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12:15 PM ET, December 17, 2021

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Antony Sguazzin / Bloomberg:
South Africa Hospitalization Rate Plunges in Omicron Wave  — Cases remain high compared with previous Covid waves  — Omicron infections may have peaked in epicenter Gauteng  —  South Africa delivered some positive news on the omicron coronavirus variant on Friday …
RELATED:
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Omicron Threatens Red America  —  In many communities, most adults remain unvaccinated.  —  Tucker Carlson could do it.  So could Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin or Donald Trump himself.  —  One of these conservative figures could go on the air and explain that the Omicron variant has placed much of their audience in grave danger.
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
A glimmer of hope on Joe Manchin and voting rights?  —  By now, you'd be forgiven for concluding the chances of Sen. Joe Manchin III supporting a filibuster carve-out to pass democracy protections are somewhere between nonexistent and extremely nonexistent.  —  The West Virginia Democrat …
Discussion: Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Power of one: Manchin is singularly halting Biden's agenda
Ashraf Khalil / Associated Press:
Manchin's child tax credit stance draws criticism back home
Discussion: The Smirking Chimp and HuffPost
Politico:
GOP blows off Trump's bid to oust McConnell  —  Former President Donald Trump has hit a wall in his efforts to oust Mitch McConnell as GOP leader.  —  Despite months of attacks, the Trump-led campaign to depose the Senate minority leader has resulted in firm pledges from just two Republican candidates …
RELATED:
CNN:
House oversight committee releases report detailing efforts of Trump administration officials to ‘undermine’ Covid-19 efforts in US  —  (CNN)Trump administration officials made “deliberate efforts to undermine the nation's coronavirus response for political purposes,” a House oversight committee led …
Discussion: Washington Post, Insider and The Hill
RELATED:
Anna North / Vox:
The world as we know it is ending.  Why are we still at work?  —  From the pandemic to climate change, Americans are still expected to work no matter what happens.  —  For a moment in early 2020, it seemed like we might get a break from capitalism.  —  A novel coronavirus was sweeping the globe …
Jan Hoffman / New York Times:
Judge Overturns Purdue Pharma's Opioid Settlement  —  The ruling said the company's owners, members of the Sackler family, could not receive protection from civil lawsuits in return for a $4.5 billion contribution.  —  A federal judge on Thursday evening unraveled a painstakingly negotiated …
Financial Times:
‘No evidence’ Omicron is less severe than Delta, say UK researchers  —  Imperial College study warns of elevated reinfection risk but notes ‘very limited’ data on hospitalisations  —  There is at present “no evidence” that the Omicron coronavirus variant is any less severe than the Delta strain …
Discussion: The Atlantic
Erik Larson / Bloomberg:
Dominion Defamation Suit Against Fox Can Move Forward  — Fox had enough information to know claims false, judge says  — Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson also targets of lawsuit  —  Fox News probably had enough information after the 2020 presidential election to know a conspiracy theory …
RELATED:
Reuters:
Fox News loses bid to dismiss Dominion defamation lawsuit over election coverage
Discussion: New York Times
Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Dominion Voting wins key decision in lawsuit against Fox News
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Herschel Walker's campaign falsely claimed he graduated from college  —  Republican Herschel Walker's campaign deleted a false claim that he graduated from the University of Georgia hours after it was posted on a website promoting his U.S. Senate bid.  —  The former football star's campaign removed …
Discussion: The Root and Political Wire
Wall Street Journal:
White House Considers Sending Ukraine Military Equipment Once Bound for Afghanistan  —  Ukraine has sought the helicopters and other military equipment to deter Russia, though White House hasn't approved the plan as it seeks diplomacy  —  WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is considering …
The Daily Beast:
Kanye West's ‘Independent’ Campaign Was Secretly Run by GOP Elites  —  The campaign took steps, experts say, to mask its connections to GOP operatives.  That could violate federal election laws.  —  New documents show Kanye West's doomed White House campaign—styled as an “independent” …
Discussion: Raw Story
Debra Soh / Washington Examiner:
J.K. Rowling is being erased for defending women  —  Those seeking to understand why the average person is too terrified to speak up against transgender activism need only to look to J.K. Rowling.  In a promotional trailer for Rowling's forthcoming film, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore …
Laura Meckler / Washington Post:
Children exposed to covid can safely stay in class with in-school testing, CDC says … Students who have been exposed to the coronavirus can safely continue in-person learning if they are regularly tested for the virus at school, avoiding disruptive at-home quarantines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed News:
“Corrosive Communities”: How A Facebook Fight Over Wind Power Predicts the Future of Local Politics in America  —  Bad vibrations abound.  Many of them are obvious: We can sense them, measure the damage they do, try to counteract or avoid them.  Others exist in a range outside the limit of normal human perception.
Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
Disgrace: Biden abandoned over 60,000 Afghan interpreters, support personnel — along with 14,000 Americans  —  We found out about the 14,000 abandoned Americans almost two months ago, of whom the State Department only shows 900 exfiltrated thus far.  We also knew that the US had abandoned tens …
RELATED:
Jessica Donati / Wall Street Journal:
More Than 60,000 Interpreters, Visa Applicants Remain in Afghanistan
Mary Jordan / Washington Post:
Melania Trump emerges to launch new NFT platform meant to ‘inspire’ — and earn cash  —  Former president Donald Trump once called bitcoin a scam that “competed against the dollar,” but on Thursday Melania Trump announced a new business venture embracing cryptocurrency and digital art.
Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:
REVIEW: What I Learned From Hillary Clinton's Master Class on ‘The Power of Resilience’  —  You've probably heard the saying: Those who can, do.  Those who can't, teach.  In this day and age, those who really can't become Master Class instructors on how to fail.
David Remnick / New Yorker:
A Person of the Year: Jamie Raskin  —  How one politician devoted his fight for democracy to his lost son.  —  Ninety-four years ago, the editors of Time magazine declared the transatlantic aviator and anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh their first-ever Man of the Year.
RELATED:
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Eugene Goodman should be Time's Person of the Year
Discussion: pjmedia.com
Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:
Josh Mandel, Candidate for GOP Nomination for Senate, On The 2020 Election and President Biden's Legitimacy  —  Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel joined me this morning:  —  Audio:  —  12-17hhs-mandel  —  Transcript:  —  HH: Josh Mandel, former state treasurer in Ohio, is running for Senate in Ohio.
Taylor Goldenstein / Houston Chronicle:
Texas AG Paxton's $2.2M voter fraud unit closed three cases in 2021.  GOP lawmakers still boosted its budget.  —  Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has been one of former President Donald Trump's most reliable allies in spreading the myth of widespread voter fraud …
Discussion: Raw Story
David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
Kamala's Conundrum: She's Doing a Great Job But Her Story's Not Getting Out  —  AN UNPRECEDENTED POSITION … If the VP's record is supported as it should be, the chattering classes will spin it into the idea that the president is a lame duck.  If not, it will be spun as a critique of her.
BuzzFeed News:
The FBI Said It Busted A Plot To Kidnap Michigan's Governor.  Then Things Got Complicated.  —  The case seemed like a lock — until an informant and one FBI agent were charged with crimes, another was accused of perjury, and a third was found promoting a private security firm.  And that wasn't all.
Discussion: Alternet.org and Raw Story
Kenny Xu / Wall Street Journal:
Wokeness Infiltrates the Salvation Army  —  It backs away from a call on members to ‘lament, repent and apologize’ for racism.  —  Although the Salvation Army was founded in London in 1865, it's in America that its Red Kettles have become a Christmas staple.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Tim Meads / The Daily Wire:
EXCLUSIVE: Maxine Waters Goes Maskless On Cross-Country United Flight
Discussion: NOQ Report
Daniel Greenfield / Front Page Magazine:
Biden's Vaccine Mandate Triggers a Winter of Lockdowns
New York Times:
Protect Abortion Rights? Virginia Democrats' Vacation Plans Get in the Way.
Discussion: Washington Post and Bomboniera
CNN:
In Alabama, Brooks looks to redeem himself with Trump amid campaign struggles
Discussion: Raw Story
Lawrence H. Summers / Washington Post:
The Fed's words still don't measure up to the challenge of inflation
Discussion: New York Times and Marketplace
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Senate confirms Nicholas Burns as ambassador to China
 Earlier Items: 
Christian Esch / Spiegel Online:
“I Started Seeing Agents Everywhere”
Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:
The puzzle of Joe Biden's unpopularity
Joe Kukura / SFist:
Six Bay Area Men Arrested For a Staggering 70 Attacks on Asian Women
Discussion: New York Post
Capital Research Center:
BREAKING: New IRS Disclosures Confirm Flood of Private Money to Elections Offices from Zuckerberg Grantee
Wall Street Journal:
Washington Post Grasps for New Direction as Trump-Era Boom Fades
Wall Street Journal:
Senate Parliamentarian Rejects Democrats' Immigration Proposal in $2 Trillion Bill
Select Committee to Investigate …:
Select Committee Subpoenas James P. “Phil” Waldron
 

 
From Techmeme:

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using its technology to power some features in iOS 18; talks with Google on using Gemini remain ongoing

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
Alphabet closes above a $2T market cap for the first time, reaching a valuation of $2.15T after rising 10% on April 26, its biggest one-day jump since July 2015

Kate Kelly / New York Times:
Congress considers legislation to block DJI drones from running on US communication networks, effectively killing the Chinese company's US commercial business

 
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