TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* John Durham, the special prosecutor in this case, has a good reputation, but this is not what I expected: "A federal prosecutor will not bring criminal charges against any of the Central Intelligence Agency officers involved in destroying videotapes depicting the brutal interrogation of Al Qaeda detainees, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.... Jose A. Rodriguez, the former head of the agency's clandestine service, ordered his staff in November 2005 to destroy tapes of the interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri."

* Middle East peace process: "President Obama expressed concern Tuesday over the flagging Middle East peace process he helped inaugurate two months ago, as Israel announced plans for new building on land that Palestinians claim as the capital of their future state. Asked at a news conference here about the Israeli government's new plans to build 1,300 apartments in East Jerusalem, Obama said: 'This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations.'"

* I really hope there's a good explanation for this: "A mysterious missile launch off the southern California coast was caught by CBS affiliate KCBS's cameras Monday night, and officials are staying tight-lipped over the nature of the projectile."

* This seems at least somewhat encouraging: "The nation's economic stress fell in September to a 16-month low, thanks to more hiring in New England, fewer foreclosures in the mid-Atlantic and declining bankruptcy filings in the Southeast, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of conditions around the country." (thanks to T.K. for the tip)

* I don't blame her for trying: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) is trying to negotiate an end to the race between Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) for Minority Whip, a senior Democratic aide confirmed Tuesday."

* Andy Sabl does a very effective job of taking the organization Third Way to task, and reminds us of the group's president's interesting past.

* Oliver Willis knows how to shut down a stupid argument on Twitter.

* I'm glad to see the "What the F*#k has Obama Done So Far" website gain widespread fame so quickly.

* America's for-profit colleges have a new strategy: Republican alliances.

* The biggest problem with Matt Lauer's prime-time interview with George W. Bush? No one watched. NBC preempted "Chuck" for this?

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* We're inching closer to a healthier number: "Fewer people applied for unemployment aid last week, the third drop in four weeks and evidence that the job market is showing signs of life. If the decline continues, it could signal more hiring in the near future.... The Labor Department said Wednesday that initial claims for jobless aid dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 435,000. Many Wall Street economists expected a smaller decrease."

* With the IPO coming right up, GM's timing couldn't be better: "General Motors on Wednesday reported its largest quarterly profit in 11 years."

* G20 in Seoul: "Obama administration officials said Thursday that they were close to securing a compromise agreement to help reduce vast trade imbalances, a step that could ease conflict between the major world economies over trade, currency and monetary policies."

* Terror threat: "A package bomb from Yemen removed from a cargo plane in Britain on Oct. 29 could have exploded over the American East Coast, Scotland Yard said in a statement on Wednesday that offered the clearest sense so far of the danger averted."

* Those regular ol' text-based warnings on cigarette packs weren't cutting it. Maybe images covering half the pack will: "Federal drug regulators unveiled 36 proposed warning labels for cigarette packages on Wednesday, including some that are striking pictures of smoking's effects."

* New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) reputation for seriousness has been greatly exaggerated: "Christie says he's skeptical that humans are responsible for global warming."

* Rep.-elect Allen West's (R-Fla.) chief of staff today called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "garbage."

* Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) thinks he has a compelling legal argument to make against the Affordable Care Act. He's sorely mistaken.

* Glenn Beck's anti-Soros tirade yesterday was pretty astounding, even by Beck standards.

* Why did Oscar Grant's killer get the minimum sentence?

* It's kind of fun to see which pundits' predictions about the midterm elections were the most incorrect.

* What the Republican House has to do with raising interest rates on student loans.

* Try to contain your surprise: "Just about a year to the day that he left CNN, Lou Dobbs is returning to cable news, this time as host of his own show on News Corp.'s Fox Business Network."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Tentative political progress in Iraq: "Iraq's lawmakers took a step toward forming a government on Thursday evening, hammering out the details of a deal struck a day earlier to end an eight-month political impasse. But only three hours into the new session of Parliament, as lawmakers began the early stages of forming a government, one of the major political blocs walked out -- a portent of the political struggles ahead and the fragility of the agreement."

* This was supposed to go better: "For President Obama, the last-minute failure to seal a trade deal with South Korea that would expand American exports of automobiles and beef is an embarrassing setback that deprives him of a foreign policy trophy and demonstrates how the midterm elections may have weakened his position abroad."

* Speaking of the Korean peninsula: "President Obama marked Veterans Day on Thursday at a U.S. military base outside this capital, where he warned North Korea that the United States 'will never waver in our commitment to the security of the Republic of Korea.'"

* Bachmann ends her bid to become House Republican Conference Chair: "That sigh of relief you heard? It might have been John A. Boehner and other Republican leaders in the House when they got the word that Representative Michele Bachmann is ending her campaign for a leadership position."

* How ridiculous has it gotten on the Hill? It's now newsworthy, and a stark change of pace, when the Republicans' Senate leader mentions in passing that he's "willing to listen" to what the White House has to say.

* Odds of passage aren't at all good, but don't be too surprised if Speaker Pelosi pushes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act during the lame-duck session.

* I admit it; I absolutely love the White House white board. More please.

* Glenn Beck's disgusting rant against George Soros this week isn't going over well with prominent Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors.

* A Republican state rep. in Tennessee warned his colleagues this week that immigrants who enter the country illegally "go out there like rats and multiply." Classy.

* A community in Kentucky wants to improve its clean-water standards to comply with EPA regulations intended to prevent bladder cancer. Local Tea Party zealots are outraged.

* Disgraced right lobbyist/activist Ralph Reed thinks President Obama would be in better shape politically if he'd embraced a "Christ-like model of leadership" -- like Sarah Palin has.

* Have I mentioned today how maddening the Senate is? "The Senate Banking Committee will make another attempt next week to clear the path for Peter A. Diamond to take a seat on the Federal Reserve's board of governors, but Republican cooperation still seems unlikely."

* Kaplan University is in trouble.

* Best wishes to Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org, as he takes a one-year leave to deploy to Iraq, as part of Operation New Dawn. Soltz will rejoin to veterans' group upon his return.

* And on a related note, a very special thanks to those who wear, have worn, or will wear an Armed Services uniform. Happy Veterans Day.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* As G20 meetings go, I wouldn't necessarily characterize the South Korean gathering as a success: "Leaders of the world's biggest economies agreed on Friday to curb 'persistently large imbalances' in saving and spending but deferred until next year tough decisions on how to identify and fix them."

* Then again, the U.S. still has the influence to set the agenda, and "it could have been far worse."

* Not a surprise: "Rejecting a request by a Republican gay rights group, the U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday to stop enforcement of the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy while a lower court hears a challenge to the ban."

* This could be really interesting: "Maryland's Attorney General filed a complaint in federal court this week alleging that the company and two individuals behind election day robocalls that told mostly Democratic voters to 'relax' and not bother voting violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)." New estimates suggest the calls reached more than 100,000 Maryland households -- double the previous estimate.

* I have no idea how or whether this will work: "After a brief and interrupted dalliance, Newsweek, the 77-year-old magazine, and The Daily Beast, [Tina] Brown's two-year-old Web site, have decided to put their cultural differences aside and will join forces."

* I was going to mock Arthur Laffer's latest take on the economy, which is truly laughable, but it looks like Jay Bookman beat me to it.

* If the Simpson/Bowles debt reduction plan were adopted, the impact on higher education would be dramatic -- and not in a good way.

* When Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) is so dumb that even Neil Cavuto feels compelled to correct him, you know Inhofe has pushed the envelope.

* And congratulations to Josh Marshall and the whole TPM team on their 10th anniversary. Many happy returns. (Disclosure: I worked for TPM in 2007.) Josh Green, who was "present at the creation," has a fascinating item on how TPM got started.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Middle East peace: "The pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to push for a new, one-time-only freeze of 90 days on settlement construction in the West Bank represents a bet by the Israelis and the Americans that enough can be accomplished so that the Palestinians will not abandon peace talks even after the freeze ends."

* Aung San Suu Kyi is finally free in Burma.

* Afghan President Hamid Karzai is increasingly critical of U.S. military operations in his country. Gen. David Petraeus isn't happy about it.

* On a related, here's the new phased four-year plan: "The Obama administration has developed a plan to begin transferring security duties in select areas of Afghanistan to that country's forces over the next 18 to 24 months, with an eye toward ending the American combat mission there by 2014, officials said Sunday."

* Some encouraging economic news: "Retail sales, helped by strong demand for autos, increased in October by the largest amount in seven months. The Commerce Department reported Monday that retail sales rose 1.2 percent last month. That was nearly double the gain that had been expected and the largest increase since March."

* Rep. Charlie Rangel's (D-N.Y.) ethics trial gets underway: "In an ominous sign for Representative Charles B. Rangel, the House ethics committee on Monday said the facts presented by a prosecutor accusing Mr. Rangel of violating Congressional rules were not in dispute and that the congressman himself had not refuted the charges." (Note: Rangel abruptly left his own proceedings this morning, complaining that he had no lawyer.)

* Thirteen protestors organized by the GetEqual campaign handcuffed themselves to the White House's north gate today to protest "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." I'm not an expert in political protests, but given that the White House already agrees with the demonstrators, wouldn't it be smarter to take the case to the U.S. Senate, where, you know, the outcome will be decided? If Barack Obama is on your side, and John McCain isn't, why protest at the White House?

* Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) were sworn in this afternoon. Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is still waiting for the state to certify his results, and should join the Senate before the end of the month.

* I'm glad President Obama put Sarah Bloom Raskin on the Fed's Board of Governors: "Sarah Bloom Raskin on Friday used her first public speech as a governor of the Federal Reserve Board to call for major changes to mortgage servicing, saying it's time for 'serious and sustained reform.'"

* Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) hates the Affordable Care Act, except when it can fund medical facilities in his state.

* Right-wing Virginia Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, has stepped down as head of her far-right organization, Liberty Central.

* Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is the latest conservative to announce his distaste for the 17th Amendment.

* Disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich doesn't just want to defeat the left, he wants to "replace the left."

* Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), soon to be the House Republican Conference chairman, doesn't appear to know what "cut" means.

* For-profit colleges are still making money, but they're not enrolling as many students.

* I guess this should be funny, but I'm not altogether pleased to see such widespread recognition for "refudiate."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Remember the European debt crisis? It's not over: "Ireland's Prime Minister acknowledged Tuesday that the country has been all but shut out from further borrowing on world bond markets as European leaders continued crisis talks over a possible rescue for the heavily indebted nation."

* Continental concerns are growing: "European officials, increasingly concerned that the Continent's debt crisis will spread, are warning that any new rescue plans may need to cover Portugal as well as Ireland to contain the problem they tried to resolve six months ago."

* Rangel's guilty: "A House panel on Tuesday found Representative Charles B. Rangel guilty of 11 counts of ethical violations, ruling that his failure to pay taxes, improper solicitation of fund-raising donations and failure to accurately report his personal income had brought dishonor on the House."

* Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) appears to be the first Dem in the Senate to endorse a tax plan that would only extend cuts for the middle class.

* A well-deserved, hard-earned honor for an American hero, Salvatore Giunta: "An Army staff sergeant who stepped into the line of fire to help a pair of comrades on the Afghan battlefield has been given a Medal of Honor, the nation's top military award." Giunta is the first living service member from the Iraq or Afghanistan wars to be so honored.

* Defense Secretary Robert Gates thinks the neocon line on Iran is crazy. He's right.

* I don't expect much in the way of decency from right-wing provocateur James O'Keefe, but his smearing of a special-ed schoolteacher in New Jersey is truly loathsome, even by his bottom-of-the-barrel standards.

* Rep. Louie Gohmert's (R) role in the firing of a college art galleries director in Texas wasn't much better.

* I find it pretty easy to believe that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), in the midst of health care reform negotiations, could get everything he wanted from the White House, and still refuse to support the proposal. The whole debate was about the GOP not taking "yes" for an answer.

* Everything you need to know about Gov.-elect Rick Scott's (R-Fla.) judgment: "Scott has announced that his team of economic advisers will include former Reagan advisor Art Laffer."

* Teacher training programs clearly still need some work.

* Ted Koppel raised some eyebrows the other day with a lengthy diatribe on modern media, but I found Keith Olbermann's response last night pretty compelling.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Hoping to prevent a disaster in Ireland: "A top British finance official said Wednesday that his country would help prop up Ireland's ailing finances - even as a team from the International Monetary Fund and European Union prepared to travel here to address the crisis and the Irish government signaled, for the first time, that it might be willing to accept a bailout."

* It wasn't as one-sided as some had guessed, but House Democrats today chose Nancy Pelosi to be the House Minority leader next year. She won with 150 votes from caucus members, 107 more than Heath Shuler received.

* On the other side of the aisle, House Republicans unanimously chose their leadership team today, including John Boehner for Speaker and Eric Cantor for Majority Leader.

* A big day for GM tomorrow.

* Is "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal dead? Not just yet.

* It looks like a real long-shot, but President Obama thinks Congress can and should pass the DREAM Act during the lame-duck session.

* More petty gamesmanship: "House Republicans announced Wednesday they plan to force a floor vote on defunding NPR in response to the firing of analyst Juan Williams last month."

* Warren Buffett uses an op-ed to thank government, specifically the Bush administration, for pulling the country back from financial doom during the financial crisis of 2008.

* All of those far-right cranks worried about inflation? They're deeply confused.

* I'm starting to think some of the far-right's opposition to President Obama is racist. Take Rush Limbaugh, for example.

* Birtherism in the Texas legislature is very likely a sign of things to come.

* Good question: "Exactly what ... would be an inappropriate amount of money to spend on college?"

* "Negotiation," by Clay Bennett, is one of my favorite political cartoons of the year.

* I'm really sorry to see the Washington Independent close its virtual doors. It did some amazing work over the last three years, served as a launching pad for some terrific journalists, and it'll be missed.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

YAYYY ~ it 'magically' reappears ~

Sooz

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* The first step is admitting you have a problem: "Irish officials acknowledged for the first time Thursday that Ireland was seeking aid from international lenders to try to end the debt crisis stemming from the country's failed banks that has hurt confidence in its long-term finances and renewed doubts about the stability of the euro."

* A slight uptick, but in line with expectations: "New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week as expected, a government report showed on Thursday, but the underlying trend remained tilted toward a gradual improvement in the labor market."

* Congressional Republicans just don't like the unemployed: "An extension of jobless benefits enacted this summer expires Dec. 1, and on Thursday, a bill to extend them for three months failed in the House. Democrats brought the bill to the floor under fast-track rules that required a two-thirds vote to pass. Republicans opposed the legislation because they were denied a chance to attach spending cuts, so the measure fell despite winning a 258-154 majority."

* The House Ethics Committee has recommended censure for Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.).

* The first post-election Republican measure in the House was a proposal to de-fund NPR. It failed.

* Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), to his enormous credit, is showing some passion in urging the Senate to ratify New START. He's talking, of course, to members of his own caucus. The White House, meanwhile, is getting more involved with each passing day.

* Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf wants a second term. He deserves one, but House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) may block Elmendorf because he's published budget reports that Republicans didn't find helpful. Remember, GOP officials only want to hear evidence they already agree with.

* Remember that Rand Paul supporter who stomped on a defenseless woman's head? He's pleading not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge.

* Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) suggests a message for Democrats: "Americans do not negotiate with hostage-takers." That seems like a reasonable maxim.

* The Heritage Foundation's opposition to funding the Pell Grant program really doesn't make any sense.

* The things Fox News pundits say about Sarah Palin are a lot more interesting during commercial breaks, when they think no one's listening.

* And in Arkansas, a new Republican state lawmaker and champion of the Confederate Battle Flag, was asked this week what that flag means to him. "It's a symbol of Jesus Christ above all else," Loy Mauch said. "It's a symbol of Biblical government." I think he was serious.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* POTUS in Lisbon: "President Obama and dozens of other world leaders began a NATO summit meeting Friday to set strategy in Afghanistan for the next four years and agree to a new global mission to take the alliance into the 21st century. In the opening session of the two-day meeting, the 28 alliance members plan to adopt a new Strategic Concept, their first in more than a decade."

* Our NATO allies want the U.S. Senate to ratify the New START treaty. Republicans seem more inclined to make Iran and North Korea happy.

* Irish rescue gets a price tag: "The financial support program being discussed between Ireland and potential donors should amount to at least 50 billion euros, officials with knowledge of the talks said Friday."

* Have I mentioned how much I love the White House White Board? I really do, and I'm delighted Austan Goolsbee keeps doing them. (If I worked in the White House, this is exactly the kind of stuff I'd be pushing all the time.)

* The utility of the Stuxnet worm: "Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran's nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control."

* A day after recommending censure for Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), the House ethics committee delayed indefinitely a trial for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

* It's probably fair to say the Transportation Security Administration's more aggressive pat-downs of passengers at airport security checkpoints isn't going over well with the traveling public.

* Most of the country doesn't know that there will be a Republican majority in the House next year. Have I mentioned lately that informed electorate is a prerequisite to a thriving democratic system of government?

* It wasn't easy, but the Senate approved the Pigford II settlement. It's about time.

* Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) wants Attorney General Eric Holder to resign. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) is either pretty dumb, or he's pretending to be pretty dumb to curry favor with the GOP base.

* Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) really needs to go away and enjoy a lengthy period of quiet time.

* CREW's Melanie Sloan is going where? Glenn Greenwald noted, "Leaving CREW to work for Lanny Davis would be like leaving the ACLU to work for Dick Cheney."

* I've heard of creative campus protests before, but a "yawn in" is a new one.

* David Frum finds Sarah Palin's tweets rather horrifying. He's not alone.

* And I'd find Glenn Beck less scary if he didn't do things like suggest military coups against America's elected leadership.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* A calculated revelation: "North Korea showed a visiting American nuclear scientist earlier this month a vast new facility it secretly and rapidly built to enrich uranium, confronting the Obama administration with the prospect that the country is preparing to expand its nuclear arsenal or build a far more powerful type of atomic bomb."

* On a related note, North Korea officials are arguing that it's simply trying to build nuclear power plants. No one believes them.

* Ireland formally applied for a rescue package yesterday. It's likely to total $109 billion to $123 billion U.S.

* Insider trading: "The FBI raided three hedge funds in connection with a widening probe into insider trading, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday."

* Another installment of the White House White Board, this time featuring Nancy-Ann DeParle explaining the medical-loss ratio in an easy-to-understand way. (Dear WH staff, please keep doing these. Maybe they'll one day be considered the fireside chats of the Obama era?)

* If conservatives are hoping to exploit the families of victims of the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa to push for more military commissions, the right will apparently be disappointed.

* Motor Trend's Todd Lassa did a very nice job making Rush Limbaugh look like a buffoon (yes, even more so than usual).

* Add "Social Security policy" to the list of things Eric Cantor (R-Va.) pretends to understand but doesn't.

* That food safety bill we've been waiting for might still pass, but the vote has been delayed to next week.

* Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) is still the target of multiple investigations, and may yet face criminal charges, but the hush money his parents paid his mistress' family has been cleared by the Federal Election Commission.

* Matt Yglesias: "Worth noting that [incoming House Budget Committee Chairman] Paul Ryan is a dangerous madman, with monetary views well to the right of Milton Friedman."

* Jon Chait referred to today's GOP this morning as "an intransigent and largely insane party."

* Edward Luce, a reporter for The Financial Times, believes there is "a greater hatred of Obama" among congressional Republican "than there is a love of American national security."

* Rebooting Buffy strikes me as a remarkably bad idea. Rebooting Buffy without Joss Whedon strikes me as a spectacularly bad idea.

* MSNBC giving Lawrence O'Donnell a show was clearly a good idea. (thanks to reader V.S. for the tip)

* I don't want to alarm anyone, but Newt Gingrich really does lie a lot.

* The number of online courses is growing rapidly. Whether these courses are any good is a separate matter entirely.

* And you may have heard rumors about the TSA "strip searching" a young boy at the Salt Lake City International Airport. The "story" made the rounds after a Drudge push, but it's total nonsense. Someday, news outlets will stop taking Drudge stories seriously, but that I'm afraid that day is nowhere in sight.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Crisis on the Korean Peninsula: "South Korea warned North Korea on Tuesday of 'enormous retaliation' if it took more aggressive steps after Pyongyang fired scores of artillery shells at a South Korean island in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbor since the Korean War ended in 1953."

* For crying out loud: "For months, the secret talks unfolding between Taliban and Afghan leaders to end the war appeared to be showing promise, if only because of the appearance of a certain insurgent leader at one end of the table: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, one of the most senior commanders in the Taliban movement. But now, it turns out, Mr. Mansour was apparently not Mr. Mansour at all."

* Conditions in Ireland are deteriorating: "Political infighting engulfed Ireland on Tuesday, threatening to trigger a quick election and delay a massive EU-IMF bailout. Rebels from Prime Minister Brian Cowen's own party pressed to oust him and opposition leaders demanded an election before Christmas."

* Maybe someone should do something: "Top Federal Reserve officials expect the unemployment rate to remain around nine percent at the end of next year and eight percent at the end of 2012, according to internal forecasts that drove the central bank to take new efforts to boost the economy three weeks ago."

* Also not encouraging: "Sales of previously owned homes slipped slightly in October as the housing market struggled in the face of high unemployment and tight credit."

* When dealing with congressional Republicans, if Dems "hope for the best, and plan for the worst," they'll be on the right track.

* The dispute among Senate Republicans over ethanol subsidies continues to get even more interesting.

* The fact that incoming House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is considered a leading Republican voice on economic policy is rather horrifying.

* Harold Pollack reports on encouraging developments in combating AIDS.

* After all this time, Marc Thiessen should probably know quite a bit more about the subjects he claims to care about.

* The Daily Caller's transition from credible to dubious to ignominious to cover-your-eyes-ridiculous was completed today.

* Daniel Luzer takes a closer look at some of the ethical issues surrounding Melanie Sloan's departure from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

* Fox News refuses to air paid advertising featuring U.S. troops, apparently because they don't like what the servicemen and women have to say about repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

* And last night, former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin (R) told Sean Hannity that Republicans shouldn't "just preach to the choir with Fox [News] viewers." I'm pretty sure that's not the network's official line, but accidental candor is better than none.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Crisis on the Korean peninsula: "President Obama and South Korea's president agreed Tuesday night to hold joint military exercises as a first response to North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean military installation, as both countries struggled for the second time this year to keep a North Korean provocation from escalating into war."

* Obama administration succeeds in securing Israeli patience on Iran: "Some Israeli officials say the country's fingers are off the hair-trigger that would launch a strike on the Iranian nuclear program, but that convincing the United States to take a harder line on Iran remains a top national priority."

* Irish austerity: "Desperate to seal a deal for an international bailout, the government in Ireland on Wednesday unveiled a painful, four-year plan for $20 billion in spending cuts and new taxes that would slash unemployment benefits and cut welfare payments for the already hard-hit Irish public."

* Unusually good news on unemployment filings: "The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to the lowest level since July 2008, a hopeful sign that improvement in the job market is accelerating. The Labor Department said Wednesday that weekly unemployment claims dropped by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 407,000 in the week ending Nov. 20."

* President Obama takes a compelling pitch to Kokomo, Indiana.

* Nearly 70% of the allocated TARP money has been "repaid, offset with profits, or canceled."

* The Pentagon will give Congress its DADT survey results on Tuesday. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings, including testimony from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, on Thursday and Friday.

* Remember the widely-mocked, color-coded terror-alert levels? They're on their way out.

* When has a country ever prospered by devaluing its currency? I'm glad you asked.

* Former right-wing Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating (R) will now lead the American Bankers Association. (thanks to K.G. for the tip)

* Sarah Palin is now going after First Lady Michelle Obama for trying to combat childhood obesity.

* When it comes to student loans and crushing debt, stories like Kelli Space's shouldn't even exist.

* Salon War Room blog has been counting down its Hack 30 -- a list of "the worst pundits in America." The top choice was announced this afternoon, and it's hard to argue with the selection.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Crisis on the Korean Peninsula: "Tension mounted Friday near a South Korean island bombarded this week by North Korea, as the North's military again fired artillery, this time in what appeared to be a drill on its own territory. As an American aircraft carrier steamed toward the Yellow Sea for joint exercises with South Korea, the North's state-run media warned that the maneuvers could push the Korean Peninsula closer to 'the brink of war,' while China also raised objections."

* Following up on that last point: "This weekend's arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea poses a dilemma for Beijing: Should it protest angrily and aggravate ties with Washington, or quietly accept the presence of a key symbol of American military pre-eminence off Chinese shores?"

* Europe can afford to bailout Greece. And Ireland. Perhaps even Portugal. Spain is a different story.

* Presidential stitches: "President Obama had to get 12 stitches in his lip after getting a blow from an opposing player's elbow during a basketball game Friday morning, White House officials said." (Lazy media folk looking for a metaphor: the president may get banged up, but at least he's not afraid to get in the game.)

* As if health care wasn't already facing political difficulties: "As the Obama administration presses ahead with the health care law, officials are bracing for the possibility that a federal judge in Virginia will soon reject its central provision as unconstitutional and, in the worst case for the White House, halt its enforcement until higher courts can rule."

* John Judis weighs the evidence and concludes, "[T]he Obama administration's failure to seize the political opportunity afforded by the Great Recession has not necessarily opened the way to a new Republican majority. More likely, it will lead to a period where the two parties exchange power, and where neither can establish a long-lasting majority."

* And based on Fox News' own standards, such as they are, shouldn't senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano "be fired immediately" for dipping his toe into 9/11 Trutherism? This week, the far-right analyst appeared on a radical radio show and declared that the attacks of 911 "couldn't possibly have been done the way the government told us."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Just a reminder, the Monthly's annual pledge drive began today. We sincerely appreciate those of you who've already shown generous support, and hope other readers will take a moment to help out.

* Crisis on the Korean peninsula: "On the heels of South Korea's threat to force the North to 'pay a dear price for further aggression,' the country's military appeared to step back from its confrontational stance and canceled live-fire artillery drills on an island in the Yellow Sea attacked by North Korea a week ago. Still, high-profile joint exercises between the South and the United States are under way within 125 miles of the island, a show of force meant to warn North Korea but that has drawn warnings from both the North and China."

* On a related note: "With its brazen daytime artillery barrage of a civilian-inhabited island, North Korea's reclusive leaders might have achieved one thing that had so far eluded South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak: uniting the South Korean public around a more aggressive policy toward the North."

* Tragedy in Afghanistan: "An Afghan border policeman killed six American servicemen during a training mission Monday, underscoring one of the risks in a U.S.-led program to educate enough recruits to turn over the lead for security to Afghan forces by 2014. The shooting in a remote area near the Pakistani border appeared to be the deadliest attack of its kind in at least two years." (thanks to R.P. for the tip)

* Tehran: "Motorcyclists attached bombs to cars carrying two of the country's top nuclear scientists early Monday, detonating them from afar. One scientist was killed and the other injured."

* The WikiLeaks fallout and a setback in America's diplomatic strength: "Diplomats and government officials around the world lamented the massive leak of U.S. diplomatic cables Monday and many predicted it would undercut their ability to deal with the United States on sensitive issues."

* On a related note, Anne Applebaum argues persuasively that the WikiLeaks document dump will end up creating more secrecy, not less.

* Iraqi refugees returned to their country in recent years as it grew more stable. Now, they're leaving again.

* The U.S. war in Afghanistan is now longer than the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan.

* Somehow, Brian Beutler managed to convince Josh to give him his own TPM-branded blog. Congrats to Brian, whose talent and hard work clearly warrants such an honor, but who nevertheless probably needs a haircut.

* The wound isn't yet healed, but go ahead and read Jeffrey Toobin's fantastic piece on the Supreme Court's tragic Bush v. Gore ruling.

* The DREAM Act deserves to pass. It probably won't.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Just a reminder, the Monthly's annual pledge drive is underway. We sincerely appreciate those of you who've already shown generous support, and hope other readers will take a moment to help out.

* European debt crisis: "Fears among European bondholders spread Tuesday from the weakest members of the euro zone to other countries, including Italy and Belgium, spurring a stepped-up search for a solution to a crisis that is increasingly putting political as well as financial strain on Europe's decade-old monetary union."

* It's pretty much impossible to feel optimistic about the global climate talks underway this week in Cancun.

* This almost certainly won't work, but I give Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) credit for trying: "Senate Democratic leaders will try to push through a one-year extension of federal unemployment benefits sometime Tuesday, although they are still expected to lapse at the end of the day, sources told The Hill."

* Comcast inadvertently helps make the case for net neutrality, as Senate Democrats push the FCC to act.

* It's good to see a boost in U.S. consumer confidence.

* Republicans and health insurance companies made all kinds of dire predictions about Medicare Advantage earlier this year. Republicans and health insurance companies were wrong.

* Did Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggest New START might yet get a vote during the lame-duck session? It sounded like it.

* Fred Kaplan argues that the revelations from the WikiLeaks documents actually make the Obama administration's foreign policy efforts look pretty good.

* Good: "An Oklahoma constitutional amendment aimed at stopping the use of Islamic law in its courts was dealt a serious blow on Monday when a federal judge temporarily blocked the state from putting it into effect."

* Pigford II is on its way to the president's desk. It's about time.

* The DNC's Organizing for America actually encouraged its members to write letter in support of a pay freeze for federal workers. I have no idea what the OFA is thinking.

* I'm starting to think Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is pretty racist.

* Idiotic conservatives will probably learn one of these days that CNN's Anderson Cooper isn't afraid to ask good questions on the air.

* Classes at community colleges aren't as open as they used to be.

* Adam Serwer flags a gem from a special operations soldier, quoted in the Pentagon's DADT report: "We have a gay guy [in the unit]. He's big, he's mean, and he kills lots of bad guys. No one cared that he was gay." Republicans think we'd be safer if the military kicked that guy out. I continue to think that's insane.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

WEDNESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Just a reminder, the Monthly's annual pledge drive is underway. We sincerely appreciate those of you who've already shown generous support, and hope other readers will take a moment to help out.

* A big win for Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration: "The Obama administration scored a victory in its drive to curb the worldwide spread of nuclear material with an agreement on Wednesday by the hard-line former Soviet republic, Belarus, to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 2012."

* Fiscal commission reports, : "The leaders of President Obama's fiscal commission released a final report Wednesday that is full of political dynamite, recommending sharp cuts in military spending, a higher retirement age and reforms that could cost the average taxpayer an extra $1,700 a year."

THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Just a reminder, the Monthly's annual pledge drive is underway. We sincerely appreciate those of you who've already shown generous support, and hope other readers will take a moment to help out.

* After an unexpectedly good week last week on Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits, this week's numbers went up 26,000 to 436,000, a little worse than expected.

* On the other hand, November retail sales "blew by analyst estimates, posting one of the biggest increases in three years.... Sales at stores open at least a year -- a crucial indicator known as same-store sales -- rose an average of 6 percent, according to Thomson Reuters, well above the 2.6 percent that analysts had expected. That was the biggest increase since 2007 except for a 9.2 percent rise in March of this year."

* A child nutrition bill championed by First Lady Michelle Obama won House approval today, and is on its way to the White House for the president's signature.

* Five former Republican Secretaries of State wrote an op-ed today, urging Senate Republicans to do the right thing and ratify New START. Note, the retired officials agree that President Obama has already provided "reasonable answers" to skeptics' questions.

* As I type, the House is considering whether to pass a censure resolution condemning Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) for his ethics transgressions.

* Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) gets away with it: "Justice Department prosecutors have cleared Senator John Ensign of criminal allegations arising from his affair with a former campaign aide and his efforts to secure lobbying work for the woman's husband, the senator's lawyers announced Wednesday."

* When I describe Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) as a racist, I mean it.

* Undermining the Truth in Lending Act really isn't a good idea.

* In case recent developments on the Hill haven't depressed you quite enough, funding for embryonic stem cell research is also in trouble.

* Juan Williams thinks unemployment benefits hurts those without jobs. Remember, Fox News considers him a liberal.

* On this, David Brooks is absolutely right: "[M]y problem with the Republican Party right now, including Paul, is that if you offered them 80-20, they say no. If you offered them 90-10, they'd say no. If you offered them 99-1, they'd say no. And that's because we've substituted governance for brokerism, for rigidity that Ronald Regan didn't have. And to me, this rigidity comes from this polarizing world view that 'they're a bunch of socialists over there.'"

* The far-right continues to lash out at public employees. AFSCME has a very compelling response to the criticism.

* How odd: "Maryland actually has the only collegiate-level competitive eating group in the United States."

* It's possible that Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) doesn't know what "empirical" means.

* This looks like a fairly significant breakthrough: "NASA's secret is finally out: Researchers say they've forced microbes from a gnarly California lake to become arsenic-gobbling aliens. It may not be as thrilling as discovering life on Titan, but the claim is so radical that some chemists aren't yet ready to believe it. If the claim holds up, it would lend weight to the idea that life as we know it isn't the only way life could develop."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Just a reminder, the Monthly's annual pledge drive is underway. We sincerely appreciate those of you who've already shown generous support, and hope other readers will take a moment to help out.

* President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan this morning, and while a face-to-face meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scrapped due to poor weather, the president spoke to 4,000 U.S. troops after visited with wounded servicemen and women.

* Better late than never: "U.S. and South Korean negotiators agreed Friday to a free-trade deal that the Obama administration hopes will increase American exports by billions of dollars annually and give momentum to a broader free-trade agenda."

* The Simpson/Bowles fiscal commission not only failed to get the votes needed to send the proposal to Congress, the commission ultimately decided not to take a final vote at all.

* A temporary fix: "A two-week stopgap spending bill cleared Congress Thursday night, averting a threatened shutdown Friday and buying time for the White House to try to salvage some year-end agreement after the collapse of the budget process."

* President Obama issued the first pardons of his presidency today. There were nine pardons in total, four of which related to cocaine convictions.

* In case you haven't heard, the House did, in fact, censure Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) late yesterday. The final vote was 333 to 79, making Rangel only the 23rd House lawmaker to receive such a sanction, and the first in nearly three decades.

* Dear Mitt Romney, if you'd only stop pretending to understand issues like New START, then smart people like Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) wouldn't feel compelled to make you look so foolish.

* The current net neutrality process, after some winnowing down, looks reasonably good.

* Helen Thomas wants folks to know that Congress, the White House, the American entertainment industry, and Hollywood, Wall Street are all "owned by the Zionists." Oh my.

* Sorry, Daily Caller, your lesbian-conversion-in-the-military piece is still indefensible.

* The Washington Post's Kaplan problem appears to have prompted Melinda Gates to resign from its board of directors.

* And finally, Harvard scholar Theda Skocpol offers an observation that sounds awfully familiar: "It looks more and more as if the GOP plan is to sabotage efforts to spur job growth in hopes of winning the 2012 presidential election."

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.

MONDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits:

* Just a reminder, the Monthly's annual pledge drive is underway. We sincerely appreciate those of you who've already shown generous support, and hope other readers will take a moment to help out.

* In Geneva, at least Iranian officials agreed to discuss their nuclear efforts: "An Iranian negotiator on Monday met with officials from six nations, including the United States, on ways to rein in Iran's nuclear program."

* A big case at the high court: "The Supreme Court on Monday accepted what will likely become the highest-profile business case of the year, agreeing to decide whether 1.5 million female employees of Wal-Mart can pursue job discrimination claims in the largest employment class-action suit in the country's history."

* As tax policy talks continue, the latest word is that the administration's "Making Work Pay" tax credit wouldn't make it into the final package, but it would be replaced with a one-year reduction in payroll taxes for workers.

* Gen. David Petraeus said he's encouraged by progress in Afghanistan, but was asked whether the Afghan army can take the lead by NATO's 2014 deadline. He replied, "I think -- no commander ever is going to come out and say, 'I'm confident that we can do this.' I think that you say that you assess that this is -- you believe this is, you know, a reasonable prospect and knowing how important it is -- that we have to do everything we can to increase the chances of that prospect."

* Jonathan Cohn has a good piece on how congressional Republicans' handling of the "doc fix" is ridiculous. Ron Chusid has more.

* This could prove to be a fascinating case: "The Fox News network has solicited the services of a prominent D.C. law firm and an equally prominent campaign finance lawyer to ward off a suit alleging that it made illegal in-kind contributions to a Republican gubernatorial candidate."

* The Justice Department investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) has reportedly come to an end after four years.

* Maybe I have an odd sense of humor, but I find it amusing, in a tragic sort of way, that an undercover FBI agent infiltrated a mosque and was so overly aggressive, Muslim congregants felt compelled to get in touch with the FBI.

* Reports suggest that Elizabeth Edwards' health has taken a turn for the worse.

* Among its other problems, the Simpson/Bowles deficit commission wouldn't do any favors for higher ed.

* And as far as Glenn Beck is concerned, there are roughly 157 million Islamic terrorists in the world. The voices in that guy's head sure do come up with some crazy nonsense.

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.