It's Thanksgiving!
That means Congress is out and therefore can do no harm. Supermarkets have added extra cashiers to check out turkeys and fixins, kiddies are making Indian headdresses, Pilgrim hats and handprint turkeys, and kitchens are redolent with with wonderful aromas of the season that bring to mind families and friends sharing good food and gratitude.
So with that, this week's Surfin' Safari focuses on what for many of us is a favorite holiday of the year.
Sage
TRENDING: Jihad against Christians is due to … climate change?
It's more than a spice used in Thanksgiving prep – it's also wise advice found on a Facebook page titled Thanksgiving Time.
Thanksgiving in five words
Social media mavens are having some creative fun of their own. Clever Twitter word contortionists are being challenged to come up with: #ThanksgivingInFiveWords
Some of the best hashtagged entries I found include:
- "Abused turkeys, dressed and stuffed."
- "Undocumented Immigrants Get Food Assistance" (accompanied by an image of the Pilgrims at ye olde Plimoth Rock)
- "Three hours till Walmart riot @ midnight"
- "Football, Family, Friends, Food, Football"
- Accompanying a photo of NBC' anchor Brian Williams, this spoof: "A holiday I totally invented."
- "Time to loosen my belt."
- "Overeat, tweet, repeat, repeat, repeat."
- "Watch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade"
- "Noone wants your tofurkey, Brenda."
- "Let's Tryptophan The Light Fantastic!"
- "Fat pants ready."
- "String bean casserole: still gross."
Stay mindful!
From Mindful, a few tips to maintain the spirit of the holiday.
They don't fly this bird
Our Armed Forces are digging in! The US Air Force tweets it is ready for a bird they don't fly!
What are you thankful for this season? I'm thankful for men and women who voluntarily wear our nation's military uniform and do what they do to defend our country and its Constitutional principles. Grateful as well to their families who endure the sacrifice and uncertainty of their loved ones overseas, especially those deployed in war zones.
Early communism
Did you know that a form of communism was practiced at Plymouth in 1621 and 1622?
On his blog, author, speaker, radio-show host, blogger, media guest, and commentator Jason Hoyt writes about socialism, communism, private property and the real story of Thanksgiving. About how Plymouth Plantation governor William Bradford saw the error of their communal ways and made changes to a socio-economic system that ultimately became the capitalistic engine that made America great.
Hoyt quotes from a post at the Hoover Institute titled "How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims." Further reading at Hoover revealed:
"The colonists hoped that the houses they built would be exempt from the division of wealth at the end of seven years; in addition, they sought two days a week in which to work on their own "particular" plots (much as collective farmers later had their own private plots in the Soviet Union). The Pilgrims would thereby avoid servitude.
"But the investors refused to allow these loopholes, undoubtedly worried that if the Pilgrims—three thousand miles away and beyond the reach of supervision – owned their own houses and plots, the investors would find it difficult to collect their due. How could they be sure that the faraway colonists would spend their days working for the company if they were allowed to become private owners?
"With such an arrangement, rational colonists would work little on 'company time,' reserving their best efforts for their own gardens and houses. Such private wealth would be exempt when the shareholders were paid off. Only by insisting that all accumulated wealth was to be 'common wealth,' or placed in a common pool, could the investors feel reassured that the colonists would be working to benefit everyone, including themselves."
Read the rest. It's fascinating.
Watery highway
Puritans' migration routes to the "New World."
To you and yours
And finally, to all our Surfin' Safari readers, a very happy Thanksgiving day. Despite the challenges facing us, we have much for which to be thankful, don't we? Embrace the bounty! Pass the stuffing. And thank you Lord!