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
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Linda Holmes / NPR:
At The Oscar Nominations, It's A Good Year To Be An Idiosyncratic Man — The Oscar nominations are in (you can see the full list here), and Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead with nine nominations each, followed closely by The Imitation Game with eight.
Discussion:
TPNN, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, Truth Revolt, The Dish and Althouse
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.
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:
Mediaite, National Post and The Huffington Post
Todd VanDerWerff / Vox:
Selma was snubbed because the average Oscar voter is a 63-year-old white man
Selma was snubbed because the average Oscar voter is a 63-year-old white man
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Caller, PoliticusUSA, ThinkProgress and Jezebel
Bryan Alexander / USA Today:
Dick Pope: ‘I have been called a lot worse’
Dick Pope: ‘I have been called a lot worse’
Discussion:
Entertain This!, Mediaite, Inside Movies and TheBlaze.com
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:
Raw Story, NPR, Jezebel and Friendly Atheist
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Paperthinhymn / pulpitandpen.org:
“The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven” Recants Story, Rebukes Christian Retailers [UPDATED!!!!!] — UPDATE 1 ! According to sources, Lifeway intends to pull this book from it's bookstore! Warren Throckmorton has the story, but the gist is that in response to Throckmorton's questions …
Discussion:
Addicting Info and Warren Throckmorton
James Kanter / New York Times:
2 Suspects Killed in Gun Battle in Belgian Antiterror Raid — BRUSSELS — As the Belgian authorities unleashed a new campaign against suspected terrorists on Thursday that unfolded across the country with raids and arrests, in one of the raids, near the German border, officers came under …
Discussion:
Power Line, CNN and Mediaite
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Mariano Castillo / CNN:
Report: Two killed in Belgian anti-terror operation
Report: Two killed in Belgian anti-terror operation
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Yahoo! News, Associated Press, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Sky News, BBC and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
Obamacare Has Reversed A Negative Trend. Researchers Call It ‘Remarkable.’ — For the first time in a decade, the number of people struggling to pay their medical bills has started to decline, according to a new survey released on Thursday by the Commonwealth Fund.
Discussion:
The American Interest, Addicting Info and JustOneMinute
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Manu Raju / Politico:
Obama to Senate Dems: 'I'm going to play offense' — The president said he's prepared to veto hostile legislation, including an Iran sanctions package. — President Barack Obama made clear Thursday in a closed-door session with Senate Democrats that he's prepared to veto hostile legislation …
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Burgess Everett / Politico:
GOP stuck on immigration
GOP stuck on immigration
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and The Hill
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Joni Ernst to Deliver Republican Response to the State of the Union
Joni Ernst to Deliver Republican Response to the State of the Union
Discussion:
Political Wire and Washington Monthly
Dominic Tierney / The Atlantic Online:
America Will Miss Obama When He's Gone — It's 2018, and Barack Obama leans toward the computer in his Chicago townhouse and punches in the title of his memoir. He enjoys the silence and the solitude. It's been over a decade since he had time to write. This is Obama's third memoir and probably not the last.
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Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
How Barack Obama is avoiding becoming George W. Bush
How Barack Obama is avoiding becoming George W. Bush
Discussion:
The Dish
Kate Tummarello / Politico:
GOP makes U-turn on net neutrality — Republicans in Congress are doing a 180 on net neutrality as the Federal Communications Commission prepares to issue new rules within weeks. — For years, GOP lawmakers have adamantly opposed any rules requiring Internet service providers to treat …
Discussion:
Reuters, CANNONFIRE and The PJ Tatler
Yvonne Dean-Bailey / Campus Reform:
All-women's college cancels ‘Vagina Monologues’ because it's not feminist enough — Mount Holyoke College, an all-women's school, announced in a campus-wide email that the Theatre Board has cancelled its annual production of the “Vagina Monologues.” — The board has decided to retire …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Jezebel, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler and Patterico's Pontifications
Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
Ron Paul Institute Publishes a Charlie Hebdo ‘False Flag’ Piece — Yesterday, the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity made the affirmative decision to republish a piece by Paul Craig Roberts that RPI affixed with the headline: “Charlie Hebdo Shootings: False Flag?” Here's how it begins:
Discussion:
Raw Story, Roger Ailes, Clayton Cramer and LewRockwell
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Bloomberg.com:
Obama Said to Seek 7% Budget Boost, Setting Up Fight With Congress — (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama will ask Congress for as much as $68 billion more than current budget limits in fiscal 2016, according to two people familiar with the administration's proposal.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Is Barack Obama killing the State of the Union?
Is Barack Obama killing the State of the Union?
Discussion:
The Verge, BuzzFeed, Washington Monthly and Pew Research Center …
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:
Joe. My. God., Crime and Consequences Blog, SCOTUSblog, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Shakesville, Advocate and NPR
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Tresa Baldas / Detroit Free Press:
Judge tells state to recognize 300 same-sex marriages
Judge tells state to recognize 300 same-sex marriages
Discussion:
Advocate and Joe. My. God.
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
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Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Neb. Guv Condemns School Board Member's Blog Calling Obama A ‘Half-Breed’
Neb. Guv Condemns School Board Member's Blog Calling Obama A ‘Half-Breed’
Discussion:
Daily Nebraskan, Raw Story, AKSARBENT and Omaha World-Herald
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
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:
The Mommy Files, Daily Kos, Washington Times, New York Times, Boing Boing, Eschaton and Hit & Run
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, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Althouse and Joe. My. God.
RELATED:
David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
Why Pope Francis Is Wrong About Free Expression
Why Pope Francis Is Wrong About Free Expression
Discussion:
TIME, FaithWorld and Guardian
Kevin Grasha / Lansing State Journal:
Accused mom 'can't recall' where infant boy is — LANSING - Approximately three months after prosecutors say Melissa Mitin killed her newborn daughter by putting the infant face-down in a wastebasket, Mitin was pregnant again. — That pregnancy was unknown to police …
Discussion:
New York's PIX11 and myfox8.com
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:
National Review