| By Derek Caney
President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate retired Marine Corps General James "Mad Dog" Mattis as his secretary of defense. The Washington Post called Mattis "one of the most influential military leaders of his generation," albeit one with a penchant for colorful quotes. In one famous line in 2003 attributed to Mattis, the general told Marines in Iraq: "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet." He was once rebuked for saying in 2005 that "it's fun to shoot some people."
Iran said the U.S. Senate's vote to extend the Iran Sanctions Act for 10 years violated the 2015 deal with six major powers that curbed its nuclear program and threatened to retaliate. These are a different set of sanctions than the ones that were lifted last year. The ISA was adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry and deter its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The extension was passed unanimously yesterday.
Digits of the day: 175,000 That's the consensus estimate for the number of jobs added to the workforce in November, an increase that makes it almost certain the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month. Wouldn't want to wake up with that in my bed 
The Kelpies, two 30-meter-high horse-head sculptures by Andy Scott are lit in red to mark world aids day in Falkirk, Scotland December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Around the country - If the South Texas border fence is any indication, Trump's promise to build an "impenetrable" wall to prevent illegal immigration along the 2,000-mile border will be a tough one to fulfill. 60-mile fence starts in a dusty field on the Loop family farm. But its gaps are large enough to drive through. The South Texas fence underscores how topography, treaty obligations, legal fights and high costs could thwart Trump's signature campaign promise.
Quote of the day: It takes them about a minute and a half to climb the wall. – Ray Loop - Protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline aren't the only ones suffering in the coming winter chill. Frigid weather makes some aspects of construction more difficult and inconveniences Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline's operator.
Around the world - Russia said it uncovered a plot by foreign spy agencies to sow chaos in the nation's banking system via a coordinated wave of cyber attacks and fake social media reports about banks going bust. Russia's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), said that the servers to be used in the alleged cyber attack were located in the Netherlands and registered to a Ukrainian web hosting company called BlazingFast.
- China expressed concern that an annual U.S. defense policy bill suggests a plan to conduct high-level military exchanges with Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing sees as a breakaway province. China has "serious concerns" about the bill and urges the United States to "scrupulously abide" by the one-China policy so as to not damage broader U.S.-China relations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
- South Korea and Japan plan to impose new unilateral sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, following a fresh U.N. Security Council resolution this week.
Around Wall Street - The consensus economic prediction for 2017 is that the 35-year bull market in bonds is over, inflation is back, central banks are maxed out, and for the first time in a decade, any stimulus to the global economy will now come from governments. Reuters rounds up some of the contrarian views.
- Johnson & Johnson and its DePuy Orthopaedics unit was ordered by a federal jury to pay more than $1 billion to six plaintiffs who said they were injured by Pinnacle hip implants. The jurors found that the metal-on-metal Pinnacle hip implants were defectively designed and that the companies failed to warn consumers about the risks. J&J, which faces more than 8,000 lawsuits over the hip implants, said in a statement it would immediately appeal the verdict.
- Starbucks co-founder Howard Schultz will step down as chief executive to focus on new high-end coffee shops, handing the top job to Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson, a long-time technology executive.
Today's reason to live Van Morrison – I'm Tired Joey Boy |
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