Israel demolishes Hamas compounds, over 200 dead  —  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing more than 200 people …

Phila. man shot because family talked during movie  —  A South Philadelphia man enraged because a father and son were talking during a Christmas showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took care of the situation when he pulled a .380-caliber gun and shot the father, police said.

Obama's Down Payment  —  A Stimulus Must Aim for Long-Term Results  —  When President-elect Barack Obama takes office, he will face what may well be the bleakest economic outlook since World War II.  Economic forecasts have been revised significantly downward over the past several months …

More Caroline: Spoke to Hillary, won't run if not selected  —  Caroline Kennedy made a little more news on NY1 tonight, telling host Dominic Carter that she finally spoke to Hillary Clinton — who didn't initially take her call — and that, if she's not selected, she won't run for the seat.

Bill Kristol's Year Up at ‘NYT’: Will He Get Axed?  —  NEW YORK Exactly one year ago this weekend the Huffington Post broke the news that, as Jim Morrison might have put it, the Kristol Ship was about to sail at The New York Times.  Much uproar ensued across the blogosphere.

Retail Sales Down  —  A touch of “yikes” from the WSJ:  —  When I was in Switzerland, where luxury goods production is a big deal, a number of people speculated that such items were somehow recession-proof.  That didn't really make sense to me, but apparently I'm not the only one who was told …

The Politics of Fat  —  A hefty problem for the left.  —  On December 15, the city council of Binghamton, New York—every member a proud progressive—unanimously passed an ordinance making it a crime to discriminate against fat people.  The next day, David Paterson, the famously progressive governor …

The Net-Zero Gas Tax  —  A once-in-a-generation chance.  —  Americans have a deep and understandable aversion to gasoline taxes.  In a culture more single-mindedly devoted to individual freedom than any other, tampering with access to the open road is met with visceral opposition.

Politico reviews the year in American “political journalism”  —  Politico's media reporter, Michael Calderone, does an unintentionally superb job of conveying the vapid, wretched soul of the American political media, with his list of what he calls — without any irony at all — “The Top Ten Political Scoops of 2008”:

Downturn Ends Building Boom in New York  —  Nearly $5 billion in development projects in New York City have been delayed or canceled because of the economic crisis, an extraordinary body blow to an industry that last year provided 130,000 unionized jobs, according to numbers tracked by a local trade group.

Theodore Roosevelt Was No Conservative  —  There's a reason he left the GOP to lead the Progressive Party.  —  We know that Barack Obama and his allies identify themselves as “progressives,” and that they aim to implement the big-government liberalism that originated in America's Progressive Era and was consummated in the New Deal.

Pak textbooks build hate culture against India  —  Text:  —  The empowerment of terror in Pakistan has not happened overnight.  This is the logical culmination of the politics and policies pursued by Pakistan for years now.  —  Terrorism in Pakistan has its roots in the culture of hate …