The New York Times reports: Pierre Cardin, the visionary designer and licensing pioneer who invented the business of fashion as it is conducted today, has died. He was 98. His death was confirmed on Tuesday by the French Academy of Fine Arts. He died at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just outside Paris, his family said. He clothed the famous …

Mediaite reports: The timing here is…not well done. Amid overlapping economic and public health crises and nearly eight weeks after the election, Donald Trump tweeted out a hagiographic, campaign-style video cheerleading his presidency, which mimicked the old, “Beef… It’s what’s for dinner” marketing blitz. The one-minute video released on Monday afternoon overlays patriotic displays and campaign trail images of Trump …

The New York Daily News reports: New York Attorney General Letitia James is launching an investigation into a Brooklyn-based health care network that publicly boasted about doling out coronavirus vaccine shots on a “first come, first serve basis” in apparent violation of the state’s restrictions on inoculations. In a statement Monday, James said her office opened the probe after learning …

Politico reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders will filibuster an override of President Donald Trump’s defense bill veto unless the Senate holds a vote on providing $2,000 direct payments to Americans. “McConnell and the Senate want to expedite the override vote and I understand that. But I’m not going to allow that to happen unless there is a vote, no matter how …

Via press release from GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert: The 2020 presidential election was one we’d expect to see in a banana republic, not the United States of America. In fact, the rampant fraud and unconstitutional actions that took place were so egregious that seven contested states– Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin all sent dueling slates of …

Playbill reports: Billy Porter and Cyndi Lauper, who won Tony Awards for starring in and composing, respectively, the Tony-winning Kinky Boots, will reunite December 31. The two artists will join forces for a duet in Times Square on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2021, which kicks off at 8 PM ET. The evening will also …

The Guardian reports: Russia said on Monday that its coronavirus death toll was more than three times higher than it had previously reported, making it the country with the third-largest number of fatalities. For months, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has boasted about Russia’s low fatality rate from the virus, saying earlier this month that it had done a better …

The Hill reports: More than two-thirds of the House voted Monday to override President Trump’s veto of a must-pass defense policy bill, the first successful override vote of Trump’s presidency. The vote is ongoing, but a sufficient number of lawmakers have voted to send the action to the Senate, which also needs to muster two-thirds support in order for Trump’s …

Gothamist reports: Health care providers who fraudulently obtain and distribute the coronavirus vaccine could lose their licenses and face up to $1 million in fines, under a new executive order announced Monday by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The threat comes amid a widening fraud investigation into ParCare Community Health Network, a chain of urgent care clinics catering to Orthodox Jews in …

Yahoo News reports: A Delaware computer repair shop owner sued Twitter, alleging the social network defamed him by effectively labeling him a “hacker” after his business was cited as the source for info obtained from a laptop allegedly owned by Hunter Biden that served as the basis for several New York Post articles published in October. In the lawsuit, John …

USA Today reports: The House on Monday approved giving Americans weathering the coronavirus pandemic $2,000 stimulus checks, substantially boosting payments from the $600 checks that were set to be given out as part of a COVID-19 relief package that President Donald Trump signed into law Sunday evening. The bill, which passed in a 275 – 134 vote, needed need support …

The New York Daily News reports: New York’s COVID stats skyrocketed over the weekend, but it remains unclear if the spike is a post-holiday surge or due to a dip in testing, Gov. Cuomo said Monday. The percentage of New Yorkers who tested positive for the virus rose to 8.3% on Sunday, a 3% uptick from two days prior, which …

Bloomberg News reports: Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue lobbied Donald Trump last week to sign the pandemic relief bill he’d criticized, concerned that the president’s delay would harm his and Senator Kelly Loeffler’s prospects in the Jan. 5 runoff elections, according to people familiar with the matter. In a Christmas-Day phone call to Trump, Perdue argued that the bill was …

The Washington Post reports: President-elect Joe Biden on Monday accused President Trump and his political appointees of obstructing the transition of power to his incoming administration, particularly on national security issues, an escalation in tone after reports of isolated difficulties in the transition process last week. In remarks from Wilmington, Del., Biden specifically called out the Office of Management and …

Politico reports: Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and President Donald Trump’s defeated electors from Arizona may force Vice President Mike Pence to publicly pick a side in Trump’s bid to overturn his 2020 election loss. Though the lawsuit itself is unlikely to gain legal traction, it does put Pence in the position of having to either contest the suit — putting …

Axios reports: President Trump’s brash communication style — combined with a societal shift towards streaming, where there are no regulatory restrictions on speech — has forced the entire media industry to present information in a more candid and less polished way. It’s no longer uncommon to hear cable anchors use foul language or for TV or radio personalities to make …

Via email from hate group leader Mat Staver: A new report issued by a prominent Democrat is openly accusing many of an election fraud “cover-up.” Read on to learn of the latest assault on our election integrity, and what we can do to stop it! Make your voice heard inside the offices of our U.S. legislators. Send a fax with …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Doses of monoclonal antibodies—Covid-19 therapies authorized for emergency use last month—are sitting unused in hospital pharmacies, even as cases surge across the country. Hospitals say the rollout of the therapies has been stunted by a lukewarm response from infectious-disease specialists, who say they want more clinical trial data before using them on a regular basis. …

Ansa reports: The news was in the air for days, now it’s official. In Spain there will be a register of people who refuse the Covid vaccine. The vaccine will not be mandatory, said Health Minister Salvador Illa, but whoever decides not to do so will be included in a “register” which will then be shared with other European Union …

Of particular relevance to the post below this one: Arizona is reporting a record number of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) who have or are suspected to have the coronavirus, announcing more than 10,000 new cases and 42 more deaths due to the virus on Sunday. The Arizona Republic reported on Monday that 4,390 hospitalized COVID-19 patients were confirmed …