Death Toll Rises in Gaza: Hils is headed to the Middle East as Israel continues aerial bombing of Gaza, aiming for militants. Egypt, meanwhile, is hoping to broker a truce.

The Great Nativity Throw Down: Oh man, this is the best holiday story I've read in forever. A public park in Santa Monica traditionally displays 14 nativity scenes. But then, an atheist group applied and snagged most of the spots to erect anti-religion displays. Now, no one gets to build any displays in the park. :(

WalMart on Strike! Workers at WalMart stores are planning a walk-out on Black Friday to protest for better working conditions. Let's hope they don't get crushed by the stampede of new-blender-grubbers.

Romney is Slumming It: The former presidential candidate is busy watching Twilight and pumping his own gas.

The Elmo Saga: The pupeteer behind the voice of Elmo has resigned from Sesame Street after a messy mess of sexual abuse allegations and retractions.

The World's Poorest President: The leader of Uruguay sounds awesome.

Police <3 GPS: A bank robbery case facing the Supreme Court tests whether it's constitutional to stop dozens of civilians based on the belief that one is a robber according to GPS technology.

Four Arrested in "Terror Plot." Four California men are accused of having ties to Al Qaeda.

The End of Pay Phones: New York City is replacing its payphones with big touch screens that give advice.

I'll See Your Phone Hacking and Raise You... bribery! The new crime Rupert Murdoch aides stand accused of.

Apes Be Sad: New research shows that apes get discontent in the middle of their lives, which scientists are comparing to humans' mid-life crises.

D'oh! A Portland police car rolls over a man accused of jaywalking as the cops detain him.

An Actually Helpful TriMet Twitter Feed: I'm not sure what obsessive person takes the time to type in all the news from TriMet's scanner, but @TriMetScanner is my new favorite bus disaster reading material.