Newly recovered court files cast doubt on Gingrich version of first divorce  —  Editor's note: Alan Duke grew up in Carrollton, Georgia, and began his career covering politics there.  He began covering Newt Gingrich during Gingrich's first campaigns for public office.

A first: Newt camp goes on attack (and with oppo)  —  In a sign that he's formally backing off his pledge to avoid negative politics, Newt Gingrich is taking direct aim at Mitt Romney.  —  Gingrich's campaign, urgently in need of recapturing their momentum from earlier this month …

Treasury plans for euro failure  —  The Government is considering plans to restrict the flow of money in and out of Britain to protect the economy in the event of a full-blown euro break-up.  —  A break up of the euro would have a devastating impact on the UK.

Growing wealth widens distance between lawmakers and constituents  —  BUTLER, Pa. — One day after his shift at the steel mill, Gary Myers drove home in his 10-year-old Pontiac and told his wife he was going to run for Congress.  —  The odds were long.  At 34, Myers was the shift foreman at the “hot mill” of the Armco plant here.

Gingrich Compares Virginia Ballot Fiasco to Pearl Harbor  —  Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich stepped into controversy Christmas weekend as he compared his exclusion from the Virginia primary ballot to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Van Hollen: 2012 spending bill undercuts government's clean air, water mission  —  House Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) last week criticized Republicans for pushing for further cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the 2012 spending bill …

Japan's Secret Plan to Dominate the World  —  And now for something completely different.  The Counterparties blog today highlights an old post from Eamonn Fingleton arguing that Japan's “Lost Decade” is a myth.  This is not the story I've heard before, suggesting merely that Japan …

GOP readies for final sprint in Iowa  —  With three candidates tangled at the top, and three dark horses looking to make a run, the Republican presidential field will return from the Christmas weekend at full speed for the final push to the Iowa caucuses.  —  Just over a week before the first votes …

Ron Paul, In 1996, ‘Did Not Deny’ Controversial Statement In Newsletter … 2012 Election , Elections 2012 , Ron Paul , Video , Iowa Caucuses , Politics News , Ron Paul 2012 , Ron Paul Iowa , Ron Paul Letters , Ron Paul Martin Luther King , Gop 2012 , Iowa Caucus , Paul Newsletter …

Siobhan Reynolds, RIP  —  I'm saddened to learn this morning that Siobhan Reynolds was killed over the weekend in a plane crash.  —  I met Reynolds several years ago when I attended a forum on Capitol Hill on the under-treatment of pain.  Her story about her husband's chronic pain …

GW Bush + Six Years = Islamists?  —  A hat tip to Jim Pinkerton for sending this my way.  —  Washington Post, 22 December 2011: … President George W. Bush, 20 January 2005:

Georgia woman who threatened 2 New York lawmakers is shot to death by cop  —  Jameela Barnette targeted Rep. Pete King & state Sen. Greg Ball  —  Cobb County, Ga., police investigate shooting of Jameela Barnette.  —  A Muslim woman who had been charged with sending fake weapons and a pig's foot …

Ahmadinejad steps into Iran's dress-code debate  —  TEHRAN — In the Islamic republic of Iran, the law requires women to cover their hair and bodies in public.  But how to do so remains up to them, and the result is persistent confusion in the streets.  —  While leading Shiite Muslim clerics …