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U.S. Said to Find North Korea Ordered Cyberattack on Sony — WASHINGTON — American officials have concluded that North Korea ordered the attacks on Sony Pictures's computers, a determination reached as the studio decided Wednesday to cancel the release of a movie comedy about the assassination …
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The Daily Beast, Motherboard, Hot Air, Tech Times, CANNONFIRE, The Huffington Post, Twitchy, BuzzFeed, CNNMoney.com, ThinkProgress, The Daily Banter, The Hill, Gawker, Mashable, Inside Movies, The Verge, Nerdist, Hit & Run, EW.com, Slantpoint, Hullabaloo, Addicting Info, Boing Boing, Hollywood Reporter and JustOneMinute
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The Evidence That North Korea Hacked Sony Is Flimsy — A poster for the movie “The Interview” is taken down by a worker after being pulled from a display case at a Carmike Cinemas movie theater, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014, in Atlanta. Georgia-based Carmike Cinemas has decided to cancel …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Vox, Outside the Beltway, ABC News, Raw Story and New York Times


Terrorists 1, Hollywood 0 — Sony Pictures buckles to faceless, nameless North Koreans by yanking Seth Rogen comedy ‘The Interview’ — For the first time since 9/11, after 13 years of resolve, America — in the person of Sony Pictures Entertainment and the entire Hollywood establishment — has allowed the terrorists to win.


Killing The Interview Opens Studios to Terrorist Manipulation — It's a cliche, but when it comes to today's cancellation of the Sony comedy The Interview, maybe the terrorists did win. The studio caved after hackers, reportedly linked to North Korea, threatened theater violence if the Seth Rogen movie saw the light of day.
Discussion:
New York Times, Screen Rant, The Daily Banter and Power Line

N. Korean Hack on Sony Won't Go ‘Unanswered’: U.S. Official
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Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Deadline, The Federalist, Mashable, Slantpoint, Raw Story, The Hill, CNNMoney.com and Towleroad News #gay

AP source: North Korea linked to Sony hacking
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Associated Press, ABC News and abc11.com

Sony emails show a studio ripe for hacking
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The Huffington Post, ABC News and Associated Press

The Sony Hackers Are Terrorists
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Wall Street Journal, Tech Times, EW.com, The Verge and Hit & Run

Top Five Theater Circuits Drop ‘The Interview’ After Sony Hack
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Gawker, Associated Press, WMAZ-TV, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, BBC, NPR, Boing Boing, The Dish, The Moderate Voice, National Review, Variety, Talking Points Memo, TIME, The Hill, The Verge, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, Truth Revolt, Inside Movies, AOL Article, Hit & Run, Jezebel and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Sony cancels North Korea movie in apparent win for Pyongyang hackers
Discussion:
The Great Debate and TalkLeft

Obama: Sony Hack Proves U.S. Needs to Do ‘A Lot More’ to Protect Against Cyber Threats
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Politico and abc11.com


The Castros Finally Hit the Jackpot — Even if you oppose the isolation of Cuba, this is not a good trade. — Candidate Barack Obama said that, as president, he would talk to anti-American dictators without precondition. He didn't mention that he would also give them historic policy concessions without precondition.
Discussion:
National Review
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The Democrats' risky Cuba bet — Will Florida's changing demographics offset a backlash among older Cuban-Americans? — Barack Obama, who won the swing state of Florida in the 2012 election by 50.01 percent to 49.13 percent, knows just how many presidential candidacies have gotten bogged …
Discussion:
Washington Post and New York Times


How Republicans could stop Obama's Cuba play — Hill Republicans started making a to-do list immediately. — President Barack Obama's plan to normalize relations with Cuba has hit a familiar roadblock: Republicans on Capitol Hill. — Just hours after Obama announced that a prisoner swap …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Hot Air, The Hill and Washington Post


STATEMENT: Governor Jeb Bush on President Obama's Cuba Policy Announcement — The Obama Administration's decision to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba is the latest foreign policy misstep by this President, and another dramatic overreach of his executive authority.
Discussion:
Bloomberg Politics, OnPolitics, Hot Air and Associated Press


U.S. to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility
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Wall Street Journal, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Nation, CNN, The Atlantic Online, Daily Signal, Religion News Service, rubio.senate.gov, Bloomberg, Gawker, Addicting Info, The Daily Banter, JSOnline, Poynter, BuzzFeed, Spectator, The Dish, The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice, National Review, Taylor Marsh, iwritetheblogggs and ABC News

Obama gives the Castro regime in Cuba an undeserved bailout
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Power Line, NBC News, RedState, Slantpoint, Daily Signal, Vox Popoli and Outside the Beltway

Obama reignites political debate over Cuba
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Associated Press and ABC News

Obama Gives Rubio a Gift From Cuba
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New York Times, Daily Kos, Reuters, Washington Post and BREITBART.COM

Republicans livid over Cuba talks, call it appeasement
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The Hill, Guardian, NPR, Prairie Weather, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, Hot Air, Vox, Washington Post, Associated Press, Robert Menendez-US Senator …, Slantpoint, Talking Points Memo, BuzzFeed, CNN, Religion Dispatches, ABC News, ABC News, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Hinterland Gazette

Marco Rubio Challenges The Pope On Obama's New Cuba Policy
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The Hill, Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos


Vermont bails on single-payer health care — Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday dropped his plan to enact a single-payer health care system in his state — a plan that had won praise from liberals but never really got much past the framework stage. — “This is not the right time” …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Viking Pundit


Historically unproductive Congress ends — One of the most unproductive and least popular Congresses in history has gaveled to a close, concluding a two-year period that will be remembered for its brinksmanship and lack of legislating. — The 113th Congress shut the government down for 16 days in 2013 …


Russian President Vladimir Putin Seeks to Reassure on Economy — In Annual News Conference, Putin Says Economic Troubles Will Pass in Less Than Two Years; Strikes Harsh Tone on Tensions With West — MOSCOW—President Vladimir Putin sought to reassure Russians on Thursday …
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kyivpost.com


Lawrence Summers' $28 Million Payday, Courtesy of Elizabeth Warren — Senator Elizabeth Warren famously declared “there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.” — That truism presumably includes President Barack Obama's former economic chief Lawrence Summers …


Obama's Had a Helluva Good Month Since the Midterms — So how have things been going for our bored, exhausted, and disengaged president? He's been acting pretty enthusiastic, energized, and absorbed with his job, I'd say. Let us count the things he's done since the November 4th midterm elections:
Discussion:
Prairie Weather

Johns Hopkins mistakenly says ‘yes’ to hundreds of rejected applicants — Sam Stephenson was steeling himself for another round of college applications after his first choice, Johns Hopkins University, turned him down. Then the 17-year-old from Culpeper County in Virginia received an e-mail …
Discussion:
CNN, 6abc.com, Inside Higher Ed, New York Magazine and ABC News


Grimes pledges legal challenge if Paul attempts simultaneous races — Alison Lundergan Grimes says she will challenge Senator Rand Paul if he tries to get on the ballot for both Senate re-election and president — FRANKFORT, Ky. (WHAS11) — Six weeks after she lost her own bid for the U-S Senate …
Discussion:
Politico

Executions, new death sentences continue to fall — WASHINGTON (AP) — Executions and new death sentences dropped to their lowest numbers in decades in 2014, an anti-death penalty group said in a new report. — The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization that opposes executions …