LyrArc Article Gist
During the campaign and in the crucial Iowa primary Obama used newspapers, small and large, to get his ideas across. At one point he gave six interviews to one columnist for the Daily Times Herald of Carroll, Iowa, (circulation: 6,000). He chatted with reporters from papers like the Mason City Globe Gazette, Fort Dodge Messenger, and met with editorial boards of papers throughout Iowa. Some of these media may just be curious to hear a new kind of message, and Obama could use the communication skills developed in years of writing to express his ideas and his vision all in a casual setting, seeing faces, expressions, feeling the way the way people responded, and all the time listening to what they had to say. Now the same approach is to take world newspapers as another outlet through the Tribune Media Services which enables him to run an oped column in 30 papers around the globe. Here is the list: Arab papers are Al Wataan (Gulf States) Asharq Al Aswat (regional paper in Arabic), Gulf News (Gulf States), Saudi Gazette. European papers are: Corriere della Sera of Italy, Die Welt of Germany, International Herald Tribune of Paris, Eleftyropiea (Greece), Kristeligt Dagblad of Denmark, Le Monde of France, Lidove Noviny of Czechoslovakia, NRC Handelsblad of Netherlands, Svenska Dagbladet of Sweden, WPRost of Poland. South American papers: El Mercurio of Chile, Estado Sao Paulo of Brazil, Clarin of Argentina. South Asian and Asian papers: Hindusthan Times/ The Hindu of India, The News of Pakistan, South China Morning Post of HongKong, Straits Times of Singapore, Yomiuri Shimbun of Japan, Bangkok Post of Thailand. In South Africa the Sunday TImes, in Australia the Sydney Morning Herald, and The Australian, and in the USA, the Tribune papers which are Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun. These are all distributed through the connection and means of the Tribune Media Services. The key point inthis communication effort is to signal something that may not have sunk in, in many parts of the world. A deep and all pervasive truth that is emerging from this crisis. We are all in this together in ways you can't imagine, as were in one boat and we float or sink in it together. Leave language, culture, borders aside, its aprofoundly new world in which the Obama story itself of multiculturalism may just be scratching the surface of really deep pervasive changes that are happening. Obama may actually not have hit this point hard enough. "Once and for all, we have learned that the success of the American economy is inextricably linked to the global economy.There is no line between action that restores growth within our borders and action that supports it beyond. If people in other countries cannot spend, markets dry up- already we have seen the biggest drop in American exports in nearly four decades, which has led directly to American job losses." This is dramatically proven by the latest Commerzbank estimates that show the 2 largest export based economies, Germany and Japan will see a contraction of GDP of 7%, USA 4% contraction and China, Eastern Europe and other parts of Asia and Latin America will also be impacted severely by the same phenomenon of markets drying up around the globe. And Obama offers the simple message that the United States is ready to lead, and asks its partners in the G20 to join with a sense of urgency and common purpose. Obama goes on to say that " we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Young people in India express their rising expectations for the next government- for better infrastructure, for jobs and better incomes and a better vision for the future. Narendra Modi, leader of the BJP party and chief minister of Gujarat state, gives the development and high growth rates in his state as an example for what can be achieved in the the rest of India.

LyrArc Article Gist
White House counselor Steve Ricchetti says with the pace and activity and hours at the White House, Biden is outworking people around him. The special counsel Robert Hur's report on Biden's retention of classified documents has part of it on the president not remembering the date his son Beau Biden had died in 2015. The president was furious that special counsel Hur had raised that question, saying it was none of his damn business. The special counsel's report also says Biden had kept a memo in 2013 that he had handwritten and sent to then president Obama outlining his opposition to the surge of troops in Afghanistan. It was something Biden had kept with him as he understood the flaws of the Bush-Obama policies in Afghanistan. Where Republicans and some Democrats have seen a hasty withdrawal  from Afghanistan under Biden the nation sees the need to rededicate its resources to building a strong economy that meets the needs and aspirations of the American people. Even the British Empire in India for 200 years had wisely stayed away from Afghanistan for 200 years. It is the wisdom and experience, the ability to work with colleagues in Congress in the way Lyndon Johnson was able to do to pass his Great Society and Medicare initiatives, that benefits the nation, something that comes with age. It is this wisdom, composure and determination that has created the strongest American economy not seen in decades and a path to an even stronger economy in the future. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Research done by the WSJ shows people who sped time on fitness and are older are happier. More females than males by a wide margin. Community involvement rates are higher and faith in God is seen in people who are happier. Aaron Zitner shows the lives of 3 people including an 80 year old who ran a health clinic for 25 years who find happiness through community involvement and many projects including one that cut ten pregnancy in her county and is now writing grants to restore an old YWCA building in Cortland, N.Y.

A 77 year old civil engineer on a 7 acre farm in Chesapeake, Virgina, has good relationships, community involvement, and the same house for a generation, whose belief in God helps him be happy and find serenity in life.

LyrArc Article Gist
This opinion piece in the NYT says president Trump is making the border wall with Mexico a big issue leading to the government shutdown as he seeks $5 billion in funding from Congress. Mr. Trump needs this politically it says because he will make it or sink politically based on how he meets his campaign pledge of building a border wall.

LyrArc Article Gist
An Australian talks about working in different cultures. He describes overcoming fear after his first surfboard experience at the age of 7, to realize that he had the power to do meaningful things and make his own path.

LyrArc Article Gist
Michael Shear of the NYT describes Biden's thinking about China and his candour during fund raising events for his campaign. Biden says he seeks "competition, not conflict with China." He tells an audience in Utah, "I don't want to hurt China, but I'm watching." Biden signed an executive order last week banning American investment in certain technology industries in China that could enhance its military capabilities. In relations with China Biden is moving forward with easing tensions by having Blinken, Kerry, Raimondo and other officials visit Beijing to ensure open communications and discussion. Biden seems to be following two tracks one of being open about China and the evolution of the relationship in erratic ways over different administrations where it was counterproductive for both nations- creating more potential for conflict than less when technology flowed freely from the US to China in business to business dealings- that did not reflect how the US sees both its responsibilities and its leadership in world affairs over the twenty first century. China has reverted to its political position in the postwar years as it adjusts to the new US perceptions of what happened to US jobs, manufacturing and trade over two decades since the opening to China at the WTO. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Narendra Modi is now the choice of the BJP party in India to lead it against the ruling Congress party of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. The corruption in government and the slowing growth have improved the chances of Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state in northwestern India, near Mumbai. Modi has done well in Gujarat state in a number of areas- from foreign investment in manufacturing, infrastructure development, and better governance. His plan is to replicate this at the national level. His slogan is minimum government and maximum governance.

LyrArc Article Gist
Fomer Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says America needs to take up a vigorous foreign policy in his book "Worthy Fights." Both Panetta and Hillary Clinton, and Gen. Dempsey of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Petraeus of the CIA, supported U.S. taking a strong stand in Syria by supporting Syrian opposition forces in the summer of 2011 and were overruled by president Obama and his election advisers because of the approaching 2012 election. Here Mark Landler provides more insights into Hillary Clinton's deeply held belief shared with Panetta that the U.S. had to take strong action where necessary to deter foes, to get into the ring to use Panetta's expression. The U.S. support for action in Libya to support Britain and France comes from the efforts of Clinton, and any lack of followup one of president Obama's errors in foreign policy. In April 2016 president Obama said that he considered his failure to followup in Libya to help the new Libyan government his biggest mistake in his presidency. Here Mark Landler looks at Hillary Clinton's entire career as showing a conviction and belief on the need for action where necessary in the U.S. global engagement. Compared to the bluster of the candidates Trump, Cruz and Sanders, with little experience to back this up in their careers in real estate, law or the Senate , Landler says Clinton is the last remaining hawk. Here he describes Hillary Clinton's contact and empathy for the troops from her trip to the American base in Tuzla, Bosnia, in March 1996. In fact many have forgotten that Yugoslavia is what it is today after the Milosevic years and the ethnic wars with Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, members of the EU and Serbia negotiating to enter EU, because of the bombing campaign taken by Bill Clinton through NATO in 1999 to prevent ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, and peacemaking following the Bosnian War using diplomat Holbrooke to negotiate the 1995 Dayton Accords. Here Landler describes the meetings with Gen. Keane who pushed for the troop surge that worked in Iraq under president George W. Bush. Clinton supported Keane's proposal made in April 2015, for a no-fly-zone in Syria that would help opposition forces till a settlement could be negotiated. Keane pointed out to Clinton that there was a flaw in Obama's policies- that negotiation would work only if the no-fly-zone was used to support opposition forces. By the end of 2015 Hillary Clinton publicly adopted this position. During a period when Americans are weary of foreign entanglements but understand the need to provide leadership where needed, Hillary Clinton, provides a balance between the pendulum swinging too sharply in one direction in the Bush years and in another direction in the Obama years, says Landler. A view also articulated by Leon Panetta, who was chief of staff for President Clinton during the Bosnian conflict and the Dayton Accords, where the U.S. showed strength of purpose in war and also in negotiating the peace without major entanglements....

LyrArc Article Gist
This story of T.V. Sundaram Iyenagar, founder of TVS scooter motorcycle maker, shows him starting a bus service in 1912 after hearing Eardley Norton make a speech in Madras. The buses connected Madurai, Thanjavur and Pudukottai routes. The punctuality was legendary so that people set their watches by the bus timings. A yogic saint event used the bus as a way to wake up at 4.00 am. Gopal Srinivasan of TVS says he showed India that taking a risk and experimenting was a good thing, and that being ambitious for society and serving customers were equally important. This is the India that is emerging in 2023 out of the pandemic.

LyrArc Article Gist
The failure of the SEC under Gary Gensler to protect ordinary Americans who are mistakenly trusting their savings to cryptocurrency firms is seen as a major flaw in his running of the agency by former SEC officials and other SEC experts. The gaps in SEC enforcement and this weakness is the subject of this report in the WSJ. The cryptocurrency firms are not registered with the SEC and do not follow SEC rules hurting ordinary Americans putting money there. Mr. Gensler was made head of the SEC in 2021, and the SEC has been looking at crypto firms since 2017 but failed to come up with a regulatory model in 5 years.

LyrArc Article Gist
In his Bastille day interview French president Macron says Russia could cutoff all gas supplies to France at any time. He says "we will do without Russian gas completely." France gets about 20% of its total gas imports from Russia. Norway, Qatar, Algeria and the US are adding to gas supplies to France. France expects to have gas reserves filled to "near 100 percent by the autumn." In the event of a protracted war France will continue western sanctions against Russia and help Kviv defend its country, said Macron.

France gets 70% of its energy needs from nuclear energy. France will continue to invest in nuclear energy.

LyrArc Article Gist
The $369 billion Biden climate change and tax bill moves forward with renewable energy but also keeps incentives in place for oil and gas drilling for the transition period now that there is an embargo on Russian fossil fuels. US now exports LNG to Europe with the cutoff of gas supplies from Russia and gas rationing in the EU. In this new situation Senator Schumer has come up with a new approach and is preparing to take this through the US Congress. It puts president Biden within reach of his climate goals for 2030 for 50% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030. This bill could accomplish 40% of that reduction.

LyrArc Article Gist
The settlement with National Association of Realtors will take time to sink in. Now buyers are expected to pay upfront for the help in making the purchase of a house. Prior to this change sellers paid what was called a commission which was baked into the hose price, kind of made less visible. Now that the cost is made visible it can go directly to the payment of the realtor or buyer agent in the form of payment for services rendered such as how much his services cost, how much for a home inspection. The result should benefit home buyers, and mitigate the lack of affordability problem many buyers face today.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Times of London reports on the decision by the Supreme Court of Britain that Boris Johnson abused his powers and acted unlawfully in suspending parliament. Separately BBC analysis shows that even though Johnson is relying on polls and planning to run people vs. parliament this means that its the courts as part of what he calls the establishment he is running against.  Nigel Farage called for Johnson's adviser Cummings to resign showing that the Leave campaign is not what it was when Britain voted to leave the EU in the first referendum on June 23, 2016, now over 3 years and 3 months since then.

 

LyrArc Article Gist
The danger of the nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia being taken off the Ukrainian grid by Russia is that it would then have to be cooled with backup systems which are not as reliable. It was the meltdown of the nuclear reactor after a tsunami that caused the disaster at Fukushima, Japan. President Macron called Putin about this and Putin asks the International Atomic Energy Agency to send its team to the plant in his response. Large scale contamination would result in Europe if the plants cooling systems failed during the nuclear plant being taken off the Ukrainian grid and shutdown. In normal times this plant provides one fifth of the electricity supply in Ukraine.

LyrArc Article Gist
Viktor Orban of Hungary drops his veto and Ukraine gets the green light for EU Membership. This is a result of weeks of effort by France's Macron, Germany's Scholz to reach this goal. It is an historic day for Ukraine which is making little progress in the war and faces a difficult winter. DW of Germany covers this crucial period for Ukraine as it needs 50 billion euros of aid from the EU to get through the next year. The US has already given about $111 billion of aid and the EU is now stepping up to meet financial commitments to defend its own region.

LyrArc Article Gist
Pep Guardiola talks about the toll on his players from playing so many games. He says most were exhausted after the game with Bayern Munich. Ofcourse he says they all want to play, they all want to play, but he has to assess their physical condition. He says it is not about that game but about the many games every 3 days, that "the mental fatigue is big." Talk about winning 3 titles, FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League, is just that, far, far, away. He faces Real Madrid in the next match in the Champion's League semi-final, a team that has its own record.

LyrArc Article Gist
This NYT report by Christina Jewett looks at the conflicts of interest when pharmaceutical companies donate to institutions that advise on health policy, to research and technology institutes such as the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine. It says the White House and Congress have relied on such scientific advisory groups for policy responses. National Academies is an independent non-governmental institution chartered by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, to serve as an independent adviser to the nation on science and medicine. Here the chief scientist for the University of Colorado Center of Bioethics and Humanities offers his thoughts on the conflict of interest and the damage caused in health policies to the American public.

LyrArc Article Gist
Pedro Sanchez is attempting to form a new government in Spain with the support of Catalan parties. His Socialist party voted with 87% in favor of forming a new government with smaller parties without using the word amnesty for Catalans who protested in 2017 for independence. PSOE's organizational secretary Santos Leon says the party is determined to not let the opposition Partido Popular weaken the welfare state at a time of cost of living crisis and following the pandemic by coming to power at the federal level. In 2023 only 42% of Catalans want independence, 52% actually oppose it, making it easier to let Pedro Sanchez put this episode in Spanish history behind.

LyrArc Article Gist
We give here what is left out in the review of US China relations in the NYT. In 2012 the Bo Xilai incident highlighted the dangers of China veering off its path of development in new directions with demagogic leaders.  The effects of hypergrowth in creating excessive debt, regional inequality and corruption, waste of capital allocation in China, and in the US alienating communities that lost factories to China and major parts of its manufacturing base. Misgivings about this path were becoming more pronounced in the minds of China's new leadership under Xi Jinping. None of this is mentioned by Chris Buckley in his review of US China relations.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Trump speech at Motera stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in which he quotes Swami Vivekananda, with the line- "While our nations have many differences they are propelled by a fundamental truth, the truth that all of us are blessed with divine light, and every person is endowed with a sacred soul." 

Mr. Trump visited Sabarmati Ashram, the site where Gandhi spent many years,  right after landing on a 8000 mile non- stop flight to Ahmedabad, and is shown trying his hand with Gandhi's cotton textile making wheel and reflecting on the stone bench in this place by the river Sabarmati where so much happened.

 

LyrArc Article Gist
President Trump accepts the Republican nomination at a White House event resembling a rally.  His focus remained on the economy and putting America first.

Many of the 1500 people at the White House gardens did not wear masks. The WSJ report says not every attendee was tested for coronavirus.  The WSJ also says this was an unprecedented use of the White House as the lectern for the president was set right on the South lawn facing the White House. The speech was followed by a performance from an opera singer and a fireworks display over the Washington Monument. 

 

LyrArc Article Gist
Asked about his meeting with President Joe Biden Starmer says he was in good form and mentally agile, and covering topics in pace. The meeting lasted for an hour. Here is what Starmer said about Biden- “No, we had a really good bilateral yesterday. We were billed for 45 minutes, we went on for the best part of an hour,” he said. “We went through a huge number of issues at pace, he was actually on really good form.”

Starmer said: Biden was “absolutely across all the detail” in discussions on issues including Ukraine, Gaza and European relations, as well as defence issues around the Nato summit.

LyrArc Article Gist
Who is Jordan Bardella, at age 28, from Seine St Dennis suburb of Paris, who as BBC reports never went to university, has no experience in government, and never worked outside of the RN National Rally party except one summer at his father's company. Is he the right stuff to run France asks BBC reports. Macron calling snap elections gives little time to National Rally to come up with a more experienced candidate. BBC News looks at Jordan Bardella and the role he has played in Marine Le Pen's RN party in France. BBC says until recently it would have been inconceivable that France would have a candidate this young and lacking experience.