A good-natured President Barack Obama on Wednesday spared the lives of two turkeys that played their own parts perfectly.In what has become a Thanksgiving-eve ritual, Obama offered a presidential pardon to "Apple" and its pal "Cider." The turkeys remained calm and statesmanlike as the president blessed them with a pointed reminder of his own recent political woes."Let me say," Obama said, "that it feels pretty good to stop at least one shellacking this November."Officially, Apple is now the National Thanksgiving Turkey. Cider is the feathered understudy. Both of the 21-week-old birds were raised on the Foster Farms' Wellsford Ranch, outside of Modesto, Calif. Both will now live out their remaining days at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.The turkeys will be part of a special holiday display through Jan. 6, and then will live with the estate's other livestock.Yubert Envia and Ira Brister of Foster Farms served as the chief turkey wranglers during the Rose Garden ceremony. Before the event began Wednesday morning, Brister stood by while Apple gobbled away and checked out part of the Rose Garden.Weighing in at 45 pounds, Apple attracted some tart audience observations about size that cannot be reprinted in a family newspaper.While Obama spoke, Envia gently stroked Apple. It was also Envia to whom the self-described "leader of the most powerful nation on Earth" directed a post-pardon question."That's some kind of wattle," Obama marveled, upon approaching Apple. "Can someone explain to me what this whole wattle thing is about?"For the record, a turkey's wattle helps keep the animal cool. It also serves as a show-off display. If they had had time, before the 10-minute-long event concluded, both Envia and Brister could have told Obama that, and a whole lot more.Envia is the Foster Farms vice president for turkey and prepared food operations. He is also the chairman of the National Turkey Federation, which represents the commercial ranches that produce some 247 million turkeys annually. Foster Farms is ranked seventh nationwide among all turkey producers.Brister is the Foster Farms turkey grower, a 31-year veteran of the poultry business. Brister directly oversaw the upbringing, selection and extensive pre-White House schooling of Apple and Cider."You don't want to wait until the last minute to start training them," Brister noted. "These are animals. You never know how they're going to react."Apple, Cider and 23 other contenders were selected for special treatment when they were about 5 1/2 weeks old. The 25 turkeys were removed from the general population and sequestered in a specially constructed, 750-square-foot turkey barn.Usually, turkeys are raised in facilities than span 20,000 square-feet or so. Also, turkeys usually are killed and eaten.As part of their training, and selection, the candidate turkeys were exposed to music and crowds."It's kind of like a turkey version of 'Dancing with the Stars,'" Obama said, "except the stakes for the contestants were much higher."Their names, kept under tight wraps until Wednesday, were selected by schoolchildren participating in California's Agriculture in the Classroom program.In Washington, too, the turkeys have been in the lap of luxury since arriving Sunday. Accompanied by Brister and Envia, the animals were carted to the W Washington D.C. hotel, two blocks from the White House.The turkeys slept in their own room, specially prepared with shavings on the floor. Whether Apple and Cider pecked access to the on-demand movie option is a matter between them and their handlers."We're pet-friendly," hotel general manager Ed Baten said, "although we usually don't see fowl."The event Wednesday marked the 63rd time that a president has recognized a National Thanksgiving Turkey. The public relations conceit of a pardon only began with the first President Bush, in 1989. Before that, the birds served a more functional purpose."They used to eat the turkeys," Envia said.Read more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/24/1942139/obama-pardons-2-turkeys-on-thanksgiving.html#ixzz16GLp8tej
Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, has lost a bit of its luster as hungry retailers try to stretch the one-day shopping bacchanal on the day after Thanksgiving into a weeklong bonanza.Big chains including Sears and Toys R Us have joined Wal-Mart and Kmart in offering Thanksgiving Day hours. Others have already begun hawking massive discounts and pushing online deals. And to keep the party going past Friday, many retailers will offer fresh discounts Saturday and Sunday.There's a lot riding on the outcome. Retailers hope an improving economy will bring the biggest holiday receipts in four years — and if they succeed, it could help set off a chain of events that could accelerate the country's slow recovery, said economist Esmael Adibi of Chapman University."If the retail sector is healthy, that will eventually lead down the road to expansions, and expansions lead to hiring," he said. "Additional hiring generates more income, and then that income in turn will be spent. It's a multiplier effect."Wall Street was feeling optimistic about the retail industry as it headed into the all-important Thanksgiving weekend. Continuing a recent run-up, investors pushed an index of 90 retail stocks to the highest level in more than three years Wednesday, with Guess shares gaining 11% and shares of Amazon.com, Tiffany & Co. and Big 5 each rising more than 5%.Consumer spending at the nation's retailers, although not robust, has been generally healthy all year. So economists are predicting the best holiday season since 2006 (before the recession) and are estimating a year-over-year retail sales increase of 2.3% to 3.5%.Despite the earlier-than-ever holiday deals this year, habitual Black Friday shoppers say they'll still be out in force for the annual shopping extravaganza.Many have been gearing up for days, drafting store layout maps and lists of things to buy, and plan to wake up in the middle of the night — or not sleep at all — so they can be the first to hit the malls. Last year 79 million Americans shopped on Black Friday, which is said to be so named because it was historically the day when huge revenue would push retailers into the black."People cutting in line, people trying to start fights, people pushing in line as they start going inside — I don't know, I like it," said Sam Sanders, 33, of Ontario, who has shopped on Black Friday for the last eight years. "Rushing in to get the product before it sells out — that's like the best part."With shoppers indicating that they're willing to spend again, albeit cautiously, retailers have added more holiday deals and spread the usual 24-hour Black Friday discounts over several days, hoping to one-up rivals and seize market share."It's our most intense promotional calendar yet. We've really gone on the offensive this year," said Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer at JCPenney, which will have more than 300 Black Friday "door-buster" specials and will offer online-only deals Thanksgiving Day. "We know there's a lot of very hungry competitors that are going to do just about anything to get business."For the first time, Toys R Us stores will open at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving, with 25% more door-busters than last year, and Sears will be open Thanksgiving Day.To kick off Black Friday, most Wal-Mart stores will host midnight events, handing out treats such as breakfast bars and chocolate to help keep overnight shoppers energized; the discounter will have a fresh batch of deals Saturday. Target will open at 4 a.m., an hour earlier than last year, and is offering more door-buster deals than ever before; Kohl's is touting its earliest-ever opening, at 3 a.m.Locally, Citadel Outlets will again be open at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Two hours later, shopping centers including the Shops at Montebello and Lakewood Center will open for midnight-madness events, their earliest-ever openings. At Ontario Mills, which also opens at midnight, the mall will use social networking for the first time on Black Friday to hype last-minute deals.Retailers said the motivation for throwing their doors open earlier and rolling out more deals was the notion that although many Americans are no longer pinching pennies, they're still price-conscious and looking for bargains. Lower-income Americans, especially, are still struggling."Yes we're being aggressive this year, much more so than last year," said Steve Nave, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart.com. "I think everyone is cautiously optimistic that things are turning around in the economy, but the Wal-Mart customer is still especially strapped right now."Every year Delene Mitchell, 42, and her friends hit the stores on Black Friday right after finishing the last of their pumpkin pie."We just sit up, drink some wine and go shopping," she said of her Thanksgiving ritual. "We don't go to bed."She'll continue the tradition this week, but after being unemployed for most of the year, the Burbank resident is looking for more than just a good time.
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