Good morning. It’s the weekend. Use the time to plan your eventual move to Mars. We’ve only got a good 1,000 years left. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Politics
President-elect Trump has offered retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn the job of national security advisor. He wouldn’t need Senate confirmation, so that helps. Because Flynn’s got a history of bashing Muslims and mishandling classified info. He was also fired from his last job.
2. Mexico
Mexico’s pulled the trigger on its contingency plan for a Trump presidency. It raised a key interest rate to save the peso, which plummeted after Trump won. Mexico says there’s more to come if Trump makes good on promises to withdraw from NAFTA. That’s because 80% of Mexico’s exports is to the US.
3. Syria
As feared, the three-week lull in bombing didn’t last. Aleppo is once again being pummeled by airstrikes and barrel bombs. Here’s how one resident describes the blitz: “Planes are more than birds, and bombs are more than rain.”
4. Oil
An oil reserve found in west Texas is so big, so big that it’s enough to pump out 20 billion barrels of oil and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas. So it’s time to “drill baby drill?” Not so fast. The price of oil is still pretty low, so oil companies probably won’t have at it until prices start rising again.
5. Bills
Old ideas that had no chance of becoming law are being trotted out for another try. Among them: an Indiana lawmaker who wants to criminalize abortion. And an Iowa representative who wants to penalize colleges that fund election-related grief counseling. He’s calling his bill “Suck it up, Buttercup.”
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
To grandmother’s house we go
There’s nothing like getting that Thanksgiving dinner invite from grandma. Even if it’s not from your grandma.
Every man (or kid) for himself
The #MannequinChallenge is so last month. In this new America, all the cool kids are doing the #TrumpsComingChallenge.
West’s world
Kanye West says he didn’t vote (no surprise). But if he did he would’ve voted for Trump (surprise).
Age ain’t nothing but a number
China’s hottest fashion model is good looking, tall, muscular — and an 80-year-old grandfather.
Riddle me this
Porcelain bowls have tumbled off a shelf and against a glass door. Can this cupboard be opened? It’s the conundrum that confounding Taiwan and China.
AND FINALLY …
My little buddy
Cuteness alert! A polar bear pets a dog, and all is suddenly right with the world.