Study says masks don't protect wearer but do limit ability to spread . . . A large Danish study suggests that face masks may only offer the wearer limited protection against COVID-19 infection. Researchers found there was no statistically significant difference in the number of people who contacted the virus in a group wearing masks in public compared to a group that did not do so. The team, from Copenhagen University Hospital says the findings should not be used to argue against their widespread use becayse masks prevent people infecting others. Daily Mail

 

Scientists say there's little evidence surfaces spread virus . . . All over the world, workers are soaping, wiping and fumigating surfaces with an urgent sense of purpose: to fight the coronavirus. But scientists increasingly say that there is little to no evidence that contaminated surfaces can spread the virus. In crowded indoor spaces like airports, they say, the virus that is exhaled by infected people and that lingers in the air is a much greater threat. New York Times

 

 

 

 

 

California lawmakers slammed for Hawaii trip during coronavirus surge . . . California lawmakers who flew to a conference in Maui amid the pandemic broke their silence over the controversy Wednesday, defending the trip by calling it safe despite officials in their home state advising people not to travel during the current surge in COVID-19 cases. The travel by more than half a dozen state lawmakers has drawn sharp criticism back in California, where observers say it sends the wrong message for legislators to leave the state and gather at a resort when COVID-19 cases are surging, leading to tougher restrictions on the movement of average residents. Los Angeles Times

 

Georgia Republican senators tied with Democratic challengers . . . Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are embroiled in razor-thin contests with their Democratic challengers in a pair of runoff campaigns in Georgia that will determine the fate of the Senate majority, according to a new poll. Perdue, running for a second term, is tied with Democrat Jon Ossoff at 49%, with 2% undecided. Loeffler, appointed to the Senate in January by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, trails Democrat Raphael Warnock 49% to 48%, well within the polls' 3.5 percentage-point margin of error and with 3% undecided. Washington Examiner

 

 

 

GOP senators say new records "confirm" Biden family ties to China and Russia . . . “These new records confirm the connections between the Biden family and the communist Chinese government, as well as the links between Hunter Biden’s business associates and the Russian government, and further support the Committees’ September 23, 2020 report’s finding that such relationships created counterintelligence and extortion concerns,” the senators wrote in the five-page report, which was followed by 65 pages of evidence. They wrote that after their September report was issued, "new sources went public with additional information about business relationships and financial arrangements among and between the Biden family and their business associates, including several foreign nationals." Washington Examiner

 

 

 

Biden to bring swamp into White House . . . Steve Ricchetti, who served as then-Vice President Biden's chief of staff, will join the White House as counselor to the president. Ricchetti founded his own lobbying firm in 2001 and worked on behalf of corporate clients such as AT&T, Eli Lily, and the American Bankers Association. Ron Klain, who also served as then-Vice President Biden's chief of staff, will take on the role of White House chief of staff in the Biden administration. Klain is a veteran of the K Street lobbying firm O'Melveny & Myers. His clients included U.S. Airways, AOL Time Warner, and ImClone, a pharmaceutical company whose CEO was convicted for fraud. Klain also lobbied on behalf of mortgage giant Fannie Mae in an effort to fight off stricter oversight from Congress. Washington Free Beacon

 

Pelosi to go — but we have to wait two years . . . Rep. Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that her next term as Speaker will be her last, making good on a promise she’d made in 2018 to relinquish power after the next midterm elections.  “I don’t want to undermine any leverage I may have,” she told reporters in the Capitol, “but I made the statement.” The Hill

 

 

Biden resists prosecuting Trump . . . Don’t get this wrong. This isn’t about unity or peace, love, and understanding. Joe Biden knows that he does not want investigations to be the big feature of this administration. BECAUSE HE HAS JUST SEEN HOW THAT CAN HARM A PRESIDENCY. It takes the focus off of what he wants to do. And it gives President Trump a platform to attack him back. According to the Washington Examiner: “President-elect Joe Biden is signaling that his administration will not prioritize prosecuting his predecessor in a purported effort to heal the country’s divisions, amid pressure from other Democrats for a “reckoning” once President Trump has left office." White House Dossier

 

More people are happy Trump lost than that Biden won . . . More Americans are happy that President Donald Trump lost his reelection bid than are happy that President-elect Joe Biden won the election, according to a Monmouth University poll. About one-third of the country said they are "happy" that Trump lost the Nov. 3 presidential election compared with one-quarter of Americans who say they are happy that Biden won. USA Today

 

Bidens to have just one guest for Thanksgiving . . . Joe Biden revealed on Wednesday there will only be three people at his Thanksgiving dinner this year as he holds a scaled-back event due to the coronavirus pandemic. 'It's going to cause problems in my family,' he said of the restrictions around the holiday. Medical experts are recommending no large gatherings and encouraging families to hold virtual events instead of in-person ones. Daily Mail

 

Obama laments conservative media weakening old network of "gatekeepers" . . . Barack Obama said he was blindsided by the rise of conservative voices on social media that would undermine “the curators and the gatekeepers for what’s acceptable and what’s not.”

"It started just as I’m getting elected the importance of mainstream, the old network. Walter Cronkite, Nightly News, New York Times, Washington Post, them being sort of the curators and the gatekeepers for what’s acceptable and what’s not." Washington Times

 

 

 

Trump supporters to hold another rally in Washington . . . I wonder if they are ready for more problems with the “peaceful protestors”? According to the Washington Examiner: “Die-hard Trump fans plan to descend on Washington on Saturday afternoon and rally around the president as he wages a legal battle against the election results." White House Dossier

 

Iran official says attack could lead to war . . . An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader who is a possible 2021 presidential candidate is warning that any American attack on the Islamic Republic could set off a “full-fledged war” in the Mideast in the waning days of the Trump administration. Hossein Dehghan struck a hard-line tone familiar to those in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a force he long served in before becoming a defense minister under President Hassan Rouhani. Associated Press

 

Pompeo calls BDS movement anti-Semitic . . . Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, shortly after he declared that the Trump administration now viewed an international campaign to boycott, divest from and impose sanctions on Israel as anti-Semitic. New York Times

Royal Caribbean attracts 100,000 volunteers for test runs . . . The president of cruise giant Royal Caribbean announced Sunday that 100,000 people have already volunteered to sail free-of-charge on their government-mandated test voyages. “And just like that…100,000 people have volunteered. We can’t wait to start this next phase with you all!” Michael Bayley wrote on Facebook. New York Post

 

 

 

Gun owners face tens of billions in new taxes under Biden plan . . . American gun owners could face tens of billions of dollars in new taxes to keep the guns they already own under Democrat Joe Biden's gun ban and tax plan. At least 20 million rifles and 150 million ammunition magazines would be caught up in the sales ban and registration scheme Biden touted on the campaign trail, according to a National Shooting Sports Foundation report. The new taxes would cost Americans more than $34 billion. Washington Free Beacon

 

 

New app translates cat talk . . . A new app claims to be able to translate a cat's meows and purrs into English. The creators of MeowTalk say it can identify 13 meanings, including 'Feed me,' 'Leave me alone,' and 'I'm in love'. Designer Javier Sanchez – who was an engineer on Amazon's voice assistant Alexa – ultimately wants to develop a smart-collar that would instantly translate miaows into human speech. Daily Mail