LyrArc Article Gist
Even with corruption existing in the system the efforts to root it out of president Xi Jinping are generally recognized in China with 80% of the population respecting these efforts. Government officials in China are seen as much more well behaved than before. And in areas such as pollution control, climate change, renewable energy major efforts by Xi Jinping. This compares to the general lack of confidence in 2012 when corruption was at its highest level after twenty years of free marketism with lax government regulation even in enforcing clean air and water laws.

LyrArc Article Gist
Kamala Harris is profoundly influenced by the Gandhian ideal of public service coming from the influence of her mother Shyamala and her mother's father P. V. Gopalan, who was a leading civil servant in the transition to independence under Gandhi in India in the late 1940's. P.V. Gopalan was 31 years old during the Quit India Movement launched by Mohandas Gandhi in 1942. In this sense what even Martin Luther King Jr experienced about Gandhiji from a distance came to her directly in ways that may be inscrutable even to Kamala herself.  Robert Draper looks at Kamala Harris at different points of her childhood, university education and work as District Attorney for Alameda County, California, and Attorney General of California. He describes her as a daughter of highly educated yet stoic parents and one with a reverence for law and order, methodical and diligent, a caring and compassionate person to the people in the communities she lived in. As one who would experience disrespect as a woman of color many times she chose not to complain but to do something about it in bringing about a better life for all Americans. Not only did she do this, Kamala Harris also was always striving to do better for the people she served, putting all her energies into that task, always keeping in mind "We the People." ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Independence Hall Philadelphia, speech by Joe Biden was in retrospect a turning point in America from the chaotic politics of the last 5 years, following a decades long fracturing of the social fabric of America. That fracturing had many causes, all of which have been identified by president Biden and leaders in Congress such as Mr. Schumer and Senators Coon, Hickenlooper, and others, who are working nonstop on legislation and funding of America's new priorities. These are priorities of protecting working class families, building their savings, supporting education and healthcare for working class families, building back better America's crumbling infrastructure, tackling climate change, financing renewable energy, rebuilding America as a manufacturing leader for the world. It is because of this effort that candidates who support this effort prevailed in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona for Democrats to retain the Senate and be competitive in the House of Representatives. Only complacency led to unexpected losses in New York state for the House of Representatives leading to loss of the House by a small margin. This NYT report looks at what happened in 2022 and what this means for securing the country's key priorities to build hope for the future of America and of the free world.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
After two quarters of no growth the German economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter of 2023. The Constitutional Court ruled that German government's diverting $60 billion of unused pandemic funds to its climate and transformation fund was unconstitutional. If cuts are made in public spending as a result it could push Germany into a recession, says IMK Institute.

LyrArc Article Gist
Nicholas Sarkozy 2025 indictment for campaign financing creates divisions inside France. This is the first time a former French president has been indicted in this manner for campaign financing.

LyrArc Article Gist
The last successful coup attempt was in 1997, so the coup attempt in July 2016 by the military comes as a surprise. DW.com  discounts reports that the coup attempt was clumsy, or that Erdogan himself was involved in a fake coup to consolidate power. It says the coup involved about a third of the military officers, who would have been successful if Erdogan himself had not escaped just a few minutes before an airborne team was supposed to take Erdogan. The prime minister Yildrim also was not taken, and private television broadcasters also continued to broadcast. The other failure was to not being able to control the police which remained neutral, and to gain the support of the religious establishment, as mosques broadcast appeals to resist the coup. As a result had the coup succeeded it would have meant a struggle to control the country. The business and upper class that have strong differences with Erdogan and his authoritarian style also failed to support the coup, as they saw this as an incorrect move. ...

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
Manchester City is questioning the Founder's Agreement of 1990 that set up the Premier League in the UK and brought billionaires and Gulf kingdoms to the soccer game's commercial aspects.

LyrArc Article Gist
Italy which imported 40% of its gas supplies from Russia has shifted rapidly to Algeria as a source of its gas replacing its own supplies from Russia and even sending supplies north to Austria. Algeria, Africa and other gas producing countries Azerbaijan and Turkey are winners in the closing of the Nordstream pipelines to the EU from Russia. Algeria is making the largest contribution to EU gas supplies. Low Russian gas prices for a decade kept Algerian gas in the ground. Algeria is expected to send 100 billion cubic meters of gas to the European Union making up 65% of the 160 billion cubic meters the EU imported from Russia. Much of this gas is produced by the Italian gas company Eni and Sonatrach, Algeria's oil and gas company. Pipelines from Azerbaijan and Turkey deliver gas from that region to the EU. Azerbaijan plans to double its gas production.

LyrArc Article Gist
Summit County median rents in the towns of Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado now exceed $4000. This pushes low paid workers making $36,000 a year serving tourist visitors to the state further away to longer commutes along stretches of rural highway. This NYT report looks at the different lives in the state with 70% of homes vacant or rented out in Summit County as second homes, and the two different worlds based on family wealth and the workers serving these communities. The lack of affordable housing near resorts. Breckenridge and other communities in the Rocky mountains are giving homeowners thousands of dollars to add deed restrictions to limit renting to local residents.

LyrArc Article Gist
"You don't have to vote AfD for what you want. There is a democratic alternative to the AfD." Julia Klockner Bundestag president points out that CDU like Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats in Denmark need to take a stand so that they reflect the views of ordinary people who see Merkel's illegal migration policies hurting social cohesion in Germany. She and chancelor Merz, finance minister Klingbeil of the Social Democrats, have the task of revitalizing all of Germany east and west, after the failed Merkel years. This is important for Germany and the world because of the failure of elites to understand the people and their struggles with cost of living, crime and migration, disinvestment in infrastructure that deepened the feeling of ineffectiveness, and other social trends that have disrupted the basic structure of society by 2025. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Mr Bill a character created for Mastercard's advertising is now seeing a new twist to reflect the anxiety relating to the economy and the average person, here he gets knocked around hitting himself against the windshield of a city bus with his briefcase open, and falling off a treadmill, and having coffee spilled all over him, and still smiling and resilient. The idea is that in this economy no one knows what to expect will happen next.

LyrArc Article Gist
Women including Lilavati Munshi in India's freedom struggle in pictures from the freedom struggle against British.

LyrArc Article Gist
Drought conditions prevail in the avocado growing region of Spain. The La Vinuela Reservoir in this region in Malaga province is only 12% full.  It has been reduced to a mere puddle says this report in DW.com. Across the world from the dam reservoirs in Nevada, US, to Uttar Pradesh in India the water levels are extremely low because of a lack of rain. Drought conditions are more frequent and last longer with the effects of climate change say experts. This means sunflower oil output a major export for Spain will drop by a third this year for use in Europe.

LyrArc Article Gist
This article in the Economist following the state election in Berlin, says it shows Merkel and the CDU as still the only likely option to form a new coalition in the 2017 federal elections. Even though six parties emerged in the Berlin election- the left parties SPD and Die Linke, the Greens,CDU, AfD, FDP- the situation is so fragmented that the CDU still remains the leading party nationwide. The Economist points out that a Greens and left parties coalition as in Thuringia is not an option at the federal level, because most Germans are not in favor of a SPD, left party Die Linke, and Greens coalition at the national level. The opposition from the CSU inside the CDU-CSU parties to Merkel's refugee policy,  with Seehofer calling for a numerical limit to refugees, is it says presents the only real challenge to Merkel. Yet Merkel has already tackled that problem, as the new refugee numbers are dropping dramatically. and Merkel has already pointed out that the refugee crisis came when she and her government were caught unprepared. By taking the right steps to assuage voter sentiment as she has deftly done throughout her terms in office, staying close to what voters generally accept as the best way forward, a year from now Merkel and the CDU may as she says be seen as having taken actions that best reflect Germany's interests in the long term. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This WSJ report traces the development of rail, trucking, container shipping and forklift use in Germany, Russia and the US. The World Bank Logistics Index shows Germany ranking first, the US 14th, China 26th, Russia 75th out of 160 countries.  Russia's military relies on a supply system that uses crates instead of container shipping, not much use of forklifts, and relies on rail and conscript labor. During the invasion of Ukraine in April Russian supply lines that did not control rail failed to supply forces leading to slow progress. Because of dense rail lines in the eastern Donbas region Russian supply lines have worked to sustain advances. About 750 miles of rail lines have also been repaired by a special force set up for this purpose.  In a larger sense the problem of logistics and supplying front lines remains. This report shows the contrast between the development of Russian logistics and American logistics described by military experts in the US. The Russian system evolved in the early years of the 20th century based on conscript or free and abundant labor compared to the US where labor was scarce and costly. Automation progressed rapidly with American business taking up use of forklifts and containers during the 1940's extending to its use in the military. During the Vietnam war Cam Ranh Bay US bases were converted to modern container and forklift use. Russia continued through the sixties till today with a different and less automated system of logistics and movement of goods.    The use of modern logistics in Russia is limited to the amount of freight that gets moved in Colombia and much less than France says this report in WSJ. Much of the industrial base in Russia is built around oil and gas exports and manufacturing with movement of supply chain parts has never taken the importance that it has in Germany or the US. This limits the capacity of the Russian military outside the rail lines located towns and cities in Donbas where it has recently made gains. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Psychologically richer lives from new experiences that offer fulfilling life experiences and add to the joy of life. Travel, meeting interesting people, reading books open up our imaginations to new possibilities and enrich our lives in different ways that staying in one place does not. It involves taking some risks to make life interesting and meaningful, being curious about things and the world around us.

LyrArc Article Gist
Chase bank investments in strategic companies of the US with the US government in a Jamie Dimon effort October 2025. Chase Bank CEO Jamie Dimon says- “It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing—all of which are essential for our national security." 

LyrArc Article Gist
Infrastructure building on the Uttarkhand border with China. Uttarkhand is a northern Indian state that has a large border with China. The border with China and Nepal in this region extends for 625 kilometres.

LyrArc Article Gist
During question time in the US Congress US Senator Rand Paul stated that the US money was used to fund research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. A ban on gain of function research on virus was lifted by the US in 2018. Following the lifting of this ban which was strongly opposed by scientists at Cambridge, Massachusetts, research was conducted that many of these scientists considered dangerous and risky. This report in the BBC shows Dr. Anthony Fauci. director of the NIAID, the Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases responding to Dr. Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky. Much of the discussion goes into definition of "gain of function research" and misses the broader implications. Scientists in Cambridge had warned early of the danger of doing research because of earlier mishaps such as the one involving anthrax research from accidents that are always a risk. Epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health warned of just such an "accidental pandemic" in Three Questions, Three Answers in the January 2018 issue of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health journal. He stated that an "accidental pandemic" could result from the lifting of a ban on a risky kind of research favored by some virologist professionals. Most of the medical and scientific community in Cambridge fiercely opposed the lifting of the ban on what they saw as risky research with little benefit in 2018.    ...

LyrArc Article Gist
South Korea is the leading country for 5G services with 4.5 million users by the end of 2019. Except for streaming content seamlessly and downloading files the additional jump in speed has not made much difference. Smartphone users do not see a big change from the 4G service.

LyrArc Article Gist
Wonderful monochrome pictures of the moon from London photographer and designer Tim Easley in The Guardian. They are collected in a book "The Moon" available on his website. Easley says "the moon invokes so much wonder and awe and I wanted to reflect that." For city people this is the only celestial object they see, he says. As a city person he loves it.