Good morning — and a Merry Christmas (to members of Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar)!
On this date in 1959, the US recognized Fidel Castro’s new government in Cuba (diplomatic relations were severed less than two years later), and in 1999, the Senate impeachment trial of Bill Clinton began.
“A terrorist attack of exceptional barbarity” –> Twelve people have reportedly been killed in an attack on the Parisian offices of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo. The perpetrators seem to have been Islamic extremists angered by the magazine’s mockery of the Islamic State, but that has yet to be confirmed. The BBC has more details.
Wasting no time –> Experts say an obscure and wonky proposal in the House could represent an opening shot at Social Security and Medicare by the new Republican Congress. Dylan Scott explains the ins and outs of the issue at TPM.
Hard time –> Five prison inmates who say they were brutally beaten by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were awarded more than $5 million to cover their legal fees. Cindy Chang reports for the LAT that the amount “is unusually large for such cases and may encourage more attorneys to represent indigent plaintiffs who claim abuse by their jailers.” Last year, the inmates received $950,000 in damages.
Coy no more –> We mentioned that on Monday, the White House was being “coy” about the prospect of vetoing a bill that would force approval of the Keystone pipeline. Zoë Carpenter reports for The Nation that they clarified on Tuesday that they will in fact veto such a bill.
SCOTUS dragged into the 20th century –> Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick writes about the Supreme Court’s slowness adopting new technologies. An announcement that the court would make filings available online, writes Lithwick, created “widespread delight that the court is joining the 20th century, mingled with frustration at all the ways in which it declines to join the 21st. ”
Criminalizing pregnancy –> Alternet’s Tana Ganeva reports that “the demonization of female drug users has a long history,” and the trend of putting pregnant addicts in jail is just the latest chapter.
Learn from the pros –> With news of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s two-year sentence for corruption, two other notorious Republi-cons, or ex-cons, Jack Abramoff and Bob Ney, offer some advice at The Daily Beast for getting through prison life.
Joining –> UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that Palestine will join the International Criminal Court on April 1, setting the stage for possible prosecution of alleged Israeli war crimes. The move has inflamed Israel’s right wing. AJE has the details.
Low-speed rail –> At Grist, Nathanael Johnson writes of California’s controversial high-speed rail project, which broke ground yesterday: “I voted to fund this rail project in 2008. I got married in 2009. I became a father in 2011. If there are no hitches, my daughter won’t be able to make this trip until she’s 18.”
Your crank of the day –> The Internet is laughing at Frederick, Maryland, Councilman Kirby Delauter for scolding a reporter for mentioning him in a news story “without authorization.” After the reporter pointed out on Facebook that the job of a free press is to report on elected officials, Delauter wrote: “Use my name again unauthorized and you’ll be paying for a lawyer. Your rights stop where mine start.” The Frederick News-Post has an appropriately scathing — and name-calling — editorial about the exchange.
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