Seniors lately are more likely to be scrutinized for any deterioration than recognized for their strengths.

Yes, Kamala Harris is the first Vice President representing several demographics, but President-Elect Biden is a sterling example of what older people can bring to the world.

Both leading candidates are in their seventies. The difference is that Biden has matured over the years. He brings more to the table than he would have in decades past.

In contrast, Trump brings notable personal weaknesses that he has not corrected.

Celebrating some of the personal challenges Joe Biden has faced and overcome

For starters, a lisp. It was a major problem in his youth, but he has managed it throughout his political career. Trump tried to trigger Biden’s stuttering in the debates and show Biden as mentally impaired Ridiculous. Stuttering is a speech problem, not an IQ problem.

A temper. They say Biden has a temper. Maybe so, but he manages it. While Trump goes off on wild tirades, Biden has achieved self-control.

Who can forget how Trump tried to set off Biden on the subject of Hunter? Biden turned the situation into a strength by identifying with families facing addiction problems. There are no signs that Trump’s relationships with his children are warmer, more supportive, more honest or more successful.

Too old and tired. No signs that he is too “sleepy” even though he doesn’t tweet at 3 am like his opponent. Biden knows how to maximize the energy he has. Trump needs more energy because he constantly hires and fires. Biden chooses people he trusts and lets them work

Moreover, Biden manages his time well. It appeared he spent a lot more time on debate preparation while Trump was content to speak off the cuff.

At the same time, Biden was working on transition plans, which is way beyond Trump’s temperament. What kind of political party has no platform beyond its candidate’s as yet undefined ideas? Egads!!

May we all age as well as President-Elect Biden

To be elected President is an honor but it is also a personal sacrifice. Anyone positioned to win the nomination and go on to victory can find other ways to make a fine living with personal privacy and independence.

Joe Biden accepted that running for President entails personal sacrifice. The next four years dramatically constrain his lifestyle.

Donald Trump also sees himself as making a sacrifice that the public doesn’t appreciate. He also seeks to benefit financially and legally far in excess of any sacrifice.

President-elect Biden has aged well in terms of character. May we all follow his example and face life’s challenges as opportunities for personal growth and greater service to all. And may he continue to serve as an example of the value of older people.

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Here’s the “first look” posting of beer released, both barrel-aged and ordinary, for Black Friday Weekend. Bourbon County Stout events at Goose Island have been sold out, but I’ve left up the links in case something happens to open up. And posting tasting at other beer establishments. Many other smaller brewers are also releasing barrel-aged stouts. Black Friday is followed by Small Business Saturday, but you shouldn’t need that as an excuse to patronize many of these places, especially during this troubled economic time.

Friday is also the postponed Record Store Day. Usually there’s a beermaker tie-in, at least from Dogfish Head. So far I havenot run across any for this year, but I will continue to update as plans fall into place. So please do check back!

Friday, November 27

Saturday, November 28

Sunday, November 29

When Bob Dylan mournfully crooned about the Times A-Changin’ in 1964 he would have scarcely imagined that a mere 56 years later the “Times” would include a pandemic, a social and cultural revolution, and powerful hunger – which never did go away, come to think of it.

Since family get-togethers around a 20-lb. turkey are a potential mine field these days, what better time to delay that tradition and still enjoy a nice turkey dinner with friends – virtually?

The experience is being offered by Gobble Doggs – a tasty turkey hot dog business that has been in operation in Chicago since 2012. Let’s say you are on the fence about the annual visit with aging parents and relatives in an environment today that can literally be as dangerous as a quick game of Russian roulette with the people you care about most in the world.

Gobble Doggs can create a virtual party package for you that allows a host to create an online ZOOM with friends and relatives that will have all the ingredients needed to do a fun, online demonstration of putting all the components together for a memorable meal.

Here’s how it works: a Gobble Doggs representative will provide step-by-step instructions to your virtual guests to create some of the best Gobble Doggs creations (ask about the Thanksgiving Gobble Dogg, with turkey stuffing, turkey gravy, and craisins). Plus, a few games and lots of laughs are thrown in. You can arrange for food drop-offs to your guests through Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub — or have deliveries made by Gobble Doggs (from DeKalb to the Indiana border to the Wisconsin border).

“People have had to adjust to lots of different ways of doing things,” said Gobble Doggs owner Annah Mitchell. “The longer we do it, the more normal it becomes – with things like ZOOM cocktail hours with friends and so on. I like the idea of helping people connect and share some good food and laughs while keeping safe.”

One of my Thanksgiving movies is “Broadway Danny Rose” in which talent manager Woody Allen gathers the folks in the acts he books for frozen turkey Thanksgiving dinners. The camaraderie is sweet and endearing:

Guaranteed, Gobble Doggs food is better.

Their Chicago Style hot dog is fantastic. It has everything you need, including yellow mustard, onions, green pickle relish, sport peppers, tomato wedges, spear pickle, and a dash of celery salt. Plus, you get a dog that is a bit healthier than your average 7-11 Big Bite.

I know that most people will not be dissuaded from their traditional, relative-heavy, belt-loosening Thanksgiving feast, even as the promise of a Covid-19 vaccination is within view. To them, I offer my best wishes for a healthy and happy gathering.

But for those looking for a different way to have turkey and invite friends to share in the meal, Gobble Doggs is out there. They can be contacted at: (331) 234-1280 or by email at [email protected].

Black Women Speak is the first historical book in 2020 that was produced after the tragic death of George Floyd. Floyd’s death had left Giselle Shapiro in a great deal of pain and uneasiness. Shapiro as with the rest of the world had witnessed the horrific mistreatment of a human being right before their eyes and eventual loss of life. Ms. Shapiro knew in her heart that the world ached for solutions that would ease their consciousness. The event also caused the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. It also ignited worldwide protests demanding an end to systemic racism, social and racial injustice, discrimination, and police brutality against Blacks and people of color.

Ms. Shapiro awoke one morning with the dream to create a collection of stories from Black Women. When George Floyd called out for his mother to save him from the officer’s mistreatment, we later found out that mom had already passed-away. Moms are the saviors of our world. 

Armed with an idea Giselle reached out to Dr. Anita M. Jackson of AMJ Productions and Publications and together they put the wheels in motion. It was a mere coincidence that Dr. Jackson had several years’ experience publishing anthologies. Ms. Shapiro assembled a total of 15 stories for the book speaking to women from different socioeconomic backgrounds and across the country to share her vision. 

The stories in Black Women Speak share real-life experiences offering readers a sense of hope, healing, optimism, and transformation at a time when the world needs it the most. Black Women Speak is guaranteed to inspire and uplift other women while educating the world about Black women. The Vice President-elect Kamala Harris ensures there is a need for the world to see us, hear from us, and know us for who we truly are. Black Women Speak deserves to be seen and heard.

Since the development of the book, Black Women Speak has become a movement. Ms. Shapiro launched Black Women Speak the Summit featuring co-author interviews on the newly created Black Women Speak TV Network. 

Black Women Speak Website: https://www.blackwomenspeakthebook.com/

Black Women Speak TV Network: https://www.blackwomenspeakthebook.com/black-women-speak-tv-network

Black Women Speak II will launch Fall 2021

Giselle Shapiro is founder and CEO of Black Women Speak TV Network, the Black Women Speak movement and Black Women Speak book series. Giselle is also CEO of GDS Productions, LLC and founder of LiteraryLaunch.com. Ms. Shapiro is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Contact Giselle Shapiro by email: [email protected]

Having a birthday at the end of November has always been sweet. Often my birthday falls between the Thursday and the Sunday of Thanksgiving week, which gave preretired me the day off work. I get to celebrate with family gathering for Thanksgiving, and who better to observe a birthday with than the people responsible for it? Unlike Christmas, there isn’t the stress of holiday shopping and decorating — at least not for me, although I’m happy to get presents.

This year my birthday falls on Thanksgiving Day. I may be spending it alone because of the pandemic.

Like everyone else, I’ve been struggling with what to do about Thanksgiving. My brother and sister-in-law will have 9 people at their home, including themselves. The advisory in their county, Will, allows up to 10 people. Health experts, however, are urging us to celebrate only with those who live with us. That would mean I’d spend the day alone.

Rick and Jeannine are taking precautions, especially to protect Mom, age 93, who has not seen us indoors since March. Mom will eat in the living room with one other person. After those in the dining room eat, they will put on masks and chat with Mom for as long as she wants. Then someone will return her to her assisted-living home.

Having done an excellent job of keeping residents from contracting covid, the home’s management is now trying to balance mental health with physical health. It will give pre- and post-Thanksgiving covid tests to those who spend Thanksgiving with their families.

“What if this turns out to be the last Thanksgiving for a resident?” the manager commented to me in a phone call last week, explaining the decision to allow residents out for the holiday. Throughout 2019, no one in my family expected it would be the last Easter, Father’s Day, birthday, and Thanksgiving for our seemingly healthy dad, who died December 22.

I’ll be honest: I’m worried about my mental health more than my mother’s. She is going to have Thanksgiving with family regardless, and one person fewer isn’t going to take much away from her enjoyment (unless the person she’s thinking about is my dad). I don’t want to be alone on my birthday.

Since my mother’s place will allow octogenarians and nonagenarians to have Thanksgiving with their families, could I give myself permission? I could have a covid test and quarantine until my sister Pat picks me up on Thursday; keep a mask on at my brother’s; be tested again when I return and quarantine until I know the results. As many health experts have said, the testing and quarantining approach isn’t foolproof but “does give you some measure of protection,” a Northwestern Medicine physician said in the Chicago Tribune.

How do we make these decisions? I recently kept a commitment to help package hot meals for my church’s food ministry. It could be argued that feeding the hungry is an essential activity. I have offered to give a friend’s parents one of my Chicago Greeter tours. We’d have the relative safety of the outdoors. Last week I got a haircut and took public transportation to see an exhibit before the museum shutdowns. Neither was essential. Everything is a calculated risk, one decision may not be consistent with the one before, but a thing I’ve been conscious of all along is how isolation affects mental health.

“It may be important for many people’s mental health to see their family members for the holidays, and testing can help facilitate that,” Dr. Rahul Khare, CEO of Innovative Express Care, told the Tribune. “There’s nothing wrong with seeing them, but do it responsibly.”

As my family focused on keeping Mom safe, I reminded myself of my responsibility to not spread the virus back in Chicago. If I go to my brother’s, I’ll repeat the test and quarantine strategy afterwards.

As soon as Thanksgiving is over, we’ll be thinking about what to do about Christmas. My sister Nancy has invited us all, including Mom, to suburban Indianapolis as long as we each have a covid test and quarantine beforehand. I would need to test and quarantine two more times, before and after that visit.

To keep my options open for Thanksgiving, I stood in line for 2½ hours Saturday to have a covid test and prepared to quarantine for the four days following. Thoughts about what to do flip-flop several times a day. I may not make a final choice until I wake up on Thursday.

That’s really all I have to say about that.  Except that it’s criminal that one candidate can receive over SIX MILLION MORE VOTES than the other and his victory still be called into question.

What does a person have to do to win in this country?  Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security called this the most secure election in American history.

Joe Biden won the same number of electoral votes (306) that Trump called a landslide back in 2016, only Biden won Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania by much bigger margins than did Trump four years ago.

President Barack Obama invited Trump to the White House just days after the 2016 election.

The President and Mrs. Obama could not have been more gracious to the man who put all of their lives at risk by spreading dangerous lies about the legitimacy of President Obama’s qualifications for the power.

Lies that he promised to substantiate and offer proof of, just as he has about so many of his lies, just as he promised to offer up his tax returns.

No, they ARE NOT under audit.

By pressuring election officials and lawmakers, Trump is literally trying to end democracy in America.  He doesn’t want to be elected by the people, he wants to be appointed by Republicans who will succumb to his abuse of office.

That should not just offend, but scare the bejesus out of every American, even loyal Trumpsters.

Whatever happens, this is a dark time in America.  Assuming that Joe Biden takes the oath of office on January 20, 2021, his ability to respond to the pandemic and to secure America on an international scale will be hampered by a selfish, corrupt, ignorant man who thinks only of himself.

Four years is not enough time for anyone to fix what Trump has broken and, in Trump form, he will blame it all on his successor.

The cruel irony is that, as usual, Trump and his team of self-righteous, self-serving sycophants is attempting to do exactly what they are accusing everyone else of doing; rig an election.

As usual, Vladimir Putin is the winner.

And that really is all I have to say this morning.

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