Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

North Korea: An 'act of war' over a movie? At his press conference on Friday, President Barack Obama said that Sony "made a mistake" by not releasing its film "The Interview" on schedule . He said:"We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States." The dictator in question is North Korea's Kim Jung-un . Sony acted following both a major hack of its computer files and, more ominously, a threat that any US showing of the comedy film that culminates in the assassination of Kim, could produce another 9/11 type attack . The threat was issued on December 16 by an outfit calling itself, the "Guardians of Peace" , which also claims to have been behind the hack attack on Sony . It promised a "Christmas gift" for the American people . Within 48 hours of the threat, and following pleas by companies owning most of the cinemas in the US, as well as by the shopping centres in which the cinemas are situated, Sony pulled the film , which is quite a coup for whoever orchestrated the assault on the company . The original hack cost Sony an estimated $170m while withdrawing the film will cost the company another $45m it cost to make plus whatever the film would have taken in at theatres and from home release . This is a big deal . It is worth noting that it is not 100 percent positive that Pyongyang is behind the Sony hack or the 9/11 warning . Yes, the FBI asserts (with its customary assurance) that North Korea is guilty on both counts but leading cyber security experts say (with equal certitude) that the evidence of North Korean responsibility is sketchy at best . As for the North Korean regime itself, it flatly denies any involvement while at the same time issuing threats against the US that are even more blood curdling than the one issued by the "Guardians of Peace" (who may or may not be the North Koreans themselves) . Whoever the culprits are, they did not inflict major damage on the US . Contrary to those who are screaming that by pulling the film, the US surrendered the concept of freedom of speech , it is not the US government that pulled the film . In fact ,  Obama said that if Sony had talked to him first, he would have told the company to show the film as planned . But Sony did not talk to Obama because its decision to withdraw the film had nothing to do with the US or its national interests but with the financial interests of the multinational corporation itself . Multinationals do not, for reasons implied in the very term multinational, act with an eye on any flag . These are businesses and profit, not patriotism, is their guide . It is, therefore, ridiculous to accuse the US of yielding to the threat of a foreign dictator . It didn't . Sony did and , from the point of view of its shareholders, it probably did the right thing . Losing $45m in production costs for "The Interview" is nothing compared to Sony's potential liability if some catastrophe occurred at a showing of the film in Los Angeles or Washington, DC . This is not to say that there are no foreign policy implications of this debacle . Sony's decision to make a comedy about the assassination of the North Korean head of state was a terrible idea that has only worsened the US' already terrible relations with this very unstable nuclear-armed nation . If reports that a State Department official read the script and approved of the assassination scenario are true , that is troubling . Driving an already unbalanced head of state off the deep end is clearly not something diplomats should sign off on . Of course ,  certain elements in the US government want to see an increase in tensions with North Korea, and maybe even an attempt at "regime change" . Although Obama was careful to say that North Korea's purported actions constituted "cyber vandalism" but "not an act of war" , Senator John McCain, who becomes chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee next month, said on Friday that it is indeed an act of war to which the US must respond . Former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich agrees , as do eager warriors in both political parties, those who promoted war with Iraq and now oppose a nuclear deal with Iran . Those two countries are, of course, charter members of former President George W Bush's original "Axis of Evil" regimes that he and his allies wanted eliminated . The third member was North Korea .
At his press conference on Friday, President Barack Obama said that Sony "made a mistake" by not releasing its film "The Interview" on schedule

Do we really need to cancel Christmas? It's wonderful (and a good thing) to see the new emphasis on"giving over receiving" at Christmas time . It's become a trend this year with so many families because as parents we want to teach kids about generosity . Moms and dads everywhere are using Christmas as an opportunity to get their kids thinking about serving others and giving to the less fortunate , rather than encouraging them to create monstrous Christmas lists describing all the things they want this season . Some parents are even "cancelling" Christmas for their kids, not giving any family members any gifts . But do we really need to cancel Christmas in order to foster a spirit of generosity in our kids? Wednesday I joined Lisa Henderson on "Fox & Friends" to debate this very question . Lisa has "cancelled Christmas" in her Utah home because , she says, her kids have become too entitled,"acting so ungrateful" and "extremely disrespectful." So there will be no presents for Christmas , but , as she writes on her blog Overthebigmooon.com,"There is a good possibility that Santa will be writing them a letter of how proud of them he is and perhaps put a few pieces of hard candy and an orange in their stockings." While I have great respect for what Lisa wants to accomplish , I disagree with her approach . Christmas should begin, not end, at home . We are already under immense pressure to purge Christmas from our culture . First nativity scenes in public places were under attack, now it's Christmas trees . Even saying"Merry Christmas" has taken a back seat to "Happy Holidays." Cancelling Christmas and using letters from Santa to motivate our kids to be generous is not the answer . The answer is in putting the emphasis on the miracle not the material . And here's the good news . Even our gift giving can point to the miracle . So, yes, we give a few gifts to our kids . But we also give many gifts to the less fortunate . For example ,  we've taught our own kids that the gifts we give them at Christmas aren't based on whether they've been bad or good all year . The gifts we give them are free, unearned, underserved gifts , just like the gift of Jesus is a free, unearned, and underserved gift . This is a very tangible, concrete concept for kids to grasp . And when we serve and give to others, we teach our kids what Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 : "Whatever you do for the least of your brothers and sisters, you do for me." So we give gifts to Jesus on his "birthday" by serving and loving and giving to others! This is how parents can infuse real meaning into Christmas -- not by refusing to celebrate it all together . Cancelling Christmas is simply not the key to fostering generosity in our kids . The key to fostering generosity in our kids is by making giving something we do all year round. By making it a lifestyle . And a lifestyle of giving springs from a deep well of gratitude for how Jesus first gave his life for us . We have to be so careful not to teach our kids that Christmas is about doing more, trying harder, and being better to be worthy of gifts . Christmas is about anticipating and celebrating the greatest gift that has already been given-- the unconditional love of God in the birth of Jesus Christ . Our focus shouldn't be on whether or not we have a tree overflowing with gifts, but on whether we have a home overflowing with love . His love . And if that's our starting place , we have a pretty good shot at getting Christmas, and all the 364 other days of the year, right .
It's wonderful (and a good thing) to see the new emphasis on"giving over receiving" at Christmas time

The hapless, harmless Palestinian leader? January 15 marks a decade since Mahmoud Abbas became the Palestinian president , during which time the goals he claims to espouse not only remain unrealised, but are more remote than ever . He is still in office despite his term ending six years ago; the democratic process that brought him to power no longer in existence . He speaks of his people's human rights while his Palestinian Authority actively curtails them . He claims to champion their national rights while collaborating unconditionally with the country that denies them . Abbas' image as a hapless, harmless figure deflects from the cunning and ruthlessness of someone whose primary concern, like the Middle East's other autocrats, seems to be his longevity . The fact that he plays ball with the West and Israel somehow makes this okay . Where other Arab strongmen nurture an image of power to maintain it , he relies on being seen as an underdog . But this illusion, which has traditionally served Abbas well, no longer extends to his people . Many think he and the PA serve their own interests and those of Israel, rather than those of the Palestinians . According to a poll last month, 55 percent believe that the PA has become "a burden on the Palestinian people" . Regarding the presidency, Abbas has consistently lagged in opinion polls behind his Fatah colleague, Marwan Barghouti . Since Israel's last Gaza invasion, he also runs behind Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh . Is it mere coincidence, then, that Abbas has been lacklustre in campaigning for Barghouti's release from Israeli jail; or in pursuing and implementing national unity deals with Hamas that call for elections? Since the signing of the latest reconciliation agreement in April, Abbas has at various times threatened to end it, and has been openly adversarial towards Hamas . Elections that were due within six months never happened , so he remains unchallenged - this has gone largely unnoticed . The PA - which is meant to safeguard Palestinian rights- serially abuses them . Human Rights Watch has documented "police beatings and arbitrary arrests of demonstrators", "excessive force", "repressing critical news reporting and demonstrations", "suppressing dissenting views", and "serious rights abuses, including credible allegations of torture" , for which "no security officials were convicted" . As such, the PA is not only failing to curb Israeli abuses, but is busy perpetrating its own, all under Abbas' watch . The PA has garnered a reputation among Palestinians for managing the occupation rather than striving to end it . One way it does this is "security coordination" with Israel , which Abbas described last year as "sacred" despite the vast majority of Palestinians opposing it . Such coordination serves Israel by enabling it to subcontract its occupation, and serves the PA by helping it suppress internal dissent . It certainly does not benefit the Palestinian people . Abbas and his foreign minister have made grotesque assurances that as long as he is president, he will not allow an uprising against Israel . So the PA, which is supposed to be part of a national liberation struggle, is willing to put down an uprising by its own people against their subjugation . This is nothing short of betrayal . For more than 20 years, the PA has participated in a "peace process" that has greatly entrenched Israeli control . Abbas himself was an architect of the disastrous Oslo Accords . The occupied territories are now so colonised and fragmented that a viable Palestinian state is widely considered impossible . Yet ,  Abbas still wants to negotiate, despite Israel being clearly opposed to Palestinian self-determination . What, then, is the point of negotiating? Perhaps to preserve the privileged elites to which the PA and the "peace process" gave birth . After all ,  allegations of corruption and nepotism, including Abbas and his family, are nothing new . With the help of international aid, the PA is the largest employer of Palestinians, much like other autocracies that encourage public dependence on the state to avoid mass unrest . A power imbalance alone cannot explain Abbas' policy choices regarding Israel . He opposes armed resistance, and has gone to great lengths to disarm militants in the West Bank . However ,  he also opposes peaceful forms of resistance, including the increasingly effective Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement . Furthermore ,  it took the PA more than two years since Palestine's upgraded UN status to apply to join the International Criminal Court, despite repeated threats to do so amid constant Israeli provocations . That Abbas finally relented may not only, or necessarily, be about losing patience with Israel, but about assuaging mounting Palestinian anger at his procrastination in applying to the ICC . Meanwhile, he says he will keep pushing for a UN Security Council resolution calling for a deadline to end Israel's occupation , despite the certainty of repeated failure by US veto . Abbas seems to be attempting a balancing act . He wants to prove to Israel, and his western and Arab backers, that he is their best Palestinian partner, safe in the knowledge that they will not accept Hamas rule, but mindful not to suffer the same fate as Yasser Arafat once he was no longer deemed useful or reliable . However ,  his recent, uncharacteristic defiance against Israel reflects a need to stop his flagging domestic popularity turning into an uprising against him and the PA . Abbas has nothing to show his people after 10 years as president, and at least another decade as part of the "peace process" . He remains in office because of, not despite, Israel's occupation and Palestinian disunity .

January 15 marks a decade since Mahmoud Abbas became the Palestinian president during which time the goals he claims to espouse not only remain unrealised, but are more remote than ever