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Thanksgiving what's it really all about?

The Toninator

The Toninator

Muffin
Jul 6, 2001
5,436
17
High(ts) Htown
I was at a "dinner party" (i know scary enough) and a friend of mine was in from Germany and brought a chic with him from Israel.
Her simple question was "what is thanksgiving?" It was kind of scary to watch some of these "intelligent" people scramble for an explanation.
So what would you tell her?
And can you find Israel on a map?
 
Heidi

Heidi

Der hund ist laut und braun
Aug 22, 2001
10,184
797
Bend, Oregon
Sorry Tony, this is off topic - but on one of those news shows (60 Min, 48 Hours...) they did a study and only 11% of those polled could even pick the U.S. off an atlas.:eek:

Thanksgiving..in general...

Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them!
 
Tenchiro

Tenchiro

Attention K Mart Shoppers
Jul 19, 2002
5,407
0
New England
Originally posted by Heidi
Sorry Tony, this is off topic - but on one of those news shows (60 Min, 48 Hours...) they did a study and only 11% of those polled could even pick the U.S. off an atlas.:eek:

Click to expand...
That was theNational Geographic survey

Survey Results: U.S. Young Adults Are Lagging

Despite the daily bombardment of news from the Middle East, Central Asia, and other world trouble spots, roughly 85 percent of young Americans could not find Afghanistan, Iraq, or Israel on a map, according to a new study.

Americans ages 18 to 24 came in next to last among nine countries in the National Geographic-Roper 2002 Global Geographic Literacy Survey, which quizzed more than 3,000 young adults in Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States. Top scorers were young adults in Sweden, Germany, and Italy.

Out of 56 questions that were asked across all countries surveyed, on average young Americans answered 23 questions correctly. Others outside the U.S., most notably young adults in Mexico, also struggled with basic geography facts. Young people in Canada and Great Britain fared almost as poorly as those in the U.S.

Among young Americans’ startling knowledge gaps, the study found that

• nearly 30 percent of those surveyed could not find the Pacific Ocean, the world’s largest body of water;
• more than half—56 percent—were unable to locate India, home to 17 percent of people on Earth; and
• only 19 percent could name four countries that officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons.
Several perhaps interrelated factors affected performance—educational experience (including taking a geography course), international travel and language skills, a varied diet of news sources, and Internet use. Americans who reported that they accessed the Internet within the last 30 days scored 65 percent higher than those who did not.


EDIT - Israel is on the SE corner of the Mediterranean.
 
TN

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
Thanksgiving is a harvest celebration. The pilgrims would celebrate by putting on funny hats & shoes with buckles & feasting on that years harvest that they planted & worked on that spring & summer.

They were giving thanks for the bounty.
 
Serial Midget

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
Originally posted by TN_Fred
Thanksgiving is a harvest celebration. The pilgrims would celebrate by putting on funny hats & shoes with buckles & feasting on that years harvest that they planted & worked on that spring & summer.

They were giving thanks for the bounty.
Click to expand...
Bull crap. The pilgrims were a total failures at raising crops and reeping bountiful harvests... the indians bailed them out, gave them beer and tobacco products and generally showed the hapless bastards a good time. Later the pilgrims shot the indians, spread pestilence, small pox and other stuff.
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
Right on.


As my Tennesseean brother already stated, Thanksgiving is a celebration of the Harvest. A thanks for all you've recieved in the year. Forget the pilgrims and indians....thank whichever higher power you believe in that you're alive and kicking and full and able to ride.
 
TN

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
Originally posted by Serial Midget


Bull crap. The pilgrims were a total failures at raising crops and reeping bountiful harvests... the indians bailed them out, gave them beer and tobacco products and generally showed the hapless bastards a good time. Later the pilgrims shot the indians, spread pestilence, small pox and other stuff.
Click to expand...

I wasn't going to get into that......but......:rolleyes:


The pilgrims is what it is all about if you are in elementary school.....& i seem to be trapped in an adult's body......classic Peter Pan syndrome :p.
 
Serial Midget

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
Originally posted by TN_Fred



I wasn't going to get into that......but......:rolleyes:


The pilgrims is what it is all about if you are in elementary school.....& i seem to be trapped in an adult's body......classic Peter Pan syndrome :p.
Click to expand...
No chit. I'm only 13 and Indian corn confuses me. :monkey:
 
kafin8ed

kafin8ed

Devil Goat Boy
Aug 12, 2001
48
0
Woodland Hills, CA
Those of you unfamiliar with the true history of Thanksgiving may want to know the following: The U.S. History book's version of the origin of Thanksgiving Day looks suspiciously similar to the novel little 'pilgrim & Indian' scenes you see in shop displays during November. The U.S. History book spews out the rosey Thanksgiving tale like something out of a book of nursery rhymes. The true origin of 'Thanksgiving Day' is nothing close to the made-up tale in the U.S. History book. Here's the true historically accurate origin of what is now called 'Thanksgiving Day'. 'Thanksgiving' did not begin as a great loving relationship between the pilgrims and the Wampanoag, Pequot and Narragansett people. In fact, in October of 1621 when the pilgrim survivors of their first winter in Turtle Island sat down to share the first unofficial 'Thanksgiving' meal, the Indians who were there were not even invited! There was no turkey, squash, cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie. A few days before this alleged feast took place, a company of 'pilgrims' led by Miles Standish actively sought the head of a local Indian chief and an 11 foot high wall was erected around the entire Plymouth settlement for the very purpose of keeping Indians out! Officially, the holiday we know as 'Thanksgiving' actually came into existence in the year 1637. Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaimed this first official day of Thanksgiving and feasting to celebrate the return of the colony's men who had arrived safely from what is now Mystic, Connecticut. They had gone there to participate in the massacre of over 700 Pequot men, women and children, and Mr. Winthrop decided to dedicate an official day of Thanksgiving complete with a feast to 'give thanks' for their 'victory'. You will not find this true historic account in any U.S. History book.
 
Dog Welder

Dog Welder

Turbo Monkey
Sep 7, 2001
1,123
0
Pasadena, CA
So answer me this...why is it always held on the last thursday of the month? So that we can get a 4 day weekend and a jump start to the Christmas economic booster injection?
 
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