* As Sandy Hook students head back to class, school officials create a familiar, friendly environment. * Chris Ware on his latest New Yorker cover, inspired by Newtown and a sharp contrast to his back-to-school cover. * On Christmas Day 1945, five Fayetteville, W.Va., children went missing during a house
* Hard-line conservatives oppose or go mum during Boehner's reelection as House speaker. * Six Indian parliamentarians have charges of rape against them. * "There is no reason to think that India is destined to abuse women"—but the journey will be a long one. * Pakistani schoolgirl activist
* After nearly 30 years in the House, Rep. Gary L. Ackerman heads home. * Once thought to be eradicated, tuberculosis—now drug-resistant—is on a frighteningly sharp rise in the former Soviet bloc. * How free-market renegades fighting the "maple wars" stole six million pounds of maple syrup.
* As fighting continues, new UN report says 60,000 have been killed in Syria's war. * Predictions for events in 2013. * Four hundred and nine people have been killed by guns in the U.S. since Newtown. * In case you heard about the LAPD buying back rocket launchers, it
* Gunshot wound survivors tell their stories on Reddit. * Over the winter break, schoolteachers learned how to shoot guns. * Home schooling in the U.S. is growing, and it's not just religious families who are doing it. * The divisive, conflicted history of the Montessori system in the U.S.
* House passes bill to avoid fiscal cliff, but faces debt-ceiling and sequester debates. * Just a few years ago, the tax deal pushed through Congress on Tuesday would have been a Republican fiscal fantasy. * Survey of highlights from the fight, including Boehner telling Reid, "Go fuck yourself." * French
(One clue to get you started: The map doesn’t represent gross national anything.) {image-11} [Answer]
* Charity Navigator's top 10 lists of various charities' achievements and embarrassments. * See also: Best Practices of Savvy Donors. * Cunningham Children's Home offers healing to young people with serious emotional and behavioral disabilities. * The Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill, NC—a beacon of hope for
* Schwarzenegger bicycles Venice Beach just to inhale stray smoke, and other notes on weed in California. * Overview of "sea change" taking place globally toward gay marriage. * In case this applies to your late-December plans somehow: Is he cute or is he British? * French consumer trends of 2012.
We gathered writers and thinkers to consider everything that happened over the past 12 months and asked them: What were the most important events of 2012—and what were the least?
