"Trump national security officials are considering an unprecedented federal takeover of a portion of the nation’s mobile network to guard against China, according to sensitive documents obtained by Axios. In the memo, the Trump administration likens it to 'the 21st century equivalent of the Eisenhower National Highway System' and says it would create a 'new paradigm' for the wireless industry by the end of Trump's current term."
"Grocers are under pressure, in an already thin-margin business, to cut costs and make the shopping experience more enjoyable for customers."
"Earning a small wage is better than earning nothing at all due to unemployment. It’s easy to vilify restaurants and other companies when they respond to higher costs with layoffs. But it’s important to place the blame where it belongs. In this case, it’s bad policy."
"The group of 54 lawmakers sent a letter to the president on Thursday asking him to go against Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ attempts to roll back protections on state marijuana laws, reports Marijuana Moment‘s Tom Angell.
"Who would have ever thought that Bitcoin mining would be a cat and mouse game of trying to outwit and deceive government and police task forces? Then again who would’ve thought that Bitcoin mining would be so lucrative to where families are living off the Bitcoin ecosystem."
"In order to sell in the Russian market, the tech companies let a Russian defense agency scour the inner workings, or source code, of some of their products. Russian authorities say the reviews are necessary to detect flaws that could be exploited by hackers. But those same products protect some of the most sensitive areas of the U.S government, including the Pentagon, NASA, the State Department, the FBI and the intelligence community, against hacking by sophisticated cyber adversaries like Russia."
"From the United States’ point of view, the National Security Strategy document highlighted how China and Russia are trying to shape a new geopolitical environment in the region, which contrasts sharply from Washington’s aims and interests. It pointed out that while Russia is trying to advance its position as the leading political and military power broker, China is pushing ahead with a 'win, win' economic policy."
"The strategy, the first such document to be issued by the Pentagon in roughly a decade, represented an historic shift from the ostensible justification for US global militarism for nearly two decades: the so-called war on terrorism. 'Great power competition—not terrorism—is now the primary focus of US national security,' Mattis said in his speech, which accompanied the release of an 11-page declassified document outlining the National Defense Strategy in broad terms. A lengthier classified version was submitted to the US Congress, which includes the Pentagon’s detailed proposals for a massive increase in military spending."
"Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan: This trifecta of semi-permanent US military engagements reflects the extraordinary power of the Pentagon to sway even a president who had made opposition to such policies a central element of his campaign."
"China’s financial regulator has vowed to rescue the Chinese banking system immediately to avert a banking crisis when the bubble bursts, issuing a blanket guarantee that no major institution will be allowed to fail. Beijing says it has studied the errors that led to the Lehman crisis in the 2008 and will not allow a chain reaction to occur, even if this means paying a price in terms of lost economic growth and dynamism."