Romney leads, Paul rises in N.H. poll  —  Gingrich's surge muted as 1st US primary nears  —  Mitt Romney (with his wife, Ann) has a clear lead in New Hampshire over Newt Gingrich, who could find himself eclipsed by Ron Paul, while Jon Huntsman appears to be carving out a niche by appealing to independent voters.

Islamists kill dozens in Nigeria Christmas bombs  —  (Reuters) - Islamist militants set off bombs across Nigeria on Christmas Day - three targeting churches including one that killed at least 27 people - raising fears that they are trying to ignite sectarian civil war.

GOP senator says Tea Party challenges ‘killed off’ efforts at Republican majority  —  Sen. Dick Lugar (Ind.) facing a primary contest from the right in his reelection bid said past Tea Party-backed challenges had “killed off” Republican efforts to take the Senate in the past and could undermine a GOP majority again in 2012.

A SWIFT Denial - How In Europe, Even Admission Of A “Plan B” Is Equivalent To Failure  —  While we have long known that the drachma, and recently the lira, have seen significant “when issued” interest by institutional clients desiring to hedge their currency collapse exposure …

Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner Insults Michelle Obama's ‘Big Butt’! … We know we're in a nasty political climate but partisanship has gone way, way too far when a Republican Congressman attacks the First Lady for having a ‘large posterior.’  —  Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner you are a rude dude.

Goldwater Institute an Aggressive Conservative Watchdog  —  PHOENIX — Clint Bolick looks like any other high-powered lawyer, for the most part.  But glance down at his index finger, which sports a scorpion tattoo, for first-hand evidence of his unconventional streak.

Go Daddy loses over 37,000 domains due to SOPA stance  —  Hosting and domain registrar company Go Daddy has lost more than 37,000 domains in the past two days due to the company's wishy-washy stance on the Stop Online Piracy Act.  —  The fleeing domains comes as a result of the intense backlash …

Silent Night  —  On this Christmas Eve, one of the great unreported stories throughout what we used to call Christendom is the persecution of Christians around the world.  In Egypt, the “Arab Spring” is going so swimmingly that Copts are already fleeing Egypt and, for those Christians that remain …

Springtime for Toxics  —  Here's what I wanted for Christmas: something that would make us both healthier and richer.  And since I was just making a wish, why not ask that Americans get smarter, too?  —  Surprise: I got my wish, in the form of new Environmental Protection Agency standards on mercury and air toxics for power plants.

Obama: The conservative in 2012  —  At a moment when the nation wonders whether politicians can agree on anything, here is something that unites the Republican presidential candidates — and all of them with President Obama: Everyone agrees that the 2012 election will be a turning point involving …

Nun's remains miraculously healed New York woman, Vatican says  —  Mother Marianne Cope is elevated to sainthood after the Vatican authenticates a second miracle that was a result of her intercession — the use of her bone fragments to cure a woman with acute pancreatitis.

How Did We Get Here?  Or, Why Do 20 Year Old Newsletters Matter So Damn Much?  —  As some of you might know, I've been stirring up quite a bit of trouble on Facebook the last few days discussing the Ron Paul newsletters story.  Matt suggested I write up some of what I've been saying for the audience here at BHL, which I'm happy to do.