On November 11, 1918, the armistice to end World War I went into affect, on the eleventh hour of that day. The 11th minute of the 11th hour was never officially recognized, but many Americans use that to extend the “eleventh” number pattern. On November of 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th as the day to commemorate Armistice Day.

There were a few incidents of violence at or nearby occupations yesterday, but, unlike previous incidents, the police did not provoke the violence. Yesterday, a 35-year old veteran shot himself at Occupy Burlington.

It wasn’t the intention of the White House to only pass the veterans hiring initiative; it was folded into a broader bill that offered tax credits for all hires. But the practical effect of offering a big sum of money to a company to hire a veteran is that a veteran will get privileged in hiring decisions over a non-veteran, when a position needs to be filled. I can’t see how this would boost employment in any way, just favor one type of applicant over another. That’s decent news for veterans, but bad news for anyone who didn’t go into the military.

• A shooting death near Occupy Oakland.
• Senate helps veterans…with tax cuts.
• Krugman once more on the crisis in Europe.
• Nixon’s Watergate testimony released.
• Threats and intimidation from the Pizza Guy.

Oh of all the afflictions to come upon Herman Cain, truly this is the one that hits closest to home: “In a devastating blow to businessman Herman Cain’s presidential ambitions, the American Mustache Institute…announced it was rescinding its official endorsement of the GOP field’s only mustachioed candidate.”

Firepup davedwards1 — What Are We For?

Connecting fracking and sand pits and Keystone XL, explaining why Keystone XL oil is intended to go overseas and to make us actually pay more at the pump, and finishing up with a light flourish.

With some many debates in the Republican primary this year the impact anyone has is often extremely small, but there is always the potential a debate can matter if a single moment from it goes viral. A memorable line or terrible gaffe could end up being the 30 second clip that epitomizes some large dynamic in the race and as a result is aired over and over on on the news and Internet.

Talks to create a unity government in Greece collapsed last night without a resolution, because the two parties could not agree on the terms. Then, at the last minute, Lucas Papademos was named Prime Minister. He is a political outsider and European leaders hope that he will have the ability to hold the unity coalition together long enough to pass bailout/austerity measures decided on last month. Papademos did not acquire written agreements on austerity from the opposition New Democracy party, as requested by the EU.

In a general election matchup President Obama and Mitt Romney are running neck and neck in three of the largest swing states according to a new Quinnipiac poll. The poll found that Obama had a small lead in Ohio and Pennsylvania, while Romney leads in Florida