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December 13, 2011 | | COURT APPOINTMENT It’s judgment day for Jerry Sandusky, the Penn State ex-coach charged with more than 50 counts of sexual abuse. He and up to 10 of his accusers are expected to appear at a court hearing in Pennsylvania today, and a judge will then decide whether to take the case to trial. The Daily Beast’s Michael Daly has some advice for Sandusky: plead guilty, spare the alleged victims the ordeal of a trial—and take your small shot at redemption. Plus, a breakdown of who knew what—and when—in the case. DONE, EH? Canada is leading the way—out of the Kyoto Protocol. The nation is using its legal right to withdraw from the 1997 treaty to end global warming. At the time, Canada’s Liberal government accepted the protocol, but the Conservatives have never used it. Last year, the nation—along with Russia and Japan—said it would not accept new details of the agreement. On Sunday, climate talks in South Africa led to 200 countries striking a deal that will pave the way for a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2015. Canada saves what would be $14 billion in fines for not meeting the regulations of the pact. 2012 Mitt Romney took a series of shots at Newt Gingrich Monday, starting with a television interview in which he called on Newt to return the $1.6 million he received from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Newt fired back, saying he’d return the money “if Governor Romney would like to give back all the money he’s earned bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years [at Bain Capital].” Romney didn’t take up Newt’s offer, instead arguing there is “a big difference between working in the private economy and working on K Street and working as a lobbyist or working as a legislator or working to connect businesses with government.” In another sign of Romney’s nervousness, he has deployed his wife, Ann, to the campaign trail, where she has been saying things like “He is steadfast … He won’t abandon you in the hardest times”—a line she insists is not meant as a comparison to Newt’s three marriages. DUD Faced with allegations of voter fraud, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party held a rally in Moscow Monday. Unfortunately, what should have been a hit back at the successful anti-Kremlin protests over the weekend was actually a dud. The New York Times reports that attendance at the rally was “sparse” and not enough to fill the space reserved. Even worse, some of the “supporters” confessed to being forced to come to the rally to make Putin look better on television. The hits keep coming for Putin: first his party lost its majority in the elections, then anti-Kremlin protests over the weekend brought an estimated 40,000 to revolt, and this morning billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov announced he was running for president. Finance Washington Mutual’s implosion in 2008 was the biggest bank collapse in U.S. history—are the executives who ran it getting off easy? The FDIC charged three WaMu executives with gross negligence in a civil lawsuit; however, according to The Wall Street Journal, the FDIC is now willing to settle with them for less than 10 percent of the $900 million it originally sought—less than $75 million. Most of that money will be paid not by the executives themselves but by WaMu’s insurers and estates. The Journal says it’s a “setback” for the FDIC. Still, it is one of the largest settlements since the financial crisis began. | | 
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