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 …

Paramount Bans Showing ‘Team America’  —  Three movie theaters say Paramount Pictures has ordered them not to show Team America: World Police one day after Sony Pictures surrendered to cyberterrorists and pulled The Interview.  The famous Alamo Drafthouse in Texas, Capitol Theater in Cleveland …

‘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.

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.

Attorney General Holder Directs Department to Include Gender Identity Under Sex Discrimination Employment Claims  —  New Memo Applies to All Department of Justice Components and U.S. Attorneys  —  Attorney General Holder announced today that the Department of Justice will take the position …

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

NEBRASKA AND OKLAHOMA SUE COLORADO OVER MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION  —  Supporters erupt in cheers at the passage of Amendment 64.  Supporters of Amendment 64, the campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol, gather at Casselman's in Denver on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012.  Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post (THE DENVER POST |

At private meeting, union head tells officers to use ‘extreme discretion’  —  Police union leader Pat Lynch is telling officers to use “extreme discretion,” in response to what he said was a lack support from City Hall and Washington in the wake of a grand jury decision not to indict an officer in the death of Eric Garner last month.

Watching Colbert Makes Conservatives Even More Conservative  —  After nine years hosting one of the most popular comedy programs on air, it's hard to remember a time when Stephen Colbert might have been mistaken for the kind of conservative commentator he satires.

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 …

Sexist Comment by Austin Police Officer: Isolated Incident or Part of Broader Culture?  —  Update (2:19 p.m.): Officer Andrew Petrowski officially retired from the Austin Police Department on Friday, Dec. 12 after learning KUT would air his comments this week.

5 Sweeping Changes Recommended for Secret Service After Fence Jumper Enters WH … A bipartisan, independent panel scrutinizing the U.S. Secret Service after a man with a small knife in his pocket jumped the perimeter fence and made it deep inside the White House is recommending sweeping changes at the agency.

Democrats to Colbert: Thanks For Your Help!  —  I have never seen Stephen Colbert's show on Comedy Central, but I take it that it consists of an endless series of anti-Republican “jokes.”  If asked, would Colbert admit to being a loyal Democratic Party foot soldier, or would he claim …

The Year of Outrage  —  Slate tracked what everyone was outraged about every day in 2014.  Explore by clicking the tiles below, and then scroll down to read about how outrage has taken over our lives.  —  Interactive by Allison Benedikt, Chris Kirk, and Dan Kois

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 …