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.

School board votes to oust Trump campaign official who compared Michelle Obama to an ape  —  DON'T MISS STORIES.  FOLLOW RAW STORY!  —  The Buffalo School Board voted Thursday to oust one of its members, Carl Paladino, the Trump campaign official who drew widespread condemnation for his racist attack on Michelle Obama last week.

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 …

What's really bugging Trump about Obama  —  Donald Trump can't decide whether he thinks the transition of power is going well or not.  —  But he knows he doesn't like how much attention Barack Obama is getting and is also bothered by what Trump and his closest advisers see as an active effort …

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.

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 …

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.

Trump Takes Credit for Sprint Plan to Add 5,000 Jobs in U.S.  —  By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and MICHAEL J. de la MERCEDDecember 28, 2016  —  President-elect Donald J. Trump took credit on Wednesday for a decision by Sprint to add 5,000 jobs in the United States, as he tried to deliver on his promise …

DNR purges climate change from web page  —  The state Department of Natural Resources recently scrubbed language from an agency web page on the Great Lakes that said humans and greenhouse gases are the main cause of climate change.  —  The DNR now says the subject is a matter of scientific debate.

Americans — especially but not exclusively Trump voters — believe crazy, wrong things  —  Many Americans believe a lot of dumb, crazy, destructive, provably wrong stuff.  Lately this is especially (though not exclusively) true of Donald Trump voters, according to a new survey.

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.

A Preview of Obama's Post-Presidency  —  He's grumbling about Fox News and talk radio while feigning that he isn't partisan.  —  In two interviews over the holidays, President Obama signaled how he's likely to conduct himself once out of office: whiny, self-justifying and bursting with excuses.