Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll start an annual tradition - re-running last year's Thanksgiving post:

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
It's secular - religious overtones are secondary.
It's American - the rest of world goes on happily without us.

Most of all, for me the basic premise - giving thanks - is a good thing. Yes, I am thankful for my family, for my undeserved good-fortune in life, for friends.

Most of my family is in town. None of us started out here - we all just ended up here. I've 3 sisters. 2 of 'em are in town, with their husbands. My mom is in town. My wife's folks are in town. Her sister & bro-in-law are in town. A sister's sister-in-law is in town. Our kids are in town. My daughter-in-law's folks are in town.

What this means from a Thankgiving perspective is that we enjoy a pretty phenomenal feast each year. Someone volunteers to host - this year it was my son & daughter-in-law. Host is responsible for turkey. Everything else is provided by everyone else. Everyone brings enough to feed everyone.

My bad: I do not feel guilty about this surfeit. I AM thankful!

So: Happy Thanksgiving, with friends & family!

This year bro- and sis-in-law (my wife's sister) are hosting. In addition to standard Thanksgiving, the feast will likely include tamales from a local eatery - sis-in-law Brenda almost always provides these for large gatherings!

Here's hoping you all have reason to give thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
It's secular - religious overtones are secondary.
It's American - the rest of world goes on happily without us.

Most of all, for me the basic premise - giving thanks - is a good thing. Yes, I am thankful for my family, for my undeserved good-fortune in life, for friends.

Most of my family is in town. None of us started out here - we all just ended up here. I've 3 sisters. 2 of 'em are in town, with their husbands. My mom is in town. My wife's folks are in town. Her sister & bro-in-law are in town. A sister's sister-in-law is in town. Our kids are in town. My daughter-in-law's folks are in town.

What this means from a Thankgiving perspective is that we enjoy a pretty phenomenal feast each year. Someone volunteers to host - this year it was my son & daughter-in-law. Host is responsible for turkey. Everything else is provided by everyone else. Everyone brings enough to feed everyone.

My bad: I do not feel guilty about this surfeit. I AM thankful!

So: Happy Thanksgiving, with friends & family!

Iraq headlines

US wants Britain to lead 'surge' in southern Iraq

US death toll in Iraq war hits 4,000

54 killed in Iraq bloodshed

The surge is working so well, we really need more of it... but we've not the manpower, so we implore the Brits to do their part... in the south - which, you may recall, once upon a time was the peaceful part of the country.

The surge is working so well that American troops continue to die.

The surge is working so well that the insurgents can launch attacks at will... against the Green Zone - the only patch of territory we presumably control!

Oh - I almost forgot: they're not insurgents!

Rumsfeld: Don’t call Iraqi enemy ‘insurgents’
Defense secretary says he had ‘epiphany’ about semantics of war
Associated Press
Nov. 29, 2005
WASHINGTON - More than 2½ years into the Iraq war, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided the enemy are not insurgents.

“This is a group of people who don’t merit the word ‘insurgency,’ I think,” Rumsfeld said Tuesday at a Pentagon news conference. He said the thought had come to him suddenly over the Thanksgiving weekend.

“It was an epiphany.”

Religious metaphor somehow seems appropriate to Iraq: ya gotta believe!

Stop the madness!