Rupert Murdoch weighs in on 2016, calls Romney ‘a terrible candidate’  —  Rupert Murdoch weighed in on the 2016 presidential race during a public appearance at the Manhattan Institute on Wednesday, praising Jeb Bush and writing off Mitt Romney as “a terrible candidate.”

Terrorism doesn't justify insulting Islam  —  Muslim activist: Cartoons no justification for attacks 06:08  —  Story highlights … (CNN)The latest Charlie Hebdo cartoon, produced after last week's horrific attacks on the Paris magazine's offices, literally adds insult to injury.

U.S. Easing Decades-Old Restrictions on Travel to Cuba  —  WASHINGTON — The United States government on Friday will begin making it easier for Americans to travel to Cuba than it has been for more than half a century, opening the door to a new era of contact between neighbors …

Oops!  “In Dog We Trust” printed within Pinellas County Sheriff's emblem on new rugs  —  Two newly rolled out rugs at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office administration building sure looked nice while they lasted.  —  They were placed at the front entrance— bright green with the sheriff's bold, yellow emblem.

Muslim call to prayer to sound at Duke University  —  DURHAM, N.C. — A weekly call to prayer for Muslims will be heard at Duke University starting Friday, school officials said.  —  Members of the Duke Muslim Students Association will chant the call, known as adhan or azan …

Indianapolis Colts linebacker accused in rape case due in court Thursday … INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Jan. 14, 2015)- An Indianapolis Colts linebacker charged with rape is due in court Thursday.  —  Josh McNary, 26, was formally charged Wednesday in a rape investigation.

One of new chairman's first act?:  Removing last chairman's portrait  —  It appears new House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) really doesn't want to sit in the shadow of his predecessor and fellow Republican, Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).  —  At least, that's what his critics are saying.

Charlie Hebdo Shootings: False Flag?  —  The Charlie Hebdo affair has many of the characteristics of a false flag operation.  The attack on the cartoonists' office was a disciplined professional attack of the kind associated with highly trained special forces; yet the suspects who were later corralled …

CHRISTIE'S MATH PROBLEM: Seeking same donors as Jeb, Mitt — COLIN REED to Romney - WHITE HOUSE CATCHES UP WITH COUNTRY, rewires State of the Union — LIESL HICKEY to Teneo  —  By Mike Allen (mallen@politico.com; @mikeallen), with Daniel Lippman (dlippman@politico.com; @dlippman)  —  Good Thursday morning.

Minutes highlight Scalise efforts to kill resolution apologizing for slavery  —  The minutes from a 1996 Louisiana House committee meeting show the efforts that then-state Rep. Steve Scalise took to water down — and try to kill — a resolution apologizing for the role slavery played in the state's history.

Not Everyone's Internal Clock Is Set for the 9-to-5  —  No matter how early she went to bed, Maggie couldn't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning.  Though constantly exhausted, Maggie (she asked that I not use her last name) got good grades in high school, but she'd frequently …

Social Media and the Cost of Caring  —  For generations, commentators have worried about the impact of technology on people's stress.  Trains and industrial machinery were seen as noisy disruptors of pastoral village life that put people on edge.  Telephones interrupted quiet times in homes.

Lincoln Trail digs in for new fracking program  —  ROBINSON, Ill. (WTHI) - Lincoln Trail College this month announced the Robinson based community college would launch a petroleum drilling technology degree program.  The program is set to officially welcome students in the fall of 2015.

Ebola's Hidden Costs  —  On September 3, 2014, Agnes Ngekia learned by phone that her son was dead and that there would be no burial.  He had died of Ebola.  Ngekia is a nurse in the Kono district of Sierra Leone, and when her son had fallen ill she had diligently followed disease-prevention protocol …

Substitute teacher on trial over showing explicit film at East High School  —  A Franklin County jury must decide whether a former substitute teacher for the Columbus City Schools committed a crime when she showed a movie filled with graphic sex and violence to five Spanish classes at East High School.

Why a Generation of Adoptees Is Returning to South Korea  —  Credit: Mark Neville for The New York Times  —  Laura Klunder's newest tattoo runs down the inside of her left forearm and reads “K85-160,” a number that dates to her infancy.  Klunder was 9 months old when her South Korean mother left her at a police station in Seoul.

Shunning ObamaCare  —  Of my company's 5,453 eligible employees, only 420 actually enrolled.  The other 5,033 opted to pay a penalty.  —  Among the Affordable Care Act's many economic and political disruptions, the law has unintentionally encouraged employers to convert full-time jobs into part-time jobs.

JP Morgan ‘Under Assault’ By Unpatriotic Regulators, CEO Says  —  One of America's largest banks is facing a regulatory attack so insidious and overbearing that it might even be un-American, according to the head of that bank.  —  “Banks are under assault,” JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon told reporters …

Police Slowdown Cost New York City an Estimated $5 Million in Lost Fines  —  Now that New York's police force has returned to enforcing the laws at a pace closer to normal, city officials are calculating the costs of its protracted slowdown.  Their best guess so far is that the tally will be no more than several million dollars.