DML Morning Briefing, (Thanksgiving Day)

Today is November 24. Below are some of the stories grabbing headlines this morning. I hope you share this briefing as doing so will make you the smartest person in the room.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: The Dennis Michael Lynch Podcast will resume on Sunday, Nov. 27.   We’ll send out an alert when it’s up, so be watching for it!

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at DML News App!

1A – Lisa Murkowski Wins Re-election in Alaska, Beating a Trump-Backed Rival
The New York Times reports: Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a centrist Republican, won a fourth full term on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press, overcoming a conservative backlash against her independent streak and her vote to convict former President Donald J. Trump for incitement of insurrection after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Ms. Murkowski was declared the winner after securing more than 50 percent of the vote, a mandated threshold under the state’s new ranked-choice system. She defeated Kelly Tshibaka, a conservative rival backed by Mr. Trump and the state Republican Party, and Pat Chesbro, a Democrat.

While Democrats have maintained their control of the Senate, Ms. Murkowski is now positioned to remain a pivotal swing vote in the chamber and to wield significant seniority on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee, which controls government funding. A Senate runoff election in Georgia on Dec. 6 will determine if the upper chamber remains evenly divided, or if Democrats will secure a 51st seat.

ANNETA G: Kelly Tshibaka should have won this race in a landslide. Now we’re stuck with Murkowski for another SIX YEARS!

1B – Alaska incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola wins full term to represent state’s at-large congressional district
Fox News reports: Incumbent Alaska Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola has defeated her general election challengers including former Gov. Sarah Palin to represent Alaska’s at-large congressional district for a full term in the House, The Associated Press projects.

Alaska’s sole congressional district is currently represented by Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola after she won a special election in August to fill the remainder of former GOP Rep. Don Young’s term, which ends in January 2023.

Four candidates advanced to the November general election in August, including Peltola, Palin, Republican Nick Begich, and libertarian Chris Bye.

ANNETA G: Another disappointment!

2 – Biden’s ‘Green’ Agenda Could End Up Sending Taxpayer Cash To Chinese-Owned Mines In Canada
The Daily Caller reports: The Biden administration is seeking to fund Canadian mining ventures to help accelerate President Joe Biden’s green energy push, even though multiple Canadian mining corporations are partially owned by Chinese entities.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has set aside over $1 billion to help the U.S. acquire more rare earth minerals, which are needed to produce “clean energy” technologies, from Canadian and other “domestic” sources. However, Chinese companies have significant ownership in major Canadian mining companies, and some of them have also been involved in 89 public acquisitions and investments in Canadian mining companies over the past ten years, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

“The Biden administration knows it will be too difficult to take on environmental activists in opening up/expanding U.S. mining infrastructure,” Mark Mills, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They want more electric vehicles but they want to ‘hide’ the supply chain implications with legislative legerdemain.”

Investors with ties to China hold shares in at least 27 publically-traded Canadian metals and minerals companies, according to Bloomberg. In total, Chinese investments and part ownership in Canadian mining are worth up to $14 billion.

ANNETA G: 81 million people really voted for this???

3 – E. Jean Carroll to file 2nd lawsuit against Trump, her attorneys say
ABC News reports: Former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll will file a new lawsuit against former President Donald Trump on Thanksgiving, the first day of New York’s new Adult Survivors Act that allows adult victims of sexual assault to file civil lawsuits that would otherwise be barred due to the passage of too much time, her attorneys said during a court hearing Tuesday.

Carroll is already suing Trump for defamation in federal court after he denied her claim that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, saying she was “not my type.” The new lawsuit, also being filed in federal court, will include a new allegation of defamation and an allegation of battery.

Attorneys for Carroll asked the federal judge presiding over the original case to delay a trial date to account for the new lawsuit, but the judge declined.

ANNETA G: Oh, good grief! If this really happened, why didn’t she file her lawsuit 30 years ago? Seriously!

4 – Retailers Install Security Cameras, Steel Cables as Stores Brace for Holiday Crime Wave
The Washington Free Beacon reports: Retailers ranging from Walmart to Barnes & Noble are installing cameras or locking away items to deter shoplifters and thieves as they brace for a post-pandemic rush of holiday shoppers this year.

Some, including Walmart, J.C. Penney and Walgreens, put in place new surveillance systems or more security guards. Others, like Target and Barnes & Noble, sealed merchandise behind plexiglass or tethered it with steel cables to store shelves.

The retail industry has decried theft this holiday season as it struggles with excess inventories and a pullback in consumer spending at a time of high inflation.

“Sales are suppressed. Profits are being punished at the time of the highest inflation in 42 years. And now with the cost of preventing crime going up, that’s going to be passed along in higher prices,” said Burt Flickinger, managing director at retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group.

The effect on holiday sales and profits “will be horrific,” he added. “Nowadays you can see shampoos are locked up, along with acetaminophen and Tylenol and multipacks of toothpaste locked up…. people planning to shop in stores will not want to go in to these locked and over-secured stores. So overall retailers lose both the planned purchase and the impulse purchases.”

ANNETA G: I never thought American society would fall so low that this would be such a serious problem. All this “soft on crime” approach is good for is encouraging more of it – enough already!

5 – Volunteer Leaves Work To Stop Train, Rescue Car Full Of People Stuck On Tracks
The Daily Caller reports: A carload of Atlanta Hawks fans have plenty to be thankful for after they were saved from an oncoming train near the Georgia World Congress Center by a local volunteer.

Rodney Daniel, a production manager for Georgia’s Festival of Trees, was just finishing up his shift when he heard a train coming around the corner of the Congress Center and noticed a car stuck on the tracks, according to 11 Alive.

“And all I hear is, ‘we gotta move the car, we gotta move the car!’ And I said, ‘hey guys, we gotta stop that train first,’” Daniel stated.

Using his cellphone flashlight, Daniel caught the attention of the train’s conductor, who was then able to stop the train as the car was moved clear of the tracks, the outlet reported. The car was wedged onto the train track, Daniel explained, requiring him to “get a rock and prop it under the tire,” which allowed them to back the car off the tracks.

ANNETA G: God bless that man!