The (Cyber) Terrorists Win

Dec. 19, 2014 The Agenda It's not just The Interview: Paramount pulls Team America substitute over hacking fears The Daily Beast Three movie theaters say Paramount Pictures has ordered them not to show Team America: World Police one day after Sony Pictures surrendered to cyberterrorists and pulled The Interview. + The famous Alamo Drafthouse in Texas, Capitol Theater in Cleveland and Plaza Atlanta in Atlanta said they would screen the movie instead of The Interview, but Paramount has ordered them to stop. (No reason was apparently given and Paramount hasn't spoken.) Team America, of course, features North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, as a singing marionette. + Production company New Regency has also scrapped Pyongyang, a planned film about the country starring Steve Carrell. + Here's the Kim Jong-un death sequence that those pesky hackers really don't want you to see. + With The Interview's cancellation, the (cyber) terrorists won. Or lost. + Either way, North Korea is no laughing matter. President Obama is closing out 2014 with one hell of a bang Politico If President Barack Obama's year ended in November, it would have been one of the worst of his presidency. Good thing he had the past five weeks. + Matt Yglesias explains: "On Nov. 26, the Obama administration put forward new anti-smog regulations that should prevent thousands of premature deaths and heart attacks every year. About two weeks later, Obama's appointees at the Federal Reserve implemented new rules curbing reckless borrowing by giant banks that will reduce profits and shareholder earnings but increase the safety of the financial system. Yet both of these were minor stories compared to normalizing relations with Cuba after decades and his sweeping plan to protect millions of unauthorized immigrants from deportation." + Politico: "Obama feels liberated, aides say, and sees the recent flurry of aggressive executive action and deal-making as a pivot for him to spend his final two years in office being more the president he always wanted to be." The U.S. is suing New York City over cruel and unusual punishment of juvenile prisoners Mic Federal prosecutors sued New York City on Thursday over alleged civil rights violations after a Department of Justice investigation found a "deep-seated culture of violence" against young inmates at the Rikers Island jail. + The Department of Justice's two-and-a-half-year investigation's findings, released by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, concluded that Rikers is a "broken institution" for adolescent prisoners, where corrections officers repeatedly used excessive force that violated the constitutional rights of prisoners, namely the "cruel and unusual punishments" prohibited by the Eighth and 14th amendments. +"[Inmates] are entitled to be detained safely and in accordance with their constitutional rights — not consigned to a corrections crucible that seems more inspired by Lord of the Flies than any legitimate philosophy of human detention," wrote Bharara in August.  Marvels The Colbert Report is officially over. Relive the magic with the 16 best moments from the show's history. [Mic] This amazing 2014 Internet outrage timeline is like an advent calendar for digital fury. [Slate] The world's biggest car company wants to get rid of gas. [Bloomberg Businessweek] We need a female Stephen Colbert, and we need her now. [Mic] Meet the man who discovered marijuana's secret ingredient. [Vocativ] How Kendrick Lamar and his label changed hip-hop in 2014. [Mic] This Minecraft community is saving the lives of children with autism. [BuzzFeed] Songbirds can hear tornadoes long before they form. [the Atlantic] We now have scientific proof that TV doctors are full of shit. [Mic] Don't underestimate the power and privilege of traveling to foreign lands. [Lapham's Quarterly] If you love coffee, you'd better start stocking up. [Mic] Photo of the Day Amazing photos from the National Geographic photo contest. National Geographic magazine just announced the winners of this year's photo contest. The grand prize winner, Brian Yen, will receive $10,000 and a trip to National Geographic headquarters to participate in its annual photography seminar. Mic Check is carefully and dutifully assembled each day by Jared Keller. Did we miss something you wanted to read about? Want to see us focus on an under-covered issue? Have a tip for the next edition? Email jared@mic.com. Share Mic Check and help your friends stay informed: http://eepurl.com/of1jj. Follow Mic!      Copyright © 2014 Mic, All rights reserved. You are receiving this because you opted in while creating an account on Mic. Our mailing address is: Mic 325 Hudson Street 1001 New York, NY 10013 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences