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12:45 AM ET, December 12, 2008

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Senate Abandons Auto Bailout Bid  —  WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday night abandoned efforts to fashion a government rescue of the American automobile industry, as Senate Republicans refused to support a bill endorsed by the White House and Congressional Democrats.
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Union balks and $14B auto bailout dies in Senate  —  WASHINGTON - A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate Thursday night after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts.  —  The collapse came after bipartisan talks …
Wall Street Journal:
Rescue Bid for Detroit Collapses in Senate  —  WASHINGTON — A frantic, last-ditch attempt to forge a relief package for the auto industry collapsed in the U.S. Senate, dealing a giant blow to the immediate hopes of the Big Three.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada suggested …
Elizabeth Kolbert In / New Yorker:
NOTE TO DETROIT: CONSIDER THE REFRIGERATOR  —  This past summer, Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist who currently heads Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—and who has been tapped to be the next Secretary of Energy—delivered a talk on climate change and how to combat it.
Discussion: Talking Points Memo
Reuters:
Auto bailout prospects revived in Senate
Discussion: The Moderate Voice
RELATED:
Jack Healy / New York Times:
Obama Says He Never Spoke to Governor on Senate Seat  —  President-elect Barack Obama sought on Thursday to separate himself from the political scandal swirling around Governor Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, saying he never talked to the governor about who would replace Mr. Obama in the United States Senate.
Jason Rosenbaum / The Seminal:
BREAKING: Schakowsky Will Run For Senate In Illinois  —  Last night at the Midwest Academy Awards and 35th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, DC, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown introduced Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky by saying, “We may have a special election in Illinois, and if Jan Schakowsky runs, I'll support her.”
New York Times:
Obama to Detail Any Staff Talks on Senate Seat  —  CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama pledged Thursday to disclose any interaction between his transition team and the office of besieged Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, while declaring again that he and his staff had no involvement …
Washington Post:
Bipartisan Report on Detainee Abuse Blames Rumsfeld, Other Top Bush Officials  —  A bipartisan panel of senators has concluded that former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials bear direct responsibility for the harsh treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay …
Discussion: TalkLeft, RedState and theheretik.us
RELATED:
New York Times:
Report Blames Rumsfeld for Detainee Abuses  —  WASHINGTON — A report released Thursday by leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee said top Bush administration officials, including Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary, bore major responsibility for the abuses committed …
Aluf Benn / Haaretz:
Obama's atomic umbrella: U.S. nuclear strike if Iran nukes Israel  —  U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's administration will offer Israel a “nuclear umbrella” against the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran, a well-placed American source said earlier this week.
RELATED:
Richard Fernandez / Pajamas Media:
Thinking the no longer unthinkable
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
DEMINT WARNS OF BAILOUT ‘RIOTS’.... In general, those who warn of dire consequences for the automotive industry tend to support a rescue package.  As the argument goes, the auto manufacturers are the backbone of U.S. manufacturing, and the collapse of the industry could have devastating ripple effects in the midst of a financial crisis.
RELATED:
Jeff Poor / The Business & Media Institute:
GOP Senator Warns of ‘Riots’ if Automakers Are Bailed Out
Discussion: theheretik.us and The Raw Story
CNN:
Powell: GOP ‘polarization’ backfired in election  —  (CNN) — The Republican party must stop “shouting at the world” and start listening to minority groups if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday.  —  In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
McCain pollster: Wright wouldn't have worked  —  John McCain's top pollster, Bill McInturff, said this evening that attacking Barack Obama over his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright would not have helped McCain's campaign and could have destroyed his presidency, had he been elected.
RELATED:
Portfolio:
David Plouffe  —  If he were less shy and had a funny accent …
Wall Street Journal:
Blagojevich Left Legal Bills Unpaid  —  CHICAGO — The criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich alleges that he complained about financial troubles.  Those problems include more than $500,000 in unpaid legal bills, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion: Law Blog
Paul Krugman:
Nosedive  —  Another day, another terrifying economic report, this time on unemployment claims.  —  So are we now losing jobs at the rate of 600,000 a month?  700,000?  If fiscal expansion takes, say, 8 months to kick in (and that's optimistic), where will that leave us?
Discussion: Calculated Risk
TwinCities.com:
In Senate recount, wrongly rejected votes seem more numerous than first thought  —  At least 358 Minnesotans did everything right on their absentee ballots — they sent them in on time, signed them where they should have and were properly registered — but their votes were not counted.
Discussion: TPM Election Central, MyDD and MinnPost
Reason.tv:
Killer Chic  —  Gisele Bundchen wears him on the runway, Johnny Depp wears him around his neck, and Benicio Del Toro becomes him in the new, highly acclaimed, two-part epic film from Steven Soderbergh, Che.  Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the revolutionary who helped found communist Cuba, is the celebrity that celebrities adore.
Discussion: Babalu Blog and Reason
Charles Lane / Washington Post:
The Unreal Bill Ayers  —  Three Decades After the Weather Underground's End, He's Still Justifying Its Means  —  I never thought Barack Obama's acquaintance with former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers disqualified him for the White House.  And now that Obama has been elected …
Discussion: Fausta's Blog
Rep. Barney Frank / The Huffington Post:
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Does It Again  —  Recently, the editorial staff of the Wall Street Journal repeated unsupported and flat out wrong conservative talking points about me and the root causes of the subprime mortgage crisis.  I sought to counter their accusations in a letter to the editor …
Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ian Welsh / Firedoglake:
Senate Republicans Determined to Cause a Depression by Destroying Big 3
Discussion: Open Left
BBC:
Sarkozy comments spark Iran row
Discussion: The Jawa Report and QandO
Kate Pickert / Time:
Glenn Beck  —  Glenn Beck is not known for his compassion.
SteveK / TVNewser:
Breaking: “Hannity” To Premiere January 12
Jad Mouawad / New York Times:
Oil Demand Down; 1st Time Since '83
Discussion: Newshoggers.com and On Deadline
 Earlier Items: 
Pratish Narayanan / Reuters:
Newsweek plans staff cuts in makeover: report
Jack Turner / Jack & Jill Politics:
NPR Cancels Only Black-Issues Program, News & Notes
Discussion: Pam's House Blend and NPR
Andrea James / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Starbucks won't slug it out in ad wars
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: NO ORDINARY HONEYMOON
Discussion: Open Left and Democracy in America
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority:
Source: Google has canceled the development of a second-generation Pixel Tablet, planned for release in 2025, due to concerns that it wouldn't sell very well

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is testing a more conversational version of Siri, dubbed “LLM Siri”, with plans to release it in spring 2026 as part of iOS 19 and macOS 16

The Information:
Sources: OpenAI considered making a browser, discussed deals to power AI features on Samsung devices and search on sites and apps from Condé Nast and others

 
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