Christmas and Hanukkah gift suggestion
If someone you know loves nature and books
This is a gorgeous book: Atlas Obscura: Wild Life: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Living Wonders
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Great News: Jay Bhattacharya to lead NIH
We should clone Jay and put the clones in charge of most of government
Just One Thing: A quintessentially American holiday
Guy Benson joined me in studio yesterday and talked about how much he loved Thanksgiving because it’s a quintessentially American holiday that means so much to him because his parents made it very important during his childhood when they were living overseas to make sure he had a strong identity as an American. I like Thanksgiving but probably not as much as I would if I liked turkey. Still, I agree with Guy. It’s a truly American holiday with a MUCH longer history than any other non-religious holiday. What I like the most, though, is that it’s a great reminder for folks to think about what they’re thankful for. And among those things are, in fact, being an American. I’ve been a lot of places and while I’m happy to travel almost anywhere, I never forget the marvel that is the United States.
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Today's Guests
Ruthie Blum is an award-winning columnist based in Tel Aviv, Israel and a former adviser in the Benjamin Netanyahu administration. We'll discuss news of the Israel-Lebanon/Hezbollah ceasefire.
Ruthie Blum Archives - JNS.org
Israeli Security Cabinet approves truce with Lebanon - JNS.org
Israel and Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire, Biden says | AP News
Love it: Ahead of ceasefire, Israel strikes Syria-Lebanon border crossings - JNS.org
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Vicki Moses is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Harvard's Science of the Human Past Initiative and Max Planck-Harvard Archaeosciences of the Ancient Mediterranean. (That means that she's interesting and insanely smart.) We'll discuss some fascinating new research on the DNA of people who died in Pompeii and how the results changed so much of what we thought we knew.
With DNA, Pompeii Narratives Take a Twist - The New York Times
Ancient DNA challenges prevailing interpretations of the Pompeii plaster casts: Current Biology
New DNA evidence rewrites long-told stories of people in ancient Pompeii | AP News
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Willie B is one of the greatest people I know. He's the host of the Willie B show on 107.9 KBPI from 6 AM to 10 AM weekdays and also hosts a show in Colorado Springs. The guy can fix or build pretty much any car engine and is a legend in Colorado car shows, car racing, etc. He's also possibly the most charitable person I know, spending so much of his own time and money to help less fortunate folks such as through his annual Cars for Christmas giveaway through the Willie B Foundation.
Willie B Foundation | Refurbishing and giving away cars to people in need
Other Stuff
It's not just that the lawfare against Trump help make him president again. It's that it caused lawsuits which, unfortunately, increased the ability of presidents to break the law. How about that for unintended consequences of ill-intended actions? How the push to prosecute Trump put future presidents above the law
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Congrats to the CU Men's Basketball team: Colorado men's basketball upsets No. 2 UConn in Maui
“It was the first time the Buffs have defeated a reigning national champion since defeating Kansas on Jan. 20, 1953.”
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An old story but still a fun one, sent by a listener inspired by the story yesterday of the Swedish government minister who has bananaphobia: Banana Peel Scares Ole Miss Scares Fraternity -- Retreat Canceled | National Review
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I'm not going to spend as much time talking about Trump and tariffs as I probably should because I'll start sounding like a broken record but from time to time I'll put stuff in the blog that I might not mention, or only mention in passing, on the show. Trump's gambit, threatening high tariffs on Mexico and Canada in particular, is probably illegal and exceptionally risky. Yes, maybe those countries will do something that makes Trump back off but too many Americans (esp Trump supporters) forget that Canadian and Mexican politicians face Canadian and Mexican voters who will not look kindly on a president or prime minister who appears to simply obey orders from Donald Trump. More likely the first response from those countries will be to raise tariffs on stuff from the US. Sure, this could all work out fine. But I think that's not the most likely outcome. And it could also be a true economic disaster.
Trump Pledges Tariffs on All Imports From Mexico, Canada, and China
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Tremendous:
This Jaguar ad (without any Jaguar cars or jaguar cats for that matter) is the talk of the town this week, and for all the wrong reasons. The comments section is fantastic.
We talked yesterday regarding the maxim that "the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about" (from Oscar Wilde) but sometimes that's just not true. For example, a couple years back everyone was talking about Target stores putting transgender clothing up at the front of the store and making LGBT stuff for infants and toddlers. It hurt Target's sales and they don't seem to have recovered. As discussed yesterday, Walmart is gaining market share from Target and based on the non-scientific sample of my listeners, some of that trend must be from Target's being talked about for their wokeness that's so out of touch with the vast majority of shoppers even if it makes some radicals and activists happy. Jaguar is at risk of making that same error, not that Jaguar was doing very well anyway: But maybe it's all about reminding Americans (and others) that Jaguar even exists and if that was the goal, maybe they're achieving it? Now folks will be waiting for the unveiling of a new vehicle or line of vehicles that's supposed to happen next week. It's a risky ploy, seeming to go "woke" in this environment, but maybe they don't have much left to lose.
Jaguar boss defends new ad and rebrand amid ‘vile hatred’ online | Jaguar Land Rover | The Guardian
Jaguar Rebrand Sparks Online Confusion And Anti-‘Woke’ Criticism
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Seriously, does this mean anything at all? I mean, isn't this kind of talk the reason that she lost?
The NFL definitely does NOT care: Amy Trask says NFL should refund fans after 'Thursday Night Football' flex
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Some people won't like this but it's true: Dismissed federal cases against Trump involved substantial evidence of misconduct
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Some stuff I haven't gotten to this week:
I'm very glad I don't have to make this decision: Court says birth parents of girl born in IVF mix-up must give her to genetic parents | The Times of Israel
This is what politics is. This is what politics ALWAYS is. Inside the insidious Democratic plot to keep Biden in office using harassment tactics out of a spy novel | Daily Mail Online
This would be darn close to an act of war if the Chinese cut these cables: Danish Navy boards Chinese ship suspected in European undersea cable sabotage — Sweden’s Defense Ministry put freighter at the time and place of the disruption
Today's Video
How to talk to your conservative relatives over Thanksgiving (by the Babylon Bee, of course)
Make sure to read this more serious approach, though: On Thanksgiving, Be Kind to Those With Different Politics
And this is pretty fantastic: