News Nuggets 812

DAYLEE PICTURE: Colorful sea pens off the coast of New Zealand.  From National Geographic.

UP-FRONT THANKSGIVING NUGGET!!
Counting Our Blessings: From Twitter to Vegetarianism, 10 Things to Celebrate This Thanksgiving (Charles Kenny) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"...look more broadly at the state of the world and there's a lot going right -- so give that thanks and pass the gravy."

UP-FRONT OCCUPY WALL STREET VIDEO NUGGET!!
#Occupy Bat Signal for the 99% from YouTube
"Video from the #occupy bat signal crew. Inside look at this series of inspirational video projections on the side of the Verizon building on November 17th."
More OWS stories are below.

Al-Qaeda Targets Dwindle as Group Shrinks from the Washington Post
"The leadership ranks of the main al-Qaeda terrorist network, once expansive enough to supervise the plot for Sept. 11, 2001, have been reduced to just two figures whose demise would mean the group’s defeat, U.S. counterterrorism and intelligence officials said."

Springtime in Sudan (David Ottaway) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Omar al-Bashir's many opponents are organizing to end his 22-year rule. But can the Arab Spring reach Khartoum?"

The Euro's North-South Divide from the Economist [of London]
"A large chunk of the single-currency area has a chronic competitiveness problem, with a horrible mixture of high unemployment, low productivity and low investment."

In Supercommittee, Dems Moved Right and Republicans Moved Righter (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Frankly, it's hard to find even one area in which supercommittee Republicans offered a substantially new compromise -- or even matched what Boehner offered Obama."

UC Davis Chancellor Sorry for Pepper-spray Incident from Reuters via Raw Story
The chancellor certainly got a rough reception yesterday!
"Taking the stage following a parade of speakers who railed against her, Katehi told the crowd: “I’m here to apologize. I really feel horrible for what happened on Friday.” Many in the audience answered with boos and catcalls. ...  She left the stage after about a minute, looking shaken, and was hustled by security personnel to a waiting car, followed by a throng of media and a cluster of students yelling: “Don’t come back!”"

Occupy Movement Has Best Media Week Yet from the Pew Research Center
"A series of police crackdowns resulted in the biggest week of Occupy Wall Street media coverage since the protests began two months ago."

Where Does Occupy Wall Street Go From Here? ...a Proposal from Michael Moore from OpEdNews.com
"This past weekend I participated in a four-hour meeting of Occupy Wall Street activists whose job it is to come up with the vision and goals of the movement. It was attended by 40+ people and the discussion was both inspiring and invigorating. Here is what we ended up proposing as the movement's "vision statement" to the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street..."
The list of demands is *long overdue* and it works as a starting point.  My first thoughts on the list: (1) too many items, needs to have something simpler and more direct; (2) not much here for either young people (nothing on student debt) or home owners (nothing on the housing crisis); (3) (the BIG missing) not enough on causing jobs NOW.  One final note -- there's not a lot of creativity here.  There's something to be said for packaging a list of demands (such as the Contract with America or the New Deal).  Still this list represents a very good place to start.

Police Arrest 15 at Massachusetts Foreclosure Protest from Reuters via Raw Story
"Fifteen people were arrested at a sit-in against home foreclosures at a Bank of America branch in Massachusetts on Monday, while Tea Party supporters demonstrated across the street, organizers and police said. Roughly 350 supporters of New England tenants and former homeowners complaining about foreclosures by large Wall Street banks were joined by protesters from anti-Wall Street “Occupy” movements at a Bank of America branch in downtown Springfield."

Economic Dislocationin the GOP (Ross Douthat) from the New York Times
".. this [conservative] intellectual ferment coexists with a Republican primary season whose domestic policy debates have been intellectually vacant even by the low standards of presidential primaries. ... the highest-profile proposals have consistently been the dumbest..."

The GOP War on 'Smart Power' (Jacob Stokes) from CNN
"The concept of smart power was coined in 2004 to describe the belief that trade, diplomacy, foreign aid and the spread of American values should be employed alongside military force to achieve U.S. goals in the world. It brings together a mix of soft power, the proverbial carrot, with hard power, the stick, in order to achieve aims. The concept is so basic, so elemental as to be almost cliché – it’s foreign policy 101. And yet the Republican field has dedicated itself to rejecting it."

Gingrich Now Leads GOP Field in Positive Intensity from Gallup
"Newt Gingrich now leads all of his Republican presidential rivals in garnering positive image ratings from Republicans and Republican leaners nationwide -- marking a first for 2011. His +20 Positive Intensity Score gives Gingrich a sizable lead over Herman Cain, in second with +14, and Mitt Romney, in third with +11."
COOL!  And what are his numbers with Independents and Dems?  No +20 I assure you.

CNN Republican Debate: Winners and Losers (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post
"Another day, another Republican presidential debate. We live-blogged the whole thing but also took note of a few of the night’s winners and, yes, losers."

OBAMA NUGGET!!
Obama's 'Big Brother' Reggie Love Reveals President's Daily Demands from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"In a rare interview set to air on ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer tonight, Mr Love details what it’s been like to work for the commander-in-chief, who calls him ‘little brother.’"

ANOTHER THANKSGIVING NUGGET!!
The Pilgrims Before Plymouth from the Smithsonian Magazine
"A tour of the Dutch city of Leiden yields new insights into a chapter of the Thanksgiving story not taught in schools."

UNUSUAL PROTEST NUGGET!!
Around the World, Protesters Bare All for a Cause from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"Across the globe people are shedding their clothes for political causes. Chinese supporters of Ai Weiwei are posting nude pictures on the Internet, while an Egyptian art student has created a storm with her naked photos. It's the perfect way to addle authorities, but the protesters may end up paying the price."