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.

Example Input: Last minute Christmas shopping: Five things to avoid. This weekend millions of Americans will take to the mall to get last-minute gifts for their loved ones . They will pour through the already-picked-over selections to try and find "the gift." For those of you who are forced into the mall this weekend : I'm sorry . Here are five things to avoid as we enter the final shopping days before Christmas . 1 \. Believe the best bargains are found if you wait until the last minute . While it's true , retailers are starting their after-Christmas sales earlier than ever - just as the Christmas shopping season starts before you get to Thanksgiving dessert - seasoned shoppers know(1) value and(2) bargain do not mean the same thing . We all know just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's "a bargain" or a "value." It's only a bargain if it is truly something you want or need, and are able to get it at a deep discount . Often last minute shoppers don't know what they want . For those shopping this weekend you will have to settle for what circumstances present , which in many cases will be cheap materials, but not a bargains . The value is the ratio of quality (or quantity) to price . Low quality at a low price is no value , especially when compared to high quality at a low price . Values tend go early in the holiday shopping season . Cheap stays on the shelf until it's all that's left . 2 . Believe there is still money to spend in your budget this month . Last minute shopping, particularly for December, means buying during the back half of the month . That's typically when most income for the month is already committed , and any incremental spending means "borrowing against the future." It's better to buy early - and spread the purchasing over time - so you can more easily absorb the expense . Nobody likes that "January surprise." And for new last- minute shoppers, that surprise can be surprisingly BIG! 3 . Believe you can still find "just the right gift for Uncle George." Waiting until the last minute to shop means having to make compromises . Time and selection are your two greatest "friends" when you shop early . But for last minute shoppers they become your two greatest nightmares : you're pressed for time and all the best colors, sizes and values, are gone . Don't put yourself under a lot of pressure to find that perfect gift . At this stage in the game, a gift will do . 4 . Believe you still need "just one more" gift . We should all take a lesson out of Santa's playbook: 1. Make a list. 2. Check it twice . Too often last minute shopping isn't just an indication you've waited to the bitter end to buy those needed gifts . It also means you've waited too long to plan that shopping . And when that happens you're never quite sure if you have all the gifts you need (it seems keeping track of what you've bought is just as hard as planning what to buy in advance!) . So you keep buying just one more gift... just to make sure you've covered all your bases . By the way, that's when shoppers are especially susceptible to impulse buying . An attention-arresting display will attract last minute shoppers like honey attracts flies! 5 . Believe that the shopper has the advantage . While it is true that the Saturday before Christmas is still one of the busiest shopping days of the year , the advantage has swung back in favor of the retailer . With fewer hours to shop until Santa fills his sack, the retailer has the upper hand , especially if they've had a strong Q4 . For some, shopping the weekend before Christmas can bring the ultimate sense of that holiday experience . For those who enjoy shopping as a pastime, it's one of the best times to be in the mall , but for those folks who need to fulfill a shopping list, it can be one of the worst . The early bird still does get the worm . And the late bird gets ... the opportunity to pick over the dregs with a lot of other "late birds." With the brief time remaining before Christmas, use it to "shop for fun" not for necessity . It will truly help keep you in the Christmas spirit .
Example Output: Here are five things to avoid as we enter the final shopping days before Christmas This weekend millions of Americans will take to the mall to get last-minute gifts for their loved ones

Example Input: There is no debate about torture. The Senate Intelligence Committee's scathing torture report not only described the brutality of the CIA's interrogation methods, but also demonstrated their ineffectiveness . Led by ex-Vice President Dick Cheney, former Bush administration officials have rushed to the airwaves to defend the CIA . "I would do it again in a minute," Cheney said on NBC's Meet the Press , claiming that Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs) produced "actionable intelligence that kept us safe from attacks" . Cheney & Co may not win the debate , but they have succeeded in muddying the waters . That is unfortunate because, beneath their bombastic caricatures of the torture programme, there's more agreement than first appears among people who actually count . Aside from former officials trying to save their reputations, it isn't one camp saying torture didn't "work" and one saying it did . Rather , it's one camp saying it didn't, and the other saying "we have no idea but did it anyway" . On several key points, the CIA is closer in substance to the Senate report than to its loudest defenders . 'Unprepared' for torture . The Senate report found that the CIA was "unprepared" to operate a detention and interrogation system . The Agency's written response to the report says;"We fully agree" - the CIA had "no cadre of trained and experienced interrogators, little experience handling and moving prisoners, and no core competency in prison management . [...] The Agency had too few analysts and linguists with the expertise required to support[a detention] programme" . In other words ,  there is no dispute that the programme was started and run on the fly . A critical finding of the Senate report was that torturing detainees did not yield otherwise unobtainable actionable intelligence . CIA director, John O Brennan, admitted that the agency "has not concluded that it was the use of EITs that allowed us to obtain useful information from detainees" . So while the CIA still maintains that it gained valuable intelligence from detainees , it is not saying the abusive methods produced it . The Senate report also describes how the CIA sought out two psychiatrists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, to construct the torture programme instead of actual experienced interrogators, on the assumption that long-established humane and lawful interrogation methods wouldn't work . In its response, the CIA acknowledged that it had to look beyond the agency to find experts on "non-standard means of interrogation" since it was not an area of expertise that CIA officers or the US government possessed . The CIA called Mitchell and Jessen's background "so unique" that the agency "would have been derelict had[it] not sought them out when it became clear that CIA would be heading into the uncharted territory of the programme" . In other words ,  the torture programme was so out of whack with what professional interrogators do that the CIA had to go outside the US government to find people to do it . There still are important areas of disagreement between the Senate report and the CIA . The CIA is too protective of its own to acknowledge the full import of its descent into torture or to disavow the programme entirely . But the agency - unlike its loudest defenders - is not endorsing torture as a means of gaining intelligence or keeping the country safe . To be sure , basing the case against torture on its total ineffectiveness is a risky proposition . Torture produces a lot of information and while victims frequently make things up to ease their suffering , they may also on occasion say things of some value . That's why it is important to remember that torture is illegal under any circumstances regardless of its utility . But in a democracy, the strength of legal norms depends partly on their acceptance by the public . So while the public shouldn't have to be persuaded that barbaric methods fail to make them safer , doing so reinforces their illegality . The flurry of media appearances by Cheney and other torture defenders has created a false sense that there is a genuine divide over whether torture"works" . But neither the CIA nor professional interrogators actually say that . So while we can continue to debate other aspects of the CIA programme , including whether those responsible should be sanctioned , let's stop pretending that there are two legitimate sides to this particular story .
Example Output: The Senate Intelligence Committee's scathing torture report not only described the brutality of the CIA's interrogation methods, but also demonstrated their ineffectiveness "I would do it again in a minute," Cheney said on NBC's Meet the Press

Example 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?
Example 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

