Just One Thing: A record Black Friday
I would have expected Black Friday shopping to be down slightly from the last couple of years because of economic concerns, inflation, slightly declining housing prices, and so on. And based on initial data, I would have been wrong. According to Adobe Analytics, shoppers spent $9.12 billion on Friday, up more than 2% from last year and up about 1% from the previous record high set in 2020. Showing how the smartphone has truly changed the world, 48% of online sales were made on those ubiquitous devices. Now, prices are up and there were fewer so-called doorbuster sales this year, so a record number of dollars definitely didn’t buy a record number of items. But still, it’s just the latest sign of the remarkably durable American consumer. I’m skeptical people will keep spending this freely, but so far I’ve been wrong.
One More Thing: The word of the year
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-of-the-year/gaslighting
Doesn't say much for the USA that it's reasonable for this to be the word of the year.
Today's Guests
Chris Byrne is The Toy Guy! Yes, you may have bought a lot of stuff already but it's Cyber Monday and you may not have wanted to deal with Black Friday so it's not too late to get some ideas from a real expert on what's hot (and what's not) in the toy world.
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Jennifer Sey became kinda famous (to folks outside of the world of professional gymnastics, where she was already well-known as prior US champion) when Bari Weiss published Jennifer's article, "Yesterday I Was Levi’s Brand President. I Quit So I Could Be Free. (commonsense.news)".
Jennifer joins me in studio to talk about her new book, "Levi's Unbuttoned: The Woke Mob Took My Job but Gave Me My Voice"
You can follow Jennifer on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/JenniferSey
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Brian Sederwall, better known as Pastor B, founded and runs the Denver Dream Center where he works tirelessly to help the Denver community, including providing remarkable assistance to convicted criminals to turn to a life of good behavior, morality, and contributing to society.
Here's the Denver Dream Center website: https://www.denverdreamcenter.org/
Here's their Facebook page: (20+) Denver Dream Center | Facebook
Here's a little more about Pastor B including some pictures: Meet Bryan Sederwall of Denver - VoyageDenver - Denver
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Election Contest Update
I haven't forgotten about our election contest. There are two House of Representatives seats that have not been officially decided although we believe we know the results. One of them is Lauren Boebert's race here in Colorado (likely Republican win) and another is a seat in California that is also a likely Republican win. At the moment, Republicans have 220 seats. So the most likely result is 222, though 221 (and even theoretically 220) still remain possible. I promise I won't forget about this and I'll get in touch with the winner when we have the "final answer". There are three people left in the running and if the final result is 220 or 222, then the result will be determined by the tiebreaker (which was what % of the vote Joe O'Dea would get in the CO Senate race.) If it's 221, then one person actually has that as a guess. Anyway, just wanted you to know I haven't forgotten.
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Other Stuff
And you think COVID lockdowns were bad here? https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-health-fires-social-media-50d7515e5fae00f5054062209e9306cc
Axios: 1 big thing: Alarm bells in China: https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-vitals-cffa35a1-d689-40da-b9a8-3392ea1a832b.html?chunk=0&utm_term=emshare#story0
But China seems to be loosening policy....just slightly. (Remember, for Chinese leaders, even more than for leaders elsewhere, the key principle is to NEVER admit even the slightest error, and always to "save face".) China Relaxes Some COVID Restrictions as Anti-CCP Protests Strain 'Zero-Covid' Approach | National Review
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There's stuff in here that I didn't know about how Congress has been using SPR as a piggy bank. I'd say that that should be illegal (and it should) but one Congress can't bind a future Congress so even if a law were passed now to prevent using SPR for anything that isn't a true security emergency, a future Congress could just change the law.
Biden Has Left Our Strategic Petroleum Reserve In Horrible Shape (thefederalist.com)
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Not sure if I'll get to this in today's show, but it's important: Disparity Doesn’t Necessarily Imply Racism - WSJ
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The lowest oil prices in nearly a year: Oil Plunges to Lowest Since 2021 as China Unrest Rattles Market (yahoo.com)
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I believe Trump that he didn't know who Nick Fuentes is. But that doesn't make it OK to have met with him. How does a guy who's running for president either not do his own research or not have staff tell him that his dinner guest is a lunatic anti-Semite and Holocaust denier? I mean, it sounds like Fuentes was Kanye West's idea to join West and Trump for the meal, but you don't just show up unannounced, so Trump or his people must have known who was coming...or if they didn't know he was coming, he shouldn't have been allowed to be seated with Trump. It's just terrible management by a guy who gives us one more reason to rule him out for future election.
(By the way, Michelle Malkin's persistent defense of Fuentes is the reason I have not had her on my show in years.)
Trump slammed by fellow Republicans for Kanye West, Nick Fuentes dinner (nypost.com)
But as always, Trump doesn't apologize; he's always the victim: Donald Trump’s Bad Dinner Guests - WSJ
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I jaywalk constantly. Do you? Opinion | California greenlights jaywalking on Jan. 1. It’s a positive step. - The Washington Post
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And in another unfree place, France, at least you're allowed to refuse to get drunk if the boss orders you to: Frenchman wins the right to be 'no fun' at work (nypost.com)
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Amazing good fortunate that the occupants of the plane are OK: Maryland small plane crash into power lines leaves 85k without power, two stranded inside dangling plane | Fox News
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Important statistical concept: If it's true that most mass shooters have a mental illness (and it probably is), it does not mean that most people with mental illnesses have a high probability of committing an act of violence: Alleged Colorado killer Anderson Aldrich, like so many mass shooters, a male from a dysfunctional home (nypost.com)
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I'm not a Christian, but this is ridiculous, even psychotic: Cambridge dean defends sermon about Jesus' 'trans body,' 'vaginal' side wound blasted as 'heresy' | Fox News
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Not very many parents would have the tenacity (or money) to get their thoroughly brainwashed child "deprogrammed": Mother of NYC heiress paid 'deprogrammer' big bucks after daughter 'brainwashed' by college's woke agenda | Fox News
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I'm going to oversimplify a listener's question: Could you offer to pay people who aren't voting a fee to shred their ballot return envelopes? My answer is "no." Because any clever lawyer would say that is effectively paying someone not to vote. Yes, you can argue that the voter is choosing not to vote and only then receiving a payment. But I don't think a judge would go along because clearly the fee would incentivize someone not to vote EVEN IF the intent is truly to reduce the possibility for fraud. (By the way, I suspect that fraud in Colorado elections is truly de minimus.) It is a violation of federal law to pay someone to vote or to vote a certain way or not to vote...and it is also a violation of federal law to accept such a payment.
Today's Videos
Kristen and I were talking about how it seems that there are somewhat fewer houses with Christmas/holiday lights up but maybe more houses with huge lighting projects. Then my son sent me this video:
Yeah, Americans don't love soccer, but this is an amazing goal...
And it led to this:
(That sort of chaos would have been ridiculous and terrible in any case, following a soccer game, but in this case it appears that much/most of the mayhem was caused by Moroccan immigrants living in Belgium. Way to treat your host country...unbelievable.) One clue that many of the rioters would be supporters of the winning Moroccan team is that there were also protests in the Netherlands...where there are also a lot of Moroccan immigrants.
Heckler messed with the wrong NFL all-time great
Gordon Ramsay horrified by "Thanksgiving Wellington"