Harry Reid devising plan to press forward with filibuster reform, aide says  —  Still more good news for filibuster reform: Harry Reid is in active discussions with his caucus about moving forward with reform in the new year, and is currently devising a plan to do just that, a senior Senate Democratic leadership aide tells me.

Bradley Manning Speaks About His Conditions … Sign the letter to the Commanding Officer of Bradley Manning's brig urging for Bradley's unnecessary POI order to be lifted  —  Bradley Manning, the 23-year-old Army private accused of leaking classified information to Wikileaks …

Pat Robertson: supporter of legalized pot?  —  The 700 Club, a Christian talk show program hosted by staunch conservative Pat Robertson, is not the place you'd expect to find sympathy for the marijuana-legalization movement.  But that's exactly what happened this week when Robertson started talking …

‘Anarchists’ launch bomb attacks on two Rome embassies  —  Anarchists are suspected of having launched parcel bomb attacks on the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome.  —  The first explosion, which occurred at midday (11amGMT) seriously injured a caretaker at the Swiss embassy.

Boy, 13, Busted For Illegal Marker Possession  —  Oklahoma City math teacher in citizen's arrest of student … A 13-year-old boy was arrested Friday for using a permanent marker while in class at his Oklahoma City middle school, a violation of an obscure city ordinance.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange Fires Back at ‘Idiot’ Critics … From his house arrest in a British mansion, beleaguered WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is firing away at his critics, including the unlikely trio of Vice President Joe Biden, Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Breaking the filibuster in one graph  —  If you're looking for some good historical data on the filibuster, the fine folks who keep up (the surprisingly useful) Senate.gov site have you covered.  They've tracked the number of cloture filings (when the majority begins the process of breaking a filibuster) …

Muscle Car Roars Onto Lawn of Bush's Dallas Home  —  Driver says his gas pedal became stuck  —  Authorities have detained someone whose car apparently ran off the road and onto former President George W. Bush's lawn Wednesday night.  —  The Secret Service and Dallas police questioned …

TMI, Mr. President!  TMI!  —  Do you know who recently stopped smoking Marlboros?  Here are some hints: He received 12 stitches in his busted lip.  He wears a size 11 or so shoe.  And his wife says he is sometimes “too snore-y and stinky” to share the marital bed.  —  Here are some more hints.

Six big achievements of a surprisingly ‘do something’ Congress  —  The outgoing 111th Congress is among the most productive in history, in spite of its reputation for gridlock and 13 percent approval rating.  Democrats controlled the House and the Senate, and used their large majorities …

Lisa Murkowski goes rogue  —  Lisa Murkowski isn't gunning down caribou on national TV like that other famous Alaskan, but the Republican lawmaker is going rogue in the Senate just weeks after staging the most stunning back-from-the-dead political win of the 2010 cycle.

Alabama Town's Failed Pension Is a Warning  —  PRICHARD, Ala. — This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009.  Right on schedule, its fund ran dry.  —  Then Prichard did something …

2012 hopefuls to skip Hispanic forum  —  It was billed, in part, as a forum for the 2012 Republican presidential field to speak directly to Hispanics - a replica of the vaunted Conservative Political Action Conference, but tailored to the fastest-growing slice of the electorate.

Barack Obama's plan to close Gitmo ‘in shambles’  —  Nestled among a string of improbable victories President Barack Obama racked up in the lame-duck Congressional session is legislation containing the most debilitating setback to date to his plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay …

FLOTUS chows at the taxpayers' trough  —  First lady Michelle Obama didn't feel like waiting around cold, boring old Washington, D.C., for her husband and Congress to wrap up their work for the year.  So she simply stuck the taxpayers with the $63,000 tab to start her Hawaiian vacation a bit early …

Yglesias Award Nominee  —  An astonishingly sane stance on cannabis from Pat Robertson (yes, that one):  —  Scott Morgan remarks on this incredible cultural moment.

PolitiFiction  —  True ‘lies’ about ObamaCare.  —  So the watchdog news outfit called PolitiFact has decided that its “lie of the year” is the phrase “a government takeover of health care.”  Ordinarily, lies need verbs and we'd leave the media criticism to others, but the White House …

North Korea ‘ready for sacred war’ with the South  —  Invited dignitaries watched the live exercises along with the South Korean president  —  North Korea is ready for a “sacred war of justice” using a nuclear deterrent, its armed forces minister has said.

Planned Parenthood plans to expand abortion services nationwide  —  Abortion may soon be more readily available than ever before, thanks to a new requirement from Planned Parenthood that more of its centers nationwide offer the service.  At least one local chapter so far has decided to withdraw from the network rather than comply.

Election board: Emanuel will remain on ballot  —  Rahm Emanuel is a Chicago resident and therefore can run for mayor, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners ruled Thursday.  —  The unanimous ruling in favor of the former White House chief of staff comes after board hearing officer Joe …