EXCLUSIVE: Photos of the Northwest Airlines Bomb  —  Accused Bomber Abdulmutallab's Underwear, Explosive Packet and Detonator  —  A singed pair of underwear with a packet of powder sewn into the crotch, seen in government photos obtained exclusively by ABC News, is all that remains …

Palin daughter sues for custody  —  The custody battle between Levi Johnston and Bristol Palin became public last week when two Superior Court judges issued orders unsealing the court record and denying the use of pseudonyms to protect the feuding parents' identities.

Who's running the TSA?  No one, thanks to Sen. Jim DeMint  —  WASHINGTON — An attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration — if there were one.

A Less Than Honest Policy  —  There is a middle-class tax time bomb ticking in the Senate's version of President Obama's effort to reform health care.  —  The bill that passed the Senate with such fanfare on Christmas Eve would impose a confiscatory 40 percent excise tax on so-called Cadillac health plans …

Election 2012: Nebraska Senate  —  Health Care Vote Puts Nelson 30 Points Down in Reelection Bid  —  The good news for Senator Ben Nelson is that he doesn't have to face Nebraska voters until 2012.  —  If Governor Dave Heineman challenges Nelson for the Senate job, a new Rasmussen Reports …

In online posts apparently by Detroit suspect, religious ideals collide  —  The 23-year-old Nigerian man accused of the attempted Christmas Day bombing of an American airliner apparently turned to the Internet for counseling and companionship, writing in an online forum that he was “lonely” and had “never found a true Muslim friend.”

Sen. Dodd, D-Conn., slashed aviation security funding for pet constituency  —  Now that our attention is focused on airline security measures thanks to the failed airline attack on Christmas Day, it's worth mentioning that one Senator took money away from aviation security to line the pockets …

Education Secretary Arne Duncan's legacy as Chicago schools chief questioned  —  CHICAGO — Soon after Arne Duncan left his job as schools chief here to become one of the most powerful U.S. education secretaries ever, his former students sat for federal achievement tests.

Complete text of U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra's fundraising letter sent in aftermath of attempted Detroit terrorist attack … Dear Friend:  —  We don't have much time, so I will get right to the point.  —  In the midst of enjoying Christmas with my family, we were quickly reminded that there is still …

The Collapse of Professional Journalism, Cont'd  —  The latest “ethics” scandal buzzing through the journalism blogs provides another reminder that the culture and norms of the traditional journalism guild are ill-suited to the new “FREE” era.  But first, a bit of personal context.

Krauthammer Rips Obama's “Flaccid, Meaningless” Words On Iranian Freedom Protests (Video)  —  “This is a moment in history, and he's missing it.”  —  On Special Report tonight Charles Krauthammer ripped President Obama for his “flaccid, meaningless” words on the Iranian freedom protests.

GOP lets Scott Brown fend for himself  —  Local Republicans outraged committee not giving more in Senate battle  —  GOP U.S. Senate candidate Scott Brown has been all but abandoned by the same national Republican committees that pumped hundreds of thousands in campaign cash …

Ten Things to Watch in the Health-Care Reform Conference  —  It's not just about abortion and the public option.  Every decision Congress faces while merging the Senate and House health bills will give it the opportunity to make reform better.  —  Schoolhouse Rock undersold the excruciating difficulty involved in making a bill a law.

Politics and the no-fly list  —  The agencies that maintain watch lists have come under withering criticism that rights are being abused, which may have led to the under-inclusion of potential terrorists.  —  The case of the alleged Christmas bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is being called a massive intelligence failure.

The Repealers  —  Steve Benen had a good rundown yesterday of the pressure conservative activists are putting on politicians to say they'll “repeal” health care reform.  This strikes me as very unlikely to happen.  To see why, you have to ask what “repeal” would mean.

A Phrase Sets Off Sniping After a Crisis  —  HONOLULU — To the list of phrases it may be best for political leaders to avoid after a major security incident, add “the system worked” right after “Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.”  —  Just as the public did not really share President …

Allegedly Allergic — By: Mark Steyn  —  Jonah, your allegedly alleged reader's observation on “clinical legalism” is just right.  Putting aside the stuff that was just plain wrong (this guy's an “isolated extremist” - oh, yeah?), the President's remarks had a horrible desiccated complacency.

First Family to America: Everyone Must Sacrifice, Everyone Must Have Some Skin in the Game... We'll Be In Hawaii  —  Back in January, before he signed his failed $787 billion stimulus bill into law, Barack Obama told America that everyone must sacrifice for the greater good.  Everyone must have “some skin in the game.”

U.S. and allies must detain Afghan prisoners  —  Canada, one of the largest contributors of troops to the war in Afghanistan, is embroiled in a controversy over the treatment of prisoners captured by its army.  Its policy has been to turn detainees over to the Afghans, whose prisons …

U.S. concerned about new Japanese premier Hatoyama  —  While most of the federal government was shut down by a snowstorm last week, there was one person in particular whom Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called in through the cold: Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki.