Five Rings in China: Events have begun and the opening ceremony is tonight as the Winter Olympics in Beijing get underway in a bubble of Covid-19 caution and political oppression.   In a public show that was no coincidence, Russian President Vladimir Putin …

Cold Turkey: It was 11 degrees in Buffalo, 21 in New York, and 16 in Boston at 6:30 this morning. A cold snap moved into the East Coast overnight just in time for Thanksgiving. Temperatures are expected to be 10 …

All the President’s Men: Some of the “best people” President Trump has surrounded himself with this morning are convicted felons. One of them might have devastating information about the President. Special Counsel Robert Mueller won his first jury conviction against former …

The Whole Big Mess: The President got up and threatened Russia this morning; he wants to fire the special counsel; the FBI was looking for records of Trump payoffs to women; his homeland security adviser was fired; the president of …

Mad Bomber: A package blew up at a Federal Express facility outside San Antonio overnight, the fifth in a series of bombings in Texas. One person was injured. Investigators say the incident is more than likely related to other explosions …

Take a Memo: Fired former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe wrote contemporaneous memos about his interactions with President Trump and then Director James Comey, The NY Times reports. The memos, which remain with the FBI, could provide backing for Comey …

GunBeat: Facebook announced that it is banning private person to person gun sales on its social network. Until now people have been able to negotiate private gun sales over Facebook without background checks. Facebook already bans sales of both legal …

Poll-itics: Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has pulled to within a horse length of Donald Trump in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll of Republican voters. The Poll puts Carson at 23 percent to Trump’s 27, a 17-point gain for …

Ferguson: Two St. Louis County police officers were shot during demonstrations outside the Ferguson, Mo. police station last night. The shooting broke what had been a night of tense but mostly peaceful protests in the hours after Ferguson’s police chief …

The Supremes: The court edited a key provision of Obamacare this morning with a 5-4 majority saying an employer with religious objections does not have to provide free contraception under its healthcare plan. The ruling came in the case brought …