Low Bars: You may have never heard of the Chinese telecom company Huawei, but the Dow Jones nearly cratered yesterday on news of the arrest of a Huawei executive in Canada. Investors were worried that the arrest would trigger an even more serious trade war with the US.

At one point the Dow was down nearly 500 points, but closed in the negative by only 79.

At the request of the US, Canadian authorities had arrested Meng Wanzhou, 46, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, on an accusation of violating sanctions against Iran. She’s the daughter of the company’s founder.

The company makes telecom equipment and is the world’s second largest maker of cellphones behind Samsung.

The US has taken other steps to stymy the Chinese technology giant, and has tried to get international allies to do the same. The US government considers Huawei to be a national security threat because it’s believed they use their equipment to spy on customers. Intelligenceagencies say American citizens shouldn’t use Huawei phones, and US government agencies are banned from buying the company’s equipment.

Office Politics: Multiple news outlets say President Trump is about to name State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, 48, to be the next United Nations ambassador to the United Nations.

The short-term former ABC News correspondent and Fox News anchor has zero experience in actual international relations other than tagging along on field trips with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, pretty much ignored her.

She would replace the savvy and capable former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in a job once occupied by intellectual heavyweights Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Madeleine Albright.

Nauert is infamous in the ABC News Los Angeles bureau for having to do 100 takes of a short standup for a story that aired on Good Morning America. Finally, they made a big cue card for her.

For the Birds:The Trump administration announced plans to allow oil and gas drilling on nine million acres of land set aside for protection of the sage grouse. The Obama administration had set aside 10.7 million acres of land for the dwindling numbers of the chicken-like bird.

It will not be the first time the administration has opened public lands for oil and gas drilling. Bloomberg News  reports that the US has become a net exporter of oil for the first time in 75 years.

The administration also announced plans to dial back Obama-era rules on water pollution caused by chemical fertilizers. Oddly enough, the change has been pushed by the real estate and golf industries.

Dying Up There: Just two days after being named host of the 2019 Oscars, actor and comedian Kevin Hart bowed out after past comments about homosexuality came back to haunt him. Hart tweeted, “I am sorry that I hurt people.”

Hart had said in a 2010 comedy routine, “One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. That’s a fear.”

Flunked Out: One of the nation’s largest for-profit college chains is closing dozens of locations after its accrediting agency suspended approval.

The Education Corp. of America said it is closing schools operating as Virginia College, Brightwood College, Brightwood Career Institute, Ecotech Institute and Golf Academy of America at more than 70 locations in 21 states. They have between 15,000 and 20,000 students.

“Golf” academy?

For-profit colleges tend to be loan mills. The only qualification for acceptance is the ability to get a federal education loan.

Like the failed Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute chains, ECA was overseen by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, appointed by the federal government to ensure colleges offer a real education.Business has fallen off in the full-employment economy as people have returned to work rather than school in hopes of being trained for a job.

Enough About Him: After five days of listening to how the late President George HW Bush would never brag about his accomplishments, President Trump is bragging about what he believes to be his accomplishments.

The President tweeted, “Without the phony Russia Witch Hunt, and with all that we have accomplished in the last almost two years (Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judge’s, Military, Vets, etc.) my approval rating would be at 75% rather than the 50% just reported by Rasmussen. It’s called Presidential Harassment!”

Two things here. The plural of judges is judges. Also, a Republican only has to be breathing to do better in the Rasmussen poll.

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