Black Thursday - because nothing say's "I'm thankful!" better than a shopping spree!

by Jacob.jose - wikimedia commons

The Holiday Shopping Season kicks off with a shopping holiday billed with the misleading misnomer: Black Friday.  In actuality the holiday begins on Thursday - Thanksgiving Day itself!  Retailers have succeeded in switching places with grandma and grandpa and have officially become the hosts of Thanksgiving gatherings countrywide. Thanksgiving it is a-changing!

Consumer-centric traditions have taken the focus off family, food and football and a lot of folks now celebrate the 'feast' day standing in long lines and giving thanks for bargains and sales.  We should have seen it coming - the writing's been on the wall (and in the ads) for sometime now. It might be better to give than to receive...but today, buying is best of all!

With the bottom-line of all things American being the Almighty Dollar, our national day of gratitude is going through an identity crisis: Pilgrims or profit-margins?  We complain...but we buy right into the commercialization of our holidays.  Sales mark every celebration and the talking points for planning lead with purchasing power.  There is no holiday too sacred, solemn or silly that it cannot be exploited in the marketplace.  Santa is at the mall., with the Easter Bunny, Halloween goblins and yes...Pilgrims.

The first Thanksgiving can be traced back to a three day feast shared by the Wampanoag Native American Indians and the Plymouth Pilgrim's after a bountiful harvest, in 1621.  In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed November 26th  a day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens", making it a national holiday.  Through the years this has been a day for family and friends to come together, share a meal and give thanks.  Until now.

by: Ben Franske, Wikimedia commons

Big Box Merchandisers are trying to change this very American tradition.  In their vision families battle crowds for marked down inventory and then meet at the food court.  The ka-ching of opening cash register drawers drowns out the musical clink of glassware tapped in toasts.  And the only blessings worth counting are the dollar-signs.

But I'm not giving up my Thanksgiving Day Feast without a fight!  They'll have to pry that turkey leg from my cold, dead hands!  We Houston's are gonna keep celebrating the old fashioned way, with the Macy's Parade, "Alice's Restaurant", my grandmothers bannock (a type of bread) and each other.  The sales can wait.     

Sobering News About Surviving a Nuclear Disaster

 photo by kconnors, morguefile

Dang!  That silver lining we all thought we'd found in the event of an Atomic Armageddon?  You know, "Operation Teapot", the government study that told us it would be okay to drink the beer after a nuclear event?  Discovery News has put a damper on that  'end of times' bright spot.  Seems like the scientists back in 1955 got it wrong - in fact we had better steer clear of beer, and soda if we want to survive a nuclear holocaust.

photo by kconnors, morguefile

Evidently, metal cans, silicate bottles, and beer that may have picked up coppers and other contaminants in the brewing process are all much more susceptible to holding on to radiation than pure H2O in carbon-based plastic.  Reyco Henning, an assistant professor of physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., told Life's Little Mysteries "if a bomb fell tomorrow, "I would go for the purest water you can make stored in a plastic bottle," said Henning.  "Beer I would probably not drink under any circumstance ." So we'll have to face the end of the world as we know it  - and that long nuclear winter - stone, cold sober.  Dang!

It's not just any water, either, that will be all right to drink.  According to Mongabay.com  , the safest sources  of potable water after radiation fallout will be from springs, wells and other underground feeds.  Site-founder and Environmentalist Rhett Butler provides tons of interesting facts and tips on how to survive such a disaster.  The information though - while good to know - does little to diminish the disappointment I feel at the prospect of a teetotaling  apocalypse!  Can't someone design a still that does not use copper...I don't want to spend my end time sippin suds that glow in the dark!  

Keep it Down Class of 2012!

Okay, so there was a woman in South Carolina this week who was arrested for cheering too loud at her daughter's high school graduation.  At first blush I figured the lady had probably imbibed in a celebratory cocktail or two before the ceremony and the charges filed surely contained the words intoxication or drunkenness.  Not so...turns out she was just a proud mama making a joyful noise!

The week before in Ohio , a cap and gowned young man was handed a letter of reprimand instead of the diploma he had earned because his family and friends in the audience were a little too exuberant in their shout-outs.  Really??!

I don't know about you but I feel like the schools got it all wrong.  Let's look at the data:

• 3,030,000 kids drop out of American schools every year.  That's 8,300 a day!  
• 75% of crimes in the US are committed by high school drop-outs.
• A high school drop-out cannot qualify for 90% of the jobs in today's marketplace. 
• Graduating high school raises a person's lifetime earnings by $260,000.

Those are some serious statistics.  And you can break the numbers down even more - by ethnicity, household income, location - the overall picture does not get any better.  

That's why I don't understand  the school's attitude.  If a child makes it - especially an 'at risk' child - why wouldn't that be celebrated??  and loudly?!   I say shout it from the rooftops!!  I'm sorry - the consequences do not fit the crimes here.  To hold these kids responsible - to take away from their special day - in this way - is beyond petty...I mean I can't help it: are you kidding me???

My own daughter is graduating on Sunday.  She started high school not quite two months after her father passed away.  While I am sure our family and friends will behave with all the decorum and dignity this solemn occasion demands...I hate to think that one of her brothers could get tossed in the slammer for whooping it up  when she walks!   

Great Fair Trade Gifts From Around The Globe!

Fair Trade Producers Visit - Kenya 2009 - By Shared Interest/Flickr

The other day I stepped in - I mean clicked on - a website called... Mr. Ellie Pooh.  I loved it! These two guys in Sri Lanka, Dr. Karl Wald and Thusitha Ranasinghe, figured out how to make paper products out of pachyderm droppings!   They formed a company and now produce photo albums, stationary, decorative boxes - even a children's storybook - all made from, yes...Dumbo's dung. Talk about recycling!

The really cool thing (as if anything could be cooler than making stuff out of elephant pies!) is that they                     are a Fair Trade company.  That means they want to make a difference - not just a profit.  Mr. Ellie Pooh LLC  is benefiting man, beast and nature with their enterprise!

Guided by the principle's of ethical commerce, fair trade retailers believe fair market practices are key if developing countries are ever to achieve economic parity with the rest of us.  It's called consumerism with a conscience.  Over sixty years ago a single group, Ten Thousand Villages, embarked on a global mission to raise the standards of living for the poorest of our poor. That vision founded  The World Fair Trade Organization, which today boasts over 450 like-minded members!  And all I have to do to help is shop!

I am amazed at the stuff I found while scrolling through the on-line catalogs of fair trade stores. Virtually every continent and culture is represented in this burgeoning marketplace and the imagination evident in the one-of-a-kind treasures is awe-inspiring!

• Cambodian artisans in the Rajanas Association, spread peace and earn a living by turning bomb casings into candle holders!  
• The Women's Multipurpose Co-op in the Philippines give their families a chance at a better life by fashioning recycled newspapers into necklaces, picture frames, even clocks! 

Lovely!  Whimsical!  Unique!  It's not just philanthropic urges pushing me to buy - this stuff rocks!  I know where I'm doing my Christmas shopping this year!

If my buying power can help end the cycle of poverty in Third World countries why wouldn't I use it?  Especially when my purchases are so extraordinary!  It takes a whole village to raise a child...I can open up my wallet to do my part!

The Stuff They Call News These Days!

I love the internet!  Thanks to a live-feed web cam I can watch killer whales breach off of Kauai, in real time!    From Virginia!  (Mahalo Bali Hai!)  If I want a recipe for gazpacho, Google will find me 1,630,000, in 0.12 seconds!  Social networks keep me...social and breaking news is literally at my fingertips.  Yep, the web is a wonderful thing...except when it's not.

Savvy to the potential dangers that can lurk in the shadows of our global village I practice 'safe-search'.  No identity theft, cyber(ly)-transmitted viruses (ctv's) or unwanted pop-ups for me!  Lame content though is another matter.  Once quarantined to personal blogs (yes, I do see the irony), Facebook entries and the nether-reaches of our virtual universe, fact-lacking, time-wasting, article-posing blurbs have spread pandemically.  Msn, fox news and the Huffington Post were just a few of many purported news sites that ran a report recently about the bad tip someone left a waitress!?!

When publishing  is as easy as hitting the send button I guess I shouldn't be surprised by an influx of non-news news stories...but c'mon!  Shouldn't they at least be interesting or informative?  Sadly, the source is no longer something to consider when trying to judge a story's import - major sites run with the sensational and/or stupid as often as the tabloids now.  Journalism (at least as it is practiced on-line) has devolved into content providing where quality is measured in clicks.

In this age of instant access rumourmongering has replaced research; corrections are no longer the exception, they are the rule!  Today's article will often go through several on-line rewrites before the true story emerges!  Just look at the tale of a boy put in a washing machine that metamorphosed in the online media over several days!  Don't expect any mea culpas for misinformation either; accuracy, it would seem, is no longer a point of professional pride.  For these re-tellers it's seeing their piece go viral!