Cracking the Sinema code  —  Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's political allies have some free advice for anyone trying to bully the wine-drinking triathlete into supporting President Biden's $3.5 trillion budget bill: She doesn't play by Washington's rules — and she's prepared to walk away.

The Democratic Civil War Has a Winner: Donald Trump  —  Biden's agenda is up against more than just the moderates-versus-progressives split.  —  First, the good news.  The government did not shut down at midnight.  New covid infections in the United States have fallen twenty-five per cent over the past couple weeks.

Ozy Media Says It Is Shutting Down  —  The digital media start-up had come under scrutiny for its business practices in recent days following articles in The Times.  — Read in app  —  Ozy Media, the digital media company that came under scrutiny for its business practices in recent days …

SHOCK POLL: Majority of Trump Voters Now in Favor of Seceding from the Union  —  A shocking new poll from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia reveals that over half of Trump voters surveyed, and 41% of Biden voters, are in favor of blue and/or red states seceding from the union.

National Divorce Is Expensive, But It's Worth Every Penny  —  The National Divorce discussion prepares the ground for crucial thinking about what comes next in America, as the country grows even more divided, bitter, and angry.  —  For the last several years, I've been among a handful of commentators …

U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 700,000 Despite Wide Availability of Vaccines  —  The latest Covid-19 deaths were concentrated in the South, and included more younger people than before.  Every age group under 55 saw its highest death toll of the pandemic this August.  — Read in app

Newsom orders COVID vaccines for eligible students, the first state mandate for K-12 schools  —  In the first such action in the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a mandate Friday requiring all eligible public and private schoolchildren in California to be vaccinated against COVID-19 …

Dershowitz, ‘Stop the Steal’ Lawyer Team Up for New Dominion Lawsuit  —  In a complaint reviewed on Friday, eight poll challengers in Michigan allege that the cease and desist letters they received from Dominion harmed and damaged them.  —  A key “Stop the Steal” attorney who tried …

Hacked Oath Keepers Records Show Active Members Of Law Enforcement And The Military Tried To Join The Group After Jan. 6  —  In the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, the Oath Keepers gained notoriety almost overnight as a symbol of right-wing extremism in America.

Joe Manchin Just Cooked the Planet  —  The senator won't quit fossil fuels and is going to neuter the reconciliation bill — and we're all going to pay the price  —  West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin just cooked the planet.  I don't mean that in a metaphorical sense.  I mean that literally.

Alex Jones must pay damages to Sandy Hook families after calling shooting a ‘giant hoax,’ judge rules  —  Alex Jones, the right-wing conspiracy theorist and founder of Infowars, is responsible for all damages in two lawsuits stemming from his false claims that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a “giant hoax,” a judge ruled this week.

USPS is about to charge you more for slower mail.  Here's why. … Delivery slowdowns at the U.S. Postal Service take effect Friday, and higher prices are soon to follow.  The nation's mail service is preparing to implement core components of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year plan for the agency …

Wonking Out: Biden Should Ignore the Debt Limit and Mint a $1 Trillion Coin  — Read in app  —  It's hard to believe now, but before Donald Trump became the G.O.P.'s presidential nominee in 2016, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was widely seen as a champion of the “reformicons” …

Senior Biden aides privately explored whether payments could continue even if U.S. breached debt ceiling  —  Despite extensive review, White House says only option remains for Congress to pass legislation to avert calamity  —  Senior White House officials privately explored as recently …

Far-Right Boogaloo Admits Posing as BLM Supporter While Shooting Up Minneapolis Cop Station  —  MOLE  —  A member of the far-right Boogaloo Boys had admitted he traveled from Texas to Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd's death and posed as a Black Lives Matter supporter while wreaking havoc on the city.

Why I felt betrayed by Netflix's Midnight Mass  —  Horror is a natural refuge for atheists and sinners.  But Netflix's Midnight Mass made me feel erased.  —  I've been trying to put my finger on why Midnight Mass, Netflix's new seven-part series from the creator of The Haunting of Hill House …

The Jolt: State Capitol statue for Clarence Thomas gaining steam  —  A proposal to display a statue of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the statehouse grounds is gaining traction among Georgia Republicans.State Sen. Jason Anavitarte, who said it's “only fitting and proper” …

Hackers stole cryptocurrencies from at least 6,000 Coinbase customers  —  Attackers exploited flaw in two-factor authentication system to access accounts  —  Hackers stole cryptocurrencies from at least 6,000 customers of the Nasdaq-listed digital asset exchange Coinbase by exploiting a flaw in its two-factor authentication system.

Koch-backed group fuels opposition to school mask mandates, leaked letter shows  —  A template letter circulated by Independent Women's Forum offers a glimpse into a well-resourced campaign against public health regulations.  —  The letter sounds passionate and personal.

Facebook Struggles to Quell Uproar Over Instagram's Effect on Teens  —  The social network has been all hands on deck as it grapples with revelations that it knew the harmful effects its Instagram photo-sharing app was having on teenagers.  — Read in app

The Target of an Alleged Proud Boys Plot Has Been Found Murdered in El Mirage  —  Members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group of “western chauvinists.”  —  A man who allegedly was the previous target of a surveillance and assassination plot by a former attorney for the Proud Boys …

How Jared and Ivanka Hijacked the White House's Covid Response  —  The year 2020 started on a promising enough note for the president, at least considering all we'd endured the previous three years.  The economy was good, the impeachment effort on Ukraine looked like a dud and the polls were decent.