The true meaning of Thanksgiving
Commentary:
(MoneyWatch) I don't know about you but to me holidays are just a great big excuse to goof off. Thanksgiving's got to be my favorite. No gifts to give or religion to fake -- just four fun-filled days of food and football with family and friends.
This year's a little bit different. This year, I don't think I can successfully pull off pulling the wool over my own eyes the way I usually do. There's just too much stuff going on that's bugging me. Come Thursday, the last thing I want to do is bring everyone down. So I'm going to purge myself of all the junk that's on my mind. Here goes.
The joke that is HP. Who would have thought that one company's management could make more dumb, self-destructive decisions than those of Yahoo, Sony, Bank of America, Nokia and Blackberry maker Research in Motion combined? Not only is Hewlett-Packard a laughingstock of Silicon Valley, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Now CEO Meg Whitman is blaming most of an $8.8 billion writedown on yet another botched acquisition that just about everyone saw coming but her predecessor, Leo Apotheker, and on HP's board, which she was on at the time. It's sad, really.
The Middle East. Here we go again. I'm not a religious person but if you are, now might be a good time to pray for peace. I'm just saying.
The tragic loss of an American icon: Twinkies. No, I haven't had one in decades, but it was my favorite when I was a little kid. I used to eat the ends first and slowly work my way toward the creamy middle. Then I discovered Ring Dings, Yodels, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats. It's a miracle that I'm not a ginormous diabetic with bad skin. Anyway, in what universe is it a good thing for a union to force Hostess into bankruptcy and cost its members their jobs?
The General David Petraeus scandal. While the FBI was investigating allegedly harassing emails sent to Florida socialite Jill Kelley, a relationship between biographer Paula Broadwell and CIA Director David Petraeus came to light, prompting the highly decorated general to resign. But wait, there's more. Now the agency is probing "inappropriate" emails between Kelley and Gen. John Allen, and Kelley's twin sister has hired celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred and held a press conference thanking the generals for supporting her in a custody battle. Is this a bad soap opera or what?
Complete Coverage: The Petraeus affair
The economy. The outlook for 2013 isn't all that great and I, for one, am not looking forward to yet another bleak and depressing year. Come to think of it, maybe it's time to break with tradition and break out the Nouveau Beaujolais a day early. I might need to pick up a few extra bottles this year.
Image courtesy of Flickr user roberthuffstutter