UNCLIMBABLE? Men scale Trumps border wall in viral video: “The 38-second video shows a pair of men climbing the ladder while another holds it on the Mexico side of the border. After one man successfully slides down the railing to the U.S. side and starts running toward a second structure, another begins yelling in Spanish, “Hurry, hurry, jump the fence.” A vehicle that appears to belong to U.S. Border Patrol then pulls up and officials emerge, prompting the other men to gather the ladder and slide back down the fence into Mexico. The 16-year-old Mexican citizen who ran into the U.S. was apprehended by Border Patrol, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Joshua Devack said in a video statement posted to Twitter.”
ANGELA MERKEL. It has taken her 14 years to visit Auschwitz: ‘The International Auschwitz Committee has called Merkel's visit an “especially important sign” of solidarity with those who survived the horrors of the Holocaust.'
CLASSIC BLUE. Meet Pantone's color of the year 2020.
BIDEN'S PLAN. He'll have Mayor Pete take down Elizabeth Warren: “Biden's campaign declined to comment on the record about its strategy. But multiple veteran pollsters and operatives said there's sound logic behind the notion that the vice president's team might view Buttigieg as a useful way to help blunt Warren's momentum, particularly with white college-educated voters. The more Buttigieg rises in states like Iowa and New Hampshire, the thinking goes, the more Warren slips in some polls.”
CARLOS GREGORIO HERNANDEZ VASQUEZ. Migrant teen dies in Texas jail cell. “Following Mr. Hernandez Vasquez's death, a news release stated that he was discovered by federal agents during a welfare check. But a video recording provided by the Police Department in Weslaco, Texas, which initially investigated the case, shows that his death was flagged by his cellmate.”
MAGGIE SMITH. On Harry Potter and Downton Abbey: “I am deeply grateful for the work in Potter and indeed Downton, but it wasn't what you'd call satisfying. I didn't really feel I was acting in those things.”
SYDNEY. “Mega fire” forms north of Queensland's largest city: “The blaze was burning across 300,000 hectares — an area roughly 60 kilometres (37 miles) across — within an hour's drive of Australia's largest city, which was again subsumed in a soup of toxic smoke.”
ON THE RAG. This week on the gay magazines…
LETTING GO. P!nk chopped off her hair.
THE GIFT THAT GIVES BACK. Peloton slams by viral savaged ad. “Our holiday spot was created to celebrate that fitness and wellness journey. While we're disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by — and grateful for — the outpouring of support we've received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate.”
UBER. 3.045 sexual assaults involving drivers were reported last year.
CONFUSED TRUMPBOT OF THE DAY. Rep. Matt Gaetz confused Chris Cuomo with Sean Hannity. “Did you just call me Sean? That's high praise. I've never been called Sean Hannity before.”
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Niall Horan “Put a Little Love on Me”. “The 26-year-old former One Direction singer co-wrote the romantic ballad with longtime collaborators Jamie Scott and Daniel Bryer, who also produced, and Mike Needle. Greg Kurstin arranged and produced the strings.”
MUSIC VIDEO 2 OF THE DAY. Halsey “Finally // Beautiful Stranger”.
HOT ONES CHALLENGE OF THE DAY. John Boyega.
CHRISTMAS TUNE OF THE DAY. Taylor Swift “Christmas Tree Farm”.
FRIDAY FLASH. Junior Tene and Gianmaria Zambon by iamyoung.ma.
