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November 24, 2011 | | TURKEY DAY Happy Thanksgiving! From the bravery of Seal Team Six to the wonder of the Muppets and the visionary life of Steve Jobs, The Daily Beast gives thanks for the highlights of 2011. See photos. Plus, The Daily Beast's Zachary Karabell on the economic news giving hope to a faster recovery. UNREST Despite ongoing protests in Tahrir Square, the Egyptian government says elections will go ahead as planned, with parliamentary ballots scheduled for next week and a presidential one in June. They also refused to immediately step down, as the protesters are demanding. Perhaps more surprising, two Egyptian generals apologized for the killing of protesters in Tahrir Square. After five days of clashes between police and protesters, violence eased on Thursday. The military took over from the police, lowering cement barricades to separate the protesters from the Interior Ministry building. EUROZONE Welcome aboard! Italy’s new prime minister, Mario Monti, is meeting for the first time with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. They’ll have a lot to talk about. Germany’s status as a rock of stability amid the eurozone crisis started to show some cracks yesterday, when a third of the bonds the country put up for sale found no buyers. Germany had tried to raise 6 billion euros in an auction of 10-year bonds, but it was able to sell only 3.9 billion euros worth. The unexpected shortfall may weaken Germany’s bargaining position in the EU, as it opposes the European Central Bank shoring up debt-ridden countries and pushes for them to pass greater austerity measures. ANALYSIS Two days after the supercommittee failed to come to a deal, some lawmakers are trying to look on the bright side. The debate did reveal that some Republicans would be amenable to tax increases, while Democrats would be willing to cut Medicare and Social Security. At the very least, it simplified the debate over taxes to focus on taxes on the wealthy. Ezra Klein argues that the panel’s failure is actually a coup for Democrats, who now have the leverage of a January 1, 2013, trigger of progressive spending cuts as well as a January 1, 2013, trigger of progressive tax increases. TURKEY DAY Todays’ Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has some new additions. Tim Burton’s B. and Paul Frank’s Julius the monkey will join classics like Snoopy and Spider-Man, and around 40 other balloons. Mary J. Blige, Cee Lo Green, Avril Lavigne, and the Muppets will all participate in the show. Macy’s expects 3.5 million people to line the parade route. | | 
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