When New York City Police Walk Off the Job  —  Many members of the New York Police Department are furious at Mayor Bill de Blasio and, by extension, the city that elected him.  They have expressed this anger with a solidarity tantrum, repeatedly turning their backs to show their collective contempt.

Sean Hannity Wants Boehner Out As Speaker After Scalise Revelations  —  Fox News host Sean Hannity wants Rep. Trey Gowdy to challenge John Boehner for Speaker of the House, but the South Carolina Republican says he isn't interested.  —  Hannity made his thoughts known in a pair of emails …

Sony Hackers Threaten U.S. News Media Organization  —  The hackers who infiltrated Sony Pictures Entertainment's computer servers have threatened to attack an American news media organization, according to an FBI bulletin obtained by The Intercept.  —  The threat against the unnamed news organization …

Pope Francis splits with GOP  —  Pope Francis is increasingly driving a wedge between conservatives and the Catholic Church.  —  The magnetic pope has sparked new enthusiasm around the world for the church and has flexed his political muscles internationally, most recently by helping …

The inside story of how an Idaho toddler shot his mom at Wal-Mart  —  Veronica Rutledge and her husband loved everything about guns.  They practiced at shooting ranges.  They hunted.  And both of them, relatives and friends say, had permits to carry concealed firearms.

Governor O'Malley Issues Statement on the Four Remaining Inmates Sentenced to Death in Maryland  —  ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor O'Malley today issued the following statement on the sentences of the four remaining inmates sentenced to death in Maryland:

Who Is Lena Dunham's Alleged Rapist?  —  Since its publication this fall, Lena Dunham's bestselling essay collection, Not That Kind of Girl, has inspired her fans and offered a different kind of inspiration to her foes.  The right-wing press, in particular, has taken Dunham's discursive set …

Dumb Fox News Hashtag Generates Predictably Sarcastic Replies  —  On Tuesday, the account for 19th-century opinion program Fox & Friends asked Twitter users what stuff from 2014 they were “over,” kicking things off with the above (apparently un-ironic) image and the hashtag #OverIt2014.

A Year of Liberal Double Standards  —  Many conservatives finished the year angry about the same thing they were angry about at the beginning of the year: liberal double standards.  —  As I write this, GOP House whip Steve Scalise is in hot water over reports that he spoke to a group of racist poltroons in Louisiana twelve years ago.

‘The Interview’ is a free speech act of peace through strength  —  It was extremely encouraging to see the United States and Sony eventually stand up to the cyberbullying of the North Koreans by allowing the movie “The Interview” to be released in theaters around the country despite threats of retaliation.

‘CIA fingerprints’ all over Kiev massacre - Oliver Stone  —  The armed coup in Kiev is painfully similar to CIA operations to oust unwanted foreign leaders in Iran, Chile and Venezuela, said US filmmaker Oliver Stone after interviewing Ukraine's ousted president for a documentary.

Underplayed Conflicts of 2014  —  I have spent my life covering wars, revolutions, and uprisings—more than forty years' worth of them now.  As I looked through annual rundowns of the Big Stories of 2014, I found three types of conflicts that were not on many lists but should be.

Obama approval at highest in over a year  —  President Obama's approval rating is at its highest in over a year, according to new Gallup polling.  —  The latest three-day polling average, from Dec. 27-29, puts Obama's approval at 48 percent, the highest it has been since August 2013.