Making Sense of the START Debate
by George Friedman
...Passage allowed Obama to dodge a bullet, but it leaves open a question that he does not want to answer: What is American strategy toward Russia? He has mimicked American strategy from a quarter century ago, not defined what it will be.

Closing the Books on the Worst Congress
Washington Examiner
...Columbia University historian Alan Brinkley told Bloomberg News recently that "this is probably the most productive session of Congress since at least the '60s." When Congress votes on bills that no one reads or understands, it can be quite "productive." Americans have already rendered a verdict on such productivity and elected a new Congress with orders to clean up the mess in Washington.

The Abiding Faith Of Warm-ongers
Investor's Business Daily
...Prognosticators who wrote the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, global warming report in 2007 predicted an inevitable, century-long rise in global temperatures of two degrees or more. Only higher temperatures were foreseen. Moderate or even lower temperatures, as we're experiencing now, weren't even listed as a possibility. Since at least 1998, however, no significant warming trend has been noticeable. Unfortunately, none of the 24 models used by the IPCC views that as possible. They are at odds with reality...
Related: Irony Alert: The Unusually Chilly Global-Warming Summit

Merry Christmas

Taking Stock of WikiLeaks
by George Friedman
..."The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets. Many governments — some governments — deal with us because they fear us, some because they respect us, most because they need us. We are still essentially, as has been said before, the indispensable nation. “Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign policy? I think fairly modest.”

Execs Keep Health Perks While Workers' Benefits Cut
by Gary Strauss

...Lawyer Scott Sims, a health care specialist with corporate consultant Aon Hewitt, estimates up to 50% of publicly held companies offer senior managers enhanced health care plans...

Remembering Pearl Harbor Day

Wave Goodbye to Internet Freedom
The Washington Times
...Mr. Genachowski suggested that government red tape will increase the "freedom" of online services that have flourished because bureaucratic busybodies have been blocked from tinkering with the Web...

Attacks on Nuclear Scientists in Tehran
by Ben West
...It is unlikely that any foreign power was able to conduct this operation by itself and equally unlikely that any indigenous militant group was able to pull off an attack like this without some assistance. The combination of the two, however, could provide an explanation of how the attacks targeting Shariari and Abassi got so close to complete success.