The Briefing 10-03-13

1. Government Shutdown a show of political theater with genuine political issues at stake

Our Democracy Is at Stake, New York Times (Thomas Friedman)

Maybe It Would Be Better To Shut Down the Government Now Than Shut Down a Bigger Government Later, Reason Magazine (J.D. Tuccille)

America flirts with self-destruction, Financial Times (Martin Wolf)

What happens if they shut down the government and no one cares?, National Post of Canada (Jesse Kline)

2. Euthanasia performed after dissatisfaction with sex change operation

Belgian killed by euthanasia after a botched sex change operation, The Telegraph (Bruno Waterfield)

3. Secularism explodes among American Jewish community

Poll Shows Major Shift in Identity of U.S. Jews, New York Times (Laurie Goodstein)

4. Moms really do have a nose for that baby smell 

New baby smell: For moms, it’s delicious, USA Today (Kim Painter)