Medicare Eligibility Age on the Table?  —  In Washington, when a rumor just won't die, it begins to look like strategy.  And one rumor that has Washington riveted is the potential for a deal on the fiscal shenanigans needed to stave off sequester that would raise the eligibility age for Medicare.

Sanders: GOP Senate obstructionism ‘undemocratic’ and ‘unAmerican’  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) slammed Republican obstructionism in the Senate as “undemocratic” and “unAmerican” and urged filibuster reform after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked his own bill earlier this week.

Mayan apocalypse: panic spreads as December 21 nears  —  Fears that the end of the world is nigh have spread across the world with only days until the end of the Mayan calendar, with doomsday-mongers predicting a cataclysmic end to the history of Earth.  —  Cubans participate in a Mayan ritual at Bacuranao beach in eastern Havana.

How the Mainstream Press Bungled the Single Biggest Story of the 2012 Campaign … Elections 2012 , Thomas Mann , Elite Political Press , Fact Checking , Lies , Msm , Norman Ornstein , Political Coverage , Media News  —  Post-mortems of contemporary election coverage typically include regrets …

California state revenues 10.8% below budget projections in November  —  The following information was released by the California Controller.  —  State Controller John Chiang today released his monthly report covering California's cash balance, receipts and disbursements in November 2012 …

Mobster uses mass-mailed letters from Obama, other politicians in bid for leniency  —  This mobster is the scam artist-in-chief.  —  A longtime Gambino crime-family associate tried to convince a judge he's politically connected to avoid a harsh sentence — claiming a mass-mailing …

Catcher in the Rye dropped from US school curriculum  —  Schools in America are to drop classic books such as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye from their curriculum in favour of ‘informational texts’.  —  JD Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye …

Obama Team Outlines Donor Packages for Inauguration  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's finance team is offering corporations and other institutions that contribute $1 million exclusive access to an array of inaugural festivities, including tickets to a “benefactors reception,” a children's concert …

Special Report: From abuse to a chat room, a martyr is made - Jane's Jihad  —  (Reuters) - “Kill him.”  —  The American who called herself Jihad Jane read the words on her computer screen.  Colleen LaRose was fiddling on the Internet, passing time in her duplex near Philadelphia …

National Rifle Association: More Guns Could Have Saved Javon Belcher's Girlfriend … NBC sports anchor Bob Costas believes that Kasandra Perkins' life could have been saved had her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Javon Belcher, not had access to a firearm.

Illegal immigrant gets kidney  —  Loyola covers costs of transplant  —  As an illegal immigrant, Jorge Mariscal waited eight years for a kidney transplant he feared would never come.  —  His persistence paid off Thursday when he underwent the procedure at Loyola University Medical Center.

Obama, Rubio offer different prescriptions for middle class  —  (CNN) - President Barack Obama and Sen. Marco Rubio addressed the importance of the middle class during their weekly addresses Saturday, but each offered different prescriptions for prosperity.  —  Obama urged Congress to pass …