{"id":894091,"date":"2022-11-23T11:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=415041"},"modified":"2022-11-23T11:00:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T11:00:34","slug":"10-things-for-americans-to-be-grateful-for-at-thanksgiving-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/11\/23\/10-things-for-americans-to-be-grateful-for-at-thanksgiving-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things for Americans to Be Grateful for at Thanksgiving 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- BLOCK(photo)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PHOTO%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22RESOURCE%22%7D)(%7B%22scroll%22%3Afalse%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22width%22%3A%22819px%22%7D) --><div class=\"img-wrap align-center  width-fixed\" style=\"width: 819px;\"><!-- CONTENT(photo)[0] -->\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-415135\" src=\"https:\/\/prod01-cdn04.cdn.firstlook.org\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-90018290-thanksgiving-gratitude-2.jpg\" alt=\"UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1900:  Two turkeys out for a Sunday drive, unlikely! It is probable that these guys know what's coming and are leaving town in their classic automobile. The sender of the vintage postcard is obviously the one conveying wished for the Thanksgiving feast because the turkey probably will not enjoy the holiday as much.  (Photo by Buyenlarge\/Getty Images)\" \/>\n<p class=\"caption\">A postcard of two turkeys leaving town, circa 1900.<\/p>\n<p class=\"caption source\">\nPhoto: Getty Images<\/p><!-- END-CONTENT(photo)[0] --><\/div><!-- END-BLOCK(photo)[0] -->\n<p><u>Last year,<\/u> I wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/11\/25\/thanksgiving-america-gratitude\/\">an article<\/a> listing 10 things Americans should be grateful for on Thanksgiving. These included food, antibiotics, solar power, and the mites that live on your face. To encourage\u00a0everyone to get with the program, I didn\u2019t mention that at night these mites emerge from your pores and have sex (on your face).<\/p>\n<p>I know you want to believe this mite information is \u201cfake news\u201d from the MSM and Deep State. And it does seem exactly like what we&#8217;d say to demoralize the public and soften you up for the Great Reset. But I\u2019m afraid this is all too real; see the section starting at 2:15 here:<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(youtube)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22YOUTUBE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22sourceId%22%3A%22YW2eGaUzq7E%3Ft%3D135%22%2C%22sourceName%22%3A%22youtube%22%2C%22start%22%3A%22%22%7D) --><iframe width='100%' height='400px' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YW2eGaUzq7E?t=135' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen><\/iframe><!-- END-BLOCK(youtube)[1] -->\n<p>In any case, it appears that practicing gratitude is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org\/hometown-health\/speaking-of-health\/can-expressing-gratitude-improve-health\">good for you<\/a>. It improves your sleep and strengthens your immune system, and can even reduce chronic pain. So let\u2019s consider 10 more things we can all be grateful for this Thanksgiving, none of which involve the numerous eight-legged sexy mites which right this second are living on your face.<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(cta)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22CTA%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%7D) --><!-- END-BLOCK(cta)[2] -->\n<h2>Elon Musk<\/h2>\n<p>God bless this dork, seriously. No one in history has so clearly demonstrated that the ultrawealthy who run the world have absolutely no idea what they\u2019re doing. Generally they\u2019re smart enough to remain hidden behind their phalanx of money and guns. But with Musk\u2019s purchase of Twitter, he was willing to come out, shout \u201cHere we go, into the future!\u201d and then trip on his shoelaces and fall down 900 flights of stairs.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there\u2019s a downside here. A prominent linguist named Edward Sapir wrote this in a book published in 1921:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Everything that we have so far seen to be true of language points to the fact that it is the most significant and colossal work that the human spirit has evolved. \u2026 Language is the most massive and inclusive art we know, a mountainous and anonymous work of unconscious generations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is true\u00a0about language, and on a smaller scale is also true about Twitter. Twitter is a colossal work of art produced by hundreds of millions of people working together for free, with no particular goal in mind. They just all had a burning need to share their miscellaneous thoughts with the universe.<\/p>\n<p><!-- BLOCK(oembed)[5](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22OEMBED%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22embedHtml%22%3A%22%3Cblockquote%20class%3D%5C%22twitter-tweet%5C%22%20data-width%3D%5C%22500%5C%22%3E%3Cp%20lang%3D%5C%22en%5C%22%20dir%3D%5C%22ltr%5C%22%3Etwitter%20is%20a%20good%20way%20to%20let%20the%20swarm%20of%20bees%20inside%20your%20head%20out%20one%20by%20one%3C%5C%2Fp%3E%26mdash%3B%20%3F%20Jon%20Schwarz%20%3F%20%28%40schwarz%29%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2Fschwarz%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F435847036496125952%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw%5C%22%3EFebruary%2018%2C%202014%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fblockquote%3E%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fplatform.twitter.com%5C%2Fwidgets.js%5C%22%20charset%3D%5C%22utf-8%5C%22%3E%3C%5C%2Fscript%3E%22%2C%22endpoint%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fapi.twitter.com%5C%2F1%5C%2Fstatuses%5C%2Foembed.json%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22twitter%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2Fschwarz%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F435847036496125952%22%7D) --><br \/>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">twitter is a good way to let the swarm of bees inside your head out one by one<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ? Jon Schwarz ? (@schwarz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/schwarz\/status\/435847036496125952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 18, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><!-- END-BLOCK(oembed)[5] --><\/p>\n<p>So it will be terrible if Musk destroys Twitter, akin to Julius Caesar setting the Library of Alexandria on fire. Moreover, like Caesar, Musk will carry out his mass destruction not on purpose but by accident. On the other hand, at least Musk, unlike Caesar, is doing this in a way that allows us to <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/10\/28\/elon-musk-twitter\/\">point<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/11\/12\/elon-musk-twitter-media\/\">jeer<\/a> at him, on his own platform.<\/p>\n<h2>Functioning Elections<\/h2>\n<p>A belief in the legitimacy of elections allows humans to live with one another without intermittent mass slaughter. In 2020, Donald Trump decided this was less important than his feelings getting hurt. It\u2019s never been clear exactly who he claims rigged the election. Diebold? Hugo Ch\u00e1vez? Dark elves? But he convinced about<a href=\"https:\/\/www.poynter.org\/fact-checking\/2022\/70-percent-republicans-falsely-believe-stolen-election-trump\/\"> 70 percent of Republicans<\/a> that Joe Biden was not in fact elected president.<\/p>\n<p>This is extremely bad news. The U.S. electoral system is a kludge signed off on in 1787 by 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, who were driven largely by an understandable desperation to leave Philadelphia.\u00a0It is a janky, Rube Goldberg-esque machine filled with metaphorical dynamite that generally has failed to explode, thanks to minimal good faith on all sides. But in 2022, many Republicans ran for positions that control the election machinery, promising that if they won they would set this dynamite off. The stage was set for a huge calamity in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that almost all these Republican candidates lost. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/11\/19\/keri-lake-democrats-arizona\/\">still<\/a> dangerous<a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2022\/11\/arizona-midterm-results-2022-democracy-good.html\"> problems<\/a> facing us in 2024. But now we have a little breathing room to think about the many ways the voting system <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/11\/06\/nine-ways-the-u-s-voting-system-is-rigged-but-not-against-donald-trump\/\">actually is rigged<\/a> \u2014 not in Trump\u2019s imagination, but in reality \u2014 against the majority of Americans.<\/p>\n<h2>Thinking<\/h2>\n<p>At the funeral for my wonderful\u00a0uncle nine years ago, the priest explained that the first time he met every parishioner, he asked them what they most liked to do. My uncle, he said, responded that his favorite life activity was \u201cthinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Man, did I feel that. I hope someone will say that about me at my funeral. (I also hope everyone who speaks will be funny, although not funnier than me.)<\/p>\n<p>The point here is that reality is so bizarre and multifarious that pondering it will keep you busy and happy for 100 years. For instance, when a woman is born, her ovaries contain\u00a0every egg she will ever have. This means that half the genetic material you consist of was once <em>inside your maternal grandmother\u2019s body<\/em>. Wow! Also, yikes. I truly miss my uncle and wish I could sit around thinking about reality with him.<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(photo)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PHOTO%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22RESOURCE%22%7D)(%7B%22scroll%22%3Afalse%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22width%22%3A%22819px%22%7D) --><div class=\"img-wrap align-center  width-fixed\" style=\"width: 819px;\"><!-- CONTENT(photo)[3] -->\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-415137\" src=\"https:\/\/prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2022\/11\/GettyImages-113627852-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1800: Thanksgiving Day Menu. Cunard West Indies Cruise, 1930. R.M.S. Franconia. Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1930. (Photo by Universal History Archive\/Getty Images)\" \/>\n<p class=\"caption\">A completely unhinged illustration from Thanksgiving Day in 1930. Tag yourself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"caption source\">\nPhoto: Universal History Archive\/Getty Images<\/p><!-- END-CONTENT(photo)[3] --><\/div><!-- END-BLOCK(photo)[3] -->\n<h2>Buddhism<\/h2>\n<p>Life in 2022 America suggests that Buddhists are onto something with the concept of the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/kashgar.com.au\/blogs\/tribal-culture\/hungry-ghosts-their-history-and-origin\">hungry ghost<\/a>.\u201d Hungry ghosts are the remnants of dead humans who are\u00a0afflicted with insatiable desires they cannot satisfy.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian writer John Ralston Saul has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Voltaire_s_Bastards\/4hckbtcSqNIC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;bsq=%22they%20are%20subspecies%20of%20the%20larger%20group%22\">made the interesting argument<\/a> that Christianity, Islam, capitalism, communism, and Nazism all \u201cprosper through the cultivation of desire. \u2026 Of the great world myths, only Buddhism is centered on the reduction of desire in the individual.\u201d Is this true? I don\u2019t know, but if it is, Buddhism may be the only path forward for the survival of Homo sapiens sapiens. On the other hand, widespread Buddhism would cause the entire world economy to collapse, so it\u2019s a mixed bag.<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cAndor\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>One of my favorite things about Twitter is its thriving community surrounding the 2007 movie \u201cMichael Clayton\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><!-- BLOCK(oembed)[6](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22OEMBED%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22embedHtml%22%3A%22%3Cblockquote%20class%3D%5C%22twitter-tweet%5C%22%20data-width%3D%5C%22500%5C%22%3E%3Cp%20lang%3D%5C%22en%5C%22%20dir%3D%5C%22ltr%5C%22%3EThe%20world%20is%20imploding%20but%20at%20least%20Michael%20Clayton%20is%20a%20perfect%20movie%3C%5C%2Fp%3E%26mdash%3B%20Karen%20Kilgariff%20%28%40KarenKilgariff%29%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2FKarenKilgariff%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F877053467424051200%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw%5C%22%3EJune%2020%2C%202017%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fblockquote%3E%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fplatform.twitter.com%5C%2Fwidgets.js%5C%22%20charset%3D%5C%22utf-8%5C%22%3E%3C%5C%2Fscript%3E%22%2C%22endpoint%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fapi.twitter.com%5C%2F1%5C%2Fstatuses%5C%2Foembed.json%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22twitter%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2FKarenKilgariff%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F877053467424051200%22%7D) --><br \/>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The world is imploding but at least Michael Clayton is a perfect movie<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Karen Kilgariff (@KarenKilgariff) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KarenKilgariff\/status\/877053467424051200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 20, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><!-- END-BLOCK(oembed)[6] --><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve seen \u201cMichael Clayton,\u201d you already know this. If you haven\u2019t, please notify me so I can come over to your house to watch it with you, pausing it every 30 seconds to point out my favorite parts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael Clayton\u201d was written and directed by Tony Gilroy. Now he\u2019s taken his gargantuan talent and used it to make \u201cAndor,\u201d a Disney+ prequel to \u201cRogue One.\u201d It\u2019s difficult to understand how he was allowed to do this. An honest log line for it would have to read, \u201cWhat if all of the classic \u2018Star Wars\u2019 movies turned out to be childish fantasies masking unbearable tragedy? Plus\u00a0it cost hundreds of millions of dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Comptrollers<\/h2>\n<p>I get angry just thinking about how no one cares about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/comptroller\">comptrollers<\/a>. This is an important job that involves <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/11\/17\/la-kenneth-mejia-election\/\">keeping track of how governments spend money<\/a>, yet no one appreciates them except me. In fact, I have a secret fantasy life in which I serve as comptroller of the state of New York. I am willing to explain this to you in detail, right after we finish watching \u201cMichael Clayton.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(newsletter)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22NEWSLETTER%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%7D) --><div class=\"shortcode\" data-shortcode=\"newsletter\" data-campaign=\"\" data-cta=\"\" data-headline=\"\" data-layout=\"\" data-subhead=\"\"><\/div><!-- END-BLOCK(newsletter)[4] -->\n<h2>Radish Powder<\/h2>\n<p>Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, bok choy \u2014 incredibly enough, all of these cruciferous vegetables\u00a0are cultivated descendants of a single plant, <em>Brassica oleracea<\/em>. And all of them contain two precursors that turn into sulforaphane when you eat the plants raw. Sulforaphane, if you\u2019re a barbarian who doesn\u2019t know, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mdanderson.org\/publications\/focused-on-health\/sulforaphane-benefits--how-leafy-veggies-like-broccoli-and-bruss.h13-1593780.html\">appears to be<\/a> one of the healthiest things you can imbibe. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/nutrition\/sulforaphane#benefits\">may have<\/a> cancer-suppressing, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic properties.<\/p>\n<p>The problem here is that cooking destroys one of the sulforaphane precursors. Hence if you eat delicious steamed broccoli, you are getting far less sulforaphane then if you try to eat raw broccoli, which obviously is awful and unfit for human consumption.<\/p>\n<p>But radish powder contains the vulnerable precursor and is tasteless. All you need to do is sprinkle a little on your broccoli with garlic sauce, and it is just as good as eating the broccoli uncooked.<\/p>\n<h2>Menippean Satire<\/h2>\n<p>Not going to explain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordreference.com\/view\/10.1093\/oi\/authority.20110803100150176\">this one<\/a>. Iykyk.<\/p>\n<h2>Taylor Swift<\/h2>\n<p>On the assumption most people have eaten too much turkey and fallen asleep before getting to this part of this article, I am going to admit here that I love Taylor Swift. I just think she displays consistent craft in her songwriting, all right? I see the judgy face you\u2019re making, and I reject it.\u00a0You drew stars around my scars, but now I\u2019m bleeding!<\/p>\n<h2>Death<\/h2>\n<p>This is a tough one, but let\u2019s give it a shot.<\/p>\n<p>Are there aspects of death for which we can feel gratitude? There\u2019s Hamlet\u2019s viewpoint, which is that existence is an unbearable nightmare and hence death is \u201ca consummation devoutly to be wished.\u201d It\u2019s honestly amazing that this is taught in 11th grade English.<\/p>\n<p>Many other writers have had this glum perspective. One of the most eloquent is the British poet Matthew Arnold, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/43588\/dover-beach\">famously wrote<\/a> that this world contains \u201cneither joy, nor love, nor light, \/ Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain; \/ And we are here as on a darkling plain.\u201d The clear implication is that death is the only escape hatch.<\/p>\n<p>Only slightly less grim\u00a0was the vision of John Adams. When Adams and Thomas Jefferson were old men, they exchanged letters speculating on the purpose of grief. Adams <a href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Jefferson\/03-10-02-0332\">wrote to Jefferson<\/a>: \u201cWhither, for instance, can you and I look without seeing the graves of those we have known? \u2026 this indeed may be one of the salutary effects of grief; inasmuch as it prepares us to lose ourselves also without repugnance.\u201d\u00a0America loves to jabber about the Founding Fathers, yet this quotation somehow only appears in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=%22prepares+us+to+lose+ourselves+also+without+repugnance%22&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8\">four places online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, I don\u2019t experience life like this, and I hope you don\u2019t either. One of the most useful perspectives I\u2019ve found on this subject appears in \u201cLife and How to Survive It,\u201d a book co-written by John Cleese and his former therapist. The therapist, Robin Skynner, explains that embracing death is the only way for us to actually live. \u201cThose who fear death,\u201d Skynner says, \u201cfear to live fully; they are half-dead already by their own choice.\u201d But if you accept the fact of death, you can experience what Skynner describes as the secret of the universe: \u201cEverything is exactly like it is, <em>only more so<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This seems like a fruitful thing, with the right kind of family, to bring up at Thanksgiving. With the wrong kind of family, it could lead to a great deal of stress and possibly bloodshed. Either way,\u00a0happy Thanksgiving, and if you have a second, please visit me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/schwarz\">on Elon Musk&#8217;s Twitter<\/a> and let me know if there\u2019s anything important you think I\u2019ve left off this list.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/11\/23\/thanksgiving-america-thankful\/\">10 Things for Americans to Be Grateful for at Thanksgiving 2022<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/\">The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/11\/23\/thanksgiving-america-thankful\/\">The Intercept<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk, functioning elections, \u201cAndor,\u201d and death \u2014 Americans can genuinely give thanks for all these things and more this holiday.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2022\/11\/23\/thanksgiving-america-thankful\/\">10 Things for Americans to Be Grateful for at Thanksgiving 2022<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/\">The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":894092,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894091\/revisions\/894092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}