China blasts ‘petty’ Taiwan call with Trump  —  BEIJING — On Friday, President Xi Jinping told Henry Kissinger that he hoped for “stability” in U.S.-China ties under the new administration.  Nobody told Donald Trump.  —  The president-elect on Friday broke with four decades of diplomatic practice …

Sarah Palin: But... Wait... The Good Guys Won't Win With More Crony Capitalism  —  I am ecstatic for Carrier employees!  Their bosses just decided to keep shop onshore.  What a relief for hundreds of workers.  Merry Christmas Indiana!  We don't yet know terms of the public/private deal …

G.O.P. Plans Immediate Repeal of Health Law, Then a Delay  —  WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress plan to move almost immediately next month to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as President-elect Donald J. Trump promised.  But they also are likely to delay the effective date …

Federal judge denies quick halt to recount  —  Madison — A federal judge Friday denied an emergency halt to the recount of the presidential vote in Wisconsin, allowing the process to continue until a Dec. 9 court hearing at least.  —  There is no need to halt the recount just yet …

Bergdahl asks Obama for pardon  —  Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was held captive for five years and freed in an exchange for five Taliban prisoners, has asked President Obama to pardon him before leaving the White House.  —  A source told Fox News that Bergdahl wrote a letter to Obama thanking …

Trump's education pick says reform can 'advance God's Kingdom'  —  The billionaire philanthropist whom Donald Trump has tapped to lead the Education Department once compared her work in education reform to a biblical battleground where she wants to “advance God's Kingdom.”

Prominent gay Republican said DeVos stood up for him  —  Greg McNeilly, political advisor to Betsy DeVos and a prominent gay Republican, spoke Friday of the incoming education secretary saying she stood up for him at a time when his sexual orientation wasn't widely known.

Philly Clout: Turnpike manager rips his bosses in email minutes before retirement  —  FILE THIS ONE under: “Well, You Asked.”  —  Michael Stuban, a midlevel manager at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, retired on Thanksgiving after a 35-year career that started in a tollbooth.

Obama considering post-presidential digital media career, sources say  —  President Barack Obama has been discussing a post-presidential career in digital media and is considering launching his own media company, according to multiple sources who spoke on background because they were not authorized to speak for the president.

The General Who Should Lead the Pentagon  —  Nominating a retired general to be secretary of defense is an unusual move in American politics.  Since just after World War II, when the Department of Defense was created, only one general has held the post.  That was George C. Marshall …

Democrats want Russian hacking intelligence declassified  — The call to release the information came in a short letter to President Obama released by seven Democratic senators  —  Washington (CNN)Democratic senators are pressing the Obama administration to more forthrightly state …

Make Kellogg's Gr-rr-rr-rr-rreat Again  —  Last weekend's Castro droologies reminded us that, for Justin Trudeau and too many others, mass-murdering dictators are kind of a turn-on, a geopolitical S&M fetish - as long as it's millions of distant, disposable Third World types making up the M end of the deal.

How Trump's Calls to World Leaders Are Upsetting Decades of Diplomacy  —  Mr. Trump talks to the president of Taiwan, becoming the first U.S. president or president-elect to do so since 1979.  —  Why it matters  —  The call with President Tsai Ing-wen risks infuriating China …

CNN apologizes, disciplines producer after employee was caught on hot mic joking about Trump's plane crashing  —  CNN on Friday apologized after one of its producers was caught on a hot mic making a joke about President-elect Donald Trump's plane crashing.  —  “An unfortunate and inappropriate remark …

The 2016 Election Is a Disaster Without a Moral  —  Marge: The moral of the story is that a good deed is its own reward!  —  Bart: But we got a reward, the head is cool!  —  Marge: Well, then maybe the moral is, no good deed goes unrewarded.  —  Homer: Wait a minute! … Homer: Exactly!