- Why the Democrats lost their nerve in the shutdown battle (WaPo) "At a caucus meeting in a room just off the Senate floor, a group of vulnerable Senate Democrats told their leader, Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), that the cost of their effort to protect young undocumented immigrants known as 'dreamers' from deportation was rapidly escalating. It could imperil what was otherwise a promising outlook in November’s midterm election — and with it, the Democrats’ hopes of ending their exile from power. This time, it was the Democrats’ turn to learn what Republicans have before them: First, that bringing the government to a halt is not an advantageous way for the opposition to force through the policy objectives it has not been able to achieve through legislating. And second, that the party that holds the White House has the upper hand."
- Democrats Blink in Shutdown Impasse, Hoping for a Bargain (NYT) "Democrats need to protect 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election in states carried by the president and appeal to the swing voters who could flip control of the House. The president, top Republicans and their allies had some success in framing the showdown as a case of Democrats putting the interests of 'illegal immigrants' ahead of American citizens, a line of attack Democrats felt they could not weather. Over the weekend it became clear that using the shutdown to insist on protections for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants was a serious miscalculation."
- Democrats Blink in Shutdown Impasse, Hoping for a Bargain (NYT) "Democrats need to protect 10 Senate Democrats up for re-election in states carried by the president and appeal to the swing voters who could flip control of the House. The president, top Republicans and their allies had some success in framing the showdown as a case of Democrats putting the interests of 'illegal immigrants' ahead of American citizens, a line of attack Democrats felt they could not weather. Over the weekend it became clear that using the shutdown to insist on protections for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants was a serious miscalculation."
- Schumer Sells Out the Resistance (NYT) "Some Democrats in Washington, spooked by Republican accusations that by shutting down the government they were hurting the military to protect noncitizens, think Schumer took the safe, cautious course. They may be right. One poll taken before the shutdown showed that voters were more likely to blame Republicans than Democrats, but another revealed that most didn’t think it was worth shutting down the government to pass DACA. But political cowardice carries its own risk. It emboldens your enemies and disheartens your allies."
BUSINESS:
- President Trump’s Solar Tariffs Are a Big Blow to Renewables (Fortune) "Trump approved duties of as much as 30% on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80% of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected 23,000 job losses this year in a sector that employed 260,000. The duties won’t be entirely devastating for the U.S. solar industry, said Hugh Bromley, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. He estimated they’ll increase costs for large solar farms by less than 10%. The expense of a residential system, he said, will rise by about 3%."
- Netflix is now worth more than $100B (TechCrunch) "...the big story here is that [Netflix] continues to wow Wall Street with impressive growth in its subscriber numbers. The company said it added more than 8 million new subscribers total after already setting pretty robust targets for the fourth quarter this year..."
MORE SMOKE:
- Alleged payment to porn star was illegal donation to Trump campaign, watchdog says (Politico) "An attorney for Common Cause, Paul Ryan, said the payment appeared to be hush money. He compared the situation to the series of events that resulted in the prosecution of former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) over nearly $1 million in payments allegedly made to cover up an affair he had with videographer Rielle Hunter during his 2008 presidential bid. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said the complaints were without merit."
- George Papadopoulos is the ‘John Dean’ of the Russia investigation, his fiancee says (WaPo) "But she indicated in an interview that she believes he ultimately will emerge as more than a bit player in the Russia probe — and that his decision to cooperate after he was arrested getting off an airplane at Dulles International Airport in July was a key turning point. 'There’s a lot to come,' she said. 'He was the first one to break a hole on all of this.'"
- Netflix is now worth more than $100B (TechCrunch) "...the big story here is that [Netflix] continues to wow Wall Street with impressive growth in its subscriber numbers. The company said it added more than 8 million new subscribers total after already setting pretty robust targets for the fourth quarter this year..."
MORE SMOKE:
- Alleged payment to porn star was illegal donation to Trump campaign, watchdog says (Politico) "An attorney for Common Cause, Paul Ryan, said the payment appeared to be hush money. He compared the situation to the series of events that resulted in the prosecution of former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) over nearly $1 million in payments allegedly made to cover up an affair he had with videographer Rielle Hunter during his 2008 presidential bid. Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said the complaints were without merit."
- George Papadopoulos is the ‘John Dean’ of the Russia investigation, his fiancee says (WaPo) "But she indicated in an interview that she believes he ultimately will emerge as more than a bit player in the Russia probe — and that his decision to cooperate after he was arrested getting off an airplane at Dulles International Airport in July was a key turning point. 'There’s a lot to come,' she said. 'He was the first one to break a hole on all of this.'"
SPORTS:
NEWS:
- Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google spent nearly $50 million — a record — to influence the U.S. government in 2017 (Re/code) "Over the course of 2017, the biggest brands in tech warred with the White House over immigration, tried and failed to save net neutrality and weathered a congressional investigation into the ways in which Russian trolls spread propaganda on their sites during the last election. Amazon...spent more than $12.8 million in lobbying last year — nearly four times what it spent four years earlier... Facebook spent a record amount last year — roughly $11.5 million — as lawmakers railed on the social giant for the 'fake news' and other content that appeared in users’ feeds. And Apple shelled out $7 million — again, more than ever — to lobby the U.S. government over the same period. The iPhone giant continued to press forward on issues like encryption and immigration. And the company — like the rest of the industry — advocated for the tax reform law recently signed by Trump."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Intel Says the Patch Designed to Fix Flawed Chips Is Faulty (Fortune) "The issue of the faulty patches is separate from complaints by customers for weeks that the patches slow computer performance. Intel has said a typical home and business PC user should not see significant slowdowns."
- Apple CEO Tim Cook says he wouldn’t let a child use social media (WaPo) "Yet, the CEO disclaimed, 'I’m not a person that says we’ve achieved success if you’re using [technology] all the time.' Thus his caution about social media, which seems to be one of few forms of popular technology that Apple is not actively trying to develop and sell."
TECHNOLOGY:
- Intel Says the Patch Designed to Fix Flawed Chips Is Faulty (Fortune) "The issue of the faulty patches is separate from complaints by customers for weeks that the patches slow computer performance. Intel has said a typical home and business PC user should not see significant slowdowns."
- Apple CEO Tim Cook says he wouldn’t let a child use social media (WaPo) "Yet, the CEO disclaimed, 'I’m not a person that says we’ve achieved success if you’re using [technology] all the time.' Thus his caution about social media, which seems to be one of few forms of popular technology that Apple is not actively trying to develop and sell."
- DuckDuckGo Moves Privacy Beyond Search With New App And Extension (TechCrunch) "The Philadelphia-area company promises that it won’t sell, or even store, its users’ search histories or other private information. ...DuckDuckGo is rolling out a browser extension—available for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari as of Tuesday—and smartphone apps designed to filter out tracking code, automatically direct users to encrypted HTTPS versions of sites, and provide privacy ratings for websites. Naturally, users will also be able to search DuckDuckGo from within the extension."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- This Parka Keeps Olympians Toasty With Heat-Conducting Ink (Wired) "The heated jacket works almost like an electric blanket—except instead of wires or coils sewn into the fabric, the heat comes through a special type of carbon and silver ink bonded to the jacket lining. The ink conducts heat in the same way a wire would, and connects to a small battery pack sewn into the garment. When fully charged, the jacket itself stores up to 11 hours of heating time. Athletes can adjust the temperature up or down through a smartphone app; designers stress-tested the jacket inside of meat lockers to ensure that, on the highest setting, it could withstand temperatures as cold as 20 below zero."
- Minnie Mouse Gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame — 40 Years After Mickey Got His (KTLA) "And while she’s famous for 'playing the damsel in distress,' [Walt Disney CEO and Chairman Robert] Iger said, 'the truth is Minnie can hold her own in any situation.'"
- At Davos, 6 Feet of Snow Brings Limousines to a Crawl (NYT) "In perhaps the most harrowing indignity for the plutocrats who have made the World Economic Forum their favorite winter meeting ground, even the town’s helicopter pad was closed because of the snowstorm. By early afternoon, a quarter-mile trip in one of the ubiquitous black luxury minivans with plush leather seats that shuttle participants around the town took nearly an hour."
TODAY'S SONG:
- When When (Civil Twilight)
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- This Parka Keeps Olympians Toasty With Heat-Conducting Ink (Wired) "The heated jacket works almost like an electric blanket—except instead of wires or coils sewn into the fabric, the heat comes through a special type of carbon and silver ink bonded to the jacket lining. The ink conducts heat in the same way a wire would, and connects to a small battery pack sewn into the garment. When fully charged, the jacket itself stores up to 11 hours of heating time. Athletes can adjust the temperature up or down through a smartphone app; designers stress-tested the jacket inside of meat lockers to ensure that, on the highest setting, it could withstand temperatures as cold as 20 below zero."
- Minnie Mouse Gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame — 40 Years After Mickey Got His (KTLA) "And while she’s famous for 'playing the damsel in distress,' [Walt Disney CEO and Chairman Robert] Iger said, 'the truth is Minnie can hold her own in any situation.'"
- At Davos, 6 Feet of Snow Brings Limousines to a Crawl (NYT) "In perhaps the most harrowing indignity for the plutocrats who have made the World Economic Forum their favorite winter meeting ground, even the town’s helicopter pad was closed because of the snowstorm. By early afternoon, a quarter-mile trip in one of the ubiquitous black luxury minivans with plush leather seats that shuttle participants around the town took nearly an hour."
TODAY'S SONG:
- When When (Civil Twilight)
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