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Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor in New York, only a second crime turns it into a felony. WSJ Editorial Board asks the question what is the second crime in the Trump indictment that turns a misdemeanor into a felony under New York law. District Attorney Alvin Bragg says "under New York election law it is illegal to promote a candidacy by unlawful means." With the hush money payments Mr. Trump is seen as promoting his candidacy unlawfully, and the payments themselves as illegally done campaign contributions. Another aspect of law is that the situation was not brought up in 2017, yet is perceived very differently in 2023. Much more is known in 2023 than in the early days of  the election campaign in 2017.

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The revival of NATO in 2022 as America "prepares extensively and carefully" to meet the challenge from Russia as it invades Ukraine. President Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Germany's Scholz and America's Biden form a partnership as the Europeans and Americans join together to defend the interests of Europe, America, Latin America, India and other Asia, Africa, the entire free world in a way that FDR and Truman, with Adenauer defended the free world after the Berlin Airlift in 1948. Biden tells Europe and America the days ahead will be hard but America and Europe and the allies in Japan, India and the rest of Asia, Latin America, Africa, are resolved to met this challenge.

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The US economy is showing a stronger services sector in 2023 as demand for goods slows, manufacturing slows, and there is more spending on travel, leisure and in hospitality sectors. This is shown by recent S&P Global Surveys.

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Apple is discontinuing the iPod after  two decades. The iPod was the first major product Apple introduced after the return of Steve Jobs to Apple in 1997. Apple introduced iPod in 2001 and sold 450 million by 2022.

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China's Liu He's meetings with Janet Yellen in Jan 2023 at Davos and other locations are helping to stabilize economic ties between China and the US. Liu He is economic adviser to president Xi of China.

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This WSJ report shows that inflation and inflation expectations in the US may have peaked by July 2022. Gasoline prices have fallen from a mid May high of $5.02 a gallon by 10% and wheat futures prices are down 37%.

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Employers added 236,000 jobs in the US in March 2023, a moderately strong jobs report, with unemployment dropping to 3.5%. It showed wage growth easing. Average hourly wage increase moderated to 4.2%. The unemployment rate for black workers fell to 5%.

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Raised by a single mom on a disability pension who was determined to give her son a university education, is how Anthony Albanese described himself in his first speech after winning Australia's 2022 election and forming a Labour government.

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The UN World Population Fund India study shows the Dashboard for India in 2023- a population of 1.428 billion and information on fertility rate, school enrollment, women's health. These numbers come from UN agencies and are updated annually.

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The number of people employed in foreign firms in Hong Kong declined by 25,000 to 468,000 in 2023, according to Deallogic. Foreign advisory firms face crackdowns and are declining rapidly. Yet companies have not yet pulled up stakes in China.

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Exceptional bowling by Jasprit Bumrah and batting performances by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli put India on top in the World Cup Cricket 2023. India scored over 300 runs and bowled South Africa out for 83 runs in the last match.

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51 million people camped in US parks in 2022. No shows are becoming a big problem because campers often make multiple reservations, then fail to cancel. Action is being taken in California, Minnesota and other states to to prevent no shows.

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See Ann Telnaes cartoon in the Washington Post on Aug 15, 2025 news conference by Donald Trump from the Bedminster New Jersey golf club and repetition of oldies, oldies and more oldies for a America fatigued from fact checking.

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How transgender issues played out in the 2024 election. Pamela Paul looks at the effects across Europe of the Cass Commission's 4 year research for Britain's National Health Service concluding that gender affirming approach is mistaken. The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Department of Health and Human Services, are not a taking a science based approach to this important issue for parents of children, and the serious unease this is causing across the Nation in 2024, is shown in this report in the NYT. This type of unease added to the anxieties about efforts to change the cultural identity of the US based on its history of European settlers, first from Spain and later from France and Britain, over the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century putting politics before history. Not being alarmed enough about a general price increase of 30 percent over 3 years in groceries and housing costs created a general sense of unease in the Nation. ...

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Provo, Utah university shooting of Charlie Kirk on campus September 10, 2025. It has aroused the whole nation because it happened on campus while talking to students and debating issues. Kirk was founder of Turning Point a student focused organization that has worked on campuses all across the US since 2016 for debating alternative ways of tackling problems facing the US on issues relating to the Border, Jobs, cost of living and immigration.

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France's Social Security bill passes in parliament under PM LeCornu with support of Socialists and Greens December 2025. Previous PM's faile to compromise. LeCornu changes his style and wins support of Socialists and Greens (who abstain) with removal of reforms to the Social Security system and by increasing spending on healthcare. This also separates socialists from more intransigent elements on the socialist side led by Melanchon (Insoumise). 

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Swami Vivekananda's visits to Kiel, Hamburg and Berlin in 1896 - two ancient civilizations meet in that year. In 2026 this forms a bond between Germany and India as they embark on a new journey for modernization and joint scientific endeavors for over 2 billion people in India and Europe. Modi and Merz at a Kite flying Festival in Ahmedabad, as Merz visits Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram. 

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Riots in Northern Ireland in April 2021 with the combined effects of crime, Brexit and the coronavirus leading to social unrest.

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ECB study put out in April 2013 shows household wealth and income in eurozone countries based on 2009-2010 data for 60,000 households throughout the eurozone. The household wealth in southern European countries is higher than that in Germany. The study shows why ordinary Germans oppose bailouts for banks, Greece, and eurozone countries that experienced a boom in the 2000-2010 period, a period in which German workers took small pay raises to improve German competitiveness. Germans also see Portugal and Ireland in a different light compared to Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Spain where real estate speculation, lax accounting, tax evasion and favored treatment of certain groups, has created or aggravated the debt problems. Wealth is defined as total assets, including real estate, vehicles, bank deposits, investments and pensions, minus liabilities for mortgages, credit card debt and loans. By this measure German households had an average of 200,000 euros in wealth, and lower than this in Finland and Netherlands. At the median or midpoint German households had 50,000 euros, the lowest in the eurozone, for Greece the median was 102,000 euros. The impact of home ownership is significant in the report, as home ownership is lower in Germany than in Southern European countries, and mortgage interest is not considered favorably in German tax laws. The decline in value of homes after 2010 is also not reflected. Another indicator for comparitive wellbeing is income, and this is shown in figures released in March 2013 from the European Statistics Agency for GDP per capita. For Germany per capita GDP was 29,000 euros in 2010. The average GDP per capita for the eurozone is about 24,000 euros. By this measure Greece is at 21,000 euros, 24,000 euros for Italy and for Spain. Germany being 18-19% above Spain and Italy. If Germans, Dutch, Finns and Austrians are less well off then the argument favors having the banks, creditors, and including depositors, in a burdensharing arrangement for bailout of troubled eurozone economies. ...

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Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka, both Finance Minister and Prime Minister during this economic crisis, says to The HIndu in this interview- "It's hectic, this is a new experience. I am working eight days a week." He says he will firm up the staff level agreement with the IMF by June. Then he says comes the debt restructuring plan that gives a clear indication of what Sri Lanka has to do. By July there will be also the interim Budget.  He said "I must say that Indian assistance has helped us get through these difficult times." He says in addition to the $3.5 billion he is hoping to get another $500 million assistance for fuel. On austerity path Sri Lanka faces he says we have agreed with the IMF that vulnerable groups will have to be supported. He said if we look at what are called tough conditions, even if the IMF were not there, we would have to do it. The advantage of going with the IMF, you get something or everything. If you were to do it on your own you get nothing. On austerity he said yes there has to be austerity but we want it to be for the short term, so that even if 2023 will be a difficult year, in 2024 we can start moving. On the Adani investment of $500 million and Mr. Modi, he says  that he emphatically welcomes it. We need it at this moment and it is a good sign that investors are coming in, said Wickremesinghe. Look he said if anyone else in India wants to invest another $500 million I am not objecting. He said Sri Lanka needs to use its potential for wind energy which is big. ...

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Both sides have taken a pause in negotiations yet they are getting closer. There is also the conversation that we are not aware of that is taking place between McCarthy/McConnell and Biden about G7 leaders asking Biden on the debt talks. McCarthy will not want to affect the Ukraine counter offensive with all the talk about a debt default impacting the credibility of the US. McCarthy also could pass an agreement through the House with Democrats support with a small faction of Republicans not supporting him if push comes to shove and matters reach a critical point. By negotiating in good faith Biden is surely doing the right thing. The important thing is to let moderate Republicans have an opportunity to support him in the task of Renewal of America. The bigger task is 2024 which Biden has his eyes on, because this is how America will be made or unmade with the right choices and the right priorities. And Biden needs independents and Republicans who might consider supporting him to get things done for America's Renewal. House Speaker McCarthy's Republicans now support keeping spending at $1.65 trillion the 2023 levels. The Biden administration would consider a program of small cuts- no deep cuts. And only for 2 years. On work requirements for government aid to the poor and vulnerable Biden says he supported work requirements when he was a Senator in the US Congress. He outright excludes any work requirements for health benefits. Biden understands that in an economy with jobs going unfilled in construction and hospitality industries, and in child care and teaching, nursing, with higher minimum wages, people looking for work could find work to make a decent or tolerable living.   ...

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US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will spend Tuesday night August 2 in Taipei, Taiwan. China has threatened severe consequences and Taiwanese forces are on alert. Yet with over $1 trillion in China's exports to US and EU in 2021 the response will have to take this into account as also the US and EU to redesign its supply chains. This is the first trip of a senior US official to Taiwan as Speaker Pelosi comes next to the Vice President to succeed the presidency. The US response to the Russian attack on Ukraine was made in Biden's word as a deterrent to China in its role in the Indo-Pacific region. The Pelosi trip may be a reflection of this policy that seeks to maintain the US position that Indo-Pacific is international waters, that US policy will continue as before undeterred by actions such as the Russian attack on Ukraine with the support of China. And that US will engage fully with allies in the Indo-Pacific- Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. And that is doing this with the cooperation of its allies in the region- Australia, Japan and India. US and EU imports from China are $541 and $522 billion over $1 trillion for 2022. Loss of even a significant portion of these exports from major tensions in the region would have a severe impact on Chinese economic growth. The US and EU are already engage in redesigning the supply chain and would also face problems in a transition similar to the gas rationing in Germany after cutoff of Russian supplies. The trade is too big a factor at this time. ...

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A Berlin based think tank, German Institute for Economic Research, says Germany could end its dependence on energy imports by winter of 2022. That is much sooner than mid-2024 as Economy Minister Habeck has stated.The issue has serious urgency as the war continues in April in Ukraine entering a new and more dangerous phase in the east. And every day oil and gas imports by European Union gives Russia $16 million for coal, $434 million for natural gas, and $489 million for oil, a total of close to $1 billion every day.  With new missile attacks on civilian buildings this is one way for European Union to shoulder some of the burden that it has not done so far. DIW think tank says this could be done with decreased industry and household consumption that could generate about 18-26% savings of the demand for Russian natural gas, suggesting that households turn down thermostats and use less warm water, and industry turn to alternative fuels such as coal and biomass. Another saving is from increased supplies from Norway and the Netherlands of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Increased supplies from Norway alone says DIW could cover 20% of current annual imports of gas from Russia. Instead of waiting to build new infrastructure, the new LNG terminals on the coast which face long construction times and eventually falling demand for natural gas which make them financially untenable, the best approach is to use existing infrastructure in LNG terminals in the Netherlands, Belgium and France to increase volume in EU pipelines. Such action would cover 25% of demand for Russian natural gas. Other action is get more efficient use of the European pipeline system to increase German gas imports from Algeria, Libya and other North African nations vis southern EU nations. ...

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Good tips for wellbeing and mental health during another election cycle. Amanda Ripley has some good advice in the Washington Post. Move out of a 24 hour news cycle and pause to decide what to read and not to read. Relationships are real and matter, will be there when all this is over years from now. It is about equanimity, maintaining mindfulness. Being a good moral person and teaching your kids the right things, are you doing what is important. Accepting that there was Beaverbrook type journalism before after a British press baron from the last century who loved crises and profited by selling tons of newspapers. Today's versions simply do it using video and podcasts and electronic versions. So it means getting off the rollercoaster ride that profits some press baron. Think in terms of years- a couple of years later there will be 2027 primaries, and five years from now even ten years from now. For someone older one can remember JFK and the New Frontier speeches- was president Harry Truman right to ask John Kennedy not to run because he was too young, would history have turned out better if his energy and zeal for America could have come up later in the nineteen seventies or eighties? Then people worried about too young a candidate, today it is the opposite. The Lord says I am partial to none but supremely dear to me are the wise, in the Bhagavad Gita, in Buddhist texts and in the Bible. And again he says by the raft of knowledge alone you shall go across all sin. Listening well and openness are the road to knowledge and wisdom, leading to mindfulness and peace in 2024 and beyond. ...

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Inflation is about too much money chasing too few goods or services. Paul Krugman, economic expert, says in the NYT that this inflation episode in 2021 is still he thinks transitory, as does the Fed's Jerome Powell. It is Krugman says a demand pull situation in which higher demand is  a result of the lockdowns easing and pent up consumer demand being released, just when the productive capacity of the country is affected by about 4 million fewer workers in factories and other places. The supply is crimped also by supply chain bottlenecks with covid affecting supply from countries in Asia also with fewer factories operating. Added to this is the whole logistics chain near Long Beach California moving ever so slowly because of fewer workers, and ships lined up all the way out to sea. The Fed chairman Powell thinks this is what is happening. Krugman says this reminds him of the 1946-48 episode of inflation after the war, when the disaster of war was followed by peace time 1946 and the release of pent up demand like today. At the same time in 1946 factories were still not fully operational for consumer goods after bombing in Europe and war time conversion in the US. The result too much money chasing too few goods available. In this situation Krugman says a calibrated effort that is based on new information is needed with moderate action, very small rate increases in 2022 so that inflation signals are sent out by Fed but not in a way that would disturb the long term trajectory of the economy for growth. After the pandemic has hit so many Americans so hard. Action that would preserve the long term strength and productive capacity, and technological competitiveness of America during this period of renewal. ...