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11:55 AM ET, December 31, 2020

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 Top Items: 
CNN:
Trump to return to Washington early ahead of Republican plan to disrupt certification of Biden's win  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump is expected to return to Washington earlier than anticipated ahead of a planned disruption by Republicans when Congress meets next week to certify President-elect Joe Biden's win.
RELATED:
Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Trump Fears That His Influence Is Waning  —  The president is plotting retribution.  Not just because he's mad about his election loss.  But because he wants to keep folks in line.  —  As his days in office come to a close, President Donald Trump has hinted to those close to him that he's worried …
Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire
Raphael Warnock / Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Embarrassing Electoral College Hustle  —  It is doomed to fail but would still set a destructive precedent.  —  By The Editorial Board  —  President Trump's last and worst shot at overturning the 2020 election will come on Jan. 6, as the new Congress meets in joint session to tally the votes from the Electoral College.
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Let Josh Hawley put Republicans to the uncomfortable test  —  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) — Yale Law School, Supreme Court clerk, Missouri attorney general and, according to the first line of his Twitter bio, “constitutional lawyer” — surely knows better.  —  His plan to challenge the certification …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Sen. Sasse calls effort to overturn electoral college vote a ‘dangerous ploy’  —  Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Thursday called the effort in Congress to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory a “dangerous ploy,” underscoring the challenge President Trump faces in persuading even members of his own party to join it.
Fadel Allassan / Axios:
Sasse: “Ambitious” Republicans objecting to Electoral College “are playing with fire”  —  Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said he “will not be participating” in an effort in Congress to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory on Jan. 6, writing on Facebook that he has been urging …
Discussion: The Intellectualist
Kevin Stankiewicz / CNBC:
Axios' Mike Allen: Some Republicans think Trump is trying to sabotage GOP in Georgia Senate races  — “There's a big strain of thought among Republicans that President Trump is sabotaging” the Georgia Senate runoffs, Axios co-founder Mike Allen told CNBC.  — Allen said Trump has …
RELATED:
Brent Budowsky / The Hill:
Trump Georgia rally could backfire, electing Ossoff and Warnock
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
As runoff nears, Trump complicates GOP case by demanding that Kemp resign
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Dominique Vidalon / Reuters:
British PM Johnson's father applying for French citizenship  —  PARIS (Reuters) - The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was in the process of applying for a French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit.
RELATED:
Ian Dunt / Persuasion:
Fool Britannia  —  Brexit is here, so it's time to review its grand promises.  Spoiler: They got away with lies.  —  2 hr ago  —  So here we are.  Four and a half years, three prime ministers and two elections later, Britain finally has a Brexit deal.  To do so, the country became divided …
John O'Sullivan / National Review:   Life after Brexit  —  What comes next for the U.K. after leaving the European Union.
Los Angeles Times:
Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access  —  They are front-line workers with top priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are refusing to take it.  —  At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, fewer than half …
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
John Wagner / Washington Post:
Biden inaugural activities to include memorial service for covid victims  —  President-elect Joe Biden's scaled-back inaugural activities will include a nationwide memorial service ahead of his swearing-in to honor the lives lost to the coronavirus, the committee planning the events announced Thursday.
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Biden inauguration to feature memorial for COVID victims
Discussion: NECN
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Secret Service to make changes to presidential detail to bring on agents who worked with Biden  —  The Secret Service is making some staff changes in the presidential detail that will guard President-elect Joe Biden, amid concerns from Biden allies that some current members were politically aligned …
RELATED:
Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Iran accuses Trump of ‘plot to fabricate pretext for war’  —  Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Thursday accused President Trump of trying to create a “pretext for war” after the U.S. flew two B-52 bombers in the Middle East amid warnings of a possible attack in the region from Tehran.
Discussion: Bloomberg, The Sun and The Atlantic
RELATED:
Lauren Egan / NBC News:
Congresswoman-elect Salazar to miss swearing-in ceremony due to Covid diagnosis  —  Congresswoman-elect María Elvira Salazar of Florida announced Thursday that she will miss the swearing-in ceremony for new members of Congress on Sunday in Washington after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Discussion: The Hill, CNN and CBS Miami
Alex Yablon / New Republic:
This Year's Underground Sensation: Modern Monetary Theory  —  At the close of 2020, it's hard to think of another year in living memory that has forced such a radical rethinking of our politics and social life.  The Covid-19 pandemic will be remembered as a dire time in American life …
John F. Harris / Politico:
2020 Shatters the Myth of American Exceptionalism  —  2020 will go down for me as the year I did not travel to Minnesota.  —  Strictly speaking, it is more accurate to say this was the year when I did not travel to my version of Minnesota.  —  My Minnesota is a crisp morning stroll in Northfield …
Axios:
Scoop: Trump administration declassifies unconfirmed intel on Chinese bounties  —  The Trump administration is declassifying as-yet uncorroborated intelligence, recently briefed to President Trump, that indicates China offered to pay non-state actors in Afghanistan to attack American soldiers …
Ellen Carmichael / National Review:
Journalists' Behavior over Luke Letlow's Passing Is Abhorrent — and Telling  —  In no other health circumstance would such brutality toward the afflicted be tolerated.  —  On Tuesday evening, Congressman-elect Luke Letlow's (R., La.) family announced that he passed away at the age of 41 due to complications from COVID-19.
RELATED:
Tyler Bridges / The Advocate:
Reporter's notebook: Luke Letlow, killed by the coronavirus, though he was a cautious campaigner
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Elaine Shannon / SpyTalk:
Nashville's Big Bomb Was a Very Rare Device, Experts Think  —  Fire, flash and power signal a volatile fuel-air mix that even terrorists avoid  —  Find his test sites, top bomb experts say.  —  Anthony Quinn Warner's device, although probably made of common over-the-counter components …
Discussion: National Memo, The Root and Law & Crime
Alex Hanna / Wired:
Timnit Gebru's Exit From Google Exposes a Crisis in AI  —  The situation has made clear that the field needs to change.  Here's where to start, according to a current and a former Googler.  —  WIRED OPINION  —  This year has held many things, among them bold claims of artificial intelligence breakthroughs.
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Elizabeth Warren's next chapter  —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer replaced, lamenting that there's no one ready to step in.  Elizabeth Warren has a different approach.  —  The Massachusetts Democrat is a member of Schumer's leadership team and is working closely …
Fox Tv / WJBK-TV:
Ohio State study: 30% of student athletes have heart damage linked to COVID-19  —  New research suggests COVID-19 may leave lingering heart damage  —  LOS ANGELES - In a study published in September, researchers from Ohio State University found that out of more than two dozen athletes …
Madeline Peltz / Media Matters for America:
“Human hand grenade” of the year: Rudy Giuliani  —  In 1998, The New York Times described Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City at the time, as a “human hand grenade” because of his aggressive grip over the city government.  Former national security adviser John Bolton used …
Discussion: Talking Points Memo
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Biden's Team Tells Senate Democrats To Send Him Judicial Nominees ASAP  —  The president-elect wants recommendations for all existing district court vacancies by Jan. 19, says his incoming White House counsel.  —  President-elect Joe Biden is signaling that he's ready to move quickly with nominating judges once he's sworn into office.
Dave Philipps / New York Times:
The Small Colorado Town Shrugged Off the Pandemic.  Then Came the Coronavirus Variant.  —  Simla, Colo., an isolated ranching community, is the site of the first known case in the United States of a new, more infectious variant of the coronavirus.  —  SIMLA, Colo. — An isolated ranching community …
Discussion: Denver Post
ABC News:
Kentucky residents ‘luck’ into getting COVID vaccine Walgreens didn't want to expire  —  Offering those doses went “against protocol,” the governor said.  —  Vice President-elect Kamala Harris receives COVID-19 vaccine  —  Harris was vaccinated one week after President-elect Joe Biden received the first dose of the two-dose-vaccine.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Wired:
The Most Dangerous People on the Internet in 2020
Discussion: Breitbart
Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
This terrible year taught me something about hope
Washington Examiner:
On its 75th anniversary, the UN soils itself
Minnie Chan / South China Morning Post:
US in rare double-warship Taiwan Strait transit after China starts sea drills
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Rachel Janfaza / CNN:
Young people are getting out the vote in Georgia — from thousands of miles away
Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:
Journalist of the Year: Dave Portnoy
Discussion: Sara A. Carter
Dan Diamond / Politico:
How Trump warped HHS long before Covid-19
Discussion: Raw Story
 Earlier Items: 
Jill Lawrence / USA Today:
A Republican in Joe Biden's Cabinet? The president-elect should just say no.
Discussion: CNN and Associated Press
Washington Post:
Here's how.  —  Kwame Onwuachi, based in Washington, D.C., is a James Beard Award-winning chef …
Wall Street Journal:
Alden Global Seeks to Buy Tribune Publishing
Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
Josh Hawley Is Madison Cawthorn Is Marjorie Taylor Greene
Discussion: Business Insider
Mike Schneider / Associated Press:
Census Bureau to miss deadline, jeopardizing Trump plan
Taryn Ryder / Yahoo Entertainment:
Dr. Drew reveals COVID-19 diagnosis months after apologizing for downplaying coronavirus
Discussion: POLITICUSUSA
 

 
From Techmeme:

New York Times:
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner says China-linked Salt Typhoon group listened to phone calls and read texts by hacking US telecom networks

Christine Lemmer-Webber / Dustycloud Brainstorms:
ActivityPub co-author on Bluesky and ATProto being neither decentralized nor federated, and how Bluesky is building a good X replacement with a “credible exit”

Financial Times:
Similarweb: Bluesky app usage in the US and UK grew ~300% to 3.5M DAUs after Nov. 5; Threads now has 1.5x Bluesky's DAUs in the US, down from 5x before Nov. 5

 
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