Tuesday, November 26, 2024

November 26, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Trump says he will impose new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China on first day . . . President-elect Trump said Monday that he will impose new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China through an executive order on the first day of his new term next year. In a series of posts on Truth Social, the president-elect said he would enact tariffs of 25 percent on all Canadian and Mexican goods, and add another 10 percent tariff to all Chinese goods — many of which are already under tariffs imposed by Trump during his first term. The Hill

Politics

Judge dismisses Trump's federal election subversion case, all charges dropped . . . A federal judge on Monday granted special counsel Jack Smith's request to dismiss the federal election fraud case against President-elect Donald Trump, ending the criminal prosecution that accused Mr. Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In a signed order Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the case without prejudice, which leaves the case open for possible refiling after Mr. Trump leaves office in 2029. Washington Times

Trump's favorability climbs in postelection poll . . . President-elect Trump's favorability climbed by 6 points after he was elected president earlier this month, a poll released Tuesday found. The president-elect's favorability rating hit 54 percent postelection, which is up from 48 percent preelection, according to an Emerson College poll. Trump is viewed most favorably by men, at 61 percent, while 48 percent of women view him favorably. The Hill

Senate will consider sexual misconduct allegations made against RFK Jr. . . . will Allegations of sexual misconduct helped sink Matt Gaetz's bid for attorney general. Now they threaten to complicate the confirmation of other nominees, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be America's top health official. Senators from both parties said they expect Kennedy will face questions about alleged incidents from years ago that recently have drawn attention. Kennedy, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Health and Human Services secretary, has been accused of sexual assault in the late 1990s by a woman who is willing to testify before the Senate. Kennedy has said he is "not a church boy." Wall Street Journal

DOJ presses forward with charging Jan. 6 defendants in lame duck administration . . . The DOJ has continued to project a business-as-usual approach to its yearslong Jan. 6 operation, charging and arresting people at its typical pace. But the newest cases may not get very far in the court process, as Trump has said the prosecutions are "political persecution" and indicated they will grind to a halt the moment he is in the White House. Since Trump won, the DOJ and FBI have focused on pursuing those accused of felonies, and not merely misdemeanors, according to public activity and media reports. Washington Examiner

DNC union launches GoFundMe to help former staffers hit by massive layoffs after election losses . . . The union representing members of the Democratic National Committee launched a GoFundMe to raise money for staffers who were abruptly laid off last week – prompting backlash from those still on the DNC payroll who have described the cuts as a "betrayal" of party values. Members of the DNC staff union said on the fundraising page that the abrupt wave of layoffs had included two-thirds of DNC staffers, who were let go with little notice and with "no severance." The GoFundMe created by the DNC union seeks to raise $25,000. Fox News

$25,000 must be one-thirtieth what it cost the government to Vice President Harris on vacation to Hawaii. Literally.

Trump transition team suggests sidelining top adviser over pay-to-play allegations . . . The top lawyer on Donald Trump's transition team investigated a longtime adviser to the president-elect over allegations he used his proximity to Trump to score payments from those seeking roles or influence in the new administration. The review conducted by lawyer David Warrington recommended that Trump aides sharply constrain adviser Boris Epshteyn's access to the president-elect, according to a person familiar with the matter. Associated Press

Biden proposes coverage under Medicare and Medicaid for expensive weight-loss drugs . . . President Biden proposed on Tuesday that Medicare and Medicaid cover expensive weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Ozempic under a new Department of Health and Human Services rule. The plan would cost taxpayers about $35 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Associated Press. The rule would not be final until January after President-elect Trump starts his second term. Just the News

The odds that RFK Jr. would subsidize sticking a needle in you to lose weight, would seem to be very, very low.

Culture

World's largest retailer Walmart nixes DEI and LGBT-themed products . . . Walmart has joined a growing list of major corporations and rolled back its diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The move by the world's largest retailer marks a seismic shift in corporate strategy that comes after attacks by conservatives and activists at the company's 'woke' policies. Some of the sweeping changes include abandoning a $100 million racial equity center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd and leaving a prominent LGBTQ+ gay rights index. Daily Mail

Judge allows trans women's volleyball player to compete in tournament incurs backlash . . . A judge ruled Monday that San Jose State transgender women's volleyball player Blaire Fleming will be allowed to play for the Spartans in the Mountain West Conference tournament as well as the remainder of the season. Federal Judge Kato Crews in Colorado, appointed by President Biden in January, denied a motion for injunctive relief in a lawsuit by college volleyball players against the conference, per OutKick. Fox News

National Security

Putin's 'Fog of War' missile confuses experts, but that's his plan . . . This is exactly the type of confusion and psychological impact that Putin sought to create and has likely achieved when Russia fired an experimental hypersonic ballistic missile. Putin's choice of this particular weapon, called the Oreshnik, is not accidental. The Oreshnik is an ICBM disguised as an IRBM. Characterizing it as the former or the latter is semantics. It walks, talks, smells and feels like an ICBM. It can do some jobs of an ICBM. Based on the design of the RS-26 Rubezh, an ICBM, the Oreshnik is packed with ICBM technology. It is a MIRV, or multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV), another signature of an ICBM. The missile fired at Ukraine on Thursday carried six such warheads. Rebekah Koffler in Fox News

Americans Strongly Supportive Of Trump's Mass Deportation Agenda . . . The poll of 2,232 adults, conducted by YouGov on behalf of CBS News following the presidential election, found that 45 percent of respondents said that Trump's effort to "deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally" should be "high priority." Another 28 percent said that it should be "medium priority," while just 27 percent said it should not be a priority. A majority of respondents said that they would approve of Donald Trump "starting a national program to find and deport all immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally." A full 57 percent said that they would approve of such a plan. Daily Wire

Money

Newsom says California will offer EV rebates if Trump ends tax credit . . . Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) said Monday that if President-elect Donald Trump eliminates federal electric vehicle tax credits, California would provide rebates for residents who purchase EVs. "Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong — zero-emission vehicles are here to stay. We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California," Newsom said in a statement. Washington Examiner

Where in the California governor's job description does it say he has to make it as expensive as possible to live in California?

Target's Slide From Cheap Chic to Dull Chore . . . Customers have long bragged about their cheap-chic Target purchases. Now, many are griping about items missing on shelves, long checkout lines and products locked up to prevent theft. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Second-most commonly prescribed drug for older adults is linked to bone loss . . . A popular thyroid medication taken by 23 million Americans may be associated with bone loss, a startling new study finds. Levothyroxine — marketed under brand names such as Synthroid — is the second-most commonly prescribed medication among older adults in the US. It's consumed by about 7% of the US population. The drug addresses hypothyroidism, also known as an underactive thyroid, by replacing or providing more of a thyroid hormone naturally produced by the body. New York Post

World's oldest man dies aged 112 . . . John Alfred Tinniswood died on Monday at the Southport care home where he lived. The lifelong Liverpool football fan became the world's oldest living man in April this year, when Juan Vicente Pérez Mora died at the age of 114. His family said Mr Tinniswood's final day was "surrounded by music and love". Mr Tinniswood, who was born on 26 August 1912, the same year the Titanic sank, became the UK's oldest man in 2020. BBC

Guilty Pleasures

South Korean man convicted for deliberately gaining weight to evade military service . . . A South Korean man has been sentenced to a suspended prison term for deliberately gaining more than 20 kilograms (44 pounds) to evade a tougher role in the country's military conscription system, a Seoul court said Tuesday. In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve in the military for 18-21 months, but individuals with health issues can instead carry out their duties at non-military facilities. Associated Press

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