Global Voices has has been providing excellent information on the Mumbai attacks, for all you newsaholics.

I noted this recent news from the Newspaper Guild’s own situation as newsrooms shrink across tne country.

The 75-year-old union is already struggling for the resources it needs to operate. It may lose roughly $200,000 this year and that number may grow next year as layoffs continue–or as newspapers fold. Membership has already been impacted by the tough times. Lunzer says there were some 29,119 members from the U.S. and Canada in August, down from some 35,000 people in 1986. At least 2,000 people have disappeared from the Guild this year alone, he says.

And the cutbacks continue at the Cleveland Plain Dealer(50 jobs), at the Associated Press (10 percent cut), and so on.

If you’re like us, you’ve been watching the count-recount in the Minnesota Senate race, wondering if Al Franken will be able to find those last few votes to finally put him into the lead and the Democrats another seat closer to a 60-vote majority.

Yesterday friends pointed us to Minnesota Public Radio’s web site, where samples of disputed ballots are displayed, providing a first-hand look at exactly what kinds of issues are in the process of being resolved. It’s an eye opener, and offers a better appreciation for the things faced by election officials.

Here’s an interesting list of state purchases exempted from routine procurement rules by agency action. There’s lots of information here, such as the long list of payments to “court-appoitned counsel” in a variety of court cases. But, at the same time, there’s a whole lot of information lacking, such as the names of those receiving these payments. It seems like an odd and significant omission. Without such specific information, it’s hard for this list to serve it’s underlying public purpose of making the process transparent and assuring the public that our money is being handled in a proper way, without favoritism or bias in contract awards.

Two odd images of Thanksgiving at our home in Kaaawa.I recently remembered this little hand mixer that has been sitting in the back of a closet forever. Well, it seems like forever. I pulled it out to whip up the mashed potatoes.

Meda recalls that this was one of the things that we got with trading stamps back sometime in the 1970s or perhaps the early 1980s. We used to save both Royal Stamps and Gold Bond Stamps, as I recall, the latter with a redemption center in–where else?–the Gold Bond Building on Ala Moana. I hadn’t thought about those in years, the little stacks of stamps received with each purchase at selected stores, collected in bundles, then stuck into the booklets which could then be traded in for rewards.

In any case, this General Electric mixer still works. Amazing.

And this photo manages to convey what it’s like to cook a turkey in a household of cats. I pulled the bird out of the oven and moved it onto a large platter to cool. Leo sniffed it out before too long and quietly offered his assistance in cleaning up whatever had spilled onto the counter.

I expected a battle over control of the turkey to ensue, but my sister and mother arrived at that point and the cats scattered, as usual when unfamiliar guests arrive.