A Note from Jeb Bush  —  Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!  —  Like many of you, our family was blessed with the opportunity to gather together over the recent Thanksgiving holiday.  —  Columba and I are so proud of the wonderful adults our children have become, and we loved spending time with our three precious grandchildren.

Pakistani Taliban Attack on Peshawar School Leaves 145 Dead  —  Aftermath of School Attack in Pakistan Aftermath of School Attack in Pakistan  —  The scene on Tuesday in Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan after more than 100 people were killed in a Taliban attack on a school.  —  Video by Quynhanh Do on

EXCLUSIVE: New York Mag's Boy Genius Investor Made It All Up  —  In an exclusive Observer interview, Mohammed Islam, said to have investment returns of $72 million as a hs senior, admits he invented the whole story  —  Damir Tulemaganbetov and Mohammed Islam (r) in the office of 5WPR …

Ted Cruz reignites GOP civil war  —  Republican senators pounded Ted Cruz over the weekend, lashing him for his procedural tactics and ultimately voting in large numbers against his immigration gambit.  —  Now, Cruz's allies off Capitol Hill are looking for revenge.  —  Story Continued Below

Russian Rate Jump Fails to Stop Ruble Crash  —  The ruble plummeted into a freefall, losing as much as 19 percent as panic swept across Russian financial markets after a surprise interest-rate increase failed to stem the run on the currency.  —  The ruble plunged to as weak as 80.10 per dollar …

Unqualified nominees get their jobs —  thanks, Harry  —  On Monday night, the Senate confirmed Vivek Murthy as U.S. Surgeon General.  His was just one of two dozen nominations that Republicans had hoped to avoid confirming by running out the clock on Congress's lame duck session.

David Brooks: Elizabeth Warren has chance of being nominated  —  New York Times columnist David Brooks says Elizabeth Warren has a “significant and growing chance of being nominated” as the Democratic candidate in the 2016 presidential election.  —  In an op-ed titled “Warren Can Win,” …

Iowa Straw Poll likely to live on despite controversy  —  Remember the predictions that the much-ridiculed Iowa Straw Poll was going to its grave?  —  Not so fast.  —  The event is likely to live on almost as-is, despite some resistance — including from the governor.

John Yoo: If the Torture Report Is True, CIA Officers Are at Legal Risk  —  A surprising admission by an attorney who was instrumental in enabling the Bush Administration's brutal interrogation practices  —  The debate over the CIA interrogation program pits critics who insist illegal torture took place …

(Burp) Here comes Mitt!  —  Are you ready for Romney in 2016?  —  Mitt Romney has become the acid reflux candidate: He just keeps coming back up.  —  There has been poll after poll, story after story and now, over the weekend, a “Ready for Romney” website emerged that may or may not be serious.

Campus turns on Muslim conservative who penned satire  —  Of all the notes Omar Mahmoud said were affixed to his campus apartment, the one on the right is one of the tamest.  —  A Muslim conservative who took on political correctness at his college campus found out just how angry the very folks he was lampooning can get.