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The Greens made speed limits on the autobahn a key plank in their program. The Social Democrats SPD party also agrees. The new proposed speed limit is 131 kms per hour or 81 mph. 
In 1952 speed limits were lifted on the autobahn in a reaction to the strict limits imposed in the Nazi period, and a sense of freedom in putting the past behind on the road.

The Greens party estimated 1.9 million less emissions of CO2 from the speed limit. The auto industry including Audi VW have not supported this change. Auto fatalities are 23 per 1000 kms of motorway in France compared to 30 in Germany. In sections of autobahn where there are speed limits in Germany the fatalities have dropped sharply. About 77% of Germans stay within the 81 mph speed limit which today is advised but not mandated.

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The Gare du Nord rail station is Paris is Europe's busiest and the station where the Eurostar arrives from London. It is also one of the oldest stations and one that has deteriorated over the years. Gare du Nord rail station is overcrowded and set for handling 700,000 passengers daily by 2030. It is overdue for a renovation and rebuilding. The problem is that SNCF the rail company is planning to partner with the Auchan supermarket chain to get private financing to help with the rebuild effort. 

Doing this with a supermarket chain distorts the vision for the development with emphasis on more shops and food stores, turning the rail experience into one that one sees at overcrowded airports. The mayor of the district and the public have opposed this type of redevelopment and are calling for changes to be made.

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The new prime minister of Japan Yoshihide Suga is critical of the three phone carriers forming an oligopoly and keeping prices for mobile phone service in Japan very high. Another criticism is that Japan has failed to compete in phone technologies by staying out of world markets that would improve its competitive spirit. Japan has failed to keep up with China and other countries in mobile technologies. 

As part of the first step to change this and make NTT competitive by entering world markets, NTT is paying a 41% premium on the part of NTT Docomo that it does not own in a $40 billion deal. NTT chief Sawada sees this as a way to speed up decision making, as he sees a crisis in Japan's struggle to compete with China and the U.S. in world markets.

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Take a nice break at any time of the day or at night with this wonderful view of the autumn leaves and tents at 2100 metres in the northern Alps of Japan, in Nagano Prefecture. It will do you a world of good during the long days of fatigue in the pandemic. Among campers are coworkers, and a man who wanted to sleep in a tent with his small daugher age 5. For each day, during 72 hours in the northern Alps of Japan, NHK Television online spent time with campers with their little lights for the colored tents under amazing starry skies. The spirit of the little girl age 5 cannot fail to make us fell young and spirited again. The autumn leaves and sky give a sense of life outdoors reviving spirits at this time of being stuck indoors for long periods during the coronavirus.

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In his speech at the Labour party conference Keir Starmer wll put mental health as Labour's key pitch to voters. Starmer will say that a Labour government will take note of the mental health crisis after Covid and make mental health treatment available to anyone who needs it within a month, and create drop-in mental health hubs for children and young people. This is Starmer's first in person address to Labour's party conference.

Labour believes the mounting fuel crisis with most petrol stations out of gasoline is creating concerns about Boris Johnson's ability to tackle Britain's problems after Covid pandemic. Referring to Boris Johnson's plea for motorists not to fill cars unless necessary, Starmer will try to contrast the challenges facing Britain after the pandemic with the chaotic approach of Boris Johnson. 

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Australia's Traralgon coal plant will close in 2035 instead of 2048. Leadership changes at AGL energy company which owns the plant made this possible. It produced a large part of energy for the state of Victoria which includes Melbourne, and 3% of the country's emissions. This report in BBC shows the stubborn nature of coal emissions in Australia. Mr. Albanese the newly elected Labor party leader has promised to cut emissions- a 43% reduction of 2005 emissions by 2030. Australia is a big exporter of coal with $40 billion in coal exports to China, India and other countries, and cheap abundant coal supplies are part of the reason for its reliance on coal. Only in 2021 with the raging wild fires and floods in parts of Australia has awareness of the cost of its reliance on coal become evident to Australians.

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The Australia vs. England semifinal in World Cup cricket 2019, brings back the traditional cricket spirit in the two countries. This game comes before the celebrated Ashes cricket series between the two countries. The Australian team walks barefoot on the Edgbaston cricket grounds just to connect with the earth. Coach Justin Langer of the Australian team believes in this practice of "earthing"or "barefoot healing". Feeling the grass under the feet connects with the positive energy from the earth and the ground below.

Langer former Australian opener batsman has written a book "Seeing the Sunrise" which is devoted to philosophy and psychology, and is a about overcoming self-doubt. The team made a circle of the grounds at Edgbaston, getting to know the field from all vantage points, and then met with Langer in a circle, exchanging stories, laughter, and memories.

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Strawberries and cream (or Geek yogurt) are a British food that is popular in a different form in Japan as "furutsu sando." They are now adapted to make a Japanese version using soft white bread and include also fruits such as kiwi, clementines, to add color and flavors.

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VW sales including Audi were up 34% in 2012. BMW sales were up 14%, and Daimler sales were up 15%. The growth rates for the German automakers surpassed growth in China. By manufacturing in the U.S. German automakers are better able to compete with the Detroit and Japanese carmakers in pricing. A third of BMW vehicles and a fourth of VW and Mercedes vehicles are now made in the U.S., according to LMC Automotive. VW has invested about $4 billion in the U.S. since 2008, including investment at a plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The German carmakers are now going for mass appeal with the VW Passat. Lower priced Mercedes models now sell for under $30,000. German exports to the U.S. increased by 24% in October 2012, compared to 18% for the eurozone overall. About 40% of German exports to the U.S are autos. Eurozone exports to the U.S. were up 18% in Oct 2012, and Britain's exports increased by 11%. British exports in Oct 2012 of 4 billion euros were second only to Germany at 8 billion euros....

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Jonathan Rockoff interviews Pfizer CEO, Ian Read. Read says Pfizer will make up for the loss of patent protection on Lipitor sales of $10.7 billion. He plans to cut Pfizer's $8.1 billion research budget to $6.5 billion. Pfizer sold one unit that makes drugs in capsule form for $2.4 billion. He looks to growth in Lyrica for fibromyalgia, and Prevnar for pneumococcal vaccine. And sees growth in China and emerging markets. Even with government ordered price reductions in China, increase in volume sales make up for the price reductions. Asked about the closing of the Pfizer labs in Sandwich, England, Read says the competitors were ahead of Pfizer in areas of research at Sandwich such as allergy, respiratory and urology. Pfizer will move scientists from Groton, Connecticut, to Cambridge, Mass, to bring scientists together in hubs of innovation such as La Jolla, Boston, and Cambridge, England. In the old days Groton served as a location because it was near a river, fermentation was needed and water access had to be provided. Read says Pfizer will focus on the core- neuroscience, cardiovascular medicine, oncology, inflammation, immunology and vaccines, specialized units for pain, sensory disorders and biosimiliars- and make sure this is producing results....

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Brooks on the Obama inaugural address- what it said about America's progressive character and the need for collective action, and what it left out about the individual initiative and innovation that made America what it is today.

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Little effort is made to understand the other side, the true aspect of genuine discussion open to other thoughts and ideas and ways of seeing things. A silo effect in the news, news becoming little more than light entertainment. Not the constructive way to go, to enhance public understanding of important issues open to changing some parts of one's thinking when it makes sense.

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WSJ Explained looks at the House Speaker's election on Friday Jan 3, 2024. If one Republican vote joins Rep. Massie of Kentucky Mike Johnson cannot be reelected says WSJ. In that event Congress cannot ratify the election of DJT or Vance as president and vice president. On Jan 20 2025 Senate president Chuck Grassley would be made president of the US in such a situation.

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A detailed account of the developments that unfolded for Bankia bank during and after the initial public offering of its shares, after it was put together from seven failing cajas savings banks with bad real estate loans made during the housing bubble. The procrastination and small steps taken to paper over the problems by the Spanish government and regulators during the last year of the Zapatero administration and into the first year of the Rajoy administration.

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The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has been investigating Toyota since 2004, after State Farm Insurance Company alerted the NHTSA about the jump in complaints.

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Ankara, Turkey's capital city, during the street protests in Turkish cities. Protests in Ankara were at Kizilay Square and at Kugulu Park. Ankara is the centre of Turkey's secular history under Ataturk and the years since.

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Decline in capital investment in 2016-2017 expected at Lukoil and Rosneft as the Russian government postponed a reduction in taxes on oil exports for 2016. Russia is dependent on oil exports for a third of its national output, and about half of its budget depends on oil revenues, a major weakness, but this is being managed carefully till oil prices recover. Russian officials say the $50 a barrel assumption for oil revenues in 2016 in the budget is optimistic. Yet Russian output decline is expected to be limited to about 3% a year from 5% for Lukoil in future years from decline in investment, because of drilling new wells and use of horizontal drilling technology on older fields. In 2015 oil output increased modestly to 10.73 barrels a day from 10.58 barrels a day in 2014. Russia's oil industry benefits from a tax system that favors the industry. The export duty on oil and the mineral extraction tax are based on price. A declining ruble which has gone from 35 to the dollar before its invasion of Ukraine in 2014 to 86 to the dollar in Jan 2016, has a favorable impact. This actually helps the industry because workers and oil equipment suppliers in Russia are paid in rubles, and oil revenues are earned in dollars. As a result new technologies such as horizontal drilling now make up one third of oil supplies from 11% in 2010. Chinese suppliers also provide new technology drilling equipment, as China is not part of the sanctions. Gazprom Neft's CEO Dyukov says it can make a profit at oil price of $15 a barrel. Because of the tax system after tax revenues are stable at the oil companies in Russia, even as government tax revenue declines. All this points to resilience in the short run for the Russian oil industry. The decline in the value of the ruble is seen as an opportunity to shift away from an overdependence on imports during the period of high oil prices. Alexei Kudrin, former Russsian finance minister, sees growth returning for the Russian economy in 2017. This may actually be good news for the struggling economies of U.S., Europe, India, China, and other countries which would be boosted by low oil prices sustained over a longer period- something made possible by competition between big oil producing countries Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, and the profitability of oil production at prices below $30 to $20 a barrel....

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Rattner calls his own contact with GM's culture a revelation of what went really wrong at the automaker before the bankruptcy. He refers to the "nods" and the "salutes," the superficial power point presentations, and failed leadership, calling it hugely disappointing and stunning in its scope and extent. The greatest damage is done to GM's employees, its partners and customers, and to America, with the collapse of values and culture at a key manufacturing company. Did Akerson and Whittaker, CEO's brought in from the outside after the bankruptcy, get a grip on this and make changes, or was their period at the company too short to make an impact. The period since the recalls has not convinced the American public that GM is now a different company.

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Dexia, the Belgian-French bank, reported a net loss of 11.64 billion euros for 2011, including 4.05 billion euros from selling Dexia Bank Belgium to the Belgian government in Oct 2011, and a 3.36 billion euro loss on Greek government bond holdings as a result of restructuring of Greece's debt. Other losses were 2.6 billion euros from an acceleration of the sale of a portfolio of U.S. mortgage backed securities, and about 1 billion euros from the sale of the Paris based public finance business to savings banks operated by the French government. Dexia ends up with a negative total equity of 320 million euros at the end of 2011. Dexia was one of the hardest hit European banks in the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

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PC shipments worldwide declined by 14% in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the prior year quarter, according to IDC. Gartner Research's estimate for the first quarter PC shipments shows a decline of 11.2%. IDC analysts say the introduction of Windows 8 with touch screen capabilities has not reversed this trend. It may have exacerbated the trend because Windows 8 made changes that reduced the PC experience to bring in touch screen and other features available on tablets, and made the product more confusing to use. This view of IDC is confirmed by some companies which say the incremental value of Windows 8 is not worth the cost of training employees to use the new PC's with Windows 8.

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Pension deficits at companies as there pension fund investments lose as much as 40% in the stock market. These deficits gaps between obligations and assets will have to be filled, and will soak up a lot of cash of these companies. The last time these companies faced this problem in 2002 it was half as large and it still took 5 years in healthy markets to fill the gaps in the pension funds. In the markets and long downturn expected it make take much longer and companies in the meantime will have to put more money into their pension funds to make up for losses in the equities investments which constitute some 70% of the pension plan for companies like Caterpillar, which is laying off 20,000 people.

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The Washington Post editorial board warns against repeating the mistake made by president Obama of an hasty withdrawal from trouble spots in the Middle East. Many of the negative events in 2014-2017 were a result of a lack of action where needed or hasty withdrawal leading to the refugee crisis in both Syria and the European Union, and an increase in terrorism, This also led to the rise of extreme politics in many countries, and outside interventions that have worsened the situation.

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Efforts are being made at the current Commonwealth meeting in London to revive the organization of nations that were part of the British Empire. In earlier years India had stayed away from the organization and it was becoming outdated. Prince Charles personally carried an invitation to prime minister Modi of India asking him to attend Commonwealth meeting in London in 2018. Britain is keen on reviving the organization following plans to exit the EU and set up trade deals with countries such as India.