Winkflash SUCKS!

I went for the cheap, 23 cent, photo Christmas Cards from Winkflash.

BIG mistake.

Not only did they not ship my order until 8 days after it was placed, they chose to only refund my payment 3 weeks later after I had already disputed the charge with my credit card company for non-receipt.

With customer service like this, they'll find themselves falling victim to the downturn in the economy. Customers won't put up with that shit -- and neither will I!

BUY FROM SHUTTERFLY -- THEY ROCK!!!

Thankfulness . . .

Thankfulness for what we have, for the obstacles we do not face, for the family and friends we do have.

I am counting my blessings for all the good people and things in my life. We are very blessed with our health and each other.

To thank the Troops serving our country during the Holiday Season, grab the widget at:

http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/47d6d01110aa5765?p=47d6d0112dde28cb

and send them a personal, or pre-written, message.

Oh, since I'm so techno-not, if you figure out how to add the widget to your blog -- let me know ;)

M 641 Giveaway!

Ok, for those of you who don't know, get to know Madras 641 !

Clothes are amazing - I know one of the owners and she is FANTASTIC!!! AND -- I have the Navy Copper Tunic from the Spring 08 Collection . I have gotten a TON of compliments on it. It is now my favorite blouse to wear -- hands down ;)

To get a chance for a free shirt of your own, or to get 20% off -- go to Bloggy Giveaways and dish your favorite item ;)

For 20% off:

Special Offer for Bloggy Giveaways Readers:Receive a 20% discount from Madras 641 Clothing by using discount code bloggydec in any text field at their store

Mayflower myths . . .

I love the History Channel :)

I had some off-line comments about the post regarding the Pilgram/Indian costume tradition in my last blog. So, I did a very quick search to verify that, in fact, the first "Thanksgiving" (tradition of sharing and eating) did in fact include Native Americans:

Mayflower
Myths

"The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn't originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts."
– James W. BakerSenior Historian at Plimoth Plantation

Myth: The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 and the pilgrims celebrated it every year thereafter.

Fact: The first feast wasn't repeated, so it wasn't the beginning of a tradition. In fact, the colonists didn't even call the day Thanksgiving. To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast--dancing, singing secular songs, playing games--wouldn't have been allowed. The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims minds.

Myth: The original Thanksgiving feast took place on the fourth Thursday of November.

Fact: The original feast in 1621 occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11. Unlike our modern holiday, it was three days long. The event was based on English harvest festivals, which traditionally occurred around the 29th of September. After that first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest.

During the American Revolution a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress. In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November, which he may have correlated it with the November 21, 1621, anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941)

No Thanksgiving Feast in Costume?!?

CNN reported this story about a school district who had to stop a 40 year tradition because of the racist sentiment that the tradition of the Indian (Native American) costumes evoked. Critics likened the costume wearing to the children dressing up like Nazis/Jews or Slaves/Slave Owners.

Although I am only about 1/8 Cherokee, I am sensitive to any racial slur. However, in this case I'm finding it difficult to see the racism. The children are not commemorating the Trail of Tears, but a more wholesome relationship the English settlers had with the Native Americans when coming to the New World. Native Americans at that time wore feathers in headbands, vests, moccasins, etc. ; Pilgrims wore hats, stockings, and a lot of black.

I do think it's important to fight slurs and racism, and maybe there is more going on there than I know, but having the children learn the importance of giving thanks, accepting others as they are, of meeting new people and sharing -- in this simplistic form, these are the traditions we should be teaching our children. We should focus on the good relationships and the good things that America has done with 5 year olds. By starting with the positive, it's much easier when the children are older, and can better understand, the mistakes America has made in it's history and continue to help find ways to improve our country, to improve the world, to leave their mark in a positive way and make the world a better place.

Is the costume the problem, is it some sort of implied inequality, or is it symbolism of how the world should work. How innocent 5 year olds can come together, knowing that they are reenacting an idealized form of the Thanksgiving Feast which brought different people from different cultures together to share the bounty of the season. For children to have this idealized memory of how the way the world SHOULD work, we can work on having them continue this tradition as they get older and become the future leaders of our nation and our world.

Much Ado about Nothing

So the G20 Summit was said to bring a hell-storm on DC . . . that the US would bear the brunt of the World's anger for our (USA) apparent demise of the entire Global economy . . . Sarkozy touted the USA was brought to it's knees . . . whatever . . .

. . . it was SO IMPORTANT to call the EMERGENCY meeting that they postponed everything until the spring . . .

SO, Obama wanted to take over this mess, G20 and the world is expecting him to take the global economic situation under his protective wing 101 days into his term. Of course, since he is in agreement with many other countries to take the edge off of free markets by imploring more government involvement, regulations, and stimulus packages; it's anyone's guess as to how this will turn out. We could be agreeing to economic policies by the global community ("Do you like me? Circle "yes" or "no" -- as the old notes of middle school would say).

Some say the G20 is a joke, a failure . . .

I say that although the USA must be sensitive to the global economy, we must focus first on our own. Bailouts galore, corporate storefront closures, unemployment rising . . . CNN ran a story this weekend that the "safest" jobs to be in, in terms of job security, are:

1. Education
2. Energy
3. Environmental Sector
4. Health Care
5. Security

Of course, I thought it also said government work, be it wasn't in the article (maybe just a thought on the aforementioned President Elects promises for bigger government?!?).

So the G20 summit was "Much Ado about Nothing" . . . just hold on tightly for what's coming next . . .

A very astute point regarding the BIG 3 Bailout . . .

Astute point indeed . . .

As I watched the pundits rant about the bailout, how now it's all GW's fault, not the democrats who pushed it down the throats of most republicans (and a few democrats who held out) the bailout is going to AIG corporate getaways . . .

As I watched as Harry Reid and Pelosi are no where to be found, while these banks who were supposed to preserve our way of life are really just doing business as usual with our taxpayer dollars . . .

As I watched the (for the most part) Liberal Leaning CNN state that Bush's administration is to blame (again?!?) for the lack of transparency in the bailout money distribution and management . . .

I see a shining beacon in the fog (and that's quite literal here in the Pacific Northwest):

Why are we bailing out big corporations who invest in God knows What?!? Why aren't we bailing out AMERICAN companies that employ REAL AMERICANS who don't earn fancy bonuses and special getaways; no foriegn-made luxury cars, no private jets. Most of these current and former UAW employees, my father is included, worked their entire life - slaving for a company with the expectation of a good pension and good benefits.

And what do they get? They get shit. They get a good, "Screw you and your loyalty through the years. Because foreign car makers have been given so many tax abatements, not had their imports unfairly taxed (like ours are to other countries), and because our employees have unions that protect their rights and benefits . . . our guys get screwed.

Thanks for all the trade agreements by both parties that improved Global Trade, but the USA took it up the ass allowing our goods to be taxed much more unfairly than others because of we are SO WEALTHY . . . look where we are now . . .

Are we really on the brink of disaster or is this another trumped up charge by Wall Street to get more "free" money to gamble with?!?