memeorandum: Exclusive: ISIS Gaining Ground in Syria, Despite U.S. Strikes (Tim Mak/The Daily Beast)

4:30 PM ET, January 15, 2015

Top Items:

Mariano Castillo / CNN:

Report: Two killed in Belgian anti-terror operation — Video shows anti-terror raid in Belgium 01:40 — Story highlights — (CNN)[Breaking news update, 2:32 p.m.] — The group that Belgian authorities confronted Thursday was about to carry out major terrorist attacks in Belgium imminently …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, BBC, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Fox News:

3 jihadists reportedly killed in counter-terrorism raid in Belgium — At least 3 people were killed in an anti-terror raid in Belgium Thursday that one official confirmed was “jihadist related,” and a man suspected of selling guns used in last week's terror attacks in France was being detained …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Israel Matzav, Fox News Insider and Scared Monkeys

Bruno Waterfield / Telegraph:
Two killed in Belgium police anti-terror raid in Verviers

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Guardian, Reuters, ABC News and Mashable

Sky News:
Two Dead In Anti-Terror Raid In Belgium

Discussion: Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Joni Ernst to Deliver Republican Response to the State of the Union — Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa will be delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union Address, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today in a press conference. — The State of the Union is scheduled for next week.

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
GOP frets over immigration 2016 backlash

Discussion: Politico and Daily Kos

Burgess Everett / Politico:
GOP stuck on immigration

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Cruz out at Senate campaign arm

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog and Prairie Weather

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Border fight shifts to GOP summit

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Politico, Bloomberg Politics and National Journal

Scott Mendelson / Forbes:

Why Ava DuVernay's ‘Selma’ Oscar Snub Matters — The Oscar nominations were announced this morning. There will be plenty of analysis regarding good surprises and bad surprises, and I may dip my toes in later today. But the most egregious omission is the sadly not-entirely-surprising absence …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post and Colorlines

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:

Oscars: Acting Nominees All White — For only the second time in nearly two decades, the 20 Academy Awards acting nominations went to a group made up entirely of white actors and actresses. — Among the notable snubs was David Oyelowo, who received praise for his turn as the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma.

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider, U-T San Diego stories, Mediaite, The Glittering Eye and National Post

Todd VanDerWerff / Vox:
Selma was snubbed because the average Oscar voter is a 63-year-old white man

Discussion: Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress and Jezebel

Lauren Duca / The Huffington Post:
This Will Be The Whitest Oscars Since 1998

Discussion: NPR, TPNN, Truth Revolt and Althouse

Mike Allen / Politico:

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.

Discussion: Washington Post, Adweek, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Race 4 2016 and Hot Air

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
Obama Will Sit Down With Three YouTube Personalities After The State Of The Union

Discussion: The Official Google Blog, Mediaite, The Verge, Politico, myfox8.com, Business Insider and Weekly Standard

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Is Barack Obama killing the State of the Union?

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Pew Research Center …

Nicole Winfield / Associated Press:

Pope on Charlie Hebdo: There are limits to free expression — Associated Press 2 hrs ago — ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Thursday there are limits to freedom of expression, especially when it insults or ridicules someone's faith. — Francis spoke about the Paris terror attacks …

Discussion: Truth Revolt, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Joe. My. God., Raw Story and Althouse

Sally Kohn / CNN:
Terrorism doesn't justify insulting Islam

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, VodkaPundit, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Federalist

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Does the Democratic Party Have a Future? — When Republicans lose an election, the response from the press is immediate and overwhelming: Republicans need to move to the left and be more like Democrats. But somehow, when the Democrats' power slips away over a series of election cycles, the message is quite different.

Discussion: Associated Press

Annie Karni / NY Daily News: EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton advisers feel she has better White House shot against Mitt Romney than Jeb Bush

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Rupert Murdoch weighs in on 2016, calls Romney ‘a terrible candidate’

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, US News, Firedoglake, Mediaite, Hinterland Gazette, Bloomberg Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Chicago, The PJ Tatler, Wall Street Journal and Real Clear Politics

Peter Baker / New York Times:

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 …

Discussion: Jezebel

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Poll: Majority of Americans back Keystone pipeline

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Scared Monkeys, TPNN, America Rising and The Huffington Post

Scott Wong / The Hill:

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.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Raw Story

Donna St. George / Washington Post:

Parents investigated for neglect after letting kids walk home alone — It was a one-mile walk home from a Silver Spring park on Georgia Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. But what the parents saw as a moment of independence for their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, they say authorities viewed much differently.

Discussion: Washington Times, Eschaton, Boing Boing and Hit & Run

WFTS:

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.

Discussion: CNN, Deadspin, FreakOutNation, Friendly Atheist, Associated Press, JIMROMENESKO.COM and ABC News

Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity:

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 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, Raw Story, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Roger Ailes

Josh Richman / Political Blotter:

Tom Steyer looks good in his own Senate 2016 poll — Hedge fund billionaire and environmental activist Tom Steyer said Tuesday he's considering whether to run for California's U.S. Senate seat in 2016, but apparently he's been mulling this for a while: A polling memo shows he commissioned a survey on his chances in mid-December.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post and Truth Revolt

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

The Supreme Court Is Likely To Set Up The Same-Sex Marriage Showdown On Friday — A guide. — Getty Images/Alex Wong — This will be the second time the justices have considered whether to take any of the cases out of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and/or Tennessee.

Discussion: Crime and Consequences Blog, Joe. My. God., SCOTUSblog, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Advocate, NPR and Slate

T. Rees Shapiro / Washington Post:

U-Va. Phi Psi members speak about impact of discredited gang rape allegations — CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Phi Kappa Psi brothers sat together in a bedroom, turning the glossy magazine pages as they absorbed the account of a gang rape that allegedly took place within the brick walls around them.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Daily Mail and neo-neocon

The Commonwealth Fund:

The Rise in Health Care Coverage and Affordability Since Health Reform Took Effect — Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2014 — Overview — New results from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, 2014, indicate that the Affordable …

Discussion: New York Times, Addicting Info, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Rich Schapiro / NY Daily News:

‘If you snitch, your career is done’: Former Baltimore cop says he was harassed, labeled a ‘rat’ after attempt to root out police brutality — Det. Joseph Crystal witnessed a handcuffed drug suspect beaten and his ankle broken by a fellow Baltimore police officer.

Discussion: Daily Mail and Hullabaloo