memeorandum: President Obama And The Rhetoric Of Rights (Ken White/Popehat)

9:25 AM ET, January 6, 2016

Top Items:

GOP scrambles for response to Obama's gun control actions — Congressional Republicans are scrambling for a way to halt President Obama's new unilateral actions on gun control. — One powerful appropriator, Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas), has threatened to block federal funding for the Department …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, The Resurgent, PoliticusUSA and Politico

New York Times:

The Hear-Nothing Gun Crowd — Sometimes in American politics it seems as if we are all talking past each other, that whatever one side says about an issue like, say, taxes zooms right past the other side. The current fight over gun control is not one of those moments.

Discussion: Speaker.gov, National Review, Washington Post, Townhall.com, Freedom Outpost and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:

Tearful Obama Outlines Steps to Curb Gun Deaths — WASHINGTON — Tears streaming down his face, President Obama on Tuesday condemned the gun violence that has reached across the United States as he vowed to take action to curb the bloodshed with or without Congress. — “In this room right here, there are a lot of stories.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politifact.com Truth …, The Trace, Hot Air, The Marshall Project, CNBC, NBC News, NPR, Towleroad, MichelleMalkin.com, Associated Press, ThinkProgress, FiveThirtyEight and FOX News Radio

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
AP fact check: Obama gun-control actions wouldn't have stopped any mass shooting

Discussion: The Resurgent, Washington Post and Power Line

CNN:
Emotional Obama calls for ‘sense of urgency’ to fight gun violence

Euan McKirdy / CNN:

North Korea says it successfully conducts hydrogen bomb test — Hong Kong (CNN)North Korea says it has successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test in a region of the country where it conducted three previous nuclear tests. — If the claim is verified, a hydrogen bomb test …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Vox, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Last Tradition, Fox 59, Business Insider, Hit & Run, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

BBC:

Tremor detected near North Korea nuclear site — A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has been detected in North Korea, close to a site previously used for nuclear tests. — Chinese and South Korea officials said there were indications the tremor was man-made, meaning the North may have carried out a new nuclear test.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

New York Times:

North Korea Says It Has Detonated Its First Hydrogen Bomb — WASHINGTON — North Korea declared on Tuesday that it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb. — The assertion, if true, would dramatically escalate the nuclear challenge from one of the world's most isolated and dangerous states.

Discussion: BBC, Outside the Beltway, Poynter. and Al Jazeera English, more at Mediagazer »

Claire Phipps / Guardian:
North Korea nuclear test: regime says it has successfully detonated hydrogen bomb - live

Discussion: all

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Trump says Cruz's Canadian birth could be ‘very precarious’ for GOP — LOWELL, Mass. — Donald Trump said in an interview that rival Ted Cruz's Canadian birthplace was a “very precarious” issue that could make the Texas senator vulnerable if he became the Republican presidential nominee.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Guardian, ABC News, Raw Story, NBC News, Hot Air, NPR, Bloomberg Business, addictinginfo.org, Trail Blazers Blog, BuzzFeed, CNN, Business Insider and RedState

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Trump: I'll close deal, win Republican nomination — NEW YORK — Donald Trump on Tuesday predicted he will win the Republican presidential nomination, unify the party and expand the GOP map in the general election by winning states such as Pennsylvania. — In an exclusive interview with The Hill …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

David Siders / Sacramento Bee:
Poll: Ted Cruz surges in California, catches Trump

Discussion: RedState, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress, Vox, Political Wire and BuzzFeed

The Local:

Cover-up claim over NYE mass sexual assaults — Men of ‘Arab background’ were likely responsible for sexual assaults on dozens of women in central Cologne over the New Year, police said on Monday - as a social media storm accused police and media of a cover-up.

Discussion: The Independent, Pamela Geller, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, BBC, The Daily Caller, Instapundit, National Review, New York Times and RT

BBC:
Germany shocked by Cologne New Year gang assaults on women

Discussion: Betsy's Page, New York Times, Doug Ross, Mashable, Washington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, Oath Keepers, Mediaite, The Local, Power Line, American Spectator, Hot Air, Althouse and The Daily Caller

Spiegel Online:
Dozens of Women Sexually Assaulted in Cologne

Discussion: Slantpoint, Pamela Geller and Washington Free Beacon

Ken White / Popehat:

President Obama And The Rhetoric Of Rights — Today the President of the United States gave a speech about gun control measures. I don't intend to critique those measures. Nor do I mean to critique his rhetoric about gun violence. I do intend to critique his language about rights …

Discussion: Washington Post

The White House:
Remarks by the President on Common-Sense Gun Safety Reform

Discussion: Power Line, Hit & Run and Flopping Aces

New York Post:

The Clintons are in denial about Bill's sex scandals — Even though Donald Trump had already warned that Bill Clinton's past indiscretions would be “fair game” in the presidential race, the ex-president seemed surprised to face the issue as he began to take a prominent role in his wife's campaign.

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Trump: It Would Be Interesting To Ask Bill Clinton The Difference Between Him And Cosby

Discussion: Politico, The Last Tradition and The Gateway Pundit

Les Zaitz / Oregonian:

Sheriff says steps being taken to end militants' occupation of federal compound — BURNS - Steps are in motion to resolve militants' occupation of a federal compound outside of town, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said Tuesday. — “There are things being done,” Ward said. “It's not visible to the public.”

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, MSNBC and American Power

Stewart Rhodes / Oath Keepers:
URGENT Warning on OR Standoff: Military Special OP Assets Have Been Assigned for Standoff.

Discussion: The Free Thought Project, Freedom Outpost, Raw Story and Right Wing Watch

Hilary Sargent / Boston Globe:

Meet the chef who decides what Tom Brady eats—and what he definitely doesn't — Allen Campbell talks about why our quarterback rarely eats tomatoes, where he shops for groceries, and why he doesn't serve mushrooms. Ever. — Allen Campbell has never been anything but a chef.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Daily Mail, AOL, all, USA Today and The Daily Caller

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Trump quietly builds a data juggernaut — Donald Trump's rivals cling to the hope that the surprise GOP presidential front-runner lacks the know-how to lure supporters to the polls, but POLITICO has learned that his campaign several months ago assembled an experienced data team …

Discussion: Political Wire and The Last Refuge

New York Times:

Blizzard Buried Some Dairy Cows in the Snow; 35,000 Die — LUBBOCK, Tex. — After a mild and dry Christmas Day, a fierce blizzard whipped across the rolling plains of West Texas and eastern New Mexico. The wind blew mercilessly for 48 hours, leaving snow drifts as high as 14 feet.

Discussion: Gizmodo and Mother Jones

Josh Constine / TechCrunch:

Facebook's Secret Chat SDK Lets Developers Build Messenger Bots — M won't be the only artificial intelligence on Facebook Messenger. Facebook has given some developers access to an unannounced Chat SDK that allows them to build interactive experiences and “bots” in Messenger for shopping …

Discussion: Business Insider, Gizmodo, The Verge and Engadget

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Lots of Rich People Seem to Be in Tough Financial Straits — Here's a fairly remarkable poll from Gallup about financial well-being. The direction of the answers is unsurprising: if you earn more, you're more likely to have enough money to buy the things you need, and less likely to be cutting back on spending.

Discussion: Gallup, The Reality-Based Community and Unfogged

Los Angeles Times:

Rams' relocation application says it's best for long-term success in L.A. — The Rams' proposed stadium in Inglewood is lit up at sunset in this artist rendering. — The Inglewood stadium proposal backed by the St. Louis Rams is vastly superior to the rival plan in Carson …

Discussion: ProFootballTalk, FOX2now.com and KTLA

Federal Trade Commission:

Lumosity to Pay $2 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges for Its “Brain Training” Program — Company Claimed Program Would Sharpen Performance in Everyday Life and Protect Against Cognitive Decline — The creators and marketers of the Lumosity “brain training” …

Discussion: Engadget, New York Magazine, Gizmodo, The Verge, Washington Post, STAT, Mashable and CBS Boston

Reason:

You Know Less Than You Think About Guns — The misleading uses, flagrant abuses, and shoddy statistics of social science about gun violence — Brian Doherty from the February 2016 issue - view article in the Digital Edition — “There is a gun for roughly every man, woman, and child in America …

Discussion: Hit & Run, EconLog and Vox