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This picture of Jacob Rees Moog the head of the no-deal Brexit faction in the Conservative Party is seen widely on Twitter. It gives a sense of Mr. Moog indifferent to all the chaos around him serenely confident that no-deal Brexit is all that counts, down to this stretched out pose in the House of Commons. 

This picture also appears on BBC News and is described as one showing an indifferent elite that cares little for what is happening outside of their world.

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China has made a $7 billion investment in road and bridges in Bangladesh. The six kilometer long road and rail bridge over the Padma river was built by China. A 48 kilometer 4 lane highway around Dhaka will be completed in 2025 through China's development assistance. In all 12 roads 21 bridges, and 27 power plants during the Hasina administration, creating 550,000 jobs says Yao Wen, Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh. Other projects are built with Indian assistance trying to keep a balance between the two neighbors. A project over the Teesta river was assigned to India. A naval base south of Chittagong, the BNS Sheikh Hasina, was opened in 2023 with Chinese assistance.

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Year over year rise in prices in January 2022 that contributed significantly to inflation of 7.5% in the US are-

For power up by over 10%, gas prices up over 20%

For groceries bakery, cereals etc up by 1.4%

For housing prices up by over 4%.

For used cars over 40%, new cars over 12%.

Health care services costly in the US far above the other OECD countries not down significantly continuing to burden American households.

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NYT looks at the struggle for daily water supplies in Mexico City one of the largest cities in North America.

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What is Antifa. during the protests this term keeps coming up, yet no one is really sure what it is.  It started in Germany in the 1920's and basically means anti-fascist or in German antifaschistisch. Most Germany parties from the SPD, CDU and the Greens to other parties accept this as a point of view considering Germany's Nazi past.  Yet DW.com asks is it only referring to all those opposed to fascism in Germany or to black clad anarchists and leftists facing police on German streets. The last such confrontation with police happened in Germany in Hamburg during the 2017 G20 summit. A famous scene from that time is pictured in DW.com. There the meaning becomes complex as the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) adopted the phrase and the disinctinve two flag logo for the 1932 election campaign, in Weimar Germany's last free election, which the Nazis could not win fully but with the left parties split emerged as winner. After the formation of the GDR, the German Democratic Republic in East Germany, the interwar KPD party veterans like Walter Ulbricht came to power in GDR. GDR became part of the Soviet bloc countries during the Cold War and used antifascist in a way that was synonymous with anticapitalism. This same movement then langusihed in the Germany of the early post war years under Cologne's former mayor, Korad Adenauer. In the 1970's and 1980's the left movement revived in Hamburg and Berlin, coalescing with a antinuclear movement and widespread protests against president Reagan's stationing of nuclear missiles on German soil aimed at the Soviet Union bloc. After the reunification the protests against coal, for climate change action, and for anti-globalization. There is even an overlap with anti-Zionism. Germany's internal intelligence agency says the antifa movement is the "main field of agitation" for autonomous leftist groups, with some groups supporting "militant actions." Yet when there are broad uncontroversial protests there can be people from all walks of life, not just the anarchist or far left groups.  So that the protests in the U.S. were met with comments of antifa - Saskia Esken of the SPD saying "58 and atifa. Obviously." To which the General Secretary of the CDU said "Against fascism, and for democracy and human rights. Without violence. Obviously, for me. It's sad that the chairwoman of the SPD lacks the strength to differentiate."  To which Esken says it is only a point of view that antifa refers to, not some action. To which the the youth organization of the Angela Merkel CDU/CSU alliance the Junge Union (founded 1947) replied: " 73 and appalled" getting the final word.  Search for a dictionary and you are left with no clear meaning either. DW.com says Germany's duden dictionary only says antifa refers to the " entirety of the movements and ideologies, which oppose fascism and national socialism."    ...

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US Supreme Court to take up questions of abortion and of January 6 in relation to the presidential election in 2024.

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In inflationary times in the world's largest populated country- that Rs 40 or about 50 cents US still gets you a South Indian vegetarian meal at Sangeethas restaurant chain in Chennai, India is the result of the efforts of many people. On its 40th anniversary the 34 branches in Chennai (and 23 overseas) has struggled with inflation to offer the 40 Rupee meal in India. Partly from the dedication of P Suresh and Sanjana Suresh, the founders.

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The Democratic Party's better performance in the midwestern states of Michigan, and Wisconsin, and in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia,in the 2018 midterm elections.  These states are crucial to win in the presidential election of 2020.

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Nigeria's president Buhari is reelected with a margin of 4 million votes. Delays, accusations of fraud and bits of violence marred the election but not to the extent of previous elections. Despite the accusations of manipulation independent observers say the problems were not so frequent that they would affect the outcome. The 76 year old president won with a large margin even though Nigeria faced a deep recession which increased unemployment and the northeast faced insurgency of Islamic militants. 

Buhari campaigned on spending for large infrastructure projects, social welfare programs and fight against corruption. The 2015 election provided a peaceful transition from president Goodfellow to Mr. Buhari from a different party. The competing candidate Mr. Abubakar was a wealthy businessman in the logistics sector. Voters preferred the continuity and Mr. Buhari mobilized effectively with the governing All Progressives Party.

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As the popularity of left party Podemos increases before the upcoming elections in Spain, it comes under increasing attack from the governing party and the Ciudadanos party for advisors from Podemos giving economic advice to the failing Maduro government. Venezuela's economy is in dire straits with high inflation and shortages. Podemos appears to have overtaken the Socialist party in Spain to become the second largest political party. The leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, and other Podemos leaders are cited as having done advisory work for the government in Venezuela.

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About a third of Australians voted for the Greens party and several smaller parties. There was a definite trend in favor of tackling climate change after the fires and other extreme weather events in Australia in 2021. Scott Morrison's coalition gained 54 seats compared to 74 for Labour, with 76 needed for a majority. Labour had set a much higher target for reducing carbon emissions than the Morrison coalition with Labour setting 43% reduction in emissions compared to 26% for Morrison coalition by 2030. Australians decided climate change has to be tackled aggressively.

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A WSJ/NBC poll in April 2017 shows about three quarters of Americans disapprove of Congress's job performance, up 12 percentage points since Feb, and one fifth approve- down nine percentage points. Congress has had a low rating in the 20% point range since 2011. Speaker Ryan is viewed negatively by 40%, compared to 22% having a positive view.

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Rupert Murdoch brought positive changes as shown here to introduce electronic printing technologies to the newspaper business in 1981 the year Reagan became president. Yet there are questions why others across the news operations did not take this up as it would make sense to adopt new technologies. Why was there no competition? This led to The Times being acquired for $28 million in 1981 compared to the $5 billion paid for The Wall Street Journal in 2007- enormous difference as monopolistic/oligopolistic behaviour has become entrenched in shaping public perceptions and policy. Why for instance is not taking climate change action in the face of fires/floods or not taking action to invest hugely in infrastructure for a dilapidated USA become seen as acceptable in for 2024-2030-even as the European Union aims to be fossil free by 2030?

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Blue Dog or corporate shills, who are they, asks Thomas Frank. He reminds readers that Illinois Senator Paul Douglas advised people in 1932 not to expect much from the Democratic party. Douglas said the Democratic party was more like alifeboat for business interests, when the going got tough with the Republicans, business interests simmply used this lifeboat to get away. So he says call these Blue Dogs caucus the Lifeboat caucus, and you get closer to the mark. He points out that the Blue Dogs are some of the leading fundraisers in Congress. See the link to Max Baucus in the Senate, who the NYT describes as a leading fundraiser from Montana.

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Jess Phillips,the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley writes about New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern's experience of being knackered- of burnout and having no gas left in the tank. She says women worry about our families, ourselves, and society's expectations, so that it is not surprising when this leads to burnout. It is worse for women in politics, she says, with the constant threat of abuse that contributes to burnout. She calls for the building of support structures in society that will criminalize the perpetrators of this abusive behaviour, and those who make profits from spreading it.

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Some figures on the foreclosure situation. 2.3 million Americans faced foreclosure proceedings in 2008, 81% increase over 2007. 860,000 properties were repossessed by lenders, more than double the 2007 level, according to RealtyTRac a foreclosure listing firm in Irvine,, California. Moody's Economy.com predicts the numbers to go up 18% in 2009 before slowing through 2011. That is 2.71 million foreclosures in 2009. To prevent the foreclosure levels from getting much worse as unemployment drops, the new administration plans to use upto $100 billion of the remaining $350 billion TARP funds to help homeowners. The 4 states hardest hit are Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida. More than 1.1 million properties there received foreclosure notices, almost half the total nationwide. The hardest hit areas are in California, with the metro areas worst hit in order are Stockton, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Riverside and Bakersfield, California, and Phoenix. In December more than 303,000 properties nationwide received foreclosure notices, up 40% from year ago month, and 17% above November 2008. At 303,000 the yearly rate is 3.6 million foreclosures or higher for 2009, so the Moody's estimate for 2009 must take into account acceleration of steps to help homeowners with the new administration. Are the rather modest steps taken upto now helping? RealtyTrac analysts estimate that without a state law requiring lenders to give borrowers a 30 day warning before starting the foreclosure process, the foreclosures in California would be 10% higher. There are similiar state laws in Massachusetts and Maryland. Throughout 2008 few steps were taken by the Bush administration to slow foreclosures, even though Republican economists like Martin Feldstein repeatedly advocated this. See links to Feldstein and Sheila Bair of the FDIC who also advocated aggressive action, and providing the numbers to show that it was costlier for lenders to see borrowers go into foreclosure compared to reducing principal and interest payments significantly. ...

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France and Germany are standing together on the European Union Recovery Fund with $500 billion in direct nonrepayable aid to needy countries hit by the pandemic. Netherlands is the lone holdout and it is coming under heavy criticism for being "misers", not showing any solidarity. Macron and Merkel walked out together at the end of a late night session. At one point Macron banged his hand on the table saying "sterile blockages" were being made by Netherlands. Italy accused Rutte of the Netherlands of blackmail.

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The coronavirus surge in southern states in the U.S. is different from the surge earlier in the northeast including New York and New Jersey. More young people are getting the virus. About half of those testing positive are now 18-35 years of age in Texas and Florida. Social distancing and masks is not mandatory with young people not practicing these safety guidelines. Many took the reopening to mean they could go back to the usual summer routines. Not taking it seriously is leading to more infections of young people. Cultural issues with practicing the guidelines and a tendency to not take it seriously has been a problem in the U.S. and parts of Europe since the beginning of the crisis leading to larger number of cases.

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What happens if Theresa May's deal with the European Union is rejected by parliament. This report in the BBC News says May has several options, including going with no deal Brexit, or shifting her stand for having a customs union with the EU under another name. The second option would tear the Conservative Party apart. Or Delay which this report says is a tactic favored by Theresa May.

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The Russian economy will contract by 10% and the Ukraine economy by 20% in 2022, says the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank was setup to revive Eastern European economies after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2023 the Ukraine economy is expected to rebound by 23% with assistance from US and EU. The Russian economy faces long term challenges with lack of access to technology from EU and US and the loss of well educated workers leaving Russia, and is expected to face a long period of stagnation. The war has affected 60% of Ukraine's economic output and electricity consumption is down by 60%, with one third of Ukraine businesses closed, factories shutdown. Ukraine will be a much poorer country because a lot of stock has been destroyed, says Beata Javorcik, EBRD's chief economist. For Russia the drag on the economy will be present even if a peace agreement leads to lifting of sanctions says EBRD. Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Armenia will also feel the effect of the slowdown with loss of remittance from workers in Russia. The faster shift to renewable energy and LNG in Germany, and a similar boost to renewable energy with COP26 Glasgow getting a boost in EU and the US, will result in loss of value of oil assets in Russia. With loss of technology access from US and EU Russian conversion away from a energy based economy will be slowed. All this is likely to lead to a difficult period for Russia. This means there are no gainers from this war, including China, which could see a further acceleration in US and EU restructuring of the supply chain away from China, leading to further slowing of growth. ...

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British prime minister Starmer has introduced new legislation to "smash the gangs" that have people smuggling networks and made 150,000 illegal small boat crossings into the UK since 2018. Small boat crossings have started in 2025 with more people packed into small dinghies and 1098 making the crossing in January 2025.

The bill includes counterterorism powers to Border Force, police, National Crime Agency to target gangs. 

Migrants at sea in the Channel who refuse rescue by the French will face five years in prison as part of a new set of offences inthe bill- The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

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With a credit led expansion, and credit flowing as rapidly as in 2009, China faces some difficult choices in 2010. Inflation's annual rate rose to 4.4% in October 2010 from 3.6% in September. China's CPI target is 3%. October 2010 saw an additional $89 billion of new loans, and China is floating on a sea of credit. The question is how econmic growth can be maintained once this slows.

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The NYT fact checker on the interview with president Trump in July 2017 with Haberman and Baker, finds errors on the following subject matter- Ms. Abe the Japanese prime minister's wife speaks English though Mr. Trump said she doesn't, the 2 Napoleon's get mixed up, and interpretation of health insurance and social security gets mixed up, the FBI Director reports to the Attorney General not the president, Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is from Philadelphia, and adoptions relate to sanctions in U.S. -Russia relations.

Being loose with facts can be humorous in some situations and more serious in others. It helps for readers to always have the facts straight.

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Yann Le Cun of the university Sorbonne, France  thinks currrent Language AI models won't work, will be replaced by World models that learn like a baby visually using intuition rather than large databases of content. He was a pioneer in AI when machine learning was still in its very early stages.