Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/437111
ByEricTuckerandTed Bridis The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama declared Fri- day that Sony Pictures En- tertainment "made a mis- take" in shelving a satirical film about a plot to assassi- nate North Korea's leader and pledged the U.S. would respond "ina placeand man- ner and time that we choose" to the hack attack on Sony that the FBI blamed on the communist government. Speaking of Sony execu- tives, Obama said at a year- end news conference, "I wish they had spoken to me first. ... We cannot have a so- ciety in which some dicta- torship someplace can start imposing censorship." Obama said he imagined situations in which dicta- tors "start seeing a docu- mentary that they don't like or news reports that they don't like." The president spoke not long after the FBI accused the North Korean govern- ment of being responsi- ble for the hacking attack against Sony, providing the most detailed accounting to date of the digital break- in. Obama's pointed crit- icism of Sony shifted fo- cus to whether the studio would reverse its decision, as some leading celebrities — including actors George Clooney and Sean Penn — have recommended. "Sony is a corporation. It suffered significant dam- age. There were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced," he said. "Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake." The administration ear- lier in the day formally ac- cused North Korea's gov- ernment of being respon- sible but offered few hints about how it might retali- ate. Its evidence: The U.S. detected communications between computer Internet addresses known to be op- erated by North Korea and hacking tools left behind at the crime scene, which the FBI said contained subtle clues linking them to that country's government. The decision to openly blame North Korea — which involved the State Depart- ment and U.S. intelligence agencies — escalated an intriguing global game of brinkmanship. It included the disclosure of confiden- tial Sony emails and busi- ness files and threats of terror attacks against U.S. movie theaters until Sony agreed to cancel the Christ- mas Day release of its com- edy, "The Interview." The hackers had demanded that withdrawal partly over a scene depicting the assas- sination of North Korea's leader. "The FBI now has enough information to conclude that the North Korean gov- ernment is responsible for these actions," said the U.S. statement, which was not attributed to any official by name. It added: "North Ko- rea's actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and sup- press the right of American citizens to express them- selves." The statement included a general promise to impose "costs and consequences" on any person, group or government using cyberat- tacks to threaten the U.S. or its interests. Obama wasn't any more specific. "They caused a lot of damage, and we will re- spond," Obama said. "We will respond proportionally, and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. It's not some- thing that I will announce here today at a press con- ference." North Korea has denied it was involved but praised the hacking as a "righ- teous deed." On Friday, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, Kim Un Chol, declined to com- ment on the American ac- cusations. In a taunting new email, the hackers told Sony that executives were "very wise" to cancel the movie's release and said they planned no further disclosures of So- ny's confidential materi- als "as long as you make no more trouble." The message warned Sony never to re- lease the film "in any form," including on DVD. WASHINGTON Obama: North Korea hacked Sony, vows response DAMIANDOVARGANES—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Cars enter and depart from Sony Pictures Entertainment studio lot in Culver City on Thursday. By Nicholas Riccardi The Associated Press DENVER Despite growing public support for legaliz- ing marijuana, a lawsuit filed by Nebraska and Okla- homa shows that at least two segments of American soci- ety are prepared to fight the idea before the nation's high- est court — social conserva- tives and law enforcement. The lawsuit seeks to over- turn Colorado's experiment in legalized recreational pot, alleging that the two conservative states are be- ing overrun with Colorado marijuana that is making it harder for them to enforce their own drug laws. Nebraska Attorney Gen- eral Jim Bruning framed it as a public-safety issue, though the complaint pro- vides little data to support its claim that Colorado pot is pouring into neighboring states. The case emerges at a time when polls show grow- ing public support for legal weed. Even Congress this week started to ease re- strictions on the drug, bar- ring the federal government from interfering with the 23 states that allow it for med- ical uses. National law-enforce- ment groups have staunchly opposed the legalization of marijuana. The lawsuit filed to the U.S. Supreme Court cheered some police in Col- orado who have been frus- trated at the public's wide acceptance of that state's recreational marijuana market, despite some exam- ples of people overdosing on high-concentration edibles. "When you work in the public-safety industry, you're impacted by this all the time," said Jim Ger- hardt, vice president of the Colorado Drug Investiga- tors Association. "We're see- ing it. The firefighters are seeing it. The hospitals are seeing it. But the general public can be apathetic." Mason Tvert, the pro- marijuana activist who helped push legalization in Colorado, said he was not surprised by the resis- tance from Oklahoma and Nebraska, two socially con- servative states that were reluctant to repeal Prohi- bition. "When you think about who are the two types of people who'd never want to try marijuana, it's people who are looking at it mor- ally, through religion ... and that law-enforcement atti- tude that this is the law and we want to keep it," Tvert said. The legalization move- ment, he added, has seen some of its stiffest resis- tance in conservative, re- ligious states in the Deep South and in Nebraska, where activists were unable to get enough signatures to put a medical-marijuana measure on the 2012 ballot. Law-enforcement agen- cies have long said anec- dotally that they are mak- ing more marijuana ar- rests and seizing more of the drug since Colorado vot- ers legalized the drug. But there's no way to know ex- actly how much legal pot is leaving the state. In a recent report, the agency known as the Rocky Mountain High Inten- sity Drug Trafficking Area wrote that the amount of Colorado pot seized on highways increased from an annual average of 2,763 pounds between 2005 and 2008 to an average of 3,690 pounds from 2009 to 2013. The weed was headed for at least 40 different states. Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Okla- homa Bureau of Narcot- ics and Dangerous Drugs, said his organization has seen at least a dozen cases of highly potent marijuana from Colorado entering his state. Before Colorado legal- ized the drug at the end of 2012, Oklahoma had never recorded a single case of high-grade pot trafficking from its neighbor. In western Nebraska's Scotts Bluff County, Sher- iff Mark Overman said Colorado marijuana is ex- tra strong, making it more valuable in his region and giving sellers a greater fi- nancial incentive to do busi- ness there. "I think this is overdue, and I think other states should jump on board," Overman said of the law- suit. "I'm very frustrated. I take an oath of office, as does every other police of- ficer in this country. I don't just get to pick and choose which laws I enforce." MARIJUANA Lawsuit shows resistance to legalization of pot among some segments By Darlene Superville The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama signed leg- islation Friday that tem- porarily extends dozens of costly tax breaks for mil- lions of businesses and homeowners, commuters, teachers and others. The measure also allows people with disabilities to open tax-free savings ac- counts. The law extends the tax breaks through Dec. 31, al- lowing taxpayers to claim them on their 2014 income tax returns. But the fate of the tax provisions beyond this year will again be un- certain. Congress routinely extends the package of tax breaks every year or two, but they were allowed to expire in January. The package will add nearly $42 billion to the budget deficit over the next decade, according to con- gressional estimates. The 54 tax breaks benefit big corporations and small businesses, as well as strug- gling homeowners and res- idents of states without a state income tax. More nar- row provisions include tax breaks for filmmakers, race- horse owners and rum pro- ducers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. House Republicans and Senate Democrats negoti- ated to make some of the tax breaks permanent. But talks faltered after the White House threatened to veto an emerging package, saying it tilted too heavily toward big corporations instead of families. Repub- licans will control both houses when the new Con- gress reconvenes in early January. The tax-free savings ac- counts for people with dis- abilities are modeled after tax-free college savings ac- counts. To qualify, a person would have to be diagnosed by age 26 with a disabil- ity that results in "marked and severe functional lim- itations;" those receiving Social Security disability benefits would also qual- ify. Families would be able to set up tax-free accounts at financial institutions, de- positing up to $14,000 an- nually to pay for long-term needs such as education, transportation, housing and health care. The contributions would be in after-tax dollars but earnings would grow tax- free. TheABLE accountswould be allowed to accrue up to $100,000 in savings without the person losing eligibility for government aid such as Social Security; the current asset limit is $2,000. Many lawmakers had insisted on cuts or reve- nue increases to offset the measure's $2 billion price tag over 10 years; the bill's sponsors found the sav- ings in part by increas- ing the amount of levies on property for tax-delin- quent Medicare providers and suppliers, cutting cer- tain Medicare funding and making technical adjust- ments to cap worker's com- pensation. FINANCES Obama renews tax breaks, creates ABLE accounts Suzy Noble: snoble@redbluffdailynews.com GoMultimediathisChristmasSeason! Flights of Fancy Available November 1 through December 20 6 column inch size ads or larger Publi sh 4 times within 7 days, get t he 5th run FREE! Only $5.75 per column inch Even lower rates when you add online display! Add an Online Rectangle Display "Big Ad" 300 x 250 pixels 10,000 online impressions within one week Hosted Run of Site on www redbluffdailynews.com $75.00 That's 75 cents per hundred guaranteed online views! 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