Kerry Brings Paris a ‘Big Hug’ And James Taylor After Attacks  —  Secretary of State John Kerry, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit France since Islamic militant attacks in Paris left 17 dead, met with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and French President Francois Hollande to offer condolences this morning.

12 Taylor Swift GIFs for you  —  1. Last week, President Obama announced his latest idea to provide “free” community college to millions of Americans.  It sounded exciting at first...  2. But then, we got to thinking...  3. Free?!  Is he using magic money?  Nothing is free.  So we did a little math.

Obama and Senator Robert Menendez Spar on How to Handle Iran  —  President Obama and Senator Robert Menendez traded sharp words on Thursday over whether Congress should impose new sanctions on Iran while the administration is negotiating with Tehran about its nuclear program, according to two people who witnessed the exchange.

NASA, NOAA Find 2014 Warmest Year in Modern Record  —  The year 2014 ranks as Earth's warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists.  —  The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000.

Key Obamacare Official Stepping Down  —  A senior government official with almost unparalleled authority over the U.S. health care system is stepping down, ending a tenure that included one highly publicized, highly consequential failure on Obamacare as well as significant, if less heralded, successes.

Ben Carson to the GOP Establishment: I'm Not ‘Crazy’  —  The political novice with eyes on 2016 auditions before the RNC and blames his zealot image on the mainstream media.  —  CORONADO, Calif. — Ben Carson—a Washington outsider, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, a favorite among tea-party insurgents …

EXCLUSIVE: Married NYPD cop accused of kissing, groping rape victim after booze-filled night in Seattle  —  Detective Lukasz Skorzewski was investigating the rape of a 24-year-old woman when he flew to Seattle, drank with her all night and got physical with her in a hotel room, the college student alleges.

If You Want To Understand What's Happened To The Supreme Court, You Need To Listen To Rand Paul  —  Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is an odd place to seek counsel on the Constitution.  As a Senate candidate in 2010, Paul told a Louisville editorial board that he opposed the federal ban on whites …

VIDEO: Ex-Navy SEAL Pretends To ‘Choke Out’ Obama  —  Chris Heben had an unusual year in 2014.  —  The former Navy SEAL made national headlines in March when he was shot by what he described as three black assailants.  Then he was in the news again in September when prosecutors alleged he'd lied to police about the ordeal.

Belgium Verviers plot ‘aimed to kill police’  —  A suspected jihadist group targeted in a major anti-terror raid on Thursday had been planning to kill policemen in the street and at police stations, Belgian prosecutors say.  —  The planned attacks were imminent, they said …

The Hill names Neetzan Zimmerman senior director, audience and strategy  —  The Hill, the publication of record for policy influencers inside and outside Washington, has named Neetzan Zimmerman as senior director, audience and strategy.  —  Zimmerman, who will expand the publication's reach …

The mystery of shellshock solved: Scientists identify the unique brain injury caused by war  —  When the war poet Wilfred Owen wrote of “men whose minds the Dead have ravished” he was attempting to describe the mysterious effects of shellshock which started appearing during the First World War and of which he himself was a sufferer.

For Whom the Muezzin Calls  —  When I was working on the student paper at Duke, we'd get a letter to the editor once a year or so that would lament that the university had lost touch with its religious roots as Trinity College, a Methodist school.  The correspondents would invariably cite …

Don't Do It, Mr. Romney  —  He'd have been a better president than Obama.  That's not nearly enough.  —  Hershey, Pa.  —  A conversation with a Republican governor who is a possible presidential aspirant:  —  I told him I'd been thinking about something and wanted his response.

Regime Change in Switzerland  —  Blogging will be limited for the next few days, unless I can resolve the tech problems here in Delhi.  But I did want to say something about the Swiss de-pegging, beyond what I put in the column.  —  These days it's fairly widely accepted that it's very hard …

Democrat condemns ‘shocking’ comments about Muslim lawmaker  —  A top House Democrat on Thursday condemned suggestions from conservative websites that Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), a Muslim, should not have been appointed to the House Intelligence Committee.  —  It has “come to my attention …

The real “family values” party: On paid sick leave, Dems lead U.S to 21st century  —  With Obama's moves to expand workers' paid family leave, U.S. may join rest of the world — no thanks to the GOP  —  President Obama continues his recent crusade to bring American social policy …