A.M. Links: Charter Schools Outperforming Public Schools, Rand Paul Says GOP At Risk of Extinction, Chinese Daily Reports Onion's Kim Jong Un Sexiest Man Alive Story

• A new report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says cuts in the Pentagon could actually lead to much-needed beneficial reforms.

• A Stanford University study shows New Jersey charter schools outperforming comparable public schools. In Los Angeles, meanwhile, a charter school group became a finalist in the federal government's "Race to the Top" but the LA Unified School District did not.
• Senator Rand Paul says the GOP is at risk of becoming a dinosaur if it doesn't embrace libertarian ideas.
• A state senator in Idaho is not letting the election go. She believes if states that voted for Romney refuse to participate in the electoral college, the election would be thrown to the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. She says Democrats have set the precedent by avoiding votes on legislation in places like Wisconsin.
• The European Commission ruled that credit card companies who blocked donations to WikiLeaks did not break the Eurozone's "competition rules."
• The Onion fools another authoritarian government. This time it's China, whose English-language daily is so disconnected from reality it reprinted an Onion article declaring the North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un as the "sexiest man alive."

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