Commentary: Some Observations on My Nine-Week Christmas

This year, the Christmas spirit knocked at my door two weeks before Thanksgiving, smiled coyly, and settled in like some stray feline who’s struck gold with a warm hearth and a bowl of Friskies Seafood Sensations. Never before had this spirit arrived so early and so unexpectedly.

It started with a review copy of Faith Moore’s Christmas Karol, a novel that copycats the plot of the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. Here we meet Karol Charles, an attorney obsessed with success and money to the detriment of her husband, her two young children, her sister, and her employees. Like Ebenezer Scrooge, Karol is visited on Christmas Eve first by her deceased partner and then by three spirits of the season. Most of the action takes place in a hospital, a stroke of inspiration on Moore’s part as hospitals serve both the dying and the recovering. When we meet her, Karol’s soul is most decidedly on the critical list.

Read More

Survey: Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner Down Slightly from Last Year’s Record High

Thanksgiving dinner shoppers will get a bit of a break in the pocketbook this year. 

Illinois shoppers participating in the annual American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Thanksgiving Cost Survey reported the average cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal is down slightly compared to last year. 

Read More

Commentary: The Meaning of Thanksgiving Can Save America

Thanksgiving, according to Britannica.com, has come to “has come to symbolize intercultural peace, America’s opportunity for newcomers, and the sanctity of home and family.” This definition captures the ideals, more relevant than ever, of one of America’s favorite holidays. But these ideals are threatened, because America’s mainstream institutions have either rejected them, or have created an environment where they are no longer possible.

This is immediately obvious with the “woke” doctrine of race-based oppressor and oppressed, now promoted by academia, the media, entertainers, politicians, and corporations. Maybe the fellowship of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians is mostly fable, cruelly debunked by history.

Read More

Analysis: The Unfinished Work Congress Is Leaving Behind as It Breaks for Thanksgiving

Both houses of Congress have adjourned for two weeks until after Thanksgiving even as major legislative work that must be completed before the year ends remains unfinished.

Read More

Higher Prices Hit the Holiday Season as Black Friday Approaches

Americans will pay higher prices for a range of goods and services for the Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday shopping this year, and it looks like things may only get worse as we draw nearer to Christmas.

Those driving for the holidays and of course those preparing the Thanksgiving meal will pay the price this year. Federal inflation data from the Commerce Department shows energy costs have risen 17.6% in the past year, and overall food costs increased 10.9% in the same time.

Read More

Farm Bureau Survey Finds Thanksgiving to Be the Most Expensive Yet as Cost Rises 20 Percent

Thanksgiving dinner will cost 20% more this year compared to last year, according to a Farm Bureau survey published Wednesday, with the market signaling record-high prices for the second year in a row.

The average cost to feed 10 people for Thanksgiving will be $64.05, or under $6.50 per person, the Farm Bureau said. This is a $10.74 or 20% cost increase from 2021’s average of $53.31, which was also a record high at the time, according to historical data.

Read More

Americans Can Expect Record-Setting Gas Prices over Thanksgiving

The average national gasoline price during Thanksgiving will be at its highest level since 2012, according to estimates from the fuel-saving app GasBuddy.

Thanksgiving gas prices on average will hit $3.68 per gallon, almost 30 cents higher than they were during 2021 and more than 20 cents higher than the previous record of $3.44 a gallon set in 2012, according to a GasBuddy news release. Gas prices have reached record highs in 2022 due to increased post-pandemic demand, fuel-refining constraints and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Read More