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David Calhoun, CEO of Boeing, replaced CEO Muilenberg in 2020 so that Boing could address problems with it's 737 aircraft. A piece of a Boeing jet 737 9 has a piece of the aircraft blow off on an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024. Calhoun was with GE running its engine business for two decades, joined Blackstone, before becoming the new CEO at Boeing. The 737 9 aircraft emergency evacuation shows that the safety culture at Boeing rooted in manufacturing practices at Boeing factories and supplier factories is weak. The problem for this plane was a door and a plug made at a supplier in Wichita, Kansas, and assembly at Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, says this report in WSJ. Airlines are voicing their concerns. Southwest and Alaska Airlines have entirely Boeing fleets and do not source from Airbus. A look at Calhoun's background shows that he worked with GE till 2006 and has since then worked for Blackstone private equity, without the manufacturing experience that would be needed to tackle the factory operations and work culture and practices at the Renton factory and its suppliers. Calhoun graduated with a Bachelors degree in Accounting from Virginia Tech in 1979 and is from the Philadelphia area.  ...

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If it is possible and necessary for someone like David Attenborough to rediscover experience with nature unhurried and in quietness it is possible and necessary for all of us. The famous BBC personality and naturalist David Attenborough is considered to be the most popular person in the UK. In this interview in 2020 he talks about his garden and bird watching hobby during the lockdown, the way it is helping to preserve mental health. For the first time he is in one place for months. At 94 years, Attenborough is a bit subdued and looks back at his long career and bringing the natural world to television viewers through natural world series such as Blue Planet, The Living Planet, Our Planet, and Life on Earth. He was a speaker at the Climate Change conference in Poland in 2016 and hopes to speak at Glasgow conference in 2021 about the earth being finite and the need to change human behaviour.  The interviewer senses that something is amiss with all the naturalist wonders that Attenborough has been depicting on television. They seem too perfect and made for reaching large audiences. In the process was something being lost. Even Attenborough senses this as he starts discovering nature through birdwatching with excitement as if he had never done this before. He lists the birds one by one. It is the ability to discover and always treasure this sense of wonder at the natural world, and rediscover it again, that is what we strive for in this world, and so important for mental health.   ...

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Twenty Democrat Governors meet with Biden on July 3, 2024. All says they support Biden. Governor Newsom put it this way- "I heard three words from the president tonight. He's all in. So am I." Newson said he was not just a defendor of the president, he was a passionate supporter of Biden. Most say those who can hear understand that his achievements are undeniable. Governor Whitmer said "He is in to win it. And I support him." Kamala Harris said "We will not back down. We will follow our president's lead." Governors from Minnesota and Maryland said "He had our backs during Covid. We have his back." The problem it appears upon closer look is that the media did nothing, nothing to question where it should ask questions about what is not in character with Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Truman, Ike, not in character with the founders Jefferson, Adams and Washington. It did not look closely at what president actually said- only the delivery which can depend on the day- an educated media would never do this. The media's credibility today is the lowest it has ever been, on this basis the media including the largest television stations and the newspapers have failed, and failed the Nation. In the UK the media supported Brexit and failed the British nation, this is how the British people feel today as they go to vote in the general election on July 4th. It is the reckless behavior of the unelected media that is put to the real test in 2024. ...

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US relations with UK 2026 and visit of King Charles to White House April 27-April 30 2026- "he is fantastic" says the US president. DJT says about US-UK relations and the impact-

"Absolutely. He's fantastic. He's a fantastic man. Absolutely the answer is yes."

"I know him well, I've known him for years. He's a brave man, and he's a great man. They would absolutely be a positive."

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South Korea's divisive politics and investigations of every presidential administration are covered in this WSJ report. The story of prosecutor Yoon, the Moon administration and Justice Minister in the Moon administration Cho Kuk is told here. Cho Kuk was investigated by the prosecutor he hired in the Moon administration Mr. Yoon. The investigation led to the 80% ratings of the Moon adminstration dropping to 40% and Yoon winning a presidential election. Cho responded by forming his own political party and calling for the removal of president Yoon in parliamentary elections held recently in which Yoon's party lost its majority in parliament.

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The results from the EU elections show neither traditional centre right or centre left parties are able to form a majority. The euroskeptic parties in Italy led by Mr. Salvini and in France by Marie Le Pen have not won with the kind of support they expected. Also important is that these parties in Italy and France have changed their position on membership in the European Union. They now support remaining with the single currency the Euro, and staying in the EU, hoping to change it from the inside. In Spain the Vxx party on the right has from its inception supported the Euro and the European Union. Only Nigel Farage's Brexit party is for Britain leaving the EU. These parties such as the League in Italy and the National Party in France are in accord with globalism and global capitalism. The changes they call for are now on immigration, migration, and against a single market for labour with social services for new immigrants or migrants. They are for ending multiculturalism in favor of nativist national ideas, sweeping indictments of bureaucracy and elites, curbing migration and building national pride. In Spain their is also concern for separatist movements such as in Catalonia for the Vox party, and interest in stronger federal structures. There is no coherent strategy for these new parties to tackle problems such as lack of growth, widening regional divide within the countries. Yet now the discussions will be about what the  EU will do, not about whether there should be a single currency the Euro or whether to remain in the EU.  In this sense the European Union is set for the task of regenerating from within. The European Union was itself an experiment that started with the effort to set up the initial arrangements to bring together the economies and political structures of European countries after a disastrous war. It accepted nation states and individual country differences even as it sought an ideal of a united Europe. This means there is room for more ideas and for differences within Europe and the European Union than allowed for by existing structures, politics or ideas. ...

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General Electric Co. GE says CEO Jeffrey Immelt will retire and be succeeded by John Flannery in August 2017. Flannery is head of the healthcare business at GE.

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Efforts to de-escalate the situation in Catalonia by Arturo Mas, head of the previous government in Catalonia. He says that realistically Catalans need to get international support before taking any more steps, even if the pro-independence parties win in the regional election.

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Spain's coach at the Euro finals 2024 is De La Fuente of La Rioja,Spain, who is little known even in Spain. He came to prominence coaching the Spanish under 19 under 21 teams. This is how he came to know players like Dani Olmo and Unai Simon, Mikel Merino and Fabian Ruiz. All have delivered at critical moments for Spain as Spain play England in the Euro finals 2024.

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Queen Elizabeth's coronavirus broadcast on April 5, 2022 will always be remembered.

 

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Two Slovenians were in the lead for the Tour de France as new talent has emerged. Roglic was leading as he entered the last two stages of the cycling event. He represented a Dutch team Jumbo Visma which failed to make it after Roglic simply failed to find his true form in the stage before the last stage. What was astonishing to see on French television was the gradual collapse of Roglic's lead during the climb and Pogacar building a comfortable lead of about 2 minutes at the end of the stage before the last. Roglic seemed exhausted shocked and ruffled at the end and Pogacar appeared to be calm and assured as he finished the race. Before the stage the sports director of the Dutch Jumbo- Visma team had strong disagreement and altercation with the organizers when a routine check of Roglic's bike was made to see if it was within regulations. He was cited for poor behaviour and barred from further attendance of the remaining stages which could have affected the team's overall composure. ...

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Marc Gagnon of Quebec meets Waco of Hokkaido on travels together. He makes maple syrup in Tobetsu for a store he opens in Sapporo. Hokkaido sets up his work in the forests of Hokkaido with plans for 200 maple trees in 2007. NHK looks at a remarkable couple and the work making maple syrup using Canadian technology in the forests of Hokkaido, Japan in the NHK series "We are at Home."

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French voters turned to parties outside the mainstream left Socialist Party and the right Republican Party for the first time in a run off presidential election. The National Front's Jean Le Pen made it to the runoff in 2002, then lost to Chirac of the Republican Party who won 78% of the vote. This time the Republican Party candidate Fillon had about 20%, the Socialist Party candidate Hamon won just 6% of the vote with the rest of the socialist vote going to a far left candidate Jean Luc Melenchon who had 19.6%. The winners were Emmanuel Macron, a former Economy minister under president Hollande of the socialist Party, getting about 24% and Marine Le Pen, the daughter of Jean Le Pen of the National Front, getting 21.5%. Compared to the U.S. the situation is slightly different in France because of the very high unemployment rate for young people- younger voters supported the National Front, and people especially in rural areas in the north, north east, and the south of the country around Nice and Marseille supported the National Front. Macron's movement En Marche, centrist party drawing support from centre right and centre left without clear ideology except to renew France and pro-EU, was strong in urban areas, among more educated people, especially in Paris and the area around Bordeaux and Toulouse in the south east of the country. Fillon did not do well in some traditional Republican Party areas including Nice, with inroads from Le Pen, who defined the party around anti-immigration, closed borders, and withdrawal from the European Union. ...

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"It's an immense pleaure, a dream come true, a lot of emotions" says Mbappe of his joining Real Madrid on July 1, 2024 after 7 years at PSG. Kylian Mbappe will captain the French team at Euro 24. He was the all time lead scorer for PSG with 256 goals, scored 44 goals in 48  games this season winning the French League- yet after faltering in the Champions League games with Dortmund he was not satisfied with his performance. It shows the constant stress players and coaches in soccer face. After differences with PSG president Nasser Al-Khalaifi when he did not agree to a 1 year extension he transfers to Real Madrid. He says some people made him feel unhappy and someone who is happy has more chances of playing well. Mbappe posted on X in February that he would not play another season at PSG, the club left him out of a preseason tour of Japan.

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President Trump says it will be a woman, "a very talented, a very brilliant woman," to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Nigel Farage in The Times of London, August 23 2025. The Times of London on why some of Farage's ideas need to be heard to stop illegal migrants and asylum hotels that are increasingly unpopular with the British public. Tony Abbott of Australia pursued an independent policy on migration that makes it clear illegal migration had no place in Australia. Dnemark's socialist prime minister has done the same for Denmark. And chancellor Merz of Germany has taken action on the same principle that illegal migration has no place in Germany.  

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The ECB's executive board's proposal is for 50 billion euros ($58 billion) in bond buying each month for the next 12 months. The ECB's executive board meets on Jan 20, 2015, to discuss the proposal.

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"For months I was asking for equipment," Martin Hirsch, head of the Paris hospital network tells president Macron, "and we had only enough for 3 days to fight against the coronavirus." The French president told one hospital " we undoubtedly made a mistake, we should have done it 10 years ago," as some increase in funding came only in January of 2020. France had a tenth of the intensive care beds in Germany and a far higher fatality rate says this report in France 24.

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Emmanuel Macron faces a challenging situation in  the 2022 second round. He badly needs left wing supporters of Mr. Melenchon who came with one percentage point of right wing Marie Le Pen. Macron had expressed right wing sentiments about immigration and terrorism even more than Le Pen during the year leading upto this election. That this has alienated some left wing supporters is evident in a nIpsos poll for FR24 that shows 30% or about a third of the 22% of the voters that supported former Socialist candidate Jean Luc-Melenchon are likely to vote for Le Pen, who has campaigned on the issue of cost of living and softened her image and position on the European Union. 34% of Melenchon's supporters said they will support Macron and 36% said they are undecided. It is this undecided vote that could make a difference. Add to this the 25% of the voters who did not vote at all and the election depends on who can convince this segment. To reach these voters is Macron's main concern in the 2 weeks before the second round of the election on April 24. Macron says he will campaign hard-"from dawn to dusk, in direct contact with voters." He will have to offer something that convinces working class voters who some see he has humiliated during his first term.  ...

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How do you setup a vaccine business. Consider Mr. Adar Poonavalla in the city of Pune in India. His company Serum Institute of India, remains family owned. Founded in 1966 by Cyrus Poonavalla, it produces billions of doses of vaccines for measles, polio and other diseases. It is expected to be one of the key sources of vaccines because of its expertise and the stocks of vials and other supplies that it has in stock for the next 2 years of vaccine production. It is working on a separate facility for coronavirus production that could turn out 800 million doses of vaccine at a price of about $13 a dose over 2 years. Serum Institute is working with 3 companies that are doing the research on the vaccine for coronavirus in the U.S. and Europe, and will play a key role in the manufacturing of vaccines. To respond to the question how do you setup a company to produce vaccines for the people of the world. This is what Mr. Poonavalla says- he will only work with ethical long term funds and sovereign funds because he does not want to be in the situation where he has to charge high prices to give them returns. Unlike most countries in the world, India is unique in making certain that most of the basic pharmaceutical drugs are available to over a billion people at a low cost. Serum's goal is low cost quality vaccine production so that over a billion people in Asia can be "protected from the birth onwards." As the U.S. and Europe and large parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, face the second vaccine phase of the coronavirus response following difficulties in PPE, Ventilators, and Masks in the first phase, they can have confidence because of companies such as Serum and the research centers in U.S. and Europe like the one at Oxford University. ...

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A former central bank governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy gives his understanding of the Sri Lankan economy in October 2022, how it got to the crisis in 2022 and the way forward with the $2.9 billion IMF bailout loan. He describes what it would take for the IMF to release these funds and the effects on the people of Sri Lanka during this adjustment period of 90% inflation and acute shortage of essential imports.

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Adam Nossiter of the NYT describes the coalition of right and left parties in France that have united against the National Front, called in France "the Republican Front." In the 2002 Marine Le Pen's father made it to the second round of the presidential election, but lost to centre right party leader Jacques Chirac who won 78% of the vote. Analysts say the Republican Front is coming up this time once more for daughter Marine Le Pen, as she goes into the second round of the election in 2017 fifteen years later with support in the north and northeast of the country and in the coastal south east around Marseille and Nice. Le Pen appeals to working class people with nationalist slogans. The Republican Party of former president Sarkozy represents the centre right, and it is combining with the centre left Socialist Party of president Hollande to call for the election of Emmanuel Macron and for support to Macron's En Marche movement. One expert predicts the National Front may leave the centrist views of Le Pen adviser Philippot, and return to hard right roots. Former president Sarkozy was mentioned on French television Fr24 as hoping to make a comeback by boosting the chances of the Republican Party in the June parliamentary elections, and creating a situation in which a future president works with a prime minister from the Republican Party. As the Macron En Marche movement is only one year old, it is not well prepared to contest the parliamentary elections, opening the door to the formation of new coalitions for government in France. ...