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Norman Foster's JP Morgan Chase Building 270 Park Avenue, with 60 stories, the 1390 feet skyscraper in NY City for ten thousand Chase employees, was started in 2021 after the area around Grand Central Terminal was opened up for new buildings. It has large windows to let in more sunlight high ceilings and wide open spaces and adds a feeling of civic pride- double the air of other modern buildings and 30% more sunlight to make it livable and inviting to people and employees. WSJ reporter Michael Lewis looks at the new building and its architectural style putting naked steel beams to open sight and trying to meet human needs for space, light, and civic mindedness, openness to the city and the world.

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The Russian currency, the rouble crashed to 0.8 cents to the US dollar from 1.3 cents. It has now bounced back to 1.2 cents. Peter Coy of the NYT says this is the result of Russian oil and gas exports to Europe and other parts of the world which continued after sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine. The increase in oil prices from the war actually increased Russian oil revenues by a third. Another reason is the steps taken by the Russian government to ask for payment for energy supplies in roubles. 

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It all ends as expected. Another chapter in the Brexit saga ends with the mutiny in the Conservative Partyl, the resignation of Ms. Leadsom, the party's leader in the House of Commons. WIth most Conservative Party members abandoning the approach of Theresa May of putting unpopular Brexit deals to votes in parliament, the latest planned for June 7. Conservative Party members have already shown their support for Mr. Boris Johnson, who leads by a wide margin in a leadership contest. Johnson supports a no-deal Brexit and once said that would only mean a shortage of Mars chocolate bars. This faction in the Conservative Party including Jacob Rees-Moog believes that Brexit without a deal with the European Union will work. It opposes a customs union arrangement following Brexit. The only problem is that earlier votes have not shown a majority of members of parliament support no-deal Brexit because of fears about the British economy. The fall in the British pound exchange rate shows this is expected. This could mean fresh elections, yet both Conservatives and Labour Party face voter skepticism about their handling of Brexit and loss of support to Liberals in the case of labour and to the Brexit Party in the case of the Conservatives, leaving more uncertainty. Conservatives polled about 11% in advance of European Union elections in Britain, unheard of in modern British politics. ...

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Germany leads in balcony solar installation- 1 million installed in 2023-2025 ($200 to $1200 solar modules installed on baconies. The boom is the largest in Europe for solar balcony installations. Japan is sending a delegation to learn from Germany. Renewables overtook coal for first time worldwide. In Germany the cost of this electricity from soalr balcony installs is half that of electricity from the grid. Berlin University Applied Sciences says it pays for itself in 4-7 years, after that the electricity has no cost. Solar modules life is 30 years, batteries life is 7-10 years. With 4 modules about half the needs for electricity for a household can be met.

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Section 230 is a law passed in 1996 that makes the Social Media Companies and Media companies such as Meta and Google and others to have no liability for content posted on their sites. This has allowed these companies to grow and develop monopolies on the internet. Here CSPAN covers the hearings in the US Senate today December 9  with the following US Senators speaking at a Senate hearing on Online Safety for Children. Senator Whitehouse of Rhode Island describes the biggest problem as being the Section 230 which needs to be removed. The following mothers who are Senators and mothers or grand mothers of children were very vocal on this point- Katie Britt-Alabama, Martha Blackburn-Tennessee, Ashley Woody-Florida (former Attorney General of Florida).  Senators who are fathers or grandfathers of children speaking are-Josh Hawley-Missouri,      Whitehouse-Rhode Island, Bluementhal-Connecticut, Corbyn-Texas, Chuck Grassley-Iowa. Senator Whitehouse says-  "I understand Senator Graham was with respect to getting rid Of Section 230 Um, I strongly believe that Section 230 has long outlived its use, and it is now a real vessel for evil. That needs to come to an end. Um, the laws that Section 230 protects these big platforms from are very often laws that go back to the common law of England. that we inherited when this country was initially founded. I mean, these are long lasting, well tested. Important Legal constraints that have They've met the test of time, not by the year, by the decade, but by the century. And yet because of this crazy Section 230, these Ancient and highly respected doctrines just don't reach these people. And it really makes no sense that if you're a Internet platform you get treated one way. You do the exact same thing. And you're a publisher, you get treated a completely different way. And so I think that the time has come. I think it's pretty widely known that there were a core 4 of us. Ready to proceed with a bipartisan bill 2 and 2. And a A lot of work, important work, good work, valuable work has gone into making sure that other members of the committee and other members of the Senate have a chance to look at that and decide whether they want to join or not. And I'm at the stage right now where I think we just need to go." The Online Safety Act passed overwhelmingly in the US Senate recently still languishes in the House of Representatives. Ostensibly because of free speech but really because of monopolies and campaign contributions, and beyond this because of the idea that rapid internet growth gives the US economic and business leadership in the world. That is not how it has turned out instead by weakening the education of the children of the Nation this has created the idea in China and other nations that the US's period of world leadership has passed. In the overall scheme of things social media has weakened education in America as children of the Nation spend countless hours away from classroom education on their smartphones. Australia and other countries including China regulate the use of the smartphones and internet social media for children under the age of 14. This regulation strengthens education in these countries at the same time that the absence of limits weakens education competitiveness in America, and creates the idea that America's days of leadership in education have passed.The loss of this leadership means the loss of American leadership in the world in a decisive way. ...

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Emmanuel Macron says he is listening to voters and will change the pension reform to meet voter concerns. The age will go from 62 to 64 instead of 65, it will be implemented gradually till 2030, and try to build a consensus, and be delayed for now. He said "I have heard the message from those who voted for the extremes including Ms. Le Pen." 

Mr. Macron pushed through pension reform in 2020 without a parliamentary vote in the face of street protests and it was not implemented because of the pandemic. 

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The wisdom of trying hard but not too hard. Productivity declines when trying too hard. It helps for the mind to get rest and come back to the task refreshed, which means push yourself but only so much and continue to work at it steadily. There is no such thing as achieving 100%, it could mean the goals set were not ambitious enough or that the goals were too hard acting as a demotivating influence. Also minutae or stuff that is not that important can creep into that extra 15% to get to 100%. 

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This report in the WSJ says shale oil investments have not turned out to be profitable as expected. It cites Evercore ISI saying energy companies spent $280 billion more than they generated on shale investments since 2007. The paltry returns mean there is now more pressure to increase returns.

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The Kristian Anderson memo to Dr. Fauci is the No. 1 story in the WSJ on June 5. This memo written on Jan 31, 2020 shows the initial reaction of the leader of five virologists to the coronavirus genome. Nicholas Wade writing in WSJ cites this memo as having missed the censors marker as the emails to Fauci were released under the Freedom of Information Act. The initial reaction is cited in the Anderson memo to Dr Fauci as seeing "unusual features" in the virus. These were in a small percentage of the genome, "so that one has to look really closely at all the sequences to see that some of the features (potentially) look engineered." Mr. Anderson goes on to note that he and his team of virologists 'all find the genome inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory." What does Anderson mean by this important phrase? Anything inconsistent with evolutionary origin has to be man-made is the conclusion drawn by many virologists including David Baltimore, cited here in the WSJ. Virologist later modified their stand saying it was evolutionary because of professional interest in not starting a what WSJ calls "storm of condemnation" over gain of function research, a exotic name for genetically enhancing the pathogenic power of viruses or increasing its transmissibility effect. Nicholas Wade is a Science writer who has worked for Nature, Science and The New York Times. ...

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S&P 500 up 5% in 2025 by June 27 2025 recovering 20% form lows after tariffs. Scott Bessent had promised agreement in place by July this date will be extended  yet confidence has returned that the agreements will be put in place after German chancellor Merz met with DJT at the White House. With Germany leading the way the biggest of the agreements with EU could be put in place. Additional agreements would come with India and China, and Japan, South Korea.

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Liz Whitehurst is one of many young people who are giving up jobs in offices to take to farming. They are not from farm families and bring a new way and exciting way of looking at farming free of the pesticides and other practices common today. Only 2% of U.S. land is being used for growing fruits and vegetables, according to the Union of American Scientists cited in the Guardian newspaper, and this needs to at least double in acreage if American needs are to be met. Only 15% of Americans get the daily requirement for fruits and vegetables- so desperately needed is this  to lower the BMI of the 70% of overweight Americans with BMI over 50. In the light of this crisis the shift of young people to farming is an encouraging sign.  In 2015 Liz, 32 years, decided to buy a 3 acre farm in Upper Marboro, Md, giving up benefits and better pay at nonprofit jobs in Washington state.  Here she is shown picking up Aragula leaves in the November chill. She is not alone. She is joining a movement that is bringing highly educated, former urban first time farmers as the demand for better food, for local and sustainable food, especially fruits and vegetables grows in the U.S. Year on Year there is a 20% increase of farmers in states like California, Nebraska, South Dakota in the 25-34 age group. In the 2014 USDA Census this group is growing at 2-3% just when other groups are shrinking by double digits. These farmers are more likely to connect with the community supported agriculture (CSA) prorams and markets, to grow organically and limit pesticide and fertilizer use. They tend to have farms less than 50 acres. Liz leases the house and the fields from a neighboring couple in the 70's, growing organically certified peppers, cabbages, tomatoes and salad greens kale to aragula, rotating fields. On Tues, Thurs. and Fri. she and two friends are to be seen waking up in the early hours of darkness to kneel in mud and cut the greens. What motivates them is having a positive impact, to do that so it is immediate and you can see it making a difference, says Liz. Still young farmers face many hurdles, including student loan debt, and finding ways to meet the larger needs for online grocery service or the grocery chains. Yet a trend is taking shape for small and middle farms that provides some optimism as the number of farmers shrink significantly overall. Most alarmingly it is the lack of national and local policies to meet the health crisis of rising BMI's right at this level of local farms and community farms for local produce. Lack of any consciousness about this, even though good health in the U.S. as in other countries has always rested on what you are eating, long before processed foods became the norm this is the way the world met nutrition needs.    ...

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Labor leader Starmer says he is not for abolishing tution fees in Britain because of the reality in 2023. Tution fees are capped in Britain at 9250 pounds a year. There are no tution fees in Germany and Sweden. A survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute shows only 28% of students want to abolish tution fees completely. 23% want to cut fees to 6000 pounds, 15% want to cut it to 3000 pounds. Two thirds of students want to see fees dropped to below 6000 pounds. Only 20% want to keep the 9250 pounds cap. This could mean Labor would  change this promise of abolishing to keeping fees at a very affordable level and target low income students with financial assistance. This report in the Times looks at Labor's promises and what is Kept and what is Broken. It is interesting to note that on support to labor, to workers and families, Starmer is as vigorous as Mr. Biden in the US. This is true also of supporting incomes of workers and families including increasing wages to meet the cost of living crisis. Labor is also keeping its promises on Climate Change. It is taking a look at nationalizing rail, water and other services based on how much it will cost and what the benefit is, what can be done in other ways to ensure services are provided at quality levels and prices that are good for workers and families. ...

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Anna Fifield of the Washington Post provides this exceptional piece on Yuka Ogata, a 42 year old municipal assembly member of the Kumamoto Municipal Assembly. Yuka sat in the assembly seat with her 7 month baby in the front row to the men looking on in amazement. Ogata has a Masters degree in conflict resolution from George Mason University. Ogata was earlier reported to have created a stir by sitting while pregnant while asking questions.  Yuka Ogata says she wants to draw attention to the struggles of women as they seek to work so that they can raise a child and work happily. Japan's government has announced the key goal of "womenomics" to increase participation of women in the economy as a way to increase growth. Earlier Yuka had asked the Assembly authorites to open a day care center or let mothers bring their children to work. Both requests were denied and Ogata's child was removed from the Municipal Assembly. Here Anna Fifield gives other examples. Larissa Waters who according to new rules nursed her baby in the Australian parliament. Licia Ronzulli, an Italian member of the European parliament takes her daughter to the chamber in Strasbourg sine 2010. Yuka Ogata says it helps to know what other countries are doing as she makes her own efforts to get the same opportunities in Japan. ...

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The European Union plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, based on 1990 levels. The 21 hour summit of EU leaders met in Brussels. It was a constant worry about climate proposals said Angela Merkel. After a 21 hour debate agreement was reached including overcoming concerns of coal dependent countries. Merkel says "it was worth a sleepless night."

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Japanese Dads are taking on a bigger role and changing parenting. BBC Future shows this story about Japanese dads from a new generations that are taking on the joys, difficulties and responsibilities of parenting.  A new kind of superhero in Japanese manga comics is Ikumen, a Japanese term (from ikuji for childcare) for young dads actively spending time with their children compared to an earlier generation of fathers who spent most of their time at work, and rarely took on family responsibilities. During the sixties and seventies as Japan emerged from the wartime recovery and modernized Japanese culture defined men's role to spend most of the time at work, even getting allowance for spending from their wives who controlled the family budget.  In 2010 the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare started the Ikumen project to increase paternal involvement in child caring. This was a major cultural change and was part of the change in culture needed for the Third Arrow of Japan's Abenomics project to get women's participation up to western country levels. Today the women's participation rate in workplaces exceeds that of the U.S. Even in the 1980's men spent on average about 40 minutes with their children mostly during the family meal in the evening and even had to have their wives find their clothes. The common saying was - "jishin, kaminari, kaji, oyaji," earthquake, thunder, fire and father, remote and given respect. Women's reaction was not positive as they postponed marraige for later, then even not marrying at all for the next generation, leading to reduced childbirth rates. The Ikumen project projected fathers in a masculine role of heroes for taking on parenting, like the t-shirt logo "Strength for Society" portraying them as saving society, saving the  country. About 45% now support the idea of "men should work, women should stay at home" compared to 60% in 1992- drop of 15%. The statistics do not quite tell the story because during this period women participation in the workplace has jumped to western country levels as part of Abenomics Third Arrow to revive the economy. The problem that is still being tackled is that of bosses in the workplace who lack awareness and discourage taking paternal leave which has risen from 2% to 7% in five years 2012 to 2017. ...

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This years pension hike of 5.35% in Germany is being completely eaten up by the inflation of 5.1% leaving pensioners in the same situation as before after many years when no adjustments were made. The catchup factor for meeting cost of living changes and inflation was put on hold by chancellor Merkel in 2018, another way social goals were not met under Merkel while infrastructure and child care were also neglected. Only now under a SPD Greens coalition are these problems of falling standard of living being tackled.

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An audio recording of a July 21, 2021 meeting at a Trump golf club in Bedminster, NJ, where Trump and his aides met with people writing an autobiography of Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, is said to be the turning point that made prosecutors pursue an indictment in this WSJ report. In that recording Mr. Trump is heard showing them a document about a US plan to attack Iran. He did this to dispute a story in the New Yorker, says this report.

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Toyota's first quarter profit of $2.2 billion is a result of profits from its USA auto finance division, cost cuts and rising sales. But Toyota still faces some rough patches in the road ahead. First the rising yen at 85 yen to a dollar in the beginning of August 2010 will be one hurdle as it tries to regain export markets - Toyota has used 90 yen to a dollar in its full year forecast. Another problem is the Japanese market which is expected to slow down after incentives expire. Because Toyota has more capacity in Japan this will mean more underutilized capacity. Japanese car buying incentives expire in September. These incentives led to sales being 23% higher in the first quarter, but Toyota forecasts full year sales to fall by 9%. Another problem is regaining market share in the USA and the aging demographics of traditional Toyota buyers.

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Panasonic CEO, Kazuhiro Tsuga, says the company is conducting a strategic review of 90 business areas in July 2012. He said Panasonic still has businesses that are losing money and about half of its businesses are providing less than 5% profit on revenues. He said the charges for the restructuring process could exceed the 41 billion yen target, because the company "will take the action we need to take." He said the company will look for partnerships in the TV set business in China, especially if partnerships mean the businesses will do better.