Martin Place, Sydney siege gunman identified as Man Haron Monis  —  Siege hostage taker identified as Man Monis  —  The man who held more than a dozen people hostage, placing Sydney's CBD into lockdown is no stranger to the NSW police or the judiciary.  —  Self-described cleric …

Get Ready for the Obama Boomlet  —  Remember when pundits loved the president?  The conditions are right for that old feeling to return.  —  Remember when pundits loved Barack Obama?  It's been quite a few years now.  But I suspect some of the adoration is about to come back.  —  There are three reasons.

Finally, a New Surgeon General  —  President Obama nominated Vivek Murthy to be U.S. surgeon general on November 13, 2013.  The Senate health committee signed off on him in February.  On Monday, one year, one month, and two days after his selection, the Senate is poised to confirm him to a post that has been vacant since July.

Sen. Warren Warns That Spending Bill Sets Dangerous Precedent  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (right), a member of the Senate banking committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., ranking member of the House financial services committee, express their outrage to reporters …

Cleveland Cops Demand Apology For Browns Player's Tamir Rice Protest Shirt  —  A Cleveland police union has demanded that the Cleveland Browns football team apologize for a player who wore a T-shirt before Sunday's game protesting the police shootings of two black people.

Harrisburg man insulted by racial slur found on Zembie's receipt  —  Marquis Moore displays a Zembie's receipt containing a racial slur a bartender used to identify him with after he placed a to-go order at the Harrisburg bar Saturday night. … Marquis Moore was about to eat an order …

Most Americans consider waterboarding to be torture: poll  —  A barbed wire fence surrounds a military area is in the forest near Stare Kiejkuty village, close to Szczytno in Northeastern Poland, in this January 24, 2014 file photo.  Poland threatened to halt the transfer of al Qaeda suspects …

Meeting Ayn Rand on the Las Vegas Strip  —  For eight days last summer, a new generation of Randians was indoctrinated in the auditoriums of The Venetian.  Where better to absorb Atlas Shrugged 's teachings than in a city of extremes?  —  111-degree heat is confounding …

Report: Shooting spree leaves up to 5 dead in Philly suburbs  —  WPVI-TV reports that a gunman is barricaded in a house in Souderton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.  Police were called after two people were found dead in a home.  Three others were found shot to death in two other locations.

Why TheWeek.com is closing the comments section  —  In the age of social media, the smartest and most vibrant reader conversations have moved off of news sites and onto Facebook and Twitter  —  Here at The Week, we have a deep respect for the intelligence and opinions of our readers …

2014 Lie of the Year: Exaggerations about Ebola  —  Thomas Eric Duncan left Monrovia, Liberia, on Sept. 19, for Dallas.  Eleven days later, doctors diagnosed Duncan with Ebola.  —  Eight days after that, he was dead.  —  Duncan's case is just one of two Ebola-related fatalities in the United States …

Branstad seeks to end Iowa GOP Straw Poll  —  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is pushing to end the state's often-criticized Republican straw poll, but other GOP leaders say the event may still go on next year.  —  The poll is traditionally held in Ames the summer before a contested presidential caucus.

12. Because a Stuyvesant Senior Made Millions Picking Stocks.  His Hedge Fund Opens as Soon As He Turns 18.  —  Rumors, on Wall Street, can be powerful.  A whisper can turn into a current that moves markets, driving a stock price up or sending it tumbling.

Eight Things I Wish for Wall Street  —  It's a wonderful life on Wall Street, yet here is a holiday wish list to make it even better.  —  1. The financial sector rids itself of anyone with even the faintest reason to believe that he or she is unusually clever.

Dick Cheney Defends the Torture of Innocents  —  When I was growing up, Americans thought of torture as a tactic used by history's villains.  A brutal dictator might keep a depraved regime in power with torture.  People in foreign countries might suffer inside torture chambers.

A Shooter, His Victim and Race  —  TAMPA, Fla. — IAN MANUEL is a black man who has spent most of his life in prison.  Yet he still has a most unusual advocate calling for his release: a white woman whom he met when he shot her in the face.  —  Manuel fired the bullet when he was barely 13 …

Ruble Tumbles Most Since 1998 as Traders Pressure Central Bank  —  The ruble tumbled the most since 1998, sliding past 60 for the first time, as traders tested Russia's willingness to defend the currency amid an oil slump that's pushing the economy toward recession.