What does Ron Paul want?  —  Ron Paul is on track to end the GOP presidential race in second place.  But his refusal to directly take on the man who's ahed of him — Mitt Romney — has Republicans wondering: What does Ron Paul want?  —  Paul has already ruled out a return to the House …

Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA  —  The public outcry over the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act seems to have gotten so loud that even members of Congress can hear it.  On Thursday we covered the news that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was expressing second thoughts about SOPA's DNS provisions.

Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia: Search for missing  —  The BBC's Alan Johnston says it “must have been an extraordinarily harrowing experience”  —  Emergency teams in Italy are racing to rescue those missing after a cruise ship ran aground off the country's west coast with about 4,000 people on board.

Mandarin Smackdown!  Stewart vs. Huntsman vs. Xiao Li  —  What do Messrs.  Stewart and Huntsman have in common, apart from spelling their first name Jon?  Apparently an interest in Asian language.  Stewart puts the needle effectively in Huntsman for using Mandarin on the campaign trail, starting at time 5:00 of this clip.

U.S. Warns Israel on Strike  —  Officials Lobby Against Attack on Iran as Military Leaders Bolster Defenses  —  WASHINGTON—U.S. defense leaders are increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran, over U.S. objections, and have stepped up contingency planning …

Untruths, Wholly Untrue, And Nothing But Untruths  —  I was deeply radicalized by the 2000 election.  At first I couldn't believe that then-candidate George W. Bush was saying so many clearly, provably false things; then I couldn't believe that nobody in the news media was willing to point out the lies.

GOP Rep. Berates Student Concerned About Pell Grant Cuts, Tells Her To Join The Military  —  To avoid a government shutdown at the end of 2011, Republicans succeeded in their campaign to cut the federal Pell Grant program by effectively kicking up to 100,000 low-income students off the rolls.

Maher ‘not that upset’ if people urinate on Taliban fighters, ‘dead or alive’  —  International outrage over a video of U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters consumed media coverage Friday.  Some conservatives cheered the Marines for showing such profound disrespect to the dead insurgents …

CBS News: 11 More Solyndras In Obama Energy Program  —  CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson takes a look at 11 more Solyndras that were part of Obama's Energy program.  Attkisson was one of the original reporters that uncovered the Solyndra scandal.  —  CBS News counted 12 clean energy companies …

France credit rating cut puts eurozone bail-out fund at risk  —  The €440bn (£365bn) eurozone bail-out fund faced fresh threats last night after France, its second-largest contributor, was stripped of its AAA credit rating for the first time.  —  The French downgrade casts …

The New Gmail Sucks  —  Doesn't it though?  It looks horrible.  The interface is badly designed.  Keyboard short cuts do unexpected things like e.g. make your email disappear irrevocably.  And while you can temporarily revert back to the old look, they make it clear that they are going to impose …

Presidential primary contest and pre-Christmas showdown put Republicans at risk  —  This first Democracy Corps national survey of the New Year shows Republicans at risk at every level.  [1] On the ballot, Republicans are in serious danger.  For the first time since the 2010 election …