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Rural America has the same percentage of Americans that are prone to fringe views as urban America about 27%, the rest are simply trying to find ways to meet severe health, educational, lack of investment in rural areas by government, and cost of living challenges, that other communities have, says Nicholas Jacobs, professor of Colby College. He knows rural America as he shows in his new book -The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America. Jacobs lives in rural Maine and has both studied reams of data and himself lives in a rural area. Here is the truth he says- Rural America is suffering from chronic health conditions, health worker and hospital shortages, limited employment opportunities and infrastructure deficits, rural schools suffering from funding gaps and teacher shortages. Similar to urban, yes, yet even worse, and need understanding not recrimination. What JFK rightly called, a policy "to lift all boats," from his speech in Arkansas, saying rural Arkansas was as much the Nation, as Massachusetts. He warns Americans to be careful what they listen to about rural America in talk shows or in books written to get audiences from one segment of the population or the other, with gross mischaracterizations of Rural America and its so called rage, with condescending views about people simply struggling to make sense of all the change some of it for the worse going on around them- in this period of Beaverbrook television or internet media. Beaverbook television is after a press baron in the last century in Britain who saw it fit to take advantage of crises of any sort to sell tons of newspapers for a profit, along the way promoting any bias that he had regardless of whether it was proven right or wrong. At one point UK press barons including Beaverbrook, controlled 13 million circulation the most in the world in 1947. Today instead of newsprint it is in book, television, social media or the internet video formats. This can concoct narratives of people that do not exist by using polls that are inadequate, and superficial understanding, with no effort to look for credible answers to difficult questions, and no effort to look for solutions that "lifts all boats," in America and in the World. ...

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As the deadline of July 22 approaches for the 160,000 members of the UK Conservative Party to elect a leader, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the current Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt are running for the leadership position. Boris Johnson has 68% member support with Hunt at 23%, according to YouGov survey. Both candidates are in favor of Britain leaving the European Union without an agreement. Hunt has stated he would cancel leave for Britain's 16,000 civil servants in August to prepare for the departure of Britain from the EU by October 31.  Only 27% of Conservative Party members believe Mr. Hunt can do the preparation needed for an abrupt exit after 45 years of economic integration with the European Union. By contrast 90% of members think Johnson would do the preparation needed. Preparation is needed because of food and medical supplies trucks and in flights awaiting customs at border points. The result could be chaotic without adequate preparation. Under a Johnson government many ministers would leave the government including Mr. Hammond who runs the finance ministry. He is expected to join rebel ranks in the Conservative Party that does not think an abrupt exit like this is good for Britain. If these members in the House of Commons join Labour party members they could vote to block this from happening. Britain's opposition Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn has finally decided to call for a second referendum if Johnson pushes to leave the EU abruptly, and to campaign wholeheartedly this time for staying inside the EU. During the last referendum Labour leaders did not push hard for Remain, and David Cameron as prime minister and head of the Conservatives proved to be a weak and ineffective leader using the promise of a referendum as a ploy to win votes for the Conservatives in an earlier election and then finding himself stuck with promises made in the election with his party's right wing led by Johnson. Years of austerity policies promoted by Germany in the EU after a flawed entry of southern European countries with faulty not transparent finances such as Greece too early  into the eurozone had soured Britons on the EU. The friendly migration policies of German leader Merkel for economic as well as war torn country migrants from North Africa finally not just soured Germans on Merkel policies but also soured British working class families struggling to make ends meet and seeing migration as taking British resources that were needed at home. This has split most of Europe including Britain along lines of the major cities and the rural areas plus smaller towns, and in Eastern Europe, East Germany region along the lines of the old Soviet bloc countries which with deeply conservative thinking do not favor such migration policies. These divisive changes have taken place over along period of decades and will take time to heal through economic recovery and a fairer distribution of wealth, better investment in infrastructure, health, education, public services, neglected during the Tech driven flawed investment diversion of economic resources. Yet the hope of this type of change if grasped by Britons as well as Europeans could bring new life and revive the vision of a Europe with shared benefits for all Europeans, not just a French-German project. For this to happen new leaders have to rise to the challenge inside Britain and the rest of Europe.      ...

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Pictures from the lockdown in Paris, France, which has been tightened to reduce new infections in the pandemic. Unlike other countries with lax controls in lockdowns people in Paris are required to carry a document showing authorization to go outside, the place where a person is going, and show it to police on the street. 

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US president Biden ends a conflict that hurt America's middle and working class by distorting priorities for domestic goals, hurting families from middle and working class, and abandoning priorities for infrastructure, health and education. US president says he feels he has made the right decision on behalf of all Americans and America's friends in the world.

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PM Modi has been invited by Macron to Bastille day in Paris, France's National Day on July 14, as an official guest, a first for an Indian leader in Europe. This happens as India's strategic partnership with France takes new shape in sectors such as civil aviation with significant Indian expansion, in defense, in nuclear cooperation for energy, in renewable energy, and is expanding into other sectors. India's defense forces will also take part with French forces in the parade on Bastille Day in France. Bastille Day is the national day of France with parades and a national holiday. It was established in 1880 and marks the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 with the French revolution for Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, and of the National Federation Day July 14, 1790.

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The CDC Africa says Africa has recorded over 100,000 confirmed cases for a continent of 1.3 billion people, but as the WSJ reports on May 23 there is a high degree of underreporting. The number of cases the CDC says is about the same this week on May 22, as the cases were last week.The most cases are in South Africa at 19,000. 

Three countries have an increase of 100%, making it a situation that will need vigilance. So far 1.3 million tests were conducted. This report in DW.com contrasts with the WSJ report on May 23 which sees major problems developing in hotspots in Africa from Tanzania to Cameroon, in South Sudan to the Cape town area in South Africa. Cape Town hospitals are expected to be overwhelmed in weeks.

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Friedman has second thoughts on the effectiveness of President Obama's foreign policy and turning away from the Middle East. He says this risks hurting the European Union with the flow of refugees, and wonders how the U.S. would react if there was an attack in the U.S. like the one in Brussels in March 2016 using suicide bombers.

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A detailed account of how the American airstrikes in Farah province look from the ground. CIvilians who may not have much to do with the Taliban get caught in these strikes, and burned bodies of women, girls, children are to be found along with destroyed homes. It only creates new volunteers among the young for the Taliban and legitimizes anti-American feelings after bombings of this kind. Its also exactly as the Taliban intended it, as they hid among the civilians with this in mind. US soldiers outnumbered in difficult terrain and vast spaces call in airstrikes after ambushes and difficult fights. The US has to do some serious problem solving on this one, or risk losing the support of ordinary Afghans , and with it the war. These are some of the tough choices in this war, with what kind of air support to fight this war. One that is pinpoint and based on accurate intelligence and in skirmishes in the open, but avoiding the kind that gets close to civilian areas. And finding other ways to tackle the problems. Having popular support is critical, and providing security is critical, which calls for more feet on the ground, more aid workers on the ground, and more to show for these efforts in reduced casualties and better lives of the people in each area. ...

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In the next 15 years approximately India will have a higher percentage of working age population to non-working age population than China, based on information from the UN and Morgan Stanley. The number of people over 64 and under 15 has declined from 69% to 56% in 2010, according to UN figures. By 2020 the working age population will increase by 136 million in India, compared to 23 million in China. From this it can be seen that a huge demographic change is playing out. As China's economy matures and with the one-child policy in place, China's working age population is expected to decline; just as India's working age population picks up. This should give India momentum in the next 15-20 years, and lead to an increasing growth rate in India, just as China's growth rate slows. India's weak areas are infrastructure, and education. Infrastructure development will accelerate nevertheless, with larger private investments and participation in projects; and India will move up the experience curve as more projects are completed. Education for the poorer classes and in public schools will remain a problem. Private schools are making up for the weakness in this area, and private schools now make up 20% of attendance even in the rural areas according to one estimate. The strong points are democratic structures and the rule of law, private enterprise and private companies, English speaking middle class, and smart initiatives by business to develop low cost products that are affordable for all segments of sciety in India. For instance a $35 laptop developed by the IIT and Indian Institute of Science researchers, and Tata Chemicals development of a filter for 30 rupees or 65 cents that would filter water for a month for a family of five. This will bring the benefits of development to all segments of society as development progresses, and is crucial for balanced development in the poorer parts of Asia. Tata Motors 1 lakh ruppees car concept and the Tata Nano as its tangible product, is another verson of this kind of development being pioneered in India. Being a democratic country makes some processes slower, yet at the same time the private initiative enabled by democratic processes -cultivated over a long period from British times -enables a creative sort of development that could be turned into a distinct advantage....

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Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post, says its hard not to conclude that Obama is really not engaged with the struggle for democracy and democratic process in the countries of the Middle East and the Arab World. His voice is only heard sporadically, and is missing altogether at crucial times, as the people of Egypt, Libya, and other countries express their democratic aspirations. This has been the case from the beginning of this struggle and continues today. He cites an Arab opinion poll, from Shibley Telhami of the University of Maryland with Zogby International, which shows a positive view of Obama at 34%, compared with 39% in 2009. When asked which countries have played a positive role, France and Turkey are given first place and the U.S. is close to China. This is because France's Sarkozy and Turkey have been actively engaged, and Obama has been silent for most of the time. Diehl says most Egyptians he talked to in Cairo in a recent visit, think that Obama's focus is on going along with the military and Israel. ...

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Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif faces a trial on corruption charges in Pakistan in 2018, just prior to new elections. The military and the judiciary both support the trial which involves payments for 4 upscale neighborhood London apartments owned by Sharif. 

Mr. Sharif's party leads in polls with about 36% support, higher than the next leading party Tehreek which has 24% support and is led by Imran Khan a former cricketer. The Pakistan People's Party of the Bhutto family comes in third. The result of this could be a weaker coalition government. The Supreme Court has banned Sharif for life from holding political office. Pakistan has seen governments toppled and military rule for half of its 70 years since independence. The rivalry with India and the role of the military has affected political institutions and democracy in Pakistan making peace with India difficult to achieve for any elected government.

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Spain's bond auction on April 3, 2012 for 2.59 billion euros showed yields up by one percentage point to 5.7% on its 10 year bonds. Spain's banks are using funds borrowed from the ECB under its Long Term Financing Operation to buy Spain's government bonds. Spanish banks bought 39 billion of government bonds in Jan and Feb 2012. Spain has raised so far 47% of the planned funding for 2012.

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As drops in price of steel could lead to imports into the US with paying lower tariff Trump increases tariffs on steel to 50% on May 30, 2025. Nippon Steel says it will increase its investments in US steel mills at US Steel including older mills, $7.7 billion in modernization of plants, and $2.2 billion at Mon Valley plant. Ownership of US Steel based in Pittsburgh with 14,000 workers will stay in American hands. DJT intervened to make these investments possible. Investments will keep furnaces open 10 years and give every worker a $5000 bonus. It is this type of action that has helped DJT win in Pennsylvania and win worker support.

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A wind farm out at sea to start in 3 years, small renovation projects across France and Germany, a couple of billion dollars from the French government for home renovations- this kind of approach is considered completely unrealistic say EU legislators. One Danish legislator asks what is more unrealistic? Setting serious targets for conversion to renewable energy or depending on Putin's gas and oil?  These EU legislators are calling for aggressive action now. The European Commission set a 9% goal for energy savings by 2030, this has now been moved up to 13%. EU legislators are calling for 23% in savings by 2030. And even this may not be enough to meet the goals for climate change to prevent the disaster from climate change with fires and floods and heat waves that hurt agriculture and food supplies. A savings target of 19% is about the gas that runs 40% of the cars and trucks on American roads in 2021 or 214 million metric tons of oil. The French government has set aside 3 billion euros for comprehensive renovations of homes to save energy with a target of 300,000 homes in 2022. This is completely inadequate as it will cost 23 billion euros say experts on the Paris city council. Renovations are only running at 60,000 a year. A big part of the conversion in Europe is converting from gas heating to electric heating. France is boosting subsidies for new electric heat pump installations.   ...

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A lot that is wrong at Apple and Tim Cook's responsibility for putting profits over national interest in not preserving but destroying American manufacturing. All the talk about design is a smokescreen for dismally letting down American communities that relied on American industrial ingenuity. Tim Cook started the process of sending America's industrial manufacturing base to China in 1998 with an elaborate plan that has been put into effect over 2 decades. Some of this I saw with my own eyes in the period just before Jobs returned in 1997, on a trip as Japanese manufacturing methods consultant at Apple's Colorado Springs Plant. Apple's failure since 2016 to correct this overconcentration of manufacturing in one place is one of the major failures for America in the first decades of the 21st century. Apple's success in profit margins was bought at a price that is too high for the communities and towns that depended on manufacturing across America during the 20th century- it has a spiralling effect as other companies followed Apple leading to the shipping out of America's entire industrial base. Creating risks of international conflict as this entire process was allowed to happen by administrations of Bush and Obama that have failed America in unimaginable ways with foreign wars, and neglect of American workers. DJT, Biden who retained DJT policy, and DJT second term are only now correcting these serious mistakes and American business shortsightedness. ...

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A labor shutdown that nearly shut down the US economy says the Washington Post is a result of policies set by the BSNF management for attendance on freight trains by engineers and other workers. It resulted in a tragedy. Hiles, 51, suffered a heart attack on June 16. He missed a doctor's appointment because he was called back to work. Not showing up could have invited penalties under strict attendance policies of BSNF, one of the largest rail carriers in the US. Aaron Hiles told his wife he felt different, then he made an appointment to see a doctor. On June 16 the locomotive engineer suffered a heart attack and died in an engine room on a BSNF freight train somewhere between Kansas City and Fort Madison, Iowa. President Biden has stepped in and arranged an agreement that includes time off when needed for medical reasons and a 24% increase in pay by 2024.

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The IMF's estimate of extra aid needed for Greece to meet the damage done in the first 6 months of 2015 is $60 billion euros ($66.6 billion). The additional aid required is because of the worsening of the economy under the Tsipras Syriza party administration in the first half of 2015, the collapse in the negotiations, loss of trust, the imposition of capital controls, closing of the banks, and the growing uncertainty created by the referendum of July 5, 2015 on the debt talks and membership in the European Union. This may leave Greece worse off than before, as the cost of the cuts at issue in the talks were significantly smaller, and the small gradual improvement in the economy under the Samaras administration in 2013-2014 has suffered a serious setback. This is an unfortunate setback as Greece was allowed the needed flexibility on the most important points of the percentage of surplus and dateline, and cuts in the public sector employees.

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Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post cites the Pew poll of September 3-7, 2015, on the Iran nuclear deal of July 2015, showing increase in skepticism about the deal's provisions by people who are informed to some extent (a little or a lot) about its details- 57% opposing to 27% supporting. The strongly partisan opinion on the issue, and the lobbying on both sides, including bringing Iraq WMD into the picture as noted by Dana Milbank in another column in the Washington Post, overstates each case. This draws attention away from the actual provisions. About 30% have no opinion it appears because the issue of this magnitude involving nuclear weapons proliferation has become politicized when it should be examined only on its merits, where public opinion would be shaped by the details of the deal itself, not who has negotiated it. The Pew Research Center poll shows 21% support the agreement negotiated with Iran, 49% disapprove, 30% offer no opinion. This compares with a poll taken 6 weeks before in July 2015 showing 33% supporting it and 45% opposing it. ...

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The story of Ma Yinjiang. Ma lives in Hangzhou and a reporter caught up with him at his ancestral home in Dushi, 10 miles noth of Hangzhou. His is a typical story in China of optimism about the future and a feeling that there are opportunities to make progress even without the connections in his case like that of many Chinese. Even though he graduated with an engineering degree and postgraduate work he decides to go into business and invents a new kind of soap dispenser based on ones available in western countries. And then branches into hair dryers and electric kettles with sales of $200,000. He dabbles in Christianity and has participated in student protests in 1989. He has aspirations for the future like those of people in western countries yet the reporter finds him just as sensitive when it comes to Tibet, seeing it as an effort to breakup China. Provides some insight into the new China and the millions of urban Chinese some of them like Ma who were on farms in their father's generation and spent time there themselves....

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The Shanghai Composite Index went up by 65% since July 1, 2014. On Jan 19, the Shanghai Index went down by 7.7% as Securities Regulatory Commission placed a 3 month bad on margin financing at brokerage firms Citic Securities, Haitong Securities and Guotai Junan Securities. All large state owned brokerage firms which were found to have violated securities rules on margin financing. Analysts say that the action by the regulator was to control risk on the stock market and give the the central bank, the People's Bank of China more room for monetary easing without negative side effects in the stock market, which had an extraordinary jump of 38% in the last 3 months. Margin financing has more than doubled in the last 6 months and accounted for 18% of average daily trading volume, according to an analyst at Credit Suisse.

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Moderna has made the initial batches of doses of the vaccine for the variant of coronavirus including South African variant, and shipped these to the National Institutes of Health in the US. If the test results are positive the vaccine for variant could be given authorization by the third quarter of 2021. It is becoming crucial to stay ahead of variants developing from the coronavirus and pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, J&J, Astra Zeneca are working on the technology to tackle this.

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The Sulina Channel on the Danube a 40 mile waterway with protection of NATO and of Romania, makes it possible to ship 20 million tons of Ukraine grain. Soon it is expected to double as this waterway offers a way to ship grain out of Ukraine after Russia pulled out of a grain export arrangement out of Black Sea ports. Russia has used drones to attack Ukraine grain infrastructure. The Danube is seen as the efficient route even though it is congested.

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The Kishida government's support for chip makers is seen in the state backed Japan Investment Corp.'s $6.3 billion offer for chip maker JSR so that it can build more plants. This will accomplish what the US is doing bringing the chip making industry back to the US, by bringing back chip making production to Japan on scale as it competes with Taiwan and South Korea, China. Like the US, Japan had leadership in this field 25 years ago.

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Economist view on how things are changing in Russia, a view on the eve of the G-8 Summit. It is useful in that it presents the view of Russia that Russians are reacting to. Note how this links to Guy Chazan's article on July 13, WSJ, Russian Pundit Sours on the West. It talks about how the Radio Sation Echo Moskvy, part of liberal news media in Russia is airing increasingly critical opinion of the USA. The Economist acknowledges that even the liberal media in Russia which had been favoring the USA and Britain is now critical of these countries. It cautions Western leaders that they should avoid conveying to Russians that what they really dislike to is not a liberal and undemocratic Russia but a prosperous and strong Russia. And liberals in Russia feel the just as strongly as national leaders do about this.

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Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou calls on Beijing to allow true democracy in Hong Kong. For the first time in the debate on Hong Kong and democracy Mr. Ma challenged the idea that democracy is not suited to China. He told the Taipei National Day audience "Now that the 1.3 billion people on the mainland have become moderately wealthy, they will ofcourse wish to enjoy greater democracy and rule of law. Such a desire has never been a monopoly of the West, but is the right of all humankind." Ma called on China to experiment using the pragmatic sense shown by Deng in adopting capitalism- "Thirty years ago, When Deng Xiaoping was pushing for reform and opening up in the mainland, he famously proposed letting some people get rich first. So why could'nt they do the same thing in Hong Kong, and let some people go democratic first."