Governor Deval Patrick signed into law today An Act Relative To Gender Identity, “historic legislation to legally protect transgender individuals from discrimination in housing, education, employment and credit. The new law, signed at the State House today, also provides additional civil rights and protections from hate crimes.”

University of California Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi won’t resign her post because, she says, she needs to earn the students’ trust. Somehow, she proposes the University heal with her remaining at its helm.

“I really feel confident at this point the university needs me,” she told GMA …. “There are so many critical issues to be addressed and we really need to start the healing process and move forward.”

Until now, German bonds have been seen as the safe Euro debt that investors could still hold, but investors threatened to blow right by that safety valve today when they bought less than two thirds of the German bonds up for auction.

Donald Berwick, who’s been heading up efforts to improve Medicare service and lower costs, has withdrawn his nomination, another thoroughly competent, innocent victim of the Republican Goon Squad whose vicious efforts to destroy the concept of government in the public interest have no moral boundaries.

In the wake of the Congressional Supercommittee’s collapse, we finally have consensus on both sides of the aisle: the lawmakers orchestrating the partisan drama are, behind the scenes, happy to collaborate on destroying economic security for all but the wealthiest Americans.

Reports from Egypt say the Egyptian military has move army troops and armored vehicles in trying to end the clashes between Egyptians protesting the military’s rule and police and gain acceptance of an agreement with certain factions. So far, those efforts aren’t succeeding.

With many encampments still setup around the country, it is to be expected that there will be stories of occupations having Thanksgiving at their camps. Occupy Wall Street is preparing 5,000 meals that will be served on Thanksgiving.

Thomas Friedman bemoans the fact that President Obama hasn’t embraced the big cuts to Social Security and Medicare proposed by former senator Alan Simpson and Morgan Stanley director Erskine Bowles. Their plan is great if you think the country’s biggest problem is high-living seniors.

An AP report on costs cities are facing for police to deal with occupations raises more questions than the AP report mentions. Cities need to be asking whether they wish to be spending money on police actions that have often been unnecessary, highly questionable or worse, as the contrast between different cities shows.

No one at MF Global is charged with any crime. Sloppy bookkeeping. The customer money marched out the door. If you park your money on Wall Street, you’re a sucker.