Happy Thanksgiving!

How splendid to observe a day for giving humble thanks to God! What tremendous blessings we have. “No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God ….” That is a quote not from the Bible or a preacher but from a president of the United States of America writing a legal document establishing a civil national holiday. Thanksgiving is for all of us!

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Gratitude means looking at something in your life with fresh eyes. It is seeing the value of a prize you already possess, the beauty in a treasure you already have. It is truly a prerequisite to happiness.

A lot of research shows that deliberately practicing thankfulness has measurable positive effects on mental and physical health. Activities like regularly writing down things you’re thankful for boost happiness, reduce symptoms of sickness, improve sleep quality, increase relationship satisfaction and connection, and train your brain to become more sensitive to positive experiences.

Considering how good gratitude is for us, it’s no wonder the loving God commands it! Over and again, the Bible tells us “be ye thankful,” “in every thing give thanks,” make every prayer “with thanksgiving,” give “thanks always for all things” (Colossians 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Philippians 4:6; Ephesians 5:20). We should be “abounding … with thanksgiving,” praising “God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Colossians 2:7; Hebrews 13:15).

Make the most of this beautiful holiday. Sports, politics and “buy one get one half off” pales in comparison, to say the least, next to “solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledg[ing] as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people” the blessings of God on this nation as we set apart and observe the last Thursday of November “as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

France prepares for ‘losing our children’ in war: France must be prepared to accept “losing our children” to “protect what we are,” Fabien Mandon, chief of staff of the French military, told the Congress of French Mayors last week. This caused a national stir, but French President Emmanuel Macron agreed, telling rtl radio on Tuesday, “If we want to protect ourselves … we must demonstrate that we are not weak against the power that threatens us the most.”

These statements were intended to prepare the minds of French citizens for the introduction of a new form of national military service. Many are worried that these preparations will draw France into a direct conflict with Russia in a fight over Ukraine. However, Macron explained:

We must really, at least for now, dispel any confusion that we are going to send our young people to Ukraine. That is not at all what this is about.

France and other European nations fear that confrontation is inevitable, and they are making dramatic societal, psychological, diplomatic and military changes.

This is leading to the fulfillment of Revelation 17:12-13: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”

In 1938, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in the Plain Truth: “There will be 10 kings, who have not yet received power as kings at the time of the vision, and therefore 10 dictators, who shall have come to power, in their respective 10 nations, and shall give their power to the beast—the Roman emperor, for the short space signified by the symbol ‘one hour.’”

Mr. Armstrong made this forecast while Europe was deeply divided and far weaker. Today, we see the leaders of Europe preparing their nations for war and calling for European unity, which will ultimately produce a new superpower led by one overarching leader.

Is Steve Witkoff undermining Ukraine?: A leaked phone call suggests United States presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is contacting his counterparts in Russia on how to best approach President Donald Trump with Russia’s position for a peace deal. The call happened October 14; Bloomberg published a transcript of the call on November 25.

• Witkoff told Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov he had deep respect for Russian President Vladimir Putin and that President Trump believed Russia has always wanted some sort of peace agreement.
• “Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Friday,” Witkoff said, referring to a meeting in which Ukraine obtaining U.S. cruise missiles might be discussed. “I will go to that because they want me there, but I think, if possible, we have the call with your boss before that Friday meeting.”
• Witkoff also recommended that Putin flatter Trump for his recently brokered peace deal between Israel and Hamas and that Putin express respect for Trump as a peacemaker, saying, “From that, it’s going to be a really good call.”
• Witkoff also recommended Putin be the one to pitch a multipoint peace plan to Trump based on the Gaza ceasefire.

When media asked about the call, the White House didn’t dispute its authenticity.

President Trump won last year’s election partially because he promised to bring peace to various world conflicts. He has chosen Witkoff, a former real estate developer with no prior diplomatic experience, as his point man for conflict mediation. A ceasefire has been implemented in Gaza, but it could collapse any day, and Russia’s carnage in Ukraine is unabated.

The Trumpet has previously reported on how both Witkoff’s negotiating style and President Putin’s intransigence are serious roadblocks to peace.

Britain’s billion-dollar fish disco: Britain has some of the highest electricity costs in the world. This week, we learned a startling reason why: fish discos.

It’s an insane example of a nation known for sumptuous manor houses and world-leading bridge, dam, canal and railway construction being paralyzed by pettifogging bureaucracy.

• Hinkley Point C is a $60 billion project to build Britain’s first new nuclear power station in 20 years. Ten years into construction, it’s massively over budget and ridiculously delayed. Government regulations required EDF Energy to spend nearly $1 billion to protect local fish. This includes $65 million for a “fish disco,” an acoustic treatment to keep fish away.
• How much salmon is Britain saving for $1 billion? One every 12 years. It should also save the life of one trout every 36 years and six lampreys a year. (Henry I famously loved the jawless fish so much that he died from a “surfeit of lampreys,” but even he would surely question the value for money there.)

This comes after Britain’s HS2 high-speed rail project spent $130 million on a 1-kilometer tunnel designed to save a colony of 300 bats.

• Britain has spent more planning and preparing to build a road tunnel under the Thames than Norway spent actually building the world’s longest road tunnel.

Britain’s bureaucracy is a behemoth. Most British adults rely on the state for their income, either in benefits or government paychecks. Even more get their money from the government as contractors. No small part of the mammoth state’s bureaucratic energy is expended on propagating rules that make it very hard for anyone to get anything done.

• Herbert W. Armstrong described his frustrations with building a college in Britain in 1960, and warned: “This purposeless, lethargic, pleasure and ease-seeking attitude of no goal except the existence of the moment, spells decadence! Every nation in history that ever got into this condition has perished!”

Spending $1 billion to protect a few fish isn’t exactly lethargic, but it’s certainly purposeless. It’s a symptom of a nation sorely lacking in vision. We are squandering more than money—we are sabotaging our capacity to create and build. Blind bureaucrats are unwittingly constructing Britain’s road to ruin.

IN OTHER NEWS

Hamas is back in Gaza: Jewish News Syndicate summarized intelligence discussed at a recent Israel Defense Forces meeting, reporting: “According to the assessment, 13 of Gaza’s 25 municipalities have returned to full activity—effectively meaning they are again being run by Hamas.” The recent Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal calls on Hamas to cede power in Gaza, but this latest news shows they don’t have plans for that.

Russia will export to China and India via a new route through Iran starting next year, the head of the nation’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said Monday. The road, rail and shipping route, called the International North-South Transport Corridor, will carry goods from Russia down through the Caucasus region and Iran to ports on Iran’s southern coast, where they will be shipped to China and India. This route will provide Russia with an alternate export avenue at a time when the West seeks to constrain it, thereby sustaining Russia’s war economy—thanks to stalwart support from its energy-hungry Asian allies.

Trump dramatically hurts Germany’s view of the U.S.: Three in four Germans polled in a recent Körber Foundation/Forsa survey of 1,503 adults rate German-American relations under Trump as poor. A year ago, under the Biden administration, 74 percent of Germans rated relations with the U.S. as good. At that time, only 10 percent saw relations with the U.S. as the nation’s biggest challenge: Today, it’s 33 percent. The drastic mood change shows how fragile this relationship is.

Guardsmen ambushed in Washington, D.C.: Two West Virginia National Guardsmen were shot about half a mile from the White House on Wednesday and are in critical condition. The suspected gunman was wounded and is in custody. Shortly after the shooting, President Trump posted that the perpetrator would pay “a very steep price.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that 500 additional National Guard troops will deploy to the capital as a result. The shooter’s motives are currently unknown, but the attack highlights the increasing violence within the nation.