LyrArc Article Gist
Hiking in the French Hautes Alps from beginning in Le Bourg d' Oisans, just south east of Grenoble on the 112 mile long trail through Ecrins National Park. The route is the GR54 Tour des Ecrins.

LyrArc Article Gist
It is important to remember that Republicans Wendell Wilkie who ran in 1940 and Dewey in 1944 and 1948, Eisenhower in 1952, 1956, all adopted the worker protections for safety, hours and wages, and the employment stabilization programs set up by Perkins for the two Roosevelts- Republican Teddy Roosevelt who gave her her start 1911 and Democrat Franklin Roosevelt 1924-1944. Basically it setup what we call the Modern World where America was the model of modern industrialization for the whole World. Important to remember as Labor and Capital go through a reaffirmation of the principles guiding same issues that dogged America before. The Frances Perkins Exhibit at Columbia University in 2010 showed the most influential woman for the lives of ordinary American citizens and workers, workers families and children, for three decades 1920's to the 1950's. The first woman to serve as a key member of the cabinet. One who guided the legislation that set up the structure in which labor and capital each participated equally in the economic structure of modern America. Perkins was educated at Mount Holyoke College which had Corinthians 1 15  as motto "Be ye steadfast." She got her Masters degree in Economics and Sociology from Columbia University. She studied economics at University of Pennsylvania before going to Columbia University.  She is the only member of the cabinet who served not just all 12 years from1932 to 1944 under Franklin Roosevelt, but also before that from 1924 to 1932 for NY Governors Al Smith and Roosevelt, and before that for Teddy Roosevelt as head of the Committee on Public Safety in 1911. When Harry Truman followed FDR Perkins asked to run the Social Security administration, was made Civil Service Commissioner in 1944. She lectured at Cornell University during the Eisenhower administration.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Operation Wetback in 1954 under Eisenhower and US immigration action in 2026 compared to Sweden and Denmark in Northern Europe. The mood has shifted and so has the political situation with new governments in Europe, the mood has shifted in Italy, Germany, France, UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, across all of Europe. Merkel's failure to grasp the true nature of the situation has led to a huge burden on social services, on literacy for national identity, and created dissension within democratic processes in many countries in Europe and North America.

LyrArc Article Gist
Patrick Buisson, a key Sarkozy adviser, who helped him win the presidential election in 2007, says Marie LePen's chances in the 2017 election are dimmer than people realize. Her Front National is popular in the north of France with working class people who formerly voted in favor of the Communist or Left parties. In the south of France in areas like Nice her niece Marion is popular with people who have social views on the right on abortion, and gay marraige. The problem is reconciling these 2 blocs of voters and the way Le Pen appears to have moderated her views on social issues. The opposing candidate from the Right parties formerly led by Sarkozy is Francois Fillon, actually prime minister for the full term of 5 years under Sarkozy. Fillon's views are closer to the FN voters in the south and opposes gay marraige and abortion, and has a strong foothold with Catholic voters in traditionally Catholic France. It is this split that hurts LePen who had hoped to run against Bordeaux mayor LeJuppe. The left parties are in disarray and likely not to be a factor. Another difference is that the voters in the south of FN do not see it the same way as FN voters in the north on issues of increasing the size of the state. Voters in southern France do not favor increasing the size of the state as Le Pen has promised and opposed by Fillon. Fillon has plans to cut France's large state employees by 600,000. France has a large state owned sector of companies and increasing the work week to 48 hours, reducing the state sector size to help private companies with incentives is seen as a way to increase productivity and grow the economy, plans supported by Fillon. A major problem for Marie LePen is her family name of Le Pen which Buisson says people in France associate with her father Jean LePen, and extremist positions. Buisson thinks Marie LePen will never be able to shake off this image in the second round of the election as she loses some of her right wing Catholic support to Fillon, and fails to attract enough working class voters in the north of France because of the family name. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Social Democrats leader Sigmar Gabriel is Economics Minister in the coalition government of Angela Merkel in Germany. He is sympathetic to French premier Manuel Valls effort to reduce austerity in the 2015 French budget now being reviewed by Brussels. Here he takes the initiative to call for discussion on the issue of growth and austerity facing the European Union, by joining French Economics minister Emmanuel Macron in asking two economists Pisani-Ferry and Enderlein at the Berlin Institute of Governance for advice on generating growth. The process started in late summer with the defeat of the centre right government in Sweden which supported Merkel's strict austerity policies for balanced budgets. The elections to the European parliament showed the dire situation facing Cameron in Britain and Hollande in France with the unpopularity of austerity policies, higher taxes and cutbacks. The Socialist Hollande government has the lowest public opinion ratings of any postwar government in France, at 18%, and it is unwilling to go further down the road with austerity. At the same time Valls has found a partner in Italy with the growing popularity of Matteo Renzi in Italy who won 40% of the vote in Italy for the EU parliamentary elections of 2014. ECB president Mario Draghi, has generated the debate by saying at a October 2014 Brookings Institution conference in Washington D.C. that countries that have fiscal space (referring to Germany) should use it. He added that governments that did not take action in the economic crisis facing the eurozone of no growth will be swept away by public opinion. IMF president Lagarde, a former French Finance Minister under Sarkozy, has also questioned policy of strict austerity. For the first time since the start of the eurozone crisis in 2010 there is an opportunity for open discussion on future policies for renewal in the eurozone....