The government praised the change to a multiparty system as a step toward liberalization in Kazakhstan but whether it will be sufficient to tamp down emerging signs of discontent remains to be seen.

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An Election in Kazakhstan Will Offer Something New: A Multiparty System

The government’s proposed benefits cap will “break up families” Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes warns ministers.

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Hughes warning over benefits cap

It’s a sign of these unsettled times that the analyst who famously announced “the end of history” in 1989 , when the Soviet empire was crumbling and liberal, free-market democracy seemed inevitable, has published a new essay with the provocative title “The Future of History.” Francis Fukuyama’s article in the January edition of Foreign Affairs offers a good introduction to what may be the biggest political issue of 2012 — the decline of the middle class in the United States and around the world. Without this middle class, Fukuyama argues, liberal democracy loses its anchor. Read full article > >

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The danger in a declining middle class

NEW YORK — Attention, conservatives: Adam Bellow says this is your moment. The intellectual left, he contends, is in a vacuum. The right is where there are ideas, variety, excitement. And Bellow, a former liberal who has made a career of pushing conservative writers and controversial issues to the forefront of American publishing, wants to hear from you. Read full article > >

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Adam Bellow hopes to give voice to the tea party with new conservative imprint at HarperCollins

Click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/6ph8r3q . We repeat: http://tinyurl.com/6ph8r3q As you probably know, I am an unapologetic liberal. My name appears on a national liberal registry; when moving into a new neighborhood, I have to go door to door and sheepishly inform people that one of my kind is living in their midst. My point is, it should come as no surprise to you that I dislike the Second Amendment and think it should be repealed as obsolete. Read full article > >

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Help Gene Weingarten win an AK-47

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday. As fun to say as fluffernutter – December 23 is National Pfeffernüsse Day ! Chances are you recognize these little biscuits rolled in powdered sugar by sight, if not by name, and they are a Christmas treat to be sure. The name may translate to “pepper nuts” in German, Dutch and Danish, but this holiday delicacy doesn't include black pepper. Rather, they are full of chopped almonds or walnuts, spices like cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and anise and then liberally coated with powdered sugar. The dough is usually rolled into balls, and they are extremely hard the first week after they are made (the photo above is a good example of what they look like before they receive the powdered sugar treatment). Don't even try to bite into one without dunking it in coffee or a hot beverage to soften it up. Unlike most holiday cookies, these get better with time. This delicacy is considered to be a kid's treat from Saint Nicholas during Christmas in Germany. Have your own pfeffernüsse experience this holiday season, and relish the moment when biting into one unleashes a storm of powdered sugar all over your face.

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Breakfast buffet: National pfeffernüsse day

Behold! Three comic works of fiction about God have revealed themselves to the publishing world. Can the four horsemen be far behind? None of these super-liberal God-books is likely to shake your faith — or restore it — but together this unholy trilogy is a relief from the “does He or doesn’t He?” debate that generated so many titles a few years ago. We’ve moved, at least a little, from the crucifying condescension of the New Atheists to the zany ribbing of a comic roast. Read full article > >

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Book World: Three comic works of fiction about God, reviewed by Ron Charles

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. Since all things seem possible in the Republican presidential contest, is there another turn coming that could benefit Jon Huntsman? That would be the former Utah governor who is polling nationally at 3.2 percent , according to Wednesday’s Real Clear Politics average of national polls, slightly behind Rick Santorum. Huntsman is occasionally touted by the sort of commentators who would never go near a Republican primary ballot box; they like his reasonable, genial and intelligent tone. Many conservatives, on the other hand, see those traits as the marks of a dreaded liberalism. Read full article > >

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Jon Huntsman, trying to thread a political needle

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron’s rejection of a landmark accord to quell Europe’s debt crisis was generating cracks in his cabinet on Sunday, sparking sharp criticism from the junior partners in his ruling coalition, the Liberal Democrats. Cameron, a Conservative euro-skeptic, on Friday made Britain the only nation among the 27-country European Union to reject a summit pact aimed at shoring up the foundations of the euro through a new treaty spelling out, among other things, binding caps on government spending and borrowing. Read full article > >

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Cameron’s veto on Europe pact opens cracks in his coalition

The Liberal Democrat’s chief whip in Europe, Chris Davies, has launched a scathing attack on David Cameron after he blocked an EU-wide treaty change to tackle the eurozone crisis.

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VIDEO: ‘PM kicked eurozone in teeth’

Two Islamist parties appear to be strengthening their lead in Egypt’s parliamentary elections, as secular liberals trail behind.

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Egypt Islamists widen poll lead

Say movies like ‘Happy Feet Two’ to push liberal agenda.

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Conservatives Slam Children’s Films

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. has become everybody’s shoulda-woulda-coulda candidate. As in, he should-be-doing better, would-be-doing better if the GOP were a different party, and could be the one to beat President Obama. Huntsman’s favorite-candidate status among Beltway pundits, and liberals, has led to questions about whether he would consider mounting a third party bid if he failed to win the GOP nod (which at this point, let’s face it, looks pretty likely). But every time he’s asked about a possible independent bid, Huntmsan says no. Read full article > >

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Huntsman: Does he really have the makings of a third-party candidate?

Just a little more than an hour after some House Democrats recently demanded an inquiry into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ ethics , Senate Republicans stepped up the pressure on Justice Elena Kagan to take herself out of the court’s decision on the health-care reform act. The process repeated itself a few days later. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) called for the release of more documents about Kagan’s role as President Obama’s solicitor general; the liberal group People for the American Way came out with another broadside against Thomas. Read full article > >

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Health-care case brings fight over which Supreme Court justices should decide it

Everyone knows that President Obama has a problem with his political base heading into 2012. Except that he doesn’t. One of the most persistent story lines for the president has been that the liberal left has grown increasingly dissatisfied with his actions (or inaction) on some of its priorities — including single-payer health insurance, the extension of the George W. Bush tax cuts and whether to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Read full article > >

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President Obama’s base of support remains solid heading into 2012