NY+Times+29+nov

 **** __Food Stamp Use Soars Across U.S., and Stigma Fades__ **** By JASON DePARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF A program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.

**** __U.S. Will Push Mortgage Firms to Reduce More Loan Payments__ **** By PETER S. GOODMAN Only a tiny fraction of mortgages have been permanently reduced under a $75 billion program for troubled homeowners.

**** __Afghans Detail Detention in ‘Black Jail’ at U.S. Base__ **** By ALISSA J. RUBIN A U.S. camp is holding inmates for sometimes weeks at a time, without access to the International Committee of the Red Cross, researchers and former detainees say. **** __Pakistan’s Leader, Under Pressure, Cedes Nuclear Office__ **** By SABRINA TAVERNISE and DAVID E. SANGER President Asif Ali Zardari handed over his position in the nuclear command structure to his prime minister, in a sudden maneuver widely seen as a fresh sign of turmoil.

**** __Baby Boom of Mixed Children Tests South Korea__ **** By MARTIN FACKLER Migrant women from poorer parts of Asia have helped fuel a South Korean baby boom but brought concerns about assimilating the offspring of mixed unions.

**** __Russian Train Wreck Tied to Terrorist Bomb__ **** By CLIFFORD J. LEVY and ELLEN BARRY Officials called the blast the worst terrorist act in Russia in years outside the volatile North Caucasus.   **** __At This School, It’s Marijuana in Every Class__ **** By TAMAR LEWIN A six-week primer focuses on the history, the horticulture and the legal how-to’s of medical marijuana in Michigan.

**** __To Prepare for War, G.I.’s Get a Dress Rehearsal__ **** By JAMES DAO In Louisiana, training scenarios in mock Afghan villages are created from intelligence reports fresh from the front.

**** __Protecting the Forests, and Hoping for Payback__ **** By WILLIAM YARDLEY To the list of essential functions proclaimed for the giant evergreens of the West, add protection against climate change. **** __Bernanke Warns of Risks in Push to Revamp Fed__ **** By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr. In an op-ed article for The Washington Post, Ben Bernanke warns that legislation “would strip the Fed of all its bank regulatory powers.”

**** __Health Care Savings Could Start in the Cafeteria__ **** By MELANIE WARNER A start-up company is aiming to help companies lower medical costs by offering employees healthier diets.

**** __Wines, With Notes of M.B.A.__ **** By KATHRYN JONES A wave of M.B.A.’s, bankers, chemists and others are taking over or starting wineries and infusing them with a level of business expertise usually found only at big brands.