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Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges — 32-year-old suspected of plundering Retrophin to pay debts
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Gothamist, CNBC, Bloomberg Business, HipHopDX, Guardian, Above the Law, Common Dreams, addictinginfo.org, Above The Law, TMZ.com, New York Times, Techdirt, Occupy Democrats, Towleroad, Vox, Independent Journal, Hollywood Life, Taylor Marsh, The Verge, The Week, ValueWalkValueWalk, Pulptastic, Hot Air, Boing Boing, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, NewsCut, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, WAVY-TV, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, KFOR-TV and NPR
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Guardian, New York Times, abc13.com, Vocativ, The Week and Refinery29
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Putin praises Trump: He's a really brilliant and talented person — Russian President Vladimir Putin had kind words for his “stablemate” Donald Trump during an annual end-of-the-year Q-and-A session in Moscow. — “He's a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt,” …
Discussion:
Occupy Democrats, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Bloomberg.com news and Western Journalism


Putin Endorses Donald Trump For President
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CNBC, Mediaite, Fox News, Walid Shoebat, Independent Journal and Daily Kos


Bernie Sanders to nab one of his biggest endorsements yet — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is set to pick up one of his biggest endorsements yet Thursday from the powerful Communications Workers of America union, sources told NBC's Andrea Mitchell.
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Washington Post, Raw Story, whorunsGov and U.S. Uncut
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Liberal group Democracy For America endorses Bernie Sanders
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Bloomberg Business, Taylor Marsh, Liberal Values, ABC News and abc13.com


Howard Dean Couldn't Sell Hillary Clinton To Howard Dean's Grassroots Progressive Group
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Wall Street Journal and Washington Free Beacon


Paul Ryan Betrays America: $1.1 Trillion, 2,000-Plus Page Omnibus Bill Funds ‘Fundamental Transformation of America’ — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)'s first major legislative achievement is a total and complete sell-out of the American people masquerading as an appropriations bill. — Too harsh, you say?
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John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Western Journalism, Newsalert and The Hill
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Funding deal hits backlash over increase in foreign worker visas
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RedState, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Conservatives give Ryan a pass on budget deal they despise
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ABC News, Bloomberg Business, The Hill, Vox Popoli, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Daily Kos

The Omnibus Spending Bill Sells Out American Workers
Discussion:
Fox News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Heritage Action for America


Criminal Charges to Be Brought Against Enrique Marquez, Ex-Neighbor of San Bernardino Shooters — Federal prosecutors have decided to bring criminal charges against the friend and former neighbor of one of the San Bernardino shooters. — Several federal law enforcement officials tell NBC News …
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Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Week, Mediaite, Politico, Shakesville and Pamela Geller
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Exclusive: Homeland Security rejected plan to vet visa applicants' social media — Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security considered a specific policy to strengthen security screenings for foreign visa applicants' social media accounts, but the proposal was ultimately rejected …

Strike Two for Pair of New York Times Reporters
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Guardian, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »


Adelson son-in-law orchestrated family's purchase of Las Vegas Review-Journal — The son-in-law of billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson arranged the $140 million purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Adelson's behalf, sources confirmed Wednesday. — Patrick Dumont …
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The Oligarchs' World
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The Atlantic, more at Mediagazer »


Watch Ted Cruz Flub A Fox News Interview On Immigration — He struggled to defend confusing claims he made during Tuesday's GOP debate. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got a little flustered trying to defend his opposition to immigration reform on Wednesday. — Fox News' Bret Baier grilled …
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alan.com, The Week and Washington Post
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Millionaire Cleared of Rape Charge After Claiming He Tripped and His Penis Fell Into Teen — That's not how these things work. — 37.8k — 32.7k — 5k — Pin It — Ehsan Abdulaziz, a Saudi millionaire property developer, was cleared of rape charges in London this week …
Discussion:
Shakesville and Independent Journal

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert recovering from stroke — Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who's awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in a federal hush money case, suffered a stroke and has been hospitalized for about six weeks, his lawyer said Thursday.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ABC News, The Week and WQAD-TV


As lawmakers clash over refugees, Syrian immigration quietly tops 100,000 since 2012 — A proposal to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States has ignited a bitter debate in Washington, but more than 10 times that number of people from the embattled country have quietly come to America since 2012 …
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Independent Journal


Riot police fire warning shots as THOUSANDS of protesters storm the site of a planned asylum centre for 1,500 migrants in Holland — Police had to fire warning shots into the air when thousands of Dutch protestors stormed the site of a planned asylum centre, shortly to open for 1,500 refugees.
Discussion:
Vox Popoli, Newsalert and Instapundit

Tonight, a Brazilian judge blocked WhatsApp for more than 100 million people who rely on it in her country. — We are working hard to get this block reversed. Until then, Facebook Messenger is still active and you can use it to communicate instead. — This is a sad day for Brazil.
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TechCrunch, CNET, New York Times, The Verge, Engadget and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »


The Environmental Toll of a Netflix Binge — My favorite part of highways in the American midwest are the wind turbines. Not so much the massive wind turbines on the horizon, begging for a contemporary Don Quixote to come at them, but the bits and pieces of wind turbines …


Chessmaster or Pawn: Judgments on Obama's Effectiveness — Through the past ten days in this space, I've had several items on the style and logic of President Obama's leadership style. First, one on the ISIS speech, which I found very strong in logic but perhaps too coldly logical in affect.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly

Congress Provides $1.6B to Resettle Illegal Immigrants Arriving at Border Through 2018 — A massive appropriations bill expected to be approved by Congress would provide more than $1.6 billion to resettle illegal immigrants arriving at the U.S. border through 2018.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop, The Daily Caller and Washington Post


Lessons From the Mistrial in the Freddie Gray Case … The trial of officers charged with killing Freddie Gray has moved quickly all along: The prosecutor brought charges with nearly unprecedented speed, within two weeks of Gray's death. And now the first trial has ended just as quickly …
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Prairie Weather


FAU takes steps to fire prof who said Sandy Hook was a hoax … Privacy Policy — Florida Atlantic University is trying to fire James Tracy, a controversial professor whose conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre and other tragedies brought the school unwanted publicity.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, fox8.com, The Times of Israel, New York's PIX11, Mediaite and CBS Miami