memeorandum: Crips make peace on the softball field (Cindy Chang/Los Angeles Times)

2:40 PM ET, December 31, 2017

Top Items:

BBC:

Iran protests: ‘Iron fist’ threatened if unrest continues — Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned anti-government protesters they will face the nation's “iron fist” if political unrest continues. — Three days of demonstrations over falling living standards have become the biggest show …

Discussion: NPR, The Guardian, Informed Comment and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Erin Cunningham / Washington Post:

Iran blocks Instagram and Telegram apps, warns protesters will ‘pay the price’ for unrest — ISTANBUL — Iran on Sunday blocked Instagram and the messaging app Telegram, official media reported, after three days of escalating anti-government unrest. Two demonstrators were killed over the weekend, an official said.

Discussion: The Guardian, NBC News, Axios, Jihad Watch, Sputnik International, Business Insider, IJR and AOL

Philip Gordon / New York Times:

How Can Trump Help Iran's Protesters? Be Quiet. — WASHINGTON — As anti-government rallies gather momentum across Iran — taking outside analysts and the Iranian government alike by surprise — President Trump and his foreign policy advisers are likely asking what they can do to support the protesters.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, IJR, twitchy.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Breitbart, KTLA, Weekly Standard and The Daily Caller

Reuters:
Iran warns protesters who pose major challenge to country's leadership

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico and The Daily Caller

Farnaz Fassihi / Wall Street Journal:
Five Things to Know About the Iranian Protests

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, CNN, Breitbart, IJR, NBC News, Instapundit, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, twitchy.com, Sputnik International, RedState, Al Jazeera English and AOL

Stephen L. Miller / Fox News:
Iran's protests are powerful and real. Why are mainstream media outlets so hesitant to report on them?

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

BBC:
Iran protests: Telegram and Instagram restricted

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, New York Times, CNBC, Politico, Mediaite, The Week, AOL, Engadget and Washington Free Beacon, more at Techmeme »

Borzou Daragahi / BuzzFeed: Here's What's Behind Iran's Biggest Protests In Seven Years

Thomas Erdbrink / New York Times:
Iran Confronts 3rd Day of Protests, With Calls for Khamenei to Quit

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BBC, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, US Department of State, Althouse and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Daniella Diaz / CNN:

Bernstein: Trump's lawyers tell him what he wants to hear on Russia — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Bernstein said White House aides have told him Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to fire Mueller — He and his partner of Watergate reporting fame, Bob Woodward, drew parallels between Trump and Nixon

Ryan Struyk / CNN:
The 7 most important polling trends of 2017

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Tom McGhee / Denver Post:

Multiple officers shot, suspect at large, bomb squad, SWAT on scene in Douglas County — More than one officer shot. — A so far undisclosed number of Sheriff's deputies were shot Sunday morning and a Douglas County Sheriff's Office SWAT team is at the scene, a home near the 3400 block …

Discussion: Breitbart, KKTV-TV, Fox News, RedState, The Daily Caller, WHNT-TV, Business Insider, The Week, CBS New York, New York's PIX11, twitchy.com and ABC News

Megan Kennedy / Click2Houston.com:

Intoxicated man found with small arsenal on top floor of Hyatt Regency downtown, police say — HOUSTON - A man has been arrested on multiple charges after police located a small arsenal of guns on the top floor of the Hyatt Regency on Louisiana Street downtown, Houston police said.

Discussion: Breitbart, Fox News, abc13.com, The Week and Eschaton

Houston Chronicle:

Weapons, ammo found in resident's room in Hyatt Regency Downtown — Houston police have arrested a man who was initially going to be charged with drunk and disorderly conduct at a downtown hotel, until officers discovered an arsenal of weapons in his room. — Houston police uncovered …

Discussion: Raw Story, KHOU-TV, RedState, IJR and twitchy.com

Dave Barry / miamiherald:

Dave Barry's 2017 Year in Review: Did that really happen? — Looking back on 2017 is like waking up after a party where you made some poor decisions, such as drinking tequila squeezed from the underpants of a person you do not really know. (At least you hope it was tequila.)

Discussion: American Digest

David Cohen / Politico:
Scaramucci: Trump doesn't deny climate change

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNN, Breitbart and The Week

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

Devin Nunes, targeting Mueller and the FBI, alarms Democrats and some Republicans with his tactics — Rep. Devin Nunes, once sidelined by an ethics inquiry from leading the House Intelligence Committee's Russia probe, is reasserting the full authority of his position as chairman …

Discussion: Mother Jones

John Bowden / The Hill:

Golden State Warriors coach: ‘Our core values’ as a nation are ‘under attack’ — The coach of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors says in a new interview that America's “core values” are under attack and citizens must do more to fight false information and “propaganda.”

Dylan Gwinn / Breitbart:
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr: ‘Our Core Values’ As a Nation Are ‘Under Attack’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Adam Elmahrek / Los Angeles Times:

California high school football player can't be forced to stand for national anthem, court rules — San Francisco 49ers players kneel during the national anthem before an NFL game against the Houston Texans earlier this month in Houston. (David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress and IJR

Rachel Tillman / ABC News:

US closer to ‘nuclear war with North Korea’ than ever before: Former Joint Chiefs head — The United States faces a greater threat of nuclear conflict on the Korean peninsula than at any previous time, said a former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Discussion: Breitbart and Politico

Cindy Chang / Los Angeles Times:

Crips make peace on the softball field — No one remembers exactly why the Ten Year War started. — Was it a fight at a Tupac Shakur concert? A dispute over a woman? After the first killing in the late 1990s, the cycle of revenge began. — In 2006, there was a truce.

New York Daily News:

Erica Garner, daughter of police chokehold victim, dies at 27 in Brooklyn — The police chokehold death of her father thrust Erica Garner into the public eye, where she blossomed as an activist who converted tragedy into a calling. — Garner, like her father Eric, died too young …