Friendsgiving

I don't recall when this concept of friendsgiving was first dreamed up, but people have been implementing the idea for a long time; for instance inviting a bereaved friend to their feast, or an immigrant family.  On one hand, for many, Thanksgiving is all about gathering the family together; including difficult and reclusive members, and excluding non-family, to avoid any embarrass-ment taking place in the view of outsiders!

But families were large, in the old days, and once they started getting smaller, it was reasonable that a few little families would join together, so that it would be a jollier occasion.

Friendsgiving sometimes underscores the inclusion of non-family, but there is also the thought that certain family members are less welcome than certain non-family members, which reminds us that some people are permanently unpleasant, which can be blamed on the unpleasant ones, or everybody else!

There is also the interesting problem that while to some, the feast focuses on certain interesting types of food, to others it is all about vast quantities.  That's unfortunate, because it is widely recognized that overeating is unhealthy, and often leads, indirectly, to having to discard a lot of uneaten food, which is always a sad thing, not least from the environmental point of view.

Some people cling to the fact that socializing is not compulsory.  They can hardly wait until they can celebrate feasts with some family members too far away to invite.  A lot of fiction uses this device for the drama that brings out these sorts of tensions.  In contrast, some fiction uses large family gatherings to depict how they can actually heal some interpersonal wounds, to introduce new companions, and new family members. 

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Thanksgiving 2026

Thanksgiving is in 3 weeks.

I wasn't born American.  But I have noticed that a lot of people celebrate the date by

1 gathering together with family;

2 fixing up more food than is needed to satisfy everyone who will be there;

3 watching Football on TV afterwards.

Meanwhile, a lot of people can't afford a feast (though they can manage a simple meal like they usually eat), but the difference between what they have, and what they remember from before, make it seem like they're being deprived.  I wonder what the preachers at the rich mega-churches would tell their disciples?  "Let's make sure our less-well-off brothers and sisters do not starve for at least one day!"  That could easily be their song.

In the best of all possible worlds, a number people could rent an enormous tent, and bring a vast number of china pieces (paper plates would not do), bring what would be their Thanksgiving meal from home, and serve it out to anyone who comes, under that tent.  That would be a lot more fun than it would be in their homes!

Someone might accuse the organizers of practicing the dreaded Socialism.  Well, OK.  I'm perfectly all right with Socialism, if that was it.  Mayor Mamdani explained some of his objectives on a video recently.  I didn't watch the whole thing, but some of the elements of sharing were in that talk. 

"When America was great," I think some people would feel like saying, "we didn't have to share nothing!"  It would be lovely to send those people to some miserable place, where they could not share all by themselves, and the rest of us have a joyful Thanksgiving!

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Lobbyists

This election, I'm more than usual concerned about the corroding power of lobbies.  We can guess that the enormous sums of money that lobbyists wield are difficult for poor, starving Congressmen to resist.  (Even Susan Collins, whom I thought of as extremely resistant to being swayed by lobbying money, was suspected of having accepted enormous gifts.)

It's difficult to predict which of these new elected Democrats (Trump calls them Dum(b)ocrats, probably because, perhaps, they're resistant to dollars from Big Business.  He can't understand the whole concept of being principled) will eventually get drawn to the dark side.  The power of lobbyists is so great that often it is they who are given to draft legislation in behalf of members of Congress, which means that inevitably huge loopholes are written into the bills. 

A wonderful development is that, though a Supreme Court friendly to Big Business permitted unlimited money to influence elections, there is a way to limit corporations from ínfluencing elections, state by state.  It is by re-defining how a corporation is defined, in each state, to not allow them to give money to election candidates.  So, once a state does this, corporations can't fund candidates if the corporations want to do business in that state.  It seems like a lovely way to solve much of the money in politics problem. But Corporations have amazingly deep pockets, which means they can afford unbelievably crooked lawyers to work on the problem of introducing hidden loopholes in these laws.  This is a country that was created by rich landowners, who owned slaves, and who have kept Native Americans essentially landless and powerless for 250 years, so it's inevitable that money eventually spoils all good intentions, in favor of the wealthy.

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Whoa, Elections

Wow; that was the election that was!

No; I'm not dancing around the house.  Unlike the Republicans; I don't think the Democrats see winning an elected office as the gateway to untold wealth, and an opportunity for a lot of corruption.  There's a lot of work to be done, a lot of intense planning, and the need to work around an obstructionist incumbent president, who was inexplicably uninterested in helping the citizens.  In fact, his emphasis was on dismantling government institutions that were designed to help people lead healthier lives. 

A small minority of ultra-wealthy people objected to the government levying taxes to fund these institutions, so Trump obediently set about closing them down.  Social Security was one of them: a plan to provide a retirement fund for poor workers who could not easily save enough for retirement.  It is just amazing how hostile the more wealthy citizens have been, to this simple plan.

So, winning the election is just the beginning for honest political leaders.  But we can expect a lot from the new Democrat leadership.  A lot more than from most of the Republicans.  There were many honest Republicans already in Congress and the Senate.  Most of these went over to the Dark Side, because of the hard work of Trump.  (I still can't believe how easily they were persuaded into corruption.)

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Cast Iron Dutch Oven

We have one of these: a Dutch Oven—I don't know where the name came from, but I assume it's from somewhere in Erope—is just a heavy, cast iron pan, that holds about a gallon of fluid, or a little more, in which you can cook a whole chicken, or even a small duck.  If you don't have an oven, you can put your bird, or whatever, in this container, ideally the bird is a little raised off the bottom, with a metal trivet or something; put in an inch or so of chicken broth or tomato juice, close it up with its heavy lid, and cook it at low temperature for an hour or two.

This is so similar to how you would bake / roast it, that you can see how the word might have started out. 

But get this.  I saw fancy versions of these things advertised for about $450 dollars. 

Why would anyone buy a fancy one at that price?  We bought ours for considerably less, but it was a long time ago, so I can't remember how much it cost.  I'm guessing around $60.

They're indestructible; but they rust.  If you go to a used goods store: e.g. Salvation Army, or Goodwill, and find one, it will cost a lot less than $450.  Take it home, and clean it with fine sandpaper or steel wool (wear gloves), clean it off with soap and water (WD 40 is not good enough, you're going to prepare food in this, remember), and dry it thoroughly. 

At this point, you apply a layer of  cooking oil inside it (and outside, too), by applying the oil first, and then heating the thing in a really hot oven.  Look up 'season a castware cookpot' on the internet, and follow directions.  There will be lots of conflicting sets of instructions; pick one, and go with it all the way to the end. 

If you do it right, there will be a hard black burnt layer inside your new pot, which makes it virtually nonstick.  They're easy to clean (as long as you don't cook anything at a high temperature for too long).  If there's cooked-on food when you're done, scrub it off with a stiff- bristled brush, and soap and water.  After it dries, apply cooking oil again (thin layer, please) and heat once again in an oven, but not as seriously as before.  Every few years, a serious re-seasoning is often recommended. 

If  you absolutely positively must have a brand new one, save up $450, and go buy one from somewhere. 

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Ilhan Omar

Give Ms. Omar's passport back.

The president does not have absolute power over citizens, nor the right to confiscate their documents.  Give it back!

Do not harass congress representatives.  Democrats are too lawful to harass Republican representatives, else members of the GOP in Congress could be bullied by the same actions. 

This is an outrage!  Desist. 

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Our Political Contributions

I have to declare that I'm getting sour about even the small amounts of money I contribute to politics.  We're daily bombarded with requests for contributions, but ultimately a lot of this money goes to the TV commercial companies, which are owned by billionaires, who almost invariably support the GOP, and indirectly, Trump.  So the election season is like Christmas to the media billionaires.

Because as far as we know, all our fellow-countrymen are addicted to the media, and the younger ones to the digital media, there is a general belief that TV is the only way to connect with the voters. 

 Some people seeking office,   though, will spend money on 'boots on the ground' people, who go door to door, talking to voters.  For Obama's second term, this sort of thing was strongly relied upon.  Katie and I did go door-to-door that time, and that's our only experience with that sort of activity. 

But the whole concept of money in politics has me thinking of who ultimately gets all the money, and I'm getting less comfortable supporting anyone, anyone, financially.  Just enough, already.