'Underwear Bomber's' Alarming Last Phone Call  —  Abdulmutallab Called His Father to Say It Would Be Their Last Contact  —  The accused “underwear bomber” made a dramatic final call to his father that he found so alarming, the father approached Nigerian officials who took him directly …

Rocket Launcher Found In Apartment  —  No Charges Filed  —  HOUSTON — Police went to a southwest Houston apartment to break up a disturbance but ended up finding something else, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.  —  A woman called police on Monday and said a man was forcing his way into her apartment in the 5300 block of Elm Street.

DIVERSE REACTIONS TO LIMBAUGH  —  As news broke Wednesday night of radio show host Rush Limbaugh's hospital visit due to chest pains, many of his political counterparts on the left put down their ideological swords and wished him well on Twitter.  —  “All best wishes to Mr. Limbaugh tonight …

A Thing of Beauty  —  This Chris Matthews quote is a Palinesque work of art: … Yes, Gerald.  I hope you and your loved ones have a Happy New Year, even though we live under the grave threat of KUNG FU FIGHTING TERRORISTS!

58% Favor Waterboarding of Plane Terrorist To Get Information  —  Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.

Did The Obama Administration Violate An Executive Order By Releasing Qais Qazali?  —  Did the Obama administration, by releasing Qais and Laith Qazali and more than 100 members of the Iranian-backed Asaib al Haq, violate an executive order put in place by President Ronald Reagan to prevent negotiations with hostage takers?

What ever happened to the “Duke 88”?  —  The “Duke 88” consisted of 88 Duke professors who signed an ad which implicitly assumed that Duke lacrosse players raped a black stripper, an allegation that proved to be entirely fraudulent.  The ad praised protesters who had put lacrosse players' photos on …

Obama lauds CIA after bomb strike  —  Barack Obama has sent a letter of support to the CIA after seven staff were killed by an Afghan bomber - one of the worst attacks in its history.  —  The US president's condolence message praised the work of those killed.

What Might Have Been  —  Looking back over a decade that was pretty great for China, India, much of Eastern and Central Europe, Brazil, and some parts of Africa but bad for the United States, it really is sobering to reflect on how contingent it all was.  —  As you know, I'm a firm believer …

The Obama Disconnect: What Happens When Myth Meets Reality  —  “Collectively all of you, most of you whom are, I'm not sure, of drinking age, you've created the best political organization in America, and probably the best political organization that we've seen in the last 30, 40 years.

Democrats Officially Kill Successful DC Voucher Program  —  This is big government at its finest hour.  The Democrats have officially killed a successful private school voucher program banishing more than 3,300 low-income children back to the DC schools they so desperately wanted to escape.

'Sent from the candidate's BlackBerry.' Really?  —  (CNN) - A mass e-mail was sent on Tuesday from Carly Fiorina's senatorial campaign, appearing to not only come from the candidate herself, but from her personal BlackBerry.  —  While most campaigns send e-mails appearing to be written from the candidate …

Mayo Clinic in Arizona to Stop Treating Some Medicare Patients  —  Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of tomorrow at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.

Snowstorm squelches climate change protest  —  A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm.  —  “Not many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions,” said organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the University of Utah.

Judge dismisses all charges in Blackwater shooting  —  A federal judge on Thursday threw out charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing 14 people in a 2007 shooting in downtown Baghdad.  —  In a 90-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled …

Dem recruits continue to head for exits  —  Democrats have lost yet another touted recruit, this time in Kansas.  —  State Sen. Laura Kelly (D) just announced her withdrawal from the race to face Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.).  She becomes the fifth formidable recruit to bow out in recent weeks.

Obama to review intelligence report on New Year's Eve  —  President Barack Obama will review intelligence assesments Thursday evening on the failed Christmas Day airline bombing.  —  Obama had set a Thursday deadline for the initial assessment.  Earlier on Thursday, the White House …