What really is Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a North American harvest festival. When the Pilgrims (a Puritan sect) arrived in America to start a new life here, they set up colonies, practiced their religion freely, and farmed their new land. They celebrated Thanksgiving as an act of gratitude to God for their new life and freedoms.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated as a legal one-day holiday every year on the fourth Thursday of November. When the Pilgrims first came to Plymouth Plantation, the Native American tribes like that of Wampanoag taught them how to yield crops for a living.

The earliest authenticated celebration was the one in September 1565, in Florida. The Native Americans were deeply pious, and the tradition is carried through even today.

European farmers observed Thanksgiving for a good harvest. They stuffed a goat's horn with the harvested grains symbolically known as cornucopia or the Horn of Plenty. This ritual was carried on when they arrived in Canada.

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October every year in Canada. It dates back to Martin Frobisher, who celebrated it in 1578 out of appreciation for having survived his journey trying to find a northern passage to the Orient.

Hence, the former celebrated Thanksgiving as a prayer for a good harvest. Since 1947, The National Turkey Federation gives the President of the country one live and two dressed turkeys as gift. This ritual is known as the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation.

Knowing why Thanksgiving started is so different than what it is and means today. We do not celebrate the harvest or cheer a journey anymore. We celebrate the family. We celebrate friends and we celebrate the blessings that we have.

The best thing to me about Thanksgiving is certainly not the shopping the next day, called Black Friday. Thanksgiving is sharing a meal, a laugh, a story, and a smile. Family and friends being together for a day of watching football and eating till we are stuffed like the turkey. That certainly brings happiness to my family.

Americans can and should use this day not just as a day of happiness but also as a day of reflection. Think deeply about what you have and thank all of the people in your life that makes you appreciate not only what you have, but what is yet to come.


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Dodd and Reid might be ex-Senators in 2010

Two Senate leaders trying to steer a pair of President Barack Obama's high-stakes initiatives through Congress are being dogged by re-election worries, and it's not clear whether their legislative prominence will help or hurt them.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., are trailing in early polls, and Republicans are eager to topple them in next year's elections.

They also are central players in two of the most ambitious and hotly contested agenda items in decades. Reid is scratching and clawing to find enough Senate votes to overhaul the nation's health care system. And Dodd, as chairman of the banking committee, is pushing a massive bill to re-regulate the nation's financial institutions following the mortgage meltdown and economic crisis.

Policy-making in Congress has long mixed with rawboned politics. But seldom does the focus fall so clearly on two powerful lawmakers who, despite their seniority and influence, are in real danger of being voted out of office.

Obama is well aware that two of his top priorities are being shepherded by Democratic senators who badly need to have home-state voters view them more favorably. Administration aides say the president is responding in two ways: Helping Reid and Dodd raise early campaign money; and, especially with Dodd, giving them leeway to deviate from administration proposals for now, knowing there is time to bend the bills more to Obama's liking before final votes occur.

Obama adviser David Axelrod said the president strongly admires Reid and Dodd, and believes they best serve their home-state constituents by being national leaders on big issues such as health care and financial oversight.

Democrats are doing their best to help Dodd, a senator's son who joined the Senate himself in 1981. They let him preside over the chamber when a crucial health care vote was taken Saturday night, and they've given him other chances to go before TV cameras during recent events related to health care and finances.

Advocacy groups are carefully watching Reid and Dodd for signs of shaping the bills to help their re-election campaigns. Some claim to see such evidence, while others say it would be difficult for either senator to manipulate the massive, complex legislation in ways to appeal to ordinary voters.

In Dodd's case, business groups say his financial regulation bill has more populist features than do Obama's proposals and a House version. For example, Dodd would strip the Federal Reserve of its power to regulate banks, and consolidate banking oversight under one regulatory agency rather than several. Some have accused him of "Fed-bashing."

Dodd called the comments mystifying, saying he has been consistent on consumer issues for years.

A recent Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut found Dodd trailing potential GOP challenger Rob Simmons, a former House member, 49 percent to 38 percent. A lesser-known Republican also led Dodd in a hypothetical matchup.

Quinnipiac poll director Doug Schwartz said Dodd hurt himself with state voters by moving to Iowa during his unsuccessful bid for the 2008 presidential nomination, and by receiving preferential treatment in obtaining mortgage loans. Worst of all, Schwartz said, was Dodd's involvement in a bill that protected bonuses for executives at insurance giant AIG, which proved deeply unpopular.

In a similar vein, many Nevada voters seem to have grown tired of Reid after 23 years in the Senate. A poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal found him 10 percentage points behind Nevada GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden, one of several Republicans vying to oppose him next year. Half of Nevada's voters had an unfavorable view of Reid.

Reid's friends fear echoes of Tom Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader who lost a 2004 re-election bid in South Dakota amid claims that he showed more allegiance to a national, liberal-leaning agenda than to his conservative state.



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Weekly Thought Bonanza Nov 22nd

On Sunday/Monday, I produce a column called “The Weekly Thought Bonanza”. The column is based on all of the random thoughts that run through my head all week, and trust me there are a plethora of them. I will try to share as many of these thoughts as I can, so each one of my readers can think just a little bit extra over the coming week.


Miley Cyrus is getting an incredible amount of heat for dissing the movie “Twilight’. Why do people feel the need to criticize individuals who do not like Vampires? I hate Vampires. They are creepy and they drink blood for god sake’s. Miley, I am with you on this one kiddo.

I so like the Geico commercials are great. When I needed insurance I called Geico first. Why? Because I remember the commercials. Good job little green fella.

Nothing is better than having a child, two is even better.

I love Thanksgiving for the turkey and the football. Watching the Lions get “stuffed” like a turkey every Thanksgiving is getting a little old. Can we change the Cowboys and Lions now, please?

What ever happened to Stroh’s beer and that smart little dog that could open the bottle and drink it? That dog was the best.

Kellie Pickler, of American Idol fame, please get rid of the red hair.

Iran has started to play war games to protect its nuclear arsenal. I hear the sound of the Israeli jets getting their engines revved up. There is no way Israel is going to let the Iranians have a nuclear arsenal stacked up, no way.

Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy are great on the Sunday Night Football show. They offer great insights without going over the top. Truly remarkable in this day an age, where most announcers try to be the story, instead of just reporting it.

I thought I could live without my Blackberry someday, but ummm, no I cannot. What an invention and what a great way to communicate with everyone, without being on the phone 24/7.

I have always liked the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The ten p.m. version should have been more of a variety show than what we are seeing now. The show is falling flat for the 10 p.m. time slot. It is too bad because I had high hopes for the show.

Netflix has pretty much put Blockbuster out of business. I tried Netflix this month and it has totally changed my opinion on how to rent movies. I absolutely love it. Check it out.

Is laser correction surgery worth it? Please let me know. I would love to wake up in the am and find out that I can actually see.

I enjoy lighting a fire at my house every night. I burn at least three cords of wood each year. I often wonder how many trees are burned in a calendar year. The gas fireplace just does not do it for me.

Jon and Kate please please go away.

If you were only correct fifty percent of the time in your job would you be fired? You would not if you were a meteorologist. Today for instance it was supposed to be sixty degrees and sunny in Boston and yet, it was forty degrees with not a ray of sunshine. Glad I do not even listen to the weatherman any more.

Why can’t we get the H1N1 vaccinations to the public faster? Did we run out of chicken eggs or something?

Is there anything better than a big fat juicy cheeseburger?

The Weekly Thought Bonanza thought of the week; when one router goes down in Utah and every flight in the United States gets affected in the process you know that there is a problem with air travel in America.


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Positive Experiences build character

What makes someone either happy or sad? How are some so positive in the worst situations where others who have one little bump in the road become devastated and almost end up becoming a shell of the old self? Positive people are more successful in life, love and relationships. Being positive is infectious and I strongly believe that.


I have watched people who have been in the worst situations almost will their pain away by keeping positive. I have also seen people’s negativity ruin not just themselves but others who are around them. Take for example, University of Kansas officials are willing to talk with former players about allegations of abusive behavior by football coach Mark Mangino - and two former players had plenty to say on Thursday.

Former Jayhawks receiver Raymond Brown recalled how in 2007, after his younger brother was wounded in a shooting near his home in St. Louis, teammates gathered around and warmly pledged their support. A few days later, Brown said, an angry Mangino ordered him to the sideline during practice and made a shockingly insensitive comment.

"He went off on me yelling, which is fine," Brown told The Associated Press. "I kept saying, 'Yes, sir, yes, sir,' to everything he was saying. A teammate asked me what happened. Then he started on me again and I said, 'Yes, sir,' and he said, 'Don't you 'yes sir' me. I'll send you back to St. Louis where you can get shot by your homies."'

This is a disgusting way to motivate college athletes if this is true. When I coached I was very firm yet always understanding. Coaches should be great actors, hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Your attitude is infectious on young adults.

Brown and another former player also told the AP that Mangino made insensitive comments about a player's father being an alcoholic.

A spokesman said Mangino, who needs three victories to become the winningest coach in school history, was not returning calls Thursday. He has said he has done nothing wrong.

The university this week confirmed that it is investigating allegations of verbal and emotional abuse by Mangino, the 2007 national coach of the year.

The probe by associate athletic director for risk management Lori Williams began Sunday after senior linebacker Arist Wright complained to athletic director Lew Perkins that Mangino had poked him in the chest while chewing him out.

Positives in life never get media time. Sports should bring out the best in your athletes. In fact you should relate to the players approximately as you do to your own children and as the parents of your players relate to their own son. Being positive all the time will not get the room cleaned up and the homework done. Kids need tough love. Fundamentals are nice. You have to teach fundamentals when it comes to the rules, safety, and the basics of various football actions like holding onto the football, keeping your head up, and so on. But most youth coaching books, and most youth coaches, spend far too much on fundamentals to the neglect of more important things like making sure the kids know their assignments. Discipline can teach so many different things, when it is done with a positive spin.



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Pirates of the Sea

Did anyone really expect to have real pirates attacking ships after the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months and were thwarted by private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship who fired off guns and a high-decibel noise device.


Pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama last April and took ship captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days. Navy SEAL sharpshooters freed Phillips while killing three pirates in a daring nighttime attack.

Four suspected pirates in a skiff attacked the ship again on Wednesday around 6:30 a.m. local time, firing on the ship with automatic weapons from about 300 yards away, a statement from the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said.

An on-board security team repelled the attack by using evasive maneuvers, small-arms fire and a Long Range Acoustic Device, which can beam earsplitting alarm tones, the fleet said.

Pirates have greatly increased their attacks in recent weeks after seasonal rains subsided. On Tuesday, a self-proclaimed pirate said that Somali hijackers had been paid $3.3 million for the release of 36 crew members from a Spanish vessel held for more than six weeks — a clear demonstration of how lucrative the trade can be for impoverished Somalis.

Phillips told the AP last month from his farmhouse in Vermont that he was contemplating retiring from sea life after his ordeal. He's been given a book deal and a movie could be in the works.

Phillips was hailed as a hero for helping his crew thwart April's hijacking before he was taken hostage, but he says he never volunteered, as crew members and his family reported at the time. He says he was already a hostage when he struck a deal with the pirates — trading him for their leader, who was taken by the Maersk Alabama's crew.

Today's pirates are mainly fighters for Somalia's many warlord factions, who have fought each other for control of the country since the collapse of the Siad Barre government in 1991.

Their motives? A mixture of entrepreneurialism and survival, says Iqbal Jhazbhay, a Somali expert at the University of South Africa in Tshwane, as Pretoria is now called.

"From the evidence so far, these primarily appear to be fighters looking for predatory opportunities," says Mr. Jhazbhay. They operated "roadblocks in the past, which were fleecing people as a form of taxation. Now they've seen the opportunities on the high seas."

Initially, one of the main motives for taking to the seas – working first with local fishermen, and later buying boats and weapons with the proceeds of every ship they captured – was "pure survival," says Jhazbhay, explaining that armed extortion is one of the few opportunities to make a living in lawless Somalia.

"It's spiked more recently because of a spike in food prices," he says.

Now it has become a highly profitable, sophisticated criminal enterprise hauling in millions of dollars in ransom payments.





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Weekly Thought Bonanza Nov 14th

On Sunday/Monday, I produce a column called “The Weekly Thought Bonanza”. The column is based on all of the random thoughts that run through my head all week, and trust me there are a plethora of them. I will try to share as many of these thoughts as I can, so each one of my readers can think just a little bit extra over the coming week.


It is never ok to flip the middle finger at anyone when you’re driving. When you get the ole’ dirty bird from a lady who is at least seventy five years old, after she cuts you off in your lane on the highway, is just disturbing.

I really enjoy Meatball Subs. D’Angelos has a pretty good one.

The best defense is a good offense in any sport, but I must say the offense of the Cleveland Browns is absolutely pathetic. Which leaves me to believe their defense is not any good either. My dislike for Eric Mangini, the head coach of the Browns, is the biggest jackarse in the NFL. Even though I love Brady Quinn, I hope Cleveland loses every game 100 to zero.

The Chai Tea from Kuerig for your machine is two thumbs way up.

The Winter Olympics is almost upon us and I for one cannot wait. There is such excitement when the Olympics are on television in my household. Since the US Hockey team won the gold in 1980, I have always been partial to the winter games.

The New Apple commercials dissing Windows 7 is too funny.

I am hoping that this holiday season will be the real stimulation the economy needs to get it back on track. If we just try and spend that little extra this season it might be the nail in the coffin for this prolonged recession we are in. Christmas commercials are on way too early this year, however.

Armored, the new movie with Matt Dillon looks like a winner.

Maybe it is just me, but the price of a laptop has dropped to about three hundred and fifty dollars. Everyone school age child should have one. There is where the stimulus money should have been spent.

Does anyone remember Y2K? The decade is about over and I cannot believe how fast it went by.

Do Hybrid cars perform like they are promoted to be? Hybrid, Hybrid, Hybrid, I am tired of hearing Hybrid. How about just making cars that use synthetic gas? We did put a man on the moon didn’t we?

Can we come up with a better way to get rid of trash? I see these landfills that have mountains of piled trash and it makes me extremely sad that we are ruining the landscape of this nation.

The New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football cannot get any better.

The Weekly Thought Bonanza thought of the week: There must be a cap on the amount of money that the government can borrow. The Federal Reserve Bank wants Congress to increase the debt limit from 12.1 trillion dollars. How much does this administration want to spend?

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