Can’t argue politics at Thanksgiving? Argue about the food

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Thanksgiving dinner of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Cranberries are from Wisconsin, [pumpkins are from Illinois](. - Trump has [two months to make trouble](. - [Deere]( and [Stripe]( and [Africa]( are all thriving in the pandemic. - [Maradona was the G.O.A.T.]( Gnaw and order. Photographer: Evans/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Thought for Food, Thanksgiving Edition One upside of this year’s downsized Thanksgiving is you’re less likely to get into political arguments with relatives. Better luck next year, Racist Uncle Ned. Unfortunately, this also leaves you with less to discuss at the table. Fortunately, you’ll have some pretty interesting conversation pieces sitting on the plate in front of you. For example, did you know there’s [a good chance your turkey came from Minnesota](, your cranberries from Wisconsin and your sweet potatoes from North Carolina? Justin Fox knows this now, because of researching it, along with many other interesting facts about which political swing states produce the food that will have you “swinging” to the couch for a long nap. And you might think this weird holiday season would be good news for turkeys and bad news for the farms that slaughter them for people to eat. In fact, David Fickling writes, one of the weird ways Americans have coped with coronavirus lockdowns is to [re-create Thanksgiving dinners again and again](, spending their many spare hours brining, spatchcocking, stuffing and roasting. This pandemic can’t end soon enough, for humans or for turkeys. Also, [zombie minks](. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! Trump’s Power to Make Mischief President Donald Trump just can’t seem to help himself. Even with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition now in full swing, and even after Pennsylvania certified Biden as winning its electoral votes, Trump had planned to travel to Gettysburg today with his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to complain more about voter fraud in that state. Trump [bailed]( on the trip, possibly depriving America of another much-needed Four Seasons Total Landscaping [moment](. But he’s obviously not ready to leave the stage gracefully. In fact, every move he has made since the election that hasn’t involved either claiming robbery or pardoning turkeys has been to make trouble for Biden and, by extension, the country, writes Tim O’Brien. And he still has two months in which to make mischief. Of course, there is a non-zero chance he’ll simply flee to Mar-a-Lago before his term is up. But even then, Bill Barr and other highly placed loyalists can [quietly pour sugar in the gas tank of the government]( just before handing it off to Biden. Of the many Chernobyl-sized messes Trump is leaving Biden, the relationship with China is one that hasn’t gotten much attention lately. But maybe it should, considering how these [two nuclear-armed countries could someday end up at war](. Trump has simply stopped communicating with China, leaving the two sides exchanging only menacing gestures at this point, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. That won’t end well. Biden doesn’t have to be much less hawkish about China, but he should at least get the two sides talking again. Pandemic-Friendly Companies As we’ve mentioned a bunch in this newsletter, weird pandemic habits such as our whole-turkey craze have been an unexpected windfall to many lucky companies. One of these is Deere, notes Brooke Sutherland, which makes the tractors that produce the food that we have spent many extra hours preparing and eating. And [the prospect of slightly warmer relations with China]( under Biden make the future look even brighter for Deere, raising the potential for more food demand, more farming and more tractors. Tech companies — and Deere’s modern space-age tractors almost make it one of those — have also thrived in the pandemic as we all shop and surf and binge on our couches. The payment company Stripe has been one beneficiary, so much so that it’s [raising new private funding at what could be a $100 billion valuation](, which has more than doubled since just April, writes Alex Webb. But with great valuation comes greater expectations and pressures. RIP, Maradona Argentine football diety [Diego Maradona died](. Bobby Ghosh makes the case [Maradona was the greatest player of all time](, better than Ronaldo or Messi because he had to do everything basically alone. He was Jordan without a Pippen. He had many incredible goals, but [his best]( may have been the one that sealed England’s fate in the 1986 World Cup. Here’s how that play-by-play translates into English: Telltale Charts Many [African economies, which are increasingly dominated by tech companies](, have also thrived in this pandemic, writes Matthew Winkler. It doesn’t hurt that these countries have handled the virus relatively well. Further Reading Why not do an [Operation Warp Speed for green energy](? Because that’s far more complicated than vaccines. — Tyler Cowen France and Germany say [different things about the U.S. relationship]( but have similar goals: more European self-sufficiency. — Andreas Kluth It’s clear Biden will [need new tactics to remove Nicolas Maduro]( from power, including possibly cutting a deal. — Mac Margolis ICYMI Trump [pardoned Michael Flynn](. Amazon is starting to [experience shipping delays](. New Jersey’s $5 billion mall [needs a Black Friday miracle](. Kominers’s Conundrums Hint If you can't figure out how to unscramble the answer letters in our [country music Conundrum](, don't forget to look to Dolly Parton for a bit of help. You might find there's less unscrambling to be done than sorting. And if you're still having trouble figuring out that Garth Brooks song, it's possible you've got the wrong Aesop's fox fable. We were thinking of [this one](, rather than [this one](. — Scott Duke Kominers Kickers A laser fusion reactor is [nearing a “burning plasma” moment](. An amateur astronomer may have found [the source of the “Wow!” signal](. Brussels sprouts really [used to be nastier than they are today](. Some [Thanksgiving tips from a professional chef](. Note: There will be no newsletter on Thursday or Friday. Please send Brussels sprouts and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. 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