The Commentariat -- Dec. 28, 2013

Michael Schmidt & Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "A federal judge in New York on Friday ruled that the National Security Agency's program that is systematically keeping phone records of all Americans is lawful, creating a conflict among lower courts and increasing the likelihood that the issue will be resolved by the Supreme Court. In the ruling, Judge William H. Pauley III, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, granted a motion filed by the federal government to dismiss a challenge to the program brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had tried to halt the program. Judge Pauley said that protections under the Fourth Amendment do not apply to records held by third parties, like phone companies." CW: Pauley is a Clinton appointee. ...

... New York Times Editors: "The ruling, which repeatedly defers to the government's benign characterization of its own surveillance programs, demonstrates once more the importance of fixing the law at its source, rather than waiting for further interpretations by higher courts." ...

... Charles Pierce: "The subtext of what [Judge Pauley] is saying is simply that terrorists from 'a seventh-century milieu' -- actually, strip clubs in Tampa and an apartment in Hamburg -- have rendered the Fourth Amendment obsolete in a dangerous and interconnected world, and that only our all-too-human, and curiously error-prone, heroes of the surveillance state can keep us safe. Oh, and also, we common folk shouldn't ever have known about this anyway.

It cannot possibly be that lawbreaking conduct by a government contractor that reveals state secrets -- including the means and methods of intelligence gathering -- could frustrate Congress' intent. -- Judge William Pauley, in his opinion on NSA phone-records collection

     ... Thanks to James S. for the link.

... Pierce is also incensed about what he describes as numerous instances of infringement of First Amendment rights by "law enforcement in the service of corporate interests.... That, my friends, is how you seriously abridge freedom of speech in this country. You take someone with an explicitly political message who commits a specifically political act and you throw him in jail for having committed it." CW: While I appreciate Pierce's sentiments, I think Pierce is wrong about this, as I'll elaborate in the Comments. I'll expect blowback & would especially appreciate it coming from a Constitutional lawyer.

Caren Bohan of Reuters: "On the eve of the expiration of federal benefits for the long-term unemployed, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies are stepping up pressure on Republicans to renew the program. Top White House economic adviser Gene Sperling said in a statement issued on Friday that a failure to renew emergency jobless benefits would harm the economy and he urged Congress to move quickly to pass a short-term extension of the aid. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, has vowed to bring to a vote a bill extending federal unemployment insurance benefits as soon as Congress returns from its holiday recess...." ...

... Ryan Cooper in the Washington Post: "I've been ragging on the centrist brigades lately, even suggesting that their newfound focus on job growth might not be 100% sincere. But if they'll mobilize fully behind an extension of unemployment insurance, I'll eat my words. This is a simple, cheap issue that will concretely help some of our most vulnerable fellow citizens. So how about it, Third Way?" ...

... Let Them Eat Walnuts. David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post takes a charitable view of Congress -- the poor things just don't know how to budget: "... sequestration [is] a policy that -- at least in theory -- cut the good and the bad equally. That created odd contrasts: Meals on Wheels was cut, and Army units reduced training; Washington kept paying for dubious expenses such as a plane that didn't fly, an airport with no passengers and farm subsidies in Manhattan. And a private industry's 'spokes-squirrel.' This month, Congress canceled sequestration's across-the-board cuts and gave itself another chance to demonstrate that legislators can make smarter, more judicious cuts. But so far, it has mainly demonstrated the power of old Washington habits, the political reflexes that make cutting government so hard." CW: If an inability to budget is Congress's problem, how come they have no trouble slashing programs to help the needy but rally 'round a program that is supposed to help wealthy walnut growers but has no proven effect?

New Yorker: "... Hendrik Hertzberg and Ryan Lizza join host Dorothy Wickenden to take a look back at the year in politics, with a particular focus on the news we can be happy about":

AP: "The number of reported sexual assaults across the U.S. military shot up by more than 50 percent this year, an increase that defense officials say may suggest that victims are becoming more willing to come forward. A tumultuous year of scandals shined a spotlight on the crimes and put pressure on the military to take aggressive action. According to early data obtained by The Associated Press, more than 5,000 reports of sexual assault were filed during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, compared to the 3,374 in 2012."

New York Times Editors: "Even if the new defense bill spurs progress in reducing the detainee population, the delivery of credible justice for those at the Guantánamo prison camp is far from complete."

David Kocieniewski of the New York Times: "... interviews with dozens of academics and traders, and a review of hundreds of emails and other documents involving two highly visible professors in the commodities field -- [Professor Craig] Pirrong [of the University of Houston] and Professor Scott H. Irwin at the University of Illinois -- show how major players on Wall Street and elsewhere have been aggressive in underwriting and promoting academic work [that benefits the businesses]. The efforts by the financial players, the interviews show, are part of a sweeping campaign to beat back regulation and shape policies that affect the prices that people around the world pay for essentials like food, fuel and cotton."

Illustration by Dale Stephanos for the Washington Post.Dave Barry's year in review, in the Washington Post Magazine: "It was the Year of the Zombies. Not in the sense of most of humanity dying from a horrible plague and then reanimating as mindless flesh-eating ghouls.... As bad as a zombie apocalypse would be, at least it wouldn't involve the resurrection of Anthony Weiner's most private part."

Robert O'Harrow of the Washington Post: "The Small Business Administration is moving to ban one of the government's most prominent small-business contractors from new federal work, saying that the firm provided false information about its ownership and operations, documents show. The SBA said it has information showing that Tysons Corner-based MicroTechnologies LLC and its founder, Anthony R. Jimenez, submitted 'false and misleading statements' in order to receive preferential treatment, according to a Dec. 20 letter from the agency to the company."

Patricia Murphy of the Daily Beast: "If Ted Cruz seems like a one-of-a-kind, give it time. A slew of young, hard-charging, Tea Party-endorsed Senate wannabes is looking to knock off the Republican establishment again in 2014. Some have better chances than others, but all have the unmistakable Cruzian commitment to refusing to toe the Republican Party line and make headlines while doing it." Murphy introduces us to the Cruz clones.

Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker: "Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, one of the most remarkable figures in the modern Middle East, is fast discovering that the authoritarian measures he has increasingly relied on to govern Turkey, and the cult of personality he has built around himself, are conspiring to bring about his political demise.... In recent years, intoxicated by his own ascent, Erdoğan began to act like a leader who believed that Turkey's success and his own could not be separated. " CW: Just another NonMandela. And a reminder we should be grateful for the 22nd Amendment.

Will This Story End Now? Please. Reuters: "Cable network A&E said on Friday it was bringing back family patriarch Phil Robertson to the hit reality show 'Duck Dynasty' after fans protested his suspension over anti-gay remarks and big-name corporate sponsors stuck by the series." ...

... Dave Nemetz of Yahoo! News: "Conservative groups that called for Robertson's reinstatement are applauding the move...." CW: Some of those "conservatives applauding the move" are probably unemployed people who will lose their benefits today & their food stamps tomorrow. Yep, it's more important to them that a crude rich guy keeps his job than that they themselves have enough to survive. People are stoopid. ...

... Richard Kim of the Nation: "... Duck Dynasty should get real. It should show Robertson being as homophobic as he pleases, in his home, his church, his community. The show's editors have previously been criticized for asking Robertson to not say 'Jesus' at the end of his prayers; they should now let him get his Jesus freak on.... And, as long as the show's producers 'guide' reality along, they should film Robertson interacting with actual gay people." CW: AND "actual black people," too, of the sort who sing the blues.

Local News

John Ingold of the Denver Post: "Denver's first recreational marijuana store owners picked up their city licenses Friday, the final step before opening on Jan. 1 among the first shops in the world approved to sell pot to all adults."

Marissa Lang of the Salt Lake Tribune: "In the week since a federal judge overturned Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, the number of weddings in the state has skyrocketed, shattering records and accruing thousands of dollars for Utah's 29 counties. As of close of business Thursday, more than 1,225 marriage licenses had been issued in Utah since last Friday, according to numbers obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune. Of those, at least 74 percent were issued to gay and lesbian couples." ...

... Brooke Adams of the Salt Lake Tribune: "The state of Utah has turned to outside counsel for help with its efforts to stop same-sex marriages, a move the office said Thursday would temporarily delay its application for a stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Attorney General's Office planned to file a stay request Thursday but said the application would be made on Friday or Monday as it coordinates with the outside firm, which it has not yet identified.... The stay appeal will be made to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is assigned oversight of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals."

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: Johnnie R. Williams, Sr., "the businessman at the heart of a federal investigation into Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), stepped down Friday as chief executive of Star Scientific Inc., the dietary supplement maker. The company has also been given permission by stockholders to look at changing its name, indicating that it might ditch Star Scientific Inc. in favor of Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals Inc."

News Ledes

CNN: Former President Bill Clinton will swear in New York City Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio on January 1.

New York Times: "Four American military personnel assigned to the United States Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, were detained Friday and then released after being held for hours by the country's Interior Ministry, American officials said. The four were believed to have been reviewing potential evacuation routes for diplomats when they were detained...."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 27, 2013

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Obama signed a sweeping defense policy law here Thursday that cracks down on sexual assault in the military and eases restrictions on transferring detainees from the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the custody of foreign countries." ...

... Jennifer Epstein of Politico: "President Barack Obama has signed a bill that provides a broad outline for the federal budget through 2015 and eases some of sequestration's cuts, the White House said Thursday." ...

... Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "With the next budget deadline just weeks away, top lawmakers said this week that they had made significant progress negotiating a huge government-wide spending bill that gives the once mighty congressional Appropriations Committees an opportunity to reassert control over the flow of federal dollars."

Peter Whoriskey & Dan Keating of the Washington Post: "... over the past decade, the number of 'hospice survivors' in the United States has risen dramatically, in part because hospice companies earn more by recruiting patients who aren't actually dying, a Washington Post investigation has found. Healthier patients are more profitable because they require fewer visits and stay enrolled longer.... For five years, Medicare's watchdog group has been recommending that the payments to hospice companies be revised to eliminate the financial incentive for improper care, but Medicare has not yet done so." CW: I don't know what Kathleen Sebelius has been doing in Washington, but I know what she hasn't been doing -- her job. ...

... MEANWHILE, over at Veterans' Affairs, Secretary Eric Shinseki is right proud that the claims backlog is way down "to 722,013, from a high of 883,930 in July 2012." CW: Maybe Shinseki spends too much time partying with Sebelius. These people embarrass me.

Phillip Longman & Paul Hewitt in the Washington Monthly: "A frenzy of hospital mergers could leave the typical American family spending 50 percent of its income on health care within ten years -- and blaming the Democrats. The solution requires banning price discrimination by monopolistic hospitals." ...

... Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The enrollment figures may be well short of what the Obama administration had hoped for. But the fact that a significant number of Americans are now benefiting from the program is resulting in a subtle shift among Republicans." CW: "A subtle shift"? Read the story. The usual sound & fury, if you ask me.

Tracy Jan of the Boston Globe: "Even as President Obama's health insurance website limps to recovery, at least two states that used the same contractor and are still plagued with malfunctions -- Massachusetts and Vermont -- are taking preliminary steps to recoup taxpayer dollars. Massachusetts officials are reviewing legal options against CGI Group, a Montreal-based information technology company, and will make recommendations on how to seek financial redress at a Jan. 9 meeting."

Paul Krugman: High unemployment benefits the corporation at the expense of workers, which could explain why Republicans don't care about the unemployed & why populist goals are dependent upon jobs creation.

Theda Skocpol in the Atlantic on why the Tea Party will remain a strong force in GOP politics.

AND the Winner Is.... Glenn Greenwald easily bests Tom Coburn in NBC News's "Worst Guest of the Week" competition. (Coburn's entry here.)

Katherine Skiba of the Chicago Tribune has a profile of Michelle Obama at age 50. Obama's birthday in January 17.

CW: Here's the news from Right Wing World, & the level of craziness is alarming. The Washington Examiner is not the looniest of right-wing rags, but here's what the Examiner's regular columnist Paul Bedard writes: "A top financial advisor, [David Marotta,] worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a 'bug-out bag' that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive. David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, 'Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms.'" ...

... According to Jordan Weissman of the Atlantic, one of the teensy problems with Bedard's report is that Marotta was only kidding. "... most of [what Marotta says] seems to be fairly tongue-in-cheek material aimed at talking potential clients down from investing in some of the crazy, survivalist scams advertised on conservative talk radio. And the first scam on his agenda? Plowing all your money into gold, of course."

News Ledes

AP: "Target said Friday that debit-card PINs were among the financial information stolen from millions of customers who shopped at the retailer earlier this month. The company said the stolen personal identification numbers, which customers type into keypads to make secure transactions, were encrypted and that this strongly reduces risk to customers. In addition to the encrypted PINs, customer names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on back of the cards were stolen from about 40 million credit and debit cards used at Target stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15."

Hartford Courant: "State police released thousands of investigative documents related to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre Friday. The more than 6,500 pages is heavily redacted with witness statements from some of the 12 children who survived the massacre partially blacked out. The release closes the state police investigation.... State police also released 911 calls that they received on cell phones including two from inside the school as the shooting was taking place."

New York Times: "India's diplomatic corps, still seething over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York, continued its tit-for-tat campaign against American diplomats this week, revoking privileges, beginning tax investigations and issuing new consular identity cards that say the card holder can be arrested for serious offenses."

New York Times: "A long-simmering dispute between the United States and Japan over the fate of a Marine base on Okinawa seemed to have been resolved on Friday when the governor of the prefecture gave his approval to move the base to a remote area." ...

     ... AFP Update: "Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Friday praised a decision by Japanese officials to allow the relocation of a US air base in Okinawa, calling it a 'milestone' for relations with Tokyo."

New York Times: "Just a day after Egypt's military-backed government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, a more aggressive crackdown was already emerging Thursday, as the authorities announced dozens of arrests across the country, and the seizure of land, stocks and vehicles belonging to the Islamist movement's members."

AP: "A powerful bombing rocked a central business district of central Beirut[, Lebanon,] Friday, setting cars ablaze and killing five people, including a senior aide to former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, officials said. The National News Agency said Mohammed Chatah and his driver were both killed in the explosion, which wounded more than 70 others."

Guardian: "African leaders who met in South Sudan to try to mediate a conflict that threatens to unravel the world's newest country said talks had been 'promising' but admitted that it was not clear when a ceasefire might be agreed. Following nearly two weeks of fighting which has left thousands dead, a high-level delegation including the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Ethiopia's prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, landed in the capital Juba to meet President Salva Kiir on Thursday."

Times-Picayune: "A shooting spree Thursday night (Dec. 26) in Lafourche Parish left four people dead, including the suspected gunman, according to the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office. The dead include a Lafourche Parish councilman's wife, the suspect's wife, an Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital administrator as well as the suspect, the Sheriff's Office said."

Times-Picayune: "Authorities continued searching Thursday night for the person they believe opened fire in a crowd of nearly 75 people outside of an Olde Towne bar, killing two and injuring six others. Slidell Police Chief Randy Smith said at a news conference Thursday that police have identified a potential suspect, but would not release any information...."

AP: "Thailand's army chief on Friday urged both sides in the country's bitter political dispute to show restraint, but did not explicitly rule out the possibility of a coup."

Reuters: "Six more of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested in a protest over Arctic oil drilling left Russia on Friday after being granted an amnesty, the environmental group said."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 26, 2013

CW: Finally, a convincing Christmas miracle: I agree with George Will: "Thousands of prisoners are serving life without parole for nonviolent crimes. [Federal Judge John] Gleeson ... is ... dismayed at the use of the threat of mandatory minimums as 'sledgehammers' to extort guilty pleas, effectively vitiating the right to a trial. Ninety-seven percent of federal convictions are without trials, sparing the government the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Mere probable cause, and the meager presentation required for a grand jury indictment, suffices. 'Judging is removed,' Gleeson says, 'prosecutors become sentencers.' And when threats of draconian sentences compel guilty pleas, 'some innocent people will plead guilty.' Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Sens. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are questioning the regime of mandatory minimum sentences, including recidivism enhancements, that began with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Meanwhile, the human and financial costs of mass incarceration mount." ...

... Hmm, maybe Will is borrowing a sliver of Bill Moyers' show, which aired about a week ago. The transcript is here:

... Here, BTW, is David Simon's talk at the "Festival of Dangerous Ideas," a bowderlized version of which the Guardian published (& I linked) a few weeks ago -- Moyers mentions the lecture at the top of his show:

Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "A measure that President Obama is considering as a way to curb the National Security Agency's mass storage of phone data is already facing resistance — not only from the intelligence community but also from privacy advocates, the phone industry and some lawmakers. Obama last week suggested that he was open to the idea of requiring phone companies to store the records and allowing the government to search them under strict guidelines." ...

... Peter Walker of the Guardian: "Edward Snowden ... has recorded a Christmas Day television message in which he calls for an end to the mass surveillance revealed by his disclosures. The short film was recorded for Channel 4, which has 20-year history of providing unusual but relevant figures as an alternative to the Queen's Christmas message shown by other UK broadcasters. It will be Snowden's first television appearance since arriving in Moscow":

... Here's Queen Elizabeth's message:

Helena Pylväinen: "A Visit from the NSA." Here's a stanza:

To a familiar housetop the coursers they flew
(From satellite footage they already knew),
And then in a twinkling I heard in the roof
Jingling GPS trackers attached to their hoofs.

** Linda Greenhouse: the National Archives' new permanent exhibit, "Records of Rights" "presents, through a few hundred documents chosen from the billions in the archives' collection, the story of constitutional rights as an unfinished journey, an 'ongoing struggle,' in the words of one of the wall labels.... There is much here that goes beyond the obvious. The display is subtle and sophisticated, documenting ... 'the expansion -- and sometimes the retraction -- of our rights.'" Here's the National Archive's main page on the exhibit, which -- via links -- provides a sort of virtual exhibit.

Do Nothing Congress. CNN: "The worst Congress ever. That's the verdict from two-thirds of Americans about the track record of the 113th Congress, according to a new national poll. And a CNN/ORC International poll released Thursday also indicates that nearly three-quarters of the public say that this has been a 'do-nothing' Congress." ...

... Do-Nothing Congress Whacks the Vulnerable, Ctd. Amrita Jayakumar of the Washington Post: "Struggling homeowners could be hit with an unexpected tax bill in the new year. A law that spared people who owe more than their homes are worth from being saddled with extra taxes when their banks provide mortgage relief is expiring next week. Congress hasn't extended it." ...

... Do-Nothing Congress Whacks the Vulnerable, Ctd. The Washington Post publishes this reminder by Ylan Mui: "An estimated 1.3 million long-term unemployed workers ... are expected to be affected when the [unemployment benefits extension] program expires [this Saturday]. The extended benefits, staunchly opposed by Republicans, were left out of the bipartisan federal budget agreement reached this month." ...

... George Zornick in the Washington Post: "With polls already showing a potential voter backlash and local news outlets giving the story serious play, advocates are ratcheting up the pressure even further by taking out television ads depicting Republicans as heartless Scrooges.... What is particularly useful about this approach is that there's no pressure coming from the other side -- unlike, say, the debate over 'Obamacare,' there are no well-funded conservative groups out there pressing for an end to the emergency unemployment program.... The conservative grass roots don't appear to be fired up about the issue":

... The Fake War on Christmas Goes to Congress. Rebecca Shabad of the Hill: "Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) on Tuesday vowed to protect Christmas against what he called a 'vocal minority' offended by its symbols and traditions. 'There is a vocal minority that is offended at the rest of us who want to celebrate Christmas,' he said Tuesday on 'Fox and Friends.' 'Just because someone is offended doesn't mean that they can shut down the religious celebration or acknowledgment of every other American.' Lamborn recently introduced a two-page resolution, H.Res. 448, that would strongly disapprove of efforts to ban Christmas references, while supporting anyone who wants to promote its symbols." ...

... OR, as D. S. Wright of Firedoglake puts it, "After spending a term outright attacking the poor and meek -- whom Jesus spoke favorably of -- House Republicans want the symbols of Christ's birth to be protected from a phantom menace." ...

... CW: ALSO, the author of the Gospel of Matthew has Jesus sternly & repeatedly warn against people like Rep. Lamborn, in a series of verses that describe hypocrites who flaunt their piety & in so doing disgrace themselves before God. The one big difference: Matthew's hypocrites do give alms to the poor.

Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon: "2013 -- the Year in Sexism."

John Carney of CNBC imagines "some of the biggest names in economics and econ-blogging [getting] into a fight about Christmas." CW: Carney proves himself a fine mimic.

Ken Belson of the New York Times: "Most researchers believe that C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in dozens of former N.F.L. players, can be diagnosed only posthumously by analyzing brain tissue. Researchers at U.C.L.A. have developed a test they assert might identify the condition in a living person by injecting a compound that clings to proteins in the brain and later appears in a PET scan. But some are skeptical."

Quack. Wes Venteicher of the Chicago Tribune: "Jesse Jackson Sr. has ... compared ['Duck Dynasty' star Phil] Robertson's recent comments about African-Americans, gay people and women to comments made by the driver of Rosa Parks' bus. 'At least the bus driver, who ordered Rosa Parks to surrender her seat to a white person, was following state law,' he said in the release. 'Robertson's statements were uttered freely and openly without cover of the law, within a context of what he seemed to believe was 'white privilege.' Jackson's human rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has demanded meetings with A&E and with Cracker Barrel regarding the two companies' treatment of Robertson...."

News Ledes

AP: "A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his landmark conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday. A three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously rejected prosecution arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, was legally responsible for an abused boy's welfare in the late 1990s.

New York Times: "The United States is quietly rushing dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by a Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria. The move follows an appeal for help in battling the extremist group by the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who met with President Obama in Washington last month."

AFP: "Nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid an inflammatory visit to the Yasukuni war shrine Thursday, angering China which accused Japan of whitewashing a history of warmongering and said it must 'bear the consequences'. South Korea also blasted the 'anachronistic' move and Tokyo's chief ally the United States declared itself disappointed with an act that it said would worsen tensions with Japan's neighbours."

AP: "Thailand's election commission on Thursday called for upcoming polls to be delayed as street battles between security forces and protesters seeking to disrupt the ballot killed a police officer and injured nearly 100 people, dealing fresh blows to the beleaguered government. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra wants the Feb. 2 elections to take place as scheduled, believing she would win handily and renew her mandate. The street violence adds to pressure on her to take a tougher line against the protesters, risking more chaos and possible intervention by the army."

AP: Abu Mohammed al-Golani, "the shadowy leader of a powerful al-Qaida group fighting in Syria, sought to kidnap United Nations workers and scrawled out plans for his aides to take over in the event of his death, according to excerpts of letters obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press."

AFP: "Russia on Thursday started issuing visas to foreign crew members of a Greenpeace protest ship and dropped the criminal case against the last member of the 30-strong team. Italy's Christian d'Alessandro was notified by investigators that the case against him had been dropped, Greenpeace said. Earlier this week, Russia closed the cases of the other 29 crew members of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship under a Kremlin-backed amnesty."

Washington Post: "President Obama spent a quiet Christmas ... in his native Hawaii thanking military service members and their families for their 'incredible sacrifices' to their country. After opening presents and singing Christmas carols with his family at their lush and secluded vacation compound, Obama paid a visit to about 580 active duty troops and their families at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in what has become an annual tradition for this president. He said he also called 10 troops who are deployed in such far-away locales as Afghanistan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia."