OK, that's it for the year. We'll leave you with five posts from the past week, wish you a Happy New Year and catch up again on Monday.

So, five posts worth revisiting:

1. Comedy cowards Why don't satirists go for religion today?

2. Is Cameron trying to buy the election? Labour should check the figures before it adopts this line

3. The return of the shah, sans jewels Martyr-making and arrests in Iran only create more problems for Khamenei

4. Why political blogging belongs to the insurgent 2010 and the rise of the left-wing blogosphere

5. Will Brown face one last rebellion? Rebels explore the "Aznar option"

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