U.S. Punishes Russia for Election Hacking, Ejecting Operatives  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration struck back at Russia on Thursday for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia's …

Bibi Netanyahu Makes Trump His Chump  —  For those of you confused over the latest fight between President Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, let me make it simple: Barack Obama and John Kerry admire and want to preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel.

Gun-loving conservative columnist accidentally killed after letting teen boy hold his firearm  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  M.D. Harmon, a conservative columnist who frequently wrote in favor of gun ownership rights for the Portland Press Herald, died this week after being accidentally shot by a teenage boy.

Milo Yiannopoulos Strikes $250K Book Deal (Exclusive)  —  “They said banning me from Twitter would finish me off.  Just as I predicted, the opposite has happened,” says Yiannopoulos.  —  Milo Yiannopoulos has parlayed his ban from Twitter — and some controversial appearances on college campuses …

Buffalo School Board Passes Resolution Telling Carl Paladino To Resign Within 24 Hours  —  His fellow board members say Paladino, a Donald Trump ally, needs to resign within 24 hours or they will seek his removal from the state.  —  BUFFALO, N.Y. The Buffalo Board of Education voted 6-2 Thursday …

Spicer: President Trump won't be beholden to traditional media practices  —  President-elect Donald Trump owes the media a news conference, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Thursday morning, but beyond that, “business as usual is over.”  —  Spicer said Trump's administration …

11 A-list artists that refused to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration  —  If Donald Trump were still just a regular old billionaire and threw a party at Trump Tower in New York City, celebrities would be lined up out the door, and the most famous artists would be pining for a chance to perform.

Open Society Needs Defending  —  Open societies are in crisis, and various forms of closed societies - from fascist dictatorships to mafia states - are on the rise.  Because elected leaders failed to meet voters' legitimate expectations and aspirations, electorates have become disenchanted …

GOP Readies Swift Obamacare Repeal With No Replacement in Place  —  Senate will start in early January to repeal health-care law  —  Republicans split over how long to delay replacement plan  —  The first major act of the unified Republican government in 2017 will be a vote in Congress to begin tearing down Obamacare.

Anthony Bourdain on Sichuan Peppers, Sex, Eating Dogs, and Political Correctness  —  An exclusive post-election interview with the culinary celebrity host of Parts Unknown.  —  From Iran to to Hanoi to rural New England: Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown on CNN has covered a lot of territory, like No Reservations before it.

What counties that flipped from Romney to Clinton have in common  —  A new analysis of housing prices reveals one way Hillary Clinton's and Donald Trump's supporters have been living in two economies.  One has benefited from lucrative but erratic progress in global markets …

Democrats Have a Religion Problem  —  There aren't many people like Michael Wear in today's Democratic Party.  The former director of Barack Obama's 2012 faith-outreach efforts is a theologically conservative evangelical Christian.  He is opposed to both abortion and same-sex marriage …

US military could carry out first execution in over 50 years  —  (CNN)A former US Army soldier who has been on death row since 1988 for raping and murdering several women could now face execution after a judge denied his bid for another stay of execution.  —  Judge J. Thomas Marten …

The good that could come from a Trump presidency  —  Gloom is a terrible way to ring out the old, and despair is of no help in trying to imagine the new.  —  So let us consider what good might come from the political situation in which we will find ourselves in 2017.