Giving Thanks 2006

  So, Turkey Day is upon us again, and while we’re scurrying around to prepare next week’s leftovers, let’s not forget the spirit of the holiday.  Thanksgiving is more than the bird and the beer, the football and the family.  Take a moment while the rolls are in the oven, or while Mariah or Sheryl Crow are performing at halftime, to reflect on the things for which you are thankful.

  Each Thanksgiving, as the turkey thaws and the relatives arrive, it has become a tradition for me to prepare a list of these things.  I encourage you to do the same.

  ·  I am thankful that CBS is standing up for themselves against the FCC, and challenging the $550,000 fine levied against them for Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl performance.  The commission, which once believed that images that were “fleeting, isolated or unintended” should not automatically be considered indecent, has since abandoned that reasonable stance, and CBS is fighting them in the 3^rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The heretofore unchecked, unbalanced Commission is now being taken to task, and for that I’m thankful.

  ·  I am grateful that I didn’t buy stock in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. after learning that the company would run the O.J. Simpson special, “If I Did It.”  In the special, which was scheduled to November 27^th and 29^th, Simpson discusses, “hypothetically,” how he would have killed his estranged wife and Ron Goldman, if he had done it.  News Corp’s publishing arm, HarperCollins/ReganBooks, planned to release an accompanying book (just in time for the holiday shopping season.)  Both projects have been shelved after an uprising of contempt, led partly by a site, DontPayOJ.com, launched by Goldman’s family.

  ·  I am thankful that the hip-hop world has Jay-Z again.  The music mogul cut his retirement-as-an-artist short, and released his new CD, “Kingdom Come,” on Tuesday.  Jay-Z raises the bar for other rappers, and the music world is richer because of the king’s return.

  ·  I’m glad that Paris and Nicole seem to have settled their differences.  According to E! Online’s Hollywood Party Girl, the two were seen earlier this month arriving at a party together.  Nicole even introduced Paris to someone as quote, “my best friend.”  You know, everyone deserves a best friend, and those two certainly deserve each other. 

  ·  On a more serious note, and again this year, I think we should give thanks to our troops, fighting for our freedom in the Middle East.  They’re putting their lives on the line, spending the season away from their families so that we can be with ours, and for that I’m appreciative.

  I am also thankful for my family, my friends, and a job that I love.  I’m thankful for the opportunities that I have been given, and for my health.  This Thanksgiving weekend, set aside a moment or two to genuinely give thanks for the things that you may take for granted throughout the year.  We really do have a lot the be thankful for.

 -From Pulse
   November 23, 2006