memeorandum: DOJ sends order to Twitter for Wikileaks-related account info (Declan McCullagh/CNET News)

11:10 AM ET, January 8, 2011

Top Items:

Dominic Rushe / Guardian:

US tells Twitter to pass on messages — Icelandic MP to fight attempts by the US department of justice to access her private information — A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages.

Discussion: The Hill, Balloon Juice, Informed Comment and Liberal Conspiracy

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

DOJ subpoenas Twitter records of several WikiLeaks volunteers — (updated below - Update II) — Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir — a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament — announced (on Twitter) that she had been notified by Twitter …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Raw Story and Gawker, more at Techmeme »

Declan McCullagh / CNET News:

DOJ sends order to Twitter for Wikileaks-related account info — The U.S. Justice Department has obtained a court order directing Twitter to turn over information about the accounts of activists with ties to Wikileaks, including an Icelandic politician, a legendary Dutch hacker, and a U.S. computer programmer.

Discussion: TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Feds Subpoena Twitter Seeking Information on Ex-WikiLeaks Volunteer

Discussion: Boing Boing and Little Green Footballs

Philip Klein / AmSpecBlog:

BREAKING: CBO Says Repealing ObamaCare Would Reduce Net Spending by $540 Billion — The Congressional Budget Office, in an email to Capitol Hill staffers obtained by the Spectator, has said that repealing the national health care law would reduce net spending by $540 billion in the ten year period from 2012 through 2021.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Don Surber, The Policy Page, The Confluence, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Doug Ross, Hot Air, HotAirPundit, Weasel Zippers, The New Editor, The Gateway Pundit, Wake up America and New York Times

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

LOVE IT... House Votes to Repeal “Job-Killing” Health Care Law 236-181 — It was a bi-partisan vote by the way... 4 Democrats joined with Republicans in a 236-181 vote. — Click to Enlarge- — The language: — “Providing for consideration of H.R. 2, to repeal the job-killing health care law …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Weigel, Wonk Room, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers and Firedoglake

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press: House takes first step toward health care repeal

Ezra Klein:

When opposition to health-care reform stops being polite and starts getting scary — In the Wyoming state legislature, 10 congressmen and three senators have co-sponsored “The Health Care Choice and Protection Act.” The intent? To make it a felony to implement the health-care reform law …

The White House:

Statement by the President on H.R. 6523 — Today I have signed into law H.R. 6523, the “Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011.” The Act authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, for military construction, and for national security-related energy programs.

Discussion: New York Times, ProPublica, Emptywheel, TPMMuckraker, Human Rights First and Lawfare

The Huffington Post:
Obama Objects To Gitmo Limits, But Doesn't Claim Right To Defy Them

Discussion: TalkLeft, Lawfare and FrumForum

Todd Starnes / Fox News:

‘Mother,’ ‘Father’ Changing to ‘Parent One,’ ‘Parent Two’ on Passport Applications — Section of current passport application asking for “father” and “mother” information. — The words “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with gender neutral terminology, the State Department says.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, pandagon.net, Top of the Ticket, theblogprof, Fausta's Blog, Outside the Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Jawa Report and JammieWearingFool

Christopher Weber / Politics Daily:
On Passports, Mother and Father Will Soon Be ‘Parent 1’ and ‘Parent 2’

Discussion: PR Newswire

Yasmine El-Rashidi / english.ahram.org.eg:

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as “human shields” — Muslims turned up in droves for the Coptic Christmas mass Thursday night, offering their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to Egypt's threatened Christian community — Egypt's majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Jawa Report, Wake up America, Informed Comment, Outside the Beltway and Greg's Opinion

Michael Powell / New York Times:

Obama the Centrist Irks a Liberal Lion — BERKELEY, Calif. — So how would he grade President Obama's economic policies, and the new team put in place this week? — Though Robert B. Reich, the former labor secretary, endorsed Mr. Obama and has traveled to the White House to provide economic counsel …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Top GOPer praises Obama picks — (CNN) - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is hopeful the staff shake ups at the White House this week that included a new chief of staff and director of the National Economic Council are a sign President Barack Obama is moving toward the political center.

Discussion: The Politico

Jill Lawrence / Politics Daily:
Robert Gibbs' Successor: How About a Woman as White House Press Secretary?

Discussion: PBS and Fox News

Reuters:

Stockholm bomber was trained in Iraq, says official — (Reuters) - Iraq informed the United States about a plot to carry out bombings in Sweden two months before an attack in Stockholm by a man trained in Iraq, an Iraqi security official told al Arabiya television on Friday.

Discussion: 1 The Long War Journal, The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers and The Local

Sean J. Miller / The Hill:

Obama touts tax deal as vehicle for economic growth in new year — President Obama predicted the tax package passed recently by Congress would help drive down unemployment and grow the economy faster than previously expected. — “I fought for that package because, while we are recovering …

Discussion: The Politico

Jana Winter / Fox News:

China's New Fighter Jet Could Pose ‘Terrifying’ Challenge to U.S. Fleet — While the Pentagon downplays China's rollout this week of what appears to be a jet fighter designed using sophisticated stealth technology, military experts are warning that the aircraft - reportedly capable …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times and Weasel Zippers

Matt Negrin / The Politico:

On economy, Obama turns to pros — 'You know, you've got to talk to Austan Goolsbee. That's his job,' President Obama said. — AP Photo — After reading his prepared remarks on the economy at a window manufacturer on Friday, President Obama sought to take some photos with workers …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Fox Nation

Ralph Reed / National Review:

Targeting Tom DeLay — The ascension of a new Republican majority in the House of Representatives this week contrasts sharply with an event that will unfold next Monday 1,300 miles away in a courtroom in Austin, Texas: the sentencing of former House majority leader Tom DeLay.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:

GOP representatives regret skipped oath — In a letter to be distributed Friday night, Reps. Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick apologize to all 433 of their House colleagues for voting after missing out on taking their official oath of office during Wednesday's opening ceremonies of the 112th Congress.

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, The Hill and ThinkProgress