Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

‘Hands-only’ CPR works, but survival still low

(Reuters Health) – “Hands-only” CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) is usually as effective as traditional CPR that includes mouth-to-mouth breathing – but the odds that cardiac arrest victims will survive with minimal brain damage are still quite low, a large study from Japan finds.

Researchers say the findings support statements from the American Heart Association and other groups that compression-only CPR can be a comparable alternative to the traditional technique of alternating chest compressions with mouth-to-mouth breathing.

Experts find brain enzyme that makes pain last

(Reuters) – Researchers working on mice have found an enzyme in the brain that appears to make pain last after nerve injury and they hope to use it as a new target to treat chronic pain in people.

In a paper published in Science magazine Friday, the scientists in Canada and South Korea said they managed to alleviate pain after blocking the enzyme.

“It provides us with basic understanding of the brain mechanism for chronic pain,” lead author Min Zhuo, a physiology professor at the University of Toronto, wrote in an email.

Study says Huntington’s tests to aid drug search

(Reuters) – Scientists have developed a new range of tests that allow them to track the progression of Huntington’s disease long before symptoms appear and should aid the development of drugs for the incurable inherited disease.

In a study published in The Lancet Neurology journal, researchers said their battery of tests, which include advanced brain imaging and cognitive and motor skill assessments, were sensitive enough to detect signs of the disease many years before it takes hold and to show changes in brain function over just one year.

Heart stenting on the rise in Canada

(Reuters Health) – The number of Canadians having blocked heart arteries opened with a non-surgical procedure more than doubled between 1994 and 2005, mirroring trends seen in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, according to a new study.

It is unclear whether the increase reflects appropriate use of the procedure, called angioplasty, or has been “too great” — or possibly not great enough — said lead researcher Dr. Ansar Hassan, of Saint John Regional Hospital in Canada.

Military’s gays policy harms health, doctor says

(Reuters) – The U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for gays helps spread disease and puts service members’ health at risk, a commentary by a doctor in the  New England Journal of Medicine said Wednesday.

Military personnel afraid of giving frank sexual histories to military physicians can miss treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, including the AIDS virus, and may spread them to others, according to Dr. Kenneth Katz.

“The consequences of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ are clear. Infections go undiagnosed. Service members and their partners go untreated,” wrote Katz, an STD specialist in San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency.

J&J confirms widely expanded contact lens recall

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson, which has been beset by product recalls, on Wednesday confirmed that it recalled nearly five times as many contact lenses as the 100,000 boxes it announced in August due to eye stinging.

J&J said that in late October the recall of its 1 Day Acuvue TruEye lenses, which took place primarily in Japan, was expanded to a total of about 492,000 boxes.

J&J heartburn worsens as Mylanta joins recall list

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson’s consumer-product distress worsened on Wednesday as the company recalled 12 million bottles of over-the-counter Mylanta and almost 85,000 bottles of its AlternaGel liquid antacid.

J&J said the actions, which it described as “wholesale and retail level” recalls, were taken because the presence of small amounts of alcohol from flavoring agents was not noted on product packaging.

“It is unlikely that use of these products will cause either alcohol absorption or alcohol sensitivity adverse events,” the company said on its Mylanta website.

FDA staff note risks of AstraZeneca cancer drug

(Reuters) – An experimental AstraZeneca pill to treat inoperable thyroid cancer carries “substantial toxicity” for patients, U.S. drug reviewers said in documents released on Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff said they would ask an advisory panel to consider skin, lung and other risks with the drug, vandetanib, at a public meeting on Thursday.

UNICEF says HIV-free generation is achievable

(Reuters) – A generation of babies could be born free of AIDS if the international community stepped up efforts to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and social protection, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

A report by the U.N. children’s fund UNICEF found that millions of women and children, particularly in poor countries, fall through the cracks of HIV services either due to their gender, social or economic status, location or education.

Factbox: AIDS virus infects 33 million globally

(Reuters) – A new report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends that governments and non-profit groups fighting AIDS in Africa concentrate more on preventing new cases than on treating patients.

The panel of international experts projects that 70 million Africans will be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus by 2050 unless something changes.

Treating dengue more difficult with growing obesity: experts

(Reuters) – Experts warned Friday that treating dengue, a potentially fatal disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus, will become more difficult in the future as more people around the world become overweight and obese.

Dengue patients suffer from capillary permeability, when fluid leaks from their blood vessels into surrounding tissues, causing breathing difficulty and complications in major organs like the brain, liver and kidneys.

“The virus has an impact on the wall of the capillaries and allows more fluids to leave the tubes and into the tissues,” said Jeremy Farrar, tropical medicine professor and director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam.

Pregnancy-related deaths rise in the U.S.

(Reuters Health) – While it remains rare for a woman in the U.S. to die from pregnancy complications, the national rate of pregnancy-related deaths appears to be on the upswing, a new government study finds.

Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that between 1998 and 2005, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths was 14.5 per 100,000 live births. And while that rate is low, it is higher than what has been seen in the past few decades.

Older U.S. women stick to hormone pills: study

(Reuters) – Prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy have fallen more than 50 percent in the United States since 2001, but doctors are still inexplicably giving women high-dose pills linked to strokes and cancer, researchers reported on Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other groups do not say women should avoid hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, but they recommend taking the lowest possible dose for the shortest period of time.

“We’re disappointed,” Dr. Randall Stafford of Stanford University in California, who led the study, said in a statement.

Doctors encouraged pregnant women to get flu shot

(Reuters) – About twice as many pregnant women as usual got flu vaccines last year during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, most because their doctors urged them to do so, federal government researchers reported on Thursday.

But still only about half of the women pregnant during the flu season got immunized, even though they are much more likely to become severely ill, die or lose their babies if they come down with the flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Study links finger length to prostate cancer risk

(Reuters) – Men with long index fingers have a lower risk of prostate cancer, British scientists said on Wednesday, a finding that could be used to help select those who need regular screening for the disease.

Researchers at Britain’s Warwick University and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) found that men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger were one-third less likely to develop the disease than men with the opposite pattern of finger lengths.

“Relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60,” said Ros Eeles from the ICR, who helped lead the study.

Prostate cancer: Watching and waiting may be best

(Reuters) – Older men with low-risk prostate cancer may be better off getting regular check-ups that rushing to get surgery or radiation, researchers using a computer model suggested on Tuesday.

That is largely because most men have at least one side effect from treatment, the team from the Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston said on Tuesday.

Donor milk may lack key nutrients for preemies

(Reuters Health) – Breast milk helps protect premature babies from potentially fatal complications, but a new study shows that donated breast milk, meant to supplement what the mother provides, may lack key nutrients.

Researchers found that donated breast milk did not contain enough of a fatty acid that tiny babies need for their developing nervous system, and also lacked amino acids, the building blocks of proteins.

Encouragingly, they also found that pasteurizing donor milk — needed to kill any lingering microbes, which could be deadly to preemies with developing immune systems — did not affect any nutrients, suggesting this step doesn’t strip donor milk of what preemies need.

Air pollution tied to babies’ ear infection risk

(Reuters Health) – Babies and toddlers who live in areas with moderate air pollution may have a higher risk of middle-ear infection than those breathing cleaner air, a Canadian study suggests.

The findings, reported in the journal Epidemiology, do not prove that air pollution itself was the cause. But if it is, that would allow parents to influence their kids’ risk of infection by moving to a place with better air.

Suicide risk increases after heart attack

(Reuters Health) – People are more likely to commit suicide in the wake of a heart attack — and some are more at risk than others, new study findings report.

In the immediate aftermath of a heart attack the risk of suicide rises dramatically among people with a history of mental illness. These patients are about 60 times more likely to commit suicide than people who did not experience either a heart attack or mental illness.

Even for patients with no history of mental illness, the risk for suicide is tripled in the month after a heart attack – and the risk remains elevated for at least five years. This was true for both men and women, and regardless of socioeconomic status.

Drugmakers, academics join up on mental illness

(Reuters) – Nine major pharmaceutical companies have agreed to pool data on drug trials with academic institutions in an effort to improve ways of developing of new medicines to treat psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

The collaboration, which involves Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Roche among others, will bring together data on 67 trials on 11 licensed drugs and will make up the largest database of clinical trial data in psychiatric research, according to the project’s leaders.

Salty diet does harm in heart failure

(Reuters Health) – People who’ve experienced heart failure and eat a high-salt diet are more likely to end up in the hospital, a new study finds.

“High salt intake is particularly dangerous for heart failure patients, even for those who are doing well and are stable on their medications,” author Dr. Gary E. Newton of Mount Sinai Hospital in Ontario told Reuters Health.

Extreme long-distance running can damage the body

(Reuters Health) – Endurance athletes who run extraordinarily long distances over a sustained period of time lose muscle as well as fat, and they severely impair their immune function.

That’s according to data presented at the 2010 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.

“If you do this type of sport, you have to know that it is very stressful for the immune system, that you will lose not only fat but muscle, and that no matter how much you eat, it will not be enough to sustain your body,” Dr. Uwe Schutz, from University Hospital of Ulm, Germany, told Reuters Health.

Exercise often enough for Achilles injury recovery

(Reuters Health) – Most people with inflammation of the Achilles tendon, a common overuse injury, can recover with the help of exercise therapy alone, a small study suggests.

A full recovery might take time, as tendons are often slow to heal, researchers say, but sticking with exercise could help people avoid more invasive treatments like drug injections into the joint or even surgery.

The study found that among 34 patients who had exercise therapy for so-called Achilles tendinopathy for three to six months, 80 percent fully recovered with no further treatment — though some developed new symptoms over the next several years.

Should you eat protein before exercise, or after?

(Reuters Health) – Eating protein after exercising may help rev up the body’s muscle-making machinery, in both young and older men alike, a small study suggests.

The study of 48 men – half in their twenties and the other half in their seventies — found that in both age groups, consuming a protein drink after exercise led to a greater increase in muscle protein, compared with downing the drink after a period of rest.

What’s more, muscle protein increased at nearly the same rate in young and elderly men, the researchers report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

North Americans get enough calcium, vitamin D

(Reuters) – Most people in the United States and Canada get plenty of vitamin D and calcium, and may damage their health by taking too many supplements, experts advised on Tuesday.

Contrary to popular wisdom, many Americans and Canadians get plenty of calcium and vitamin D and most do not need extra supplements to keep their bones strong, the Institute of Medicine committee said.

“National surveys in both the United States and Canada indicate that most people receive enough calcium, with the exception of girls ages 9-18, who often do not take in enough calcium,” the report reads.

Skipping breakfast may not enlarge a kid’s lunch

(Reuters Health) – Skipping breakfast may not change how much food a kid eats during the rest of the day, suggests a new study.

But missing the morning meal still carries consequences, the researchers caution.

Some evidence has suggested that the increasingly common practice of skipping breakfast could lead kids to overeat at later meals, and eventually pack on extra pounds. Yet few studies have rigorously tested whether that’s what really happens, lead researcher Tanja Kral of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

John Nichols: After Deficit Panel Deadlock, Progressives Must Promote the Alternative to Austerity

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform failed to produce a mandate for assaulting Social Security, undermining Medicare and Medicaid and generally balancing the budget on the backs of working Americans.

But that hasn’t stopped its co-chairmen from claiming a sort of victory for their plan to make Main Street pay for Wall Street’s failures.

Their goal is obvious. Commission co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles want to spin a win they did not achieve in order to foster the false impression that their ominously titled ” Moment of Truth” proposal is the only real alternative to fiscal ruin. That’s not the case. There are better proposals-such as the detailed to austerity outlined by commission member Jan Schakowsky. But this is a critical juncture, and progressives need to be conscious that an effort will be made to narrow the range of options and impose key elements of a bad plan that failed to gain required support.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: A Real Jaw Dropper at the Federal Reserve

At a Senate Budget Committee hearing in 2009, I asked Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to tell the American people the names of the financial institutions that received an unprecedented backdoor bailout from the Federal Reserve, how much they received, and the exact terms of this assistance. He refused. A year and a half later, as a result of an amendment that I was able to include in the Wall Street reform bill, we have begun to lift the veil of secrecy at the Fed, and the American people now have this information.

It is unfortunate that it took this long, and it is a shame that the biggest banks in America and Mr. Bernanke fought to keep this secret from the American public every step of the way. But, the details on this bailout are now on the Federal Reserve’s website, and this is a major victory for the American taxpayer and for transparency in government.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky: Why I Voted Against the Bowles-Simpson Deficit Reduction Plan

While I cannot support the Simpson-Bowles plan, I thank the co-chairmen for their dedication to our difficult task over the last eight months, and I agree with them that the work was constructive despite our inability to get fourteen votes.

I offered my own plan to achieve the goal outlined by the President to achieve primary budget balance by 2015 with one very different assumption. I believe that we can do it without further eroding the middle class in America.

It pays to remember that just 10 years ago we had a budget surplus and the debt was rapidly decreasing. During the Bush years, those surpluses disappeared and huge debt accumulated due to two unfunded wars, two unfunded tax cuts that mainly enriched the already wealthy, and a blind eye to the recklessness of Wall Street which caused 8 million Americans to lose their jobs and millions more to lose their savings, the value of their homes and the homes themselves.

Jane Goodall: Cancún climate change summit: Protect our forests to protect people too

We must consider setting an explicit time frame for protecting forests and halting their rapid degradation

The rate at which species are disappearing from Planet Earth is horrifying. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the rate is between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural rate of extinction. This is largely due to human activity. The United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity to raise awareness of the critical role that biological diversity plays in sustaining life.

At the same time, nations are grappling with thorny questions of how to slow climate change. The UN is currently convening its 16th climate change conference in Cancún, Mexico, where bold steps may be taken to protect forests as a means of lowering carbon emissions.

Robert Reich: The American Jobs Emergency Requires Action

This is not a recovery. It’s a continuing jobs emergency and it demands action.

We learned this morning that unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in November and employers added only 39,000 jobs. Private employers added 50,000 — the smallest gain since January. Government employment continued to shrink.

We’re heading in the wrong direction. In October, the jobless rate was 9.6 percent, and employers added 172,000 jobs. Private-sector job growth totaled 160,000. At this rate unemployment won’t return to its pre-recession level for more than a decade, if ever.

James Moore: WikiLeaks and the Myth of Journalistic Objectivity

“Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.” ~ Henry Anatole Grunwald

There is a very simple reason WikiLeaks has sent a furious storm of outrage across the globe and it has very little to do with diplomatic impropriety. It is this: The public is uninformed because of inadequate journalism. Consumers of information have little more to digest than Kim Kardashian’s latest paramour or the size of Mark Zuckerberg’s jet. Very few publishers or broadcasters post reporters to foreign datelines and give them time to develop relationships that lead to information. Consequently, journalism is atrophying from the extremities inward and the small heart it has will soon become even more endangered.

So, long live WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. And if Pfc. Bradley Manning is the leaker, he deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

James K. Galbraith: Casting Light on “The Moment of Truth”

The report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, issued on December 1, 2010 by Chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, is entitled “The Moment of Truth.” The words appear in block caps on the second page, weighty and portentous. They reappear in the first paragraph of the preamble: “Throughout our nation’s history, Americans have found the courage to do right by our children’s future. Deep down, every American knows that we face a moment of truth once again.”

These sentences set the tone. The first is a bald-faced lie, as a Westerner like Senator Simpson knows perfectly well. To the contrary, we have often fallen under the sway of robber barons, water barons, oil barons, bison-killers, clear-cutters and strip-miners, hell-bent on maximum pillage in the shortest time. Only occasionally have a few heroes like Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot and Harold Ickes Sr. emerged to battle for the most precious physical elements of our heritage — and then only with limited success. In the next paragraph, the Commission states the threat: “Our challenge is clear and inescapable. America cannot be great if we go broke.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein: Millionaires Don’t Need Tax Cuts

I don’t know a single millionaire who needs a tax cut right now. But I know plenty of middle class Americans who desperately need every extra dollar in these tough economic times.

That’s why I strongly support the “Middle Class Tax Cuts Act” to give permanent tax relief to the struggling families that need it most. The economic turmoil of the last three years has left many Americans cash-strapped and struggling to stay afloat. And make no mistake, extending the current tax rates for the middle class is crucial to encourage economic growth.

By extending current tax rates for 98 percent of taxpayers, we provide certainty and security for hard-pressed, working-class Americans.

Howard Fineman: Fly Away, Air Force One

WASHINGTON — Sometimes there are days here that sum up the state of politics and the condition of the country.

Today is one: While Democrats in Congress fight a rear-guard action against $700 billion in new tax cuts for the rich, and the city frets over the $14 trillion national debt, and officials announce that the unemployment rose to 9.8 percent, President Obama is gone — off in Afghanistan bucking up troops in an admittedly unwinnable war that is now the longest and costliest (perhaps $2 trillion, depending on your math) in our history.

No one moment has more vividly demonstrated the predicament the president is in as a result of having accepted the basic fiscal and military parameters of the presidency that preceded him.

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

December 4 is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 27 days remaining until the end of the year

On this day in 1783, future President George Washington, then commanding general of the Continental Army, summons his military officers to Fraunces Tavern in New York City to inform them that he will be resigning his commission and returning to civilian life.

Washington had led the army through six long years of war against the British before the American forces finally prevailed at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. There, Washington received the formal surrender of British General Lord Charles Cornwallis, effectively ending the Revolutionary War, although it took almost two more years to conclude a peace treaty and slightly longer for all British troops to leave New York.

Fraunces Tavern is a tavern, restaurant and museum housed in a conjectural reconstruction of a building that played a prominent role in pre-Revolution and Revolution history. The building, located at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street, has been owned by Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York Inc. since 1904, which claims it is Manhattan’s oldest surviving building. The building is a tourist site and a part of the American Whiskey Trail and the New York Freedom Trail.

Revolution history

In August 1775, Americans took possession of cannons from the artillery battery at the southern point of Manhattan and fired on the HMS Asia. The British ship retaliated by firing a 32-gun broadside on the city, sending a cannonball through the roof of the building.

When the war was all but won, the building was the site of “British-American Board of Inquiry” meetings, which negotiated to ensure to American leaders that no “American property” (meaning former slaves who were emancipated by the British for their military service) be allowed to leave with British troops. Board members reviewed the evidence and testimonies that were given by freed slaves every Wednesday from April to November 1783, and British representatives were successful in ensuring that almost all of the loyalist blacks of New York maintained their liberty.

After British troops evacuated New York, the tavern hosted an elaborate “turtle feast” dinner on December 4, 1783 in the building’s Long Room for U.S. Gen. George Washington where he bade farewell to his officers of the Continental Army by saying “[w]ith a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.”

The building housed some offices of the Confederation Congress as the nation struggled under the Articles of Confederation. With the establishment of the U.S. Constitution and the inauguration of Washington as president in 1789, the departments of Foreign Affairs, Treasury and War located offices at the building. The offices were vacated when the location of the U.S. capital moved on December 6, 1790 from New York to Philadelphia.

 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Barbara.

771 – Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne King of the now complete Frankish Kingdom.

1110 – First Crusade: The Crusaders sack Sidon.

1259 – Kings Louis IX of France and Henry III of England agree to the Treaty of Paris, in which Henry renounces his claims to French-controlled territory on continental Europe (including Normandy) in exchange for Louis withdrawing his support for English rebels.

1563 – The final session of the Council of Trent is held (it opened on December 13, 1545).

1619 – 38 colonists from Berkeley Parish in England disembark in Virginia and give thanks to God (this is considered by many to be the first Thanksgiving in the Americas).

1674 – Father Jacques Marquette founds a mission on the shores of Lake Michigan to minister to the Illiniwek (the mission would later grow into the city of Chicago, Illinois).

1676 – Battle of Lund: A Danish army under the command of King Christian V of Denmark engages the Swedish army commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel-Helmfelt.

1745 – Charles Edward Stewart’s army reaches Derby, its furthest point during the second Jacobite Rising.

1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, US General George Washington formally bids his officers farewell.

1791 – The first edition of The Observer, the world’s first Sunday newspaper, is published.

1864 – American Civil War: Sherman’s March to the Sea – At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman’s campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta, Georgia.

1867 – Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange).

1872 – The crewless American ship Mary Celeste is found by the British brig Dei Gratia (the ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged).

1875 – Notorious New York City politician Boss Tweed escapes from prison and flees to Cuba, then Spain.

1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.

1909 – 1st Grey Cup game was played. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeat the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club 26-6.

1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.

1921 – The Virginia Rappe manslaughter trial against Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle ends in a hung jury.

1939 – World War II: HMS Nelson is struck by a mine (laid by U-31) off the Scottish coast and is laid up for repairs until August 1940.

1942 – Holocaust: In Warsaw, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz set up the Zegota organization.

1942 – World War II: Carlson’s patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.

1943 – World War II: In Yugoslavia, resistance leader Marshal Tito proclaims a provisional democratic Yugoslav government in-exile.



1943 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt closes down the Works Progress Administration, because of the high levels of wartime employment in the United States.

1945 – By a vote of 65 to 7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations (the UN was established on October 24, 1945).

1954 – The first Burger King is opened in Miami, Florida, United States

1967 – Vietnam War: US and South Vietnamese forces engage Viet Cong troops in the Mekong Delta.

1969 – Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot and killed in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.

1971 – The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.

1971 – The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.

1971 – The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song “Smoke on the Water”.

1971 – McGurk’s Bar bombing: An Ulster Volunteer Force bomb kills 15 civilians and wounds 17 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1975 – Suriname joins the United Nations.

1978 – Following the murder of Mayor George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein becomes San Francisco, California’s first female mayor (she served until January 8, 1988).

1980 – English rock group Led Zeppelin officially disbands, following the death of drummer John Bonham on September 25th.

1981 – South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei “homeland” (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).

1991 – Journalist Terry A. Anderson is released after 7 years in captivity as a hostage in Beirut. He was the last and longest-held American hostage in Lebanon.

1991 – Captain Mark Pyle pilots Clipper Goodwill, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 727-221ADV, to Miami International Airport ending 64 years of Pan Am operations.

1992 – Somali Civil War: President George H. W. Bush orders 28,000 US troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa.

1993 – A truce is concluded between the government of Angola and UNITA rebels.

1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched.

2005 – Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage.

2006 – An adult giant squid is caught on video for the first time by Tsunemi Kubodera near the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

[Holidays and observances

   * Christian Feast Day

         o Ada

         o Barbara

         o Bernard degli Uberti

         o John of Damascus

         o Nicholas Ferrar (Anglican Communion)

         o Osmund

         o Sigiramnus

   * Day of Shango (Santeria, Lukumi)

   * day that rain is prayed for, notably the only Jewish day which is tied to the civil calendar. (Diaspora in Judaism)

   * Navy Day (India and Italy)

   * Saint Barbara Day-related observance:

         o Barborka, Miners’ Day in Poland

         o Eid il-Burbara, a holiday similar to Halloween in honor of Saint Barbara. (Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine)

   * Secret ceremonies in honor of Bona Dea (Roman Empire)

  * Thai Environment Day (Thailand)

Democrats try to regain balance in fight over tax cuts

Emboldened Republicans seem unlikely to back down on extending breaks for wealthy taxpayers.

By Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington

Reporting from Washington – Congressional Democrats searched for leverage Friday in their bitter debate with Republicans over extending George W. Bush-era tax cuts, lashing out against giving “tax breaks to millionaires” and preparing for a rare weekend session in the Senate on the issue.

But the increasingly aggressive Democratic posture may come too late in the protracted battle over the fate of tax cuts that are set to expire Dec. 31. The White House has indicated it would consider an agreement with Republicans to temporarily extend all tax breaks, even for households earning more than $250,000 annually, if the GOP agreed to concessions and withdrew its block on certain Democratic priorities.ties.

Cancún climate talks in danger of collapse over Kyoto continuation

• Latin America outraged at foot-dragging by rich

• Wealthy countries say little chance of deal now

John Vidal, Environment editor

The Guardian, Saturday 4 December 2010

The UN climate talks in Cancún were in danger of collapse last night after many Latin American countries said that they would leave if a crucial negotiating document, due to be released tomorrow, did not continue to commit rich countries to emissions cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (Alba) group of nine Latin American countries – who claim they are backed by African, Arab countries and other developing nations – said they were not prepared to see an end to the treaty that legally requires all of its signatories to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

USA

A Silicon Bubble Shows Signs Of Reinflating

 

BY JENNA WORTHAM AND EVELYN M. RUSLI  

In a memorable scene in the movie “The Social Network,” Sean Parker, the investor played by Justin Timberlake, leans over the table and tells the founders of Facebook in a conspiratorial tone: “A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”

These days in Silicon Valley, a billion dollars seems downright quaint. The enthusiasm for social networking and mobile apps has venture capitalists clamoring to give money to young companies.

After stimulus, construction industry seeing private-sector and state projects drying up  



By Annys Shin

Washington Post Staff Writer  

The stimulus was here.

Those words should be embossed on a stretch of Route 29 outside of Charlottesville, where paver operator Clifford Carter poured hot asphalt one year ago.

The $885,000 project, funded by federal stimulus dollars, took two days in November 2009. A few weeks later, he was laid off – temporarily, he thought, until paving season resumed in the spring. But in April, he received his first permanent layoff notice. Without a job, he couldn’t afford to keep paying for life or health insurance, so he let both lapse.

“When they kicked me out the door, I lost everything,” he said.

Europe

Military steps in after Spanish air traffic controllers stage walkout

Passengers left stranded amid chaos caused by walkout, which comes amid dispute over hours and conditions

Jo Adetunji and agencies

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 4 December 2010 01.22 GMT

The Spanish military was called in to take control of the country’s airspace yesterday after air traffic controllers staged an unauthorised walkout over working conditions.

Passengers have been left stranded amid the travel chaos caused by the walkout, which left eight airports, including Madrid, closed across the country. Air traffic controllers called in sick en masse, leaving thousands of people stranded on the eve of a national holiday.

Spain’s deputy prime minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, announced that the army had been called in to take “control of air traffic in all the national territory” and said the head of the army would take decisions relating to the organisation, planning, supervision and control of air traffic.

Down Pompeii? The ruin of Italy’s cultural heritage  

From ancient Rome to Renaissance Florence, some of the world’s greatest treasures are falling into neglect.

By Michael Day Saturday, 4 December 2010

Collapses at the ancient site of Pompeii underline what experts have been warning for years: Italy’s priceless cultural heritage is slowly but surely disintegrating and the famous archeological site’s decay is a metaphor for the nation.

With chunks falling off Rome’s Colosseum and the seemingly inexorable decline and fall of Venice, the world looks on anxiously to see if the rot can be stopped. Few countries have a greater wealth of cultural and archaeological marvels than Italy, but experts warn that few nations are as complacent about them.

Middle East

Firefighters battle to halt blaze in Israel  

The Irish Times – Saturday, December 4, 2010

MARK WEISS in Jerusalem  

ISRAELI FIREFIGHTERS, backed by aircraft and crews from many countries, spent yesterday trying to contain the massive blaze in the Carmel forest that has so far left 42 people dead.

By nightfall the blaze was still raging south of the northern Israeli port of Haifa, but officials were optimistic it would be brought under control later today.

About 17,000 people were evacuated from communities in the Carmel mountain range and some outlying suburbs of Haifa, the country’s third-largest city, although officials said the port – which is also the centre of Israel’s petro-chemical industry – was not in immediate danger.

Dirty tricks and sticky bombs in Iran    

 

By Ben West  

On the morning of November 29, two Iranian scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear development program were attacked. One was killed, and the other was injured. According to Iranian media, the deceased, Dr Majid Shahriari, was heading the team responsible for developing the technology to design a nuclear reactor core, and Time magazine referred to him as the highest-ranking non-appointed individual working on the project.

Official reports indicate that Shahriari was killed when assailants on motorcycles attached a “sticky bomb” to his vehicle and detonated it seconds later. However, the Time magazine report says that an explosive device concealed inside the car detonated and killed him. Shahriari’s driver and wife, both of whom were in the car at the time, were injured.

Asia

Islamists fight efforts to save ‘blasphemer’

 

By Omar Waraich in Islamabad Saturday, 4 December 2010

Hundreds of Islamists took to the streets of Pakistan’s main cities yesterday in support of blasphemy laws used to convict a Christian woman who has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam.

At rallies in Karachi, Lahore and other cities, the crowds of protesters warned against attempts to repeal the laws and denounced two leading politicians who have been threatened for speaking out against the treatment of Aasia Bibi, an illiterate 45-year-old farmhand. Human rights groups say that the blasphemy laws are an abusive instrument invoked to punish Pakistan’s most vulnerable. They have overwhelmingly been used to settle political vendettas or afford protection to Islamist extremists when they have targeted religious minorities.

37 years after escaping killing fields, a Cambodian returns as US Navy commander

US Navy Commander Michael Misiewicz docked the USS Mustin in Cambodia Friday. He last saw his homeland, and many of his relatives, as a boy fleeing the murderous Khmer Rouge.  

By Clancy McGilligan, Contributor / December 3, 2010  

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

US Navy Cmdr. Michael Misiewicz watched today as relatives prepared to board his destroyer, which was docked a few miles off the shore of Cambodia. He had not seen any of them since he left the Southeast Asian nation as a boy 37 years ago, escaping civil war and the murderous Khmer Rouge.

The commander’s face was impassive at first, but it softened as more and more extended family members were helped onto the barge below him. Then he saw his aunt, now 72, who had helped him leave for the US so many years ago. Commander Misiewicz walked slowly down the metal stairs and they embraced, weeping.

“When I saw her this morning,” he later told reporters on the ship, “I just couldn’t hold back the tears, I was so happy that she was here. It’s been a very long time.”

Africa

Zimbabwe not stable enough for IMF  



By Sapa  

“A number of steps have to take place before a deeper engagement can take place with Zimbabwe,” the IMF’s senior resident representative Alfredo Cuevas said in a briefing to the standing committee on finance.

“Our teams visit Zimbabwe regularly and provide advice. We are also providing some technical assistance for the rebuilding of certain macro economic management institutions.

“That is what our board has authorised the staff of IMF to do. It is not until the board moves and takes a different decision that the IMF’s staff can go deeper into relationship with the country,” he said.

Fury at Ivorian election reversal



World leaders criticise court decision to overturn provisional election results and declare incumbent president winner.



Last Modified: 04 Dec 2010  

World leaders have criticised a decision by Cote D’Ivoire’s constitutional court to reverse the results of last week’s presidential election, warning that it could plunge the country back into civil war.

Friday’s decision to dismiss thousands of votes for Alassane Ouattara over fraud allegations paves the way for Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, to take office on Saturday despite apparently losing the run-off election.

The move has outraged Ouattara’s supporters, prompting fears that Cote D’Ivoire’s tentative peace process could unravel and the country could slip back into conflict.

Ignoring Asia A Blog

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

It isn’t Hanukkah without Potato Latkes, those wonderful, crispy pancakes of shredded potato and onion served with apple sauce. It’s lot easier than when I was growing up in the 50’s. Back then we had to shred them with a metal grater that often resulted in some shredded knuckles, too. Food processors have saved a lot of knuckles and teary eye from shredding the onion.

This recipe is really simple. The trick to getting latkes that hold together and aren’t “oily” is the  potato. Idaho’s win, hands down.

Traditionally, according to kosher law, when latkes are served with a fish meal they are fried in oil and served with sour cream. If they are served with meat, they are fried in chicken fat and served with apple sauce. Since, I haven’t kept a kosher kitchen in over 40 years, I fry the latkes in oil and serve both apple sauce and sour cream.

Because this recipe has no flour or egg, the latkes are more delicate and lacy. These are best served when they are fresh from the pan, so, we take turns making them all during the meal. It can actually be fun.

Pure Potato Latkes

* 4 large Idaho potatoes, about 2 1/4 lbs.

* 1 large onion, peeled

* 1/2 teaspoon of salt

* 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

* 1/4 cup canola oil

In a food processor with a coarse shredding disc or o the large shredding hole of a hand grater, shred the potatoes. Squeeze them well to rid them of as much water as possible and place them in a bowl. I use a cotton dish towel to squeeze the water out. it gets them really dry. Shred the onion and add to the bowl. Add the salt and pepper. Mix well. More water will be exuded and should be squeezed and drained thoroughly.

In a large heavy frying pan (a 12 inch iron pan works best), over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons until a slight haze appears on the surace of the oil. Drop about 1/4 cup of the mixture into the oil, flattening slightly with the back of a spoon Leave a little pace between the pancakes for ease in turning. They should be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter and will flatten as they cook.

Cook about 7 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Flip and cook another 5 to 7 minutes or until the other side is golden brown. If the oil starts smoking or the latkes brown too quickly, reduce the heat and briefly remove the pan from the heat. Remove the latkes and drain on layers of paper towels Continue with remaining mixture adding 2 tablespoons of oil with each batch.

Serve with apple sauce and sour cream.

Bon Appetite

Many of you who read my posts on a regular basis know that I was born and raised in Hackett, Arkansas.  Hackett is about nine miles south of Fort Smith, and just about a mile from the Oklahoma border.  Many people are of the mistaken opinion that the hill country of Arkansas are all Ozarks, but that is not right.

There are actually two major hill ranges in Arkansas, the Ozarks and the Ouachita (pronounced wash’-a-tah) Mountains.  These two ranges are quite different both in geology and in the old language.  The Arkansas River is roughly the dividing feature betwixt the two ranges.  You might know the Ouachitas because of the excellent natural sharpening stones that are quarried there.

To give you a better idea whence I came, here are a couple of maps.

If you look to the very left, an expanded map of the county one from the right, lower part of the image on the left, that is just about where I grew up, and so did my brother.  More about him later.

I call the way that the old people spoke in my part of Arkansas the old language because it is rapidly fading away.  Radio, and especially the TeeVee, has caused it to disappear rapidly.  I am 53 years old, and the people who really used the old language were old when I was a small child.  Hardly anyone uses even the words any more, let alone the rather bizarre grammar and syntax.  One of the reasons that I like to use terms like betwixt, burnt, and the like is that they are part of the old language.  In many respects the old language was very similar to Elizabethan English, both because of regional isolation of settlers and the influence of the King James version of the Bible in this heavily religious part of the nation.

I thought that I would set down a few of the words that I remember from my childhood.  Most all of the people who used them on a regular basis are now long dead.  I wish that I had have had the foresight to make tape recordings of the old folks talking, but I did not.  All of this is from memory, but my memory is pretty good.  In no particular order, here are a few examples, mostly vocabulary but also some instances of usage.

Hickry.  Obviously, this refers to a hickory tree, but the second syllable was invariably omitted.  Interestingly, the nuts from the tree were not called hickry nuts, but rather hicker nuts.  By the way, these are excellent nuts for baking, and I have over five pounds of clean nut meats ready to go for holiday cooking.  The term hickry was also used for in instrument of corporal punishment, regardless of the species of woody plant from which it was obtained.  I recall my grandmum using them fairly liberally on me, and they stung a little but did not injure, much, since they were thin and pliable.  The worst part of the punishment was the psychological part, because she always made me go cut my own.  The anticipation was awful.

Gom.  This is a generic term for a real mess, but most often used in the context of some sort of a pasty mass, usually produced as a cooking error.  My great aunt Edna (Ednie for all of us) had what would now be called obsessive compulsive disorder, and one of her rituals was her morning cereal (cerels to her), either All-Bran or Grape-Nuts, which she would stir until they became a homogeneous mass.  Many times my grandmum would lose patience with her (after half an hour of hearing a spoon contact a bowl every couple of seconds) and shout, “Ednie!  Quit that peckin’!  You just made a gom out of your cerels!”  I was able to trace the origin of this term back to the French gomme, or rubber.  However, the term was invented before vulcanization was discovered, and unvulcanized rubber is sticky and messy, hence the term in the old language.

Tuckto.  (Pronounced with a long “o”).  This was often used in a sentence like, “I was jes plumb tuckto!”  This one took quite a bit of thought, and I have never been able to establish any verifiable etymology, but it means to be surprised and bewildered simultaneously.  I strongly suspect that it is a variation of the modern “taken aback”, and has an almost identical meaning.  I think that I am going to use that word more often.

Bile.  This one is not limited to my area, and is often found in other dialects.  It means boil, but I have only heard it as the infinitive or in the present tense.  Thus, “Now, let the kettle bile” is correct, but never “I bilt the water.”  That was always, “I boilt the water”.  Go figure.

Souse.  (This is with an unvoiced second “s”).  This is actually a proper word, but is now archaic.  Its dictionary meaning is “to immerse an object in boiling water or hot oil”, and that is exactly how it was used, except in the old language the liquid did not necessarily have to be hot.  Thus, it was proper to say regarding a full immersion Baptism that, “the preacher, he soused your cousin clean under that water!”  By the way, that term was occasionally used for what many people would call scrapple today, a gelatinized meat dish made from biling a scraped hog’s head until the meat could be removed from the bone, cutting it into small pieces, and then sousing the meat pieces in the reduced cooking liquid and cooling it.  Most often folks in my part of the country would call it head cheese.

By the way, good head cheese is excellent when seasoned nicely whilst being bilt.  (Remember, long “i”).  Some poor cooks would make a gom of it by chopping up the ears and snout and adding them, but they always are gristly and make awful souse.  However, they are wonderful to add gelatin to the broth as it cooks.

Cheese.  The word has the same meaning as today, but was always used as the plural, never in the singular.  Thus, “Have some of this cheese” would be either, “Have some of them cheese,” or “Have some of those cheese” or some other plural adjective or pronoun.

Most people associate the south with the term “Yall” for more than one person.  This was foreign to my part of the country until quite recently.  Almost invariably the term You uns was used instead.  Connected with the term was the possessive pronoun yourun, for an object that belongs to the person with you.  That made eight year old boys giggle when the old folks said it, since it is pronounced “urine”.  I strongly suspect that the origin of both of those terms was derived from “you ones” and “your one”.

Ellum.  Like hickry, that is a tree.  However, whilst hickory lost a syllable, elm gained one.  Contrary to popular belief, the old folks did not go out collection slippery ellum bark as far as I ever was able to tell.

Fix.  This word had two major meanings, in addition to repairing something.  First, it was synonymous with “cook”.  Thus, my grandmum “fixed supper”.  “Cooking” was rarely used, and “making dinner” was just not said, since that was a Yankee term.  By the way, lunch was always “dinner” and dinner was always “supper”.  Breakfast was just breakfast.  The other meaning of fix was to prepare to do something.  Thus, “I’m afixin’ to go to the store” had the meaning of “I’m about to go shopping”.  The term was often contracted to “afixinta”.

Putt.  None of the old folks golfed, but that was the way that they pronounced “put”.  For example, if you came in with the mail, or a bag of produce, and asked where it should be placed, the answer would be a pointing gesture and, “Jest putt it thar.”

Reckon.  This word was very commonly used in the past, and has the same meaning as it does now.  However, I reckon that very few people still use this word in everyday speech.

Many verbs were conjugated as strong verbs but are now considered to be weak ones.  I often use some of these conjugations in my writing, such as burnt instead of “burned”,  spoilt instead of “spoiled”, bilt (with a long “i”) instead of “boiled”.  Also, the word ruint was often used instead of “ruined”.  These are all throwbacks to Elizabethan English, before many English verbs underwent a transition from strong to weak.  Interestingly, the use of “to be” instead of “to have” as an auxiliary verb was never used by the old folks, like “I am come” rather than “I have come”.  I do not understand why “to be” was not used, since it was required for certain verbs in the King James version of the bible, and is still required for certain verbs in German.

Lexecute.  This is what happens when one contacts a heavy current, either accidentally or as a form of capital punishment.  Thus, “Uncle Bill got lexecuted yesterday aworkin’ of them wars in the kitchen” would refer to an accident (usually the connotation is a fatality, but not always), while “They lexecuted him yesterday fer akillin’ that man” refers to capital punishment, always fatal, obviously.

So far most of this piece refers only to single words or very basic phrases.  There was also rich lode of idioms, many of which were entire sentences.  Here are a few:

Flat as a flitter.  That refers to something that is really, really flat.  I remember my grandmum using that phrase when her biscuits did not rise, or a cake fell.  Since she was quite the cook, that was sort of unusual.  Being a woman of little patience, she would vocalize her disappointment when such did things did occur.  “Them biscuits are jes as flat as a flitter!”  As I recall, the plural was never used, so hundreds of things could be as flat as a flitter.  I believe that the origin of this comes from the word “fritter”, which is usually a skillet bread much like a pancake that does not rise very much.

I spoke with my brother earlier this evening (I wrote about him and my nephew being shooting victims around eight or so months ago, and they are doing much better than expected) and he reminded me of two more.  One of them is pretty sinister, so I will mention it second.

I’m just about to get a canful of that!  This actually conflicts with my earlier observation of “to be” not being used as an auxiliary verb.  In this case it is, and I never remember my my grandmum saying “I’ve just…..”.  That means that you need to shut up, or stop whatever you were doing that vexed her.  The etymology of that is interesting, and my brother reminded me that the “can” in the phrase is derived from the common term for a chamber pot, or the vessel that was kept in early bedrooms for holding excrement at night.  Without electric lighting or indoor plumbing, these devices were essential, and they did have relatively tight fitting lids.  We still use the word “can” in that sense when we in modern times say, “Wait a minute, I have to go to the can” although modern plumbing is in no way a can.  The connotation was that if you kept up your behavior, excrement would be expelled towards you (I try to say things gently, since this is a family friendly series).

The strangest name that I ever heard of for a chamber pot was from my grandmum’s second husband (she had been a widow, and was again after John died).  He was probably the kindest, gentlest, and most soft spoken man whom I have ever had the honor to meet.  For some reason, John called a chamber pot the hootowl without wings.  Has anyone else ever heard of this reference?  As far as I know, it was unique to him.  I wrote about him a couple of weeks ago.  He served in World War I!

The second one of which my brother reminded me was He needs killin’.  That one should stand at face value, because that is what it meant.  Back in my part of the country it was not unheard of for someone mysteriously to be found dead after being accused of some severe wrongdoing and not punished harshly enough, or at all, by the legal system.  I remembered the phraseology a bit different and called my brother back to confirm his impression (he is quite a bit older than I am, so remembers that period better).  I remembered it as He needs a good killin’, but my brother is adamant that there was no “good” in it, at least in our area.  I defer to his recollection and will go with the first phrase posited.

Whilst I am on the subject of my brother, he told me this evening that he had in his possession thousands of Kodachrome slides that our parents took over many decades, and a projector along with several circular trays for them.  He is sending them to me early next week for my viewing and sorting.  Of course, if I find any that involve him, or our parents when he was little, he gets either them or jpgs of them (I have scanner technology to make it so).  I really appreciate that act of kindness.  Happy Christmas to you, Brother, and to your mate and my nephew and his mate.

I guess that I should stop now, but there are dozens of other words, phrases, and idioms that are almost extinct.  I encourage you to poll your old relatives (there is NO dishonor in being old, and I prefer being straight out to using euphemisms like “senior” or “seasoned”, because it is good to be old, considering the only alternative).

If any of you have unusual words or phrases that your old folks used, or still use, please add to this poor installment in the comments.  That thing that you have just about forgotten might be the only remnant of the old language of your part of the country, and I also ask our international friends to take part. I know that they are out there, because I get comments from Ireland, New Zealand, and everywhere else betwixt.

Please watch for Pique the Geek Sunday evening where I examine the new FDA authorization bill that was passed this week in the Congress.  The Fox “News” SOBber was against it, but the Senate did not filibuster it.  This makes me wonder what is wrong, or right, with it.  I promise to provide a jaundiced eye deconstruction of it Sunday.

Finally, I ask that folks who just read these posts sign up so that their comments may be read.  That is you, Brother!  Get yourself a user ID and participate!  That also goes for everyone else, but was directed mostly towards him.

Warmest regards,

Doc

Crossposted at Docudharma.com and at Dailykos.com

I’m tired of even pretending to care about broadcast.  You usual Friday night switchover to Prison Porn on MSNBC.  At least we’re spared O’Donnell.  Other items of interest-

• ABC Family– The Polar Express x 2
• AMC– Independence Day, The Walking Dead (last week’s Penultimate Episode says Zap2it, promos assure me it is the Season Finale)
• Bravo– Donnie Brasco x 2
• Disney– Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation (Whoo Hoo!), Suite Life on Deck, Fish Hooks (premiers)
• Discovery– Swamp Loggers (last week’s and new), Goldrush (Series Premier)
• E!– The Soup (premier)
• ESPN– Hoopies, Bulls @ Celtics, Mavericks @ Jazz
• ESPN2– College Throwball- MAC Championship, Northern Illinois v. Miami (Ohio), Illinois @ Fresno State
• Food– Outrageous Food (premier)
• FX– The Marine, XXX: State of the Union
• National Geographic– Dog Whisperer (premier)
• Nick– Glenn Martin, DDS (Christmas Special, premier)
• Oxygen– Next Friday x 2
• Sci Fi– Sanctuary (premier)
• Style– Chasing Liberty
• TBS– The House Bunny
• Turner Classic– Fitzwilly, It Happened on 5th Avenue
• TLC– What Not to Wear (premier)
• TNT– The Forbidden Kingdom x 2
• Toon– Sym-Bionic Titan x 2 (Season Finale), Generator Rex, Clone Wars (premiers)
• True– Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura (premier)
• USA– Sex and the City

Later-

• AMC– The Walking Dead (Instapeat)
• Bravo– Seven
• Oxygen– Barbershop
• Sci Fi– Stargate Universe (this week’s), Sanctuary (Instapeat)
• Style– The Bridges of Madison County
• TBS– Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
• Turner Classic– Susan Slept Here
• TNT– Swordfish
• USA– Enchanted, Dukes of Hazzard

Dave in repeats (11/11).

“Forget about it” is like if you agree with someone, you know, like Raquel Welch is one great piece of ass, forget about it. But then, if you disagree, like A Lincoln is better than a Cadillac? Forget about it! you know? But then, it’s also like if something’s the greatest thing in the world, like mingia those peppers, forget about it. But it’s also like saying Go to hell! too. Like, you know, like “Hey Paulie, you got a one inch pecker?” and Paulie says “Forget about it!” Sometimes it just means forget about it.

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 WikiLeaks arrest looms as site fights to stay online

by Danny Kemp, AFP

1 hr 16 mins ago

2 WikiLeaks chief faces new arrest warrant

by Igor Gedilaghine, AFP

Thu Dec 2, 6:26 pm ET

3 US unemployment surges to 9.8 percent

by Andrew Beatty, AFP

1 hr 1 min ago

4 Fears grow over length of US jobs crisis

by Andrew Beatty, AFP

Thu Dec 2, 5:13 pm ET

5 US firms post best job gains in three years

AFP

Wed Dec 1, 12:31 pm ET

Oh, wait.  That was Wednesday.

6 Euro is ‘credible’, more rescue funds needed: Trichet

AFP

1 hr 19 mins ago

7 Spain backs pension reform, asset sales to ease debt

AFP

Fri Dec 3, 12:31 pm ET

8 UN backs challenger in I.Coast presidential standoff

by Roland Lloyd Parry, AFP

54 mins ago

9 I.Coast locked down as leaders reject vote results

by David Youant, AFP

Fri Dec 3, 5:27 am ET

10 World Cup losers cry foul after Russia, Qatar triumph

by Rob Woollard, AFP

Fri Dec 3, 11:47 am ET

11 Russia, Qatar triumph as World Cup losers cry foul

by Rob Woollard, AFP

Fri Dec 3, 3:08 am ET

12 US space agency finds new form of life… on Earth

by Kerry Sheridan, AFP

Thu Dec 2, 6:31 pm ET

13 Obama on surprise Afghanistan visit, says US winning war

by Jim Watson, AFP

48 mins ago

14 China vows to tighten monetary policy in 2011

by Fran Wang, AFP

Fri Dec 3, 5:35 am ET

15 Australia off to a bad start in second Ashes Test

by Robert Smith, AFP

Fri Dec 3, 5:29 am ET

16 WikiLeaks founder says guards against death threats

By Keith Weir and Adam Cox, Reuters

40 mins ago

17 WikiLeaks diverts to European websites amid U.S. fury

By Georgina Prodhan, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 1:04 pm ET

18 Lawyer for WikiLeaks’s Assange denies warrant valid

By Stefano Ambrogi and Patrick Lannin

Thu Dec 2, 8:43 pm ET

19 Jobless rate jump casts cloud on recovery

By Lucia Mutikani, Reuters

54 mins ago

20 U.S. payrolls barely rise, jobless rate jumps

By Lucia Mutikani, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 11:52 am ET

21 BP says spill flow lower than government estimate: panel

By Ayesha Rascoe, Reuters

2 hrs 24 mins ago

22 Military chiefs urge against ending gay ban

By Phil Stewart, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 1:13 pm ET

23 Obama visits Afghanistan, says U.S. making progress

By Caren Bohan, Reuters

1 hr 18 mins ago

24 Senate to take symbolic votes on taxes Saturday

By Kim Dixon and Thomas Ferraro, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 1:27 pm ET

25 Special Report: What did you do in the ETF war, daddy?

By Aaron Pressman, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 8:18 am ET

26 Special Report: Making forests pay in a warming world

By David Fogarty, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 10:31 am ET

27 India expects to break logjam in climate talks

By Timothy Gardner and Alister Doyle, Reuters

Fri Dec 3, 4:26 am ET

28 Deficit-cutting plan stumbles in uphill climb

By Donna Smith and Kevin Drawbaugh, Reuters

Thu Dec 2, 8:55 pm ET

29 ECB reported buying bonds in euro zone debt crisis

By Sakari Suoninen and Marc Jones, Reuters

Thu Dec 2, 6:41 pm ET

30 WikiLeaks fights to stay online amid attacks

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER and PETER SVENSSON, Associated Press

2 mins ago

31 Controller sickout causes Spain travel chaos

By HAROLD HECKLE, Associated Press

15 mins ago

32 Boehner says GOP to lead on extending tax cuts

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

16 mins ago

33 Obama, troops cheer each other in Afghan visit

By BEN FELLER, AP White House Correspondent

17 mins ago

34 Top generals buck White House on military gay ban

By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writer

18 mins ago

35 Deficit-cutting plan fails to advance to Capitol

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

19 mins ago

36 Hold the brownies! Bill could limit bake sales

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

20 mins ago

37 Job growth weak for Nov. in setback for economy

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

19 mins ago

38 Mets’ K-Rod pleads guilty to attempted assault

By COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press

Fri Dec 3, 11:35 am ET

39 German hackers allegedly steal pop music

By MARY LANE, Associated Press

Fri Dec 3, 11:56 am ET

40 Texas will see dramatic gain in US House seats

By JAY ROOT, Associated Press

Fri Dec 3, 7:10 am ET

41 APNewsBreak: Feds propose listing for seals

By DAN JOLING, Associated Press

24 mins ago

42 AP Enterprise: Calif. lawmakers keep vehicle perk

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press

31 mins ago

43 NY drivers livid that snow snarled Buffalo highway

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press

46 mins ago

44 n tax showdown, myths spread. A debunker’s guide

By BERNARD CONDON, AP Business Writer

2 hrs 8 mins ago

45 Disney town sees death for 2nd time in a week

By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press

2 hrs 23 mins ago

46 Judge orders removal of sugar beet seed plants

By MICHAEL J. CRUMB, Associated Press

Fri Dec 3, 10:07 am ET

47 Scavengers leave dumps to speak out on UN stage

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

Fri Dec 3, 5:30 am ET

48 Judge: Chicago locks can stay open over Asian carp

By JOHN FLESHER and SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press

Thu Dec 2, 8:12 pm ET

49 Witness: Slain AIM activist feared for her life

By NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

Thu Dec 2, 8:03 pm ET

50 FLDS leader Jeffs faces unbeaten Texas prosecutors

By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press

Thu Dec 2, 6:36 pm ET

(4 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

While the MSM is panting over President Obama’s unannounced visit to Bahgram Air Base in Afghanistan, his now canceled teleconferenced meeting with Afghan President Karzai and his address to the troops, the other important news that is getting lost in the frenzy.

Judging from the headlines, the media would have us all believe that the President’s Debt Commission (Cat Food Commission) had approved its final report.

Politico has since changed its headline from “Divided deficit group approves proposal” to the more accurate “Debt panel falls short on votes”

Both CNN and the NYT are touting that the report has bipartisan approval. They would like us to believe that a commission packed with deficit hawks determined to reduce the deficit on the backs of the middle class and the elderly is a great plan because the multimillionaires on the committee embraced it.

Then there is the news about jobs growth, or rather the lack of it, and the increase in unemployment numbers. The poor and unemployed are likely to stay that way and their numbers will grow between now and 2012 if the Republicans and blue dog Democrats have their way.

The Senate hearings on the repeal of DADT extended into it’s second day with some “heroes”, like Sen. Tester making really good argument for repeal now and the villains, like homophobic Sen. McCain who wants to hear from everyone in the military this will affect over the “next year”. Amazingly the biggest “hero” today was Defense Secretary Gates who told GOP Senators that “polling troops on policy decisions is a dangerous affront to our nation’s unbroken history of civilian control over the military”:

GATES: I can’t think of a single precedent in America history of doing a referendum of the American Armed Forces on a policy issue. Are you going to ask them if they want 15-month tours? Are you going to ask them if they want to be part of the surge in Iraq? That’s not the way our civilian-led military has ever worked in our entire history . . . I think in effect doing a referendum of the members of the Armed Forces on a policy matter is a very dangerous path.

Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC are salivating over a photo-op visit to Afghanistan while Fox News just keeps spewing its usual twisting of myths and facts while babbling about ventriloquists.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

Paul Krugman: Freezing Out Hope

Freezing Out HopeOn Monday, we got the answer: he announced a pay freeze for federal workers. This was an announcement that had it all. It was transparently cynical; it was trivial in scale, but misguided in direction; and by making the announcement, Mr. Obama effectively conceded the policy argument to the very people who are seeking – successfully, it seems – to destroy him.

So I guess we are, in fact, seeing what Mr. Obama is made of.

About that pay freeze: the president likes to talk about “teachable moments.” Well, in this case he seems eager to teach Americans something false.

Glenn Greenwald: The Moral Standards of WikiLeaks Critics

Time‘s Joe Klein writes this about the WikiLeaks disclosures:

I am tremendously concernced [sic] about the puerile eruptions of Julian Assange. . . . If a single foreign national is rounded up and put in jail because of a leaked cable, this entire, anarchic exercise in “freedom” stands as a human disaster. Assange is a criminal. He’s the one who should be in jail.

That’s quite a rigorous moral standard.  So let’s apply it elsewhere:

What about the most destructive “anarchic exercise in ‘freedom'” the planet has known for at least a generation:  the “human disaster” known as the attack on Iraq, which Klein supported?  That didn’t result in the imprisonment of “a single foreign national,” but rather the deaths of more than 100,000 innocent human beings, the displacement of millions more, and the destruction of a country of 26 million people.  Are those who supported that “anarchic exercise in ‘freedom'” — or at least those responsible for its execution — also “criminals who should be in jail”?

Eugene Robinson: Tax cut fight highlights Democrats’ missing convictions

Why did Republicans go to the trouble and expense of winning the midterm elections? It looks like they’re about to prove, once again, that you can get your way in Washington without a congressional majority – if you have a firm sense of purpose. Maybe the Democratic Party will find one someday.

Or maybe not. Sigh.

What has me exercised – okay, frothing – is the ongoing fight over the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which are set to expire at the end of the year. By all rights, this shouldn’t be a fight at all. The Republican position is so ludicrous that it beggars belief.

Dan Froomkin: An Example Of How Civil Political Discourse Threatens Modern Conservatism

WASHINGTON — The conventional wisdom among this city’s elite is that if liberals and conservatives would only sit down and actually listen to each other, they would find common ground somewhere in the middle.

Actually, it’s a belief that goes beyond conventional wisdom — it is an object of faith, the central tenet of the inside-the-Beltway religion known as High Broderism.

And it is most devoutly held when it comes to the subject of the national deficit — as demonstrated by the recent orgiastic coverage of President Obama’s deficit-hawk-heavy fiscal commission.

One of the latest attempts to support this position comes courtesy of , a group heavily funded by billionaire deficit propagandist Pete Peterson’s eponymous foundation. The group, which sponsored an exercise in deliberative democracy earlier this year, was out with a press release Thursday declaring: “LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES FIND COMMON GROUND ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE NATIONAL DEBT.”

Daphne Eviatar: Wikileaks Cables Reveal Obama Administration Tried To Thwart Torture Prosecutions

Earlier this week we learned from Wikileaks that the Bush Administration tried to stop Germany from investigating the CIA’s alleged torture of a German citizen, Khalid El-Masri, who’d been mistaken for an al Qaeda terrorist and imprisoned in Afghanistan. I observed that the Obama Administration would have been hard-pressed to take a different position, given that it’s refused to investigate (or allow others to sue over) those claims itself.

Now, David Corn in Mother Jones has documented that the Obama administration has, in fact, done just what I thought it would: it’s continued the Bush policy of interfering in other countries’ attempts to apply the rule of law.

Laura Flanders: WikiLeaks’ Economic Warfare

So far, WikiLeaks have concentrated their efforts on U.S. foreign policy, from wars to diplomacy. Though little concrete action appears to have been taken in response to the leaks, their next target may spark a different reaction.

Bank of America shares fell 3 percent on Tuesday after Julian Assange hinted that he had as much as 5 GB worth of their documents revealing some shady behavior.

“We know they’ve made horrific acquisitions… taken massive write-downs… if they actually had to report that, they’re probably technically insolvent,” financial blogger Barry Ritholtz told cable news.

But we already know there’s been plenty of mismanagement and even fraud on Wall Street, so what could Assange have on the Bank that we don’t already know? Given their shameless theft of US assets, what could possibly embarrass them?

Mark Weisbrot: Haiti’s Sham Election Shames US

Washington cannot confer legitimacy on this flawed election that does nothing for Haitians living under tarps, menaced by cholera

The “election” in Haiti shows once again how low Washington’s standards are for democracy in countries that they want to control politically. And there is no doubt who is in charge there. There is a government, to be sure, but since the elected government in 2004 was overthrown, and even more since the earthquake, it is the “international community” that calls the shots – Hillary Clinton’s code for the U.S. State Department.

The election was a farce to begin with, once the non-independent CEP (Provisional Electoral Council) decided to exclude the country’s largest political party from participating – along with other parties. Fanmi Lavalas is the party of Haiti’s most popular political leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has won every election that it has contested. Aristide himself remains in exile – unable to return since the U.S.-sponsored overthrow of his government in 2004.

Imagine holding an election in the United States with both the Democratic and Republican parties prohibited from participating. If we look at other troubled elections in the world – Iran in 2009, or Afghanistan more recently – Haiti’s is even less legitimate. It is perhaps most comparable to the recent election in Burma.

Glen Ford: The Non-Election for the Non-Government of the Non-Sovereign State of Haiti

The multitudinous assaults on Haiti’s dignity reached a crescendo with this weekend’s elections, imposed by foreigners for the benefit of foreigners against the wishes of the Haitian people and even of most of the candidates. It is as if severely wounded and sick hospital patients – make that prison hospital patients – were ordered to dance and sing for the pleasure of rich visitors. As should have been expected, most Haitians refused to perform like circus animals, on demand.

The Haitian sham elections for president and most of the legislature may go down as the most bizarre and macabre exercise in hypocrisy in the history of U.S. imperialism. Haiti’s most popular political party – no, the ONLY political party with a truly mass following – the Fanmi Lavalas organization of exiled president Jean Bertrand Aristide, was barred from running. By the time Sunday rolled around, 12 of the 19 candidates for president were denouncing the government for perpetrating a “massive fraud” on the citizenry. Turnout was probably not much more than single digits – which is actually the usual for Haitian elections in which Aristide’s party is not allowed to participate – an electoral travesty equivalent to outlawing the Democratic Party in New York City, Boston or Chicago.