Our picksHacking the U.S. grid; nuclear tests; doomsday commercials, and more

Published 6 December 2017

· Okay, say someone hacks into the U.S. power grid. Then what?

· Trump just accidentally proved you don’t need a border wall to stop migration

· How the Kremlin tried to rig the Olympics, and failed

· CBO report: Trump’s proposed military buildup will cost $683 billion

· DHS data offers look at how arrest pattern have changed under Trump administration

· House passed bill that aims to end Palestinian payments to martyr families

· How to tell if North Korea is about to test a nuclear bomb

· The man in the doomsday commercials can help you in case of an emergency. At least that’s the hope

Okay, say someone hacks into the U.S. power grid. Then what? (Caroline Houck, Defense One)
A joint research project between the Department of Energy and a geographic analytics company is mapping just how far the repercussions could spread.

Trump just accidentally proved you don’t need a border wall to stop migration (Ana Campoy, Quartz)
U.S. Homeland Security officials on Tuesday (Dec. 5) touted their accomplishments since president Donald Trump took office: The agency has reduced the number of immigrants trying to enter into the country illegally, and increased arrests of those already in the country.

How the Kremlin tried to rig the Olympics, and failed (Julia Ioffe, The Atlantic)
A study in humiliation

CBO report: Trump’s proposed military buildup will cost $683 billion (Eric White, Federal News Radio)
President Donald Trump’s planned military buildup would cost taxpayers an extra $683 billion over the next 10 years. The Congressional Budget Office said the administration’s goals of increasing the readiness, size and capabilities of the military will push defense spending up 12 percent between 2018 and 2027.

DHS data offers look at how arrest pattern have changed under Trump administration (John Burnett, NPR)
Fewer people are trying to sneak across the Southwest border, while more undocumented immigrants are being picked up in the interior of the country, according to data released by the Homeland Security Department. It’s the most comprehensive data to date on how arrest patterns have changed dramatically under the Trump administration.

House passed bill that aims to end Palestinian payments to martyr families (Jenna Lifhits, Weekly Standard)
‘Taylor Force Act’ named for U.S. Army veteran killed in 2016 Tel Aviv terror attack.

How to tell if North Korea is about to test a nuclear bomb(Kristine Servando, Bloomberg News)
Almost 6,000 miles from Pyongyang, in Colorado, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. has for years watched the isolated regime’s nuclear testing facility, peering at blobs and shadows on high-resolution satellite images.

The man in the doomsday commercials can help you in case of an emergency. At least that’s the hope (Trey Crumbie, Lexington Herald-Leader)
The commercials help educate residents about emergency preparedness in the communities near chemical stockpiles.