Talking Turkey about Giving Thanks

I hope you're all well fed and have many reasons to give thanks. As el, JtC, and Wendy pointed out this week, the mythology surrounding the holiday is farcical....celebrating the genocide of first nations peoples and the colonization and occupation of their lands...makes America great? Overeating, hyper-consumerism, and football are also typical of the celebration. In my corner of the world huntin' is another part of the tradition. This week we'll take a quick look at the holiday before delving into the news. (6 min)

The past informs us of our present situation. In the following interview, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, renowned indigenous scholar and activist, explains how T-rump, the real estate con man is in a long line of US leaders cut from that mold...including George Washington. We learn the "father of our country" was a surveyor, but what was he surveying?....native lands which he sold. Last week Abby Martin interviewed Roxanne (H/T Aspie)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdhIYWb3XVU (52 min)
Abby interviewed her a couple of years ago too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R2IYDWFJwU (26 min)
I found both discussions quite interesting.

Holiday Practices...
Deer hunting is a preoccupation in my corner of Alabama. Many locals go out hunting early in the morning and come in mid-morning to celebrate the holiday with family and friends.
Jeff Foxworthy describes some redneck deer hunting techniques in 2 min
http://www.jefffoxworthy.com/videos/deer-hunting-in-the-south

...but the more common approach is planting food plots and using stands and blinds.
https://www.gomuddy.com/southern-food-plots-deer-hunting/

We've tried to allow some people to hunt on our place, but it never works out. Hunting becomes like a lust and obsession for many folks, and invariably they overstep the bounds in one way or another. So we "just say no" to hunters. Nothing against the practice. We kill to eat - animals and/or plants. Life and death are woven, and venison is a high quality protein

Eating...the real focus of the holiday -
Over-consumption is our national pastime, and obesity is a national problem. Some states have only 1 out of 5 obese people. The most problematic states have a rate of about 2 out of 5. How fat is your state? https://stateofobesity.org/adult-obesity/

It isn't just overeating, it is what we eat and how we eat. Jason Fung explains how to eat better and become healthier (hat tip OPOL's essay)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuj-oMN-Fk (36 min)

The holiday menu has changed over time. At the first event...

“Wildfowl was there. Corn, in grain form for bread or for porridge, was there. Venison was there,” says Kathleen Wall. “These are absolutes.” Though it is possible the colonists and American Indians cooked wild turkey, she suspects that goose or duck was the wildfowl of choice. In her research, she has found that swan and passenger pigeons would have been available as well. The colonists and Wampanoag probably ate eels and shellfish, such as lobster, clams and mussels. “They were drying shellfish and smoking other sorts of fish,” says Wall. The eastern woodlands people, had a “varied and extremely good diet.” The forest provided chestnuts, walnuts and beechnuts. “They grew flint corn (multicolored Indian corn), and that was their staple. They grew beans, which they used from when they were small and green until when they were mature,” says Wall. “They also had different sorts of pumpkins or squashes.”
Sarah Hale petitioned 13 presidents, the last of whom was Abraham Lincoln. She pitched her idea to President Lincoln as a way to unite the country in the midst of the Civil War, and, in 1863, he made Thanksgiving a national holiday. Throughout her campaign, Hale printed Thanksgiving recipes and menus in Godey’s Lady’s Book. She also published close to a dozen cookbooks. “She is really planting this idea in the heads of lots of women that this is something they should want to do,” says Wall. “So when there finally is a national day of Thanksgiving, there is a whole body of women who are ready for it, who know what to do because she told them. A lot of the food that we think of—roast turkey with sage dressing, creamed onions, mashed turnips, even some of the mashed potato dishes, which were kind of exotic then—are there.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-was-on-the-menu-at-the-first...

Then after the big meal...it is off to the games - football and/or shopping

Are we hardwired to enjoy conflict? Are all games a way in which we practice for war?
Football and other contests...

Our obsession is nothing new...

...many centuries before the hoards of European invaders came flooding
to America upon the heels of Christopher Columbus, for the original Americans, the
ball game was as American as cornbread, beans, pumpkins and pristine rivers. The
Cherokee, and all other Native American tribes, were just as obsessed with the ball
game as any present day weekend warrior. The Cherokee name for the ball game
was “anetsa.” It meant, “little brother of war.” Much of the village pride depended upon winning ball games with rivals. Great players were sought after in much the
same manner as Peyton Manning and many concessions were made by villages to
obtain them. And the Indian ball game was a far more dangerous game than foot¬
ball. The entire village turned out for a ball game. Large wagers were made. The
Cherokee once won an entire Creek village in Georgia by winning a ball game.

http://www.telliquah.com/History3.htm

Mama's don't let your babies grow up to play football...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/04/american-football-...

John Feinstein on racial bias in the game and why "football will never be safe."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yxcZobQuCQ (7.5 min)

It isn't just physical sports, intellectual competitions provide opportunity for conflict...consider Chess. Stefan Fatsis discusses twenty-six-year-old American Fabiano Caruana who is poised to become the next chess world champion. Despite his success, most Americans don't know his name. Yet they still remember Bobby Fischer, whose iconic triumph over a Soviet rival is imprinted in popular consciousness...

Fischer won the World Chess Championship in 1972, defeating Boris Spassky of the USSR, in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, it attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, chess's international governing body.
After forfeiting his title as World Champion, Fischer became reclusive and sometimes erratic, disappearing from both competitive chess and the public eye. In 1992, he reemerged to win an unofficial rematch against Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which was under a United Nations embargo at the time. His participation led to a conflict with the US government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the match would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia, and ultimately issued a warrant for his arrest. After that, he lived his life as an émigré. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and held for several months for using a passport that had been revoked by the US government. Eventually, he was granted an Icelandic passport and citizenship by a special act of the Icelandic Althing, allowing him to live in Iceland until his death in 2008.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2k1TSOq9rM (6.1 min)

Shopping...
Deloitte is predicting that holiday weekend spending will reach a crescendo on Cyber Monday, with the spending average hitting $170, the highest of the upcoming shopping days.
Deloitte said 70% of its survey respondents will shop in physical stores and half (50%) online. Additionally, nearly 73% will shop online on Cyber Monday, accounting for 47% of the online spending this weekend.
https://www.retaildive.com/news/71-will-shop-thanksgiving-weekend-cyber-...

Our college aged relatives rushed out after dinner to go to Wally world for the big sale. I must admit they got some pretty good deals. It is our obsessive consumerism that gets to me.
It has been estimated that, if everyone on earth consumed the same amount as the average US citizen, then four planet earths would be needed to sustain us....
https://greentumble.com/the-negative-effects-of-consumerism/

Of course, this is no accident. Advertisers spend millions researching how to induce us to purchase, says Vyse, a Connecticut College psychology professor. Their findings often lead to increasingly innovative, and sometimes intrusive, ways to market their products, he adds. Before the 1970s, he notes, our homes were places of quiet and refuge, where we could not be separated from our money. "You were not a commercial animal at home," says Vyse.

https://apa.org/monitor/2008/07-08/consumerism.aspx

So we still have cyber-Monday tomorrow. Can we get enough?

Israel
This week I continue to think about to similarities of our approach and the Israeli approach to indigenous people...
The Israelis are pulling a page out of our play book and have imprisoned their native peoples and are working on genocide (especially on Fridays). The documentary series about Israeli influence in the US "The Lobby USA" is now available for viewing. Qatar almost was plunged into war because of the investigative reports. Al Jazeera did release "The Lobby" about the influence in the UK.

Lee Camp discusses the country that influenced our mid-term elections and it ain't Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_fSYKdLfrs (2 min)

Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER) at Oregon State University hosted the inaugural De-Colonial Justice for Palestine and Beyond Conference in March 2018. Abby Martin and producer of Empire Files and anti-war activist Mike Prysner discuss the situation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3CO1Sxd7Qk (1.3 hours)

Ronen Bergman talks about Israel’s many attempts to kill the former chair of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat. (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/11/21/did_israel_kill_yasser_arafat_st...

Ben Norton, Max Blumenthal, and Kerry-Anne Mendoza, editor of British news site The Canary discuss the anti-Semitic smear and media assault against Jeremy Corbyn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8EZulbw_Bo (48 min)

Ralph had an excellent podcast this week. https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/who-controls-the-worlds-wealth/ (one hour podcast) The first half with Richard Falk https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/
(The New Anti-Semitism - Hiding Israel’s Crimes of State Behind False Claims of Victimization)
“There’s been this double standard throughout. A Mexican delegate, when the U.N. was first established, said, ‘We’ve created an organization where we hold the mice accountable while the tigers roam free.’ And there’s a lot of truth to that. “ Professor Richard Falk, professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University

and in the second half of Ralph's show - it's time for another edition of know your oligarchs.

They (the global power elite) want to buy up anything they can get a return on. That could be freeways. It could be universities. It could be water rights, globally. So, they’re trying to buy up the public domain. That’s one way of using excess capital. And the other way of using excess capital is permanent war. So, we’re preparing for war. We’re engaged in war. The U.S. military empire and NATO have troops all over the world – 800 bases – and that’s using up capital that they get a return on.”

Peter Philips, author of Giants: The Global Power Elite

Speaking of oligarchs, Richard Wolff talks about the scam Bezos used to con NY and VA. He explains why the $3 billion subsidy for one of the world’s largest corporations is a terrible waste of public money (video and text)
https://therealnews.com/stories/amazon-gets-3-billion-in-ny-tax-breaks-w...

Media
Chris Hedges and Joe Lauria, journalist and editor-in-chief, Consortium, discuss efforts to force #WikiLeaks publisher, #JulianAssange, out of the Ecuador Embassy in London and extradite him to the USA to stand trial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hyZktgMp4Q (28 min)

Right-Wing Media: Britain’s Free Healthcare System on the Verge of “Imploding”. Two British doctors fire back at recent criticism of Britain’s Government Run Health Service by Donald Trump and conservative commentators. (7 min video only)
https://therealnews.com/stories/right-wing-media-britains-free-healthcar...

Former UK member of Parliament, George Galloway, talks about why Papadopoulos would call the mysterious professor “western intelligence sent to entrap and make up lies". The CIA and DNC have worked together to spin this Russiagate narrative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rF94xQZQI0 (9 min)

This week youtube (google) blocked one of Jimmy's videos. Do they require you to sign up to view this piece entitled "France Teaches World How To Protest Properly"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBEBBdTBTmY
They claim the material is age restricted. Perhaps there is nudity involved? First time they've blocked one of Jimmy's videos from me.

Endless war

Excellent summary of all of the US conflicts around the world...the U.S. must stand alone in history as the only country to militarize the whole globe (with space thrown in) in preparation for taking on just about anyone. Now, that’s exceptional.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/were-headed-towards-perpetual-conflict...

The war on terror is creating terrorists. Why don't we consider it a failure?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inBGK0qfSRQ (4 min)

Ex-drone operator explains the immorality of drone warfare and the resulting suicide of veterans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntkYbnokARA (12 min)

Nearly half a million people have died from violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan since George W. Bush declared a “war on terror” in the wake of 9/11
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2018/Human%20C...
Discussing the study is Neta Crawford, director of the Costs of War Project, is a professor and department chair of political science at Boston (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/11/21/costs_of_war_17_years_after

Lee Camp explains how the Pentagon can't even conduct an audit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yIwMC1NDzY (6 min)

And now we're declaring Venezuela as a terrorist nation because they won't let us abuse their people and resources...reminds me of our animosity toward Cuba (video or text)
https://therealnews.com/stories/trump-considering-to-put-venezuela-on-st...

The Democratic Socialists of Americas Calls on the United States to End Support for the Saudi-led Criminal Military Intervention in Yemen
https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/11/21/democratic-socialists-a...

Climate
Lee Camp explains why the CA fires are a result of climate chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J5g7-bYTK0 (4 min)
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-mainstream-media-is-lying-about-th...

In London, over 70 were arrested demanding the British government adopt a goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2025 to help prevent catastrophic climate change
https://therealnews.com/stories/thousand-shutdown-london-to-demand-urgen...
Clare Farrell from the Extinction Rebellion movement protesting climate change defends the protests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLHN1eBbhOs (8 min)

Dianna Cohen of the Plastics Pollution Coalition believes that a plastics crisis has arrived. She speaks with Bob Sheer (audio or text)
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-future-of-the-planet-looks-like-wa...

The Trump administration used the Friday after Thanksgiving to quietly release Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), which warned "Earth's climate is now changing faster than at any point in the history of modern civilization" and concluded that "greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the only factors that can account" for planet-threatening warming. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/23/heres-dire-climate-report-t...

Regan Boychuk of Reclaim Alberta explains that Canadian taxpayers could ultimately be on the hook for hundreds of billions of oil industry cleanup costs (10 min)
https://therealnews.com/stories/oil-industry-cleanup-costs-vastly-exceed...

On T-day, Amy rebroadcast the interviews with Noam from a couple of weeks ago... which are worth a watch if you missed them (video or text)
https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2018/11/22
The segment on climate is good.
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/11/22/noam_chomsky_the_future_of_organ...

Chris Hedges speaks about how to keep hope alive and find meaning given the state of our world

And so we come to a close without discussing many important stories. How $hill, the refugee creator, told the EU to get a handle on the migration problem, as Honduran refugees amass on our border escaping the violence created by the coup she and Obomber condoned. How T-rump explained the importance of money over human life. How the rain finally quelled the CA fires and how people are adapting to homelessness. There is always more to the news cycle. My hope is you all had a great holiday and are snug and cozy in your home. There are horrors in the world around us....there is also beauty and harmony. I think we need to be aware of the evils and do what we can to right them, but I also think we must turn our attention to the natural world and enjoy what we still have in this rich ecosystem of Earth. I am thankful for the peace of the deciduous forest in which I live, my friends and community (including the c99 community), and the joy of music and laughter.

I look forward to your stories and comments below.