News Nuggets 813

DAYLEE PICTURE: Something to be very thankful for - the northern lights.  From National Geographic.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

The News Nuggets will be on hiatus until Monday the 28th.  Feel free to check out the recent postings to catch up on some of the great stories and analysis we've showcased of late!!  Have a great holiday!!

UP-FRONT THANKSGIVING DAY NUGGET!!
Finding a Butterball in Baghdad: Rajiv Chandrasekaran Recalls a Wartime Holiday from the Washington Post
"As U.S. troops prepare to celebrate their final holiday season in Iraq, Washington Post associate editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran recalls the challenge of acquiring a turkey in Baghdad during the war’s first year."

And another:
Be Thankful — Sensible Solutions Do Exist for U.S. Problems (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post
"The post-industrial, information economy is dominated by the United States. The industries of the future, from biotechnology to nanotechnology, are dominated by the United States. The best research centers, universities and companies remain American. ..."

And one more!
Occupy the Gravy (John Dickerson) from Slate
"Slate’s annual guide to your Thanksgiving dinner-table arguments."

Yemen’s Leader Agrees to End 3-Decade Rule from the New York Times
"After more than three decades of autocratic rule, President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement on Wednesday that immediately transferred power to his vice president, bowing to unrelenting street protests and raising hopes for an end to a political crisis that brought this impoverished nation to the brink of collapse."

The Women’s Lib Movement in Libya Sees a Surprising Twist (Liesl Gernholtz) from the Daily Beast
"As female activists in Tripoli push for equal rights, they get a surprise visit from the country’s highest-ranking men, including chairman of the National Transitional Council—who hedges on his controversial stance on polygamy."

The Poor, the Near Poor and You from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"One in three Americans lives in poverty or close to it. If the country does not change direction, more Americans will be struggling."

How We Were All Misled: A Review and analysis of Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis  (John Lanchester) from the New York Review of Books
"Boomerang is about what he has come to see as the larger phenomenon behind the credit crunch: the increase in total worldwide debt from $84 trillion in 2002 to $195 trillion now. The thesis is that “the subprime mortgage crisis was more symptom than cause. The deeper social and economic problems that gave rise to it remained.”"

Don’t Blame this Mess on Obama (Ruth Marcus) from the Washington Post
"For all the eleventh-hour, “where-was-Obama?” moaning, the bipartisan congressional directive to the White House as the supercommittee did its work was simple: Back off. That’s right. The message from both Republican and Democratic members of the group was that presidential involvement could only be counterproductive."

When Did Liberals Become So Unreasonable? (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"If every Democratic president disappoints, maybe there’s something wrong with our expectations. Tough love from a fellow traveler."

The GOP's Dual-Trigger Nightmare (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"So now there are two triggers. One is an extremely progressive spending trigger worth $1.2 trillion that goes off on January 1, 2013. The other is an extremely progressive tax trigger worth $3.8 trillion that goes off on...January 1, 2013. If you count reduced interest payments, the two policies alone would reduce future deficits by about $6 trillion. That's far more than anything the supercommittee came close to discussing."

GOP Intransigence Could Hand The Left A Huge Budget Win (Matthew Yglesias) from Slate
"It's possible that by refusing to agree to a relatively modest tax increase relative to current policy (i.e., relative to full extension of the Bush tax cuts) the congressional Republicans have locked into place a much more left-wing deal in which the majority of deficit reduction is done by tax hikes and a majority of spending cuts come on the national security side."

Unacceptable In Today's GOP? Realism And Compassion (Joe Conason) from the National Memo
"What the debate also revealed again is that a Republican who dares to utter a few words of compassion or realism is likely to prove unacceptable to the base of that party."

Hostility To Knowledge Has No Place In Modern World (Cynthia Tucker) from the National Memo
"I remember the antics of the late George Wallace, who used to denounce "pointy-headed intellectuals." But this unfortunate proclivity seems to have reached its apex at just the wrong time: On a "flat" and interconnected planet, Americans need more knowledge, not less. We need to be better educated, not more ignorant. In other words, the nation needs all the pointy-headedness it can muster."

The GOP Debate: Six Takeaways from Politico
"The GOP debate on national security Tuesday night raised far more questions — and exposed far more divisions — than it resolved. While the topic isn’t central to the 2012 nomination battle, it was nevertheless critical for candidates to meet a modest threshold to remain viable — at least a minimal level of fluency in international affairs. Not everyone hit that mark."

Newt's Gift to Obama (Marc Ambinder) from National Journal
"Now, whether you agree with Gingrich or Romney, recognize that the DNC and the Obama campaign now has a new incentive to see Newt Gingrich become the true face of the GOP anti-establishment opposition to Romney, as ironic as that last phrase is."

New Hampshire 'Birther' Hearing: State Attorney General Michael Delaney Calls For Investigation from the Huffington Post
"New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney asked State Police to investigate a Ballot Law Commission hearing on Friday involving several state representatives and "birther queen" Orly Taitz that turned ugly after the committee unanimously rejected an effort to have Obama removed from the state presidential ballot because she claimed that his birth certificate was a fake."

Democrats Could Gain Three Seats Under Judges' Congressional Map from the Houston Chronicle
"Democrats could gain as many as three new congressional seats and avoid a nasty primary fight between Joaquin Castro and Lloyd Doggett thanks to a proposed federal court-drawn interim congressional redistricting map that was released today."