For those of you who enjoy Michael Moore's bitter comedy at the expense of
Corporate America, a Thanksgiving greeting.  (For those overseas, Flint is a
manufacturing town economically destroyed when General Motors moved its
automobile plants to find cheaper labor.)

                        --Best, Norm
>November 24, 1999
>
>Dear friends,
>
>Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I hope most of you are
>able to enjoy the day off to be with family and friends.
>I've always liked this holiday. I can't quite put it into
>words, but it does bring back a lot of memories from
>childhood, a time when it was not uncommon to have
>all your family members living in the same town.  I
>remember being at my grandmother's and the dinner
>table seemed so long, stretching from the living room
>through another large room my grandma liked to
>call "the parlor."  There was always snow on the
>ground at Thanksgiving (gone now, in our ozone
>depleted world), and we behaved ourselves over at
>the kids' table because we didn't want to mess up
>the big event on the following day -- going to see
>the "real" Santa at the Sears store on Fourth
>Avenue in downtown Flint.
>
>Of course, those days are gone.  The extended family
>is more like a diaspora now, spread from Hawaii to
>D.C., like most families these days.  The Sears
>(and the Penny's, the Montgomery Ward's, the
>Smith-Bridgman's) is gone, as is every single store
>on Fourth Avenue.  The real Santa?  No one has seen
>him since (although I learned later in life that the
>REAL Santa was actually on the 14th floor of
>Hudson's in downtown Detroit).
>
>This time of year also seems to bring out a generous
>spirit in people.  We give money to Toys for Tots, or
>spend a day in the soup kitchen, or gather together
>old clothing to give to the poor.
>
>This is good.  But wouldn't it be nice if we were able
>to fix the social problems we still face so that there
>would be no need for a soup kitchen?
>
>Beginning Monday in Seattle, a group of men (who
>own just about everything in the world) and their
>employees -- the various heads of state from dozens
>of nations -- will gather for a three-day meeting to
>sign a trade deal that will guarantee the rich will be not
>only filthy rich, but stinking filthy rich for decades to
>come.  The group is known as the World Trade
>Organization and their gathering will insure that
>many more of you will be looking for temp work in the
>near future.  The Third World, under the guise of
>development, will become just one big sweatshop.  I
>remember visiting some of the first "free trade"
>American factories in Mexico nearly 15 years ago.
>The politicians gave us the same line of hooey back
>then -- "It will raise the standard of living for the
>Mexicans!" -- and, as we all know, 15 years later,
>them Mexicans are all driving around in BMWs,
>shopping at the Gap, swimmin' in the backyard pool,
>and making "playdates" with neighbor's kids to go to
>the video arcade.
>
>So if you want to do something about this I encourage
>you to join the tens of thousands of citizens from
>around the world who are going to Seattle to take a
>stand against all this greed.   Numerous protests
>will be held throughout the city from Monday,
>November 29 through Friday, December 3.
>
>I know Seattle is a bit of a hike, so for those who
>can't make it, check out the many demonstrations
>and teach-ins taking place in towns around the
>country.  You can get more information by
><A HREF="http://www.peopleforfairtrade.org">clicking here</A>
>(http://www.peopleforfairtrade.org).
>I will be in Seattle, as will Ralph Nader, Jim
>Hightower and an array of students, union members,
>religious folk, and the people formerly known as
>middle class.
>
>Or if you want to do something right now, <A
>HREF="http://www.citizen.org/pctrade/mai/Sign-ons/WTOStatement.htm">click
here
></A>    (http://www.citizen.org/pctrade/mai/Sign-ons/WTOStatement.htm)
>to sign an on-line petition against the WTO.
>
>That's it.  Enjoy the turkey (the bird, not George W.),
>have fun with your families, and see you at the mall.
>
>Yours,
>
>Michael Moore
>http://www.michaelmoore.com
>
>P.S. Eliza Minot, an associate producer on "The Awful
>Truth" -- and one of our favorite people in the office --
>has written an incredibly moving and beautiful novel
>called, "The Tiny One."  It has just been published
>by Knopf and I encourage you to check it out at your
>local bookstores.
>
>And don't forget to watch the show tonight -- Crackers
>is back!
>