What Happened to American Conservatism?  —  I fell in love with conservatism in my 20s.  As a politics and crime reporter in Chicago, I often found myself around public-housing projects like Cabrini-Green and the Robert Taylor Homes, which had been built with the best of intentions but had become nightmares.

Pfizer and BioNTech Provide Update on Omicron Variant  — Preliminary laboratory studies demonstrate that three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine neutralize the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529 lineage) while two doses show significantly reduced neutralization titers

Hispanic Voters Now Evenly Split Between Parties, WSJ Poll Finds  —  Republicans have made rapid gains among a crucial voting demographic that has long favored Democrats  —  The nation's large and diverse group of Hispanic voters is showing signs of dividing its support between Democrats …

Sanna Marin: Finland's PM sorry for clubbing after Covid contact  —  Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologised for going clubbing after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 case.  —  Sanna Marin went on a night out in Helsinki on Saturday, hours after her foreign minister had tested positive.

Trump's 2022 Endorsements Are Earlier, Bolder And More Dangerous Than When He Was President  —  Almost since the moment of his inauguration, former President Donald Trump has been the kingmaker of the Republican Party.  In both the 2018 and 2020 elections, Trump-endorsed candidates won almost every Republican primary they competed in.

Abbott Leads O'Rourke By Double Digits In Texas Governor's Race, Quinnipiac University Texas Poll Finds; Texas-Mexico Border Dominates Issues For Voters  — mail_outline  —  In a head-to-head matchup in the race for governor of Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott leads Democratic …

Fox News Christmas Tree Catches Fire in Manhattan  —  The police said that a man was in custody in relation to the blaze.  The 50-foot tree had been ceremonially lit days earlier in an “All-American” festive broadcast.  —  A 50-foot-tall Christmas tree caught fire outside the Fox News headquarters …

Jan. 6 Rally Planner to Tell House Panel He Played No Role in Violence  —  Ali Alexander, a right-wing activist who helped organize the gathering that drew Trump supporters to Washington on Jan. 6, is cooperating with the committee investigating the riot.  —  Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer …

'It's just crazy': 12 major cities hit all-time homicide records  —  “It's worse than a war zone around here lately,” police official said.  —  At least 12 major U.S. cities have broken annual homicide records in 2021 — and there's still three weeks to go in the year.

Schools Are Closing Classrooms on Fridays.  Parents Are Furious.  —  Desperate to keep teachers, some districts have turned to remote teaching for one day a week — and sometimes more.  Families have been left scrambling to find child care.  —  DETROIT — Caitlin Reynolds, a single mother …

Republicans ready new push to defund, repeal Biden vaccine and testing policies  —  The latest salvo is set to arrive this week, as GOP lawmakers force another Senate vote to revoke the president's policy requiring shots or tests at private employers  —  Congressional Republicans are planning …

The right's rationalization of Putin colors the Russia-Ukraine tension  —  The word “great,” of course, has multiple meanings.  One meaning is that something is superlatively good.  Another is that something is simply superlative, great in the sense of massive or important.

As Grifters Squabble, QAnon's Bloodlust Gets More Open  —  QAnon influencers hope to unite the right in a sea of blood.  —  Not merely rhetorical violence, though that's important.  QAnon is violence in its ideology, in its end goal, and in its imagination: the “Storm,” …

Boebert Shows Off Rifle-Toting Kids in Christmas Photo  —  TONE DEAF  —  Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) shared a photo of her children wielding rifles in front of their Christmas tree late Tuesday, the latest gun-themed holiday photo released by Republicans in the wake of a deadly high school shooting.

Ghislaine Maxwell and the Ecstasy of the Feet  —  Photos reveal just how close the pedophile billionaire and his accused madam were.  —  When the feds raided Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan mansion in 2019, they unearthed a trove of evidence including binders of CDs containing tens of thousands of photographs.

Young Dems more likely to despise the other party  —  Nearly a quarter of college students wouldn't be friends with someone who voted for the other presidential candidate — with Democrats far more likely to dismiss people than Republicans — according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling.

Conservative group finds no signs of widespread voter fraud in Wisconsin but urges changes to election processes  —  MADISON - A conservative group issued a report Tuesday saying it found no evidence of widespread fraud in Wisconsin's presidential election but believed officials did not closely follow all the state's voting laws.

Beijing Silenced Peng Shuai in 20 Minutes, Then Spent Weeks on Damage Control  —  This article is published with ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative newsroom.  —  When inconvenient news erupts on the Chinese internet, the censors jump into action.  —  Twenty minutes was all it took …

Former President Trump On Boris Johnson's Woes, Sidney Powell's Dough And More  —  Former President Trump joined me this morning:  —  Audio:  —  12-08hhs-trump  —  Transcript:  —  HH: I'm joined now by former president of the United States, Donald Trump.  Mr. President, good morning.

Biden wants to make federal government carbon neutral by 2050  —  White House to spend billions to buy electric vehicles, upgrade federal buildings and change how the government buys power  —  WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will announce Wednesday it aims to buy its way to a cleaner …

Rising Prices Are Top Kitchen Table Worry  —  Partisanship has more effect than income on driving negative trend  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Paying everyday household bills, and inflation specifically, top the list of concerns American families say they currently face, with the number saying …

Senate Dems launch last-ditch effort to change the rules of the chamber  —  It's the Senate version of “Waiting for Godot”: Democrats are once again trying to find an answer to their filibuster dilemma in the hopes of passing voting rights legislation before it's too late.

COVID-19: Medical board deletes anti-misinformation policy amid GOP pressure  —  Health Department attorney: Rep. John Ragan threatened to dissolve the Board of Medical Examiners  —  Tennessee's medical licensing board voted Tuesday to delete a policy opposing coronavirus misinformation …

Bipin Rawat, India's Top Military Official, Dies in Helicopter Crash  —  Chief of defense staff and 12 others are killed in crash in Tamil Nadu, air force says  —  NEW DELHI—India's top military official, Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in the southern state of Tamil Nadu …

Biden Broke Promise to ‘Shut Down’ COVID-19, Voters Say  —  Most voters now disapprove of President Joe Biden's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he broke the promise he made during the campaign last year to “shut down the virus.”  —  A new national telephone and online survey …

Black Lives Matter stands in solidarity with Jussie Smollett: ‘We can never believe police’  —  BLM leader Melina Abdullah called trial a ‘white supremacist charade’  —  Jussie Smollett takes the stand  —  A Black Lives Matter leader said Tuesday that the movement will continue …

Utility giants agree to no longer allow sensitive records to be shared with ICE  —  The records had been used to hunt immigration violations.  Advocates cheer the closing of a ‘dangerous’ loophole.  —  A nationwide group of utility companies that provided sensitive data from millions of Americans' cable …