'Duck Dynasty's' Phil Robertson on Indefinite Hiatus Following Anti-Gay Remarks  —  UPDATED: The news comes after the reality star compared being gay to bestiality, drawing ire from LGBT groups including GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign.  —  Phil Robertson

Hillary Clinton on 2016 Presidential Run: 'I'll Make That Decision Sometime Next Year' … Hillary Clinton is Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person of 2013.  —  Although speculation and rumors have been swirling for months over whether Clinton will make another run for the White House in 2016, she said she hasn't decided yet.

Target Confirms Unauthorized Access to Payment Card Data in U.S. Stores  —  Issue has been identified and resolved  —  Target today confirmed it is aware of unauthorized access to payment card data that may have impacted certain guests making credit and debit card purchases in its U.S. stores.

Pajama Boy, An Insufferable Man-Child  —  He is the face of a web ad that is the latest effort by the Obama team to leverage the holidays for conversation about Obamacare.  “Wear pajamas,” the ad reads.  “Drink hot chocolate.  Talk about getting health insurance.  #GetTalking.”

Record High in U.S. Say Big Government Greatest Threat  —  Now 72% say it is greater threat than big business or big labor  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U.S. in the future than is big business or big labor …

Rob Ford's apology to Daniel Dale  —  Full text of Mayor Rob Ford's apology to Daniel Dale. … / Scanned image  —  Rob Ford issued a second apology to Daniel Dale on Dec. 18. … Photos View photos  — zoom  —  Featured Video Close  — Video: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Caught Dancing at Work

Al Goldstein, Pioneering Pornographer, Dies at 77  —  Al Goldstein, the scabrous publisher whose Screw magazine pushed hard-core pornography into the cultural mainstream, died early Thursday in Brooklyn.  He was 77.  —  The cause was believed to be renal failure, said his lawyer, Charles C. DeStefano.

Patty Murray backs off military pension cut  —  Sen. Patty Murray is distancing herself from a cut in military pensions in the budget deal she brokered with Rep. Paul Ryan.  —  Her unease about a key element of her own deal, which passed the Senate on Wednesday and is now headed to President Barack Obama …

Barack Obama's NSA fine-print problem  —  An independent panel's call for major changes to the nation's surveillance programs ups the pressure on President Barack Obama to back serious reforms.  —  But the big changes the committee is calling for may be less vexing for Obama than one painful …

In probe of Va. Gov. McDonnell, prosecutors agreed to delay decision on charges  —  View Photo Gallery — McDonnell's time in office comes to a close: Gov. Robert F. McDonnell was supposed to be in the thick of the race to succeed him.  Instead, the Republican found himself relegated …

The GOP Repeal Trap  —  The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana, reports on a fascinating exchange between GOP Rep. Marlin Stutzman and a local meat market owner, Lee Albright, who likes the Affordable Care Act and quizzed the Congressman about the real world implications of the GOP repeal stance:

Lesbian boss ‘fired me for being straight’  —  A married, heterosexual gym teacher at a tony Upper West Side private school was fired because his lesbian supervisor disapproved of his “traditional family status,” the canned teacher claims in a new Manhattan lawsuit.

The Welfare Queen  —  Ronald Reagan made Linda Taylor a notorious American villain.  Her other sins were far worse.  —  “She Used 80 Names”  —  Ronald Reagan loved to tell stories.  When he ran for president in 1976, many of Reagan's anecdotes converged on a single point: The welfare state is broken, and I'm the man to fix it.