Yeehaw. Saddle up. I took some time off over the holidays from The Roundup (except for a special COVID edition on 12/16/22). You can pursue previous Roundup articles here.

Wow. So much has happened that this will be like drinking through a firehose. I’ll hit the highlights and let you dive deeper into the footnotes below for what interests you.

• The Republicans elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House after some drama that some derided while others thought it brilliant politics

• There’s a married mom advantage

• More TwitterFiles are released - on COVID, on intelligence agency presence/influence/pressure on social media companies

• Best Bigfoot video ever?!

• The Pentagon dropped its vaccine mandate for troops

• Troves of classified files are found in two locations from then-Vice

  President Biden

More #TwitterFiles

You can review the first four TwitterFiles here.

TwitterFiles by Matt Taibbi: The Spies Who Loved Twitter

This thread is worth reading and digesting. Click on the Twitter card below to expand it.

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi

Twitter Files Thread: The Spies Who Loved Twitter:

open.substack.comTwitter Files Thread: The Spies Who Loved TwitterFrom FBI to DNI the DNI to “OGA,” the full thread on Twitter and its intelligence partners

6:26 AM ∙ Dec 25, 2022

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76,512Likes21,156Retweets

TwitterFiles by David Zweig: COVID Information Suppression:

David Zweig @davidzweig

1. THREAD: THE TWITTER FILES: HOW TWITTER RIGGED THE COVID DEBATE – By censoring info that was true but inconvenient to U.S. govt. policy – By discrediting doctors and other experts who disagreed – By suppressing ordinary users, including some sharing the CDC’s *own data*

2:10 PM ∙ Dec 26, 2022

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160,354Likes68,276Retweets

Click on the Twitter card above to link to the thread. You can also read it all here in an expanded post.

TwitterFiles by Matt Taibbi: How Twitter Let the Intelligence Community In

Click on the Twitter card below to link to the thread.

Matt Taibbi @mtaibbi

1.THREAD: The Twitter Files How Twitter Let the Intelligence Community In

8:27 PM ∙ Jan 3, 2023

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69,007Likes26,480Retweets

TwitterFiles by Alex Berenson: Pfizer’s Suppression of Information

Alex Berenson writes exposes “a top Pfizer board member - used the same Twitter lobbyist as the White House to suppress debate on Covid vaccines.”

Alex Berenson @AlexBerenson

1/ My first #TwitterFiles report: how @ScottGottliebMD - a top Pfizer board member - used the same Twitter lobbyist as the White House to suppress debate on Covid vaccines, INCLUDING FROM A FELLOW HEAD OF @US_FDA! Thanks @elonmusk for opening these files.

alexberenson.substack.comFrom the Twitter Files: Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb secretly pressed Twitter to hide posts challenging his company’s massively profi…To funnel his demands, Gottlieb used the same Twitter lobbyist the White House did - fresh evidence of overlap between the company selling mRNA shots and the government forcing them on the public.

7:08 PM ∙ Jan 9, 2023

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64,251Likes29,838Retweets

Tracy Beanz has been covering the ongoing lawsuit filed against the government by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana. She says the “TwitterFiles are Peanuts” compared to that case. (Of course, that was after only the first TwitterFiles drop.)

With the release of the “Twitter Files” on Friday evening, our ongoing coverage of the Missouri v. Biden case is all the more prescient. Many of the “new” revelations we are learning through various other means were released first via discovery in this groundbreaking lawsuit, which I have said on multiple occasions is one of the most important civil liberties cases in American history. It all wraps in together. If you are disgusted by what you learned in a short thread by distinguished journalist Matt Taibbi on Friday, you will be absolutely gobsmacked by what I have been covering in this lawsuit. It makes the Hunter Biden conversation look like child’s play.

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Another perspective on the TwitterFiles is from NPR. Shannon Bond has a column Elon Musk is using the Twitter Files to discredit foes and push conspiracy theories that's worth digesting and considering.

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The married mom advantage

In a stunning article, the Institute for Family Studies researchers demonstrate that life satisfaction is deeper among married moms than other women. It also showed that married moms are more economically secure. This is a strong advantage for marriage.

Pentagon ends vaccine requirement

US forces are no longer required to receive the coronavirus vaccine… Nearly 8,500 active-duty, reserve and National Guard service members were discharged for refusing to comply with the order since it was issued – including 1,841 soldiers, 3,717 Marines, 834 airmen and 2,041 sailors, according to the latest tallies reported by the services.

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Bigfoot video

I saw this Instagram post and got practically giddy!

pubity

A post shared by Pubity (@pubity)

Unfortunately, when I clicked on the story, it informed me that the video is eight years old, so attempting to go to Tunica to see Bigfoot is a little late. But still… watch it for yourself:

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Joe Biden’s classified file controversy

You will remember that the FBI raided Mar Al-Lago to confiscate classified files that were reported to be in a locked closet at President Trump’s home.

Now the other shoe has dropped. Twice.

Back in September, Biden said Trump’s treatment of documents was “totally irresponsible…” Now he will have to answer questions about his own treatment of documents.

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Disturbingly, the DOJ knew about this discovery before the midterm elections. Some are questioning if they knew about even before the search and seizure at Trump’s home.

After classified materials were found at an old office of President Joe Biden's, aides discovered a second batch of classified documents at a location that Biden was known to use after leaving office as vice president, ABC News has learned.

Kevin McCarthy elected Speaker

With the new Republican majority in the House, it wasn’t an easy path to Speakership for McCarthy. It took 15 rounds of voting, in political maneuvering not seen in 100 years. A conservative group of Republican Congressmen, led by Congressman Matt Gaetz succeeded in winning significant concessions from McCarthy and the Republican status quo.

Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna tweeted:

Anna Paulina Luna @realannapaulina

For those wondering:

10:23 PM ∙ Jan 6, 2023

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23,677Likes5,685Retweets

Incidentally, in her final letter to her colleagues, Nancy Pelosi said:

“One final thought that I wanted to leave with you is my belief that the House Democratic Caucus is the greatest collection of intellect, integrity and imagination assembled for the good of the American people.”

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Yeah. Nope.

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