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Preet Chandi, does a solo trek across Antartica, skiing 700 miles for 40 days, doing about 17 miles a day. She had a 90 kilogram sled she pulled across sastrugi ridges in the hard snow and ice. Chandi says "I want people to push their boundaries and believe in themselves. No matter where your start line is, everybody starts somewhere." She trained on the icecap in Greenland and in ultramarathons in the Sahara to be able to do this. Preet Chandi is the first Asian woman- only a Swedish woman and another British woman have achieved this. Preet Chandi is a British army physiotherapist from Derby, England.

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Birthright Citizenship Case at the Supreme Court of the US.- Arguments live from Courtroom at SCOTUS. History shows that much of the 19th and 20th century was spent keeping Asians out of the US, even the Chinese who built the railroads. One of the Chinese whose parents came to the US Wong Kim asked to stay and the Supreme Court ruled in that individual and single isolated case in 1898 that he could stay. Only after JFK and LBJ was immigration gradually opened to Chinese and Indians and Asians in general. By the end of the 20th century this went to the other extreme from no Asians allowed to birthright citizenship for Asian mothers to obtain citizenship in this way just by arriving in New York, clearly with no justification. Even Britain abandoned this idea of birthright citizenship in 1981,  with parentage required uder a new law, one parent citizenship required, 10 years of residence required. Even this relevant fact was not cited by the Solicitor General of the US when he presented the case to the Court in opening summary on April 1, 2026. With Britain removing itself from this practice, it makes no sense to practice birthright citizenship as there is such thing as the Republican view of this- it is the universal view now of all civilized modern nations. With one or two exceptions for unique reasons ( a largely unpopulated country) such as Canada, which may also amend this law. The fact that Asians were not allowed for a century even after some "coolies" built the railroads in the US does not mean it is now time to go to the other extreme to welcome all who come even under the most egregious means. Asians themselves will recognize and support this, now that the "coolie" culture and colonialism is long gone and Asians are part of the fabric of this country. None of this will be mentioned at the Supreme Court just esoteric argument around what a term was accidentally inserted in the case for the one Chinese admitted under that case in 1898 - "Under the jurisdiction thereof." And lawyers will argue around technical points, one more reason for the public disbelief in the SCOTUS. Yet most Asians can be grateful for the process initiated by JFK and LBJ that opened up lawful immigration to the US for Asians, and have the curiosity and eagerness to learn the history of this new Nation and its boundless energies that reshaped our world, to learn about its European heritage and cultures, not ask for more such as birthright citizenship. ...

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Experts say solar energy costs are going down by 30-40% every time the deployment of solar energy doubles in a country. The Modi administration plans to triple solar energy production in the next 5 years. This investment in solar energy should drive down costs from the $35 per megawatt hour in 2020. Experts say that costs are going down at a rate that was never expected.  For India the courage in making these investments in solar energy since 2010 and accelerated in 2016, are path breaking. This could be a world changing event for India as cost of energy can bring up living standards throughout the country. Gone will be the days when children lacked electric bulb light to read and study in villages in India. It also shows the need to heed Vivekananda's words: "This I have seen in my life- he who is overcautious  about himself falls into dangers at every step; he who is afraid of losing honor and respect, gets only disgrace; he who is always afraid of loss always loses." The pioneers in India pushing forward these new initiatives have listened to these words. ...

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It is only 10 days from the Thursday July 4 election night and Keir Starmer went to work immediately Here is what he said today: "My new cabinet hit the ground running. We’ve lifted the ban on onshore wind. We’ve created a national wealth fund to invest in and grow our economy. We’ve met NHS bosses to get the 40,000 extra NHS appointments we need each week and 700,000 urgent dental appointments up and running as quickly as possible. The Department for Education is resuming and expanding its recruitment campaign to kickstart our promise to hire 6,500 new teachers. We’re taking emergency measures to pull the justice system back from the brink of collapse. And, on day one, we scrapped the Rwanda gimmick and began setting up a new Border Security Command to smash the people-smuggling gangs for good. Now is the time for politics as public service. A government committed not to its self-preservation but to uniting the country in the shared mission of national renewal. The start of the road back to restoring people’s hope and faith that politics can be a force for good. No more gimmicks, lies and self-serving self-obsession – this government knows we have a duty to the people we are elected to serve." ...

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In an hour long interview at the Moncloa palace in Madrid, Zapatero, Spain's prime minister, talks to NYT reporters Rachel Donadio and Victoria Burnett. He is standing firm when it comes to protecting labor rights and upholding th social welfare state. Zapatero says "my goal is to make this an innovative, creative, entrepreneurial country while upholding the social welfare state." He sees the need for government to invest in the economic crisis facing Europe and America. And he sees opportunities for Spain to create jobs and growth in sectors like renewable energy, biotechnology, civil engineering and high-speed railroads. About 4 million immigrants entered the country during the years of 3.8% growth from 1997 to 2007. Four million people are now unemployed, and the burden of unemployment has fallen hardest in construction and on immigrants and younger workers. The government has expanded unemployment benefits coverage and about half of the unemployed 4 million receive benefits. Zapatero's government turned down an effort by business leaders to roll back the payment to laid off workers from 30-45 days for each year worked to 20 days....

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Showing how much the Social Democratic party in Germany needed to show progress on key issues Martin Schulz of the SPD was ordered by the party to bring up contentious issues in negotiations relating to social cohesion. One was the two tier system in healthcare where some are able to pay for more privileges in the nation's health care system with private insurance and others are in the public health system. The other issue is the ability under current German law for companies to issue 2 year temporary contracts. The SPD party did badly in the last elections because working class voters do not see it fighting hard enough for worker rights and ensuring an equitable system.On the health issue a commission will look into how the system can equalize medical fees between people privately and publicly insured. On the employment issue companies can only terminate without cause in 1.5 years instead of the 2 years. Small compromises, yet in long negotiations with a 24 hour session for a breakthrough and everyone exhausted, the snail's progress over 13 days and one night worked to set up a new coalition after all. Still one hurdle remains- getting the SPD membership to vote yes even though its youth wing is opposed. ...

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The world would need 3 Germanys to provide the resources that one Germany consumes today. Earth Overshoot Day looks at the sustainable resources and how much each country consumes of resources. By July 28 planet earth had already consumed all the natural resources it could sustainably regenerate for the year. Experts say Earth would need three quarters of another Earth to provide the amount of resources consumed by our planet today. Everything makes a difference as European Union plans to cut energy use by 15%. Drying clothes on a line instead of in the dryer, shorter hot water baths, turning off lighting for monuments in cities, changing household lights to LED's, lowering the thermostats by a few degrees in winter, cutting out meat for just one or two days a week. The way Overshoot Day works out the arithmetic 1970 was the year when Earth passed the line where sustainable resources that could be regenerated and the consumption of these resources were equal. From then on it was a wild spree in places like Germany and then China, and it is how countries like India take up the work of renewable energy and limiting use of valuable resources that will affect the future. ...

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A new once daily ICE train takes one from Gare de'l Est in Paris to Berlin Hauptbahnhof in 8 hours leaving at about 10 and in Berlin by 6 pm. It goes through Frankfurt South, Karlsruhe, and Strasbourg. The cost ranges from $26 to $104 one way. It is run by SNCF and Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn known for delays with only 60% of it's trains on time plans to do better in 2025 with a goal of 75% on time performance. The train brings the two nations closer.

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A survey of 10,000 knowledge workers by Future Forum cited in WSJ shows 78% of workers care about and want location flexibility. And 95% of workers want flexible hours. This survey also found that 72% of workers in knowledge industries who are not happy with their level of flexibility are likely to seek out new opportunities in the next year. 

This happens as employers are finding it hard to get workers. The new hybrid arrangements during the pandemic have created a new workplace culture with hybrid arrangements, flexible work, going into the office only some of the time. More than two thirds of employees say they the hybrid setup was their preferred way of working.

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An unattended vegetable stand in the Ebusi neighborhood of Tokyo. A few minutes from the rail station is this vegetable stand run by Tomo from Hiroshima and her son 14 year old Satoru, a former real estate office worker who quit to open a vegetable store. One day she was shocked to hear a customer say she had money enough to only come once a month for vegetables. Tomo closes this store and opens a vegetable stand which prices vegetables at prices young workers on low wages can afford. One young worker from Okinawa who works for a large company made so little that she had only $70 for food in her monthly budget. She becomes a regular customer and asks her grandmother how to cook zucchini, eggplants so she can save money by cooking at home. This is a really heart warming video about Tomo's farm in a prefecture near Tokyo a 2 hour drive away. Tomo prices everything at 70 cents or 100 yen a plastic bag of vegetables. Her son learns to farm and to run the stand. Mostly the stand is unattended with long caring messages on a message board to customers. It tells young workes not to worry too much about the future. ...

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For what a ruble buys in Russia , 2.7 times what a dollar buys in the US, Russia gets alot of bang out of its defense budget of $149 billion, about $401 billion (Purchasing power) compared to US $997 billion. Add to this Russia is now a war economy in the war with Ukraine and concentrates its forces in one theatre not four as the US spread out over Indo-Pacific, Europe and Middle East and Korean peninsula. This is the reason behind most of DJT's actions reflecting realities in defense. Shut down the Middle East theatre which is also what the American people want by moving everything in the direction of economic progress, turning down the revolutionary and sectarian ideologies that roiled Egypt of Suez, Iraq and Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 60's and dragged the world into costly insane wars. And do this with the consensus of Russia, China and India. Wind down the war in Europe- accept the Russians as a Northern European power with a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, and let Germany lead Europe's defense. Manage the relationship in the Indo-Pacific with India and South and Southwest Asian investments in economic infrastructure that will offset China's rapid growth of the last three decades by incentivizing South Asia and South western Asia parts of which were called the Middle East by the Britons and now can be rengaged in the South /Southwest Asian group of nations led by the US. This is the policy for the next 25 years to 2050 that a Russia, Germany, US, China, India consensus sees as a constructive future for the people of the world.   ...

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Senators approved the U.S. Republican tax bill 51 to 49 votes on December 1, 2017. The 500 page bill was approved with arewritten version containing more changes made at the last minute to get it passed in the early morning hours. It was passed along party lines with all Democrats opposing. The last minute changes were made to get Collins of Maine and Johnson of Wisconsin on board. A concession was made on DACA young undocumented immigrants for Flake of Arizona. In this way its passage was ensured after failure to repeal Obama health legislation. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation report says the bill would increase the deficit by $1 trillion over a decade. Corker of Tennessee opposed the bill for this reason, but failed to convince other senators who believe the bill will generate robust growth and the deficit report is too pessimistic. The tax cut bill helps 70% of middle class families and may not help others because of removal of deductions such as the one for state and local income taxes. Business gets a permanent tax rate of 20 percent instead of 35 percent which is made permanent. Owners of small business not set up as corporations also get a tax break for small business. To offset the cost of the changes the Alternative Minimum Tax for corporations is retained and a tax on corporations with assets held overseas was increased. ...

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What is it like crossing borders today in Europe during the coronavirus, and what are European cities like at this time. Two NYT journalists Kingsley and Vancon are finding out by driving 3700 miles by car across many European borders. The hardest they find is entering Germany from the Czech border, where they were stopped and questioned in every way. Germany has strict restrictions- you can only leave for 48 hours if it is longer than this one has to do 14 days in quarantine. Germany also has managed the coronavirus better than its other neighbors France, Switzerland and Eastern European countries.

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In the focus on a dazzling IPO in this report one finds no mention of what this company does at all much less its meaning in people's lives in proportion to the size of the investment. Looking up Figma one finds it enables collaboration for designing digital products. The company raised $1.3 billion for 9% of the company sold to investors making it get a value of $13 billion.

At such moments much of the razzle dazzle of IPO's raising huge tons of money for anything but kids education, and healthcare, lifestyle education, better community infrastructure including sports that directly impacts the quality of life in America, needs necessary skepticism and new vigor for a new path to be forged for the years ahead in our investment making structures and decisions.

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Missourians get it they supported raising minimum wage to $15, and said no to Harris. Nebraska approved minimum wage increase and sick leave by 75% , and said no to Harris. Harris did not mention both in her closing messaging or make it a major part of her message. Harris muddled economic message is attributed to influence of Tony West, her brother in law, legal counsel for Uber, and by her efforts to avoid the label placed on her by Wall Street interests that she was "communist" by moving closer to corporate interests. President Biden ran his campaign and presidency entirely with a single theme- against trickle down economics, saying it did not put much on his father's table, and "the middle class built America, not Wall Street, winning 82 million votes more than the 74.3 million for DJT in 2024, 12 million more than Harris, 8 million more than DJT.  This simple Harry Truman like message carried the day in 1948 against Republican Dewey's increasing popularity after weariness over FDR long run in office, and got Biden 12 million more votes than Harris in 2024 or 8 million more than Trump in 2024- 82.3 million votes for Biden 2020. DJT was elected in 2024 with a fewer number of votes than he got in 2020- 74.3 million votes in 2024 and 75 million in 2020. Bernie Sanders, Congressman from Vermont says- "People want to understand what’s going on in their lives. Trump gave them an explanation,” “He attributed all of our problems to undocumented immigrants. What is the Democratic explanation for why the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider and working-class people are struggling? You tell me.”   ...

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Sharing the waters of the Indus river system means— the ‘Eastern Rivers’, namely Sutlej, Beas and Ravi, for India, and the ‘Western Rivers’ of Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab for Pakistan. Indus Waters Treaty changes proposed by India include bilateral not international arbitration for Indian dam building plans, and using water storage optimally on its side for the western rivers.

The western rivers have four times the water as eastern rivers and dam building technology has evolved over 75 years. The Indus Water Treaty was written by civil engineers but its international arbitration and three levels need to be replaced with bilateral settlement so that India can go ahead with dam building for development without Pakistan simply stalling everything, which serves no purpose for modernization.

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WIth China reluctant to make concessions on agricultural imports at a recent Shanghai meeting of Mr. Lighthizer with Chinese trade representatives, the trade dispute with China has escalated. Mr. Lighthizer had little to show Mr. Trump at a meeting in the WHite House. After a 2 hour meeting Mr. Trump told his advisers that his patience was wearing thin. His response on what the U.S. should do- "tariffs." A tweet was prepared saying U.S. would place import duties of 10% on imports of additional $300 billion in Chinese goods. China responded by lowering its currency value to 7 to the dollar to offset the import duties. China also said it was suspending all agricultural imports of U.S. farm products. The U.S. designating China as a currency manipulator.  The situation today is that there is a level of mistrust between president Xi and his advisers and Mr. Trump and his team. The situation has taken a new turn with China saying the U.S. is supporting protests in Hong Kong. President Trump has stated China is waiting it out to deal with a new administration in Washington. Both sides do not see any solutions till after the U.S. elections in 2020. For China there is also the upcoming 70th anniversary of the People's Republic. ...

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It costs about 8 million pounds for maintenance of St Paul's Cathedral. St Paul's Cathedral income declined by 90% as the pandemic led to fewer visitors and ticket sales. The government provides 3.3 million pounds from its culture recovery fund. Because this is not enough for maintenance, much less the 15 million pounds needed for the repair of the 17th century lead roof, one of England's best known cathedrals had to dip into and nearly exhaust its reserve funds. If this is the condition of St Paul's one can imagine what decades of misallocation of capital have done in the rest of the country. St Paul's Cathedral remained a defiant symbol of British resistance in the Second World War during the Battle of Britain.  The dean of the cathedral Very Rev. David Ison says "if we don't have the resources to pay for heating and lighting we may have to close our doors." Imagine closing England's most famous cathedral and symbol of its spirit for lack of funds. Notre Dame Cathedral by contrast in Paris is being renovated with $100 million euros donated by two French businessmen and $700 million pledged so far to rebuilding and renovation of Notre Dame. ...

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France and Germany agreed to begin talks on a common nuclear umbrella in Jan 1997 as reported here in The Washington Post on Jan 25, 1997. 

The post cites Le Monde- "Our two countries see themselves exposed to the same risks. We are ready to open a dialogue on the role of nuclear deterrence in the context of European defense policy." Says the document signed by Germany's Helmut Kohl and Frances Jacques Chirac on Dec. 9, 1996. France had clashed with the US under De Gaule and De Gaulle had pursued an independent nuclear deterrent. Chirac took up this stance in 1996 with nuclear tests in French Polynesia and offered to share its nuclear deterrent with Germany.

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Energy Conversion Devices, a Michigan company, is providing the solar electric system for the largest rooftop array, 12 megawatts, to a General Motors assembly plant in Zaragoza, Spain. This project uses solar devices manufactured in rolls like carpet runners. Veolia Environment and Clairvoyant Energy will lease the rooftop space from GM and operate the installation. Spain has become a center for solar installations as it offers large subsidies, 0.42 euros or 66 cents for each kilowatt hour, this is about 5 times the average cost of a kilowatt hour in the USA. Energy Conversion plans to produce 150 megawatts of cell this year and recently raised $400 million an dannounced plans to build cells for 1 gigawatt or 1000 megawatts. Solar arrays on houses are only a few kilowatts and 1 megawatt can run about 1000 window airconditioners simultaneously while the sun is shining.

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Four million elderly women live alone in Japan. For some like For Chikako Tanaka in Aichi prefecture in central Japan who is 85 years old, social isolation is a real problem. She had no pension and lived on her savings till the savings ran out, with no one to visit her as her dementia progressed. Chikako was an unlikely person to go to prison for shoplifting because she dresses with care and looks different, yet this was the only way out of social isolation. In prison for the first time in years her 85th birthday was celebrated. 

Physiotherapists help women prisoners over 70 years with rehabilitation, walking skills and balancing exercizes. Prison services help women to integrate back into society when they return, with service centers in each neighborhood when they return.  

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Washington Post's Tara Parker Pope who runs its Wellbeing Section offers important tips on restful breaks and rest activities that perform an essential restorative function for people. Restorative activites include taking a walk breaking off from routines of work, a cultural concept Feierabend in German of breaking off work at a set time, so that one can recharge mental and physical batteries. Science supports this- that during these restorative hours the brain is in the Default Network Network and active. Active rest means disconnecting from tasks say experts and this is why the concept of Feirabend or closing time, finishing time, end of work is very important for resting the mind and rejuvenating. This means rethink long days, to be productive throw in periods of rest, Feierabend, microbreaks, frequent vacation breaks of 8-10 days, every bit helps to be productive and to be healthy and strong in mental+ physical health.

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Nikki Haley is doing what has happened before, fighting for principles in her party and showing that a fully significant 40 percentage points of her party believe in the old conservative ideas, of the Republican party. That of the country club type, the everyman who happens to be conservative the core of the party, small and large business owners. The situation is analogous to the intraparty struggles that beset the Democratic party after the abrupt end after 1000 days of the John F. Kennedy presidency and administration. Since the 1920's and two periods of rising inequality accompanied by technological change from the 1870's that ended with the Great Depression, the US had experienced a great revival under Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Eisenhower. In 1960 a new future was articulated by Kennedy of the new world that lay ahead, one he had seen upfront in Asia before, during and after the war. How would we bring the post colonial world of billions of people into the modern world. Since then both a modern China and now modern India are part of this change. "Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do." Acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for President, July 15, 1960. It was interrupted after the intraparty disputes that began in 1968, Robert Kennedy challenging LBJ, leading to Richard Nixon, and Edward Kennedy challenging Jimmy Carter leading to Ronald Reagan. John F. Kennedy had articulated a vision that still is alive today based on an understanding of how America's needs fit into all humanity's needs.  In some ways the situation after 2024 or 2028 still goes back to the vision of a new order of the world with emerging nations in Asia with 3 billion people, and additional billions of people in Africa, Latin America. The Arms buildup promised by Reagan in 1980 has yielded little about 50 years later, not even the fall of the Berlin Wall which today has been replaced by another struggle in Eastern Europe in 2024. Truman tackled the Berlin Blockade,  Eisenhower had faced upto Soviet tanks in Budapest, Kennedy had faced the Berlin crisis in 1963 his ich bin ein Berliner (I am Berliner). What purpose would an orbital weapons program serve- and could the US ever be or even want to be  "only one superpower in a safe world," with an orbital weapons program as Reagan and Weinberger went out to do and failed completely. America faces a situation analogous to 1920's with increasing inequality and weakness in the social fabric, as a result of four decades of rising inequality accompanied by technological changes, and misguided Reagan programs that diverted from John Kennedy's vision that the "old era is ending, the old ways will not do."  The vision put forward by John F. Kennedy has more relevance today for the future. That vision he articulated in the First Inaugural Address in which he also said that this work may not be accomplished "in our lifetime on the planet." It is important to remember that John F. Kennedy connected his vision to FDR when he said in his State of the Union Address to Congress in Jan. 1961- In the name of a great President whose birthday we honor today, closing his final State of the Union Message sixteen years ago. "We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us." This is the vision that stands before America even today in 2024.   ...

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How we age is up to us. You are able to do the plank at 70 because you are doing it at age 50. Dr. Norman Lazarus is a professor at Kings College, London, and is 84 years. It is all up to us, what we eat, how we get our exercize and aur work life balance. Dr. Norman Lazarus says about ageing that our appoach to it is totally inadequate and that ageing has not much to do with genetics. If one eats healthy food and exercizes well then many of the diseases we hear about at older age are just lifestyle diseases that one does not have to worry about, even if one gets one of the diseases the recovery will be faster. He says eat well, move a lot and also enjoy yourself. Enjoy yourself to keep cheerful which stimulates the brain. He is the author of "The Lazarus Strategy: How to Age Well and Wisely."  In Lazarus view the last 25 years can be miserable or without disease depending on what we do. Diseases of ageing are not inevitable he says, its rubbish he says and it makes him cry, it is just that it takes 25 years for all that neglect of exercize and not eating healthy to reach a critical point. It is also not that some people are better than others. Lazarus found himself at age 50 putting on weight till he made the decision one day at lunch with his wife.  A a non competitive long distance cyclist Lazarus has done studies which show cyclists over 70 years having the immunity and fat level of 20 year olds. Nothing is written, we have to write it ourselves. ...