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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 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.


North Korea-Based Thriller With Gore Verbinski And Steve Carell Canceled — EXCLUSIVE: The chilling effect of the Sony Pictures hack and terrorist threats against The Interview are reverberating. New Regency has scrapped another project that was to be set in North Korea.
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Commentary Magazine, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, The Wrap, Mediaite, Mashable, Ed Driscoll, EW.com, Inside Movies, The PJ Tatler, Washington Post, CBS Philly, National Review, Re/code, The Verge and The Daily Beast


Top Five Theater Circuits Drop ‘The Interview’ After Sony Hack — The country's largest chains won't be showing the movie — The country's top five theater circuits have decided not to play Sony's The Interview, a knowledgeable source tells The Hollywood Reporter.
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New York Times, The Huffington Post, WMAZ-TV, Associated Press, Gawker, Hot Air, BBC, Boing Boing, NPR, The Dish, The Moderate Voice, National Review, Variety, Talking Points Memo, TIME, The Hill, The Verge, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, Inside Movies, Truth Revolt, AOL Article, Hit & Run, Jezebel, Mediaite and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »


N. Korean Hack on Sony Won't Go ‘Unanswered’: Official — U.S. officials have concluded that the North Korean government ordered the hacking attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment — a breach that led to the studio cancelling the planned release of “The Interview”.
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Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, Deadline, The Federalist, Mashable, Slantpoint, CNNMoney.com, The Hill, Raw Story and Towleroad News #gay


Sony Cancels Theatrical Release for ‘The Interview’ on Christmas — With theater chains defecting en masse, Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the planned Christmas Day release of “The Interview.” — In announcing the decision to cancel the holiday debut, Sony hit back at the hackers …


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:
CNN, Screen Rant, The Daily Banter and Power Line

Sony emails show a studio ripe for hacking
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ABC News, Associated Press and The Seattle Times

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


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

Sony cancels North Korea movie in apparent win for Pyongyang hackers
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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 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
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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, Washington Post and ABC News


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, New York Times, Hot Air, OnPolitics and Associated Press


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 given them historic policy concessions without precondition.


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

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

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

The Last Communist City — A visit to the dystopian Havana that tourists never see
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Hot Air and Slantpoint

Polls Show Cuban-American Views On U.S.-Cuba Relations Are Nuanced
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The Huffington Post, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Religion Dispatches, Hullabaloo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Florida's Cuban Americans rejoice at U.S. policy overhaul
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Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Washington Post and Booman Tribune

Pope Francis played key role in U.S.-Cuba deal
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Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, GMANetwork.com, ThinkProgress and Real Clear Politics

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


It's official: GOP will have biggest House majority since before the New Deal — On Wednesday, the Associated Press called the outstanding race for congress in Arizona's 2nd Congressional district. Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ), a former aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and her successor in office …
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Ed Driscoll
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Republican Martha McSally wins last House race of 2014
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BREITBART.COM, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Free Beacon


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:
Viking Pundit

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

Words Exchanged Before KCEN Employee Shot in Station Parking Lot — (KCEN) - Law enforcement officials have taken a man who was hold up inside of a house into custody. They are calling him a person of interest in the shooting of Patrick Crawford. But they are not saying whether or not he is the shooter.


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

Return of the Kingmaker: Jim DeMint Is Getting Back in the Game — “It's a mix of excitement and dread.” — When Ted Cruz stepped to the lectern last week inside the Heritage Foundation's auditorium, he took a moment to acknowledge the conservative think tank's president, “my good friend …
Discussion:
Political Wire