Top Items:
New York Times:
Why Covid Death Rates Are Rising for Some Groups — The overall rate of Covid-19 deaths has declined since vaccines became widely available in April, yet nearly a quarter million people in the United States have died from the virus in the past eight months.
Discussion:
The Hill and Joe.My.God.
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New York Times:
Covid Live Updates: C.D.C. Lowers Estimate of Omicron's Prevalence in U.S. — The estimate dropped from about 73 percent to 23 percent for the week ending Dec. 18, and the agency now says Omicron became dominant the following week. A doctors' protest over understaffing is causing chaos at Delhi hospitals.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, Politico, Twitchy and Political Wire
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Biden is learning not to fret over vaccine deniers
Biden is learning not to fret over vaccine deniers
Discussion:
RedState, The Daily Wire, Twitchy and New York Times
Noah Pransky / LX:
Which States Saw the Most COVID Deaths in 2021? America's Least Vaccinated
Which States Saw the Most COVID Deaths in 2021? America's Least Vaccinated
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!
New York Times:
The Peanut Butter Secret: A Lavish Tax Dodge for the Ultrawealthy — A tax break aimed at small businesses has become a popular way for Silicon Valley founders and investors to avoid taxes on their investment profits. — This is the story of the incredible cloning tax break.
Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
The Political Life of Dr. Oz … Dr. Oz for Senate is headquartered in a patch of strip mall next to a Mexican restaurant in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where the candidate's father-in-law, Dr. Gerald Lemole, maintains a medical office down the road from the Lemole family farm …
Discussion:
Insider, Mediaite, HuffPost, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller and Raw Story
The Daily Beast:
Fox News Star Was Up for ‘The View’ Gig Until She Refused to Get Vaccine — Lisa Marie Boothe interviewed to replace Meghan McCain as the talk show's in-house conservative. But conversations ended when she publicly refused to get any vaccines. … The View's already difficult path …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Joe.My.God., The Root, Insider and HotAir, more at Mediagazer »
Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Judge rejects Proud Boys' First Amendment claims in January 6 conspiracy case — (CNN)A federal judge is allowing a major January 6 conspiracy case against four Proud Boys leaders to move forward, rejecting their bid to throw out the charges. — Judge Timothy Kelly, in a 43-page opinion issued Tuesday …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Reuters, The Root, Raw Story and Bloomberg
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Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Proud Boy Named in Feds' James O'Keefe Search Warrant
Proud Boy Named in Feds' James O'Keefe Search Warrant
Discussion:
Raw Story
New York Times:
Russian Court Orders Prominent Human Rights Group to Shut — The Supreme Court ruled that Memorial International, which chronicled political repression in Russia, must be liquidated. — MOSCOW — Russia's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the nation's most prominent human rights organization must close …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Voice of America, Reuters and Insider
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Sarah Rainsford / BBC:
Russian court orders oldest civil rights group Memorial to shut
Russian court orders oldest civil rights group Memorial to shut
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, One America News Network and Liberty Unyielding
DW.COM:
Russia orders closure of human rights group Memorial
Russia orders closure of human rights group Memorial
Discussion:
Interfax, ABC News, CNN, One America News Network, Associated Press, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and Politico
Polina Ivanova / Financial Times:
Russia's Supreme Court orders closure of Memorial civil rights group
Russia's Supreme Court orders closure of Memorial civil rights group
Discussion:
UPI, Bloomberg and The Moscow Times
Zeke Miller / Associated Press:
White House, Jan. 6 committee agree to shield some documents — WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol has agreed to defer its attempt to get hundreds of pages of records from the Trump administration, holding off at the request of the Biden White House.
Discussion:
Fox News, CNN, NBC News, Salon, POLITICUSUSA, New York Post, Associated Press, HuffPost, The Hill, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and HillReporter.com
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
EXCLUSIVE: There Was ANOTHER Rally Planned On Jan. 6 ... At The Supreme Court — The same people who organized Trump's fateful rally on the Ellipse had something else in store on Jan. 6: a rally planned in front of the Supreme Court. — The same people who organized Trump's fateful rally …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Lays Out How He and Bannon Planned to Overturn Biden's Electoral Win — “It started out perfectly. At 1 p.m., Gosar and Cruz did exactly what was expected of them...” … A former Trump White House official says he and right-wing provocateur Steve Bannon …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Progress Pond, POLITICUSUSA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Political Flare and Raw Story
Jon Brown / Fox News:
Westchester County will not criminally charge Gov. Cuomo over sexual misconduct allegations — The DA nevertheless said there was ‘credible evidence’ supporting allegations — Fox News Flash top headlines for December 28 — The district attorney's office in Westchester County, New York …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, Politico, Bloomberg, ABC News and Joe.My.God.
David Axelrod / New York Times:
It's Not Over for Joe Biden — Mr. Axelrod was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns. — Joe Biden must be having flashbacks. — In early 2010, when Democrats lost a special election for the late Edward Kennedy's Senate seat …
Discussion:
HotAir, Politico, Deseret News and Issues & Insights
Hugo Martín / Los Angeles Times:
Why isn't vaccination proof required for domestic flights? — To go into restaurants, visit gyms, go on a cruise or see the new “Spider-Man” movie in theaters, you need to show proof of vaccination in many parts of the country. But you don't need proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test …
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The White House:
A Proclamation on Revoking Proclamation 10315 — On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution announced that the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), constitutes a variant of concern.
Discussion:
CBS News, ImmigrationProf Blog and Townhall
Yasmeen Abutaleb / Washington Post:
Healthy, boosted people unlikely to develop severe omicron infections, but jury's out on older, at-risk populations — The new variant has sent U.S. infections soaring, but a smaller share than with delta are resulting in hospitalization. — Healthy individuals who have been vaccinated …
Discussion:
NBC News and Outside the Beltway
Michael R. Gordon / Wall Street Journal:
U.S., Russia Set Schedule for Ukraine Talks in January — Russia has deployed 100,000 troops near Ukraine border, U.S. estimates, with no signs of de-escalation — WASHINGTON—The U.S. and Russia have agreed to hold security talks on Jan. 10, amid tensions over Russian forces deployed near Ukraine …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Townhall, New York Post, Washington Examiner and Just The News
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Detroit Free Press:
Michigan's redistricting commission adopts final congressional map for the next decade — Clara Hendrickson Todd SpanglerDetroit Free Press — Michigan's redistricting commission voted to adopt new congressional districts Tuesday, creating political boundaries for the state's 13 U.S. House districts for the next decade.
Discussion:
Bridge Michigan
polsci.umass.edu:
Toplines and Crosstabs December 2021 National Poll: Presidential Election & Jan 6th Insurrection at the US Capitol — One Year Later, New UMass Amherst Poll Finds Continued National Political Division Over the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol. — With 71% of Republicans viewing Joe Biden's victory …
Andrew Sullender / Springfield News-Leader:
Antisemitic flyers found Christmas morning, spreading COVID conspiracies in Springfield — This Christmas Day, some Springfieldians woke up not to presents but to an antisemitic flyer. — The flyers were left at the front steps of houses in central Springfield sometime during the night of Christmas Eve.
Matt Taibbi / TK News:
The Democrats' Education Lunacies Will Bring Back Trump — Terry McAuliffe lost the Virginia governor's race by saying, “I don't think parents should be telling schools what to teach.” If that was no gaffe, Democrats have a lot more significant losing ahead
Discussion:
The Federalist and Reason
Philip Klein / National Review:
CDC's New Isolation Guidance Treats Unvaccinated the Same as Un-boosted — The Centers for Disease Control has moved one step closer to changing the definition of fully vaccinated to include only those who have received a booster. — Earlier, I noted how the CDC arbitrarily halved its quarantine guidance from ten days to five.
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