Thanks

As 2020 careens to a close, few will be sorry to bid it farewell. Devastating wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and a global pandemic, not to mention America’s divisive presidential election, have been just the highlights.

We approach the Thanksgiving holiday we know we face one unlike any other. Travel plans abandoned, communal meals canceled, families dispersed and in too many cases members mourned.

Perhaps, it is necessary more than ever to be thankful for what we have. Thankfulness is a state of mind as nourishing as any feast. So, let’s all be thankful.

Thankful for my family who support me every day.

Thankful for my friends and neighbors.

Thankful for our servicemen and women who protect us every day.

Thankful for my health and sound mind (I think).

Thankful for my colleagues, who provide entertainment for me every day.

Thankful for the students I serve who demand value every day in their education.

Thankful for living in a country, though flawed, is still second to none.

 

HISTORY 101 - The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, when post-harvest holidays were celebrated on the weekday regularly set aside as “Lecture Day,” a midweek church meeting where topical sermons were presented. A famous Thanksgiving observance occurred in the autumn of 1621, when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival held in gratitude for the bounty of the season.

Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Thursday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to officially fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.

With a few deviations, Lincoln’s precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president–until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelt’s declaration. For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.

 

THANKSGIVING MEAL – This year the average Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings including a slice of pumpkin pie is $46.90. A four percent decrease from 2019.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE – Seventy-eight candles on a birthday cake is an achievement in longevity for anyone. On Friday President elect Biden celebrated his birthday. As Mr. Biden and his partygoers prepare to take over the White House (sorry Rudy), here’s a wish for four years of good health.

America’s oldest President to date, Ronald Reagan, was three weeks shy of 78 when he left the Oval Office. The second oldest President, Donald Trump, will be 74 ½ on January 20. From there, the record drops to roughly age 70 for Dwight Eisenhower and Andrew Jackson. Harry Truman and George H.W. Bush departed at not-quite 69.

Mr. Biden’s term won’t expire until he is 82, so he has a special duty to be forthright about his health. But spend a few minutes watching Mr. Biden in 2012 browbeating Pau Ryan during that year’s vice president debate. He was aggressive and confident. In 2020, in the rare times he speaks off the cuff without a teleprompter he looks more tentative.

If Mr. Biden is losing his fastball, not that there would be any shame in it at 78, as the oldest President ever, his cognitive condition will be a frequent source of speculation and he should be transparent. Much better than our current President health disclosures.

 

TURKEY WEEK - The 2020 Thanksgiving Week is upon us, and it’s going to be an unusual one. Aside from the challenge of coping with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Emmy, here is why this will be a holiday unlike any we’ve seen before.

Travel will be much lighter: But far from eliminated. On Friday and Saturday, TSA screened about 42% of the passenger volume for comparable days last year. But they were still two of the busiest days at U.S. airports since the pandemic began.

That happened right after the CDC warned against traveling for Thanksgiving, and Johns Hopkins reported record confirmed Covid cases.

Across all transportation modes, AAA is projecting a roughly 10% decline from last year’s Thanksgiving.

Important note: The CDC isn’t worried about the disease spreading on airplanes as much as people traveling in order to gather in large groups.

The retail calendar gets a makeover: Big-box retailers like Target and Walmart have spaced out their traditional Black Friday deals in order to prevent overcrowding in stores. And, for the first time in years, many retailers will close their brick-and-mortar locations on Thanksgiving to protect the health of employees.

Expect e-commerce sales to go parabolic: Across the Atlantic, they’re breaking even more norms. The French government decided to postpone the shopapalooza in an effort to support small businesses. The rationale:

When the country’s second lockdown began on Oct. 30, smaller stores had to close, sending shoppers to online retailers (mainly Amazon) in droves.

In response to outcry from those small businesses, large retailers agreed to delay their Black Vendredi deals until Dec. 4, provided the government allowed those smaller shops to reopen then.

If you're able to help another family, you may enjoy your meal more if you've been generous. A quick way to help food banks is Feeding America (1 click).

I love the "Find a Food Bank" feature: Put in your state or ZIP, and find an easy way to help your neighbors.

Food banks need donations year-round: Setting a small recurring donation is a great way to help.

 

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Jamie Lee Curtis (62), Ed Harris (70), Bader Apricot Hasse (1), Robin Roberts (60), Shannon Sisk …famous sister-in-law.

 

INTERESTING READ – Time Magazine has an interesting and fun list of the best inventions of 2020. I dig the idea behind Krisp, an app that can mute out all the household noise around you and just highlight your voice during Zoom chats, but I gotta give the top prize to mRNA vaccines.

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – Grinnell College (Grinnell, Iowa) announced this week that it would dedicate $5 million annually for the next five years to removing loans from financial-aid packages and replacing them with grants. While the move stems from a financial review that preceded the onset of Covid-19, the Iowa college is one of the first institutions to directly cite the pandemic as its reason for changing how it delivers financial aid.

Just a day before Grinnell made its announcement, a famous alumnus, the comedian Kumail Nanjiani, chimed in during a Twitter discussion about canceling student debt. “It took me over 10 years to pay back my student loans," Nanjiani, a 2001 Grinnell grad, wrote. "I would be thrilled if fewer people had to live with that stress." That's one hope for the new program, Grinnell's president, Anne F. Harris.

COVID UPDATE - It wasn't long ago that public health experts were pointing to Europe as a warning sign for the U.S. But the U.S. now has a higher per-capita caseload than the EU ever did during its recent surge.

As of Saturday, 15 states had higher per-capita caseloads, averaged over seven days, than the European country with the highest caseload — Luxembourg.

The big picture: Europe's steady rise in coronavirus cases over the last couple of months prompted many countries to bring back lockdowns or other strict behavioral restrictions.

In the U.S., some of the hardest-hit states — like Iowa — are just now adopting mask mandates, and airports over the weekend were packed with people traveling for Thanksgiving.

Cases in the hardest-hit states are starting to trend down, a sign that people are modifying their behavior on their own.

Wear a freaking mask!

 

DRIVING THE WEEK - This Thanksgiving week will certainly be weird but look on the bright side: That awkward conversation with a high school classmate you happened to run into at the local bar has also been canceled.

Thanksgiving: The markets are closed Thursday, and they’ll close at 1pm on Friday. Some things are more important than P/E ratios (but are they?).

Biden’s plans: The first of the president-elect’s Cabinet picks will come on Tuesday, according to his incoming chief of staff.

Earnings: Retailers Gap, Nordstrom, Best Buy, and Dick’s all report Q3 earnings on Tuesday.

Economic data: Wednesday is where the action is. That’s when we’ll check in on the red-hot housing sector with October new home sales, and on the national economy with the second reading of Q3 GDP.

Advisers to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. are planning for the increasing likelihood that the United States economy is headed for a ‘double-dip’ recession early next year.

They are pushing for Democratic leaders in Congress to reach a quick stimulus deal with Senate Republicans, even if it falls short of the larger package Democrats have been seeking, according to people familiar with the discussions.

 

ON THIS DATE – 1963, if you were alive at the time. You will  never forget where you were and your feeling of shock.

 

SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

NFL Football Pick of the Week – Thursday 11/26, 5:20 PM (PDT), NBC: Baltimore Ravens (6-4) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-0). A loss to Baltimore could dim their playoff chances, an upset on Turkey Day, Ravens win 24 - 21.  (Season to date 9-2)

College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 11/28, 3:30 pm (EDT), CBS: A traditional SEC match-up, but will COVID strike this one down? We hope not. #22 Auburn Tigers (5-2) vs. ##1 Alabama AFLACs (7-0). Bama wins in a yawner 42 - 21.  (Season to Date 7-5).

2020 Season to Date (35 – 20)

 

Have a safe and heathy Thanksgiving

 

Next Blog: Transition and Jack Ass of the Month

Until Thursday December 3, 2020 Adios.

Claremont, California

November 23, 2020

#XI-18-424

1,843 words, six-minute read

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – 2020 Vacation, The New Yorker

 

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RINK RATS THANKSGIVING POLL – Your favorite Thanksgiving activity?

___ Giving Thanks

___ Eating

___ Family Walk

___ Watching the Detroit Lions Lose

___ Binge Watch Holiday Movies

___ All  of the above

___ Other

 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH – "May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.” ----- President John Adams on the White House State Dining Room’s fireplace

 

Rink Rats is a blog of weekly observations, predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments and questions. Also participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in Europe, Canada, South America and the United States.

Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010

Our Eleventh Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comfort

 

This is our comfort issue; Lord knows we need it.

Raise your wine glass if you need some comfort, read on please.

 

WORD OF THE WEEK - com·fort

/ˈkəmfərt/

Noun:

1.      a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.

"room for four people to travel in comfort"

2.      the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress.

"a few words of comfort"

Verb:

ease the grief or distress of, console.

"she broke down in tears and her friend tried to comfort her"

 

TOP FIVE COMFORT SONGS – Fire up Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, whatever:

1).        “It Will Rain”, Bruno Mars (Album: Take Me Home)

2).        “Someone Like You”, Adele (Album: 21)

3).        “Empire State of Mind”, Alicia Keys (Album: The Element of Freedom)

4).        “Senorita”, Shawn Mendes, Camilia Cabello (Album: Senorita)

5).        “Georgia On My Mind”, Ray Charles (Album: The Genius Hits the Road)

 

COMFORT FOOD – Tuna-Salad Sandwich, Julia Child Style

YIELD: 2 sandwiches

TIME: 10 minutes

This was one of Julia Child’s favorite dishes for a working lunch. For decades, Julia was on the road more than she was home and, when she returned to her beloved kitchen, she craved simple foods. For Julia, the important ingredients for this sandwich were the tuna (it had to be packed in oil) and the mayo (she preferred Hellmann’s). Her longtime assistant, Stephanie Hersh, said, “The rest was up for grabs.” Make it with capers, cornichons and chopped onion, a squirt of lemon juice and some herbs, serve it open-face on an English muffin or between slices of white bread, and you’ll have Julia’s midday signature.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE TUNA SALAD:

1 (5-ounce) can tuna packed in oil, drained

3 to 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann’s, plus more for spreading

3 tablespoons finely chopped celery

2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion, preferably Vidalia

3 to 4 cornichons, finely chopped

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, patted dry and chopped if large, or 5 olives, pitted and chopped

 Fresh lemon juice

 Salt

 Freshly ground pepper, preferably white

1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives or parsley (optional)

FOR ASSEMBLY:

2 toasted English muffins (preferably Bays) or 4 untoasted white bread slices

4 soft lettuce leaves, such as Boston

4 tomato slices

4 thin slices onion (optional)

PREPARATION:

Prepare the tuna salad: Using a fork, mash the tuna with 3 tablespoons mayonnaise. Add the celery, as much onion and chopped cornichons as you’d like, and the capers or olives, and toss to combine. Add a squirt of lemon juice, some salt (go easy at first) and pepper. Taste and see if you'd like more mayo, onion or cornichons. Add more lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the chives or parsley, if you’re using either. (Makes 1 1/2 cups.) The tuna salad is good to go as soon as it’s made, but it’s even better after a couple of hours in the fridge.

When you’re ready to serve, spread the muffins or bread with a little mayonnaise. If you’re using English muffins, do what Julia did: Make open-face sandwiches. Put a leaf of lettuce on each muffin half, top with tuna salad and finish with tomato and onion. If you’re using sliced bread, prepare traditional sandwiches: Top each of 2 slices of bread with 1 piece lettuce, tomato and onion, then spread over the tuna and finish with remaining onion, tomato, lettuce and bread.

TOP FIVE COMFORT MOVIES – Fire up Netflix, Amazon Video, Peacock, Hulu, whatever:

1). “Roman Holiday”

2). “Tootsie”

3). “When Harry Met Sally”

4). Julie & Julia

5). The First Wives Club”

COMFORT COLLEGE CHRONICLES – This past Saturday Saturday, Joseph R. Biden Jr. crossed the threshold of 270 electoral votes, and barring a successful legal challenge, the former vice president will become the country's 46th president on January 20.

Though this transfer of presidential power is shaping up to be anything but typical, and there are a few months to go until January, we can read the tea leaves to figure out what higher education could look like under the Biden administration. Here are three areas to look out for:

-          Campus sexual assault. During the Obama administration, Biden released federal guidelines for how colleges should handle reports of sexual assault — the 2011 "Dear Colleague" letter, as it came to be known. The guidance pushed colleges to take responsibility for doing all they could to prevent sexual assault and to punish perpetrators. Under President Trump, colleges were pushed to protect the rights of the accused. The move was a departure from years of Education Department policy.

-          Coronavirus cash. Congress remains under pressure to pass another stimulus bill to bolster an economy made frail by Covid-19. Many colleges are desperate for more federal assistance while the pandemic rages. Biden is expected in January to urge lawmakers to craft a stimulus measure, and higher-education funding could be part of that legislation. Here's the catch: Higher education is now a partisan issue, and if Democrats don't have 50 Senate seats, Biden will struggle to provide more federal funds to ailing colleges.

-          International students. Trump kicked off his administration by imposing a series of policies, including a travel ban, that discouraged foreign students from coming to this country. That could have a lasting effect on American higher education. In the 2018-19 academic year, the number of international students rose only 0.05 percent, according to the annual Open Doors survey. By comparison, in the 2014-15 academic year, that number grew by 10 percent. Biden will probably move in the opposite direction of the Trump administration and make policies that are more welcoming of foreign students.

Boston University is asking students to stay on campus and have "friendsgiving," as colleges split over holiday travel.

Many schools — including the University of South Carolina, Syracuse University and Emory University, plan to end in-person instruction ahead of the holiday.

Others are asking students not to go home. Health officials fear indoor gatherings and traveling will worsen the COVID spread nationwide.

If students do go home, experts recommend self-isolation, tests and flu shots.

The State University of New York system announced that its 140,000 students must test negative if they want to leave campus.

 

POLITICAL COMFORTS – Donald Trump is the only President in history to have been impeached, lost the popular vote, and be limited to a one-term presidency.

The House and Senate are both back this week. It’s House leadership election week in the Capitol, which means we’ll find out who is ascendant in the Democratic and Republican leaderships, and who will spend the next two years grumbling.

T leadership of both parties are all but set: Speaker NANCY PELOSI will lead House Democrats, and KEVIN MCCARTHY will lead House Republicans. But there are open questions: how many Dems vote against PELOSI, whether any dope will raise their hand to launch a half-cocked attempt to take PELOSI out and who will take the lower-level leadership slots.

The two elections are truly a tale of two parties: Democrats are holding their election virtually, and Republicans are holding theirs in person, Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. That’s right. Four hours. Mask deniers.

 

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Diana Krall (56), Gordon Lightfoot (82), Jack Meek …a cool Professor, Elizabeth Perkins (60), Lorene Thomas …. famous friend of college students, Sam Waterson (80).

 

EMAIL BAG – Good to hear this weekend via email from Joe O’Rourke (St. Lawrence, ’76). Joe, like all intelligent people, believes our current U.S. President is a wack job. Thank you, “O”, always glad to hear our friends north of the border think wisely.

 

OUT AND ABOUT – While on a rare restaurant visit this weekend to Matt Denny’s Ale House in Arcadia, California. We ran into an old friend and former proprietor of Matt Denny’s, Matt McSweeney. Matt looks great, he remains loyal to his Irish Whiskey, and is doing well in the world of consulting.

 

COMFORT MARKET WEEK - The S&P begins this week having closed at a record on Friday. Two things could be driving stock prices higher: 1) optimism about the arrival of an effective Covid-19 vaccine and 2) stronger than expected corporate earnings. Also, a reminder that the figures you see below are year-to-date changes.

MARKETS YTD PERFORMANCE

 

NASDAQ 11,829.29 + 31.84%

S&P 3,585.15 + 10.97%

DJIA 29,479.81 + 3.30%

GOLD 1,886.30 + 24.10%

10-YR 0.895% - 102.50 bps

OIL 40.46 - 33.90%

 

 

COMFORT DRIVING THE WEEK - Let’s get a couple of things clear, if we haven’t already. President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election by a pretty wide margin. Nothing can change that. He can Tweet. His supporters can march. And they can rage. None of it means anything. President-elect Joe Biden will take office on Jan. 20. So don’t waste any of your time worrying about any other outcome. Because there won’t be one.

What does matter is the Trump team’s complete unwillingness to engage in a traditional transition process at a time of maximum national peril. There is no question that Biden’s Covid-19 response plan has already been set back, meaning his approach to the economy is also likely to suffer from Trump’s completely fantastical intransigence.

 

COMFORT SPORT - We’re in the middle of a golf boom

In September, 25.5% more golf rounds were played than last year, which capped off a wildly popular summer for the sport.

Why? It’s the perfect quarantine activity. Socially distanced? Check. Dose of nature? You betcha. Anxiety reliever? Sometimes.

The backstory: As stay-at-home orders swept the nation in March and April, people began looking for a “corrective to stress” as the Financial Times’s Andrew Martin called it. And golf rose to the occasion:

We Are Golf, a coalition of golf organizations, collaborated closely with the federal government and the CDC to draw up guidelines to make the game safer. These included eliminating bunker rakes, leaving flagsticks in the holes, and limiting players to one per cart.

And in June, the PGA Tour became the first major U.S. sports league (besides UFC) to return to action.

Golf’s sudden appeal has benefited the business side of the game, too. 

As fun as the boom has been for fans of the game, when a vaccine trickles down the pipeline and more leisure activities become available, you have to wonder: Will golf be able to maintain its pandemic bump?

One promising sign: There’s a lot of new blood in the game. The number of junior golfers (ages 6–17) could increase by as many as 500,000 by the end of 2020, according to the National Golf Foundation.

As a golf hacker, my advice to people who want to grow the game is to make it more accessible. Less of the “tuck your shirt in, never play music” energy. More of “welcome to the game, here’s how to stop slicing the ball.” And for people who’ve never understood the appeal of golf, watch the final round of The Masters today on CBS Demand or You Tube. I promise you’ll be Googling “driving ranges near me” in no time. Fore!

 

SWAMI’S WEEK TOP COMFORT PICKS –

NFL Football Pick of the Week – Sunday 11/22, 5:20 PM (PDT), NBC: Kansas City Chiefs (8-1) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (6-3). How good is this year’s Raiders, we shall see? Nope not that good, Chiefs win 27 – 17.  (Season to date 8-2)

College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 11/21, Noon (EDT), Fox: #9 Indiana Hoosiers (4-0 vs. #3 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0). Coach Norman Dale cannot help the Hoosiers in this one, adios undefeated season. Buckeyes 40 – 24.  (Season to Date 6-5).

2020 Season to Date (33 – 20)

Have a comfortable week!

 

Next Blog: Thanksgiving 2020

Until Monday November 23, 2020 Adios.

Claremont, California

November 16, 2020

#XI-17-423

2,085 words, five-minute read

 

CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – Peanuts

 

 

 

RINK RATS COMFORT POLL – Your favorite comfort food?

___ Meatloaf

___ Mac N’ Cheese

___ Pizza

___ Grilled Cheese Sandwich

___ Chocolate Chip cookies

___ Other

 

COMFORT QUOTE OF THE MONTH – "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” ----- Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Rink Rats is a blog of weekly observations, predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments and questions. Also participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in Europe, Canada, South America and the United States.

Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010

Our Eleventh Year.

www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com