After a workshop, a fellow came up to me and complained that I had made him feel uncomfortable. “I’m not perfect,” he said, “But I’m basically honest.” His implication was that it’s unfair to expect people to be honest all the time.
His comment reminded me of a cartoon where one fellow confided to another, “I admire Webster’s honesty, but his insistence on being scrupulously honest is really annoying.”
At the end of “Over the River and Through the Wood” – Lydia Maria Child’s classic Thanksgiving poem – the narrator finally gets to his grandfather’s house for Thanksgiving dinner and settles down to eat.
“Hurrah for the fun!” the small boy exclaims. “Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!”
Pumpkin pie sounds familiar, but pudding? It seems like an odd choice to headline a description of a Thanksgiving dinner. Why was pudding the first dish on the boy’s mind and not turkey or stuffing?
2020 marked the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving in New England. Remembered and retold as an allegory for perseverance and cooperation, the story of that first Thanksgiving has become an important part of how Americans think about the founding of their country.
But what happened four months later, starting in March 1622 about 600 miles south of Plymouth, is, I believe, far more reflective of the country’s origins – a story not of peaceful coexistence but of distrust, displacement, and repression.
Anticipatory obedience, a term we will all be familiar with by Jan. 20, describes how major figures and institutions appease an authoritarian before he takes power.
It’s hard to maintain a straight posture against threats and coercion, particularly if you think no one else will stand with you.
So they bow and scrape, hoping it will spare them pain or punishment. They pull punches. They accommodate. They hope to maintain what used to be normal life.
Too often, K-12 social studies classes in the U.S. teach a mostly glossed-over story of U.S. settlement. Textbooks tell the stories of adventurous European explorers founding colonies in the “New World,” and stories of the “first Thanksgiving” frequently portray happy colonists and Native Americans feasting together. Accounts of the colonies’ battle for independence frame it as a righteous victory. Native American removal might be mentioned as a sad footnote, but the triumph of the pioneer spirit takes center stage.
I realize that not everyone lives in a Norman Rockwell world where family gatherings are sources of warmth and good memories. For some, the prospect of holiday get-togethers generates dread and anxiety; they are something to endure, not enjoy.
One reason is that family members can be tactless and downright cruel when expressing their opinions about perceived foibles, flaws, and failures of their relatives, especially in-laws. Often comments are so laden with negative judgment that they could make the Grinch wince. Whether motivated by well-intentioned, but misdirected, love and concern, or by malice, insensitive or unkind words are like spears to the heart.
I am genuinely elated to report that I have survived another Thanksgiving… or rather what remains of this rapidly deteriorating national holiday. I ate, I watched football, I napped. God ordained back in the Plymouth Rock days that we adhere to this sacred ritual, right? And doing so enables me to show my Turkey Day pride, get my festive gobble-gobble swerve thing on, but mostly just suffer from indigestion as a result of all that sweet, blessed gluttony.
But increasingly each year, something else is ominously creeping into the view from my yam-tinted glasses, vulgarly tinkling on my Thanksgiving joy and ruthlessly pushing all the pilgrim imagery to the side - its name: Christmas.
1) Because it is unclear that the Pilgrims ate turkey at their inaugural Thanksgiving meal in the 1620s, the writer Calvin Trillin mock-campaigned for years to have the national Thanksgiving dish changed from turkey to spaghetti carbonara.
The fear that digital distractions are ruining our lives and friendships is widespread.
To be sure, digital addiction is real. Consider the 2,600 times we touch our phones every day, our panic when we temporarily misplace a device, the experience of “phantom vibration syndrome,” and how merely seeing a message alert can be as distracting as checking the message itself.
Fossil fuels are the leading driver of climate change, yet they are still heavily subsidized by governments around the world.
Although many countries have explicitly promised to reduce fossil fuel subsidies to combat climate change, this has proven difficult to accomplish. As a result, fossil fuels remain relatively inexpensive, and their use and greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow.
This is the existential problem for the Alabama Democratic Party: their voters aren’t showing up.
And it’s not an issue because we’re on the brink of some political revolution in the state. Alabama is not about to tip blue. The Republican supermajority in the legislature is not on the brink of collapse.
No, we’re talking about threats to the few sandbars of power Democrats still occupy.
Most people agree that actual facts matter – in such activities as debate, discussion, and reporting. Once facts are gathered, verified, and distributed, informed decision-making can proceed in such important exercises as voting.
But what happens when important, verified facts are published and broadcast widely, yet the resulting impact proves underwhelming – or even meaningless? If vital facts fail to affect the news audiences they intend to inform?
This is the conundrum facing American journalism after Nov. 5, 2024.
Over the past year, I have been on a speaking tour throughout the state – especially leading up to the General Election. The reason for visiting and speaking to civic organizations was to discuss the national presidential race and its evolvement, as well as how the race for the White House affects Alabamians.
It was one of the most unusual, interesting, topsy-turvy presidential contests I can remember. It was entertaining to say the least. After my talks, I left time for questions from the audiences. You would think that the first, and most important questions, would pertain to the presidential contest. However, that was not the most prevalent inquiry. In almost all 30 venues, the most asked question was who will follow Kay Ivey as governor and who is running for governor in 2026.
What will the diets of the future look like? The answer depends in part on what foods Westerners can be persuaded to eat.
These consumers are increasingly being told their diets need to change. Current eating habits are unsustainable, and the global demand for meat is growing.
Signing up for a subscription to a streaming service or newspaper has never been easier.
Canceling it, on the other hand, can be a cumbersome journey involving phone calls, letters, or finding the option to cancel buried in a remote menu on an app.
And that’s if you remember to cancel in the first place.
Each year on the fourth Thursday of November, when many people start to take stock of the marathon day of cooking ahead, Indigenous people from diverse tribes and nations gather at sunrise in San Francisco Bay.
Their gathering is meant to mark a different occasion – the Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Sunrise Ceremony, an annual celebration that spotlights 500 years of Native resistance to colonialism in what was dubbed the “New World.” Held on the traditional lands of the Ohlone people, the gathering is a call for remembrance and for future action for Indigenous people and their allies.
Life in the digital world can be rewarding. It’s convenient to order groceries for pickup, share photographs or music, and keep in touch with family and friends, no matter the distance. However, it can also be draining. The feeling of being constantly “on” and productive has driven people to reconsider their balance in the saturated digital world.
More than 70% of American adults are concerned about how technology affects their mental health and personal relationships. This worry is reinforced through media that point to people’s unhealthy habits with social media and phones.
Why are negative management practices so prevalent?
They include yelling, cursing, insults (sometimes masked in sarcasm or masquerading as jokes), criticizing subordinates in front of others, threatening demotion or termination, and talking to adults as if they were children.
Sixty-five percent.
That’s the percentage of votes Donald Trump got in Alabama on Election Day.
And that’s how democracy works. The person with the most ballots wins. Even if a single voter shows up.
But as we move into this man’s second term and steel ourselves for what’s ahead, remember this number: 63%.
That’s the share of Alabama’s nearly 4 million adults — 2.5 million people, to be precise — who did not opt for this. Either because they voted for Kamala Harris or a third-party candidate, or because they didn’t vote.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, invoked my generation to “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
We are fortunate to live in a free and democratic society where millions of civilians and soldiers serve their fellow citizens. Today is Veteran’s Day and the weekend provided the nation a special opportunity to honor and express gratitude to the millions of living military veterans and thousands of active-duty men and women who have or are serving our country.
Alabama has some of the nation’s highest percentages of households struggling to afford everyday expenses, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Household Pulse Survey, which collected data from Aug. 20 to Sept. 16, 2024, shows 41% of households in Alabama said they had a somewhat difficult or very difficult time in the week leading up to the survey. Only Kentucky and Wyoming ranked worse than Alabama, at 43% each.
My family and I stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings in Georgia a few weekends ago after watching one of our kids take part in a marching band competition. Surrounding us in the restaurant were wall-mounted televisions. Most showed sports, repeatedly punctuated by political ads.
At least half of them attacked transgender people. And I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything more rancid on a TV broadcast.
One image after another of smiling human beings, framed as a monstrous threat.
Like many of my friends, this election was tough, for many reasons. And as the pundits and amateur politicos continue their arguing and hand-wringing about the supposed lessons, my thoughts have been more focused on what, to me, is a deeper issue, and one I’ve struggled to understand for many years.
See, it started as a child. I went to a Christian school for all of elementary and junior high school. Specifically a Southern Baptist school, although the churches I attended ranged from Southern Baptist to Pentecostal to the non-denominational variety that fall under the broad “Evangelical” umbrella. And in those churches, as elections were getting close, I would see these voter guides in the back, provided by the Christian Coalition.
It’s not every day that the name of a mountain is restored to the one used by Indigenous peoples for centuries.
But after nearly two years of trying, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians finally convinced the U.S. Board on Geographic Names on Sept. 18, 2024 to formally agree to rename the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee to Kuwohi (koo-whoa-hee).
You probably know what a rage room is. People fork over cash and spend time destroying household items like dishes and furniture cabinets.
They’re marketed as stress relief. But getting violent isn’t a path toward tranquility. It just encourages you to be violent.
Smash a plate or a teacup or a TV as much as you want. It might feel like you’ve released something. But that’s not calm. It’s a fleeting sense of power, easily confused with catharsis.
In 1968, when Kent M. Keith was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard University, he wrote “The Paradoxical Commandments” as part of a booklet for student leaders. He describes the Commandments as guidelines for finding personal meaning in the face of adversity:
Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions of immigrants if he is elected to a second term, claiming that, among other things, foreign-born workers take jobs from others. His running mate JD Vance has echoed those anti-immigrant views.
Researchers, however, generally agree that massive deportations would hurt the U.S. economy, perhaps even triggering a recession.
Abortion is on the agenda not just in the United States but worldwide.
A majority of people in developed democracies increasingly favor abortion rights and self-determination. And, in most places, laws are shifting to reflect public opinion. Since 2020, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, among others, have legalized abortion. In 2024, France adopted the right to an abortion as a “guaranteed freedom” in its constitution.
On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has declared there are serious threats to the United States. First, he said, there is “the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous,” as he told Fox News in an Oct. 13, 2024 interview.
He went on to say that “the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think. And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military.”
The U.S. election system features checks at every step of the process to ensure only lawfully cast ballots are counted. From the poll workers checking in voters at polling locations, to poll observers reviewing the process, to the trained election officials who verify the validity of each ballot cast, every step helps ensure our elections are accurate and secure.
This column explains one less-understood aspect of the postelection process: election certification.
Many Latinos regularly declare: “Día de los Muertos is not Mexican Halloween.” The declaration is increasingly repeated by non-Latinos too.
Drawing a clear line between the two holidays is a rhetorical strategy to protect Day of the Dead’s integrity as Mexican cultural heritage and separate it from American popular culture. However, as a Mexican-American who celebrates Día de los Muertos and as a scholar of culture and performance, I believe it’s time to fully acknowledge the cultural intermixing that’s happening between the two holidays.
