memeorandum: 2014 U.S. Approval of Congress Remains Near All-Time Low (Rebecca Riffkin/Gallup)

9:40 AM ET, December 15, 2014

Top Items:

CNN:

Sydney gunman reportedly demands ISIS flag as some hostages escape — Sydney (CNN) — Australia, and the world, looked on with dread Monday as a gunman holding hostages inside a darkened Sydney cafe demanded an ISIS flag and a phone call with Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Discussion: USA Today, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, BARE NAKED ISLAM and Mediaite

Michelle Innis / New York Times:

Some Hostages Flee as Standoff in Sydney Drags On — SYDNEY, Australia — An assailant carrying a black flag with white Arabic script held hostages in one of this sunny city's favored holiday haunts — a cafe specializing in chocolate drinks and desserts — through the day Monday …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Business Insider

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, Scared Monkeys, NBC News, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Vox Popoli and BuzzFeed

Nicholas McCallum / 9news.com.au:
LIVE STREAM: Hostages held up by armed gunman in Sydney cafe

Discussion: New York Times and “The Lid”

Dan Good / ABC News:
5 Hostages Flee Sydney Cafe, Standoff Drags On

Discussion: Guardian, JustOneMinute, CNN, Towleroad News #gay and Hot Air

Daniel Fallon / Sydney Morning Herald:
Lindt Chocolat Cafe hostage drama in Martin Place, Sydney

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

BBC:
Sydney siege: Gunman takes hostages in Lindt cafe

Discussion: Washington Post, Guardian, New York Magazine, Associated Press, Gawker, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and FOX News Radio

Daily Mail:
Terror in Sydney as gunman takes at least 13 hostages at Lindt cafe, forces crying women …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit

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

Discussion: American Spectator

Dana Ford / CNN:
Possible hostage situation unfolds in Sydney

Discussion: National Post and National Review

Steve Inskeep / WBUR:

Sen. Warren Warns That Spending Bill Sets Dangerous Precedent — 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: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Weekly Standard

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Dodd-Frank Damaged in the Budget Bill — On Wall Street, 2010 was the year of “Obama rage,” in which financial tycoons went ballistic over the president's suggestion that some bankers helped cause the financial crisis. They were also, of course, angry about the Dodd-Frank financial reform …

Discussion: Washington Post and Financial Times

The Huffington Post:

The Speech That Could Make Elizabeth Warren the Next President of the United States — Early Friday evening Sen. Elizabeth Warren took to the Senate floor and gave a plain-spoken, barn-burning speech that could make history and put her into serious contention to be the next President of the United States.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News and Philly.com

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

What does Warren want? — She has a spot in Democratic leadership, a swelling alliance of liberals in Congress and a rabid following in the Democratic Party. — The question is: What does Elizabeth Warren want to do with all that power? — Groups on the left are trying to draft …

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Elizabeth Warren was told to stay quiet, but she didn't - and it's paying off

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Campaign for America's Future, PoliticusUSA, naked capitalism, FOX News Radio and Prairie Weather

Aaron Sorkin / New York Times:

Journalists Shouldn't Help the Sony Hackers — “Jolie a ‘Spoiled Brat’ From ‘Crazyland,’ ” says The New York Post. — “Shocking New Reveals From Sony Hack,” says The Daily Beast. — “Sony's Hacked Emails Highlight Hollywood's Problems With Diversity,” says The Huffington Post.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mashable, Deadline, The Daily Beast, Guardian and Screen Rant, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Sony Pictures Demands That News Agencies Delete ‘Stolen’ Data

Discussion: Washington Post, Re/code, Poynter, Gigaom and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / USA Today:

The great campus rape hoax: Column — The truth - that rape on campus is becoming less common - doesn't fit the left's narrative. — Americans have been living through an enormously sensationalized college rape hoax, but as the evidence accumulates it's becoming clear that the entire thing …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, The College Fix and Hot Air

Rebecca Riffkin / Gallup:

2014 U.S. Approval of Congress Remains Near All-Time Low — Story Highlights — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' job approval rating for Congress averaged 15% in 2014, close to the record-low yearly average of 14% found last year. The highest yearly average was measured in 2001, at 56%.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

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: FOX News Radio

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Democrats must fight or lose young voters — The passionate stand by Americans across the country in protesting the failure of grand juries to indict policemen for killing two unarmed people - both poor, black men - is revving up the demand for a political response from Democrats in Washington.