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Exclusive: Russia Will Sanction U.S. Senators — Putin is set to respond to Obama's sanctions of Russian officials with his own list. Several U.S. Senators and officials will be banned from visiting Russia, including Sen. Dick Durbin. — U.S. senators, congressmen and top Obama administration officials …
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Russian Deputy PM Laughs at Obama's Sanctions — MOSCOW - Russia's deputy prime minister laughed off President Obama's sanction against him today asking “Comrade @BarackObama” if “some prankster” came up with the list. — The Obama administration hit 11 Russian and Ukrainian officials …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Gateway Pundit, RedState and Hinterland Gazette


Defying Sanctions, Putin Declares Crimea Independent — MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a decree late Monday night formally recognizing Ukraine's Crimea region as a “sovereign and independent state,” defying the United States and Europe just hours after they imposed …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money


U.S., E.U. announce sanctions following vote in Crimea
Discussion:
Post Politics, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Fix, WorldViews, Power Line and The Plum Line

U.S., EU announce sanctions after Crimea vote
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, The PJ Tatler, Gawker and The Reaction

US Sanctions On Russia Freeze Top Officials' Assets
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


What the Fox Knows — FiveThirtyEight is a data journalism organization. Let me explain what we mean by that, and why we think the intersection of data and journalism is so important. — If you're a casual reader of FiveThirtyEight, you may associate us with election forecasting …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, FishbowlDC, The Dish, Politico, TVNewser, Marginal REVOLUTION, The Huffington Post and PandoDaily, more at Mediagazer »

Marketplace Enrollment Hits 5 Million Milestone — As this historic open enrollment period enters its final weeks, millions of Americans are finding quality, affordable coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Fernando Valdez and Denise Schroeder were part of a weekend wave of consumers signing …
Discussion:
El Paso Times, PoliticusUSA, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
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We overhauled U.S. health care — to insure 4.2 million people?
Discussion:
The Fact Checker, Rush Limbaugh, The Huffington Post and National Review


L'Wren Scott dead: Fashion designer and Mick Jagger girlfriend found dead in apparent suicide — Mick Jagger is ‘completely shocked and devastated by the news,’ spokesperson says in statement. Scott's body, discovered hanging from a scarf tied to a doorknob in her apartment on 11th Avenue …
Discussion:
Gothamist, Telegraph, Syracuse Post-Standard, Daily Mail and TalkLeft


Malaysia Backtracks on When Airliner's Communications Were Disabled — SEPANG, Malaysia — As the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 stretched into a 10th day, the Malaysian authorities on Monday identified the plane's first officer as the last person in the cockpit to speak to ground control.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Close Read and Politico
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The Malaysia Airlines Pilot's Politics
Discussion:
Mediaite, National Review, Jihad Watch, Bloomberg View, Here & Now, Hit & Run, Telegraph, Guardian and New York Times


It's official: Edwin Edwards is running for Congress — Just three years after his release from federal prison, former Gov. Edwin Edwards is throwing his hat into the open race for Louisiana's 6th Congressional District. — The 86-year-old Silver Fox, known for his memorable …
Discussion:
The Fix, OnPolitics, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and CNN
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Phil Jensen: South Dakota's most conservative lawmaker? — It was July 10, 2003, and Phil Jensen, a life-long Kansas boy and red-blooded Republican, was set for a big move. — Jensen and his wife were relocating from Wichita to Rapid City to live closer to family.
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, Americans Against the … and The Raw Story
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Koch Group Abandons Obamacare ‘Horror’ Stories After Fact-Check Backlash — Have we heard the last Obamacare “horror” story? If new ads from the Koch Brothers-backed group are any indication, we might have. — Americans for Prosperity, the well-funded conservative group …
Discussion:
Americans Against the … and Liberal Values


24 Mind-Blowing Facts About Marijuana Production in America — The only thing green about that bud is its chlorophyll. — You thought your pot came from environmentally conscious hippies? Think again. The way marijuana is grown in America, it turns out, is anything but sustainable and organic.
Discussion:
Watts Up With That?


All you need to know about gravitational waves — A beginner's guide to the BICEP2 discovery of primordial gravitational waves. — Rights & Permissions — Astronomers have announced the detection of the imprint of primordial ‘gravitational waves’ that originated in the Big Bang that created our Universe 13.8 billion years ago.
Discussion:
The Verge
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Detection of Waves in Space Buttresses Landmark Theory of Big Bang
Discussion:
Gothamist, Gawker and Talking Points Memo


West's Drought and Growth Intensify Conflict Over Water Rights — MUMFORD, Tex. — Across the parched American West, the long drought has set off a series of fierce legal and political battles over who controls an increasingly dear treasure — water. — Just outside this minuscule farm town …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Agonist


Stenographer: ‘Assignment’ From Holy Spirit Prompted Outburst On House Floor — The stenographer who was carried off the House floor in October for an outburst in which she yelled into a microphone about God, Freemasons and a divided government explained in a video published Sunday that she acted on “assignment” from the Holy Spirit.
Discussion:
Mediaite


Marijuana Study In Veterans Wins Federal Backing — WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government has signed off on a long-delayed study looking at marijuana as a treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, a development that drug researchers are hailing as a major shift in U.S. policy.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and ThinkProgress

The 1930s are calling — Commentators with a cruel memory have recalled the moment from one of the 2012 presidential debates when President Obama cited Mitt Romney's warning about the growing threat from Russia and dismissed it with a superficially sophisticated remark: “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.”

New set of emails, texts on N.J. bridge scandal turned over to judge — (CNN) - Newly revealed emails between key figures in a political scandal roiling the administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were turned over to a state court judge on Monday. — Members of a legislative …
Discussion:
Associated Press