Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

Input: Consider Input: If California truly leads the nation, we can elect a black woman to the US Senate. Here in California, it's been a blockbuster week in politics : Barbara Boxer is finally stepping down as perma-Senator after over 20 years ; former San Francisco mayor and current lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom is running for governor ; and attorney general Kamala Harris gunning for Boxer's soon-to-be- vacated seat . Why does it matter? There' s certainly something compelling about Harris' daring bid for US Senate : there are only one in five senators are female in this Congress ; and there are only two black Senators currently (Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tim Scott from South Carolina) . If Harris won , she not only would contribute to the growing number of women in power, but having three actual black senators at one time would make history because, to date, two is the best we've been able to achieve as a nation . In America's entire history, only eight black people have ever been senators and of those, only half were actually elected, rather than appointed . Yet African-Americans make up about 13% of the population, according to the 2013 census . True proportional representation would see black senators in the double digits in Congress . California has outsized importance in the US economy : on its own, it is the world's eighth-largest economy, just behind booming Brazil but ahead of Russia and Italy . California's contributions are one of the chief reasons the US remains the world's biggest economy ... and a black woman is poised to be one of the most nationally influential politicians in the state . California's internal public policy tussles - and its standard more-liberal- than-the-nation solutions - often help lead the rest of the nation and the world forward, be it on pollution standards, minimum wage increases, medical marijuana legalization, organic produce certification, healthcare access for the uninsured, public-private technology innovation such as iHubs and tax breaks that encourage local production of zero-emission Teslas, same sex marriage and wetlands protections such as the CA Coastal Act of 1976 . California's politicians can bring to Washington the ability to combine strong, safe regulatory experience with a booming economy and environmental protections, offering a compelling counter-point to Republicans who argue otherwise . And ,  with the exception of Jerry Brown's first stint as governor from 1975-1983, California internal top politics has been tended to be dominated by southern California figures like Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger - but Harris (and Newsom) are both northern California people through and through . Instead of Hollywood values and priorities holding sway in the state, northern California's tech-powered financial and cultural strength may finally have a chance to drive the state's politics . And while Boxer, her fellow senator Dianne Feinstein and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi all hail from northern California, they spend much of their time in Washington DC  - so Harris's move to DC will provide us with a new generation of representatives steeped in the area's emerging tech-focused culture . While I believe California has much to gain from politicians like Newsom and Harris who see their work as largely cooperative and people-focused- as opposed to the ideological culture warriors who normally represent us in national policy debates - there's a long road ahead for each . Harris, for instance, may have to contend with billionaire Tom Steyer and former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in a Democratic primary (and Villaraigosa would make history of his own) . But Harris is likely to have a lot of support behind her and  - being young, at 50 - a run now for Senate still leaves the door open to run for governor 10 or 20 years down the road . After all ,  stranger things have happened in CA politics : who would have thought that B-list actor Ronald Reagan would rise from California to become the GOP's iconic president , or that Jerry Brown, now 76-years-old, would become governor again after over 30 years?

Output: Barbara Boxer is finally stepping down as perma-Senator after over 20 years attorney general Kamala Harris gunning for Boxer's soon-to-be- vacated seat


Input: Consider Input: Five ways Obama could make Castro pay Cuba's $6 billion debt to Americans. In his half century reign of terror, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro committed manifold atrocities . Documented evidence reveals him to be a ruthless tyrant who endlessly abused the most basic of human rights -a man who played a pivotal role in bringing the world to the precipice of nuclear annihilation for 13 harrowing days in October of 1962 . Beyond his crimes against humanity and the callous suffering he inflicted on the people of Cuba, he ruined the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Americans . He stole their land, homes, bank accounts, possessions and businesses . He absconded with their property under the guise of "nationalization." But he is, in truth, a thief . Will his victims now be fairly compensated or otherwise see the return of their confiscated property in the wake of America's first steps toward rapprochement with Cuba? The answer is both legal and political . President Obama holds the key . So, don't get your hopes up . The Theft . In the first half of the 20th century, Americans and U.S  businesses dominated Cuba . They accumulated vast holdings of property and operated many of the most lucrative businesses . All of that ended with the Cuban Revolution in 1959 . Castro "nationalized" U.S.-owned industries and seized much of the island's private property from Americans . There was no restitution . One legal scholar called it the largest uncompensated expropriation by a foreign government in history . The U.S  retaliated with an embargo, prohibiting all trade . But the Americans who were expelled from Cuba were left holding titles and deeds to homes and businesses to which they had no access . Their property rights were dissolved , and any legal judgments obtained were unenforceable against an isolated nation that refused to recognize any authority other than its own . Thousands pursued legal recourse and sought reparations under indemnification programs established by Congress . Others filed lawsuits and secured judgments . But Castro didn't care . He repudiated the legitimacy of the restitution programs, the valuation of losses and the legal authority of the courts . This , even though Cuba admits their renegade nationalization was, and is, compensable . So what , then ,  does Castro consider fair compensation? Judging from his payouts to other aggrieved nations, it is mere pennies on the dollar . How do you value dirt? In 1961, the U.S  Commerce Department valued American property seized by the Cuban government at roughly $ 1 to 1.8 billion . Nearly 6-thousand claims were legally certified . Other published reports placed the theft as high as $ 9 billion . But the truth is, it's impossible to know -especially inasmuch as the value of everything plummeted the moment Castro took control of the island . What would the same confiscated properties be worth in today's dollars? $50 billion? $100 billion? How about nothing at all? Given how the Castro brothers have driven their economy into the ground, making Cuba one of the poorest nations in the world , valuation could be closer to dirt than dollars . Which invites another question : assuming a monetary value could somehow be devised, how would Cuba pay for it? With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Castros lost their financial benefactor . The island is blighted and broke . Even if it offered government bonds as compensation , are they worth the paper upon which they are written? How could they be secured? Reclaim the property? Theoretically, it is possible for the confiscated property to be reclaimed someday by the original owners . But that would require a dramatic Cuban transformation from socialism to democracy where private property ownership is permitted . In a recent speech, Cuban President Raul Castro insisted Cuba would not renounces its core socialist ideals as part of the deal he negotiated with President Obama to renew diplomatic relations . Even if some semblance of democracy were to be restored to Cuba in the distant future , what remains of the stolen property? No one knows how many of the private residences that were seized have been divided or fallen into decay . Some may no longer exist . And what of the current occupants? Would they allow themselves to be kicked out? The same may be true of the many farms, industries and commercial businesses that were confiscated and have been put to other uses in the last 5 decades . Yes, they have development potential in an open, free market society . But ,  again, the future of Cuba is nebulous . How realistic is the return of these vast holdings under a continuing Castro regime? What Obama should do . As a first condition to normalizing relations, President Obama should demand that all American victims of stolen property be compensated equitably . He is already obligated by law to do this under the Helms-Burton Act . But Obama has a propensity to ignore or overrule with impunity those laws he regards as misguided or inconvenient . This is one law he should follow . A second condition should be the establishment of a commission of judges with legally binding authority to render compensation decisions . Several reparation models can be studied and replicated, notably the tribunal that dispensed claims in post-unification Germany . President Obama has the power and leverage to force the Castro regime to capitulate if Cuba wants to end the sanctions and restore economic relations . But so far, he has uttered not a word about a desire to do so . And when it comes to negotiations with adversaries, Obama tends to give away the store .

Output: Beyond his crimes against humanity and the callous suffering he inflicted on the people of Cuba, he ruined the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Americans


Input: Consider Input: Paris terror attack: Journalism is under fire. Courageous journalism is under attack today . The horrifying shooting by masked gunmen at a Paris magazine office, which has left 12 dead, is an assault on everyone in the news business . And the fact that the paper, Charlie Hebdo, is a satirical publication matters not at all , since satire can sting as sharply as any media commentary -- especially when it comes to the sensitive subject of religion . Several news outlets are reporting that the attackers identified themselves as being from Al Qaeda in Yemen . But whatever branch of Islamic terrorism is responsible for this heinous crime, the targeting of the French paper is no accident . On its cover today is a caricature of a controversial novelist, Michel Houellebecq , whose book"Submission" forecasts a France run by Muslims and where polygamy is practiced . And the last tweet posted by the magazine was a mocking spoof of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi . Charlie Hebdo has been a target before . Its offices were firebombed in 2011 after the paper ran a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad vowing "100 lashes if you don't die laughing!" The vicious attack would be shocking news even if the target was an insurance company office . But by singling out a media enterprise -- especially one that has dared to poke fun at Islam-- the terrorists are sending an even louder message , one designed to frighten and intimidate . We saw the same evil calculation in the decision by ISIS to kill journalists James Foley and Steve Sotloff and to circulate video of their beheadings . This was a way to amplify the propaganda value of such executions and generate even more coverage by journalists who felt an instinctive kinship with their fallen brethren . That ploy worked , as ISIS sparked weeks of anguished coverage around the globe , and the images of the soon-to-be-murdered journalists, published far too often in my view, became the face of Islamic terror . After that, even as the U.S  and its allies struck back at ISIS in Iraq and Syria , the coverage greatly receded . Terrorists understand the media's need to personalize a tragic story . Wednesday's attack was also a far bloodier version of the Sony Pictures hacking , which was aimed at paralyzing and humiliating a media company over its ill-advised film that depicted North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un's head being blown up . That act of cyberterrorism also served as a warning to other media outfits that might take on North Korea . Charlie Hebdo specialized in skewering sacred cows . "Its pages are filled with vulgar caricatures and caustic humor, lampooning politicians, entertainers and media personalities of all stripes," the New York Times reported three years ago,"and the magazine has found itself a frequent presence at Paris courts, accused on several dozen occasions of defamation or inciting hate . "The world's religions have also been favorite targets of the paper, this being France, where state-mandated secularism is a sort of religion of its own. The cover page of one recent issue featured a cartoon of three rolls of toilet paper, labeled Bible, Koran and Torah, and the headline: 'In the toilet, all the religions .'". The danger now is that journalists around the world will engage in self- censorship, that they will pull back on aggressive reporting and analysis of Islamic terrorism . For every potentially provocative article, headline or cartoon, some will ask themselves, is this worth the risk? Wouldn't it be easier, safer, to let this one go? And each time that happens, the gunmen who unleashed a hail of bullets in a Paris magazine office Wednesday will have won . Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m  and 5 p.m  ET) . He is the author of five books and is based in Washington . Follow him at @HowardKurtz . Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz .


Output: Courageous journalism is under attack today