Welcome to Axis ProRot, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the intersection

of tech business and politics.

Sponsored by TSX Broadway.

I'm Dan Permac.

On today's show, Facebook complains about its media coverage and what's next for Sears.

But first, the federal government shutdown.

So we are now in day 17 of this thing, with President

Trump and congressional Democrats battling over whether or not they'll be funding appropriated

for a border wall. And that also means we're in day 17 of hundreds of thousands of government

workers going without paychecks, trash piling up at national parks, all sorts of federal

approvals, from new food

products to initial public offerings, not being granted, and then pending disruptions for everything

from tax refunds to food stamps. And for context, please remember, this is not at all normal. So in

history, there have only been nine other times that the federal government shut down for five days or more, and only one other time in the past 20 years. If things don't open by Friday,

we tie the record set in 1995. If it lasts a Saturday, this one would stand in a league of its own,

and to be honest, there's not much cause for optimism. So President Trump has dug in his heels

on the idea of $5.6 billion for a border

wall. And it doesn't seem to matter that the White House hasn't said exactly where it would

put this wall or how it even gets to a specific number given that Trump keeps vacillating

between the need for a concrete barrier or something made of steel slats, or even that

Vice President Pence reportedly offered Democrats a deal

for only around $2.5 billion. Nope, Trump wants what he wants. Democrats, meanwhile, aren't moving

...