Happy Thanksgiving! (A Special Comment)

Turkey jokes aside, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Reflecting on this world, I only know two absolutes. Neither of them are about science or religion, though people on both sides would argue their involvement. And not one of them has to do with change because some things never change. On planet Earth, there has always been poverty, hunger, violence, despair and tragedy. Pain. On the other hand, there has also been family, friends, beer, sex, goodwill from strangers, large and small acts of kindness. Pleasure.

The purpose of this day, as it appears to me, is to remember the pain and give thanks for the pleasure at home and in the world. Our tradition is to be home with our families this day and have dinner together. Unfortunately, my family is parted this year. The paths we choose don't always coincide for the holidays, do they guys? However, each of us is thankful that at least, physically, we are out there... somewhere. Our encouragement and support is with each other always, no matter where we may be. I'm thankful for this. This goes for my friends also. You know who you are.

This morning, I woke up and, as usual, turned on CNN. As I shake the cobwebs out over a cup of tea, I like the background noise of anchormen forcing puns on today's headlines. But today there was no pun. I watched a segment about Baghdad where, due to the obscene number of killings, families are flooding the morgues, searching for their lost ones. There are so many people waiting in the lobby, that the workers at the morgues can't allow the families downstairs to identify the bodies. So, they've provided video screens. Dozens, if not hundreds, are all jammed in their together watching images of the deceased, one after another. They are watching to see if they recognize a family member. Some are difficult to recognize because they haven't even been cleaned up. Once a family identifies a body, they wait out in the street with a flimsy coffin.

Waiting for my classes to start, I'm reminded of one of Ataturk's famous sayings (in Turkey, aren't they all?): "Peace at home, peace in the world." For all those aid-workers, volunteers, fund-raisers and peacemakers out there, I'm thankful for you.

For you vegans, animal-rights activists and environmentalists who see the meat industry as destroying our planet, if you are right, then good luck. It's not easy going against tradition.

The world is a painful place for all Earth's creatures, I'm thankful for any pleasure any time we can get it.

So, I lied. I'll end this special post on a turkey joke.

A few weeks ago, I was watching the football match between Turkey and Hungary with some of my Turkish friends. They were joking about Hungary's name: "Hey, I'm Hungary." "What do you wanna eat?" -- this kind of thing. As they were laughing and carrying on, I said, "If you're so Hungary, why don't you eat a Turkey?" The smiles dropped from their faces.

"That's not funny."

Happy Thanksgiving! love, Jack