We've spent much of 2020 waiting for packages to be shipped, but none so eagerly as the dry ice packed vials of hope that were loaded on trucks over the weekend. And America, your package has arrived. The first recipient on Monday was Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse at New York's Long Island Jewish Medical Center. (The cheering for health workers was nice. This is better.) "I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We're in a pandemic so we all need to do our part. I believe in science. As a nurse I am guided by science." Let's hope the rest of the country will be too, as the good news of the country's first vaccination comes as we approach the sad milestone of 300,000 deaths.

+ "President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was reversing an administration directive to vaccinate top government officials against COVID-19, while public distribution of the shot is limited to front-line health workers and people in nursing homes and long-term care facilities." I'd reverse this reversal. White House officials should be getting the vaccine right away for national security and to convince followers of its safety, even if it's hard to watch this administration—the naysayers, the maskless, the superspreaders, and the body count increasers—get it. And some of those who downplayed the threat or called it a hoax for purely political reasons will live, while some of those on the front lines saving lives, will die. It's just how the math works; and has been working all year long.

"Hope is a toxin that poisons many families of the missing. They either purge it and try to move on from their loved ones, or they sustain it, and it destroys them ... For the most part, residents don't speak out against organized crime. The risk is asymmetric. The police are unlikely to do anything, while the cartel almost certainly will — most often in the form of revenge ... Disappearances undermine the very nature of grief, stripping families of even the most basic closure. Condemned to a life buoyed by even the tiniest bit of hope, the pain cycles on a loop, its own unique form of torture." Three amazing lines from one amazing piece. Azam Ahmed in the NYT: She Stalked Her Daughter's Killers Across Mexico, One by One.

"Normally an afterthought, the vote will be closely watched this year as President Trump has sought to subvert Biden's victory by promoting baseless claims that the vote was tainted by fraud and pressuring state lawmakers to back alternate slates of electors. No states have done so." WaPo: Follow along as states cast their votes for president and finalize Joe Biden's win.

+ This formality comes in the shadow of pathetic legal attempts to overturn the election, including the Texas case that the Supreme Court refused to hear because (in layperson's terms) it was ridiculous. The New Yorker: The Supreme Court Rejects Texas's Shameful Lawsuit, But There Has to Be a Reckoning. (P.S. The efforts won't stop.)

+ The courts aren't buying the bullshit. The diehards are. Legislative offices were closed in Michigan because of credible threats of violence. And from WaPo: Pro-Trump rally descends into chaos as Proud Boys roam D.C. looking to fight. They were standing by. In an odd twist, they were also bending over.

"The campaign was first discovered when a prominent cybersecurity firm, FireEye, learned it had been breached. FireEye would not say who it suspected — many experts believe the operation is Russian given the careful tradecraft — and noted that foreign governments and major corporations were also compromised." US agencies hacked in monthslong global cyberspying campaign. (Why would Russia hack the US when they could just ask Trump for the password?)

First there came the Nick Kristof article in the NYT, then the credit card companies started pulling out. And suddenly, Pornhub purged all unverified content from the platform. This is a feel good story. But it makes you wonder what would happen if the credit card companies took a stand when it comes to all the democracy-bashing fake news on social networks. It turns out there's an off-switch for the bad stuff.

"Lincoln is one of dozens of historical figures who, according to a school district renaming committee, lived a life so stained with racism, oppression or human rights violations, they do not deserve to have their name on a school building." SF Chronicle: Abraham Lincoln was once a hero. In some S.F. education circles, he's now a bad guy. (Abe? Honestly? I suppose it's a good sign that the market for crazy hasn't been completely cornered by one side...)

+ Cleveland Indians changing name after 105 years.

One more addition to our collection of the year in photos. The Times: A year like no other: 2020 in pictures. Words really fail to do justice to 2020.

The election loosened things up. The vaccine shook things up. And the Boss just kicked 2020 to the curb. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played Saturday Night Live, marking their first public performance together in nearly four years. (Eighth in my newsletter, first in my heart.)

How do you make a classic children's game into a sport? Vox with a video on how tag became a professional sport. (This hardly seems like a breakthrough. All of 2020 has been one giant game of tag; a stranger gets within six feet of you, and you run.)

"Searching for a last-minute gift … that may take months to arrive?" Here's an alternative gift guide, to delight and surprise. NYT: Gifts From Cyberspace. (I want almost everything on this list.)

+ I love SNL, but I don't think they hit the mark on Trump era satire very often. But man, oh, man, did they nail it with this satire of Newsmax. 10/10.

+ Businesses and brands have to re-paint their logos in Kyoto due to city's strict landscaping guidelines and here's how it looks.

+ A look at the artistry and precision of Japanese synchronized walking. (I'm still working on perfecting my solo effort.)