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Ken Thomas / Associated Press:
PAUL: TRADE WITH CUBA ‘PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that starting to trade with Cuba “is probably a good idea” and that the lengthy economic embargo against the communist island “just hasn't worked.” — Paul became the first potential …
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Mediaite, Bloomberg Politics, BuzzFeed, Weekly Standard, Hit & Run, Hot Air, ABC News, Hinterland Gazette, Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, abc11.com and Associated Press
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Politico:
Obama libre — The last five weeks of the president's year were better than almost all the rest. — If President Barack Obama's year ended in November, it would have been one of the worst of his presidency. — Good thing he had the last five weeks. — Story Continued Below
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Federalist, Daily Kos, Weekly Standard and Bloomberg View
Washington Post:
Obama gives the Castro regime in Cuba an undeserved bailout — IN RECENT months, the outlook for the Castro regime in Cuba was growing steadily darker. The modest reforms it adopted in recent years to improve abysmal economic conditions had stalled, due to the regime's refusal to allow Cubans greater freedoms.
Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:
Every big question you have about the U.S. opening to Cuba, answered — So by now I'm sure you're aware that the Obama administration and Cuba's communist regime have pledged to restore diplomatic ties through a variety of means, which include an exchange of prisoners …
Steve Benen / msnbc.com:
Republicans hardly unanimous on new Cuba policy — We've grown accustomed to some clear divisions among Republicans on foreign policy, with the Dick Cheney wing of the GOP aggressively at odds with the Rand Paul wing. It's not exactly a 50-50 split - the former contingent is vastly larger than the latter …
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Politico, The Hill, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post and Hinterland Gazette
Lauren French / Politico:
How Republicans could stop Obama's Cuba play — Hill Republicans started making a to-do list immediately. — President Barack Obama's plan to normalize relations with Cuba has hit a familiar roadblock: Republicans on Capitol Hill. — Just hours after Obama announced that a prisoner swap …
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American Prospect, New York Times, Washington Post, Alternet, Wall Street Journal, The Mahablog and FiveThirtyEight
Rich Lowry / Politico:
The Castros Finally Hit the Jackpot — Even if you oppose the isolation of Cuba, this is not a good trade. — Candidate Barack Obama said that, as president, he would talk to anti-American dictators without precondition. He didn't mention that he would also give them historic policy concessions without precondition.
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National Review
Fox News:
Congressional critics ready to block Obama push to normalize Cuban relations
Congressional critics ready to block Obama push to normalize Cuban relations
Discussion:
VodkaPundit, Slantpoint, Bloomberg and Fox News Insider
Dan Roberts / Guardian:
US-Cuba deal: a marriage 18 months in the making, blessed by Pope Francis
US-Cuba deal: a marriage 18 months in the making, blessed by Pope Francis
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Althouse
Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Can Obama lift Cuba embargo alone?
Can Obama lift Cuba embargo alone?
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Instapundit and Daily Kos
New York Times:
Mr. Obama's Historic Move on Cuba
Mr. Obama's Historic Move on Cuba
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RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Gawker, Addicting Info, Politico, Fausta's Blog and The Daily Banter
Politico:
The Democrats' risky Cuba bet
The Democrats' risky Cuba bet
Discussion:
American Prospect, The Hill, Washington Post, Associated Press, NPR and Slantpoint
Eli Lake / Bloomberg View:
Obama Gives Rubio a Gift From Cuba
Obama Gives Rubio a Gift From Cuba
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New York Times, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Daily Kos, Facebook, Washington Post, BREITBART.COM and Reuters
New York Times:
U.S. Said to Find North Korea Ordered Cyberattack on Sony — WASHINGTON — American officials have concluded that North Korea ordered the attacks on Sony Pictures's computers, a determination reached as the studio decided Wednesday to cancel the release of a movie comedy about the assassination …
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ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, RT, Slate, The New Republic, New York Magazine, Guardian, Motherboard, PandoDaily, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, The Verge, The Daily Banter, Tech Times, CNN, Deadline, FiveThirtyEight, Twitchy, The Federalist, National Review, The Huffington Post, Fox News, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, The Dish, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Shakesville, CANNONFIRE, Associated Press, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Mashable, Variety, LA Weekly, NBC News, Gawker, Vox, The Hill, Power Line, Taylor Marsh, Inside Movies, Wired, EW.com, TIME, Mediaite, Slantpoint, CNNMoney.com, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Boing Boing, Nerdist, Vulture, Hullabaloo, Hollywood Reporter, Addicting Info and JustOneMinute, more at Mediagazer »
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Erik Hayden / Hollywood Reporter:
Texas Theater to Show ‘Team America’ In Place of ‘The Interview’
Texas Theater to Show ‘Team America’ In Place of ‘The Interview’
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Talking Points Memo, National Review, CNN, Addicting Info, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, The Hill, Hit & Run, Nerdist, The Verge, Truth Revolt, The Daily Caller, Jezebel and Inside Movies
David Auerbach / Slate:
The Sony Hackers Are Terrorists
The Sony Hackers Are Terrorists
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New York Times, ThinkProgress, Twitchy, BillMoyers.com, Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post
Ted Bridis / Associated Press:
Sony emails show a studio ripe for hacking
Sony emails show a studio ripe for hacking
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ABC News, Associated Press and The Huffington Post
Robert Schmidt / Bloomberg Politics:
Lawrence Summers' $28 Million Payday, Courtesy of Elizabeth Warren — Senator Elizabeth Warren famously declared “there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.” — That truism presumably includes President Barack Obama's former economic chief Lawrence Summers …
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Booman Tribune
Boston Public Radio / WGBH News:
‘Governor, This Is Barack Obama, Formerly Of Somerville.’ … For the past eight years, Deval Patrick has joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on the radio each month to field calls from listeners. On Thursday, he joined the hosts of Boston Public Radio for the final time as governor of Massachusetts.
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Bloomberg Politics, New York Times, Washington Post, Political Wire and The Huffington Post
Joe Arnold / WHAS-TV:
Grimes pledges legal challenge if Paul attempts simultaneous races — Alison Lundergan Grimes says she will challenge Senator Rand Paul if he tries to get on the ballot for both Senate re-election and president — FRANKFORT, Ky. (WHAS11) — Six weeks after she lost her own bid for the U-S Senate …
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James Hohmann / Politico:
Alison Lundergan Grimes: Rand Paul can't run for president and Senate
Alison Lundergan Grimes: Rand Paul can't run for president and Senate
Discussion:
American Spectator and WHAS-TV
USA Today:
Putin: West wants to put Russian bear ‘on a chain’ — The collapse in Russia's rouble slows for a while, but fears of how the crisis will hit not only Moscow but its trade partners are deepening. As Ciara Lee reports, the repercussions could be felt far and wide. Video provided by Reuters Newslook
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kyivpost.com
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CNN:
Officials: Boko Haram kidnaps 185 women and children, kills 32 people — Kano, Nigeria (CNN) — Boko Haram insurgents kidnapped at least 185 women and children, and killed 32 people in a raid in northeastern Nigeria this week, local officials and residents said.
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The Jawa Report and The Daily Caller
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Lanre Ola / Reuters:
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnap 100 women, children in Nigeria
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnap 100 women, children in Nigeria
Discussion:
Gawker and Shakesville
Business Wire:
Amazon Introduces Prime Now: One-Hour Delivery on Tens of Thousands of Daily Essentials Exclusively for Prime Members — Prime Now launches in Manhattan today with plans to expand to additional cities in 2015 — SEATTLE—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced Prime Now …
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New York Magazine, The Verge and Mashable
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Obama's Had a Helluva Good Month Since the Midterms — So how have things been going for our bored, exhausted, and disengaged president? He's been acting pretty enthusiastic, energized, and absorbed with his job, I'd say. Let us count the things he's done since the November 4th midterm elections:
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather
Julia Marsh / New York Post:
Catsimatidis' daughter files for divorce from husband of 3 years — Andrea Catsimatidis and Christopher Cox tour the Great Wall of China in 2013. — This political love match was not made to last. — Andrea Catsimatidis, daughter of billionaire grocer and failed mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis …
Discussion:
American Spectator and Washington Free Beacon
RT:
US servicemen in first ground battle with ISIS - Kurdish media — American forces were involved in their first ground battle with Islamic State fighters, according to Kurdish media outlet Shafaq News, near the Ain Al-Assad base in the Anbar province of Iraq early Sunday. The report could not be independently verified.
Discussion:
Liberaland and Weekly Standard