stump speeches. But in the wake of a
health emergency the scale of the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare has never felt
as rooted in the national conversation as it is now.
Voters clearly established
maternal healthcare and entitlement protection as issues that matter to them in
the midterm elections, and the hardliners with opposing views struggled at the
ballot box. For those of us invested in the future of healthcare, we must
consider what the ecosystem will look like in the next four years and leverage
the most recent midterm as a potential barometer for next year’s results.
Medicare already has
an increasingly loud voice in the room in the aftermath of the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows it to
negotiate prescription drug prices. What adjustments can we make as an industry
to perform in an environment where Medicare has even more influence? We also
must evaluate the long-term economic sustainability of our healthcare system.
Economic headwinds, geopolitical strife and domestic policy, including
overturning Roe, have all recently added strain to an already beleaguered
system. The next four years may shape a generation of healthcare performance.
The end results of next year’s election
might not sound exactly like they did in 2022, but they could rhyme.
ATTACHMENT FIVE – From STAT NEWS/A.P.
U.S. life expectancy rose in 2022, but it remains below its
pre-pandemic level
By Associated
Press Nov. 29, 2023
The 2022 rise
was mainly due to the waning pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention researchers said Wednesday. But even with the large increase, U.S. life
expectancy is only back to 77 years, 6 months — about what it was two
Life expectancy
is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might
expect to live, assuming the death rates at that time hold constant. The
snapshot statistic is considered one of the most important measures of the
health of the U.S. population. The 2022 calculations released Wednesday are
provisional, and could change a little as the math is finalized.
For decades,
U.S. life expectancy rose a little nearly every year. But about a decade ago,
the trend flattened and even declined some years — a stall blamed largely on
overdose deaths and suicides.
Then came the
coronavirus, which has killed more than 1.1 million people in the
U.S. since early 2020. The measure of American longevity plunged, dropping from
78 years, 10 months in 2019 to 77 years in 2020, and then to 76 years, 5 months
in 2021.
“We basically
have lost 20 years of gains,” said the CDC’s Elizabeth Arias.
A decline in
Covid-19 deaths drove 2022’s improvement.
In 2021,
Covid was the nation’s third leading cause of death (after heart disease and
cancer). Last year, it fell to the fourth leading cause. With more than a month left in the
current year, preliminary data suggests Covid-19 could end up being the ninth
or 10th leading cause of death in 2023.
But the U.S.
is battling other issues, including drug overdose deaths and suicides.
The number of
U.S. suicides reached an all-time high last year, and the
national suicide rate was the highest seen since 1941, according to a second CDC report released Wednesday.
Drug overdose
deaths in the U.S. went up slightly last year after two
big leaps at the beginning of the pandemic. And through the first six months of
this year, the estimated overdose death toll continued to inch up.
U.S. life expectancy
also continues to be lower than that of dozens of other countries. It also
didn’t rebound as quickly as it did in other places, including France, Italy,
Spain, and Sweden.
Steven Woolf,
a mortality researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he expects the
U.S. to eventually get back to the pre-pandemic life expectancy.
But “what I’m
trying to say is: That is not a great place to be,” he added.
Some other
highlights from the new report:
·
Life expectancy increased for both men and
women, and for every racial and ethnic group.
·
The decline in Covid-19 deaths drove 84% of
the increase in life expectancy. The next largest contributor was a decline in
heart disease deaths, credited with about 4% of the increase. But experts note
that heart disease deaths increased during Covid-19, and both factored into
many pandemic-era deaths.
·
Changes in life expectancy varied by race and
ethnicity. Hispanic Americans and American Indians and Alaska Natives saw life
expectancy rise more than two years in 2022. Black life expectancy rose more
than 1 1/2 years. Asian American life expectancy rose one year and white life
expectancy rose about 10 months.
But the
changes are relative, because Hispanic Americans and Native Americans were hit
harder at the beginning of Covid-19. Hispanic life expectancy dropped more than
four years between 2019 and 2021, and Native American life expectancy fell more
than six years.
“A lot of the
large increases in life expectancy are coming from the groups that suffered the
most from Covid,” said Mark Hayward, a University of Texas sociology professor
who researches how different factors affect adult deaths. “They had more to
rebound from.”
— Mike Stobbe
Get
links to Pew Research, and the healthcare policy
issues on that ballot undoubtedly shaped numerous races. The U.S. spends more
per capita on healthcare than any other developed country, while
achieving poor outcomes
ATTACHMENT SIX – From TIME
Breaking Down the Ending of Eli Roth’s New Holiday Slasher Thanksgiving
BY MEGAN MCCLUSKEY NOVEMBER 17, 2023 1:54 PM EST
Warning: This post contains
spoilers for Thanksgiving.
Sprinkled throughout Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's 2007
double-feature extravaganza Grindhouse are
a series of B-movie-style fake trailers directed by a lineup of renowned genre
filmmakers. In the 16 years since the film's release, two of those
trailers—Rodriguez's Machete and
Jason Eisener, John Davies, and Rob Cotterill's Hobo With a
Shotgun—have been turned into full-length features.
As of Nov. 17, a third has arrived
in theaters: Eli Roth's Thanksgiving. Known for directing some of the most
outrageous and ultra-violent horror movies of the past 20 years—from
2003's Cabin Fever to 2006's Hostel to 2015's The Green Inferno—Roth
has made a name for himself finding innovative ways to get audiences to squirm
in their seats. And Thanksgiving is no different.
A homage to holiday-themed
slashers like Black Christmas, Halloween, and April Fool's Day, Thanksgiving chronicles the gruesome rampage of a
serial killer dressed as Pilgrim John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony,
who embarks on a murder spree in Plymouth, Mass.—the birthplace of the film's
titular holiday—in the wake of a tragic Black Friday riot at the town's local
superstore, Right Mart.
"It was really a pleasure not
just to make a Thanksgiving movie, but to fill the November horror movie
void," Roth told People.
"I felt like the calendar has been missing a November horror movie. It's
been my life's mission to bring Halloween into November."
A homage to holiday-themed
slashers like Black Christmas, Halloween, and April Fool's Day, Thanksgiving chronicles the gruesome rampage of a
serial killer dressed as Pilgrim John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth
Colony, who embarks on a murder spree in Plymouth, Mass.—the birthplace of the
film's titular holiday—in the wake of a tragic Black Friday riot at the town's
local superstore, Right Mart. When Thanksgiving rolls around the year following
the deadly shopping spree, John Carver sets out to make a festive table spread
out of the residents he deems responsible for the violence.
His targets—including Right Mart owner Thomas
Wright (Rick Hoffman), his new wife Kathleen (Karen Cliche), his daughter
Jessica (Nell Verlaque), and Jessica's friends—must
uncover the killer's identity before it's too late, setting them on a crash
course for a twisty whodunnit of an ending.
Spoiler
What happens at the end of Thanksgiving?
After a number of townspeople have been, let's
say, creatively murdered by Carver, Jessica hatches a
plan to draw the killer out using herself and her family as bait during
Plymouth's annual Thanksgiving parade.
Unfortunately for the Wrights, Carver takes
the opportunity to don a clown costume for the day instead and drugs and
kidnaps all three of them along with Jessica's friend Scuba (Gabriel
Davenport). Carver takes them to his hideout, where he's already holding
Jessica's friends Gabby (Addison Rae) and Evan (Tomaso Sanelli),
and proceeds to cook up Kathleen like a Thanksgiving turkey.
With the remainder of his hostages tied up and
seated around his table, Carver smashes Evan's head in with a meat tenderizer
and then serves up Kathleen while livestreaming the scene on social media.
Luckily, thanks to the bladed ring that the Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused-esque
McCarty (Joe Delfin) loaned her earlier in the movie, Jessica is able to cut
through her bonds and pass the ring to Scuba to do the same. The two escape the
house, although Scuba gets sliced with an ax and Jessica twists her ankle
jumping over a fence in the process. Jessica manages to limp her way over to
the parade warehouse and finds Sheriff Eric Newlon
(Patrick Dempsey) unconscious on the ground before seeing her ex-boyfriend
Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks) fleeing into the warehouse.
Now believing the killer is Bobby,
whose star baseball career ended after his arm was broken during the riot,
Jessica helps Sheriff Newlon up and the two alert the
rest of the police force. The police set up shop inside a room in the warehouse
and Sheriff Eric places an evidence bag containing Bobby's phone on the table
in front of Jessica. The rest of the cops leave and as Sheriff Newlon turns to exit the room and give Jessica a few
minutes on her own, she realizes that the same brambles that were stuck to her
clothes after fleeing through the woods from Carver's hideout are also stuck to
the sheriff's pants. She pieces together all the clues that she missed
implicating him as the killer just as he also realizes she's figured it out.
Sheriff Newlon
launches into a sinister confession, detailing how he wanted to punish the
privileged and self-important people responsible for getting his friend Mitch's
(Ty Olsson) wife Amanda (Gina Gershon)—with whom he was having an affair and
who was carrying his child—killed during the Black Friday riot. But Jessica is
one step ahead of him, revealing that she's been livestreaming his entire
monologue.
Jessica flees through the warehouse and Bobby
shows back up to help her. She turns on a valve of inflammable gas to inflate a
giant blow-up turkey and the two try to drive off in Bobby's truck. With
Sheriff Newlon in hot pursuit, Jessica fires off a
dummy round on one of the parade's shotgun props to
ignite the turkey and make it explode, enveloping Sheriff Newlon
in flames.
When the police search the warehouse, they
find no remaining trace of the sheriff and decide he must have been completely
incinerated. But Jessica clearly isn't so sure. That night, after being
reunited with her dad, surviving friends, and boyfriend Ryan (Milo Manheim),
she dreams that she hears someone in her closet before Carver attacks her in a
fiery blaze. essica wakes up safe in her bed, but
Roth leaves things open for a sequel with the suggestion that the notorious
Thanksgiving killer could still be out there.
ATTACHMENT SEVEN – From FOX
Thanksgiving dinner in 2023 cheaper than last year, but prices remain
at historic highs
The average
cost of this year's holiday feast is $61.17 for 10 people, a slight decrease
from last year's record high of $64.05
Thanksgiving
dinner will be about 4.5% cheaper this year compared to 2022, but prices for
the classic holiday meal still remain historically high, according to the
American Farm Bureau Federation's 38th annual survey.
Americans can
expect to spend an average of $61.17 on a feast for 10 people – about $6.12 per
person – this holiday season, which is $2.88 cheaper than last year's
record-high average of $64.05. Though the decrease is encouraging, the average Thanksgiving meal is still about 25% more
expensive than it was in 2019.
The biggest
role player in this year's decrease is the centerpiece of the meal – the
turkey. A 16-pound turkey currently costs $27.35 on average, down approximately
5.6% from 2022.
"Traditionally,
the turkey is the most expensive item on the Thanksgiving dinner table,"
said AFBF Senior Economist Veronica Nigh. "Turkey prices have
fallen thanks to a sharp reduction in cases of avian influenza,
which have allowed production to increase in time for the holiday."
Whole frozen
turkeys may become even more affordable leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday as the survey was conducted from
Nov. 1 through Nov. 6 and USDA Agricultural Marketing Service data has reported
lower costs since then.
After the
turkey, the remaining sides included stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with
butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
All categories were priced to feed a group of 10 with a little extra for
leftovers.
The average
cost to make the above dishes came out as follows:
·
14-ounces of
cubed stuffing mix: $3.77 (down 2.8%)
·
2 frozen pie
crusts: $3.50 (down 4.9%)
·
Half pint of whipping
cream: $1.73 (down 22.8%)
·
1 pound of
frozen peas: $1.88 (down 1.1%)
·
1 dozen
dinner rolls: $3.84 (up 2.9%)
·
Misc.
ingredients to prepare the meal: $3.95 (down 4.4%)
·
30-ounce can
of pumpkin pie mix: $4.44 (up 3.7%)
·
1 gallon of
whole milk: $3.74 (down 2.6%)
·
3 pounds of
sweet potatoes: $3.97 (up .3%)
·
1-pound
veggie tray (carrots & celery): $.90 (up 2.3%)
·
12-ounce bag
of fresh cranberries: $2.10 (down 18.3%)
The American
Farm Bureau Federation's traditional Thanksgiving menu includes turkey,
stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray,
and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.
The survey
also considered that many traditional Thanksgiving meals are changing
and included boneless ham, Russet potatoes and frozen green beans in an
expanded menu. With the three additional dishes, the overall average cost
increased to $84.75.
Regional differences
were also acknowledged with both versions of the Thanksgiving menu being the
most affordable in the Midwest at $58.66 and $81.83, respectively. The
Northeast had the most expensive averages at $64.38 for the classic menu and
$88.43 for the expanded version.
The 2023
survey was calculated using 245 surveys with pricing data from all 50 states
and Puerto Rico. Volunteers shopped in person and online to find the
best prices without using coupons or other promotional deals, the AFBF said.
The Farm Bureau's
Thanksgiving dinner survey was first conducted in 1986 and the menu has
remained the same to keep price comparisons consistent.
ATTACHMENT EIGHT – From TIME
Turkeys Cost Less This Thanksgiving. Here’s Why
BY SOLCYRE BURGA NOVEMBER 20, 2023 1:25 PM EST
The cost of
your Thanksgiving turkey will be slightly lower this year, with the centerpiece
of your holiday dinner table down 5.6% from the year prior, according to the
American Farm Bureau Federation’s 38th annual survey.
The drop in turkey prices—which
rests at about $27 for a 16-pound frozen whole
turkey—is due to the decrease in poultry affected by the bird flu outbreak that
began in 2022.
Farmers have been working hard to
reduce the impact of the deadliest bird flu outbreak in U.S.
history—which spreads through saliva,
nasal secretions and feces—by implementing extra sanitation efforts and
upgrading barn ventilation. Birds that are infected with the avian influenza
have to be killed, causing more than 4.5 million birds to be slaughtered so
far this year. That statistic is steep, but still much lower than the 58
million birds that were impacted in 2022, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Experts say that they are glad to
see that the number of impacted animals has reduced, but fear that the virus’s
persistence through the summer signals that poultry will “likely always be at risk of
the disease.”
“The industry is definitely on
really high alert,” Denise Heard, a veterinarian with the U.S. Poultry &
Egg Association trade group, told the Associated
Press.
The avian flu has tightened the
supply of livestock despite consistent demand for chicken, eggs, and other products.
That reduction certainly impacted the prices of goods last year; grade A
eggs were up 138%
in December 2022 compared to 2021, costing about $4.25. By contrast, a carton
of a dozen, large white eggs this week are an average of $1.26, per a USDA report released
Nov. 17.
The Farm Bureau says that while
food inflation and supply chain issues remain elevated, food is more affordable
in the U.S. than other countries. On average, Americans are spending only 6.7%
of their annual income on food,
compared to our neighbors up north in Canada, who spend about 10%.
“While high food prices are a
concern for every family, America still has one of the most affordable food
supplies in the world. We’ve accomplished that, in part, due to strong farm
bill programs,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall.
Still, this year is the second
most expensive Thanksgiving meal in nearly 40 years. The Farm Bureau tracks the
prices of turkey and sides, including cubed stuffing, sweet potatoes, and more,
as part of its survey. The cost of most goods went down, with the exception of
a veggie tray, 30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, sweet potatoes, and a dozen
dinner rolls. They increased in price anywhere from 0.3% to 3.7%.
ATTACHMENT NINE – From whitehouse.gov
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at a Tea
in Celebration of the Thanksgiving Season
Blue
Room, The White House
Kierkegaard wrote: “Faith sees
best in the dark.”
When the world goes our way, it’s
easy to see purpose and divine love in our lives. But it’s in our darkest
times, the times when we’ve run out of hope and lost our way, that we need God
most.
When our son, Beau, grew sick from
cancer, I taped that quote to a mirror in our house. So, every morning, Joe and
I would be reminded of the power of faith.
But, when Beau died, I felt
betrayed by that faith. Shattered. I couldn’t imagine a way through the
darkness.
And then Joe and I visited
Brookland Baptist Church in South Carolina, and Robin (Jackson) reached out her
hand. And you helped me find that faith again.
Robin, in that moment, you may not
have known how much it meant to me – how your light would go on to help lift my
prayers.
And getting to know you and Candace
and your whole family has been so special. Thank you for sharing so much of
your love with me.
We all go through darkness at some
point in our lives – perhaps some of you are even in it now. And I hope you
have someone to help you find that light that can never be extinguished.
I know each of you has given that
gift to so many in your communities.
You lift us when we’re weak.
Extend a hand when we’re alone. Repair us when we’re broken. Help us rise when
we’ve fallen.
For Joe and me, your faith helped
carry us forward through our darkest days. And that faith has stayed with us,
has nourished us, has strengthened us.
So, I want to thank you. For
gratitude too is an act of faith.
As Paul wrote: “In the midst of
everything give thanks.”
Joe and I are forever grateful for
all you’ve done for us, for your communities, and for this nation.
And I know you spend so much time
helping others, healing them, listening to their troubles. But today, in this
season of thanks, I wanted to sit with you and hear what’s going on in your
lives.
So, I asked Robin to bring this
group together, so I could learn what’s on your minds – and on your hearts. And
I hope we can share and learn and grow together.
ATTACHMENT TEN – From Whitehouse.gov
X01Remarks by President Biden at Pardoning of the
National Turkey
11:41 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Before I begin, I’m going to ask for a vote: Do I free the
turkeys today?
AUDIENCE: Yes!
THE PRESIDENT: Anyway, good to see you all. If you have a seat, please
take it.
It’s great to see you all. It’s a good morning. I’m honored to
welcome — welcome to the biggest edition of this wonderful White House
Thanksgiving tradition. And it really (is).
We’ve got a lot of special guests here today: children and families from my
staff and Cabinet. Where are y’all? Sta- –holler.
(Applause.) There you go. All right.
Students from Washington Eliot-Hine Middle School. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Happy birthday!
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much.
Jill and I met them during the back-to-school visit. I’m glad you
remembered us. Thank you.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) I remember.
And Future Farmers of America — (applause); leaders of 4-H Councils —
(applause); and leaders across the agriculture community.
I just want you to know, everyone here, we’re excited to have our honored
guests with us today: Liberty and Bell. (Applause.) This is their
day.
And thanks to the Chairman of the National Turkey Federation Steve Lykken —
Steve and your entire family — I met — got to meet the entire family.
And, by the way, I — it’s my birthday today, and they can — actually sang
“Birthday” to me. (Applause.)
I just want you to know, it’s difficult turning 60. (Laughter.) Difficult.
(Laughs.)
His entire family raised these birds on their family farm in Minnesota.
And, Steve, you are — you’re grateful to — we’re grateful to your entire
family. You have a beautiful family. Thank you very much.
God, they’re big. See, I’m used to chickens in Delaware.
(Laughter.) We got — we got a $4 billion industry in chickens, but
there’s no chicken that big, man. I tell you.
Just a few weeks ago, I visited another family farm in Minnesota where we
talked about the pride of small towns and communities — rural communities — the
pride that people have being able to know they can stay there and continue to
keep their farms — and how, because of the investments we’re making, we’re
restoring hope and opportunity so family farms can stay in the family and
children don’t have to leave home if they wish to stay and make a living on the
farm.
Look, it matters.
And thanks to all of the families across America — who feed and fuel our nation
and the world, I might add. (Applause.) Yeah, the world.
The national turkey presentation is — and pardon marks the unofficial start of
the holiday season where, here in Washington — a time to share joy and
gratitude and have a little bit of fun.
This is the 76th anniversary of this event. And I want you to know I
wasn’t there at the first one. (Laughter.) I was too young to make
it up. (Laughs.)
One thing I want to make clear that was not clear then — you know, even though
Liberty and Bell are from Minnesota, they’re named for a famous Liberty Bell in
Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
These birds have a new appreciation for the word “Let Freedom Ring.”
(Laughter.)
So, I’m told by the Turkey Federation of Liberty Bell — and Liberty and Bell,
they love Honeycrisp apples — (applause) — not bad, huh?;
ice hockey — I sure in hell would like to see them play ice hockey; 1,000 [10,000]
Lakes; and the Mall of America. (Applause.)
Now, just to get here, Liberty and Bell had to beat some tough odds — the
competition. They had to work hard, show patience, and be willing to
travel over a thousand miles.
You could say even it’s harder than getting a — a ticket to the Renaissance
Tour or — or — Brit- — Britney’s [Taylor’s] tour. She’s
down in — it’s kind of warm in Brazil right now.
Look, folks, based on their commitment to being productive members of society,
as they head to their new home at the University of Minnesota, I —
Are you going to bring them on up or do I do it there? That’s a big bird,
man. (Laughter.) I’m impressed.
I hereby pardon Liberty and Bell. (Applause.) All right.
Congratulations, birds. Congratulations.
Look, now let me conclude, on a serious note, about why we have Thanksgiving in
the first place: to remind ourselves — and we sometimes forget this — how we
have so much to be thankful for as a nation.
This week, we’ll gather with the people we love and the traditions that each of
us have built up in our own families.
We’ll also think about the loved ones we’ve lost — including just yesterday
when we lost former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who walked her own path,
inspiring a nation and the world along the way.
And let us remind ourselves that we are blessed to live in the greatest nation
on this face of the Earth. (Applause.)
That’s what I see when I travel America. I’ve met so many incredible
people who do such extraordinary things — including, just yesterday, Jill and I
visited the largest naval station in the world, Norfolk Naval Station in
Virginia, to serve what they call “Friendsgiving” — a Thanksgiving meal — to a
thousand servicemen and their families. We owe them. We owe them
big.
And to days ahead, our families and friends travel and come together to
celebrate Thanksgiving, we can all give thanks to the gift that is our nation.
And let’s remember: We are the United States of America, and there is nothing —
nothing, nothing — I mean this sincerely — nothing beyond our capacity when we
work together. We’ve never come out of a situation, a bad circumstance
not — without being better off when we come through it. And this is
always who we are as Americans.
So, Happy Thanksgiving. God bless you all. And may God protect our
troops. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Applause.)
(The President departs the podium and greets audience members.)
Q Mr. President, is a hostage deal near? Sir, is a
hostage deal near? Mr. President, is a hostage deal near?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe so, but I’m not prepared to talk to you —
Q You believe so?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes!
Q Thank you.
(The President crosses his fingers.)
11:48 A.M. EST
ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – From the ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY WILL
WEISSERT Updated 6:26
PM EST, November 19, 2023
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) —
President Joe Biden visited
naval installations in Virginia on Sunday to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday
week, introducing an early screening of the upcoming movie “Wonka” and sharing
a “friendsgiving” meal with service members and their relatives.
Biden also paid tribute Sunday to
former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, and to President Jimmy
Carter. “They brought so much grace to the office,” Biden said.
The president and first lady Jill Biden headed
to a packed auditorium at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads to introduce the
new film centered around the early life of Roald Dahl’s fictional eccentric
chocolatier, Willy Wonka. It will be officially released Dec. 15.
He joked to the many youngsters in
the crowd: “I like kids more than adults” and added “I wish I could stay and
watch Wonka with you.”
Instead,
the Bidens helped serve dinner with service members from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and
the USS Gerald R. Ford at
Norfolk Naval Station, the largest installation of its kind in the world, along
with their families.
“You
literally are the backbone, the spine, the spine of this nation,” the president
said. “Only 1% of you, that’s all, that protects the 99% of us.”
The event featured around 400
service members and their relatives seated in folding chairs and around wooden,
circular tables inside a concrete-floored hanger that included three display
Blackhawk helicopters, a towering American flag and a screen with the image of
the White House surrounded by falling leaves and the words “Happy Thanksgiving.”
“I mean from the bottom of my
heart,” the president said. “Family members, you are the heart of this
operation.” He said he would be passing out dressing and joked, “If you don’t
like dressing, just come up and pretend you do and say hi to me.’’
But the president actually served
up mashed potatoes while attendees lined up for the buffet-style meal. Jill
Biden spooned out sweet potato casserole to attendees. They stood on either
side of Chef Robert Irvine, whose foundation helped organize the meal, and both
chatted up those going through the line, which included a lot of children.
At one point, a child asked Jill
Biden something. She laughed and served a portion of casserole that contained
all marshmallows, forgoing any sweet potatoes.
The menu also featured
slow-roasted bourbon-brined turkey topped with giblet gravy and
cranberry-orange compote, maple-mustard glazed spiral-cut smoked ham,
brioche-cornbread stuffing, candied walnuts, roasted garlic and crème fraiche,
and a toasted espresso mascarpone Chantilly cream.
As the event was wrapping up,
attendees presented Biden with a birthday cake. He turns 81 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Biden’s 2024 Republican
rival Donald Trump was
scheduled for a military visit Sunday in Texas. The former president, who has
a commanding
early lead in the 2024 GOP primary, was in Edinburg
after serving meals to National Guard soldiers, troopers and
others who will be stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border over Thanksgiving.
Trump is promoting hard-line
immigration proposals he argues will better secure the border. He and top
Republicans have long criticized the Biden administration for failing to do
more to crackdown on people
entering the United States illegally.
For the Bidens, offering support
to the nation’s military has a personal connection. Their son Beau served in
Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. He died of brain cancer in
2015 at the age of 46, when Joe Biden was vice president.
Jill Biden talked about Beau’s
deployment at the Wonka event, telling the crowd: “I know there are many here
who miss their mom or dad or spouse.”
“While nothing can make up for
that empty chair at the table, for us, the kindness of our community and
finding moments of joy helps make it a little bit easier,” she said.
As he prepared to celebrate with
the troops at home, the war between Israel and Hamas and the fate of hostages,
including Americans, being held by the militants in Gaza, were front and center
for the president. A reporter asked Biden upon his arrival in Norfolk when more
hostages might go free, to which he replied, “I’m not in a position to tell you
that” and added, “I want to make sure they’re out and then I’ll tell you.”
The Bidens learned of Rosalynn
Carter’s death during their visit, announcing her passing just before serving
the friendsgiving meal. Jill Biden asked diners to “include the Carter family
in your prayers” during the holiday season. Carter, she said, “was well-known
for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and women’s rights.”
Biden, speaking to reporters as he
was boarding Air Force One to leave Norfolk, described the Carters as a couple
of grace and integrity, and praised Jimmy Carter as a person who worked as hard
for others after he left the White House as he did in office.
“Imagine, they were together for
77 years,” he added. “God bless them.”
Biden also talked at the dinner
with service members about watching Beau Biden’s children while he was
deployed, but then appeared too overcome with emotion
to continue and said, “I don’t want to talk about this.” The sadness was
fleeting. A moment later he lightheartedly bent down and joked with a
6-year-old, saying “What are you, 17?”
“Happy, happy Thanksgiving,” Biden
said. “May God love you all.”
Friendsgiving with the military
has become a tradition for the Bidens. Last year, they dished out mashed
potatoes and other sides as part of the buffet-style meal in
Cherry Point, North Carolina, home to more than 9,000 military personnel and
roughly 8,000 military family members.
In 2021, the Bidens visited the
Army’s Fort Bragg in North Carolina for an early
Thanksgiving meal in a hangar for about 250 service members and
their families. Troops got chocolate chip cookies bearing the presidential
seal.
The president and first lady plan
to spend this Thanksgiving on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island.
ATTACHMENT TWELVE – From PINK NEWS
Joe
Biden mixes up Britney Spears and Taylor Swift in awkward Thanksgiving speech
ByAli Condon
Joe
Biden accidentally mixed up Britney Spears and Taylor
Swift. (Getty Images/White House)
President
Joe Biden may have accidentally just ticked off Swifties,
after mixing Taylor Swift up with Britney Spears during an annual White House
Thanksgiving ceremony.
Biden
stood before a host of reporters on Monday (20 November) – which just so happened
to be his 81st birthday – and pardoned two turkeys named Liberty and Bell as
part of a longstanding presidential tradition to mark Thanksgiving week.
While
speaking at the pardoning ceremony, Biden tried to offer up some relatable pop
culture commentary, but it backfired spectacularly when he mixed up two of the
world’s most famous pop stars.
Taylor
Swift is on tour. Britney Spears is not. (BudaMendes/TAS23/Getty
Images for TAS Rights Management)
The
president’s joke was that the competition to be chosen as this year’s turkey
was just as fierce as the competition to get tickets to Beyoncé’s Renaissance
World Tour or Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras World Tour.
All
going well, he would then have made reference to Swift’s latest gig in Rio de
Janeiro, which had to be postponed due to sweltering temperatures.
That’s
not exactly what Biden got out when it came down to the crunch.
The
president told reporters: Just to get here, Liberty and Bell had to beat some
tough odds and competition. They had to work hard, show patience, and be
willing to travel over 1,000 miles.
“You
could say this is even harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour,
or, or, or for Britney’s tour. It’s kind of warm in Brazil right now.”
The
thought was there. The execution was not.
Not
only is Britney Spears not on tour, but neither is Beyoncé. Her Renaissance
tour finished in October.
Taylor
Swift is, however, on tour, and currently in the middle of an international
leg. The “Shake It Off” singer had to postpone a gig on Saturday (18 November)
in Rio de Janeiro, due to extreme heat levels.
The
day prior, a 23-year-old fan had sadly died at Swift’s opening show in the
Brazilian city.
Of
course, once Britney, Taylor, and Beyoncé fans caught wind of Biden’s mix-up,
his harmless mistake quickly went viral online.
Some
were shocked, if not a little horrified, that Biden – who, in fairness, likely
has more important things on his mind these days – could have possibly mixed up
Swift and Spears.
“Joe
Biden mixing up Taylor Swift and Britney Spears is unreal,” tweeted one person
who caught a clip of the speech.
“What
do you mean Joe Biden accidentally said Britney Spears instead of Taylor?”
asked a second.
And a
third teased. “ENOUGH! We as a country need to deplatform
Joe Biden for this unacceptable mistake. I am literally shaking as I write
this. Britney, I am so sorry.”
Others
were a little bit more forgiving of Biden’s mix-up.
“To
be fair, everyone’s brain is like this the week of Thanksgiving,” reasoned one
viewer.
“In
Joe Biden’s defense, it actually would be pretty hard to get tickets if Britney
Spears went on a renaissance tour,” noted a second.
“I
guess Joe Biden confused Taylor Swift to Britney Spears. Poor guy, lol but hey they are both badass
powerful women,” a third pointed out.
The
White House has not issued a comment on Biden muddling up the pop idols, which
comes as some voters express concerns about the
president’s age ahead of next year’s election.
ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – From GOV.TEXAS.GOV
Governor Abbott, President Trump Serve Thanksgiving Meals To Operation Lone Star Service Members In Edinburg
November 19, 2023 | Austin, Texas
Governor Greg Abbott and the 45th
President of the United States Donald J. Trump today thanked and served meals
to over 240 Texas National Guard soldiers, Texas Department of Public Safety
(DPS) troopers, and other service members stationed on the border over
Thanksgiving for Operation Lone Star (OLS) in Edinburg.
“Texas is forever grateful for our
brave service members who work day and night to protect and defend our state
and our nation,” said Governor Abbott. “I am proud to be with President Trump
here today to thank the thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS
troopers who are stationed along the border for Operation Lone Star to respond
to President Biden’s border crisis. This Thanksgiving as they are away from
their families and loved ones, may we remember the sacrifices these brave men
and women in uniform make every day to ensure the safety and security of all
Texans and Americans.”
The Governor and President Trump
were joined by DPS Director Steve McCraw, Adjutant General of Texas Major
General Thomas Suelzer, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd,
DPS Officers Association President Richard L. Jankovsky, Texas Border Czar
Banks, and National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd in thanking
OLS service members for their tireless work and around-the-clock efforts to
secure the border and keep Texans—and Americans—safe.
Prior to serving meals with
President Trump, Governor Abbott received a briefing on OLS vehicles and border
security assets Texas deployed to stem the flood of illegal immigration, deadly
drugs like fentanyl, and dangerous weapons pouring into Texas from Mexico.
ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – From NEWSWEEK
Donald
Trump Complains No Thanksgiving Dinner Was Left For
Him at Event
By
Giulia Carbonaro Nov 20, 2023 at 8:21 AM EST
Donald
Trump complained on his social media platform Truth Social that there was no
food left for him at a Thanksgiving luncheon for Texas state patrol officers he
attended this weekend.
While
visiting Texas on Sunday and meeting with Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who
endorsed his run for president in 2024, the former president delivered meals to
law enforcement and Border Patrol officers who will be stationed at the border
during the Thanksgiving holiday.
"It
was my Great Honor to serve Thanksgiving meals to law enforcement and troops
who will be stationed at the Southern Border during the Thanksgiving holiday
this week," the former president wrote on Sunday on Truth Social, sharing
a clip that showed him serving food to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas
Department of Public Safety troopers and others at the event in Edinburg and
shaking their hands.
"On
behalf of all Americans, THANK YOU for your service and dedication," he
added. In another post, Trump wrote about having had "a great
afternoon" at the luncheon, saying he appreciates Border Patrol officers
"even more."
In
a video of Trump addressing the crowd at the event after the luncheon, the
former president can be heard jokingly complaining that there was no food left
for him after he finished serving the officers.
"The
food looked very good. I wanted to have some, but they didn't have any for me.
They had none left. That's not good. That's my kind of food too," he said
as aired on RSBN and shared on X, formerly Twitter, by journalist Ron
Filipkowski of MeidasTouch.
Newsweek
reached out to Trump's 2024 campaign for comment by email on Monday.
After
the meals were served, Abbott gave his endorsement to Trump in his bid for
president less than two months before the Republican primaries begin. The
former president is currently the front-runner in the GOP race, with a huge margin
ahead of his rivals. As of November 19, Trump had 59.2 percent of the
Republican primary vote, according to FiveThirtyEight.
"We
need a president who is going to secure the border," Abbott said. "We
need a president who is going to restore law and order in the United States of
America, not letting these criminals run ransack over the stores that you see
images of almost nightly.
"We
need a president who's going to restore world peace as opposed to this outbreak
of warfare under Joe Biden. We need Donald J. Trump back as our president of
the United States of America."
In
his speech endorsing Trump, Abbott praised the former president's approach to
the U.S.-Mexico border, including the building of a wall and the introduction
of Title 42.
"Gov.
Abbott recognizes that no president has done more than Donald Trump to secure
our border," read a statement shared by Trump's campaign following the
event.
ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN – From the Palm Beach Post
Trump split screen Thanksgiving greetings rip "Radical Left,"
laud military, first responders
Not to be
outdone, President Biden's campaign issued what it called "Your Handy
Guide for Responding To Crazy MAGA Nonsense This
Thanksgiving."
By
Antonio Fins
Former President Trump issued a
split screen of Happy Thanksgiving wishes this morning in which he first
bitterly lashed out at prosecutors and then extolled the U.S. armed forces,
ICE, border patrol and first responders.
And President Joe Biden's re-election
campaign issued what it called "Your Handy Guide for Responding To Crazy MAGA Nonsense This Thanksgiving."
In a post on Truth Social, Trump
extended an angry rendering of holiday wishes to the "Radical Left
Lunatics, Communists, Fascists, Marxists, Democrats & RINOS" he said
are "seriously looking to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY."
Here is the full statement:
Happy Thanksgiving to ALL,
including the Racist & Incompetent Attorney General of New York State,
Letitia “Peekaboo” James, who has let Murder & Violent Crime FLOURISH,
& Businesses FLEE; the Radical Left Trump Hating Judge, a “Psycho,” Arthur
Engoron, who Criminally Defrauded the State of New York, & ME, by purposely
Valuing my Assets at a “tiny” Fraction of what they are really worth in order
to convict me of Fraud before even a Trial, or seeing any PROOF, & used his
Politically Biased & Corrupt Campaign Finance Violator, Chief Clerk Alison
Greenfield, to sit by his side on the “Bench” & tell him what to do; &
Crooked Joe Biden, who has WEAPONIZED his Department of Injustice against his
Political Opponent, & allowed our Country to go to HELL; & all of the
other Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Fascists, Marxists, Democrats, &
RINOS, who are seriously looking to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY. Have no fear, however,
we will WIN the Presidential Election of 2024, & MAKE AMERICA GREAT
AGAIN!!!
Then, later on Thursday morning,
he issued a video in which he thanked the U.S. military and law enforcement
agencies. He said:
"I want to wish everyone a
very happy Thanksgiving. Today as we gather with our loved ones we give thanks
to almighty God for his many blessings, including our families, our friends,
our neighbors and this extraordinary country that we all call home. I also want
to send our deep gratitude to all of the patriots serving our nation in uniform
this Thanksgiving, including the members of the U.S. armed forces, the heroes
of border patrol and law enforcement, ICE, and everybody that works so hard to
preserve our system and our country, and working to defend our southern border,
and our police and first responders in communities all across America. This is
a difficult time for our country. But do not lose heart or lose hope because by
the time we celebrate next Thanksgiving our nation will be well on its way to
being stronger, safer, more prosperous and greater than ever before. Once
again, happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all."
Somebody told him that soldiers...
even those deployed overseas... can vote.
"But as folks prepare for
Thanksgiving, many of us are dreading running into that family member who
insists on talking politics during dinner," the campaign said in a
statement. "Don’t worry. We got you."
The Biden campaign retaliated by
counting off the "historic accomplishments" that have delivered
"more for the American people in two years than any president in a
generation." They include:
·
Nearly 14
million jobs created, including 800,000 manufacturing jobs.
·
CHIPS
and Science Act: manufacturing boom.
·
More
new small business filings in the first two years than ever before.
·
Beat
Big Pharma: Lowering prescription drug costs – capped insulin at $35 for
seniors.
·
Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law: New roads, bridges, expanding internet access.
·
First
major gun safety law in 30 years.
·
PACT
Act: Supporting our veterans.
·
Restoring
American Leadership on the World Stage: supporting Ukraine, strengthening NATO,
standing up to Putin and China, and providing strong and steady leadership in
the Middle East during the tragic terrorist attack in Israel and its
aftermath.
ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN – From WASHTIMES
Trump’s Thanksgiving message attacks Judge Engoron, New York attorney
general and ‘radical left’
By Mallory Wilson - The
Washington Times - Thursday, November 23, 2023
Former President Donald Trump offered
up a happy Thanksgiving message on his social media platform Thursday with some
added dishes.
“Happy Thanksgiving to ALL,
including the Racist & Incompetent Attorney General of New York State,
Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James, who has let Murder & Violence Crime FLOURISH,
& Businesses FLEE; the Radical Left Trump Hating judge, a ‘Psycho,’ Arthur Engoron, who Criminally Defrauded the State of
New York, & ME, by purposely Valuing my Assets at a ‘tiny’ Fraction of what
they are really worth in order to convict me of Fraud before even a Trial, or
seeing any PROOF, & used his Politically Biased & Corrupt Campaign
Finance Violator, Chief Clerk Alison Greenfield, to sit by his side on the
‘Bench’ & tell him what to do,” he posted on Truth Social.
Mr. Trump went
on to bash President Biden, saying he “weaponized his Department of Injustice.”
He extended his holiday greetings
to “all of the other Radical Left Lunatics, Communists, Fascists, Marxists,
Democrats, & RINOS, who are seriously looking to DESTROY OUR COUNTRY.”
“Have no fear, however, we will
WIN the Presidential Election of 2024, & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN – From NBC
Donald Trump's Thanksgiving Dinner Featured 24 Dishes
Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie
were just the beginning as President-elect Donald Trump dined with his family
at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
By Jason Cumming Nov. 25,
2016, 5:32 AM EST / Updated Nov. 25, 2016, 6:03 AM EST
You thought you ate a lot for
Thanksgiving?
Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie
were just the beginning as President-elect Donald Trump dined with his family
at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Their festive feast included six
choices of main courses and eight different desserts — including
"three-layer Trump chocolate cake."
Here's what else was on the
soon-to-be first family's menu.
Mar-a-Lago
Chilled Seafood Display
Large Florida Stone Crabs
Oysters on the Half Shell
Jumbo Shrimp
Middle Neck Clams
From the
Garden
Mr. Trump’s Wedge Salad
Farm-Fresh Deviled Eggs
Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous Salad
Ahi Tuna Martinis
House Made
Soup Selections
Maine Lobster Bisque
Local Vegetable Minestrone Soup
Savory
Sensations
Oven-Roasted Turkey, Traditional
Stuffing, Sweet Mashed Potatoes, House Made Gravy
Herb-Marinated Beef Tenderloin,
Steamed Vegetables, Whipped Potatoes, Warm Popovers, Horseradish Cream
Chef-Carved Leg of Lamb, Grilled
Pita and Tzatziki Sauce
Pan-Seared Chilean Sea Bass,
Curried Vegetables, Coconut Shellfish Broth
Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs, Herb
Roasted Potatoes, Natural Braising Jus
Grilled Diver Scallops, Roasted
Vegetable Ratatouille
Sweet
Sensations
Three-Layer Trump Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin Pie
Toasted Coconut Cake
Chocolate Eclairs
Pecan Pie
Warm Chocolate Brownie Pockets
Creamy Key Lime Pie
Hot Apple Crisp
NBC News reported Wednesday that the family's Florida
Thanksgiving was guarded by a contingent of at least 150 Secret Service
personnel. A Homeland Security official told NBC News that the cost to the
taxpayer of that operation alone would reach $7 million.
Trump's security is currently running
at than $2 million a day, according to internal Homeland Security and Secret
Service documents reviewed by NBC News. That number that is sure to increase
whenever the president or the first lady travels — or when the threat level
rises.
The New York Police Department is
already handling external security at Trump Tower, the president-elect's
Manhattan home base, at an estimated cost of $1 million per day.
ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN – From QUEERTY
George Santos’ Thanksgiving plans spark backlash on social media
By David
Hudson November 23, 2023 at 8:11am ·
A tweet from George Santos, in which
he talked about feeling vulnerable and emotional at Thanksgiving, has prompted
a brutal reaction online.
The scandal-hit gay congressman
from New York said yesterday on X: “During the holidays I get
emotional.
“I
miss my family being together around the dinner table to celebrate the
festivities with our loved ones. As we get older we
brake [sic] off and start our own tradition leading us in separate directions,”
Santos said.
“This year I’ve decided I want to give back and go serve the less
fortunate and show them there is still love in the world. We have allowed to
[sic] much to divide us as a nation, let’s overcome that by finding more ways
to unite us.”
Santos did not offer any more details about how he plans to help
the needy. He did not use his platform to highlight any particular nonprofits.
Thanksgiving can definitely be tough for some people and not
everyone has family – biological or chosen – to share it with. It’s also
applaudable that anyone should want to do charitable work over the holidays.
However…
this is George Santos we’re talking about. And the reaction online was, well,
somewhat skeptical.
However… this is George Santos we’re
talking about. And the reaction online was, well, somewhat skeptical.
Santos is facing 23 federal charges relating to wire fraud, money laundering,
and using credit card donations for personal gain. He denies the charges.
His House colleagues referred him to the Ethics Committee earlier
this year. Last week it issued a damning, 56-page summary which many believe
will prompt another attempt by lawmakers to get him ejected from Congress after
the Thanksgiving break.
The committee’s findings include numerous expenses not filed with
the Federal Election Commission. These included money spent on Botox, spa
stays, and OnlyFans subscriptions. Several expenses were racked up in Las Vegas
at a time when Santos told his staff he was on honeymoon. Another $6,000 went
on Ferragamo products.
Santos has already said he does not plan to run again for
re-election in 2024.
68 Comments
·
still_onthemark
The first
time his mother died, it was soooo sad! The second and third times his mother
died, not so sad!
November 23,
2023 at 9:11am 
abfab
He’s a TROLL.
He reminds us all of the dozen or so who hang out here spewing right wing
bullshit/propaganda and fox news hysteria.
THIS WAS A TERRORIST
ATTACK ON OUR HOMELAND THANK YOU JOE BIDEN LOOK WHAT YOU’VE
DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
”We report. You decide”
November 23,
2023 at 10:11am
·
Diplomat
Abf,
The only
difference tween you and Santos is you’re naked in a dark raincoat and hat
ready for the next woman on a barely lit street corner.
November 23,
2023 at 7:11pm
·
abfab
Even more
evidence of your immaturity, dip.
November 24,
2023 at 10:11am
·
Ronbo
abfab does
seem to have lost the script yet again. He/she/it is screaming posts in all
caps rather than focusing on reality. abfab, if you truly wish to improve our
reality, stop providing ignorant hate and ammo.
We can’t ask
friends and family to come to Queerty to experience reasoned thinking when all
you do is hate and oppose common sense ways to help integrate our perspective
into the community.
No one wants
or appreciates your hateful presence. Take a break from hate and maybe you’ll
begin to understand the value of love, compassion and acceptance.
November 24,
2023 at 11:11am
·
abfab
Oh how horrible for your Fox and
Friends and Family not being able to come here. Whatever, Nancy. You are
full-on hyerbolic. Go have some leftovers and quit whining.
·
COTTONTOP
abfab can
stay, Ronbo and Diplomat can go
·
whereshouldistart
Maybe he’s
going to give homeless people all those Sephora products and free botox
injections while he picks their pockets for the dimes and quarters they’re
hiding.
November 23,
2023 at 10:11am Log in to
Reply
·
abfab
And she will
have her very own Only Fans website! For all of you little gay TROLLS to enjoy!
Donate and
spend generoulsy with thiis charity case!!! Ew.
November 23,
2023 at 10:11am
·
Ronbo
abfab, take a
break from your self-reflective and self-destructive hate. Seems you’ve been mislead; try love, understanding and compassion. Kicking
dogs and torturing cats seems your next move. No one wants that.
Everyone
reading Queerty is aware that Santos, like you, has serious mental issues with
truth and veracity. Sexualizing Santos is your cross to bear, ewwww. and ewwww
– a twofer dry heave.
November 24,
2023 at 11:11am
·
abfab
Actually
Rambo, not everyone is aware that Santos has mental issues. And now even you
are another borderline case. Sexualizing? You’re pretty twisted. And still
boring.
November 24,
2023 at 11:11am
·
Ronbo
Abfab thinks
our community are idiots. Please stop your arrogant and egotistical rampage.
Your insults
are disrespectful and revealing.
November 24,
2023 at 12:11pm
·
abfab
Um, just some
of you are idiots. Not ”our community”. Those are your
words.
If you have a
moment, calculate the percentages. Republicans and other religious lunatics -v-
progressives, which is most of ”our community”. You
lose.
November 24,
2023 at 12:11pm
·
barryaksarben
I dont ask friends
and family to come to query as mine dont need to learn that I am a valuable
part of their family they already know and that informs them to know the
republicans are monsters at this point in time. I come here to hear from other
gay men what our plans on taking people like this lying pos on and how to rid
the nation of them getting any power over the rest of us. I had my brother who
is a marine who asked my thoughts on gays in the military “conduct Un becoming ” to get the entire history of gays in our nations
fighting forces and the persecution of them. What we need is to come and stay
together and not let their right wing propaganda alter
our community one bit.
November 24,
2023 at 12:11pm
·
Diplomat
I can’t
remember encountering anyone who so perfectly farts out their mouths like
Santos and Abcess. Pretty much everything they say stinks to high heaven.
A true art
form to say the least.
·
dbmcvey
And yet,
Diplo supports the party that Santos belongs to. What a hypocrite.
·
abfab
And she knows
her smells.
·
Diplomat
Abs / db,
There’s progressive
(me) there’s conservative and then there’s psychotic (you), where you two fit.
Dems and Rs alike aren’t putting up with your Trans psycho shtick. Get used to
losing, oh that’s right, you’ve always lost. That’s why you’re always so
cranky.
Too bad you’re destroying the T youth with your pathetically unruly Trumpian
ways. Got another plan to streak the White House w your fake tits? You’re more
R than you’re willing to admit.
Now: one,
two, three, look into the camera screaming your mantra. GO!:
“I am a woman!!!”
No, you’re
dickaphobes. When you own your dicks you’ll stop
screaming like 9 year old girls. Good luck.
21 hours ago
·
Brian
The
performative religiousness of the Republican Party is so disgusting. This is
like the old “thoughts and prayers” line. In what way is he going to “serve the
less fortunate”? Knowing this man’s lying past, it seems much more likely that
he tried to think of a line that would *sound* good — even if it’s not true. He
wants us all to think that he’s doing good work, but he won’t even say what
that good work is. It’s just an advertising gimmick!
November 23,
2023 at 10:11am Log in to
Reply
·
abfab
I can hear
Melaynnia’s ornaments now! Twinkling on the tree! He could learn from her.
The Trump
Family and the Republican Party is one huge advertising gimmick. And the great
unwashed still can’t get enough.
November 23,
2023 at 10:11am
·
barryaksarben
exactly they
are no more religious than Putin. they are liars and monsters like this pos. HE
may very well have mental issues but I dont give a shit when he is harming
others with his derangement. You can be conservative as long as you are not
hurting others with your beliefs, SIMPLE as F**. This PUKE is harming people so
no coddling him. how many people has he hurt stealing and lying to them. so he is emotional, well if
he wasnt lying to everyone he might garner sympathy instead of vitriol
November 24,
2023 at 12:11pm
·
Kangol2
He’s already
shown he’d rob the “less fortunate” blind if no one is looking. Don’t forget
his felony behavior in Brazil and his scamming in New York City. Kitara Ravache
Santos is about as corrupt and venal as they come, but she’s also deranged, so
in her case the serious issues fit like a glove. Just keep her away from
checkbooks/bank accounts/campaign funds/Venmo/Cashapp/Paypal, etc.!
·
abfab
And the HOMO
DEPOT, snow shovel department, aisle 5.
·
COTTONTOP
The only
person I can see him serving is himself.
ATTACHMENT NINETEEN – From the Conservative
Book Club
What Will Putin Have For Thanksgiving Dinner?
Click here to see the
answer!
Happy
Thanksgiving to you all! And a special thank you to our website members,
email subscribers, and Facebook and Twitter followers. In total, we have had
over 430,000 members join nationwide since we re-launched back in March. We
truly appreciate your support and patronage. Happy Thanksgiving!
ATTACHMENT TWENTY – From SAN DIEGO JEWISH WORLD
Satire: Avoiding Arguments about the Israel-Hamas War at Thanksgiving
Dinners
By Laurie Baron November 21, 2023 /
SAN DIEGO — Thanksgiving brings
families together, but arguments about current events break them up. This
year Jewish families will face this combustible situation as relatives
sympathetic with the plight of Gazan civilians come face to face with their
Stand With Us kin. Here are some suggestions to
avoid the meal from being ruined by such confrontations.
Tell your
guests ahead of time not to wear either blue and white clothing or red, green,
and black clothing. Confiscate their political buttons and symbolic tied
ribbons at the door. Make sure all newspapers and magazines have been
stored away where no one can find them, even in the bathroom where some of them
will demand something to read after they stuff themselves at dinner.
Don’t start
dinner by recounting the story of the first Thanksgiving. Your guests are
bound to identity the Pilgrims with the Israelis and the native Americans with
the Palestinians.
Resist the
temptation to sing America the Beautiful to
show how grateful you are to live in the United States. The moment you
utter the lyrics from “sea to shining sea,” someone is going to substitute
“from the river to the sea,” for that verse instantly triggering a quarrel.
When you
bring out the turkey to the dinner table, don’t call it a Turkey because
Turkish President Erdogan has condemned Israel’s conduct of the war and funds
Hamas. You can preempt the possibility by serving tofurkey which may have the
unintended consequence of making everyone but the vegans more belligerent.
If there are
college students among your guests, don’t ask how things are going on their
campus.
If you invite
Evangelical friends to dinner, don’t ask them about the war because they may
praise it as heralding the Last Judgement when dead and living Jews will accept
Christ as the Messiah and return to Israel. Don’t ask them to bring something
for the meal. Unaware of kashrut laws, they might give you a baked
candied ham telling you that at their Thanksgiving dinners they “always eat ham
as the second meat.” Your Jewish relatives, no matter their politics,
will fixate on the words “ham as” and go ballistic.
After dinner,
when you watch football games, keep the remote in your hand so you can quickly
mute any news breaks and fast forward through them. If people want to watch a
movie, set up one room with a DVD of Exodus and
another with the documentary series Al Nakba. Better yet
have everyone watch Singing in the Rain.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE – From Delish.com
The Dark
Truth Behind The Origins Of Thanksgiving
The real story isn't what you
learned in school.
BY KRISTIN
SALAKYUPDATED: OCT 30, 2023 1:30 PM EST
Most Americans are taught the same
story about Thanksgiving—that Pilgrims sat together with Native Americans to share a meal and thank them for
helping with a successful first harvest. Bonus points if the story you learned
also includes an appearance from Squanto or a lesson in fertilizing crops
with fish. But most popular retellings of the first Thanksgiving have been proven to be riddled with
mistruths. While you may know that on some level, what's not often discussed is
the truth about the holiday's history and the effect it has on many Native
Americans.
So consider this just that—an
updated history lesson. Learn why some people choose not to celebrate
Thanksgiving and how you can support Native people during the holiday season and beyond.
OK, So What's
The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving?
You probably have some vague idea
that the Thanksgiving holiday is not quite the rosy picture you read
about in school, but the "real origins" of the holiday are not clear
cut either. We'll give you the best glimpse at what we know, but note: There is
a lot of information to digest about this issue and a few supposed origins of
the holiday—some of them conflicting. This is the most commonly researched and
reported story.
According to The New York Times, the Mayflower did, in fact, bring
settlers from England to land which they colonized and renamed Plymouth, MA. In
1621, those Pilgrims did hold a three-day feast, which was attended by members
of the Wampanoag tribe. However, typically, when these settlers had what they
referred to as "thanksgiving" observances, they actually fasted. So this feast and celebration was known as a
"rejoicing," according to The New Yorker. With that in mind, this meal actually
being viewed as the "first Thanksgiving" is up for debate with
experts.
Though there might have been
turkey or some other type of poultry served, there was no pie or mashed potatoes, as we have today. They would have probably
had seafood, as well as a Wampanoag dish called nasaump, a porridge made of
cornmeal, which the settlers had adopted.
As The Smithsonian points out, discussions of this event are
often centered around the settlers, but Native Americans had been on the land
for centuries before, and the story from their perspective obviously far
predates this feast. When Europeans began coming to what is now known as the
United States about four years before the Mayflower arrived, they carried
foreign illnesses which killed Native people at exceedingly high rates. That
then made it easier for colonizers to take over these lands. There's also the
fact that settlers came to the land to kidnap and sell Native Americans into
slavery.
The newly settled Europeans also
did not invite the Native Americans to their feast. Ousamequin, leader of the
Wampanoag Tribe, had declared an alliance with the settlers, and members of the
tribe were showing up to honor a mutual-defense pact; they'd heard the Pilgrims
shooting their guns in celebration and thought they were in combat. After some
talk, they decided to spend three days together and join the feast—but this
type of coming together did not become a warm, fuzzy tradition as you may have
been taught in school.
From then on, Pilgrims celebrated
"thanksgivings" in their traditional way of fasting and praying,
according to the The New Yorker. Several times this
happened because of the massacres of Native people, including in 1637 when Massachusetts
Colony Governor John Winthrop declared a day of thanksgiving after volunteers
murdered 700 Pequot people. This incident is also often cited as the first
official mention of a "thanksgiving" ceremony, and is another
commonly cited origin story for the Thanksgiving we know today.
Various dates of the modern-day
Thanksgiving holiday had been declared since then and were celebrated by
individual states, but it wasn't until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln
declared the last Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving, and the
holiday as we know it stuck.
Why Is Thanksgiving
Still Controversial?
The atrocities against Native
Americans did not end with the diseases or massacres mentioned above, so seeing
people celebrating the "positive" myth around Thanksgiving can be
frustrating and painful for many, especially Indigenous people. Combine that
with the fact that some non-Natives choose to dress up in things like headdresses in "honor" of Thanksgiving,
which many see as a mockery of sacred dress.
However, like all groups, Native
Americans are not a monolith and have different perspectives on Thanksgiving.
For example, some tribes view the holiday as a national day of mourning (shown
above); they see it as the day settlers came to their land, spurring decades of
violence and mistreatment.
"Thanksgiving
day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the
theft of Native lands, and the relentless assault on Native culture," says
the United American Indians of New England. They've marked the occasion as
a day of mourning for 48 years, according to Native Hope.
"Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the
struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and
spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression which
Native Americans continue to experience.”
Other people, like Sean Sherman,
founder and CEO of The Sioux Chef and the author of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, may also have
complicated and painful feelings about the holiday, but are offering up new ways to observe it. He said the following in a
piece for Time Magazine, which you should absolutely read in full:
"The thing is, we do not need
the poisonous 'pilgrims and Indians' narrative. We do not need that illusion of
past unity to actually unite people today. Instead, we can focus simply on
values that apply to everybody: togetherness, generosity and gratitude. And we
can make the day about what everybody wants to talk and think about anyway: the
food.
People may not realize it, but what every person in this country shares, and
the very history of this nation, has been in front of us the whole time. Most
of our Thanksgiving recipes are made with indigenous foods: turkey, corn,
beans, pumpkins, maple, wild rice and the like. We should embrace this."
How Can We
Support Native Americans This Holiday And Every Day?
There are a few different ways to
begin, and continue, to uplift Native people and causes close to them, no
matter how you feel about the holiday. For example: Seek out Native American
authors, activists, artists, and chefs, and support in their work. Listen to and
uplift their perspectives and make sure your support goes beyond Thanksgiving and holidays like Indigenous Peoples Day.
Learn about causes that are still affecting Native people, such as healthcare, violence against
women, and land disparities. Where the last point is concerned, you can find
out the Indigenous history of the land you live on by using resources
like native-land.ca.
Another simple thing you can do is
steer the people in your life away from harmful stereotypes against Native
Americans that might appear in your school curriculum, sporting events, or
holiday decorations. You can read more about why this cultural appropriation and mockery is hurtful here.
When planning your Thanksgiving
meal, consider buying food or other goods from Native American growers in your
area, and make a donation to a local Native organization near you. You can find regional
resources here. Other nationwide examples include First Nations Development Institute, Native American Heritage Association,
and Partnership With Native Americans.
In the spirit of uplifting
Indigenous authors, speakers, etc. we've linked some additional resources
below:
A Thanksgiving Message from Seven Amazing Native Americans
Native American
Brands To Buy From
Five Native American Authors To Read
Indigenous
Perspective of Thanksgiving Resources
PEANUT GALLERY
·
kar8586
26 November, 2020
thank you for educating me i heard
something about “false celebration” so i’d evidently to do my own research
Reply
17
3
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1 reply
·
Drtoots
12 November, 2021
What about the fact that Thanksgiving
was made a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War to honor the
freeing of the slaves and to reunify the country. He
was encouraged by Harriet Beecher Stow, s woman whose profound influence has
been ignored. It is a holiday that is supposed to...See more
Reply
34
37
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2 replies
ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO – From Time
8 Historical Moments More Important to Native Americans Than the ‘First
Thanksgiving’
BY OLIVIA B. WAXMAN NOVEMBER 21, 2023 10:39 AM EST
As Americans
gather for Thanksgiving feasts,
they are paying homage to a meal that took place more than 400 years ago
between a group of colonists and Wampanoag
Native Americans in Patuxet, the area now known as Plymouth,
Massachusetts. But that meal arguably means more to Americans today than it did
in 1621.
For one thing, only a couple of
paragraphs about the occasion exist. Attendees likely ate more seafood than
turkey. The meal definitely wasn’t the first time
colonists and Native Americans had interacted, and many of those interactions
were hostile. Paula Peters, a museum curator and a citizen of the Mashpee
Wampanoag, the tribe that fed the pilgrims, points out to TIME that her
ancestors “didn't come to have dinner” in the meal hailed as the First
Thanksgiving. They were armed, and “they came because they felt threatened.”
Given all of the myths and misconceptions around
the meal known as the “First Thanksgiving,” TIME reached out to experts on
Native American history nationwide like Peters to talk about moments in history
that hold more significance to Native Americans than the first Thanksgiving.
From the plague that made it possible for Pilgrims to establish Plymouth to
examples of Native Americans resisting colonial governance, the eight moments
highlighted below point to what the relationship between tribes and U.S.
settlers was really like throughout American history.
The Great Dying (1616-1619)
European and English sailors
brought a devastating plague to the area that would become known as Plymouth
colony—known as Patuxet to the original inhabitants of that region, the
Wampanoag tribe. Villages from the coast of Maine to the tip of Cape Cod were
wiped out by this plague, and tens of thousands of people died. Wampanoag were
dying of this illness so quickly that they didn't have time to bury their own
dead, so they just left corpses on the ground. By the time the Pilgrims
arrived, there was this cleared space for them to establish a village, however,
they needed to sweep away the bleached bones of the dead to establish their
colony.
Squanto, who was captured by the
English and learned English in captivity, finally comes home to work as an
interpreter and finds his family is all dead and gone. It is well-established
that tribal communities were here prior to the English coming, and what those
communities endured at the hands of these explorers that it wasn't always this
kumbaya experience of “let's all sit down and have a turkey dinner."—Paula Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag historian, author and founder
of SmokeSygnals who has curated exhibits about Wampanoag history.
Colonists poison Native Americans in
1623
The modern holiday of Thanksgiving
has its roots in the English colony of Plymouth in 1621. In American lore, it
was a moment of cross-cultural cooperation and comity. But that feast did not
establish an era of goodwill between colonists and Native peoples in eastern
North America. More revealing was the eruption, in the spring of 1622, of what
became the second Anglo-Powhatan war, which exploded across the Chesapeake.
The English had arrived in North
America convinced that their culture was so superior to the Natives' that the
Powhatans, and other Indigenous peoples, would embrace the newcomers and their
beliefs. But instead, the growth of the colonial population around the shores
of Chesapeake Bay convinced Powhatan leaders that the expansion of colonial
farms posed a risk so grave that it could only be repelled by warfare.
A year into that war, during an
expedition to rescue captives, colonial soldiers distributed poison to 200
Powhatans even though they knew that doing so violated the rules of war, which
had recently been codified in Europe, including in England.
In 2008, the state of Virginia
erected a marker on the spot, in Pamunkey territory, with the headline:
"Indians poisoned at peace meeting." The sign notes that the
colonists had gone in search of Opechancanough, who had led the uprising in
1622. It does not mention that the English had committed what, using their own
standards, was a war crime.—Peter C. Mancall, professor of History, Anthropology, and
Economics at the University of Southern California
King Philip’s war (1675-1676)
King Philip’s war of 1675-76
marked when the relationship between Plymouth colony and the Wampanoags finally
degenerated into large-scale bloodshed. As King Philip (or Pumetacom)—the son
of Massasoit, the Wampanoag leader who held that famous first Thanksgiving with
the English—explained, the main complaint of his people was land encroachment:
that the English were expanding like Topsy. The English were increasingly
prosecuting and fining Native people for trumped-up criminal charges and debt
and, of course, accepting payment for those fines in land. Native people
struggled to make a living on their shrinking land base, which drove them
further into debt. When they had no more land to sell, the English used
colonial courts to force them into servitude.
War resulted, leading to the
deaths of thousands of Native people and the enslavement of thousands more,
including the sale of many of those enslaved people to overseas dominions, like
the Caribbean colonies and Gibraltar. The English victory gave them undisputed
control of southern New England. They killed King Philip, decapitated and
quartered his body and mounted his head outside Plymouth, where the first
Thanksgiving had been held fifty-five years earlier. Meanwhile, they sold his
wife and son into overseas slavery.
That's how most of these
relationships between the colonists and Native Americans wound up. King
Philip's War was the norm, whereas the symbolism of the First Thanksgiving is a
whitewash of Indian-colonial relations. A shared meal is rather missing the
point. King Philip's War is only the best documented of innumerable wars of
this kind.—David J. Silverman, author of This Land Is Their
Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and The
Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Pueblo revolt of 1680
Toward the end of the 17th century,
the Pueblos had enough of the Spanish, who had established Santa Fe as a very
important trade hub and enslaved Puebloan tribes to build up the colony. In
1680, the Puebloan fought back, surrounding the Spanish New Mexico Governor’s
mansion and military buildings and killing Catholic missionaries who were
trying to stamp out any semblance of Pueblo and culture. The missionaries would
destroy a lot of their material that Puebloan tribes would use for spiritual
practices and ceremonies. The Puebloan tribes were successful in driving the
Spanish out of New Mexico for a time until the new Spanish governor of New
Mexico Diego de Vargas reconquered the territory in 1692.
Some historians call the revolt
the first American revolution because it's a literal revolt against an
encroaching government. We focus so much in history classes on the development
of the United States on the East Coast, and we forget that there was history
happening in the southwest at the same time. We either hear about the American
dominating and controlling or we hear about peace-loving natives coming
together with Americans. It's not often the other way around where indigenous
peoples win the day. We sometimes miss that indigenous
peoples were people. They weren't just laying around waiting to be
colonized. The revolt demonstrates that the people were organizing, and they
were coming together in response to colonialism.—Marcus C. Macktima, San Carlos
Apache Member (Ndee) and assistant professor of History at Northern Arizona
University
Pontiac’s rebellion and the
failed reclamation of Fort Detroit in 1763
In 2009, General Motors announced
that they would discontinue the Pontiac brand, which had long been a staple of
their company since the 1920s. A major part of Detroit’s identity, the car was
named after the Odawa war chief Pontiac (Obwaandi’eyaag). Pontiac was born in
present-day Detroit around 1720, along the Detroit River. By the late 1750s,
Pontiac had been involved in a movement to reclaim British forts throughout the
Great Lakes region. In May 1763, Pontiac and his Indigenous allies tried a
surprise attack on the British fort and reclaim it. While they took over other
forts in the region, they failed to capture Detroit, as the British held them
off. After failing to retake the fort, he would leave the area and settle in
Illinois Country, where he was eventually murdered.
What is the legacy of Pontiac
today? His legacy lived on in Detroit for centuries. In addition to General
Motors naming a car brand after him, local politicians like Senator Thomas W.
Palmer erected a fictitious grave near current Palmer Park to memorialize the
history of Detroit’s own Indigenous warrior. The legacy of Pontiac continues to
hover over the city, like a ghost, to remind contemporary Detroiters of their Indigenous
past—and present.—Kyle T. Mays, author of An Afro-Indigenous History
of the United States
Forced assimilation at the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879-1918)
In the mid-19th century, the U.S.
government shifted away from overt military warfare towards Indigenous tribes
to a program of cultural assimilation. During this time, Indigenous children
were rounded up and forced to leave their communities and attend institutions
where they were indoctrinated into rudimentary English and forced to perform
manual labor. Carlisle is regarded as the first off reservation,
federally-funded Native American boarding school in the United States. One of
my maternal relatives attended Carlisle, making boarding school history
personal to me, as is the case with many contemporary Native people.
Founded in 1879 in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, by Captain Richard Henry Pratt, it was the archetype for
subsequent off-reservation boarding schools that claimed to civilize Indigenous
children. But these institutions were not real places of learning—at schools
like Carlisle, the educational regimen was often very brutal. Indigenous
children had their hair shorn, were assigned English names, and were subjected
to a “curriculum” intended to divest them of their lifeways. Decades after
Carlisle's founding, in 1934, many of these policies were repealed. Today,
there are efforts at the federal and tribal levels to repatriate the remains of
Indigenous youth who perished at these schools, and to bring these relatives home.
Despite these brutal
“assimilationist” efforts, Indigenous peoples survive today. We've got over 560
federally recognized tribes in the United States, and many others that are not
federally recognized. We speak hundreds of languages. Learning about this
history dispels the misconception that Native people only exist in the past or
that we were unable to recover from the boarding school era. Healing is
ongoing. Learning about this history also dispels the myth of harmonious and
conciliatory relations between settlers and Indigenous nations. Around the time
of Thanksgiving—or “Thanks-taking,” as it's known in some circles—the general
public should educate themselves about whose land they're "giving
thanks" on. Who are the original stewards of the land? Do you know who the
Indigenous tribes are in your area?—Sarah Whitt is a tribal citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
and an Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies who teaches
about Indigenous history at the University of California, Irvine
The 1969 occupation of Alcatraz
Island
On November 20, 1969, a group of
over 80 American Indians landed on Alcatraz Island. Known as the “Indians of
All Tribes,” this pan-Indian activist group claimed Alcatraz Island “by right
of discovery,” commencing a 19-month occupation. They sought to bring attention
to land and treaty rights as well as to the discrimination and living
conditions American Indians on and off reservations had to contend with. This
occupation occurred during a time when U.S. federal policies sought to assimilate
American Indians, break up tribal lands and communities, and aimed to end the
government’s responsibility to Native nations, including honoring treaty
rights.
The “Indians of All Tribes”
harnessed the intense media attention their occupation garnered to educate the
public and move people to act. On Thanksgiving 1969, hundreds of Indigenous and
non-Indigenous supporters arrived on the island to celebrate and support the
occupation. For the first time, televised coverage brought contemporary American
Indians into the national spotlight and highlighted the consequences of U.S.
federal policy. As Richard Oakes, late IAT spokesman, famously said: “Alcatraz
is not an Island. It’s an idea.” He was right. The occupation proved to be an
incredibly powerful idea for many Indigenous activists and allies. The
occupation of Alcatraz also acted as a catalyst for many more land occupations
by Indigenous activists in the U.S. It helped mobilize other pan-tribal
activist groups, like the American Indian Movement, that contributed to the Red
Power movement of the 1970s. After garnering so much public attention, the
occupation also led to fundamental changes in federal policy. In July 1970,
President Richard Nixon repealed termination and relocation policies, ushered
in a new era: self-determination
without termination. Since 1975, the occupation and its legacy
continue to be celebrated in an annual Un-Thanksgiving Day/ Indigenous People’s
Day sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz Island.—Raquel Escobar, Carolina
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tribe that fed the pilgrims
gets official U.S. government recognition (1987)
On April 10, 1987, the Wampanoag
Tribe of Aquinnah (Gay Head) was officially recognized by the U.S. government
as an American Indian tribe. The Wampanoags were hardly a new nation in 1987.
Wampanoags met the Pilgrims in 1620 and had contact with French and Spanish
sailors for a century before that. The Wampanoags were the most powerful people
in what is now southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island, so, to live
there, the Pilgrims had to make a treaty with them. The Pilgrims agreed to help
fight the Wampanoags’ Native enemies, and the Wampanoags allowed the English
settlement at Plymouth and agreed to help feed and defend it. It was the
celebration and renewal of this treaty in 1621 that became known as the First
Thanksgiving. For a while, the relationship benefitted both sides. The
Wampanoags profited from English trade and increased their regional power. Yet
the ever-increasing numbers of English broke the treaty, killed large numbers
of Wampanoags, and took most of their land. One community managed to stay
together at Aquinnah, the eastern end of the island of Noepe (Martha’s
Vineyard). After they painstakingly documented their history there, going back
before the Pilgrims, the U.S. Congress awarded them federal acknowledgement
(and recognized a related tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag, in 2007). As a result,
after centuries of having their sovereignty eroded, the Wampanoag Tribe of
Aquinnah has been able to gain back some tribal land and reestablish tribal
governance and operations, including a shellfish hatchery and emergency medical
services.—Kathleen DuVal, professor of History at University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE – From TIME
BY SIMMONE SHAH NOVEMBER 23, 2023 3:15 PM EST
Protesters
temporarily disrupted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City in
what was the latest demonstration in opposition to the Israel-Hamas war.
Groups of protesters gathered both
on the parade route and sidelines, holding banners and chanting. Floats and
marching bands continued to move down 6th Avenue, veering around the
protesters.
Video footage shows one group of
protesters in white jumpsuits with words like “imperialism” and “genocide”
written on them, blocking a dinosaur balloon by Sinclair Oil Corporation. The
group, reportedly known
as the Seven Circles Alliance, lay on the ground as fake blood
was poured on them, chanting “liberation for Palestine and planet.”
Another group reportedly jumped
over the barricades separating the parade route, ABC
News reports, and displayed a banner that said “Genocide then,
genocide now,” as individuals behind the barricades lined the route with
Palestinian flags.
During the parade, as the Mashpee
Wampanoag Tribe’s float moved along the route, one member unfurled and
displayed the Palestinian flag.
The Independent reports
that one of the protesters said, “I will not celebrate the genocide of
thousands of children who are being bombed and buried under rubble. We have
nothing to celebrate.”
ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR – From washpost
34 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested for disrupting Macy’s parade,
police say
By Timothy Bella Updated November 24, 2023 at 5:16
p.m. EST|Published November 24, 2023 at 10:23 a.m. EST
Dozens of pro-Palestinian
protesters were arrested Thursday after they briefly disrupted the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York by gluing themselves to the pavement of the
Manhattan parade route, according to police.
The New York Police Department
arrested 34 people who interrupted the celebration during various points of the
parade, including some who spray-painted the words “Free Palestine” on the
pillars of the New York Public Library’s main branch near Bryant Park, a police
spokesperson told The Washington Post.
Some of the pro-Palestinian protesters
arrested, who were demonstrating in response to the war between Israel
and Hamas in Gaza, had jumped the barricades and glued
themselves to Sixth Avenue, according to authorities. Several of them were
wearing white jumpsuits covered with fake blood and emblazoned with words like
“colonialism” and “consumerism.”
Protesters held up Palestinian
flags and signs reading, “Genocide then, genocide now,” as a Minions balloon
went by. Others held similar banners on the parade route as a McDonald’s car
carrying the Grimace looked on near West 55th Street.
Thirty of the protesters were
issued summons for trespassing, police told The Post. Another four people were
criminally charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental
administration, trespassing and disorderly conduct related to the vandalism at
the New York Public Library. The NYPD identified those four people arrested as
Jay Waxse, 34, of Washington, D.C.; Natalia Scollo, 29, of Lindenhurst, N.Y.;
Sarah Al Azzawi, 26, of New York; and Alvin Dan, 32, of Staten Island.
A police spokesperson said she wasn’t
sure whether the four arrested for spray-painting the front of the library were
still in custody as of Friday morning, and it’s unclear whether they had
attorneys. A Macy’s spokesperson told The Post, “Macy’s honors and respects the
rights of all Americans to express their views peacefully.”
“Our route is limited to
authorized credentialed personnel and anyone that did not follow this protocol
was subject to removal by the appropriate authorities,” the Macy’s spokesperson
said in a statement.
New York Public Library
spokesperson Jennifer Fermino told The Post in a Friday statement that while it
“strongly supports the right to protest,” the damage to the building will be
costly amid budget cuts to the library system.
“On Thanksgiving, individuals
involved in a protest engaged in a shameful act of vandalism to the Library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman building, a space
devoted to the open exchange of ideas and intellectual debate,” Fermino said.
“This comes at a time when the city’s libraries are facing steep budget cuts
that have left us unable to maintain our current levels of service, and this
vandalism will be costly to repair.”
The arrests in New York come as
a pause in fighting in Gaza went into effect Friday, with
aid trucks entering the Palestinian enclave and people in southern Gaza venturing out, filling streets after weeks of
fighting and Israeli airstrikes. The first respite in seven weeks of war is
part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, which on Friday led to the
release of an initial group of 13 Israeli hostages and 12 Thai hostages taken
by militants in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Fifty hostages are expected to be freed over a four-day
pause in fighting in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel under
the agreement, which resulted from weeks of Qatar-mediated
negotiations.
Live updates:
Pause in fighting begins as part of deal to release captives
Some pro-Palestinian protesters in
the United States have been arrested in recent weeks. More than 50
activists calling for a cease-fire were arrested earlier in the
month after protesting in the offices of several U.S. senators, including
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Days later, 10 people,
most of them college students, were arrested after interrupting a congressional
hearing to demand that pro-Palestinian students be protected when they speak out on campus.
Another pro-Palestinian protester
in California was arrested last week and charged with involuntary
manslaughter in the death of a Jewish man who suffered head injuries in
an altercation between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters at a
demonstration in Southern California.
The Thanksgiving protest in New
York began around 10 a.m. Thursday at Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street,
roughly 90 minutes after the 97th annual Macy’s parade started, according to
police. Some of the floats, bands and balloons appeared to be diverted to avoid
the protesters who had glued themselves to the pavement.
Protesters chanted, “No more
nickels, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes” and “Free free
Palestine!” They refused to leave Sixth Avenue until they were eventually taken
into custody, according to WABC in New York.
A group of protesters was also
seen vandalizing the New York Public Library’s main branch with spray paint and
more fake blood, which appeared to be made from grape juice, WABC reported.
Video posted to X shows Palestinian flags along with red and green spray paint
along the pillars of the library.
The protesters were not the only
ones to show support to Gaza on Thursday. A man who was on a float for the
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts held up a Palestinian flag and made it
onto the NBC broadcast.
The action was denounced by the
tribe on social media, saying it “takes no stance on the conflicts overseas.”
“Our Tribal Nation remains focused
on the issues we face on our ancestral homeland,” the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
wrote on Facebook. “While we cannot speak for an individual’s actions,
his actions were not a Tribal decision. Our governing tribal body, along with
the other tribal citizens on the float, were not involved with his actions.”
The protest interrupting the
parade came around the same time that President Biden and first lady Jill Biden called into the
broadcast to give thanks. They also asked Americans to “come together.”
“We have to remind ourselves how
blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth,” the
president said. “Today is about coming together, giving thanks for this country
we call home. And thanks to all the firefighters, police officers, first
responders and our troops, some of whom are stationed abroad.”
ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE – From the WASHINGTON POST
Did Thomas Jefferson hate Thanksgiving?
The national
holiday didn’t exist yet, but Jefferson had misgivings about the concept
By Gillian Brockell November 23, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EST
Thanksgiving didn’t become an
annual national holiday until the days of Abraham Lincoln, but at the time of the nation’s founding,
religious feasts (and fasts) of thanksgiving were a regular thing. Both the
Continental Congress and Gen. George Washington declared days of public
thanksgiving during the Revolutionary War after big victories. And in 1779,
Virginia’s wartime governor, Thomas Jefferson, signed a proclamation declaring Thursday,
Dec. 9, “a day of publick and solemn thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God.”
But decades later, when Jefferson
was president, he had turned against thanksgiving proclamations — privately
complaining about them before publicly condemning them toward the end of his
term.
Why the about-face? Politics, of
course.
A brief review: The rebelling
British colonies first united under the Articles of Confederation, a framework
intentionally designed to disperse power as broadly as possible to the new
states. This was an utter failure — states didn’t even use the same coins! —
and in 1787, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia came up with a new
framework that bolstered federal power while still leaving a lot to the states.
The 1621 feast
in Plymouth was not the first Thanksgiving
Politicians, scholars, jurists and
Americans in general have been fighting ever since about how powerful the
federal government should or should not be. The first political parties to take
up this fight were the Federalists, like John Adams, and the Democratic
Republicans, like Jefferson. (Washington warned against the formation of these
political parties, but he basically acted like a Federalist, even if he never
called himself one.)
Things got bitter fast and erupted
during the presidential election of 1800 (see track 42 of
the “Hamilton” soundtrack). Smear campaigns abounded, with many accusing
Jefferson, the eventual victor, of being an atheist. (The rumor that Jefferson had fathered children with an enslaved woman —
now proved true — doesn’t appear in the historical record until 1802.)
Jefferson wasn’t an atheist, but
he still held theological ideas considered radical for his day. Though he
believed in a benevolent creator, he questioned biblical miracles, divine
intervention and the Christian trinity. He crafted his own version of the New Testament, studied
other religious texts like the Quran, and in a famous 1802 letter to persecuted
Baptists in Danbury, Conn., promised the group his protection.
Thomas Jefferson
and the long history of defending Muslims’ rights
A Jefferson statue at the
Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. (Steve Helber/AP)
Mostly, he thought a person’s
religion was a private matter, which fit neatly with the Democratic Republican
dismissal of presidential proclamations of thanksgiving as a stuffy, morally dubious
holdover from the British monarchy, according to historian James H. Hutson.
After all, these thanksgiving
proclamations, which had continued under presidents Washington and Adams,
weren’t calls for turkey and stuffing, family travel or for everyone to go
around in a circle and say what they were thankful for. They were orders, or at
least strong suggestions, for people to set aside a day for praying and
fasting, and for clergy to deliver sermons on a national theme, one often
infused with politics.
For example, in 1795,
Washington declared a national day of thanksgiving after putting
down the Whiskey Rebellion. The Pennsylvania farmers forced into submission,
and their Democratic Republican supporters, may not have appreciated the
president’s implication that God was on his side. On another day of
thanksgiving proclaimed by Adams, Democratic Republicans held public
demonstrations instead.
Everyone loved
George Washington, until he became president
In his letter to the Danbury
Baptists, Jefferson interpreted the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights as
“building a wall of separation between church and State.” In a contemporaneous
letter, Jefferson told a friend he hoped to use his response to the
Baptists, which he knew would be reprinted in newspapers, as a chance to
explain his “political tenets” on “why I do not proclaim fastings and
thanksgivings, as my predecessors did.” In fact, in the 1990s, the FBI
recovered an inked-out portion of a draft of the Danbury letter, showing that
Jefferson had originally planned to lampoon these thanksgivings as
“performances of devotion” more associated with King George III.
Jefferson, at his friend’s
recommendation, ultimately deleted this inflammatory section of the letter. But
he got another chance to explain his opposition to days of thanksgiving in 1808, when a Presbyterian
minister suggested he proclaim one.
Jefferson responded: “I consider
the government of the U.S. as interdicted by the constitution from
intermed[d]ling with religious institutions, their doctrines, discipline, or
exercises. This results not only from the provision that no law shall be made
respecting the establishment, or free exercise, of religion, but from that also
which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the U.S.”
Then, he added juuuuuust a hint of
an insult toward Washington and Adams. “I am aware that the practice of my
predecessors may be quoted, but I have ever believed that the example of State
executives led to the assumption of that authority by the general government,
without due examination, which would have discovered that what might be a right
in a state government, was a violation of that right when assumed by another.”
His successor, James Madison,
would revive the thanksgiving proclamation tradition in 1815,
but for the eight years Jefferson was in office, there was no thanksgiving.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX – From FOX
Biden to celebrate 81st birthday by honoring White House Thanksgiving
tradition
Biden, who
was born on Nov. 20, 1942, will kick off his birthday by pardoning turkeys
Liberty and Bell
By Lawrence Richard Fox News Published November 20,
2023 6:23am EST
President
Biden is set to celebrate his 81st birthday at the White House on Monday by honoring a Thanksgiving
tradition.
Biden, the
oldest president in U.S. history, will join first lady Jill Biden Monday
afternoon for the presidential pardons of Liberty and Bell, two Thanksgiving turkeys that will be spared from becoming
someone’s dinner. Later, the Bidens will continue holiday festivities by
accepting the delivery of the official White House Christmas tree – an 18-and-a-half foot Fraser fir from Fleetwood, North
Carolina.
The event
marks the unofficial start of the holiday season in the nation's capital and
will be held on the South Lawn this year instead of the Rose Garden.
From there,
Biden will eat his Thanksgiving turkey with his family on Nantucket, a
Massachusetts island, continuing a long family tradition.
Liberty and
Bell will be spared in a tradition that dates back to 1947, when the National
Turkey Federation, which represents turkey farmers and producers, first
presented a National Thanksgiving Turkey to President Harry Truman.
Back then,
and in preceding Thanksgivings, a turkey was given to the first family for
their consumption on the holiday, but by the late 1980s, the tradition had
evolved into an often humorous ceremony in which the
birds are pardoned.
"We
think that’s a great way to kick off the holiday season and really, really a
fun honor," Steve Lykken, chairman of the National Turkey Federation and
president of the Jennie-O Turkey Store, said in an interview with The
Associated Press.
Lykken (above
and Attachment Ten) introduced Liberty and Bell on Sunday at the Willard
Intercontinental, a luxury hotel close to the White House. They were checked
into a suite there on Saturday following their dayslong road trip from
Minnesota.
The male turkeys,
both about 20 weeks old and about 42 pounds, were hatched in July in Willmar, Minnesota. After Biden pardons his third pair of
turkeys on Monday, Liberty and Bell will be returned to their home state to be
cared for by the University of Minnesota's College of Food, Agricultural and
Natural Resources Sciences.
"They
were raised like all of our turkeys, protected, of course, from weather
extremes and predators, free to walk about with constant access to water and
feed," Lykken said Sunday. Unlike
mideasterners and ukes & some americans
Markus
Platzer, the Willard's general manager, called the turkeys "very special
guests of ours" and said the hotel's involvement is its "highlight of
the year." The Willard has housed turkeys for such events for more than 15
years, he said.
"There
are so many bad things going on globally that this is something where
everybody, you know, brings a smile [to] the face of the people, at least for a
few minutes," Platzer said Sunday.
On Sunday, he
and the first lady served an early Thanksgiving meal to hundreds of service
members from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Gerald R. Ford at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia, the largest
installation of its kind in the world.
More than 200
million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving, Lykken said.
Biden was
born on Nov. 20, 1942.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN – From AP
BY WILL
WEISSERT Updated 6:26
PM EST, November 19, 2023
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) —
President Joe Biden visited
naval installations in Virginia on Sunday to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday
week, introducing an early screening of the upcoming movie “Wonka” and sharing
a “friendsgiving” meal with service members and their relatives.
Biden also paid tribute Sunday to
former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, and to President Jimmy
Carter. “They brought so much grace to the office,” Biden said.
The president and first lady Jill Biden headed
to a packed auditorium at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads to introduce the
new film centered around the early life of Roald Dahl’s fictional eccentric
chocolatier, Willy Wonka. It will be officially released Dec. 15.
He joked to the many youngsters in
the crowd: “I like kids more than adults” and added “I wish I could stay and
watch Wonka with you.”
Instead, the Bidens helped serve
dinner with service members from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and
the USS Gerald R. Ford at
Norfolk Naval Station, the largest installation of its kind in the world, along
with their families.
“You literally are the backbone,
the spine, the spine of this nation,” the president said. “Only 1% of you,
that’s all, that protects the 99% of us.”
The event featured around 400
service members and their relatives seated in folding chairs and around wooden,
circular tables inside a concrete-floored hanger that included three display
Blackhawk helicopters, a towering American flag and a screen with the image of
the White House surrounded by falling leaves and the words “Happy
Thanksgiving.”
“I mean from the bottom of my
heart,” the president said. “Family members, you are the heart of this
operation.” He said he would be passing out dressing and joked, “If you don’t
like dressing, just come up and pretend you do and say hi to me.’’
But the president actually served
up mashed potatoes while attendees lined up for the buffet-style meal. Jill
Biden spooned out sweet potato casserole to attendees. They stood on either
side of Chef Robert Irvine, whose foundation helped organize the meal, and both
chatted up those going through the line, which included a lot of children.
At one point, a child asked Jill
Biden something. She laughed and served a portion of casserole that contained
all marshmallows, forgoing any sweet potatoes.
The menu also featured
slow-roasted bourbon-brined turkey topped with giblet gravy and
cranberry-orange compote, maple-mustard glazed spiral-cut smoked ham,
brioche-cornbread stuffing, candied walnuts, roasted garlic and crème fraiche,
and a toasted espresso mascarpone Chantilly cream.
As the event was wrapping up,
attendees presented Biden with a birthday cake. He turns 81 on Monday.
Meanwhile, Biden’s 2024 Republican
rival Donald Trump
scheduled for a military visit Sunday in Texas. The former president, who has
a commanding
early lead in the 2024 GOP primary, was in
Edinburg after serving meals to National Guard soldiers,
troopers and others who will be stationed at the U.S.-Mexico border over
Thanksgiving.
Trump is promoting hard-line
immigration proposals he argues will better secure the border. He and top
Republicans have long criticized the Biden administration for failing to do
more to crackdown on people
entering the United States illegally.
For the Bidens, offering support
to the nation’s military has a personal connection. Their son Beau served in
Iraq as a member of the Delaware National Guard. He died of brain cancer in
2015 at the age of 46, when Joe Biden was vice president.
Jill Biden talked about Beau’s
deployment at the Wonka event, telling the crowd: “I know there are many here
who miss their mom or dad or spouse.”
“While nothing can make up for
that empty chair at the table, for us, the kindness of our community and
finding moments of joy helps make it a little bit easier,” she said.
As he prepared to celebrate with
the troops at home, the war between Israel and Hamas and the fate of hostages,
including Americans, being held by the militants in Gaza, were front and center
for the president. A reporter asked Biden upon his arrival in Norfolk when more
hostages might go free, to which he replied, “I’m not in a position to tell you
that” and added, “I want to make sure they’re out and then I’ll tell you.”
The Bidens learned of Rosalynn
Carter’s death during their visit, announcing her passing just before serving
the friendsgiving meal. Jill Biden asked diners to “include the Carter family
in your prayers” during the holiday season. Carter, she said, “was well-known
for her efforts on mental health and caregiving and women’s rights.”
Biden, speaking to reporters as he
was boarding Air Force One to leave Norfolk, described the Carters as a couple
of grace and integrity, and praised Jimmy Carter as a person who worked as hard
for others after he left the White House as he did in office.
“Imagine, they were together for
77 years,” he added. “God bless them.”
Biden also talked at the dinner
with service members about watching Beau Biden’s children while he was
deployed, but then appeared too overcome with emotion
to continue and said, “I don’t want to talk about this.” The sadness was
fleeting. A moment later he lightheartedly bent down and joked with a
6-year-old, saying “What are you, 17?”
“Happy, happy Thanksgiving,” Biden
said. “May God love you all.”
Friendsgiving with the military
has become a tradition for the Bidens. Last year, they dished out mashed
potatoes and other sides as part of the buffet-style meal in
Cherry Point, North Carolina, home to more than 9,000 military personnel and
roughly 8,000 military family members.
In 2021, the Bidens visited the
Army’s Fort Bragg in North Carolina for an early
Thanksgiving meal in a hangar for about 250 service members and
their families. Troops got chocolate chip cookies bearing the presidential
seal.
The president and first lady plan
to spend this Thanksgiving on Nantucket, a Massachusetts island.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT – From the
NEW YORK POST
President Biden and
son Hunter take Thanksgiving ‘polar plunge’ in frigid Nantucket waters
By Victor Nava Published Nov. 23, 2023, 7:10 p.m. ET
Trump
lawyers request records from DOJ, Pence and Biden in Jan. 6 case
Nearly
3K migrants in NYC have finally been cleared to work by feds
Michelle
Obama, Clintons fly without Barack to Rosalynn Carter funeral
Sen.
Tuberville says he expects a ‘9/11 attack every few weeks’
because of Biden’s policies
President
Biden and his son Hunter Biden were among the members of the first family that
went for a Thanksgiving swim in the frigid waters off Nantucket Thursday.
“Annual Biden
fam polar bear plunge. Happy Thanksgiving!” Naomi Biden, the
81-year-old president’s granddaughter, wrote in an X
post.
Naomi
included a photo that showed some members of the Biden clan wrapped in towels
and standing on a rocky beach after their chilly Turkey Day dip.
Water
temperatures in the Nantucket Sound were a bitter 48 F Thursday
afternoon.
Joe has
famously spent nearly every Thanksgiving on the island since 1975.
During his
time as vice president, Joe and his grandkids would frequently take part in
Nantucket’s annual Cold
Turkey Plunge, a charity
event where participants race into the icy salt water and hurry back to
shore.
This time, it appears the president opted to use the waters off of
billionaire David Rubenstein’s 13-acre,
beachfront estate for his traditional swim.
Joe and his
extended family are spending six days at the hedge-fund billionaire’s lavish
mansion – the same compound where they spent the holiday in both 2021 and
2022.
The White
House has refused to say whether the president pays
to rent the $38.9 million property from Rubenstein.
Before his
afternoon swim, the president and first lady Jill Biden delivered several
pumpkin pies to the Nantucket Fire Department and chatted with first
responders.
Joe briefly
answered shouted questions by reporters about the hostage situation in Gaza and American citizens
imprisoned in Russia.
“I’m not
prepared to give an update until it’s done,” he said of the breakthrough
agreement between Hamas and Israel that could see 50 hostages being held by the
terror group released early Friday.
The president
said he’s keeping his “fingers crossed” that a 3-year-old Israeli-American girl
is among the hostages Hamas terrorists plan on releasing Friday.AFP via Getty Images
When asked if
Abigail Mor Edan, a 3-year-old Israeli-American girl being held captive in
Palestinian territory, would be among those released, the commander in chief
said, “I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
Asked if he had a message for Wall
Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and
former US
Marine Paul Whelan, Joe responded, “We ain’t giving up.”
Gershkovich
has been detained on espionage charges in Russia since March, and Whelan was
sentenced to 16 years of hard labor in Russian a penal colony in 2020 after his
2018 arrest on spying allegations.
The US
government, Gershkovich and Whelan deny the charges.
ATTACHMENT TWENTY
NINE – From US News
The Economy Has Much to Be Thankful for This Week
Despite the negative
sentiment of consumers, the economy has outperformed in 2023 and looks set to
close on a happy note.
By Tim Smart Nov. 20, 2023, at 9:48 a.m.
This is the week
Americans give thanks.
And while polls show
they are generally sour about the state of the economy – especially inflation that has pushed the
overall cost of living up nearly 20% in the past three years –
there are reasons for celebration of economic news as the year winds down.
Inflation is
receding, admittedly from a high level, down about two-thirds from the 9%
annual rate seen in the summer of 2022. The economy’s growth rate hit 4.9% in
the third quarter, well above what economists had expected at the start of the
year when many hand penciled in a recession by now.
Employment remains
strong if not quite at the red-hot levels of a year ago. The stock market has
rebounded from its recent swoon and is on tap for a good November. And gas
prices are down around $3 a gallon ahead of this critical week for holiday
driving, while mortgage rates have backed off their recent highs. GasBuddy is
forecasting Americans will save more than $1 billion in gas costs driving this
Thanksgiving compared to last year.
The conventional
wisdom that saw a recession in early 2022 and then again
this year now is firmly in the soft landing scenario, where inflation cools
down close to the Federal Reserve’s 2% annual target and employment does not fall
off a cliff. And while market observers see some concern in what might turn out
to be an overly positive bias, those who are predicting a recession in 2024 do
think it will turn out to be a mild one.
There is little
expectation the Fed will raise interest rates in December at its next meeting
after being on pause since July and two benign inflation reports last week.
Expectations now have shifted to the central bank cutting rates by the second
quarter. Even Congress managed to put off a government shutdown at least until
next year.
“While we agree with the money market that the
Fed’s done hiking, we suspect its 2024 rate-cut timetable might be too
ambitious,” BCA Research wrote in a client note Monday morning. “Our US Bond
Strategy service sees a good chance that inflation could ease to 2% over the
next twelve months. Such a benign inflation outcome would increase our
conviction that the coming recession will be mild.”
It will be a
shortened week for economic data and market activity. Thursday is the national
holiday followed by an early close for Wall Street on Friday.
The week starts with
a read on the economy from the Conference Board’s leading economic index. It
declined in September by 0.7% and has continued to signal a recession is in the
cards. But its decline of 3.4% over the six months from March was less than the
4.6% drop for the previous six months. While it has been a reliable indicator
of an economic downturn in the past, it is one of many economic signals that
has proven less definitive in the wake of COVID-19.
There is a report on
existing homes on Tuesday along with the release of the Fed’s minutes of its
last meeting earlier this month. Analysts will be looking for any sense members
of the Fed’s monetary committee and Chairman Jerome Powell are finished with
their rate hikes.
Wednesday brings the
final reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for
November. That may show a slight improvement based on the recent slump in gas
prices.
Still, the
overriding narrative at the moment is one that sees a slowdown bringing further
relief on the inflation front and continued, if weaker, growth ahead for the
economy.
“The trend lower is
in place and this should increase Fed Chair Powell’s confidence that the Fed
does not need to raise rates again,” said Steve Wyett, chief investment
strategist at BOK Financial. “When combined with the weaker-than-expected
employment report, we can see the Fed’s actions are having an impact. The 'soft
landing' scenario remains intact.”