USA-ELECTION/THREATS  —  Law enforcement has taken little action as backers of Donald Trump aim stark threats at election officials.  Reuters tracked down nine of the harassers.  Most were unrepentant.  —  This story contains text, images and audio clips with offensive language.

Scientists Fight a New Source of Vaccine Misinformation: Aaron Rodgers  —  The Green Bay Packers quarterback, one of the most visible athletes in the country, last week used anti-vaccination rhetoric as his reasoning for not getting vaccinated against Covid-19.  —  This spring, he was auditioning to be the host of “Jeopardy!”

Former VA administrator and Georgia senator Max Cleland dies at home  —  Former U.S. senator and Veterans Administration leader Max Cleland died Tuesday more than 53 years after a live grenade dropped by a fellow soldier in Vietnam robbed him of three limbs.The injuries, however …

The Man Behind the Man Behind January 6  —  In late October 2020, Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was attending the confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett when his cellphone rang.  He answered with a whisper and walked out to the hallway to take the call.

A secret tape made after Columbine shows the NRA's evolution on school shootings  —  Soon after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, senior leaders of the National Rifle Association huddled on a conference call to consider canceling their annual convention, scheduled just days later and a few miles away.

Republican congressman details threatening voicemail he received after voting for bipartisan infrastructure bill  —  Washington (CNN)Republican Rep. Fred Upton on Monday shared a threatening voicemail he had received after voting for the bipartisan infrastructure bill last week.

Trump makes — and loses — overnight bid to block Jan. 6 investigators  —  If you blinked you missed it.  —  Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency request to a federal judge late Monday night to prevent the National Archives from sending sensitive records to Jan. 6 committee investigators by Friday.

Gavin Newsom's wife, California Democrats bristle at questions about governor's continued absence  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom has not appeared publicly since abruptly canceling a visit to Glasgow, Scotland on Oct. 29 for a climate change conference, stirring considerable online speculation.

Indictment of Steele dossier source is more bad news for multiple media outlets  —  MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in December 2017 aired a special report on the Trump-Russia dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.  That document, claimed Maddow …

Inside Ivy Getty's Fantasy Wedding Weekend in San Francisco  —  Artist and model Ivy Love Getty, the great granddaughter of J. Paul Getty and one of the heiresses to the oil fortune he amassed, married photographer Tobias Alexander Engel in a ceremony officiated by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at City Hall in San Francisco.

POLITICO Playbook: A Trump-backed Senate hopeful takes the stand  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  PARNELL DOUBTS GROW — All eyes are on SEAN PARNELL when he testifies today for the second and final time in an ugly child custody battle with his estranged wife, LAURIE SNELL.

What Moves Swing Voters  —  A creative new poll tries to understand.  —  Political pundits often talk about swing voters as if they were upscale suburbanites, like “soccer moms” or “office-park dads.”  And some are.  But many are blue-collar.  They are the successors to the so-called Reagan Democrats …

Metallurgist admits faking steel-test results for Navy subs  —  A metallurgist in Washington state pleaded guilty to fraud Monday after she spent decades faking the results of strength tests on steel that was being used to make U.S. Navy submarines.  —  Elaine Marie Thomas, 67, of Auburn …

Rep. Paul Gosar tweets altered anime video showing him killing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden  —  Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) shared an altered, animated video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and swinging two swords at President Biden …

Ron DeSantis enemies list targets DNC member for “sleeping dragons” and viral tweets  —  Thomas Kennedy embarrassed Florida's governor.  DeSantis' office directed the state's top law enforcement agency to disseminate criminal intelligence about him.  —  Florida's top statewide law enforcement …

White House tells businesses to proceed with vaccine mandate despite court-ordered pause  — The White House on Monday said businesses should move forward with the requirements despite the court-ordered pause.  — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, considered …

Postal Banking Test in the Bronx Yields No Customers  —  From September 13 to October 31, not a single customer put a paycheck on a gift card in one of the four test locations.  —  While 9.4 percent of New York City households have no bank account, in the Bronx that number nearly doubles to 17.7 percent.

“Critical Race Theory” and actual education policy, part two  —  The core problem is a dangerous attack on efforts to measure learning  —  In yesterday's post I wrote about two recent trends in progressive education policy that have (rightly, I think) annoyed a lot of people …

Unscientific Method  —  An astronomer's peer-reviewed work is passed under the “equity” lens and found wanting.  —  The Social Order  —  Another day, another retraction of a scientific paper for violating the code of diversity.  On November 1, astronomer John Kormendy withdrew an article …

Leonardo DiCaprio In Final Talks To Star & Produce ‘Jim Jones’ At MGM; Scott Rosenberg Writing  —  EXCLUSIVE: In a pre-emptive situation, MGM has secured a deal for the feature film project Jim Jones, with Leonardo DiCaprio in final talks to star as the 1970s religious cult leader who was behind …

More than 360,000 U.S. children under 12 have already received a coronavirus vaccine … More than 360,000 children under 12 in the United States have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Covid-Related School Chaos Is a Problem for Democrats  —  Last Wednesday morning, Christopher Rufo, the architect of the right-wing crusade against critical race theory, sent me a message asking if I wanted to talk, I suppose because I was one of the first people to write about his project back in February.

Randi Weingarten should have learned in school that she cannot fool everyone  —  On Oct. 25, just days before Virginia's governor's race, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten tweeted out with gleeful approval an opinion article in the Washington Post.

Why millions of job seekers aren't getting hired in this hot job market  —  The United States has a record number of job openings, but many firms continue to favor candidates with several years of experience, availability to work evening or weekend hours, and a willingness to work in-person

‘Free Joe Biden’: Sean Maloney on How Democrats Can Get Back on Track  —  In an interview, the leader of the House Democrats' campaign arm acknowledged the major challenges facing the party but defended its agenda and its continued focus on Donald Trump.  —  In the days since Democrats …

The Senate's year-end to-do list is ‘going to be a train wreck’  —  As Mark Warner considers the Senate work left undone as the holiday season dawns, he's weighing a couple of potentially ugly scenarios.  —  “Having only other senators to kiss on New Year's Eve?” the Virginia Democrat deadpanned …

Winsome Sears: The latest Black conservative to make liberals nervous  —  If there's anything that liberal elites, especially Black liberal elites, hate more than white rednecks, it's Black conservatives.  Elites see them as sell-outs, or “Uncle Toms.”  MSNBC host Joy Reid once referred …

A Conversation With a Virginia Democrat  —  Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, discusses her reservations about the Biden agenda.  —  Listen to ‘Sway’  —  Casey Newton, a tech reporter, takes us inside the Facebook Papers consortium.  —  Attend the DealBook Online Summit

Tucker Carlson Is a ‘Manipulative Son of a Bitch’ — and Other Thoughts from Adam Kinzinger  —  The outgoing Republican lawmaker gets candid about what he was ready to do Jan. 6, his next election, and whether Republicans will pay a price for their addiction to Donald Trump

Chinese diplomats call on US to not show off power over South China Sea  —  Former Philippine president Gloria Arroyo joins senior Chinese diplomats to warn of dangers posed by increased military presence Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says ocean is not a ‘zero-sum game’ and no one should use …

Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading  —  A few years ago, high school teacher Joshua Moreno got fed up with his grading system, which had become a points game.  —  Some students accumulated so many points early on that by the end of the term they knew …

Red states draw GOP-friendly maps as Dems despair  —  Republican-controlled states have been cranking out new congressional maps that spell trouble for Democrats unless courts intervene.  —  Why it matters: Last week's Virginia and New Jersey results set off alarm bells for the party …