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How German political leaders view the Euro currency and the European Union. German history and the need for fiscal discipline and the European Union. The constant between Chancellors Adenauer, Kohl and Merkel- a sense of European unity as part of the fabric of the new Germany. A desire to find a way through the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012, by introducing fiscal discipline into the structural framework and preserving the hard won gains for the Euro currency and the European Union.

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It has happened before- the issues and the tactics. This article is from the Washington Post March 10, 1985. The 2016, 2020, and 2024 US campaign for president most resembles the 1952 campaign between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. In that campaign Senators Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and Senator Jenner of Indiana made unfounded statements and criticism of of candidate Adlai Stevenson, of Gen. George Marshall, of NATO and aid to war ravaged Europe under the Marshall plan, and by 1958 of Eisenhower for "ruining the party," according to the Washington Post. Edward Jenner, Senator from Indiana 1952-1958, conducted Senate hearings in which he made spectacular criticism of public figures and US policy from 1953 to 1955. Eisenhower was elected as president in 1952 and after considering running as an Independent reluctantly accepted when New York Governor Dewey asked him to do on the Republican party ticket. What is similar is that the issues and tactics used now are reminiscent of issues and tactics in those days in the 1950's, that this is not happening for the first time- it is not new. Both Senator Taft who headed the Republican party at the time and president Eisenhower felt uneasy about this type of criticism. Then as today it was about aid to Europe and NATO. Jenner said America could not afford it and it "would bankrupt America." Jenner also called the US Supreme Court "the most powerful instrument of the communist global conquest by paralysis," and introduced a bill to limit the SC jurisdiction. Jenner said in 1951 on the Senate floor, according to the Washington Post-  "the only choice is to impeach Truman," as "this country is in the hands of a secret inner coterie directed by agents of the Soviet Union." Today's differences are not new, the rhetoric familiar, about NATO, Europe funding, about the SC, about this and the former president, and about isolationism and about extended costly foreign wars, all after a pandemic and climate change in an uneasy atmosphere about the threats to American leadership then from the Soviets now from China. ...

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Charlie Rose talks to Paul Ryan, the Republican Congressman from Wisconsin on his "Roadmap for the Future" and a major overhaul of taxes, spending, Medicare and Social Security. He tells Rose, who hosts a news show on Bloomberg TV, that in 2010 he is all by himself looking at the big picture for shaping ideas on economic reform, and still hopes others will join him in this effort.

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Liam Denning of the WSJ points out that the third quarter GDP numbers of 3.5% growth don't signal much beyond low quality numbers. WIth government distorting the cost of money, and pumping up demand for cars and housing, and in other ways propping up the economy all this good news may create a false sense of complacency, when as Denning says its only storing up problems for the future.

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The Biden Xi meeting brings together the leaders of the two countries for normal stable relations that as Mr. Xi says are for "the benefit of the two peoples and fulfill their responsibilities for human progress." Both leaders have learned from the errors of the past two decades that hurt both the US and China with excessive dependence on trade, supply chains and manufacturing on China that devastated American communities and manufacturing. The relationship was not managed well and left to business to determine and chart out that resulted in failure. Business simply pursued its own interests company by company not putting uppermost the common interest of the two peoples. Today there is new respect on both sides for the other ,and a cautious assessment of relations without the over enthusiasm and the rejection of the past. Now replaced by working in the interest of the two peoples and for the world.

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Coronavirus has given time for developing world to prepare as it hit Europe first, but now that it has hit Brazil, Mexico, India, South Africa, it is following a pattern that keeps it there for months with no end in sight. This is straining hospital and doctor resources to the limit and leaving doctors stressed and exhausted. This report looks at the nonstop flow at one of Mexico City's largest hospitals Salvador Zubiran.

The informal economy in these countries makes it harder to lockdown completely or for a long period. Now that the economy is reopened the larger population and congestion and the inability to have further lockdowns or tightened restrictions for economic reasons makes for the flow of new coronavirus patients over many months. Some restrictions have been reintroduced in India and the higher recovery rate of close to 70% has offered some glimmer of hope, yet more needs to happen to win this fight.

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Chile, Mexico and the U.S. rank high in the diabetes rate for top soda consuming countries. In the U.S. the diabetes rate is at 7.7% of the population, in Chile 9.6% and Mexico 9%. Soda consumption per capita was at 165 litres in the U.S., 146 litres in Mexico and 134 litres in Chile, and 145 litres in Argentina where the diabetes rate is at 3.9%, for 2012. A new public service ad in Mexico City subway stations says it all, showing an ad with a soda bottle and the words- "Would you take 12 teaspoonfuls of sugar? Soda is sweet, diabetes isn't." The new Pacto de Mexico agreed to by all major political parties includes the soaring diabetes rate in Mexico as a problem to be tackled, including lunches at public schools and the consumption of coke and sodas by children. A particular acute problem in Mexico is the lack of clean drinking water in many areas and the dependence on coke and sodas for liquids. But bottled water could be used in its place if available at lower prices. One proposal is for a soda tax which could generate $2 billion and be used for setting up clean drinking water fountains in schools and other places. Elected officals in Mexico are firm about the need for action, as Mexico recently became the first country over 100 million inhabitants with the highest obesity rates at 7 adults out of 10 over the age of 20 obese or overweight, and the consequently high diabetes rate. Diabetes is the No. 2 killer in Mexico, and a serious health danger. Coca Cola gets its second highest revenues from Mexico after Europe, and the situation has evolved after years of heavy coke advertising to the point where Coca Cola is taken at every meal by some Mexican families, and is a sign of prestige. The company's response is to fight the public service ads with ads showing people burning off 149 calories by walking. The country now faces a long and uphill fight. Russia is one of the countries which is also conducting a similiar fight against soda drinks. The Bloomberg Philanthropy is financing efforts against soda drinks in Mexico, as part of its campaign against smoking and sodas as health hazards, and this maybe Bloomberg's bigger contribution to society than his service to New York City. Developing middle income countries such as Mexico, Chile, India, China, Brazil, are the hardest hit by soaring diabetes. And the costs to their health systems in 10-20 years from uncontrolled obesity and diabetes will be enormous. The U.S. is a developed country with similiar high rates of obesity and diabetes, with soaring medical costs, and serious problems that strangely have not received the public awareness and efforts that one should expect. ...

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Experts say experience can be a serious handicap if one does not have ahealthy skepticism about ones assumptions and habits that tend to reinforce what one is thinking and not question old ways and old habits. This leads to costly mistakes at the level of project management and costlier mistakes at senior management levels. Experience proved to be a serious handicap at General Motors because management did not question its old assumptions about what sales would look like in future years and old habits went so deep that no effrts were made to change with changing demands for fuel efificency that made their impact even earlier in Europe. This is true of what happened at the central bank with Greenspan and at Treasury with Rubin, and Summers, and at the highly leveraged investment banks like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Morgan Stanley. In both cases their was an additional handicap of the culture, with Detroit having its own culture and ways, and New York banking havings its own culture and ways. ...

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The critical exchange between oil companies and auto companies about who is at fault for the energy crisis. In one ad that ran last year, Chevron argued that "if automakers improved fuel economy across the board by just 5 mpg, we'd save over 22 billion gallons of gasoline a year." The criticism is also sparked by the high price of oil which is hurting sales of pickups and large SUV's that the automakers depend on for profits. One ad by Exxon Mobil shows a cartoon of a large SUV filling up at a gas station and hints that the problem rests with the automakers who have failed to build the kind of highly fuel efficient vehicles that are needed. The ad says that the average fuel economy of new U.S. autos has not gone up much in two decades, the small gains have been offset by the increases in the size and weight of vehicles.

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Former federal prosecutors say proving a second crime exists that converts a misdeameanor into a felony under New York law is important for the prosecution's case in the indictment of Mr. Trump. This they say depends on whether the hush money payments made to a porn actress were personal or political for the campaign to protect the candidate. The specifics of the case and obvious intent matters a lot in the case, say experts. NYT says the groping issue that came up in the Trump campaign's early days- and which could have tanked the Trump campaign- was at about the time that this story may have come out if it was not stopped with hush money payments.  

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US economic growth surged at a rate of 6.5% for the April to June period in 2021. This pushes the economy beyond its pre-pandemic size. Growth was lower than the 8.4% forecast of economists, yet strong enough to increase its size to exceed the pre pandemic level. It was powered by the business reopenings, vaccination drive, and the government infusion of pandemic aid to households and business. New restrictions after this summer for coronavirus following last year's pattern with extensive summer tourism and spread of coronavirus, could again slow the economy. Government infusions of aid aided consumer spending, and this could slow in the months ahead, and lockdown restrictions could limit growth.

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Biden as president for 2024 and the matter of age is the subject of this report in WSJ. For too long the press has looked at president Biden's age as drawback ignoring his vast experience, and not Trump's only 3 years younger with poor food and exercise habits and overweight, as pointed out by Duke University Prof. Frank Bruni in the NYT. Here the WSJ at last shows that half of Americans born in 1942 are alive, with many of them about 650,000 working, 18% more than a decade earlier, according to Census Bureau. The saying is that 80 years is the new 60, because of advances in medicine, given healthy habits and exercise. 

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DJT White House Cabinet Meetings: Susie Wiles in tight cursive, Bessent writes "parallel prosperity" and "blue collar boom," on notepad, Lutnick says "why not copper tariff," DJT talks about why he is not fond of windmills. All the time a picture of Abraham Lincoln in a small four person meeting around a round table watches everyone. You have to have some humor in cabinet meetings. DJT brings humor to the White House, lightening up the mood, while he says new letters will go out to Japan, South Korea and EU, recalcitrant nations when it comes to negotiations for agreements, and Putin is voicing meaningless platitudes on his desire for peace.

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Going to a public bathroom facility doesn't have to be dreaded. And the huge costs for a city to have setting up its own don't have to be the option. 

New private companies have developed the technologies to keep the places clean and efficient so that the experience is a good one. Throne Labs makes self contained sytems that do not connect to the city sewer system or the water supply of the city. Costs about $90,000 a unit in the Los Angeles Metro vicinity includes all maintenance and operational costs. As US prepares for the World Cup Soccer inflow of travelers this is something the city needs to get right.

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Kristine Tompkins donates 1 million acres, the Chilean government donates 9 million acres, together this is being used to create 5 national parks and expand 3 in Chile. Since 1994 she and Mr. Tompkins a founder of North Face, who made $150 million from selling his apparel company Espirit, have accumulated land in Argentina and Chile as part of a passion for conservation. Tompkins died in a kayaking accident and Ms. Tompkins has decided to give it all away in national parks. Their story is part of a new documentary "Wild Life," by Chin and Vasarhelyi.

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Canoeist Neal Moore, 50 years, makes his way across America's rivers for 7500 miles - 22 months of paddling during covid over many rivers across 22 states, going from the Columbia river in Oregon to the Gulf coast and then back up to the Great Lakes and upstate New York to Hudson river. On the way seeing what it means to be American today, to see the country up close, to go community to community, and write in the Mark Twain way about his experiences, a laptop tucked away in a waterproof bag in his canoe.

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The true story of the two German scientists, children of immigrants from Germany, who did the research behind the Pfizer vaccine for coronavirus. One the son of a guest worker from Turkey who worked at a car factory in Cologne, another the daughter of a doctor who finished medical school and immigrated to Germany. They started primarily on cancer vaccines using new mRNA technologies. Much of their work focused on meeting the gap that had developed says Ozlem Tureci, between what was done in the labs and what was available to patients and doctors. 

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Australia increases its defense budgetfrom 1.8% to 2.2% of GDP, and shows willingness to go up to 3%, as it strengthens its naval capabilities. French submarine contract was cancelled as US shows willingness to provide nuclear submarine technologies to Australia. French diesel submarines were too slow and could not remain underwater for long periods. Nuclear submarines would let Australia monitor Indo-Pacific seas, with US help. This is now an issue as Taiwan is being threatened and Australia faces economic coercion in trade relations from China. US, UK and Australia form a new partnership with president Biden leading the way.

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Monika Staab, a German coach, heads the women's soccer training in Saudi Arabia. She trained Qatari women soccer players before going to Saudi Arabia. Here she is shown training Saudi players. The entry of Morocco into the world soccer semifinals has created new enthusiasm in the Arab world that women's soccer is next big thing in soccer. Qatar is also emerging as a destination for European soccer teams to train during the winter including Bayern Munich. There is Paris St Germain Academy in Qatar which also trains female soccer players. 

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The winner in 2011 Japan had fallen behind since in women's soccer. The women's team win over Norway 3-1 puts Japan into the quarterfinals for the World Cup in 2023. Star teams from the US, Brazil and Germany did not make it to the quarterfinals. Sweden edged out the US in a penalty shootout. South Korea draw 1-1 with Germany put Germany out. Brazil lost to Japan. A new set of countries is emerging in women's soccer showing that preparation by other teams has made a serious difference.

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BYD's expansion in the EV market is a threat to established automakers in the US, Japan and Germany, says this report in WSJ. BYD making its own batteries means it can keep costs low. It made 1.8 new energy vehicles in 2023 through August and 83% increase over 2022. It is now the largest car brand in China overtaking VW and its product mix enables it to overcome a cut in EV prices. 1 in 3 cars in China are EV's giving China and BYD the experience and scale for world wide competition.

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Sebastian Kniepp is Germany's barefoot walking guru. A German wellness expert from the period of the Hapsburg monarchy in Eastern Europe he came up with different ideas for wellness, including nutrition with home grown vegetables and fruits a big part of the diet. He turned to barefoot walking and storking using it as a form of exercise walking on one's toes in shallow water. This BBC report is from a Kniepp spa a short drive north of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, which shows these ideas popular today are not new.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testifies at the US Justice Department's trial of Google that the deal Google made with Apple led to its search engine becoming ubiquitous with monopoly power. Nadella said that the unfettered power of Google made it difficult for Microsoft to compete with Google on the internet. 

"Despite my enthusiasm that there is a new angle with AI, I worry a lot that htis vicious cycle I am trapped in could get even more vicious." Nadella said that Google's deal with Apple made it oligopolistic.

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Mike Johnson, the new Speaker of the House, is a Christian conservative from Louisiana who as a lawyer believes in incremental progress through legal process to make gains for Christian values. After graduating from law school at Louisiana State University in 1998 Johnson he joined the family firm of Thomas Benton and took up cases related to abortion clinics. He also volunteered with The Family Forum on Christian issues. This gives him a sense of credibility among Republican colleagues that other Speakers lacked, and the Freedom Caucus so called hard right conservatives have not opposed his budget passing efforts.

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Wind and solar tax credits to phase out end of 2027 instead of 2032 under Senate version of US Tax Cuts Bill. This gives less time for renewable projects in solar and wind to get these tax credits and places them in a difficult situation. Senator Tillis of North Carolina who voted against the bill plans not to run again. The 3B Tax Cuts Bill is being considered in Congress this weekend to be placed on president's desk before July 4th weekend. The generous subsidies of the Biden administration are being questioned by the new Energy Secretary Chris Wright.