Thursday, November 22, 2012

22 November 2012 Everyone one but the bird enjoyed dinner



Thanksgiving is upon us.  We will now engage in our national celebration of gluttony, greed, and televised football games. 
          Gloria and I are doing our share to minimize the gluttony aspect.  We have celebrated Thanksgiving every year of our marriage with duck fixed in some manner.  I believe this year will find the duck being fixed on a vertical roaster in a closed charcoal grill.  We will manage two meals from one duck.  We’ll fatten out the table with haricot vert and baked sweet potatoes.  I’ll fix a small blueberry relish this year to accent the duck.  The only real gluttony items this year are two pies.  I bought a chocolate fudge pie for me and baked two sugar-free pumpkin pies for Gloria, so that she gets a bit of dessert that she rarely allows herself. 
          The day is bright and sunny; She and I have much to be thankful for.  While we are separated from extended families by hundreds of miles, we’ll be able to touch base with everyone. 
          The shooting in Israel has seemingly stopped for a while.  The shouting about who won will continue as Hamas tries to convince newly homeless families that moving from an apartment to a pile of rubble is a military victory.  Unfortunately, as with the teavangelists here, the Gaza populace is easily excited, poorly educated, and only to eager to believe misinformation when it is administered with a heavy dose of anti-intellectualism, anti-Semitism, or both.  All over the Middle East, Israel’s agreement to a cease-fire is considered to be Israel’s defeat.  At one level, it is.  The last conflict has been costly to Israel in terms of calling up reserves.  It has demonstrated a technical upgrade in the Israeli arsenal, but at an immense price for hardware.  All lives lost and all Israelis injured are evidence of a conflict that should have never been allowed to play out.  World opinion continues to demand of Israel what no other nation is asked to endure.  

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