Today's Headlines and Commentary

Today marks the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address. Here's some bits and bobs from around the internet:  a republication of AEI scholar Leon Kass's 2007 remarks, the remarks of Lincoln Scholar Allen Guelzo at the Heritage Foundation (and at the New York Times), a reading of the speech at NPR, Chuck Thompson in Politico Magazine, and Retired Admiral Mike Mullen in the Washington Post. Those in Washington can check out the Gettysburg Address manuscript  and exhibit at the Library of Congress through early 2014. Ah bitcoin, the topic du jour. Yesterday the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held an informative hearing on virtual currencies, featuring government officials and bitcoin enthusiasts. The former acknowledged the legitimacy of bitcoin, but emphasized the need for bitcoin-ers to register with relevant government entities (FinCEN and the like) and to ensure compliance with federal and state laws.  Meanwhile, apparently the virtual currency temporarily ran out on one of the main market intermediaries yesterday, writes Rob Wile at Business Insider. Yikes. So yesterday the Director of National Intelligence declassified another trove of FISA-related materials. Many are writing on the released items, including Lawfare-ers.  (Orin shared his ruminations already here; there's more to come, promise). Here are Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller writing in the Post, and Charlie Savage and James Risen in the Times, regarding one document, a 2004 opinion by FISC Chief Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.  It appears to be the original authorization for bulk collection of email metadata. Meanwhile, Yahoo! will bolster its data encryption so as to prevent unauthorized access, report the Times and the Post. Responding to a news story, Norwegian government officials have corrected the record.  The latter said that Norway collected data transmissions and shared them with foreign partners; the NSA didn't collect that stuff itself unilaterally, as the news story had suggested. Read about the clarifications in the Wall Street Journal. Saabrina Chaudhuri reports in the Journal that 200 banks regulated by New York State's financial services agency will be required to participate in a cybersecurity preparedness exam in December. And, on the heels of a simulated cyberattack on our electric grid to test preparedness, the Heritage Foundation's Steven Bucci proposes that the U.S. offer incentives for electric companies to invest in cyber defenses, rather than impose mandates on the industry. More cyber: Reuters got its hands on a recent, non-public FBI memo about cyber attacks by the group Anonymous on the federal government.  The attacks' targets included the Army, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Health and Human Services.  And the hackers' motivation, according to the Reuters story, was to protest the prosecution of Aaron Swartz for hacking into an MIT network and stealing millions of journal articles from JSTOR. From one controversy to another: closing Guantanamo. First, we hear a new song, by Grammy award-winning Esperanza Spalding (h/t SG). It's a catchy tune, and the music video incorporates those infamous orange jumpsuits as well as John McCain blurbs supporting closing the detention facility. Will a top-tier music star be more influential on those members of Congress opposing closure than the President and his "close Guantanamo" envoys have been? The White House has come out in favor of the Senate's version of the NDAA bill, which would relax prohibitions on transferring detainees. The legislation was approved by that chamber's Armed Services Committee. A lengthy piece in Deutsche Welle, featuring our own Matt W., discusses the realities of Guantanamo's future. National Journal's Stacy Kaper also surveys the "close Guantanamo" landscape. On the topic of Guantanamo, The Hill's Jeremy Herb shares the unsurprising news that the Periodic Review Boards won't be open to the public. Carlo Munoz updates us on U.S.-Afghan talks over our role in Afghanistan after 2014. Stars and Stripes reports on DoD goals for training up to 8,000 Libyan troops to help Libya counter militants who are plaguing its reconstruction efforts. And the U.N. may deploy peacekeeping forces to the Central African Republic to deal with violence stemming from the seizure of that country's capital by rebels. Reuters says human rights organizations believe war crimes may have been committed by both sides. On Iran: Douglas Feith penned a Journal op-ed projecting that we won't ramp up our sanctions against Iran.  He reflects on historical examples to make his case. And the Post editorial team urges a U.S.-Israel consensus for dealing with Iran. It may not look national security-ish to you, but a Wiki-leaked draft treaty, the so-called "Trans Pacific Partnership," certainly implicates issues at the heart of national security as well as diplomacy.  It's the intellectual property features of the deal that are so controversial.  Over at the Post, Timothy Lee disagrees with those who view those as an "extreme SOPA-like Internet Censorship Plan."  A series of graphical representations of TPP alliances is well-worth a peek, over at the Monkey Cage. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal criticizes the president's request for Trade Promotion Authority on the TPP and other agreements.  The move would subject all the deals---more than thirty-eight in all----to a single up-or-down vote on the Hill. Three of the 30 Greenpeace-ers imprisoned in Russia for protesting against oil drilling in September have been released on bail. Steven Lee Myers explores the politics of this situation in the Times, as Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics. Speaking of Russia, David Herszenhorn has an unsettling Times piece about countries that (still) present criminal defendants in cages during hearings. According to the article, the practice has long been decried as prejudicial, by the International Criminal Court and courts in the United States. 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