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4:05 PM ET, December 29, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Washington Post:
McConnell blocks Senate Democrats' initial attempt to approve $2,000 stimulus checks amid growing pressure on GOP leader to act  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Tuesday blocked consideration of a House bill that would deliver a $2,000 stimulus payments to most Americans …
RELATED:
Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Trump slams McConnell for blocking vote on $2,000 stimulus checks  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blocked Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) request to hold a vote on a House standalone measure that would boost the size of stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 per person.
Axios:
Senate tide begins to shift toward $2,000 checks after Trump's push  —  A couple of days ago, it looked impossible that $2,000 COVID relief checks — up from the $600 checks for individuals in the package President Trump signed Sunday — could pass the Senate.
Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Georgia's GOP senators back $2,000 stimulus checks ahead of runoff
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
McConnell blocks Schumer's bid to unanimously pass $2,000 stimulus checks
Burgess Everett / Politico:
$2,000 checks sputter after McConnell blocks Dems
Lauren Fox / CNN:
Mitch McConnell faces decision over formal vote to increase stimulus payments to $2,000
Chris Cioffi / Roll Call:
The Inaugural Luncheon is the latest pandemic casualty  —  The century-old tradition of the post-inauguration lunch is the latest pandemic casualty as COVID-19 continues to upend the ceremonies around the Jan. 20 swearing-in of President-elect Joe Biden.  —  The Inaugural Luncheon tradition …
RELATED:
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Ex-Pence aide turned Trump critic ‘very concerned’ about Jan. 6 violence  —  A former aide to Vice President Pence who has since become a vocal critic of the Trump administration warned Monday that she feared violence could erupt in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when Congress …
Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Kamala Harris receives first dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Donald Trump, Michelle Obama Most Admired in 2020  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans are most likely to name President Donald Trump and Michelle Obama as most admired man and woman in 2020.  Trump tied former President Barack Obama for the honor last year but edged out his predecessor this year.
RELATED:
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Nikki Haley's mind-numbing inanity  —  Republicans have made clear for years that they lack constructive ideas to respond to Americans' real-world concerns.  In lieu of rational responses to rising health-care costs or falling K-12 test scores or income inequality, they rant about Confederate flags …
RELATED:
Zack Stanton / Politico:
The Worst Predictions of 2020  —  On the last day of 2019, President Donald Trump joined in on New Year's Eve celebrations at Mar-a-Lago, ringing in 2020 with what was, in retrospect, a terrible prediction about the year ahead.  —  “We're going to have a great year, I predict,” the president told assembled guests.
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
The Resistance's Breakup With the Media Is at Hand  —  The day after the 2016 election, I got a phone call from an old friend.  Neither of us had slept much, and we spent most of the conversation exchanging shell-shocked comments of the Can you believe this? variety.  Before we hung up, his voice took on a trace of irony.
Politico:
Judge blocks voter purge in 2 Georgia counties  —  A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate.
RELATED:
Rick Pearson / Chicago Tribune:
Rep. Adam Kinzinger has battled Trump and his fellow Republicans. In deep blue Illinois, could that be a strategy for higher office?
Andrea Salcedo / Washington Post:
Massachusetts GOP leader says he likely got covid-19 at a White House Hanukkah party: 'I'm paying the price'  —  Earlier this month, Tom Mountain, a Massachusetts Republican Party leader, posed for a maskless photo in front of a silver menorah as dozens of other guests without face coverings mingled nearby …
Discussion: The Hill, WJAR-TV, Slate and Mediaite
Kate Bennett / CNN:
Trump angered by Mar-a-Lago renovations, sources say  —  (CNN)His mood darkened as soon as he walked into his members-only club Mar-a-Lago, three days before Christmas, according to multiple sources.  The changes to his private quarters, many of which were overseen by his wife …
Discussion: Raw Story
David Corn / Mother Jones:
Kelly Loeffler's Conflict of Interest Is Even Worse Than Reported  —  Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.  —  As she campaigns for reelection in the January 5 run-off, Kelly Loeffler …
Discussion: Raw Story
Dani Alexis Ryskamp / The Atlantic:
The Life in The Simpsons Is No Longer Attainable  —  The most famous dysfunctional family of 1990s television enjoyed, by today's standards, an almost dreamily secure existence that now seems out of reach for all too many Americans.  I refer, of course, to the Simpsons.
Ed Yong / The Atlantic:
Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  The influenza pandemic that began in 1918 killed as many as 100 million people over two years.
Discussion: The Week
Christian Schneider / The Bulwark:
Rubio vs. Fauci Is Amazing  —  Marco Rubio inadvertently told us what he thinks of Republican voters.  —  In the course of his young political career, Marco Rubio has been a Tea Partier, a Reformicon, and a neoconservative.  Now he's auditioning for the role of MAGA FAN #7 by trying …
Reed Albergotti / Washington Post:
Apple's longtime supplier accused of using forced labor in China  —  New documents show Lens Technology, which makes iPhone glass and is owned by China's richest woman, received Uighur Muslim laborers transferred from Xinjiang.  —  One of the oldest and most well-known iPhone suppliers …
Joseph Krauss / Associated Press:
Record shows US sold ambassador's home in Israel for $67M  —  An official record shows that the United States sold the ambassador's residence in Israel for more than $67 million in July  —  Catch up on the developing stories making headlines.  —  JERUSALEM — The United States sold …
Arizona Republic:
Report: Phoenix police officer said, 'If the mayor defunds the police, I'm going to shoot her'  —  Uriel J. Garcia Jen FifieldArizona Republic  —  On the afternoon of October 21, seven Phoenix police officers gathered for a briefing in a Cave Creek station when the meeting diverged …
Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story
William J. Kole / Associated Press:
Statue of slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed in Boston  —  A statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet — optics that drew objections amid a national reckoning with racial injustice — has been removed from its perch in downtown Boston.
Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller
Haley Britzky / Task & Purpose:
The Army is planning a major overhaul of its hair and grooming regulations … Senior Army leaders are discussing making long-awaited changes to hair and grooming regulations and they plan to announce the finalized changes in January 2021, Task & Purpose has learned.
Associated Press:
Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies  —  They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children.  —  Olivia Chaffin, a Girl Scout in rural Tennessee, was a top cookie seller in her troop …
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Katrin Bennhold / New York Times:
A Far-Right Terrorism Suspect With a Refugee Disguise: The Tale of Franco A.  —  A German officer is facing trial on terrorism charges.  At a volatile time for Western democracy, his story mirrors the story of Germany itself.  —  OFFENBACH, Germany — At the height of Europe's migrant crisis …
Jeb Lund / New Republic:
Ron DeSantis Is TNR's 2020 Scoundrel of the Year  —  For so many of us, the person of the year is Nothing.  The thing that killed mom or laid out the elementary school teacher was Nothing.  Nobody saw it.  Either dad tracked nothing home from the grocery store or there was a fatal amount of Nothing smeared all over the produce.
Discussion: Twitchy
 
 
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 More Items: 
Jonathon Van Maren / The American Conservative:
The Gospel According to Roger Stone
Ali Watkins / New York Times:
Violence Surged in N.Y.C. in 2020 Amid Pandemic and Protests
Rodney Stevens / Wall Street Journal:
If You Must Talk About Race, Be Gracious
Politico:
Appeals court backs subpoena-like power for minority in House
Discussion: The Hill
Cristina Criddle / BBC:
Brexit deal mentions Netscape browser and Mozilla Mail
Discussion: Gizmodo and The Verge
BBC:
Bell stolen by Nazis to be returned to Poland
Discussion: The Daily Caller
 Earlier Items: 
Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:
Politico to Acquire Energy Trade Publication E&E News
Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump rips GOP leaders for allowing veto override
John Nichols / The Nation:
Kelly Loeffler's Sacrilegious Campaign
Washington Examiner:
Is it any wonder liberal states are shrinking?
Discussion: Outside the Beltway
Felix Salmon / Axios:
How China won 2020  —  China will end this year as the only major country in the world to see its economy grow rather than shrink.
Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring:
The CARES superdole was a huge success
Discussion: The Daily Caller
 

 
From Techmeme:

Gleb Bryanski / Reuters:
Russia's finance minister says Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments to counter Western sanctions

Bloomberg:
Taiwan's FTC blocks Uber's $950M acquisition of Delivery Hero's Foodpanda, arguing it would decrease competition as their combined market share would be 90%+

Qwen:
Alibaba's Qwen unveils QvQ-72B-Preview, an experimental research model focused on “enhancing visual reasoning capabilities”, built upon Qwen2-VL-72B
 
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