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UK Denton (Manchester region) by-election gives Greens 40% Reform 29% and Labour 24%- as Greens replace Labour in UK in 2026 with disapproval of Starmer's leadership. Starmer appeared to be not thinking for himself and letting his campaign manager Morgan McSweeney run the government's strategies in serving working class voters a key Labour constituency. McSweeney at every turn pushed Starmer in a direction of diluting policies that were intended to serve working class voters to chase the Reform vote. That strategy has failed and won Starmer 18% approval among the British public. It just appeared to work in the last 2024 election but it may have been an understanding of that vote that was completely wrong as Labour won by small margins in many constituencies. A key opportunity has been lost for Labour by both Corbyn's dogmatic behaviours and Starmer's lack of authenticity and personla leadership for Britain, following the failures of the Cameron-Johnson years under the Tories, and before that with Blair, three decades lost for Britain to build a brighter future. ...

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Kylian Mbappe says he is very "impatient" "holds grudges" and is also "direct"- finds it "very surreal" to be closing in on Miroslav Klose's world record of 16 World Cup goals when he is only 27 years. He accepts the fame and the drawbacks of being who he is. He is mature and well rounded for his age, knows what he wants and not afraid to play for it, yet humble. In an intervew with Vanity Fair he says just being home some days doing nothing is all he wants to do, and being with a friend who does not care for soccer thats ok. He also loves to cook , and loves the cooking in Spain, as well as France. He likes life in Spain and is getting to know Spanish culture through Ronaldo, the all time Portuguese great who spent years with Real Madrid. His comment about Spanish culture - they eat late, just chill. And they use the words "muy tranquilo" meaning its all OK, its all OK, that he says is the Spanish cultural attitude to life, and which shrugs off the pressures. ...

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Opening windows and doors to let in fresh air is as important as wearing masks and social distancing to prevent coronavirus. In places where people gather and in homes it is important to let in fresh air so that there is new fresh air circulating in rooms 3-4 times for every hour. It is being used as a strategy in schools in Germany to bring in fresh air. Putting MERV 13 type air filters in central air conditioning and heating systems is important in offices, shops and other spaces. A complete redesign of the systems that are old is needed. There are 36,000 schools in the U.S. that have old failing systems of heating and cooling. It would cost $360 billion to change these systems if each system cost $10,000 which is on the low side. This shows that good intentions are not enough, new priorities need to be set and the old priorities which misallocated funds through existing capital allocation structures in the West coasts and East coast cities no longer serve the purpose of the Renewal of America.  ...

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Robert Lighthizer says fair trade is not enough, trade has to be balanced. If a country is running chronic surpluses for decades that is not fair or balanced trade. That country with such chronic surpluses is protectionist by nature and is following beggar thy neighbor policies.

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Apartment prices in HongKong are up 28% so far in 2009. THey are at their highest levels since the 1997 Aisna financial crisis. This occurs with rising unemployment and falling household incomes. It is fueled by low interest rates and cash rich investors from mainland China.

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US DJT administration using Section 301 creates the tariffs the US Supreme Court struck down- the EU, Mexico, Canada at 10%, Japan,, India China at 12.5%- June 2 2026. These countries are not doing enough to control the importation of products made with forced labour. This only goes to show what was said at that time and which the SCOTUS itself said the DJT administration could do, find other laws by which the same tariffs could be imposed. By the time the US Supreme Court reviewed the case it was already clear that all these countries had accepted DJT tariffs, and most had negotiated fair deals with the US including making up for past abuses by these countries of the international trading system. The US Supreme Court its shortsightedness ignored this or did not quite grasp this as Justices legal knowledge of facts does not mean grasp of the facts of commerce, trade and business and the history underlying it. Jamieson Greer interviewed at the Council of Foreign Relations this week and Robert Lighhizer in Foreign Affairs (covered and summarized on these Lyrarc pages this week as found rarely in other places) have documented these abuses in detail leading to the US losing $20 trillion in wealth shifted to these countries and its manufacturing dependent communities devastated by loss of over 5 million jobs through the shortsightedness of Bush/Obama adminstrations who let this happen, and these countries that took advantage with reckless disregard for these communities in the US, on a scale unknown in history.  ...

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William Barr, Attorney general of the US 1991-1993 and again 2019-2020, says serious regulation to breakup the power and chokehold on communications of Big Tech should be the first priority of 2023. He says they have too much power and pose a threefold danger. First they have a chokehold over essential channels of communications and commerce, letting them be the gatekeepers to the digital world. Second they vacuum up a trove of personal information of users that permits manipulating user beliefs and behaviour. Third, they distort the "marketplace of ideas"  and as gatekeepers can pursue their own political and economic agendas. He cautions antitrust litigation is too slow and case by case approach is not the way. And too much time is misspent on proving misconduct, when that is not necessary, as regulatory intervention has been needed whether or not there is misconduct for a fair and good market system to work. He says new dangers are happening and it is time for Congress to stop being all talk and no action even as digital platforms are taking unfair advantage and endangering the fairness of the market system. ...

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The BBC cites Mr. Trump's comments on Sean Hannity Show that Attorney General Barr made up his mind "right on the spot" after receiving the Mueller Report before even going into the Report's findings. It says this confirms that Mr. Barr had already made up his mind as stated in an unsolicited June 2018 memo to the Justice Department about presidential immunity from obstruction charges, a reason Mr. Trump chose Barr.

Mr. Mueller did not make a traditional "prosecutorial judgement" because he left it up to Congress as it was not the role of the Justice Department under which Mr. Mueller operated. At issue is also the 34 pages "redacted" by Mr. Barr from the Mueller Report, and Congress will want to see the full Report and all the evidence on obstruction before making up its own mind, says the BBC.

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Overheard about Bair and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit.

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Questions China faces on AI- 17% high youth unemployment and 200 million young people in the gig economy in low wage demanding work. Chinese Communist party wants to see a stable China that can pursue industrial progress for decades like the European Union and the US. For this reason it is not going to let this level of dissatisfaction with high youth unemployment and low wage demanding work for young people to go to the next level. For this reason it will carefully make investments in AI -not the hyper investments in AI that are taking place in the US. The competition with China is going to take place on many fronts, and the industrial bloc created by the EU with India and Nordics has a 15 year plan during which it and the US are likely to far exceed anything China does at a slower rate of growth. As in the US choices will have to be made in China, investment in one area means disinvestment in other areas that have equal or more priority. Today's capital markets are in complete dysfunction in the US operated by a few banks and tech company leaders, similar to the situation prevailing in pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Investment priorities and planning are needed. It is a major error to say US cannot plan that capitalism does not have planning, because it is absolutely true that planning goes on at every level in American companies with Xerox, IBM, Oil Companies and other large companies, all having a Long Range Plan as well as planning for individual projects and investments in plants. If a good infrastructure plan, project by project, state by state, and at the local level, is not put in place this will simply not take place. If no good reindustrialization plan, project by project, state by state, and at the local level, is not put in place, this will simply not take place. In that case the competition with China would surely be lost before it had begun. Yet that is surely not the case, as every good American company has a long term plan. And this plan looks at all the potential investments the Nation can and should make in priorities and in the interests of the Nation and the People. All have to compete for resources and AI surely would not get the lions share of resources in China, or in the US, in a fair and well run market system where planning rightly takes place, because it would displace the very basic structure of a fair and well balanced economy that serves the American people, or the people of European Union and India, or the people of China. ...

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Ontario ad on tariffs uses Reagan's word out of context- does not say Reagan speech was to impose tariffs on Japan till problems get fixed. Problems that had arisen in the 1980's because of Japan's use of unfair trade practices. This is the issue of Canada, Mexico, China and other nations that use unfair trade practices that then hurt American workers. Reagan was saying he understood that Senators Smoot and Hawley got things wrong when they imposed tariffs in the 1930's, that he was doing this in a very different situation the use by Japan of blatantly unfair trading practices. This is the case with Canada, China, Mexico and other nations today, that have acted as if they know nothing about these unfair trade practices. Healthy world trade requires every nation to follow the rules of fair trade practices. Canada is saying that we will shame you as being against world trade so we can keep violating fair trade practices. China is saying we will act as the guardian of world trade and shame you in this way so we can keep violating fair trade practices. ...

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Eric Holder Jr, the Attorney General of USA, told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commisssion that the F.B.I. was investigating more than 2800 mortgage fraud cases. Of these 2800 cases, 1842 are classified as major cases, involving losses of more than $1 million. In addition federal charges are pending against 826 defendents. Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's criminal division stated that the fraud cases included loan origination schemes, property flipping, foreclosure rescue schemes and loan modifications. Those accused of wrongdoing include real estate brokers, appraisers and bank insiders and "plain old fraudsters who gravitated to mortgage fraud." Sheila Bair in her opening remarks to the Financial Inquiry Commission, led by California state Treasurer Angelides, stated that it was necessary to find a way to breakup large banks without using the option of government support. Bair pointed out that the basic assumptions about financial supervision, credit availability and market discipline that were considered acceptable in the regulatory reform scheme for decades are now appearing seriously flawed. A whole reassessment was needed to change the existing mechanisms and methods. And she emphasized the serious distortions and imbalances in our national policies which moved away from savings to consumption, away from investment in our industrial base and public infrastructure toward housing, and away from real sectors of the economy towards the financial sector. Ms. Schapiro who heads the S.E.C. called for a stable , adequate funding to support the commission's work....

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By tightening their standards drastically mortgage insurers are making it necessary as well as more difficult for more and more home buyers to get mortgage insurance. More and more markets are being declared "declining markets" where stricter standards apply.

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A study by Charles Elson of the Center for Corporate Governance of the University of Delaware which refutes the idea that excessive compensation is needed to retain good talent in industry.

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The WSJ gives this report as the Georgia Case Explained with a day by day account of what happened and who was involved in the crucial days of November and December before January 6. Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General William Barr held firm that the fraud claims were wrong. Barr first rejected them on December 1, 2020 in a meeting with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump calls Georgia Secretary of State asking for 11,780 more votes, one more than the votes gained by Biden to win Georgia in the account of events that took place that have been reported.

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American, Alaska Airlines, and Southwest Airlines are the only 3 airlines that never filed for bankruptcy. Analysts say that this has left it with a higher cost structure, and estimate that American's costs would be $600 million lower if it has the contracts Delta and Continental have. Delta Airlines merger with Northwest in 2008, and the planned merger of Continental and United, does not affect American Airlines management. CEO Arpey sees American as more nimble and trying to build something profitable, and sees being smaller than these newly merged competitors an advantage. American is focussed on markets around 5 major cities- Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. In international travel it has One World partnerships with British Airways and Japan Airlines.