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: The Guardian view on counter-terror cooperation: walking the line. Ten days after the Paris attacks, the security repercussions continue . Yesterday Sir John Sawers, recently retired as head of MI6, called for renewed cooperation between intelligence agencies and internet companies . Meanwhile, European foreign ministers met to strengthen anti-terrorism coordination within the EU, and called for a stronger alliance with Arab states in combating jihadi networks . The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said:"The threat is not only the one we faced in Paris, but it is spreading in other parts of the world, starting from Muslim countries." Better coordination is undoubtedly needed to foil further attacks in Europe , where Islamist terrorists have struck in three capitals - Madrid, London and now Paris . Anti-terrorism raids in France and Belgium confirm that the threat continues . The Paris killers had links with networks across the Middle East, including in Yemen . So the need to share intelligence to counter groups that themselves operate and communicate easily across borders cannot be disputed . A further illustration of this came when an Algerian national appeared before a Greek prosecutor on Monday over a possible link to a foiled Islamist plot to attack police in Belgium . It is logical for Europe to reach out to Arab countries . The first victims of violent jihadism are, after all, to be found in the Arab world . In the Middle East and north Africa, terrorists have targeted Muslims first and foremost . It came as little surprise that the Arab League secretary general, Nabil el-Araby - who has recently met Ms Mogherini- immediately declared his organisation's readiness to help European partners in dealing with a danger that spans many regions . It is, nevertheless, vital that such cooperation avoids the mistakes of the past . This is not a war of civilisations . It is a fight against a violent sectarian ideology that finds breeding grounds in Europe's disenfranchised communities and in the killing fields of the Middle East . Ms Mogherini is correct to state that this is "not an issue between Europe or the west and Islam" . But this effort must give proper priority to precautions and standards that have, in the past, been all too often trampled upon . The global war on terror proclaimed in the aftermath of 9/11 involved measures that violated fundamental rights and international law . Western cooperation with repressive Arab states involved rendition flights and the outsourcing of torture . Many regimes used repressive methods and emergency legislation to crush dissent as much as to track terrorists . Last month this system of abuses was detailed in the damning US Senate report on the secret CIA programme that ran detention sites and organised the transfer of detainees with the cooperation of partner countries , some of which were in the Arab and Muslim world . Calling for an alliance between Europe and Arab countries in a renewed fight against terrorism is important . But it should not permit any amnesia about where this has led in the past decade . In the Middle East and north Africa, many regimes continue to show complete disregard for basic human rights and legal procedures - as the recent flogging of a Saudi blogger has illustrated . Only one country, Tunisia, can claim to have reached some form of stable democracy in the wake of the Arab spring . Others are run by despots or by military juntas, as in Egypt, or have been caught in a spiral of anarchy, as in Libya . Human rights activists and civil society struggle to do their work under immense pressure . There are few checks and balances . Nor is there sufficient oversight of security forces conducting anti-terrorism efforts . So , as Europeans reach out to these regimes , they must beware of the pitfalls . An alliance with authoritarian powers, made blindly or naively, can too easily involve the abandonment of values, a dangerous sense of impunity and even indifference towards the worst abuses . It can also backfire , because repression in some Arab states has provoked fresh discontent and radicalisation . All these things have happened in recent years . This time, therefore, Europe must rigorously uphold its standards as it embarks on this new era of cooperation . This time, the price of mutual assistance must not be a blind eye or a guilty silence about unacceptable abuses .

Output: Ten days after the Paris attacks, the security repercussions continue


Input: Consider Input: Student arrested after teacher takes smartphone: Do our devices own us? Last Tuesday, a ninth-grader at John F  Kennedy High School in Paterson, N.J , was caught on video throwing his 62-year-old teacher to the ground and wrestling with him in order to retrieve his cellphone , which the teacher had confiscated . Teachers at the school allow cellphones to be used for educational purposes in the classroom , but they may take them and hold them until the end of class if a student appears to be using his phone for any other purpose . Granted , the boy may have demonstrated problems controlling his impulses in other settings, too , but the video of his attack has resulted in national attention . And that's because it isn't the first dramatic example of how attached to our phones we have become . Last year, a Houston woman was shot by a mugger when she refused to hand over her cellphone . She survived , and she later asserted that she had done the right thing . In 2013, a 22-year-old man was killed by a train when he tried to retrieve the cellphone he had dropped on the tracks . Without giving a great deal of thought to the psychological implications, our species has deployed mobile technology very quickly, in a very widespread manner . One reason is that the marketplace embraced smartphones in an astounding way  -- as if our phones and their apps are a lock-and-key fit with our psyches . According to one source, there are 7 billion mobile devices on earth, one for almost each person . What is "in" our cellphones that would lead people to attack others or risk death to keep them? I would argue that the phones absorb and record our thoughts and intentions so dramatically that we become unconsciously convinced they are "parts of us." Why else would so many people hesitate even to leave a room without taking their cellphones with them? Why would they interrupt meetings and family time to check them? Why would young people be opting to spend their money on newer, faster ones, instead of on clothing? Why would there be so much interest in personalizing the sounds they make, the apps they hold and the cases that hold them? I contend we have already crossed the Rubicon, almost irrevocably incorporating technology into our psyches in a way that makes us part flesh and blood, part hardware . The fact that the hardware is outside our bodies(for now) does not mean the integration has not occurred . We are psychologically magnetized to our devices . That's why some people will fight for them, and even die for them . The selfie has become so ubiquitous that it no longer seems bizarre to see someone smiling into a cellphone or sticking out her tongue or making a sad face -- acting-- and then snapping a photo . And these images are then sent not only to her supposed "friends," who may number in the hundreds, but also to her unconscious mind -- reinforcing the idea that she is what her cellphone records her to be . Take away the cellphone and, in some measure, she believes she disappears . She feels she dies a little bit, or more than a little bit, psychologically . The business of selling "selfie sticks"-- telescoping rods that hold a cellphone far enough away to facilitate a really good shot-- is robust enough to make many retailers place large kiosks of them near the checkout register . Cellphones, you might say, are growing arms . Ours apparently aren't long enough . This is just the beginning . Cellphones will soon be able to determine whether you are looking at the content on their screens, rather than looking away . They will demand attention . The extent to which we own them versus them owning us will be increasingly in doubt . Make no mistake : While technology can be good when harnessed for the good (raising money for charity occurs to me) , there will be hell to pay for giving so little thought to the downside . That downside likely includes an epidemic of narcissism in young people, increased rates of anxiety and dramatically decreased feelings of autonomy . Because to the extent that one's self-image is outsourced to a mobile device, it is no more deeply rooted than that . Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum bring you the news that matters to you!


Output: We are psychologically magnetized to our devices That's why some people will fight for them, and even die for them