- The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S. (NYT) "While there’s no way to be certain of the ultimate impact of the hack, this much is clear: A low-cost, high-impact weapon that Russia had test-fired in elections from Ukraine to Europe was trained on the United States, with devastating effectiveness. 'There shouldn’t be any doubt in anybody’s mind,' Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of United States Cyber Command said at a postelection conference. 'This was not something that was done casually, this was not something that was done by chance, this was not a target that was selected purely arbitrarily,' he said. 'This was a conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect.' Did he [Putin] seek to mar the brand of American democracy, to forestall anti-Russian activism for both Russians and their neighbors? Or to weaken the next American president, since presumably Mr. Putin had no reason to doubt American forecasts that Mrs. Clinton would win easily? Or was it, as the C.I.A. concluded last month, a deliberate attempt to elect Mr. Trump? In fact, the Russian hack-and-dox scheme accomplished all three goals." and Trump Won the Election Fair and Square — That Doesn't Mean the Russians Played No Part (National Reveiw) "But countless credible sources have said that the Kremlin interfered with our election. Trump and his team are foolish and irresponsible to rain scorn on that. The real debate is over whether the Russian meddling — which echoes similar meddling across Europe — was intended to get Trump elected or simply to erode confidence in the democratic process. I fail to see how this is an either/or choice. It’s a poisonous situation all around. Trump refuses to budge on his claim to a glorious, massive victory (or back off of his disturbing Putinphilia). Democrats — and much of the media — won’t grapple with the fact that Clinton lost fair and square, and they are in desperate pursuit of excuses to reject Trump’s legitimacy."
BUSINESS:
- When Donald Trump Hate-Tweeted Lockheed Martin, Hedge Funds Were Ready (Fortune) "It turns out, though, that Twitter is not only the place to read about the President-elect’s latest idea, it’s also a good tool for predicting what Trump will tweet about next--and what stocks are about to fall. And while many investors sold Lockheed Martin shares after Trump tweeted, hedge funds likely dumped the stock sooner. Hedge funds are increasingly using analytics from companies like Dataminr and Social Market Analytics to uncover trading signals buried in the firehose of tweets and other social media posts. And there were plenty of clues that Donald Trump was likely to attack Lockheed Martin, which hedge funds no doubt picked up on. For starters, Trump had made almost identical comments on Fox News Sunday an entire day before he tweeted them. For some traders--or computerized trading algorithms--just seeing those sentiment indicators head downward would be enough to sell Lockheed Martin shares. No need to wait and see if and what Trump tweets next: For hedge funds, the earlier they can act and stay farther ahead of the rest of the market, the more money they can make."
NEWS:
- Trump Isolates Himself with C.I.A. Attack (New Yorker) "But the reaction to his latest hissy fit does suggest that he has made his first big misstep since the election. In the phrase often attributed to Talleyrand after Napoleon ordered the summary execution of the Duke of Enghien, Trump’s attack on the C.I.A., and his refusal even to countenance the notion that Putin’s hackers sought to help him out, was 'worse than a crime—it was a blunder.'"
- What Obama Doesn’t Share with America’s Greatest Presidents (Ozy) "According to recent findings from two politics professors at New York University, the factor that best predicts how well-regarded a U.S. president will be by historians is: The number of American war deaths during their tenure in office."
- Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists (WaPo) "Ayn Rand was perhaps the leading literary voice in 20th century America for the notion that, in society, there are makers and takers, and that the takers are parasitic moochers who get in the way of the morally-superior innovators. Her books portray the federal government as an evil force, trying to stop hard-working men from accumulating the wealth that she believes they deserve. The author was also an outspoken atheist, something that oozes through in her writing. Rand explained that the essence of 'objectivism,' as she called her ideology, is that 'man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.'"
- Electors demand intelligence briefing before Electoral College vote (Politico) "In a letter to National Intelligence Director James Clapper, the electors — nine Democrats and one Republican — argue that they require the information ahead of Dec. 19, when the Electoral College is set to meet and select the next president."
POLITICS:
- Dispute over Russia reflects growing Republican resistance to Trump (WaPo) "Although Trump maintains enthusiastic backing in many corners of the party, key members of the Senate and House have been outspoken in challenging his views of Russia and its interference in the U.S. election, warning of potential conflicts of interest arising from Trump’s far-flung business interests if he does not fully divest from his company, and criticizing the tough approach that he has taken to some companies, including his threat to impose a stiff tariff on firms that move jobs overseas. Taken together, the tensions between the president-elect and fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill reflect a major test for how the GOP congressional majorities will handle the unusual circumstances of the Trump era."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Meet the Blind Man Who Convinced Google Its Self-Driving Car Is Finally Ready (Wired) "After eight years and 2 million miles, the tech giant is taking its self-driving car project out of X, its division dedicated to moonshots like internet-slinging balloons and delivery drones. Starting today, the drive for autonomy is called Waymo, a standalone company under the Alphabet corporate umbrella. And that means it’s time to take the technology to market." and Google has reportedly stopped developing its own self-driving car (TechCrunch)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- 3 election stats liberals love that don’t mean as much as they seem (WaPo) "1) Clinton got more votes than any presidential candidate except President Obama. 2) Green Party nominee Jill Stein exceeded Trump's margin in the states that mattered. 3) Democrats won the Senate popular vote."
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BUSINESS:
- When Donald Trump Hate-Tweeted Lockheed Martin, Hedge Funds Were Ready (Fortune) "It turns out, though, that Twitter is not only the place to read about the President-elect’s latest idea, it’s also a good tool for predicting what Trump will tweet about next--and what stocks are about to fall. And while many investors sold Lockheed Martin shares after Trump tweeted, hedge funds likely dumped the stock sooner. Hedge funds are increasingly using analytics from companies like Dataminr and Social Market Analytics to uncover trading signals buried in the firehose of tweets and other social media posts. And there were plenty of clues that Donald Trump was likely to attack Lockheed Martin, which hedge funds no doubt picked up on. For starters, Trump had made almost identical comments on Fox News Sunday an entire day before he tweeted them. For some traders--or computerized trading algorithms--just seeing those sentiment indicators head downward would be enough to sell Lockheed Martin shares. No need to wait and see if and what Trump tweets next: For hedge funds, the earlier they can act and stay farther ahead of the rest of the market, the more money they can make."
NEWS:
- Trump Isolates Himself with C.I.A. Attack (New Yorker) "But the reaction to his latest hissy fit does suggest that he has made his first big misstep since the election. In the phrase often attributed to Talleyrand after Napoleon ordered the summary execution of the Duke of Enghien, Trump’s attack on the C.I.A., and his refusal even to countenance the notion that Putin’s hackers sought to help him out, was 'worse than a crime—it was a blunder.'"
- What Obama Doesn’t Share with America’s Greatest Presidents (Ozy) "According to recent findings from two politics professors at New York University, the factor that best predicts how well-regarded a U.S. president will be by historians is: The number of American war deaths during their tenure in office."
- Ayn Rand-acolyte Donald Trump stacks his cabinet with fellow objectivists (WaPo) "Ayn Rand was perhaps the leading literary voice in 20th century America for the notion that, in society, there are makers and takers, and that the takers are parasitic moochers who get in the way of the morally-superior innovators. Her books portray the federal government as an evil force, trying to stop hard-working men from accumulating the wealth that she believes they deserve. The author was also an outspoken atheist, something that oozes through in her writing. Rand explained that the essence of 'objectivism,' as she called her ideology, is that 'man exists for his own sake, that the pursuit of his own happiness is his highest moral purpose, that he must not sacrifice himself to others, nor sacrifice others to himself.'"
- Electors demand intelligence briefing before Electoral College vote (Politico) "In a letter to National Intelligence Director James Clapper, the electors — nine Democrats and one Republican — argue that they require the information ahead of Dec. 19, when the Electoral College is set to meet and select the next president."
POLITICS:
- Dispute over Russia reflects growing Republican resistance to Trump (WaPo) "Although Trump maintains enthusiastic backing in many corners of the party, key members of the Senate and House have been outspoken in challenging his views of Russia and its interference in the U.S. election, warning of potential conflicts of interest arising from Trump’s far-flung business interests if he does not fully divest from his company, and criticizing the tough approach that he has taken to some companies, including his threat to impose a stiff tariff on firms that move jobs overseas. Taken together, the tensions between the president-elect and fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill reflect a major test for how the GOP congressional majorities will handle the unusual circumstances of the Trump era."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Meet the Blind Man Who Convinced Google Its Self-Driving Car Is Finally Ready (Wired) "After eight years and 2 million miles, the tech giant is taking its self-driving car project out of X, its division dedicated to moonshots like internet-slinging balloons and delivery drones. Starting today, the drive for autonomy is called Waymo, a standalone company under the Alphabet corporate umbrella. And that means it’s time to take the technology to market." and Google has reportedly stopped developing its own self-driving car (TechCrunch)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- 3 election stats liberals love that don’t mean as much as they seem (WaPo) "1) Clinton got more votes than any presidential candidate except President Obama. 2) Green Party nominee Jill Stein exceeded Trump's margin in the states that mattered. 3) Democrats won the Senate popular vote."
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