“Donald Trump’s legal team is formally requesting a full recount in the state of Wisconsin, the latest in a series of long-shot legal manoeuvres in its attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election. Based on current tallies, Joe Biden defeated Mr Trump in the state by less than 21,000 votes – similar to Mr Trump’s margin over Hillary Clinton in 2016” – The Independent.

UPDATE 10:53 am EST 11/18/20: Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts updates “The Trump WI recount request will NOT be statewide – it will be a PARTIAL recount in several key counties. No word on WHICH counties yet… Limiting the Trump recount to a handful of counties will obviously greatly reduce the $7.9 million price tag of a state-wide recount in WI”

This is now the Left’s goal – throw President Trump, his administration officials, his family and his supporters in prison.

This is where we are now. Disgusting. https://t.co/ryYHTjoBdr

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 18, 2020

Jennifer Rubin: “The knotty issues that the next attorney general will have to untangle come on top of a slew of policy decisions and reallocation of resources — some of which may require legislation, voting rights enforcement, antitrust enforcement, drug enforcement, criminal justice reform, actions on environmental crime and dozens of other matters. The new attorney general may need to fire all or most of the U.S. attorneys hired by Trump and fill those vacancies with competent men and women of sterling character. Unlike Trump, Biden understands the proper role of the attorney general — and of the White House counsel, for that matter. Neither is his personal lawyer. NBC reports: ‘President-elect Joe Biden has privately told advisers that he doesn’t want his presidency to be consumed by investigations of his predecessor.’ In addition, ‘Biden wants his Justice Department to function independently from the White House, aides said, and Biden isn’t going to tell federal law enforcement officials whom or what to investigate or not to investigate.'”

“In other words, he must select someone whose judgment and character are impeccable, and whose priorities sync up with his own. The model should be Edward H. Levi, the first attorney general after Watergate, who instituted a slew of reforms and restored the department’s reputation. Biden should not ask prospective candidates if they will investigate Trump (avoiding the appearance of picking someone to investigate his political opponents), but he should feel free to ask how they might make that decision. He would be wise to avoid telling a potential pick how to clean house at the Justice Department, but he certainly should inquire as to that pick’s thinking on the topic. Biden should offer full cooperation on preventing politicization of individual enforcement matters and instruct his choice to immediately report any improper attempts to interfere with prosecutorial judgments.”

Wrong! At first they voted against because there were far more VOTES than PEOPLE (Sad!). Then they were threatened, screamed at and viciously harassed, and were FORCED to change their vote, but then REFUSED, as American patriots, to sign the documents. 71% MESS. Don’t Harass! https://t.co/n5frpesHfD

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020

AP: “A bust of the ancient god Hermes, in good condition, was discovered in central Athens during sewage work, authorities said Sunday. The Greek Culture Ministry said that the head, one of many that served as street markers in ancient Athens, was found Friday and it appears to be from around 300 B.C. — that is, either from the late fourth century B.C., or the early third century. It depicts Hermes at ‘a mature age,’ the ministry said, in contrast to his usual depictions as youthful. The head is in the style of famed Greek sculpture Alcamenes, who flourished in the second half of fifth century B.C., the ministry said.”

ProPublica: “Long before Republican senators began publicly denouncing how Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger handled the voting there, he withstood pressure from the campaign of Donald Trump to endorse the president for reelection. Raffensperger, a Republican, declined an offer in January to serve as an honorary co-chair of the Trump campaign in Georgia, according to emails reviewed by ProPublica. He later rejected GOP requests to support Trump publicly, he and his staff said in interviews. Raffensperger said he believed that, because he was overseeing the election, it would be a conflict of interest for him to take sides. Around the country, most secretaries of state remain officially neutral in elections. The attacks on his job performance are ‘clear retaliation,’ Raffensperger said. ‘They thought Georgia was a layup shot Republican win. It is not the job of the secretary of state’s office to deliver a win – it is the sole responsibility of the Georgia Republican Party to get out the vote and get its voters to the polls. That is not the job of the secretary of state’s office.'”

“Leading the push for Raffensperger’s endorsement was Billy Kirkland, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign who was a key manager of its Georgia operations. Kirkland burst uninvited into a meeting in Raffensperger’s office in the late spring that was supposed to be about election procedures and demanded that the secretary of state endorse Trump, according to Raffensperger and two of his staffers. As the Georgia results have become increasingly clear, Republicans have unleashed intense criticism on the secretary of state’s office, accusing it without evidence of mismanaging the election and allowing Biden to carry the state by fraudulent means.”

“About half of all Republicans believe President Donald Trump ‘rightfully won’ the U.S. election but that it was stolen from him by widespread voter fraud that favored Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. The Nov. 13-17 opinion poll showed that Trump’s open defiance of Biden’s victory in both the popular vote and Electoral College appears to be affecting the public’s confidence in American democracy, especially among Republicans. Altogether, 73% of those polled agreed that Biden won the election while 5% thought Trump won.”

“But when asked specifically whether Biden had ‘rightfully won,’ Republicans showed they were suspicious about how Biden’s victory was obtained. Fifty-two percent of Republicans said that Trump ‘rightfully won,’ while only 29% said that Biden had rightfully won. Asked why, Republicans were much more concerned than others that state vote counters had tipped the result toward Biden: 68% of Republicans said they were concerned that the election was ‘rigged,’ while only 16% of Democrats and one-third of independents were similarly worried” – Reuters.

“What a difference seven years can make. In 2013, then-26-year-old actor Michael B. Jordan was featured in PEOPLE’s first annual Ones to Watch portfolio for his critically acclaimed performance in that year’s film Fruitvale Station. Now he’s been crowned 2020’s Sexiest Man Alive. ‘It’s a cool feeling,’ he tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. ‘You know, everybody always made that joke, like, ‘Mike, this is the one thing you’re probably not going to get.’ But it’s a good club to be a part of.’ From chiseling his body to carry on the boxing legacy of Apollo Creed as his son, Adonis, in 2015’s Creed to portraying Black Panther’s ruthless villain Erik Killmonger in 2018, Jordan, now 33, continues to make his mark in Hollywood – and the world” – People Magazine.

Daily Beast: “As communities across the U.S. scramble to treat COVID-19 patients, White House adviser Scott Atlas has been actively pushing back against state measures to control the recent uptick. His downplaying of the threat of the virus is nothing new. But the timing has left officials working on the federal government’s coronavirus response fuming and desperate for his ouster.”

“According to multiple officials familiar with the matter, Atlas has recently pushed White House officials to find ways to prevent states from introducing what he sees as needless and restrictive stay-at-home orders, social distancing guidelines and mask mandates. Officials said Atlas views any action that limits gatherings, including holiday celebrations, as a reversal of the reopening playbook he helped install this summer—a strategy that many prominent health experts point to as one of the reasons the U.S. is in its current predicament. ‘He’s a destructive force,’ one senior official said, adding that Atlas’ recent messaging is getting in the way of efforts to save lives as the country waits for a vaccine to become available to the general public. ‘I mean, at this point, I don’t know how else to explain what he’s doing. It’s really disruptive.'”

The New Zealand Police, the national police service of the South Pacific island nation, had introduced a uniform that incorporates a hijab as a way to encourage Muslim women to join the force, the BBC reports.

New Zealand Police introduce hijab to uniform https://t.co/LWVnoaS0I7

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 18, 2020

Many police departments in the British Commonwealth have introduced similar uniforms to their forces.  The Metropolitan Police in London approved a uniform hijab in 2006 with Police Scotland following in 2016. In Australia, the Victoria Police introduced a hijab in 2004.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first single-use at-home COVID test, which can give results in 30 minutes without visiting a doctor’s office or clinic, the Washington Post reports.

With the “All-In-One” single-use test kit by Lucira Health, Inc., the user self-administers a nasal swab to collect a sample, from which it checks for the virus’s genetic material.  The FDA gave the test an “emergency use” authorization, which means it could be on the market in weeks.

Lucira Health was developing an at-home influenza test when the pandemic hit, so it redirected the research effort to come up with a coronavirus test instead.  While the test may be too expensive for average households, it provides a simple, fast test that may be used in schools, workplaces, nursing homes and other essential businesses.

After the two republican members of the Wayne Co. Board of Canvassers refused to certify the election results in Detroit, fellow board member Ned Staebler calls out the pair, Monica Palmer (@monicaspalmer) and William Hartmann (@HartmannDude), for their blatant partisanship and their failure to do their sworn duty to placate the Michigan Republican Party by disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters in primarily Black Detroit.

https://youtu.be/FyzTJWXo6hE

Less than three hours later, following a nationwide outcry, Palmer and Hartmann changed their votes.

The seven-day running average of new daily coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 160,000 for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, nearly tripling in the last month, according to data from two aggregators.

The COVID Tracking Project reported more than 155,000 new confirmed cases on Tuesday in the US, with more than 1,500 fatalities.  According to the site, hospitalizations reached an all-time high at 76,800; hospitalizations have increased 50% over the last two weeks, a trend that continues on a day-t0-day basis.

Worldometers reports that Texas and Illinois logged the most new cases in the US, topping 10,000 each.  Those two states also exceeded 100 fatalities due to the virus on Tuesday.

“In a late night twist, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers unanimously agrees to certify the results, on the condition Secretary of State’s office conduct a comprehensive audit of the unexplained, out of balance precincts across the county” – Investigative reporter Kayla Ruble.

Trump tweeted this just minutes earlier, lol

Wow! Michigan just refused to certify the election results! Having courage is a beautiful thing. The USA stands proud!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020

AP: “The FBI is investigating allegations that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton broke the law in using his office to benefit a wealthy donor, according to two people with knowledge of the probe. Federal agents are looking into claims by former members of Paxton’s staff that the high-profile Republican committed bribery, abuse of office and other crimes to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, the people told The Associated Press. They insisted on anonymity to discuss the investigation because it is ongoing. Confirmation of the criminal probe marks mounting legal peril for Paxton, who’s denied wrongdoing and refused calls for his resignation since his top deputies reported him to federal authorities at the end of September.”

Brad Heath’s Twitter thread on the Trump campaign’s lawsuit, led by Rudy Giuliani, is well worth the read.  Just a taste of it:

Judge is asking pretty rudimentary questions: What standard of review should I apply?

Giuliani: "The normal one."

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) November 17, 2020

Daily Beast: “A once murky alliance forged in a world of internet conspiracy theories appears to have ended in murder this past Sunday, with an infamous QAnon mom accused of having shot a fringe legal theorist. Neely Petrie-Blanchard, a Kentucky resident, had long ago lost custody of her daughters for reasons that are unclear. And to help in the task of getting them back, she turned to Chris Hallett, an amateur legal expert who offered bogus court services through a company called ‘E-Clause,’ and who promised Petrie-Blanchard she could win her daughters back through ludicrous courtroom tactics he borrowed from the anti-government sovereign citizen’s movement. Petrie-Blanchard went all-in on Hallett’s promises. When she did see her daughters, she dressed them in ‘E-Clause’ shirts and put a vanity ‘ECLAUSE’ license plate on her car.”

“But, along the way, something went wrong. On Sunday night, Hallett was found face down in the kitchen of his central Florida home, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to his back. Deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said they found him dead when they arrived at the scene. They put out a multi-state arrest order for Petrie-Blanchard, who was arrested hours later in Georgia as the only named suspect in Hallett’s murder. A witness who was in the house when the shooting happened told police that Petrie-Blanchard had become convinced that Hallett himself was involved in a plot to keep her children away from her. Hallett had been working on Petrie-Blanchard’s custody case at the time of his death, according to the witnesses. ‘It was speculated that the victim was shot by [Petrie-Blanchard], due to her belief that the victim might have been working against her, or working to assist the government, in keeping her children away from her.'”

…votes from Trump to Biden, late voting, and many more. Therefore, effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020

Missouri Republican Senate leaders wanted to hold a special session to pass coronavirus-related legislation–on things such as qualifying for federal and state funds, and providing protection from lawsuits for business owners–but the Senate majority leader tweeted that it had to be postponed until after Thanksgiving, ABC News reports.

We’re talking about Republicans here, so the reason for the postponement will sound obvious:  too many members of the Senate are isolating because they have the coronavirus or came in contact with someone who did.

Last week, state Senate Republicans and Republican Governor Mike Parson held a retreat in Branson.  Photos from the event show few, if any, people wearing masks, and it appears no social distancing guidelines were honored.