In the U.S., it’s Thanksgiving.
We look around and there’s so much to worry about, get angry about, and dislike, that we wanted to spend a moment looking at what’s worth being thankful for. Here’s our random, off-the-top-of-our-heads list (with thanks to Richard Dutcher). Please help us add to it.
The New York Times is now making fun of George Bush on the front page
Barack Obama is the senator from Illinois.
Young feminists out there are doing serious work; this wave of feminism didn’t disappear in one generation.
Polio is almost gone.
We have the first (and not the last) vaccine for cancer, beginning with cervical cancer.
Bush was not able to go to war with North Korea, or with Iran.
The European Union is working and changing things: legal to be queer in Romania, the Turks outlawed the death penalty; they take food safety seriously, and they take ergonomics seriously
Queer marriage is legal in some states and some countries.
In California, you can’t lose your kids because you’re queer.
Oakland, California, has a good community school for students expelled for drugs, violence, and defiance, all students of color
All of Schwarzenegger’s propositions failed in California
Resources for fat women are much better than they used to be
The CDC was forced to admit that fat doesn’t kill hundreds of thousands of people each year.
The health at any size movement is getting noisy and getting public exposure.
In the U.S., there’s more access to fresh and natural food, including more gardens in the schools.
The Catholic Church is publicly supporting the theory of evolution.
China and India are both prospering and not fighting each other.
There is peace now in Northern Ireland, and it may even stick.
The Arctic National Refuge is at least temporarily safe.
Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy lots of fabulous food!