Houston makes its choice; Parker makes history  —  Nation watches as city becomes the largest in U.S. to choose an openly gay leader  —  Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender …

Senate passes omnibus bill; sent to Obma  —  The Senate has just passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending measure, sending the bill to President Obama for a signature.  —  The measure includes $447 billion in appropriations for a number of cabinet departments, as well as $650 billion for Medicare and Medicaid.

Paul A. Samuelson, Groundbreaking Economist, Dies at 94  —  Paul A. Samuelson, the first American Nobel laureate in economics and the foremost academic economist of the 20th century, died Sunday at his home in Belmont, Mass. He was 94.  —  His death was announced by the Massachusetts Institute …

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Climate change emails row deepens as Russians admit they DID come from their Siberian server  —  The claim was both simple and terrifying: that temperatures on planet Earth are now ‘likely the highest in at least the past 1,300 years’.

Ask Ashley  —  Spitzer's babe answers all your love-life questions!  —  Sure, she's made some mistakes.  But now Ashley Dupre, the former escort who brought down Gov. Eliot Spitzer, is sharing what she's learned in her new sex, love and relationship column — exclusively in the New York Post.

Summers Predicts Job Growth by Spring  —  Lawrence H. Summers, President Obama's top economic advisor, predicted on Sunday that by the spring the ranks of working Americans will start to grow once again.  —  “Most professional forecasters are looking for a return to job growth by the spring …

Lieberman, Nelson: Public-option compromise still not good enough  —  Two key senators criticized the most recent healthcare compromise Sunday, saying the policies replacing the public option are still unacceptable.  —  Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare …

WMD not point of Iraq war, Tony Blair says  —  Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the staunchest ally of President Bush, says that absent the WMD claims, he still would have found an argument for invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein.  —  Tony Blair, seen here at the United Nations …

Drug money ‘saved banks from crisis’  —  Drugs and crime chief says $352bn in criminal proceeds was effectively laundered by financial institutions  —  Drugs money worth billions of dollars kept the financial system afloat at the height of the global crisis, the United Nations' drugs and crime tsar has told the Observer.

MOTIVATION.... Post-election governing tends to feature a familiar pattern.  Presidents take office with high hopes, governing proves difficult, the policymaking process gets bogged down, and supporters get discouraged and start to walk away.  It can be pretty disheartening.

Blagojevich's lawyers seek FBI interview with Obama  —  Rod Blagojevich's lawyers want the FBI to give up details of interviews conducted last year of President Obama, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett and others as part of the investigation into the former governor.

Hollywood's Brilliant Coda to America's Dark Year  —  ON Christmas Day, Hollywood will blanket America with a most unlikely holiday entertainment.  That's when “Up in the Air,” the acclaimed new movie starring George Clooney, will spread from its big-city engagements to more than 2,000 screens.

Late Night: If “Freedom” Means Having to Look at Mitch McConnell's Raisiny Ass, I for One Welcome Our New Commie Healthcare Overlords  —  OMG, he's raising his kilt!  Look away, look away!! (graphic with help from watertiger)  —  The Red State Trike Force never fails to delight and amaze.