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The Tokyo Auto Show with both the environment friendly new cars and the performance and speed cars.

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Romney emphasizes that he supports some of the popular parts of the Obama Healthcare Law such as coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. He tells voters he got everybody in his state insured. He also says there will not be a huge cut in taxes that would worsen the deficit. He would close loopholes and deductions to offset any deductions as shown by his advisor Harvard economist Martin Feldstein. The idea is to get a message across that will resonate with women, minorities, the middle class, workers, and business- the 100%, something he is able to do with some credibility having come from Massachusetts, a liberal state in the eastern United States.

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Peter Fisher spent 15 years at the New York Fed and was Under Secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance. Interviewed by Maria Bartiromo he says the fourth quarter is going to be very hard and its going to take several quarters to get some stability and freeing up credit markets. Why did this happen. We had says Peter Fisher several years of negative interest rates the middle of this decade, and its this essentially free money that distorted the system. Capitalism he says is premised on the idea that capital is a scarce commodity rationed with a price mechanism. And everybody took advantage of this to leverage themselves too far from the clever guys on Wall Street to people in the housing and financial services industries. This in his view was the engine that led the economy so far astray. Fisher does not believe all financial institutions should be treated by fed and treasury the same way. The ones that overly leveraged with weak managements and are doing poorly ad not likely to survive should be closed. Once it is clear that the prospects for some financial institutions are dim and their survival is uncertain he thinks Fed and Treasury should not wait around for consolidation but close these as quickly as possible. He sees some banks being closed and not just commercial banks. ...

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Republicans Kasich, Walker and Snyder won reelection for governor in Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. Republicans also won elections for governor in Illinois, Massachusetts, Georgia, Kansas and Maryland. Democratic Governor Brown won in California and Iowa Republican Governor Terry Branstad won a sixth term. Voter issues focussed on the economic uncertainty for households, and on school funding and services in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Local issues affected some elections, and some campaigns were seen as badly run such as the Udall campaign in Colorado. Governors Snyder in Michigan and Brown in California ran on their own record by aiding Detroit and tackling budget and water issues in California. A Pew Center research poll shows only 27% of Americans feel comfortable about their economic future- 27% say the economic future will be better in 2015, worse than in 2010 and 2012. Rauner in Illinois spent $27 million and Brown in California a negligible amount running on his record, showing there are different pathways in a midterm U.S. election that cost candidates $4 billion....

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Pidcock, mountain biking gold, says the biggest thing is to inspire people that's what he loves to do. It is bigger than cycling. Cut off from the rest of the cyclists after a 40 second puncture and being slow to change wheels, Tom Pidcock of England, faced huge odds. At first he wasn't getting any closer, he wasn't making any inroads. He had made too many mistakes he realized. He was suffering and fighting to make a comeback. Only with 3 laps left did things change when he cut 15 seconds off the gap in one lap. At that point Pidcock knew he could come up front. He chose to go for it and found a gap which he took. He was competing with Frenchman Koretsky and the French cheered him on. Pidcock prevailed. He had done this on one of the rides (Stages) in the Tour de France descending down the Alps. Inspiring young people goes beyond cycling. ...

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Iraq is an artifical entity, an artificial state created by the British out of the defeated and disintegrated Ottoman Empire. Created from 3 Ottoman Arab provinces- provinces or vilayets of Mosul province which was mostly Sunni, Baghdad province, the city of Baghdad  mostly Sunni and rural areas Shia, and Basra in the south mostly Shia from tribes who converted to Shia Islam extending the reach of Shia religious sites such as Karbala. Note that the Sunni Arabs were closer to the power structures of the Ottoman Empire than Shia in the 18th and 19th century. As a result post war Iraq in 1950's was dominated by Sunni elites and the British imposed Faisal 1 monarchy of 1921 was thrown out by Sunni elites in the army in 1958 by Karim Kassem, followed by the emergence of Saddam Hussein from Pan Arab Baath socialist ideologies of that period.  After the US wars in Iraq and Iraq- Iran war, Iran mobilized Shia into popular militias. In 2026 Iraq is essentially several ministates pulled together in Baghdad, with Shia, Sunni and Kurdish ministates formed into the governing structure, and everyone praying for no outside interference to pull it all apart and maintain a fragile peace. While the British got Iraq Mandate from League of Nations in 1921 French got Syria provinces of the Ottoman Empire. In fact Sykes and Picot are the British and French diplomats who created artificial states of Iraq and Syria to suit their interests in the region for oil and for controlling Suez and territories in India, Indochina, Hong Kong, parts of coastal China (Shanghai). Why is this important? It is important because at the time Britian dealt with weak Sunni populations that were controlled through monarchs they put in place, and the British and French industrial power had no rivals. Today the Sunnis are mobilized and the Shia have with Iranian support mobilized also, and sectarian wars have torn the place apart for 40 years. America's founding fathers and first president George Washington, would if here today consider this the one place US would have nothing to do with in terms of wars and bases. On oil George Washington would advise America to find alternative sources than get dragged into useless sectarian wars and lose the battle for reindustrialization, after America's elites and their economists have essentially deindustrialized America. It is appropriate for the US president to take action only on grounds of not letting the place fall into regimes with ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons that could reach US and Europe. And for that China and Russia, India and Brazil, Germany and France should also do their part and fulfill responsibilities. As for Britain and France it is appropriate for the US president to say to the posturing in Europe and ambivalent posiions, "Go, get you own oil in the Hormuz," as the US is self sufficient in oil and does not need Iranian or Iraqi oil. It is also appropriate knowing that this Iraq and Syria were created by Sykes and Picot and the British and French to build and sustain their Empires that no longer exist because Turkey and India, and China, through the effort of Gandhi and Ataturk, Sun-Yat Sen and Mao, Brazil also, are now strong independent nations. The message is- if Germany can do it to get only 6% of energy imports from Hormuz straits, so can China and Japan. China and Japan get 90% of their imports from the Hormuz straits and there is no reason why China and Japan, Britain, India need to be so dependent on a region where disruptions have happened again and again for 40 years. If they do not want to change they can assume the responsibilities of keeping Hormuz Straits on their own. ...

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In a nationwide television address prime minister Modi of India calls for a Janata Curfew on Sunday March 22, for a test of people's self-discipline in fighting the coronavirus. He urged people to not go outside of their homes from 7am to 9 pm voluntarily in this curfew. The aim is to build public consciousness of the need for social distancing and staying away from crowds and people gathering, as an effective way to prevent spread of coronavirus. Only health care workers and people who provide essential services would be outside. He asked that at 5 pm on that day people ring bells to thank health workers and others who are doing what is necessary in the health crisis.

The prime minister said there should be no hoarding as the government will ensure that there are adequate supplies. He said an Economic Response Task Force has been setup under the leadership of the Finance Minister that will decide on an economic relief package.

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The US central bank, the Fed, signals smaller rate increases in the future after another rate increase of 0.75% in November 2022. "It is very premature to be thinking of pausing. We have a ways to go," says Fed chairman Jerome Powell. He added that - "the question of when to moderate the pace of rate  increases is now less important than the question of how high to raise interest rates and how long to keep monetary policy restrictive." The move raises rates in the US to between 3.75% and 4.0%. Rates could go up to 5% in 2023.

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President Biden sets out the new role of America in the Asia Pacific region at the APEC CEO Summit. Key points from hours of discussion Biden had with Xi Jinping during his visit to the US- 

"Let me be clear. America does not seek conflict with China." And that "America is not decoupling with China. It is de-risking and diversifying from China." For his part Jinping has said- "There are a thousand reasons for us to want good relations with the US." This may be the biggest achievement of both leaders.

 

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600,000 knee replacement surgeries a year in the US and 30 million suffering from osteoarthritis. The Wash. Post looks at new options which include use of coral that can repair the cartilage in a knee. The coral is part of Agili-C approved by US FDA and developed by CartiHeal. It is made from a calcium carbonate that is derived from exoskeletons of coral that act as a scaffold in the body to help regenerate bone and tissue, says the Washington Post in this article.

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What this tennis report is not saying is that only a generation ago the drop shot was standard and a key part of the game. The base line hitters era is now gone as player after player from Europe is shifting to the way tennis was always played with a great mix of shots. This drop shot or the related shot the lob was normal when Ile Nastase, Newcombe, Rosewall and Laver played in the 1970's and 1980's, games this reviewer watched late into the night at tennis tournaments in the US and Canada. It was because of the range of strokes that tennis was fun to watch and became popular at the time. The reason is that drop shots, lobs, take skills, timing, mixing shots with speed and with touches, and requiring a keen sense of the flow.

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France sees a surge in bookings for vaccination after president Macron announces that vaccination pass will be required to go out to eat or drink, go to a shopping center, or to take a long distance train. Macron said "The health pass is not obligatory right away, but we are going to extend the health pass to the maximum to encourage as many of you as possible to get yourselves vaccinated."

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This columnist opinion in Le Monde reflects the view in Europe that the US is in retreat, and in some quarters such as NYT that the new US foreign policy that sets the Monroe Doctrine as key aspect of foreign policy is a retreat- US setting the rules in the Western Hemisphere around democracy and governance. It says the US has set aside the ambition first proclaimed in 1945 and revived in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. US administrations under Clinton and Bush took this posture after 1991 of dominant position but it did not reflect reality. US like Russia was dragged into many remote conflicts that had little to do with the standard of living, and economic advancement of the US. The US has a dilapidated infrastructure, broken healthcare system, and operates in a world trading system that has deindustrialized the nation and shipped out jobs and factories for 20 years, and worse is exposed to drug and people trafficking gangs in Mexico and Venezuela. The Monroe Doctrine 1823 asserted the US right to keep European colonial powers out of America, and it was possible only because the British also supported it in the 19th century till the US built up its Navy under TR and FDR. With Russia recognized as a European power the US is able to get its support for the US to tackle the situation in the Western hemisphere presented by drug and people trafficking gangs in Mexico and Venezuela. Tariffs are intended to get a new world trading system with new rules. Infrastructure building is underway on a scale that will far surpass China by 2030. This is not a retreat but an advancement for the Nation and the American people after three decades of failed policy. It lets the European powers Germany, France and Britain deal with Russia's requirement that NATO withdraw from its borders and recognition of Russia as a Northern European power. European history has shown that since 1700 that when faced with a majority of nations in Europe any dominant power in Europe is forced to negotiate a peaceful resolution of conflict because of it's limited resources to carry on a conflict. This should lead to a peaceful resolution in Ukraine, that allows rebuilding, and also gives the US an opportunity to rebuild its economy and standard of living for the American people. This will be a win-win for both the Russians and the Western Europeans, and both Latin America and the US, China and the US, India/Japan/Brazil and the US. ...

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Fiat chief Marchionne on a visit to Detroit to do due diligence on its deal with Chrysler, said that no one was lining up to take the deal away from Fiat. He made it clear that the deal, in which for providing its technology in small cars to Chrysler it would get a 35% stake in Chrysler, has to stand on its own two legs. For another $25 million Fiat could raise its stake to 55%. Its only other investment would be in the plant costs for building theses small cars in the USA. Fiat will not use USA government money for Fiat's operations, and only take money from Chrysler after the government is repaid, he said. For the deal to go through everyone has to make concessions, says Marchionne. The logic of the deal may rest on US government help and labor and other stakeholders concessions. In a year Fiat could be importing cars into the USA and in 30 months Fiat could be making cars in the USA.