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Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, gifts have come into the grief-stricken Connecticut community by the truckload. Parents say they're not sure how to celebrate, but some hope the traditions will bring back some sense of normalcy.

It's tradition! Writer and humorist David Sedaris reflects on his short tenure as Crumpet the Elf at Macy's. Sedaris first read the "Santaland Diaries" on Morning Edition in 1992 — and instantly, a classic was born.

Morning Edition's series, the Twelve Days of Tax Deductions, zeroes in on some of the tax breaks lawmakers are grappling with as they hammer out a budget deal, to raise revenue, cut spending and avoid the end-of-year "fiscal cliff." On Day 11, we look at the deduction for employer sponsored health insurance.

In Spain, entrepreneurship is largely a high-class hobby. Family money and connections have long been the best indicators of small business' success. A recent World Bank report ranked Spain lower than Bangladesh and Afghanistan on the ease of starting a business. Now Spain's ruling conservatives want to change that.

In Britain, every year on Christmas Day, the Queen delivers a speech to her subjects. Recently in Cornwall, which is part of England, a new royal tradition has taken root based on an episode of The Simpsons.

With several things to worry about — including the possibility of automatic tax increases and spending cuts — it appears American consumers weren't in the cheeriest of holiday spirits on the last weekend before Christmas. Shoppers were out, but analysts say their spending was subdued.

That jolly old elf has fooled NORAD, Google and others trying to track him, says astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The "science of Santa" makes the most sense if you figure he's getting to the homes of good girls and boys via wormholes, not down the chimneys.

Lawmakers and President Obama are expected to return to Washington Thursday to resume efforts at averting the fiscal cliff. Lawmakers failed to reach a deal late last week and went home for the holiday break. Guest host Celeste Headlee talks with Bloomberg Businessweek contributor Roben Farzad for a look at the last-minute options.

A combination of greater job security, fewer bills and rising wealth sent shoppers heading off to car dealerships, malls and restaurants. "Job growth was not great, but it was good enough to make people feel like things are getting better," said Nariman Behravesh of IHS Global Insight. NPR's Marilyn Geewax covers 2012's economic good news.