For your Christmas hangover  Here's a look back at the insane news cycles of 2019 thanks to Stef W. Kight’s latest for Axios.
“This story is my Christmas gift to @AxiosNick,” Kight admitted.
If you’re looking for one more read while you clean up yesterday’s wrapping paper, here’s Jay Rosen’s Press Think piece in which he covered The Christmas Eve Confessions of Chuck Todd. Back to work, America. The Brits are out-wilding us  First, we heard that prominent lawyer Jolyon Maugham tweeted about clubbing a fox to death, via Damien Gayle at The Guardian. Here’s how the article begins:
“The prominent Remain-supporting lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC has announced on Twitter that he clubbed a fox to death on Boxing Day morning while wearing his wife’s satin kimono and nursing a hangover.”
George Eaton deemed it, “One of the opening sentences of the year.” While Sebastian Payne tweeted, “What an intro.” Tom Gara, meanwhile, urged: “Back to work, America. The Brits are out-wilding us, we cannot allow a wildness gap.”
Then in The Guardian, Frans Timmermans wrote My love letter to Britain: family ties can never really be severed. "I love you. For who you are & what you gave me... You can be generous but also miserly. I know you believe yourself to be unique & different... you are, but perhaps less than you think," Hardeep Matharu quoted from the European commission’s vice-president’s letter. Ian Black called it “Touching......but realistic.” “The only hope remainders can cling to is that we can go back. But it will be a long and perilous journey. Feel very sad going into 2020,” Terry Slavin wrote. Dmitry Zaks determined, “They laughed, they cried, it was better than ‘Cats.’”
Daniel Boffey covered Timmermans’ letter about Post-Brexit UK always being welcome back in the EU, also for The Guardian.
 Finally, Michael Chakraverty over at Metro UK wrote an op-ed insisting that the TV show Gavin and Stacey's "Fairytale Of New York" rendition should have never aired because it turns out the popular series' much-anticipated Christmas episode (James Corden was on) did a karaoke version of The Pogues' song and didn’t cut out the line with the discriminatory slur. Yikes yikes yikes yikes yikes. Tweeting from the piece, Jess Austin shared: “As soon as I heard the first strains of the song and Nessa’s dulcet tones begin to croon Kirsty’s words my stomach tensed. My chest tightened and I felt my teeth press into each other.” Seriously, what the hell is happening in the UK? Don't contemplate. Do something  U.S. CyberCom contemplates information warfare to counter Russian interference in the 2020 election, Ellen Nakashima reported for the Washington Post. Wajahat Ali urged, “Good lord. Don't contemplate. Do something.” And Shannon Vavra called it “⚡️A Cyber Command Christmas story: Cybercom is developing information warfare tactics that they could deploy against Russian officials/oligarchs if Moscow tries to interfere in 2020 U.S. elections.”
“Today, the idea that a cadre of nonpartisan civil servants can loyally serve presidents of either party in pursuit of shared national interests — a bedrock principle of the country’s approach to foreign policy — is under attack,” Greg Jaffe wrote. He shared his Washington Post piece — In the aftermath of Ukraine crisis, a climate of mistrust and threats — in which he and Greg Miller “take stock of the post-Ukraine impeachment collateral damage.” In a separate Washington Post piece, Matt Viser, Philip Rucker, and Ashley Parker published their “dive into an extraordinary five months” in the form of How Ukraine put Trump and Biden on a collision course that imperils them both. “On July 25, Joe Biden assailed Trump for saying he’d accept help from a foreign government. ‘It is outrageous, it is un-American and it’s close to treasonous,’ he said. Little did he know, an hour earlier Trump had done just that — on a call with Ukraine,” Viser tweeted. A bad-news story I did not see coming ProPublica’s Connor Sheets published an alarming story on How Some Sheriffs Force Their Inmates Into Medical Debt. Sheets explained: "In Alabama, some inmates are being billed for necessary health care while they’re incarcerated. And the bills sometimes go to collections while they remain in jail. Experts say the practice is likely unconstitutional." Charles Ornstein, who called it a “STUNNING story,” added, “In multiple instances confirmed by @aldotcom and @propublica, inmates have had medical bills sent to collections while they were behind bars, damaging their credit and putting pressure on relatives to pay up to ensure the care continued.”  Don’t miss what Nicole Darrah hailed “a fascinating read about the plight of people who rely on canning in New York City to survive.” Spend some time with Andy Newman's New York Times story about those Fighting to Survive on a 5-Cent Deposit. “When New Yorkers put cans + bottles out for recycling, people like Rosa pick them up — an entire economic ecosystem has emerged, and it's growing: ‘Before, it wasn’t like it is now; we had to go to the Bronx to sell the bottles. Now trucks come,’” Dodai Stewart tweeted.
And do read Todd Frankel’s alarming Washington Post story about the number of children swallowing dangerous magnets surging because the industry that makes the popular desk toy largely polices itself. “Ingestions surge 6x in 3 years,” Mark Albert pointed out. Christopher Shea called it “A bad-news story I did not see coming.” Frankel added, “One thing that didn't make it into the story - the appeals court that 2-1 shot down the federal magnet ban in 2016 included Neil Gorsuch, the future Supreme Court judge. He joined the opinion that regulators got it wrong.” Adalia Woodbury concluded, “When you have a keystone president and a do-nothing Senate that thinks poison is freedom these are the results.” Who lost is best: the election section  Democratic insiders think Bernie could win the nomination and told Politico’s Matt Wuerker as much. Jacob Kornbluh tweeted this from the article: “In private conversations and on social media, Democratic officials, political operatives and pundits are reconsidering Sanders’ chances.” Acadia Einstein is “wondering how my Bernie Buddies will turn this into an 'unfair hit piece.’”
According to John Washington’s story in The Intercept, Mike Bloomberg Exploited Prison Labor to Make 2020 Presidential Campaign Phone Calls. “They said they canceled the contract yesterday when I asked them about it,” Washington pointed out. You can thank Bill Scher for putting together The 2019 Presidential Campaign Dropouts, Ranked for Politico. He explained: “I started 2019 warning politicians that running for president can severely damage your political career. I end 2019 tallying up the wreckage.” “O’Rourke ended his doomed run as one of 2019’s biggest political car crashes, grasping for provocative positions that resembled a conservative caricature of a Democrat,” Josh Kraushaar quoted from the piece. Wondering “who [else] lost it best?" This list is for you. Please speak up now. Else it will be too late  Telegraph India published ‘You’ve only two places, Pakistan or Kabristan’ about the children in Nageena town in Bijnor, which includes the quote: “I cried and begged for mercy but they were very brutal. They told me Muslims have only two places…”
The Print in India published a “timely warning from Gen. Panag,” explaining that though the Indian military isn't politicized like China and Pakistan, the seeds [were] sown in 2019. Also from The Print, Sanya Dhingra wrote And then they came for me - IAS, IPS officers share fears under Modi govt in WhatsApp groups. “At least discussions on WhatsApp groups have begun. It is a good sign. But please speak up now. Else it will be too late,” Kannan Gopinathan said. A ground report from Sukanya Shantha at The Wire India revealed that In Mangaluru, a Police “Fires, Storms Hospitals, and Shouts Anti-Muslim Slurs.” Turning our attention to China now, Sui-Lee Wee attended the country's first #MeToo trial last year. “But it wasn't the man who was accused of sexual harassment who was on trial. It was the victim herself. Unfortunately, that fits a pattern in China,” Wee shared. Read her story with Li Yuan in the New York Times: They Said #MeToo. Now They Are Being Sued. “China has enacted laws banning sexual harassment but does not define the term. Enforcement is poor. Defamation laws are stacked in favor of plaintiffs,” Sid Acker added. At the Wall Street Journal, Chuin-Wei Yap has an exclusive that State Support Helped Fuel Huawei’s Global Rise getting as much as $75 billion in tax breaks, financing, and cheap resources. Curt Mills called it, “How To Run A Real Country, part XX.”
And Nicaragua Has a Simple Message for Protesters: Don’t, according to Frances Robles, César Rodríguez at the New York Times. “While reporting this story, I was attacked by a mob of pro-government women, who threw me to the floor and robbed me. Then someone broke my car windshield as I fled. Please read,” Robles urged. Heartbreaking news  ESPN college football reporter Edward Aschoff died at age 34, colleague Andrea Adelson reported.
Jon Solomon wrote, “He was going to get married in April. So sad.” Dave Wilson called the news, “Just the saddest. If you were lucky enough to meet Ed, you know how easy he was to love. What heartbreaking news.” Bobby Manning added, “This sucks man. You really gotta go all in and do what you want in life with urgency because it can end just like this. Saw two very talented, extremely young people pass this week.” | 
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