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

8:05 PM ET, January 15, 2015

Top Items:

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: WHNT-TV, Taylor Marsh, Hinterland Gazette, GeekTyrant, The Huffington Post and Colorlines

Todd VanDerWerff / Vox:

Selma was snubbed because the average Oscar voter is a 63-year-old white man — So what happened to Selma? — The Martin Luther King, Jr., docudrama did just score a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. (Read the full list of nominees here.) But that nomination was joined by just one other nomination, for Best Original Song.

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

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: Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider, Mediaite, New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, U-T San Diego stories and The Glittering Eye

David Sims / The Atlantic Online:

The Oscars Haven't Been This White in 19 Years — Today's nominations are a throwback to the year that Braveheart swept the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. — Today's Oscar nominations contained a host of snubs that have critics and commentators up in arms (as they do every year).

Discussion: National Post and The Huffington Post

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

Discussion: NPR, TPNN, Truth Revolt and Althouse

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: The Atlantic Online, Sky News, Yahoo! News, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, 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: Telegraph, Israel Matzav, protein wisdom, Scared Monkeys, Fox News Insider and Mashable

Sky News:
Suspected Jihadists Killed In Belgium Raid

Discussion: Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs and BizPac Review

BBC:
Belgian anti-terror raid in Verviers leaves two dead

Discussion: Algemeiner.com and Vlad Tepes

Michael Bastasch / The Daily Caller:

SHOCK POLL: 57% Of Americans Say Global Warming Is Not A Threat — Is this the new climate consensus? More than half of Americans say global warming is not a threat to their way of life, according to a CNN poll. Furthermore, nearly half of Americans say global warming is caused by natural forces or isn't a proven fact.

Discussion: TPNN, American Spectator and The Huffington Post

Peter Baker / New York Times:
U.S. Easing Decades-Old Restrictions on Travel to Cuba

Discussion: Jezebel

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

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and America Rising

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, Shakesville, Advocate, NPR and Slate

Tresa Baldas / Detroit Free Press:
Judge tells state to recognize 300 same-sex marriages

Discussion: Advocate and Joe. My. God.

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: New York Times, Washington Times, Hit & Run, Eschaton and Boing Boing

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

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
Why Pope Francis Is Wrong About Free Expression

Discussion: TIME, FaithWorld and National Review

Ed Rogers / Washington Post:

The Insiders: Is Hillary Clinton stuck in a time warp? — Nothing more true has been said about the 2016 election than President Obama's observation that, “the American people will want that new-car smell.” His line is already a classic; it perfectly captures the political zeitgeist.

Discussion: CNN, Moe Lane, Bloomberg View and msnbc.com

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Does the Democratic Party Have a Future?

Discussion: Washington Post and Associated Press

New York Post:

Mom of teen driver who killed 4-year-old explodes at judge — Lilia Reyes (right) screams at the judge. — The mother of the teenage unlicensed driver who fatally struck a little girl on the Upper West Side exploded in court Wednesday, screaming, “There is not justice!” …

Discussion: New York Times and Gothamist

BBC:

Google calls end to Glass experiment — Google is ending its experimental Google Glass programme, the BBC has learned. — The company insists it is still committed to launching the smart glasses as a consumer product, but will stop producing Glass in its present form.

Discussion: Gigaom

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Nebraska Board Of Education Member Runs Racist, Anti-LGBT Blog — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts started off his first term as governor this week by having to condemn a Republican member the state board of education, Pat McPherson, for running a conservative political blog that repeatedly referred to President Obama as a “half-breed.”

Discussion: AKSARBENT and FreakOutNation

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Neb. Guv Condemns School Board Member's Blog Calling Obama A ‘Half-Breed’

Discussion: Raw Story, AKSARBENT and Omaha World-Herald

Bryan Alexander / USA Today:

Dick Pope: ‘I have been called a lot worse’ — Dick Pope is not going to let an already infamous name miscue detract from his Oscar nomination celebration. — The cinematographer for Mr. Turner made international news after Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science President Cheryl Boone …

Discussion: Entertain This!, Inside Movies, Mediaite and TheBlaze.com

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: ThinkProgress, Vox, New York Times, The American Interest, Addicting Info, Daily Kos, JustOneMinute and FiveThirtyEight

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.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

John Dehlin, Mormon Critic, Facing Excommunication — Credit: Richard Perry/The New York Times — The Mormon Church has moved to excommunicate the prominent Utah-based founder of an online forum for critical or doubting Mormons, charging him with apostasy for supporting same-sex marriage …

Discussion: Mormon Stories Podcast, New York Magazine, Friendly Atheist, Towleroad News #gay and Advocate

Franklin Graham / WNCN:

Duke bows to pressure, cancels weekly Muslim call to prayer — Duke University has canceled its plans to have a Muslim prayer announcement broadcast from Duke Chapel's belltower on Friday afternoons. — The university announced its plans to facilitate a weekly call to prayer; but on Thursday …

Discussion: Liberaland, National Review and Truth Revolt

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Condoleezza Rice testifies in CIA leaks trial — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a highly unusual public appearance Thursday — taking the witness stand for the prosecution in a criminal case against a former CIA officer on trial for leaking details of a top-secret spy program.

Discussion: Firedoglake

Ron Charles / Washington Post:

‘Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ going back to publisher — Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,” by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey. — The best-selling book, first published in 2010 …

Discussion: pulpitandpen.org, Warren Throckmorton, Addicting Info, Jezebel and Friendly Atheist

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: Booman Tribune and Raw Story

Fox News:

Papa John's Pizza stands by employee who shot armed robber in self defense — This image shows Donquaz Stevenson, 24, who police say attempted to rob a Papa John's pizza delivery woman at gunpoint. (DeKalb County Police Department) — Papa John's Pizza is standing by a pizza delivery woman …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Bearing Arms

Scott Wong / The Hill:

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.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Politico, Roll Call and Washington Post