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4:15 PM ET, January 4, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
MSNBC:
Richardson withdraws as Commerce nominee  —  New Mexico governor cites pending investigation of business dealings  —  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position …
RELATED:
Fox News:
Bill Richardson Withdraws as Commerce Secretary-Designate  —  The commerce secretary-designate has withdrawn his nomination because of an investigation into whether Bill Richardson exchanged New Mexico state government contracts for campaign financing.  —  FOXNews.com
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Richardson Withdraws Name as Commerce Secretary-Designee  —  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration as commerce secretary for President-elect Barack Obama, citing an ongoing investigation about business dealings in his state.
Discussion: Wizbang and City Desk
The Caucus:
Richardson Withdraws From Cabinet Appointment  —  (Tannen Maury/European Pressphoto Agency)  —  Mr. Richardson says in the statement that he and his administration “have acted properly in all matters,” but that the “ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.”
Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:
Richardson Withdraws as Commerce Nominee  —  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination as President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary Sunday, citing a federal grand-jury investigation into a “pay to play” scheme in his home state, Obama transition officials said.
Discussion: Washington Wire and Power Line
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Video: Richardson withdraws from Obama Cabinet  —  It didn't take long for Barack Obama to have his first brush with scandal in his administration.  In fact, he managed to do that before taking the oath of office.  Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination as Commerce Secretary …
The Politico:
Richardson exits Cabinet due to probe  —  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced Sunday afternoon that he is withdrawing as President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of Commerce because of unanswered questions about a federal grand jury investigation back home.
Times of London:
Israel splits Gaza in three as soldiers battle Hamas  —  James Hider on the Gaza border and Azmi Keshawi in Gaza City  —  Israeli troops fought heavy battles with Hamas fighters in two densely populated Gaza towns today as the Army sought to split the strip into three sections to cut off the Islamist group's supply lines.
RELATED:
Haaretz:
Israeli soldier killed as IDF deepens Gaza ground operation
Discussion: Preemptive Karma
Jerusalem Post:
Two senior Hamas terrorists killed in IAF strike
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Reid cracks Senate door open for Burris  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated Sunday that there is a chance that controversial Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris could be seated in the upper chamber.  —  Reid, who appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press,” …
RELATED:
The Politico:
Burris puts Senate Dems in tough spot  —  The defiant move by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to name a Senate successor to Barack Obama has triggered a political and legal mess that could drag on for months and is already prompting uncomfortable racial questions for Democrats.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Orwell, blinding tribalism, selective Terrorism, and Israel/Gaza  —  (updated below)  —  Former McCain-Palin campaign spokesman and current Weekly Standard editor Michael Goldfarb notes that Israel, a couple of days ago, dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a Gazan home which killed a top Hamas leader …
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Goldfarb Endorses Terrorist Ethics
Discussion: Alas, a blog
John Harlow / Times of London:
Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble  —  RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it is falling apart.  —  Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers …
RELATED:
RELATED:
Bill Sammon / Fox News:
Bush 41: Jeb Bush for President
Discussion: JammieWearingFool
New York Times:
The End of the Financial World as We Know It  —  AMERICANS enter the New Year in a strange new role: financial lunatics.  We've been viewed by the wider world with mistrust and suspicion on other matters, but on the subject of money even our harshest critics have been inclined to believe that we knew what we were doing.
Washington Post:
More Groups Than Thought Monitored in Police Spying  —  New Documents Reveal Md. Program's Reach  —  The Maryland State Police surveillance of advocacy groups was far more extensive than previously acknowledged, with records showing that troopers monitored — and labeled as terrorists …
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
SURVEILLANCE STATE RUN AMOK.... In July, the Washington Post reported …
Discussion: The Impolitic
Peterr / Firedoglake:
Violence is the Tool of the Incompetent  —  The apartheid wall in East Jerusalem, Nov 2006  —  My denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), has long-standing ties with Lutherans in the Middle East that have focused mainly on education (building schools) and both short-term …
Discussion: The Mahablog, QandO and New York Times
 
 
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 More Items: 
NY Daily News:
Rangel denies fund pitch tied to panel work
Discussion: driftglass
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blogs:
Schumer: Franken is the winner
Discussion: Yahoo! News
New York Times:
A New Chapter: Europe Is Ready to Work With Obama
Martin Kady II / The Crypt's Blogs:
Cheney: Iraq intel was “wrong”
Discussion: Donklephant
Ynetnews:
Pro-Israeli rally draws thousands to Paris
Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and Yourish.com
Klaus Marre / The Hill:
Cheney: ‘I would absolutely do it again’
Discussion: Think Progress
Ray Rivera / New York Times:
Times Square Rally Protests Fighting in Gaza
 Earlier Items: 
Ynetnews:
Don't pity the Palestinians  —  Pity worst form of patronizing …
Discussion: Mere Rhetoric
Elizabeth Olson / New York Times:
A Rise in Efforts to Spot Abuse in Youth Dating
Discussion: The Other McCain and pandagon.net
Times of London:
Fears over earthquake ‘swarm’ at Yellowstone National Park
Discussion: Capital Commerce
Michael Sheridan / Times of London:
China rattled by Sun King attack
Discussion: Fresh Bilge
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using its technology to power some features in iOS 18; talks with Google on using Gemini remain ongoing

William Brown / Firstyear's blog-a-log:
Google and Apple use passkeys to capture users by locking credentials into their platforms and have made the UX of passkeys worse than that of password managers

Karen Weise / New York Times:
Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet disclosed that they had spent $32B+ combined on data centers and other capital expenses in Q1, as they accelerate AI spending

 
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