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Internet memes used to stick around for months on end (remember "Charlie Bit My Finger"?). But in 2012, the shelf-life of an Internet sensation became increasingly fleeting. Funny videos and games are now enjoying only brief moments in the cultural spotlight before they're forgotten.

A major storm system is causing havoc for travelers trying to get home from their holiday destinations. Powerful winds and blizzard conditions have hit parts of the U.S.

The day is designed to say goodbye to the worst memories of 2012. In New York Friday, a mobile shredding truck along with a dumpster and sledgehammer, will help you say goodbye to things you don't need heading into the new year.

The nation's 41st president, George H.W. Bush, has been in a Houston hospital since just after Thanksgiving. He went there for treatment of a persistent cough. Since then, he's developed a fever. Doctors are working to bring it down. Bush, 88, is said to be alert and bantering with his nurses.

Angered by an American law barring some Russian officials from entering the U.S., parliament members in Moscow have retaliated. Putin has now said he sees no reason not to sign the adoption ban. More than 60,000 Russian children have been adopted by Americans since 1992, the State Department says.

Also: U.N. envoy calls for transitional government in Syria; former President George H.W. Bush remains hospitalized; and talks to avoid an East Coast port strike resume.

Many Americans appear to be worried about what will happen to the economy if the federal government goes over the so-called fiscal cliff, the Conference Board reports. But there's also good news: The housing sector continues to recover.

Children can easily become kinder and more helpful. And that behavior makes them more positive, more accepting and more popular with other children, a study of Canadian kids finds.

HBO's new behind-the-anchor-desk drama follows in the footsteps of Sorkin's hit series The West Wing. "I like writing about heroes that don't wear capes or disguises," he says.

In the last election, the red states got redder and the blue ones bluer. That's true not only in presidential voting, but at the state level, where half the legislative chambers are now dominated by supermajorities of one party or the other. The result is that blue and red states are moving further apart on most major issues, including tax policy, abortion and guns.