Awww, where's Abi when you need her???
I have no interest in American traditions.
I have no interest in continental european ones either so I dont have a Tree in my living room at what christians call Christmas.
American friends of mine are holding extra special Thanksgiving celebrations this year - to give thanks that they aren't facing four years of Sarah Palin - oh, and that bloke she was running with. Still not having pumpkin pie this side of the pond tho - yeuch!
I think thanksgiving is a marvellous tradition. Each year I give thanks for the Atlantic ocean and the fact that the americans are far away on the other side of it !!
I don't know what the fuss is all about, only America could make a big thing about the Harvest Festival. Most of us Brits forgot all about it once we left primary school.
Bush 'pardons' his last Thanksgiving turkey
Wednesday, November 26 08:28 pm
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With nostalgic words, US President George W. Bush Wednesday pardoned his last national Thanksgiving turkey, which will now fly first-class to Disneyland in California instead of ending up on a dinner table. Skip related content
With the necessary gravity and gobbling accompanying the ceremony, Bush pardoned the bird, dubbed Pumpkin and a backup bird, Pecan, who was nowhere to be seen, "in an undisclosed location," Bush joked.
"In recent weeks, I've talked a lot about sprinting to the finish. Yet I've assured these turkeys they will not be trotting to their finish," Bush said on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, his last before his term ends in January.
"That's because in keeping with a longstanding tradition, Pumpkin and Pecan are hereby granted a full and unconditional presidential pardon."
Both birds will fly to Disneyland, where Pumpkin is set to be the honorary marshal of the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
"Together, these birds will gobble the rest of their days in 'The Happiest Place on Earth.' I just hope they stay humble there," Bush added to laughter from the crowd.
But in a letter to Bush on Tuesday, the animal rights group PETA called on the president to send the turkeys to an animal sanctuary instead.
"You might be a lame duck, but you still have the power to help lame turkeys, who are made that way by the cruelty of the meat industry," PETA president Ingrid Newkirk wrote in the letter.
The ceremony continued as planned, with families across America set to dine over a main course of turkey Thursday.
Bush expressed his thanks to American troops and his family, noting that he was "looking forward to having another place at our Thanksgiving table with a son-in-law," Henry Hager, new husband of Bush's daughter Jenna.
The president is scheduled to spend the long Thanksgiving weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.
to all the Americans on the site. 
