Who are the losers in the ‘Duck Dynasty’ flap?  —  BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL DUCK DYNASTY TELEVISION POLITICAL CORRECTNESS  —  Now that A&E executives have surrendered to the will of hundreds of thousands of “Duck Dynasty” fans and welcomed Phil Robertson back to the show nearly 10 days …

Camille Paglia: A Feminist Defense of Masculine Virtues  —  The cultural critic on why ignoring the biological differences between men and women risks undermining Western civilization itself.  —  Philadelphia  —  'What you're seeing is how a civilization commits suicide," says Camille Paglia.

Paul Ryan lectures the pope  —  The Catholic conservative who insists he cares about the poor says Pope Francis doesn't understand capitalism  —  When 1.3 million Americans lose their unemployment benefits on Saturday, they can thank Rep. Paul Ryan.  He took the lead in negotiating …

Can Vermont's Single-Payer System Fix What Ails American Healthcare?  —  As Obamacare struggles, progressives hope a bold experiment could offer a better model.  But first, it has to work.  —  The Affordable Care Act's turbulent implementation has ruled the news cycle …

Benefits Ending for One Million Unemployed  —  WASHINGTON — An emergency federal program that acts as a lifeline for 1.3 million jobless workers will end on Saturday, drastically curtailing government support for the long-term unemployed and setting the stage for a major political fight in the new year.

Libya Holds Four American Military Personnel for Hours  —  WASHINGTON — Four American military personnel assigned to the United States Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, were detained Friday and released hours later after being held by the country's Interior Ministry, American officials said.

Latest healthcare.gov problem could leave 16,000 Iowans uninsured Jan. 1  —  Nearly 16,000 Iowans who tried to apply for coverage via the trouble-plagued federal health-insurance website are being told to apply separately through the state Department of Human Services.

IRS to pay Obamacare political price  —  Obamacare's rollout dented the Department of Health and Human Services in just the first month.  Up next year: the Internal Revenue Service.  —  A key piece of the health care law gives Americans making less than 400 percent of the poverty line subsidies to buy insurance.

‘We Are Creating Walmarts of Higher Education’  —  Universities in South Dakota, Nebraska, and other states have cut the number of credits students need to graduate.  A proposal in Florida would let online courses forgo the usual higher-education accreditation process.

As Predicted, ObamaCare Plunges Into ‘Utter Chaos’  —  “HHS maintains they'll have these [Exchanges] up and running by October 2013.  I don't know anyone who is confident about that and I'm ready to predict that they will not.”  — Michael F. Cannon, December 2012  —  “In my opinion, what's going to happen is utter chaos.”

Blumenthal sets Dec. 31 deadline for UPS, Fed-Ex to say they'll refund  —  Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has asked UPS and FedEx to let customers know by the New Year if they'll be refunded for late deliveries.  —  “I hope that UPS and FedEx will extend the opportunity for refunds …

State lawmakers battle Israel boycott by university organization American Studies Association  —  State Senator Jeffery Klein and Assemblyman Dov Hikind, both Brooklyn Democrats, plan to introduce a bill that gives colleges and universities in New York 30 days to withdraw support from ASA and similar groups or aid will be stripped.