Our View: We can all learn from Sen. Crapo's mistake  —  Idaho constituents have learned a few things about Sen. Mike Crapo over the past couple of days.  He has shown three things: That he is human, that he can make a mistake and that lemonade is not the strongest drink in his glass.

Michelle Obama makes kids' whole, like, life  —  The first lady answers calls to NORAD from children looking for Santa, including this one from the Thomas family in Winona, N.J.: … In another call, this one from Texas, a boy named Anthony wants the first lady to visit him and he's not taking no for an answer:

Charles Durning, Prolific Character Actor, Dies at 89  —  Charles Durning, who overcame poverty, battlefield trauma and nagging self-doubt to become an acclaimed character actor, whether on stage as Big Daddy in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” or in film as the lonely widower smitten …

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.

Ex-NRA fave Gilly in switch  —  WASHINGTON — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand vigorously championed Americans' right to carry high-powered guns — before she turned against them.  —  Since the Newtown massacre, the senator has been at the forefront of the national campaign demanding stricter gun-control laws …

Prof. Richard Parncutt: Death Penalty for Global Warming Deniers?  —  Hat tip to Richard Tol for alerting me to this nice example of eco-fascist thinking from Richard Parncutt, a Professor at the University of Graz, Austria.  Parncutt, an expert on the psychology of music, originally from Australia …

In Which Greg Mankiw Pretends to Be Puzzled...  But I don't think that he is.  —  I think Greg Mankiw knows why people think that helping George W. Bush create long-term structural deficits in 2003 was a bad thing to do.  —  I think Greg Mankiw knows perfectly well why people think that now …

A ‘dad’ is tenth most popular Christmas list request for children  —  A ‘dad’ is tenth most popular Christmas list request for children with youngsters happy to forgo the latest iPad, toy or new pet, a survey has found.  —  When it comes to Christmas, it might be safe to assume children …

Instagram furor triggers first class action lawsuit  —  (Reuters) - Facebook's Instagram photo sharing service has been hit with what appears to be the first civil lawsuit to result from changed service terms that prompted howls of protest last week.  —  In a proposed class action lawsuit filed …

Cliff Negotiations Take Holiday Break  —  Congressional leaders and the White House are taking a holiday break in negotiations over how to avoid year-end spending cuts and tax increases, and may not take up the issue in earnest again until just before New Years Eve.

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 …

Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on Users' Information  —  It was the same Swingline stapler, on the same Staples.com website.  But for Kim Wamble, the price was $15.79, while the price on Trude Frizzell's screen, just a few miles away, was $14.29.  —  A key difference: where Staples seemed to think they were located.