Israel launches air strikes on Gaza, 155 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 nearly 200 people …

Dear Mr. Obama  —  Between now and Jan. 20, the Post-Gazette will publish letters written by local students to President-elect Barack Obama, who will be inaugurated as the nation's 44th president.  They will appear intermittently in the My Generation section.  The following are from fifth-graders at Liberty Elementary School.

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 …

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.

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 …

NY1 Exclusive: Caroline Kennedy Discusses Senate Hopes, Remembers Her Family  —  For the first time since announcing her interest in assuming Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, Caroline Kennedy opened up in an exclusive NY1 interview Friday about her qualifications for high office as well as private reminisces of her family.

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 …

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.

Bush Data Threatens to Overload Archives  —  WASHINGTON — The National Archives has put into effect an emergency plan to handle electronic records from the Bush White House amid growing doubts about whether its new $144 million computer system can cope with the vast quantities of digital data …

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.

Signals From The New C-in-C  —  The president-elect dropped in on some Marines stationed in Hawaii yesterday, a fine gesture of appreciation for the military he will soon be leading.  —  The Los Angeles Times reported in a separate article, however, that “President-elect Barack Obama's transition team …