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Like Harry Truman Tim Walz can understand what free school lunches are about- Walz worked as a high school teacher, so did his wife Gwen. See the story on school lunches on this page.  He knows what cost of living is about with prices of groceries and gas and auto repairs rising. We want to say to America not since Harry Truman have finances of two vice presidents looked so similar- and their dedication to workers and families is genuine and of the kind that is needed for these times when working families and working men, rural families,  have deserted a Democratic party distracted by Tech millionaires and billionaires in its ranks. Tim Walz is America's Everyman in this sense of the word  with net worth excluding pensions of under $300,000, and shares the pain of meeting cost of living and other concerns that are spared from other vice presidents or presidents from wealthy backgrounds. The Minnesota Governor has modest income and wealth compared to recent presidential tickets. The former  high school teacher and congressman’s assets are mostly limited to pensions, whole life insurance and college savings. Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, have net worth between $112,003 to $330,000, as of his 2019 financial disclosure, according to WSJ. The value of  federal pension benefit about roughly $800,000 to add to their net worth, based on The Wall Street Journal’s analysis. The couple did not report any dividend or capital gains income on their 2022 tax return, the most recent return available. ...

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Astrid Prange says the movement started by Luther against paying for penalties for sins being paid for by indulgences, and seeing faith as a gift from God, helped the renewal of the church and Christianity. It came at the time of the printing press, touching a chord with people in Germany. Luther was not a revolutionary, as he was conservative and principled, his goal being to go back to the Christian church's origins. Prange says that in this he is typically German. On October 31, 2016, Pope Francis joins Protestants in Lund, Sweden, for the Lutheran World Federation's celebration of 500 years since the Reformation. Luther would have welcomed this, considering what Pope Francis brings to the Catholic world with tolerance, spiritual renewal and reviving the original teachings of the Christian church.

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Speaking at a fireside chat at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington D.C. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman describes the task of lifting hundreds of millions from poverty in India done over the last 10 years. When China did this for about 400 million people by 2000 it had the support of the people of the US and Europe and the US opened its doors to favor China in its supply chain. How will the US and European Union respond to the same situation in India? This was accomplished in the US and Europe by the 1930's building on the work in the 1900 period. "We are reaching near saturation in providing the basic facilities to the people of the country. Have we removed these many number of people from poverty and lifted them out." "And that is to give them some good house to live in which is made of concrete and not of thatched roof with toilets in them, with drinking water reaching them through pipes, electricity, and a good road, not just the village, but also to streets in the village, and then connect them to the nearest highway; connect them with good transport facility and so on. And financial inclusion so that each member of the household has a bank account and they get every such benefit, which has to reach them, but directly into their bank account rather than through a middle agency. On skilling people "We are now focusing very much on skilling people, each according to their level. Skilling centers are now spread all over the country. The gradation of the skilling varies according to the individuals. Businesses and private sector entrepreneurs are also tied into it so that there is a link between the kind of training businesses want and actually those who are getting the training so that immediately they can get recruited. There will be a lot of skilling emphasis. On expanding the formalization of the economy getting rid of "the grey layer" India's digitization programme will be going on at full throttle and it'll cover most aspects of our lives. Today it covers health, education, and financial transactions. We expect it to move on to other areas as well so that there is greater ease of living and transparency, the economy gets even more formal. And therefore with that, you find  the economy gets its full strength coming on board, rather than having a second layer, which remains in the grey area. ...

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Attorney General nominee William Barr sayshe will not interfere with the Mueller Russia investigation, calling it "vitally important" that this investigation be completed. This happens as there is increased scrutiny of President Trump's interactions with Russia. This follows a report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had opened a counter intelligence probe into Mr. Trump in 2017, as questions were raised about the abruptness of the firing of FBI Director Comey.  Mr. Barr defended a memo he had written critical of Mr. Mueller for his theory of obstruction of justice by Mr. Trump. He said he considers that a minor aspect of Special Counsel Mueller's probe. Barr says the memo did not question the special counsel's core investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mr. Barr was Attorney General under George H.W. Bush and would follow his earlier prioritizing of crime fighting and immigration policies. He needs some support from Democrats to be nominated, and to win this support he reiterated that "where judgements are to be made by me, I will make those judgements solely on the law."  ...

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Tight skinny swim suits that can take 20 minutes to put on and intense hydration, having to be ready and report 15 minutes before the starting time, all make it hard for swimmers to resist nature, and peeing in the pool is far too common, says the WSJ.

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U.S. president Trump announces withdrawal from the Paris climate change accords, saying the U.S. will consider re-entering the agreement  or coming up with a new deal. He said "I was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris." Trump said he was concerned about the environment, and avoided saying climate change scientific evidence was not correct. He based his concerns on the idea that China and India were getting an unfair financial advantage over the U.S. The U.S. had pledged under the Paris accords to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28% from 2005 levels by 2025. The WSJ's Stokols and Ballhaus point out that president Trump had the option because of the nonbinding agreements committing nations to a broader goal of reducing emissions to combat temperature change of of 3.6 degrees F, to have modified emissions targets and still remained in the Paris accords. For Trump the motivation may have rested more on politics to shore up support in the Republican party which has largely opposed climate change targets.  ...

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Athens has changed a lot since the economic crisis and it has a lot to offer in history, culture and in Mediterranean sights and food, says Tony Perrottet in WSJ. He looks at facets of the city including new subway connections and Greeks returning to setup cafes and other shops.

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Pope Francis appears healthy and active, says this report in BBC News, even though he is now eighty, the age when other senior church officials are expected to retire. Pope Francis plans to continue for a few more years to complete his reforms for "a church of the poor." In 2016 he has replaced about one third of the cardinals in the electoral college. Francis lives a simple life in a tiny suite in the Vatican guest house. CastelGandolfo, a summer residence of the popes, has been turned into a museum for the public. Some cardinals from Italy, Germany and the U.S. say the pope is not following traditional teachings, yet Francis in his open gregarious style says he doesn't lose sleep over this. His style is marked by directness, and the use of short phrases of the Buenos Aires dialect with which he is most familiar.

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During the grueling days of cycling in the high altitude of the Alps region cyclists are mostly close almost shoulder to shoulder they can hear the breathing. Each cyclist senses the other and this is how they decide when to make a break for it and pedal harder. Sensing an opportunity to break away. Geraint Thomas does this in this stage of the Tour de France in the Alps mountains. Other riders are Julian Alaiphillipe of France, Quintana of Colombia who trains in the Andes, and Nibali of Italy. Five riders are within two minutes of each other in this high stakes game on the road.

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Paris Olympics organizers want this to be the smallest footprint on climate at 1.58 million metric tons of CO2. This is half that in 2012 London Olympics of 3.4 and 20% less than in Tokyo Olympics of 1.96. No rhetoric, actual facts is the goal even with 13 million spectators from many countries.

It was an opportunity for us to stage this Games in a different way, both for us to prove that the Games can be done differently, but also to leave a legacy,” says Georgina Grenon, Paris 2024’s director of environmental excellence." It is not that difficult to get 50% cut in emissions by using wood or low carbon cement. New construction is a big source of emissions. Paris organizers plan to use existing or temporary infrastructure, and also reuse what is built, and build some facilities in underserved deprived areas to use later for affordable housing. It is a remarkable and commendable effort.

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Boris Johnson was never for austerity and says this in his new book, yet he failed to make the major investments in the British economy in the way Biden has done in the US, and in some ways has left Labor's Starmer with difficult decisions with the strained budget finances of Britain. Of the investments he protected from John Osborne and his austerity plans as chancellor under Cameron Boris Johnson says- “Those big investments – Crossrail, the Olympic site, the Westfield Centre at Shepherd’s Bush – were fortuitously timed for London: vast counter-cyclical programmes that kept the spades going into the ground and people in work.” This was as Mayor of London in 2016. Of Osborne and Cameron so little is left, and so little came out of the period of austerity other than the failed investments Britain failed to make, simply a lost decade for Britain. And the diversion of Brexit under Johnson not taking Britain to a good place for the standard of living of the British people. Of the intraparty conflicts in the Tories he says Sunak's resignation as chancellor should never have happened calling it "worse than a crime," and a mistake for Sunak, the party, and the country. Johnson says that many days as PM he would come back to No.10 flat, exhausted and working into the evening when he should have been talking to colleagues, MP's to keep them all together. After Sunak's resignation from Boris Johnson's cabinet the Tory Conservatives split further apart, this time in the Boris Johnson faction of the party. Sunak's elevation to prime minister was short lived ending up with the Tories going downhill from there.  On the singular goal that led to the splits- that of Brexit- Johnson has little more to say than that in his travels he had found people wanted more Britain. ...

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Tesla at $24 per hour faces a challenge when Toyota which increased wages by 9% for non unionized labor pays $34 per hour for assembly line workers. Toyota did this after the new settlement with the UAW for 146,000 workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis. What it means is that instead of setting the wage standard Tesla will be a less attractive option for workers as other foreign automakers Nissan, VW and BMW increase their wages. The UAW union does not have to organize at Tesla for fair wages as Tesla's 20,000 workers would become the lowest paid, and least attractive option for workers. And Tesla would become an exception to fair wages in a cost of living crisis.

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Research done by the WSJ shows people who sped time on fitness and are older are happier. More females than males by a wide margin. Community involvement rates are higher and faith in God is seen in people who are happier. Aaron Zitner shows the lives of 3 people including an 80 year old who ran a health clinic for 25 years who find happiness through community involvement and many projects including one that cut ten pregnancy in her county and is now writing grants to restore an old YWCA building in Cortland, N.Y.

A 77 year old civil engineer on a 7 acre farm in Chesapeake, Virgina, has good relationships, community involvement, and the same house for a generation, whose belief in God helps him be happy and find serenity in life.

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This In Depth view in The Times of the 2021 Conservative party conference in Manchester, says Boris Johnson was his old ebullient self in his conference speech rallying Tories. He is seen as not having a full grasp of the situation as schools reopen without covid precautions in place, overconfident about controlling the pandemic. He is also viewed as ignoring the impact this winter of higher gas prices, lack of enough labor for essential services, inflation and shortages of essential goods, on the British public. The general mood of the Tory conference appeared to be celebrating the Tory performance without preparing for unanticipated obstacles ahead for the British economy and for all sections of British society hit hard by the pandemic.

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Readers critique the Wash. Post on its coverage of 2024, 2024-2028 policies and vision, and president Biden. They ask is the Post itself turning into social media with crass titles and misleading coverage? The Post itself says it is in the subtitle sometimes patting sometimes stabbing. One reader says on the different reporters coverage of Biden after the NATO Summit that it was nothing more than a dogpile, that it is not what he reads the Post for. One obvious question for the Post is with all the passion you show on climate change action, is the absence of climate action for 4 years, and exactly the opposite its exacerbation not likely to impose a huge cost in 2028 for the American people of upwards of a trillion dollars to correct? Is the Post listening or just another billionaire run organization running against the instincts of Carl Sandburg- the author of the Lincoln biographies found even in the libraries of Asia forgotten in the US-  who wrote the famous poem of the nineteen sixties "The People, Yes." Lincoln, TR, Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy are completely erased or forgotten for their policies, their wisdom and their zeal for America. ...

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The attempted shooting of De Gaulle's car was part of the OAS effort to prevent the granting of independence to Algeria, a course of action that De Gaulle like Lincoln for emancipation relentlessly pursued, in this case for North African Arabs colonized by the French. De Gaulle also modernized French agriculture and changed the living conditions of French farmers that had not changed for centuries with poor conditions. It was during this period under De Gaulle that France emerged as a truly modern nation with the infrastructure built under De Gaulle and continued by his assistants who succeeded to the presidency. This report says 30 attempts were made on his life and it shows the resilience and character of the leadership in the early post war period.

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Laurence Meyer of Macroeconomics Advisors, a former Fed governor, says monetary policy will offset the effects of tighter fiscal policies and budget cuts. This is not stated explicitly he says, but Bernanke will counteract the effects of budget cuts and austerity policies by putting off rate hikes. The expiry in December 2011 of a compromise reached between the GOP and Obama to lower payroll taxes and offering business a tax break on capital investment will lead to a reduction in GDP by 1% in 2012, according to Mark Zandl, of Moody's Analytics. Pressure for budget cuts could add another half percentage point reduction in GDP, according to IHS Consultants. Bernanke will be mindful of these considerations as he considers any rate hikes in 2012.

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The reckless behaviour of German elites in pursuing increased dependence on Russian oil and gas and ignoring American warnings is shown in this report in The Guardian. The first links to Russian oil and gas were started under chancellor Brandt in 1970. At that time the dependency on oil and gas supplies was much less than 10%. Dependence increased during the Schroeder and Merkel years to the extremes that exist today. Not much more even in the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It was the misconception of chancellor Schmidt of the SPD in his differences of opinion with presidents Carter and Reagan on the risks of increasing dependence on Russian energy that marked this period. Schmidt believed Germany was right in its conviction that increased trade would bring peaceful cooperation without realizing that economic dependency is never a good thing. Poland had a skeptical view- German elites including business elites were being corrupted. Cheap Russian energy was being used in the Schroeder and Merkel years as a competitive business advantage without considering the risks involved and the admonitions of American presidents of the dangers. With Steinmeier of the SPD there was the immense guilt of the millions of war dead from the German invasion of Russia in 1941 that acted as a brake on evaluating the increasing dependency for energy that reached over 35% by the time he was foreign minister. The fall of the Berlin Wall was seen not as a result of multiple factors including the positions taken by Carter and Reagan, the losses to the Russian economy from the war in Afghanistan, and the general decline of the Russian economy. German leaders saw this as coming from the new relationship being built with Russia. German business and Schroeder- Merkel even allowed not just new Nordstream pipelines under the Baltic Sea but also transferred ownership of reserves, the gas and oil storage inside Germany to Russia's Gazprom. German Economy minister Habeck says the storage tanks were emptied so that there would be added surge for oil and gas prices after the attacks on Ukraine. This Guardian report ends by saying that Mr. Steinmeier still needs to show why he pursued policy of cooperation with Russia with increasing dependency to the point that a cut off of Russian oil and gas supplies would lead to gas rationing in Germany in the event of a sudden cutoff. Was it a form of sensible cooperation taking dependency to such extremes. Similar questions remain for chancellor Merkel. With the added question for Merkel about the increase in trading ties with China even after the Trump administration had warned of the serious risks to US and European competitive advantage in technology and manufacturing, and the increased dependence on a supply chain that was fundamentally weak as shown clearly by the pandemic.     ...

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Reaganomics, trickle down economics, it is clear don't work. James Mackintosh says in WSJ, the latest version of Reaganomics, in the form of the LIz Truss budget in September 2022 with cuts in corporate taxes, no relief for vulnerable populations in the cost of living crisis as in all other major European countries and in the US, is already getting a bad reception in financial markets with the tumbling of the British pound.Times have changed there is nothing to be gained in its approach as there are no trade unions strangling growth as in Thatcher's time that need to be restrained, and not that much red tape to increase business flexibility. Most of the privatization has already been done and some of the state run companies are operating much better today than privatized companies handling water and other services.   Instead the problem is one of much needed investment in infrastructure and public services, and social protections after the pandemic. Businesses are not being crippled by high corporate taxes. Instead the opposite is the case, with windfall profits, so that the opposite approach taken by president Biden to use the higher tax on profits of Tech, oil and other companies to finance social protections and a huge climate energy initiative made more sense, leading to the passage of the $369 climate bill  and Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.  The WSJ makes these points- Britain has a higher current account deficit and higher debt at over 100% of GDP compared to the period of Thatcher in the 1980's when debt was only 40% of GDP. Most important is what the WSJ says about what has happened since the 2009 financial crisis and the austerity policies pursued after that crisis that were worsened by the pandemic so that public services in Britain are actually crumbling. Politically this lacks popular support and little backing at a time of a recession in the British economy, because such policies require public support to go through a tough period . And taking this trickle down economics today when Britain faces a cost of living crisis may be an unwise act of taking an approach that is no longer relevant or shown to be working at the worst possible time, says the WSJ. ...

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Seen as a rural urban divide, less educated and well educated and tech workers the situation in France looks similar to that in the US in the elections of 2016 and 2020. With business in the US and European Union shifting manufacturing to China and the governments neglecting rural areas, decline in standard of living for people on pensions that have not kept up with the cost of living, the situation in France as in the US is decades in the making. Bernie Sanders and Melenchon were appealing in different ways to younger people yearning for change and a system that would correct these changes.   Melenchon coming this close to less than one percentage point of Le Pen in the first round of French elections shows that a straight Macron Le Pen version of what has happened is an oversimplification, just as seeing the changes in America under president Biden vs Trump would be a simplification, as voters for Sanders who voted for Biden are changing the Biden agenda and setting America on a new path. A path to reshoring jobs that were sent to China, rebuilding American manufacturing, increasing workers wages and restoring workers leverage for higher wages, investing $2 trillion in child care, housing, supporting worker incomes and families, supporting older Americans on pensions. In the same way beneath the idea that nothing has happened after the yellow vest protests for cost of living, that has not only not gone away- but increased in the concern for cost of living in this election with the surging inflation - new developments are happening.  Even as Germany under Merkel appeared not be changing in 2020- 1 year after Merkel the situation will have changed completely to address social concerns that were ignored earlier and to invest in infrastructure in a big way. Behind this is a fundamental change that is taking place. Facing a challenge from totalitarian states the fabric of society in the free world, the US, Germany, France, other EU states, India, and nations in the free world will have to respond with changes that restore the fabric of society to what it was before this kind of fracturing, bringing all parts of society together to bring all the energies in place for rebuilding, investing in infrastructure, restoring local manufacturing and renewal. It requires a unified effort to be put in place to respond in the right way.     ...

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South African captain Dean Elgar reflects on how he is handling the leadership role for the cricket team building understanding and trust of players from different cultures and social backgrounds in the team- white, black, Afrikaans, English Afrikaans, Indian. He brings a remarkable sensitivity to his role and describes his style of listening and acting as a friend off the field to learn about the players on his team. It is a role like no other captain of a sports team faces. Elgar says he does'nt think there is another country in the world that has to deal with this kind of dynamics in society.   He says there is always light at the end of the tunnel, a glimmer of hope, as he take on all this pressure without showing it. Seeing him as many will on television on the cricket field during the 3 Test series at Centurion, Johannesburg and Cape Town, one senses the kind of change in South Africa that gives so much hope and optimism for the future. He say he always thinks we must'nt stop learning from each other, we must sit down and listen more. This has made him more concerned and wary about the past and even more emotionally attached to the players, as he handles the huge amount of diversity- a massive learning curve with a lot of humility. On the day of the death of Desmond Tutu as cricket commentators talk about his humble and unselfish spirit, Dean Elgar appears to have defined his own role in just the right way.   ...

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Men all in their 20's and at different points in their careers, from all parts of the US are interviewed by the WSJ 6 months into the DJT administration to see what they think of performance so far.

Young men as a demographic group are optimistic about the economy even with high interest rates restricting housing access. Young men supported DJT in 2024 by 15 percentage points 57% to 42% giving the president an edge. Overall on foreign affairs messy international disputes, on immigration and hurdles in resolving returning migrants to home countries, they are considerate about what difficulties the president faces. They are optimistic about president DJT and his ability to handle tariffs, inflation, and the economic growth that will improve their lives in the coming years.