Monday Morning Open Thread

Joe is in NYC with his boyfriend Carlos and Petey the wonder dog, so on the off-chance that he's not up at 7am blogging (but hey, this is Joe we're talking about), I'm doing the open thread and giving Joe a much-needed day off (it's like "The Year Without a Santa Claus," but for bloggers). It's Thanksgiving week, but it's also transition time and, oh yeah, the economy is melting down, so while the news might normally be slow, I'm expecting some interesting news as the week progresses. I'm off to Chicago later in the day to spend Thanksgiving with my family (if you see me at O'Hare, say hey), and will do a little Carmela the wonder dog blogging from there, hopefully tonight or tomorrow. And now on with the news.