memeorandum: Sydney on alert as hostages held at cafe in heart of city (CNN)

12:35 AM ET, December 15, 2014

Top Items:

Nicholas McCallum / 9news.com.au:

LIVE STREAM: Hostages held up by armed gunman in Sydney cafe — Talkback radio host Ray Hadley says he has had a conversation off-air with a hostage inside the Lindt cafe in Sydney. — There are a number of hostages, believed to be anywhere between 13 and 50 people, being held inside …

Discussion: New York Times and “The Lid”

Matt Siegel / Reuters:

Hostages held in Sydney cafe, Islamic flag seen in window: local TV — (Reuters) - Hostages were being held inside a central Sydney cafe where a black flag with white Arabic writing could be seen in the window, local television showed on Monday, raising fears of an attack linked to Islamic militants.

Discussion: Zero Hedge, Hot Air, Vox Popoli and BuzzFeed

BBC:

Sydney siege: Gunman takes hostages in Lindt cafe — At least one gunman has taken several people hostage at a cafe in the Australian city of Sydney. — Pictures on Australian television show at least three people with their hands up against a window, and a black flag with Arabic writing.

Discussion: Guardian, New York Magazine, Associated Press, Gawker and FOX News Radio

Daily Mail:

Terror in Sydney as gunman takes at least 13 hostages at Lindt cafe, forces crying women to hold black Islamic flag against the window and ‘demands to speak to Tony Abbott’ — Dozens of people are being held hostage by terrorists who stormed into a central Sydney cafe with a gun …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

CNN:

Sydney on alert as hostages held at cafe in heart of city — Sydney (CNN) — [Breaking news update 12:05 a.m. ET] — Three people ran out of a Sydney cafe where an unidentified person or people had taken hostages Monday, CNN affiliate Seven Network reported.

Discussion: American Spectator

Dana Ford / CNN:
Possible hostage situation unfolds in Sydney

Discussion: National Post and National Review

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:

Elizabeth Warren was told to stay quiet, but she didn't - and it's paying off — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), right, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, express their outrage to reporters …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, naked capitalism, FOX News Radio, Prairie Weather and Raw Story

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Elizabeth Warren's Searing Anti-Wall Street Speech Struck A GOP Nerve

Discussion: Washington Monthly

David / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Rove: CIA's Waterboarding Not Torture Like Japanese War Crimes Because We Raised Detainee's Legs — Republican strategist and former senior advisor to President George W. Bush argued on Sunday that the CIA's use of waterboarding on detainees could not be considered torture because it was “designed” to let the victim live.

Discussion: Liberaland and FOX News Radio

Heather Alexander / Houston Chronicle:

Police: Man shot during traffic stop in southwest Houston — Two police officers opened fire on an apparently unarmed man during a traffic stop in southwest Houston Friday night, allegedly shooting him three times for not following commands. — HPD officers pulled over the car the man …

Discussion: The Free Thought Project

Melissa Hawkes / Click2Houston.com:
Man shot by police officers during traffic stop

Discussion: Addicting Info, Hinterland Gazette and Raw Story

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

2014 Answer of the Year — I hereby nominate Dick Cheney's answer to Chuck Todd's question about a United Nations official who's called for the criminal prosecution of U.S. interrogators, as the 2014 Sunday Show Answer of the Year: … Short and sweet.

Discussion: Power Line

David / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Texas Cop Tasers 76-year-old Driver Over Expired Inspection: ‘Goddamned Nazi Stormtrooper’ — A Texas police officer was placed on administrative leave on Friday after he reportedly used a Taser on a 76-year-old man after the suspect had already been forced to the ground.

Discussion: Liberaland, Addicting Info and FOX News Radio

Brian Lowry / Variety:

The ‘24’ Effect: How ‘Liberal Hollywood’ Carried Water For Torture — Bashing “liberal Hollywood” and out-of-touch celebrities has become a favorite sport among conservatives. But those seeking to defend the Bush administration in light of the recent Torture Report — and that's mostly conservatives …

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Arthur C. Brooks / New York Times:

Abundance Without Attachment — “CHRISTMAS is at our throats again.” — That was the cheery yuletide greeting favored by the late English playwright Noël Coward, commemorating the holiday after which he was named. Less contrarian were the words of President Calvin Coolidge …

Discussion: Big Think and The Society Pages

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and the 2016 Presidential Campaign — AS brothers who governed large states at the same time, each Bush was bound to be defined in terms of the other. George was the impulsive one who'd stumbled and then swaggered toward success. Jeb was the cogitator, the toiler.

Discussion: Hullabaloo