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The brutal 1820s frontier revenge thriller "The Revenant" landed a leading 12 nominations for the 88th annual Academy Awards, while the acting categories were again filled entirely by white performers a year after the Oscars came under withering criticism over its lack of diversity. The strong showing Thursday for "The Revenant," including a best actor nod for Leonardo DiCaprio and best supporting actor for Tom Hardy, follows its win at the Golden Globes. It sets up director Alejandro Inarritu for a possible back-to-back win following his sweep of best picture, director and screenplay for "Birdman" last year. ...

Dean Parker was under fire for big spending, including paying himself $20,000 a month. Ben Carson's national finance chairman resigned Thursday amid questions about his use of campaign funds and criticism from Carson allies and donors. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, appointed Parker, a tech industry entrepreneur from Mobile, Alabama, in May to spearhead the campaign’s fundraising efforts. Parker’s been a relatively little-noticed campaign power, having Carson’s ear despite friction with other leaders. Since he joined, some campaign insiders told POLITICO, his operation has piled up unnecessary expenses and paid hefty consulting fees to an inexperienced staff. Parker recently began earning...

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Ted Cruz regularly shines in the debates, such as the one airing tonight on the Fox Business Channel. Cruz has made the most of his opportunities, picking his moments and working them for as much air time as possible, while demonstrating his grasp on both policy and grassroots politics. Politico’s Shane Goldmacher and Katie Glueck sat down with Cruz in order to learn more about the strategy that the Iowa frontrunner has been refining from the first onstage showdown: "The first couple of debates I sat back and very much let it...

In an interview after President Obama's State of the Union Address, Sen. Ted Cruz blamed Obama for the sailors that are being held by Iran and pushed back against Donald Trump's attacks.

The obvious joke is it's a lateral move from Air America radio and MSNBC to a Kremlin-backed show for Russia Today. CNN's Dylan Byers reports Schultz will host the simply titled News with Ed Schultz at 8 p.m. weeknights, where he will "focus on exploring issues that most affect working Americans, particularly within the context of the upcoming US presidential election," according to a press release. "In a 30-second ad for the show, Schultz promises to deliver news in the same progressive vein that he did as a host on MSNBC, championing the middle class and organized labor while...

Advocacy groups and some newspapers are attacking a bill that would restrict the information local governments and school districts are allowed to send to voters within 60 days of a local tax hike election, and urging Gov. Rick Snyder to veto it. The provision is in Senate Bill 571, which passed the House and Senate in December (and which also contains many unrelated election-law provisions). For example, the Battle Creek Enquirer’s editorial page wrote this: “The bill’s backers say it’s aimed at preventing government entities from using taxpayer dollars to influence voters. That's pretense. Such activity is already illegal, and...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A terror suspect who was arrested in Houston last week went before a judge Wednesday afternoon, where his bond was denied. During testimony, we learned he allegedly discussed placing bombs at Houston's Galleria. Eyewitness News also obtained photographic evidence used during the bond hearing -- photos of what was seized from his apartment and one of Al Hardan allegedly pledging his loyalty to the Islamic State. A federal investigator testified that Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, wanted to blow up the Galleria and Sharpstown Mall with a remote bomb. According to testimony, Al Hardan would put...

New York Rep. Peter King had some sharp words for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Thursday, in the wake of the Texas senator's attempt to criticize Donald Trump. Cruz, who had been playing nice with Trump for much of the campaign, recently attempted to disparage the real estate mogul by accusing him of possessing "New York values." The attack came after Trump raised questions over the Canadian-born Cruz's ability to serve as president. Trump "may shift in his new rallies to playing 'New York New York,' because you know Donald comes from New York and he embodies New York...

This New York Times story could not have come at a worse time for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who had already been knocked off-balance by Donald Trump, is falling in his must-win state of Iowa and is being attacked as a slick politician who won't level with voters... This is a big problem for any candidate, but a bigger one for Cruz than most. Here's why:

Hi Yall! My son's preschool teacher asked me to find a children's book about Martin Luther King Jr. for next week. Does anyone have any advice on a good one? s Thanks in advance! BamaGirl

When President Obama announced executive actions that would require that all firearm sales undergo background checks, he did so with the blessing of more than 50 faith communities. Vincent DeMarco, national coordinator of Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence, a coalition of Baptists, Methodists, Catholics and Mennonites among others, said, "Since Congress won't do anything, he's doing the best that he can do, and we think that's wonderful." Archbishop Thomas Wenski said the nation's Catholic bishops "welcome reasonable efforts aimed at saving lives and making communities safer." Mr. Obama's move on guns also marked the reappearance of an old friend....

As the Republican candidates prepare for tonight's GOP debate on Fox Business... conservative GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump just received news so extraordinary that he didn't even expect it! According to a bombshell report by the Washington Post, not only is Trumps lead among Republicans at historic levels, but his national lead is TWO TIMES BIGGER THAN HILLARY CLINTON'S! This announcement of polling data destroys the arguments made by the political establishment that Trump isn't electable in a general election. There is no candidate in either party that has this sort of massive appeal among likely voters: National polling doesn't...

Yesterday, the New York Times ran and “investigative” piece on Ted Cruz’s finances. I their story they point to an alleged failure by Ted Cruz to report a loan he received to finance his campaign: Those reports show that in the critical weeks before the May 2012 Republican primary, Mr. Cruz - currently a leading contender for his party's presidential nomination - put "personal funds" totaling $960,000 into his Senate campaign. Two months later, shortly before a scheduled runoff election, he added more, bringing the total to $1.2 million - "which is all we had saved," as Mr. Cruz described...

Jewish immigration to Israel from western Europe has reached an all-time high as a result of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, a leading nonprofit group said Thursday. The Jewish Agency, which works closely with the Israeli government and acts as a link for Jews around the world, reported that 9,880 western European Jews immigrated to Israel in 2015 -- the highest annual number ever. The vast majority, close to 8,000, came from France where a rise in anti-Semitic attacks has shattered the sense of security of the world's third-largest Jewish population. ...

New Poll: GOP Candidates Face Low Favorability Ratings Ahead of Debate WASHINGTON (January 14, 2015) — A new Morning Consult poll finds that Donald Trump continues to lead his Republican rivals by 30 percentage points ahead of tonight’s debate in South Carolina. The poll also reveals that all of the GOP contenders have a favorability rating of less than 50 percent, with Jeb Bush receiving the highest unfavorability marks at 54 percent.

Ipsos/Reuters Poll (January 14): Core Political Approval Thursday, January 14, 2016 Washington, DC -- Barack Obama's approval continues to climb to 48% (Fieldwork conducted before and after the SOTU address). Republican Primary Less than a month before the primaries begin, Donald Trump continues to lead among Republicans nationwide at 28% [38%] among all self-identified Republicans. Ted Cruz remains in second with 14% nationally among Republicans. Democratic PrimaryHillary Clinton remains solidly in the lead among Democrats nationwide, with 54% of Dems. Sanders (35%) remains in second place among Democrats.

The Pentagon "is finally coming to its senses," said U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, welcoming reports Wednesday that the military is backing off plans to retire the Air Force's A-10 fleet, including planes based at Tucson's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The plans, leaked from the Pentagon, indicate a change of policy from the Obama administration's last two budget requests, which called for retiring the entire A-10 program, McSally said. Congressional pressure, including support from McSally and her predecessor, Rep. Ron Barber, kept the planes on active duty. "It appears the administration is finally coming to its senses and recognizing the importance...

"We don't obviously want to get involved in any political battle involving presidential candidates," Bishop Coyne said Monday afternoon. "We're not pushing this at all. We're satisfied with the outcome (of the sale to Burlington College)." Coyne says an appraisal of the property prior to the sale yielded a $6 million valuation. "At the time, we were very satisfied with the $10 million purchase price on a property that was assessed ... at $6 million. So the offer from Burlington College was about $4 million more than the property was worth," says Coyne, who was not bishop at the time...

On New Year's Eve, the State Department released 3,000 new Hillary Clinton emails from her tenure as secretary of state. While much of the corporate media dove into investigating pointless gossip, Brad Hoff at the Levant Report decided to look for more clues into understanding the epic failure that was the 2011 war on Libya by the US and NATO. What Hoff discovered in the emails was Secretary Clinton being briefed by a trusted advisor, Sidney Blumenthal, on events in Libya where Clinton's public statements appear to contradict her private understanding. The issues range from the early presence of special...

Submission, American~StyleMatthew Bracken sends this graphic as a commentary on yesterday's news from the Persian Gulf: image "I could not be and I know the president could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform," Kerry said. "I also want to thank the Iranian authorities for their cooperation and quick response."Additional commentary by Mr. Bracken was posted yesterday at WRSA: "I rarely pull out my dusty old trident, but in this case, here goes. I was a Navy SEAL officer in the 1980s, and this kind of operation (transiting small boats in foreign waters) was our bread and...