Perfecting Our Union  —  The president of the United States reflects on what Abraham Lincoln means to him, and to America.  —  Abraham Lincoln, photographed by Alexander Gardner on February 5, 1865, in Washington, D.C. While Gardner was processing the image, the photographic plate broke.

Blues Cruise  —  Steaming past Guantánamo, en route to the Cayman Islands, a boatload of Republicans ponder the plight of a party at sea.  —  The whole thing was white, and broken, that much was clear.  A week after the presidential election, when the dreams of Republicans were dashed …

Georgia abortion law blocked  —  A state judge has suspended a Georgia law banning abortions for women who are more than 20 weeks pregnant.  —  Fulton County Superior Court Judge Doris Downs suspended the law Friday; it was set to take effect Jan. 1.  —  The law bans doctors …

Outrageous... Lib NY Paper Publishes Names & Addresses of Legal Gun Permit Holders  —  On Sunday, liberal New York newspaper Lohud.com published the names and addresses of legal permit holders in two counties online and in print.  —  Empty boxes added to protect gun permit holders.

The Baby Boom and Financial Doom  —  The American left has trained its sights on a new enemy: Pete Peterson.  The banker and private-equity billionaire is, at first glance, an obvious target—rich and Republican.  He stands accused of being the evil genius behind all the forces urging Washington …

Obama is CNN's Most Intriguing Person of 2012  —  Obama: His year in facial expressions  —  Washington (CNN) — A year ago, President Barack Obama was under fire.  Today, he is being feted.  —  In just 12 months, the 51-year-old lawyer and former U.S. senator raised by a single mother went …

Firefighters shot, killed; suspect dead  —  (CNN) — Four firefighters were shot, two fatally, while responding to a fire in upstate New York on Monday, and investigators believe the suspect had deliberately set a trap to lure them to the scene.  —  The alleged assailant, who also died …

THOUSANDS SIGN US PETITION TO DEPORT PIERS MORGAN  —  LONDON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for British CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported from the U.S. over his gun control views.  —  Morgan has taken an aggressive stand for tighter U.S. gun laws …

The importance of prosecuting David Gregory if he violated D.C.'s gun law  —  I doubt David Gregory intended to violate D.C.'s ban on the possession or transfer of high capacity ammunition magazines when he waved around such a magazine during his interview of Wayne LaPierre yesterday.

When Prophecy Fails  —  Back in the 1950s three social psychologists joined a cult that was predicting the imminent end of the world.  Their purpose was to observe the cultists' response when the world did not, in fact, end on schedule.  What they discovered, and described in their classic book …

Gas used in Homs leaves seven people dead and scores affected, activists say  —  Seven people have died in Homs after they inhaled a “poisonous gas” used by government forces in a rebel-held neighbourhood, activists said.  —  Activists also told Al Jazeera on Sunday night that scores of others …

Game of Thrones Most Pirated TV-Show of 2012  —  With 4,280,000 downloads for a single episode, Game of Thrones has the honor of becoming the most pirated TV-show of 2012.  —  Over the years the number of TV-show downloads on BitTorrent has leveled off a bit, but this year we saw a small increase again.

Ron Paul vividly denounces NRA schools plan  —  Outgoing Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) distanced himself Monday from a National Rifle Association proposal to place armed guards at every school, saying “government security is just another kind of violence.”  —  He said the federal government should not try to …

All I Want for Christmas Is a New GOP  —  You call that governing?  Amid dismal fiscal-cliff talks and an even worse reaction to the shooting in Newtown, Mark McKinnon throws cold water on his wayward party.  —  What I want for Christmas is a new Republican Party.

Senator From Idaho Is Arrested on a Drunken Driving Charge  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Senator Michael D. Crapo of Idaho was arrested early Sunday and charged with driving under the influence in a suburb of Washington, D.C., the authorities said.  —  Mr. Crapo, a Republican …