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.

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.

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

Scoop: Trump-backed Perdue says he wouldn't have certified Georgia 2020 results  —  Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue wouldn't have signed the certification of the state's 2020 election results if he had been governor at the time, the former Senate Republican told Axios.

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 …

Gov. Whitmer says President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate a ‘problem,’ report says  —  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her strongest public remarks to date about President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for employers, said Monday that the requirement is “a problem” for her and state government, according to a published report.

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 …

Biden makes diplomatic concession to Russia with Nato talks plan  —  US president wants allies to discuss Moscow's ‘concerns’ in attempt to prevent invasion of Ukraine  —  Joe Biden has made a significant diplomatic concession to Moscow designed to prevent an invasion of Ukraine by signalling …

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 …

Manchin quietly discusses Senate rules changes with Republicans  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a key Democratic holdout on reforming the filibuster, is discussing small changes to Senate rules with Republicans.  —  Manchin's discussions with GOP colleagues — which haven't been previously reported …

'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.

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.

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.

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 …

Texas school district pulls 400 books from library shelves for review after legislator's inquiry  —  Texas school librarians reviewing hundreds of books for ‘obscene or vulgar text’  —  A Texas school district pre-emptively pulled more than 400 books from its libraries for review following an inquiry from a Republican state lawmaker.

Hillary Clinton chokes up as she reads parts of the victory speech she hoped to deliver in 2016  —  For the first time, Hillary Clinton is sharing the speech she would have made if she had won the 2016 presidential election.  —  The former first lady and secretary of state grows emotional …

Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to reestablish the Federal Government as a leader in sustainability, it is hereby ordered as follows:

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.

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 …

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,” …

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 …

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.

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.

Reps. Greene and Gohmert Finally Met the J6 Political Prisoners: What They Saw Isn't Pretty  —  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene today released “Unusually Cruel- An Eyewitness Report From Inside The DC Jail,” her report about what she saw when she was finally allowed to meet the January 6 political prisoners.

California plans to be abortion sanctuary if Roe overturned  —  SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state Legislature on Wednesday revealed a plan to make the state a …

Gillibrand Slams ‘Four Men’ for Watering Down Military Sexual Assault Reform  —  The New York senator worked for a decade and assembled two-thirds of the Senate to support her reform, only to see it wither in a closed-door conference.  —  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) …