The influential writer and cultural critic Christopher Hitchens died on Thursday at the age of 62 from complications of cancer of the esophagus. Hitchens confronted his disease in part by writing, bringing the same unsparing insight to his mortality that he had directed at so many other subjects.

Over the years, Hitchens' caustic attention was directed at a broad range of subjects, including Henry Kissinger, Prince Charles, Bob Hope, Michael Moore, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa.

We are late to this news, but because it's just now picking up steam in the mainland United States, we'll share it. This was the official Christmas card of Jorge Santini, the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, this year:

Dangers of eating the fish you catch in the Bay, rising sea levels and what that means for the Bay Area, sea shanties, and local musician Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic.

Iowa's popular Gov. Terry Branstad hasn't endorsed any of the Republican presidential candidates crisscrossing his state yet.

Which means he can at least claim to be above the intramural GOP fray scheduled to end in a few weeks when his state's Republican voters attend caucuses to choose their preference for their party's White House nominee.

For the first time in more than a decade running Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is facing serious opposition to his rule. And that meant he faced tougher than usual questions Thursday at his annual question-and-answer session that lasted more than four hours on Russian television.

"Do you think the elections are honest and their results are fair?" the TV moderator asked him, reading an emailed question.

"The election results absolutely reflect the balance of power in the country," Putin said.

Remember the 1960s comic character Richie Rich, The Poor Little Rich Boy, who had no friends because he lived in an isolated compound? Well, little Jimmy Hormel, heir to the SPAM fortune, had that problem and more in real life. Born in Austin, Minnesota, in 1933, he was also gay in a place and time long before being gay was in the public consciousness.

A subdued ceremony in Baghdad marked the official end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was on hand in Baghdad Thursday for what's known as the casing of the colors — when the U.S. military's flag is put away and sent back to the United States.

The flag will then be retired and perhaps later go on display at the Pentagon.

The U.S. Congress has approved legislation that targets the Central Bank of Iran and is intended to make it more difficult for that country to sell its oil abroad.

But the latest sanctions could backfire. Reduced oil supplies on the world market could mean higher prices, and therefore Iran could actually make more money from its oil even if it sells fewer barrels.

The image of rich folks using food stamps to buy filet mignon is becoming the 21^st-century version of the Reagan-era "Welfare Queen."