Top Items:
FBI:
Update on Sony Investigation … Today, the FBI would like to provide an update on the status of our investigation into the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). In late November, SPE confirmed that it was the victim of a cyber attack that destroyed systems …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, VentureBeat, Associated Press, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Mashable, New York Magazine, Real Clear Politics, Los Angeles Times, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, kyivpost.com, Roll Call, Slantpoint, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Truth Revolt, Reuters and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »
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Joseph Marks / Politico:
What does a cyber counterattack look like? — President Barack Obama promised at his year-end news conference Friday that the U.S. will respond “proportionally” to North Korea's cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, but the conventional options available to him are ineffective …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:
Source: Hackers send new message to Sony — The hackers behind a devastating cyberattack at Sony Pictures have sent a new message to executives at the company, crediting them for a “very wise” decision to cancel the Christmas day release of “The Interview,” a source close to the company told CNN.
Discussion:
NPR, Reuters, Hot Air, The Verge, WGBH News, Gawker, Mashable, CNN, Hit & Run, The PJ Tatler, Slantpoint, WREG-TV, BuzzFeed and TMZ.com, more at Mediagazer »
Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Theaters cancel screenings of ‘Team America’ citing Paramount Pictures
Theaters cancel screenings of ‘Team America’ citing Paramount Pictures
Discussion:
Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller, Slate, Mashable, Deadline, Inside Movies and The Daily Banter
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
GOP Senator Wants To Host Re-Election Fundraiser At A Screening Of “The Interview”
GOP Senator Wants To Host Re-Election Fundraiser At A Screening Of “The Interview”
Discussion:
USA Today, OnPolitics, The PJ Tatler and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Michael Moynihan / The Daily Beast:
Castro's Hipster Apologists Want to Keep Cuba ‘Authentically’ Poor — The thawing of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba has elicited a lot of patronizing, asinine fretting about the imminent “Americanization” of Cuba. — Alan Gross was in a cheery mood, having survived a grim five-year stint in a Cuban prison.
Discussion:
National Review, Moe Lane and Hit & Run
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Laura Wides-Munoz / Associated Press:
Obama's Cuba switch forces exile groups to adapt — MIAMI (AP) — Hours before President Barack Obama announced an end to a half-century of U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba's communist government, the Cuban American National Foundation opened the doors to its inviting new headquarters …
Discussion:
Associated Press and ABC News
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Obama renews tax breaks, creates ABLE accounts
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Obama signs massive defense spending bill
Koran Addo / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Some witnesses lied to Michael Brown grand jury, McCulloch says. So why have them testify? — Certain witnesses who spoke before the grand jury investigating the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown told obvious lies under oath, St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said Friday.
Discussion:
NPR, KTRS, RT, Liberal Values, Shakesville, FOX2now.com and Slantpoint
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Mike Hayes / BuzzFeed:
Prosecutor Says He Knew Some Witnesses Were Lying To The Ferguson Grand Jury — St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch says he knew some of the witnesses who said they saw Michael Brown get shot were lying, but he let them testify to the grand jury anyway. — Bob McCulloch — Reuters
Discussion:
Raw Story, Mashable, Hinterland Gazette, Gawker, Talking Points Memo and The Smoking Gun
Frank Pallotta / CNNMoney.com:
Sony exec fires back at President Obama — Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, denying that the studio had “caved” by scrapping next week's opening of “The Interview,” fired back Friday after President Obama said the studio had “made a mistake.” — “The president, the press …
Discussion:
BREITBART.COM, Hot Air, NBC News, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, CNN, EW.com and Slantpoint, more at Mediagazer »
ABC News:
How One Man Is Terrorizing Neighbors With a Hostile Holiday Decoration Display — Homeowners on Fairley Road in Ross Township, Pennsylvania, say their neighbor Bill Ansell is terrorizing them year round with his hostile anti-Christmas spirit. — “Any opportunity he has to make our life a hardship …
Discussion:
6abc.com
Mary Bruce / ABC News:
In Case You Missed It, Obama Made History Today: Calls Only on Female Reporters … Mark this down as a historic day in White House history. — President Obama has just become the first president to field questions from only female reporters at a White House press conference.
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Brian Mahoney / Politico:
Obama labor board comes down hard on McDonald's — In a significant victory for fast-food demonstrators, the Obama administration filed 13 legal complaints on Friday against McDonald's USA, LLC, alleging 78 instances in which it violated federal labor law by punishing workers for taking part in fast food protests.
Discussion:
Slantpoint
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David Weigel / Bloomberg Politics:
Rand Paul Battles Marco Rubio Over Cuba Policy — The libertarian-hawk fight begins. — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul took his time responding to this week's Cuba policy thaw. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the son of immigrants who fled the pre-Castro regime, called a press conference …
Discussion:
Politico, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos
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Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Rand Paul Slams Marco Rubio Over Cuba As Feud Escalates
Rand Paul Slams Marco Rubio Over Cuba As Feud Escalates
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Naked Politics, Hot Air, The Dish, National Review and Raw Story
Rand Paul / Facebook:
Senator Marco Rubio believes the embargo against Cuba …
Senator Marco Rubio believes the embargo against Cuba …
Discussion:
Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Slantpoint, New York Times and Politico
Rachael Bade / Politico:
How bad would an IRS shutdown be? — The IRS chief's warning on Thursday that drastic budget cuts may force a shutdown for perhaps days is his latest bid to illustrate the impact of starving the tax agency. — But how bad would it really be? — Story Continued Below
Chad Mills / WIS-TV:
Family finds creepy surprise after Craigslist buy — A Midlands family says a couch they bought just about a month ago has infested their home with bed bugs. — They have a warning about where they bought that couch. — They bought it on craigslist, and with roughly 5,000 pieces …
Discussion:
FOX2now.com, New York's PIX11 and fox8.com
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
A Vermont Senator Asks, Why Not a Socialist President? — AMES, Iowa — Senator Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont who calls himself a socialist, was riding in the back seat of a rented blue minivan this week when his aide abruptly announced they were being pulled over by the Iowa State Police for speeding.
Discussion:
Washington Post