Headlines from December 16, 2010

Similar to Social Security in the '30s and Medicare in the '60s, the health law debate--and promises of repeal--may last decades.
The new thing to do when you're a retired captain of industry: Take up the cowboy sport of cutting.
"New car smell" blamed for hit-and-run accident--the driver lost consciousness in his month-old Mercedes.
Henry Ford and other notables of 1931 make predictions (tech dependence, stable economy) of life in 2011.
We replaced the human being you naturally expected in a list of the year's most prominent newsmakers with an inanimate object.
The Times's 10th Annual Year in Ideas--includes an informal audit of past issues, including a prediction of "populist editing."
In Torrington, Conn., the Register-Citizen embraces the open web by opening its newsroom to the public.
The story is Dickensian in sentiment, Shavian in form. Why Trading Places is the best Christmas film.
Op: The unemployed son of asylum seekers, Jesus was a leftie on issues from fair wage to banks.
Excellence, measurability, accountability, snow: the Santa brand book.
And perchance a little Valium for Lady Capulet? Shakespearean letters to Santa.