EXCLUSIVE: Obama Got Pre-Christmas Intelligence Briefing About Terror Threats to “Homeland”  —  President Barack Obama received a high-level briefing only three days before Christmas about possible holiday-period terrorist threats against the US, Newsweek has learned.

Flashback: GOP blamed Clinton for 9/11 - Obama got regularly scheduled Dec. 22 briefing on holiday threats, but there was no warning of an attack — Tebow: ‘redemption instead of perfection’  —  Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, in his third inaugural address: “We have adopted bold education reforms …

U.S. Loan Effort Is Seen as Adding to Housing Woes  —  The Obama administration's $75 billion program to protect homeowners from foreclosure has been widely pronounced a disappointment, and some economists and real estate experts now contend it has done more harm than good.

The Cornhusker Concussive  —  One of the disgusting features of the Senate's Obamacare bill is the payoffs extracted from taxpayers and directed to the states of senators wielding key votes.  The payoffs culminated in the “Cornhusker Kickback” procured by Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson for Nebraska …

Somali shot in attack on cartoonist  —  Danish police have shot and wounded a man at the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked an international row.  —  Mr Westergaard scrambled into a panic room at his home in Aarhus after a man wielding an axe and a knife broke in.

LIMBAUGH DIAGNOSES HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.... On Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh went to a Hawaii hospital with chest pains, and was released yesterday, with no apparent ailments.  The right-wing radio host said doctors found nothing wrong with his heart or arteries, and it's still unclear what caused his pains.

Charles Johnson Denounces the “Right-Wing Racism” of a Picture Forwarded by . . . a Democrat  —  Charles Johnson denounces the “right-wing racism” of the photo.  —  Just one problem: the worker is a registered Democrat: … Reacting to the news of the woman's party affiliation, Johnson says in comments:

For Some in Japan, Home Is a Tiny Plastic Bunk  —  TOKYO — For Atsushi Nakanishi, jobless since Christmas, home is a cubicle barely bigger than a coffin — one of dozens of berths stacked two units high in one of central Tokyo's decrepit “capsule” hotels.  —  “It's just a place to crawl …

Biblical scholar's date for rapture: May 21, 2011  —  Harold Camping lets out a hearty chuckle when he considers the people who believe the world will end in 2012.  —  “That date has not one stitch of biblical authority,” Camping says from the Oakland office where he runs Family Radio …

Customs official confirms report of 2nd man held from Flight 253  —  Detroit — A federal customs and border protection official reversed himself today, admitting a passenger from Northwest Flight 253 was placed in handcuffs, searched and released after a canine alerted officers to his carry-on luggage.

Back to GOP Basics  —  Virginia's governor-elect Bob McDonnell on his plans for spending cuts, offshore drilling and charter schools.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Richmond, Va.  —  'I'm sorry," Bob McDonnell says, shaking my hand.  It's a recent rainy morning in Virginia's capital …

Hundreds of cars torched in France at New Year  —  PARIS (Reuters) - Youths burned 1,137 cars across France overnight as New Year's Eve celebrations once again turned violent, the French Interior Ministry said on Friday.  —  Car burnings are regular occurrences in poor suburbs that ring France's big cities …

Why Didn't They See It?  —  It will take some time before all the facts about the Christmas Day terrorism plot are known and analyzed.  One thing is already clear: The government has to urgently improve its ability to use the reams of intelligence it receives every day on suspected terrorists and plots.