memeorandum: U.S. Third-Quarter GDP Revised Up to 5.0% Growth (Wall Street Journal)

10:50 AM ET, December 23, 2014

Top Items:

De Blasio's nightmare — New York's mayor has lost the police — and maybe much more than that. — Bill de Blasio, like his progressive political idol Barack Obama, is finding out that you can't do the New Politics if you don't pay attention to the old politics.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, The PJ Tatler, Washington Post and Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Mr. de Blasio's Call for Harmony — First, do no harm. That principle applies to those who command the public's attention at this moment of heightened tension in New York City. — Two families in Brooklyn — and the larger family of New Yorkers and the New York Police Department …

Discussion: Daily Kos, CNN, The Intercept, Reason, Washington Post, Slantpoint and Crooked Timber

Bernard B. Kerik / TIME:

Bernie Kerik: War Is Being Waged on Our Homeland — Bernard B. Kerik served as the 40th Police Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (2000-2001) and is Founder and CEO of The Kerik Group. — This war on law and order is as dangerous as any global enemy we face. And it's built on a lie.

Discussion: City Journal, Fox News Insider and Slantpoint

New York Post:

Shamed De Blasio begs New Yorkers to report threats on cops — Anti-cop demonstrators outside City Hall on December, 19. — It took the execution of two cops for Mayor de Blasio to finally denounce violent rhetoric against the NYPD and urge New Yorkers to “call 911” if they suspect someone is planning to attack an officer.

Discussion: Power Line, Fox News and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Natalie Fertig / NY Daily News:
Eric Garner's daughter, moved by child also left fatherless, lays wreath at memorial for slain NYPD cops

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gawker, BizPac Review and Capital New York

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
Dem: Cops should focus on gun control

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Liberty Unyielding, New York's PIX11, The Huffington Post and Gothamist

Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
NYC police chief: Tensions like '70s

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:

Mitch McConnell: Senate 'didn't do squat for years' — Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says his biggest challenge will be righting the course of Congress, adding — in a swipe at outgoing Majority Leader Harry Reid — that his own chamber “basically didn't do squat for years.”

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Mitch McConnell's New Senate Goal: Turn Republican Dial to Yes

Discussion: Political Wire

Richard Cowan / Reuters: Exclusive: Senate Republican leader McConnell opposes Obama on Cuba

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Third-Quarter GDP Revised Up to 5.0% Growth — WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy posted its strongest growth in more than a decade during the third quarter, supported by robust consumer spending and business investment. — Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Mediaite, Political Wire and U.S. Bureau …

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

GDP grows by 5 percent as US economy picks up strong pace — The economy grew at a 5 percent rate from July to September, the fastest pace in 11 years. — The strong growth recorded by the Commerce Department adds to the sense that the economy is approaching full speed for the first time since …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Scott Wong / The Hill:

Pelosi: Boehner must force Grimm to resign — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is turning the heat up on Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), urging him to call for Rep. Michael Grimm's (R-N.Y.) resignation. — Grimm is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of tax evasion.

Discussion: Staten Island Advance, Politico and Political Wire

John Marzulli / NY Daily News:
Rep. Michael Grimm to plead guilty to felony count of tax evasion, sources say

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Slantpoint, Mediaite, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Capital New York, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, New York Times and Bloomberg Politics

Tom Hays / Associated Press: AP sources: NYC congressman to plead guilty

Politico:
John Boehner won't say if Michael Grimm has to go

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg Politics, ABC News, National Review and ABC News

Nealjriley / CBS Boston:

Chicopee Man Faces Charges For ‘Put Wings On Pigs’ Facebook Post — CHICOPEE (CBS/AP) — A Chicopee man is facing charges after posting “Put Wings on Pigs” to Facebook, police say. — Chicopee police said Monday that local residents alerted them to the “very disturbing post” by 27-year-old Charles DiRosa.

Discussion: TPNN

Jim Finkle / Reuters:

Apple pushes first ever automated security update to Mac users — (Reuters) - Apple Inc has pushed out its first-ever automated security update to Macintosh computers to help defend against newly identified bugs that security researchers have warned could enable hackers to gain remote control of machines.

Discussion: The Verge, VentureBeat, Mashable and Engadget

France 24 - Live news:

Algeria kills militant chief behind Frenchman's beheading — © Hervé Gourdel, courtesy of Facebook — The Algerian army has killed three members of the Islamist group that beheaded French tourist Hervé Gourdel in September, the army said Tuesday, including the leader of Jund al-Khilafa …

Discussion: WGBH News

Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:

BOMBSHELL REPORT: IRS Targeted ‘Icky’ Conservative Groups — Top IRS officials specifically targeted tea party groups and misled the public about its secret political targeting program led by ex-official Lois Lerner, according to a bombshell new congressional report.

Discussion: CNN, Power Line, Ed Driscoll and Washington Examiner

Rod Nordland / New York Times:

Taliban Push Into Afghan Districts That U.S. Had Secured — LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — In a large swath of the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, government centers are facing a long-dormant concern this winter: Four years after the American troop surge helped make such places relatively secure …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Prairie Weather

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:

Supreme Court to hear ObamaCare subsidy challenge in March — The highly anticipated case challenging ObamaCare's subsidies will officially reach the Supreme Court on March 4. — Justices will hear arguments in King v. Burwell in just under three months, according to the court's schedule posted Monday afternoon.

David Weigel / Bloomberg.com:

Republicans Block Reappointment of CBO Chief Doug Elmendorf — (Bloomberg) — Incoming Republican leaders in Congress won't reappoint Doug Elmendorf to another term as head of the Congressional Budget Office, according to a party aide briefed on the decision.

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics, Political Wire and Talking Points Memo

Rebecca Leber / The New Republic:

This Is What Our Hellish World Will Look Like After We Hit the Global Warming Tipping Point — The de facto assumption of climate change policy is that the world must limit the increase in global temperatures to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-Industrial levels …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Eugene Volokh / Washington Post:

How many crimes can you see being committed in this anti-gun ‘public service’ ad? — I've gotten several e-mails about this ad, and one reader asked: If a child does what the protagonist did — would the filmmakers be criminally punishable or subject to civil liability?

Discussion: Hit & Run

New York Times:

North Korea Loses Its Link to the Internet — SAN FRANCISCO — A strange thing happened to North Korea's already tenuous link to the Internet on Monday: It stopped. — While perhaps a coincidence, the failure of the country's computer connections began only hours after President Obama declared Friday …

Agence France-Presse:

Ukraine takes historic step toward NATO — 1 hr ago — Dmitry Zaks — Kiev (AFP) - Ukraine took a historic step toward NATO on Tuesday in a parliamentary vote certain to stoke Russia's anger ahead of talks on ending the ex-Soviet state's separatist war.

Discussion: kyivpost.com