Found below are a few news items that caught my attention this past week. I am hopeful that the titles and short commentary will encourage SFTT readers to click on the embedded links to read more on subjects that may be of interest to them.

If you have subjects of topical interest, please do not hesitate to reach out. Contact SFTT.

Strong Military Higher Priority than Budget Deficit to President Trump
President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he is willing to subordinate balancing the federal budget in favor of strengthening the military, possibly putting him on a path to clashing with his own pick for budget director. “Our military is more important to me than a balanced budget,” the president declared in an interview with commentator Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel. Prioritizing the military over balancing the budget isn’t at odds with positions Trump expressed during the campaign. While he said on the campaign trail that he did want to balance the budget, he also said that he knew it would take time and that rebuilding the military and America’s industrial infrastructure were equally as or even more important.  Read more . . .

North Korean Missile Threat
The U.S. Army’s top commander in the Pacific region said Wednesday his biggest worry is the missile threat from North Korea but sees his growing relationship with the Chinese military and other countries as a sign that stability is slowly spreading across the region. “The thing I worry the most about is North Korea, the most likely threat to all of us,” Gen. Robert Brown, commander of U.S. Army Pacific Command, told an audience at Asia Forecast 2017, hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Brown said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un continues to display a “belligerent aggressiveness” with his efforts to arm long-range missiles with nuclear weapons.  Read more . . .

Federal Hiring Freeze Could Hurt Vets
Veterans already in the pipeline for job openings in the federal workforce could have their employment opportunities scrapped under the hiring freeze announced Monday by President Donald Trump. “There’s no preference if there’s no job,” said Lawrence Korb, an assistant secretary of defense for personnel in the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Veterans make up about 30 percent of the more than 2.8 million employees in the federal workforce — many of them at the Defense Department. Vets have traditionally received preferences in testing and hiring and also in retention during reductions of the workforce, according to the White House Office of Personnel Management.  Read more . . .

ISIS Drone Capability May Constitute New Threat
In a new threat to the West, the Islamic State on Tuesday debuted on social media a commercially available drone dropping small bombs with pinpoint accuracy onto Iraqi targets in and around Mosul. The new capability raises the specter that the Islamic State one day could attack urban areas from the air, not just on the ground. The U.S. military is alarmed by the terrorist army’s quick technological advances and is evaluating more than 20 systems to detect and destroy its drone air force. Other systems already have been rushed to the war. The attacks were depicted in a lengthy Islamic State propaganda video showing its terrorists in intense street battles to hold the city of Mosul. Included is aerial footage of a Chinese Skywalker X8 drone, which is available on Amazon, striking clusters of Iraqi soldiers, tanks and buildings.  Read more . . .

Link Found between PTSD and Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease
Increasing evidence shows a bidirectional relationship between psychological stress and physical disease, as underscored in studies linking posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to cancer as well as acute cardiovascular disease and stroke, according to two articles published in the Lancet. In the first study, researchers outline the evidence supporting the role of PTSD as a potentially causative factor as well as a consequential factor in cardiovascular disease.  Read more . . .

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