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4:45 AM ET, December 20, 2014

memeorandum

 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 …
RELATED:
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: The Hill and Los Angeles Times
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney.com:
Source: Hackers send new message to Sony
Eric Bradner / CNN:   Obama's year-end message: North Korea, Cuba and Congress
Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
Obama: Sony Made “A Mistake”
Discussion: Slantpoint
Maxwell Strachan / Associated Press:   Hackers To Sony Pictures: You're Safe ‘Unless You Make Additional Trouble’
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
RELATED:
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
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
How to fight the lone wolf
Discussion: DownWithTyranny!
Associated Press:   Obama: Debate to lift Cuban trade embargo not expected soon
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.
RELATED:
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
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 …
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.
Discussion: Politico and 6abc.com
RELATED:
Hadas Gold / Politico:
Women rule Obama presser
Discussion: Vox, USA Today and Hot Air
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
RELATED:
NLRB:
NLRB Office of the General Counsel Issues Consolidated Complaints Against McDonald's Franchisees …
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
RELATED:
Josh Lederman / Associated Press:
After turbulent year, Obama aims for quiet Hawaii getaway  —  KAILUA, Hawaii (AP) — A tumultuous year all but behind him, President Barack Obama set off for his annual winter getaway in Hawaii hoping for one thing: Quiet.  —  Air Force One touched down late in the evening at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam …
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 …
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
 
 
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 More Items: 
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Obama is unpopular. He's also accomplished an incredible amount.
Discussion: Slantpoint
Lydia Bean / Washington Post:
Why white evangelicals rule the midterms
Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:
Klingenschmitt: Americans Should Rely On God For Healthcare
Discussion: Raw Story
Justin McCarthy / Gallup:
As a Major U.S. Problem, Race Relations Sharply Rises
Washington Post:
Del. Joseph Morrissey resigns in wake of conviction — and promises to run again
Discussion: Hot Air and American Spectator
yosemite.epa.gov:
EPA Announces First National Regulations to Safeguard Disposal of Coal Ash
Discussion: ThinkProgress and JSOnline
 Earlier Items: 
Brittany Bronson / New York Times:
Your Waitress, Your Professor
Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
A Dictator's Best Friend
Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Lawyers Create Big Paydays by Coaxing Attorneys General to Sue
Discussion: JustOneMinute and The PJ Tatler
New York Post:
Sharpton to have say over how Sony makes movies
Discussion: TPNN, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit
Rafi Letzter / Popular Science:
WORLD FIRST: MAN CONTROLS TWO PROSTHETIC ARMS WITH HIS MIND
Discussion: American Prospect
Ken Dilanian / Associated Press:
Bush officials did little oversight of CIA program
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is working on a smart doorbell system with advanced facial recognition that can wirelessly connect and unlock third-party smart locks

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Donald Trump announces that Sriram Krishnan, until recently a general partner at a16z, will serve as senior policy advisor for AI at the White House OSTP

Financial Times:
Sources: Palantir and Anduril are in talks with OpenAI, SpaceX, and more to form a consortium to bid for US defense contracts and plan to announce it in January

 
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