Passengers Took Plane's Survival Into Own Hands  —  Despite extensive spending since 2001 on intelligence and counterterrorism programs, sophisticated airport scanners and elaborate watch lists, it was something simpler that averted disaster on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit: alert and courageous passengers and crew members.

Father of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, Nigerian terror suspect in Flight 253 attack, warned U.S.  —  The terror suspect who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane is the son of a Nigerian banker who alerted U.S. authorities to his “extreme religious views” months ago, it was reported Saturday.

The rise of the filibuster: An interview with Barbara Sinclair  —  Barbara Sinclair is a political scientist at UCLA who specializes in Congress.  She's also one of relatively few scholars to have quantified the rise in the filibuster over the previous few decades.

Let the President stay in the White House — or, at most, retreat to Camp David.  —  “President Barack Obama's Christmas Day began with a briefing about a botched attack on an airliner in Detroit and ended with a visit to a dining hall for members of the military.

Kucinich: Generals who spoke publicly on Afghan strategy should lose jobs  —  Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) this week said that U.S. generals who spoke publicly about the nation's Afghan strategy during the president's deliberations should lose their jobs.  —  Kucinich, who is known …

Catholic Group Supports Senate on Abortion Aid  —  WASHINGTON — In an apparent split with Roman Catholic bishops over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul, the nation's Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate's compromise on the issue …

Taliban Shows Video of Captured G.I.  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban released a video of a captured American soldier on Friday, the second to surface since he was seized in southern Afghanistan about six months ago.  —  Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, 23, of Idaho, was captured in late June in Paktika Province …