• 50:1 odds of a Donald Trump presidency source

• » Pundits, shmundits. If you want to know how people really think elections will turn out, best turn to the betting markets, where people actually pay a price for bad predictions. Chris Good at The Atlantic scoured three betting sites, and tallied the odds they gave various politicians of becoming the next POTUS. Obama is at the top at all three sites; bettors are split on whether Romney or Palin is the second most likely. Frankly, we’re skeptical of the inclusion of some names (is anybody really expecting Joe the Plumber to run for president?), but hey, it’s fun to see where people put their money.

• plea Gay rights groups asked the Pentagon to expedite its release of its study on the effects of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
• response Defense Secretary Bob Gates agreed, and bumped up the release of the report…by one day. One whole day! source

• The number one odor that enhanced penile blood flow was a combination of lavender and pumpkin pie.
• Dr. Alan Hirsch • Highlighting a key finding in a new study at Chicago’s Smell and Taste Treatment Research Center. The study tested the aphrodisic properties of various foods; along with pumpkin, the scents of vanilla and strawberry rhubarb pie were also found to increase males’ sex drives. Interestingly, none of the scents had a negative effect; “Nothing turns a man off,” Hirsch says. Happy Thanksgiving!  source

• 43% think same-sex parents are “bad for society” source

• People were stuck on the bridge, they could not move, so they pushed others into the water. I was stuck on the bridge for five hours and I could not move.
• Cambodia Water Festival disaster survivor Yan San • Describing the stampede that killed hundreds and left hundreds more like himself injured. The disaster is the worst to hit the country since the Khmer Rogue regime killed up to 2 million people in the late 1970s – which seems downright modest in comparison, but taken on its own terms is still pretty awful. How often do hundreds of people die at a festival? source

• 341+ number of people killed in today’s stampede in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s largest city
• 329+ number of people injured at the Cambodia Water Festival, which four million people attended
• 240+ number of people killed in the stampede that were women, which is pretty insane source

• 32 GOP Senators signed a legal brief challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform law
• nine GOP Senators refused to join in; Lisa Murkowski, Scott Brown and Judd Gregg are amongst the group source

Why didn’t they sign?

• We are not going to be able to talk about it. We just aren’t going to talk about that.
• Otto Heck, Judd Gregg’s spokesman • “Explaining” why Gregg didn’t sign the legal brief, prepared by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, that most of his Republican colleagues supported. Almost a third of McConnell’s caucus broke ranks here, a surprisingly high number given the general solidarity of GOP opposition to HCR.

• 2 guilty counts against the main suspect, Ingmar Guandique source

• For some perspective here, it’s good to note that the Iraq War Logs is widely considered the largest war document release in history, so if this is seven times bigger … holy crap. This could perhaps be epic. Meanwhile, Julian Assange has a warrant out for his arrest, so this has lots of room to get much messier than it already is. source

• 600,000 number of Android-based Galaxy Tab units the company has sold in its first month of launch
• 1 million number of iPads that sold in the first month of ITS launch; they’re now hovering around 7.2 million source