It’s not 2004 any more. I’ve been looking at Republican Senate candidates’ Web sites today, and one of the things I was looking for was whether Republicans believe same-sex marriage is still a winner for them. The answer? A solid maybe, but perhaps leaning towards a “no.” Read full article > >

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Jonathan Bernstein: First hint of a GOP surrender on same-sex marriage?

Maurice Sendak, the US author of the best-selling children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, dies aged 83.

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Wild Things author Sendak dies

Something happened in the Senate on Thursday. Something surprising. Something encouraging. Something almost…functional. You might remember that, in August 2011, Congress almost defaulted on the national debt. Eventually, the two parties reached a deal — the Budget Control Act — that would, among other things, cut more than $900 billion from the discretionary side of the budget over the next 10 years. This wasn’t exactly a shining moment in the history of the United States Congress — “and that, kids, is how the government decided not to create an unnecessary financial crisis in the middle of a fragile recovery” — but at least we could move forward. Or so we thought. Read full article > >

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Wonkbook: McConnell to House: Don’t shut down the government

And other things heard at today’s meeting.

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NRA: Obama Is Most Anti-Freedom President

Go ahead, make your snarky jokes, ask the saucy questions — all the things that come to mind when you learn about the Blondes vs. Brunettes flag football game. They’ve heard them all before. They get it. They’re owning it. Do you have to be a real blonde to play on Team Blonde? “Of course not!” laughs Keri Ann Meslar, chair of the all-women’s event, a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. “I don’t know very many natural blondes these days!” Read full article > >

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Hair’s the thing: Blondes vs. Brunettes is a win-win

When things are good, when sadness gives way to peace, life rhymes for Mike Mitchell. That’s the way he puts it. It rhymes . He hears it, though you may not. A private poetry reading for one. Of all the things that rhyme for Mike Mitchell, nothing rhymes like light. There it is, off in the clouds. A burst, describing momentary squiggles of brilliance in the sky. He sees it and he listens to it, though it makes not a sound. Lightning in the thunderhead. One silent burst, and it’s gone. Read full article > >

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His long-unseen Beatles photos offer Mike Mitchell a step back into the light

In a slender essay titled “Here Is New York,” E.B. White wrote about the implausibility of the great city, mentioning among other things the millions of gallons of water needed each day just so people could brush their teeth. That was in 1948. Since then, the implausibility factor has increased thousands-fold — or at least an awful lot — a fact among many that prompted Charles Fishman to expand White’s thought in his new book, “The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water.” If you read it — and you should — you will be very thirsty. And you will never flush again with the same nonchalance. Read full article > >

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‘The Big Thirst’ and the miracle of water

The White House on Thursday unveiled a long-delayed legislative proposal for cybersecurity that, among other things, calls on industries critical to the nation’s economy and security to create plans — vetted by the government — for securing their computer systems. At the same time, the proposal places penalties on companies that fail to scrub personal identifying information from certain data shared with the government. In a nationally televised speech in May 2009, President Obama proclaimed computer networks a strategic national asset and said protecting them is a matter of national and economic security. Read full article > >

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White House reveals cybersecurity plan

At L.A.’s Red Medicine, it’s soup or salad-unless you’re a restaurant critic, in which case, you can take your things and leave. Los Angeles Times longtime restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila was kicked out of a trendy new eatery, after the managing…

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Critic Kicked Out of L.A. Restaurant

Several people who make the things that make our faces light up tell us their most unforgettable gift disasters; can your horror story top theirs?

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City Room: Your Worst Christmas Gift

Well, you knew Twitter would need more money some time. And Kara Swisher of All Things D reports that the some time is now. The company will take $200 million in fresh funding in a round led by legendary VC firm Kleiner Perkins. Twitter has completed its latest round of funding-$200 million at a $3.7 billion valuation-with Kleiner Perkins as the lead investor, according to sources familiar with the situation. Sources said the San Francisco microblogging service is also adding two new board members: Flipboard’s Mike McCue and former DoubleClick head David Rosenblatt. Read the full story at All Things D .

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Investors Value Twitter at $3.7 Billion in New Round of Funding

The Eighth Amendment in the US Constitution prohibits, among other things, cruel and unusual punishment of prisoners. This prohibition is the grounds for a lawsuit filed by federal inmate #89637-132, Leonard Peltier, who is considered by many worldwide to be a political prisoner. read more

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Leonard Peltier Denied Eighth Amendment Rights

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed a New York Times report that his office receives cash from Iran, in return for loyalty. “They have asked for good relations in return,” he said, “and for lots of other things in return.” Umar Daudzai, the…

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Karzai Admits Payments From Iran

BBC News went along to the Things exhibition to see some of the objects donated and hear the stories behind them.

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Public contributes to ‘Things exhibition’

Wells Fargo & Co. customers better pack their things: The company will not halt foreclosures, despite the fact that an employee testified that she signed up to 500 documents a day without reading them. The company insists that its foreclosure…

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Wells Fargo Won’t Halt Foreclosures