When did Thanksgiving become the New Christimas?

I think I missed the wagon, somewhere, when the Corporates who obviously control the world decided that Thanksgiving would be the new Christmas. I believe it should be against the law to play Christmas carols before the month of December. Call the Fire Investigator! Isn't it a fire hazard to start selling Christmas trees the November 19th. Christmas trees dry up, the poor lifeblood of the numerous evergreen pines is sucked dry each day until the 31st....I think I once heard a demonstration that a Christmas tree will burn to ashes in less than a minute...like an exploding roman candle. Picketers....should picket the injustice that is done to society...when holidays with true strength and character like Thanksgiving are shown aside for profit, consumerism and affluenza. Unfortunately, I got into a drawn out conversation with a college professor last week, he claimed that Thanksgiving is all about food. How sad it is when even the educators of the next generation forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving. I say donate the money you would spend on Thanksgiving to the homeless shelter, the food bank or UNICEF and eat peanut butter in jelly. Allow others to enjoy the riches of your spoil...give to those that have less. Find the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the blessing we receive. We receive these blessings in the form of family, love, conversation and friendship. Thanksgiving is about overcoming the selfish, arrogance of daily life and coming together with those that mean the most to us. Never forget that Thanksgiving isn't about the food. Food is a benefit and a pleasure...but not what the holiday is about.
Today as my family sat scattered throughout our living room sipping Applejack after the meal...that is when true Thanksgiving started. We set around telling stories and listening. My Grandfather told stories of his time in the army....about home brewing applejack. Grandma spoke about family nights in front to the fire. Mom and Uncle Mark exchanged hopeless tales of childhood mischief. Dad gave a hilarious car story. Eventually the conversation switched to politics, presidential candidates and finally to how much we love getting together. To me this is the recipe for a real Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Few Good Tips For College Students

Some of these tips are from personal experience, a couple in retrospect watching of friends, but mostly reflection on my last year of College. Honestly, I just wanted to collect some interesting things I have discovered:

Fun Tips:

1. A free lunch from a credit card company is never free
2. Credit cards may come in bright colors and promise big rewards, but the fees are brighter and bigger
3. Expensive books don't always mean Big pictures, but can be bought for half price from other students
4. Professors may have PHDs but that doesn't make them God
5. Sell ideas, not your soul to classes
6. Make Professors work hard, they make you work hard
7. Don't decide to send a nasty email to a professor until after the Final Exam
8. Just because you don't see the Campus Police checking for parking permits doesn't mean they don't
9. Going to the pub after failing an exam is a recipe for disaster
10. Motorcycle parking really is for Motorcycles
11. A speed bump at 55 mph or faster will ripe the exhaust pipe right out from under most mid-size cars

A little more serious:

1. Alcohol may seem like a good remedy for stress, but really it just creates more problems
2. College is the only time in your life where you get the chance to soak in so much knowledge, people, activities and networks don't waste it by partying to hard
3. Grades are insignificant measurements of learning and only follow you for a short time, Integrity or Dishonesty will follow you for the rest of your life.
4. College is 10% work, 50% using your head and 40% showing up
5. Just because your an adult doesn't mean give up on your Parents
6. Keep an Open mind, Don't forget where you came from and Leave your drama at home