| By Derek Caney
"We just went through a revolution. This is probably the biggest election in our nation's history, since bringing on George Washington when he decided not to be a king. That's how important this is." In retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump found both an admirer and someone who shares his hard-line position on Islam. 
The former three-star general, whom Trump tapped to be his national security adviser, also has more foreign policy experience than anyone else in Trump's coterie. The president-elect's foreign policy agenda includes ending the threat of Islamic State, restoring some semblance of peace in the Middle East and dealing with Russia and China.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described Donald Trump as a "trustworthy leader" after meeting him. "The talks made me feel sure that we can build a relationship of trust." But he would not disclose specifics because the conversation was unofficial. During the campaign, Trump questioned how far the United States should go to protect Japan and how much Japan should pay for that protection.
Trump also took credit for convincing Ford Motor to keep its Lincoln plant in Kentucky, rather than move it to Mexico. What his tweets didn't disclose is that Ford wasn't planning on moving the plant and probably couldn't under the terms of the union contract. Last year, he took credit for Ford moving work from Mexico to Ohio, even though the automaker had made the decision in 2011.
Around the country - Healthcare is the top issue Americans want Donald Trump to address during his first 100 days in the White House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Some 21 percent of Americans want Trump to focus on the healthcare system when he enters the White House, according to the poll conducted in the week after the Republican won the U.S. presidential election. Jobs took second place with 16 percent of Americans hoping they would be Trump's first agenda item.
- Congress can dismantle President Barack Obama's transformation of student loan rules by blocking freshly minted regulations designed to help students who say they were defrauded by for-profit colleges. The new measures, which lay out loan relief procedures for the students, were issued by the Department of Education just days before the election. That is recent enough to allow the new Republican-led Congress reverse them under the Congressional Review Act. Republicans opposed the rule when it was proposed.
- Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio plans to challenge Nancy Pelosi for the position of top ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. Pelosi has led the party in the chamber for 14 years. His candidacy is evidence of the circular firing squad that the Democratic Party has become since losing the presidential election. Ryan represents a working-class, steel-producing area of northeastern Ohio, the type of region the Democrats want to wrest back from Republicans.
Around Wall Street - The dollar scaled to its highest level in almost 14 years this morning. A growing perception that Trump's economic policies will push up consumer prices helped put the dollar on track for its biggest two-week rise against the Japanese yen in almost 30 years.
Digits of the day: 30,000 Volkswagen plans to fire 30,000 people at its VW brand in Germany, with the hopes of doubling its profit margin by 2020. It must also find billions of euros to pay fines and settlements stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal as well as fund a strategic shift towards electric and self-driving cars. - Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih is optimistic about an OPEC deal to limit oil production. OPEC agreed on Sept. 28 to limit supply to between 32.5 million and 33 million bpd, with special conditions given to Libya, Nigeria and Iran, whose output has been hit by wars or sanctions. Falih advocated for the low end of that range in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV.
Around the world Arithmetic without bullets 
Students attend classes in Qayyara after the Iraqi city was recaptured from the Islamic State militants, Nov. 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - The school walls in Qayyara have a fresh coat of paint and classrooms are crammed, but it will take longer to undo the damage done to thousands of Iraqi children who lived under Islamic State for more than two years. "We are happy to be back at school," said 8-year-old Iman, who like most of her classmates stopped attending classes after Islamic State took control. "They wanted us to come but we didn't want to because we don't know how to study in their language, the language of violence."
- On the eve of Donald Trump's election victory, members of a Western-backed Syrian rebel group met U.S. officials to ask about the outlook for arms shipments to fight President Bashar al-Assad. They were told the program would continue until the end of the year, but anything more would depend on the next U.S. president. When Trump takes office in January, it may stop altogether.
- Leaders of Pacific Rim nations began gathering in Peru to salvage hopes for regional trade as prospects of a Donald Trump presidency sounded a possible death knell for the U.S-led Trans Pacific Partnership free trade pact. Discussions between the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit over the weekend will be dominated by fears of rising anti-globalization sentiment in the West, where many worry about losing jobs to low-wage economies, and China's burgeoning role in global trade.
Today's reason to live Gang of Four – I Love A Man In A Uniform |
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