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Spirit Airlines, a no frills airline in the US, files for bankruptcy. It lost $2.2 billion since 2020, almost all the profit made since 2006. It was the result of a lot of things happening at once, problems with Pratt and Whitney engines grounding planes, failed $2.9 billion merger with Frontier another no frill airline, when Jet Blue made a $3.9 billion offer that had less chance to get by antitrust concerns. The 2020-2024 period was one in which people scrambled to travel and the bigger airlines Delta, United, Southwest were in a better position with their international networks, frequent flyer program and credit cards, and more routes and planes to capitalize on this leaving Spirit behind.

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With its slogan "Expect More, Pay less" Target has tried to combine low prices with moving upmarket, carrying designer merchandise and chic styling without breaking the family budget. Now with the recession and consumers becoming frugal in the USA, Target and its new CEO who took on the role in May 2008, Steinhafel, is looking at Wal-Mart to see how it can also emphasize the low prices in this recessionary climate. With store sales fallig by 10% in early 2009 Target executives were concerned that something needed to be done. And the thing was to bring even lower prices withor making customers feel cheap. Its chief marketing officer natty Francis always believed in the marketing philosophy of the 1952 book about Marshall Field "Give the Lady What She Wants." Question was what the lady wanted in today's environment. Instead of the old aspirational image of the designers behind Target apparel, Francis now put up the idea of how good value can be chic too. Target designers emphasized how the lady can look "frugalista fabulous." The other challenge was introducig groceries in the store. And instead of packaged foods he idea was to introduce fresh foods which have higher margins. Protype grocery stores were put up and the concept launched. And now instead of gradual rollout, Target went hyper local putting fresh food in all 30 Philadelphia stores. And the marketing ads, radio, newspaper circulars, TV everything made Philly residents aware of the move. Sales went up by 5to 10%. Now the concept has proven to work and Target plans to put in in 350 stores in 2010. And Nat Francis thinks Target did not move fast enough considering how quickly consumers have turned frugal. In the new frugal environment Target research showed its working-mom was obsessing about the price of milk not the thigh-high boots, and she was visiting the grocery store twice aweek and Target only 3 times amonth. Showing groceries mattered. Meantime Target's markeing is ore focussed and its creating the perception that Target and Wal-mart are so close on price. Target is actually devoting 75% of its advertising budget to price compared to 25% in 2008. So a 32 inch panel TV is $246, a coffeemaker is $3. Yet Target executives don't want to undo a strategy built up over years of a better customer experience, designer merchandise at lwer prices, something that would differentiate it from Wal-Mart. So the moves may simply be an adjustment to comport with the thriftier savings oriented times....

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About 2.6 million eligible to vote people in Michigan and 3.5 million in Pennsylvania, and 1.3 million in Wisconsin did not vote in the 2016 election. The critical states this time are also Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and these three states went to the winner by less than 10,000 in Michigan, 20,000 in Wisconsin and 50,000 in Pennsylvania.  A NYT analysis of Census Bureau data for 2016 election reveals that most of these people who are eligible but do not vote have lost interest in both parties that show little interest in delivering for them. Many of them are shown to be lower income voters, voters doing 2 jobs, or voters struggling financially. Some are single child parents in today's social structures. Getting a small portion of this vote can make a difference in a close election.  From 1840 to 1900 the percent of voting age population that voted has been between 70 to 80%. By the 1920's this dropped to about 50%. And it has been around 55% since the period of the Great Depression except for elections in 1952 and 56 for General Eisenhower and 1960 for John Kennedy. Even Harry Truman's whistlestop train campaign in 1948 got only 51% out to vote. Even the Roosevelt FDR three campaigns in 1932, 1936 and 1940 got 52-58% of voting age population to vote. The highest of any election was the election that led to the Civil War in which Lincoln won where 81% of the voting age population voted. Is it possible that America was a relatively much more prosperous country in the period 1840-1900 before large scale immigration from poorer parts of Europe and then poorer parts of Latin America and Asia, and large scale urbanization. With ample land and independent farmers in the nineteenth century leaving less scope for the poverty that exists in urban areas and social decay in rural areas and small towns that is seen today. Resulting in a much more civic consciousness and awareness of America's future and destiny than exists today. By comparison voter turnout in India has increased to 66% in 2014 election and 67% in 2018 after alternating high and low between 50-60% since 1947. Some forecasts are for a high turnout in the U.S. in 2020 to exceed 60%. The bright side for democracy is shown by the 911 million people who voted in the last Indian election of 2018. ...

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This report in WSJ shows how the situation in Syria changed since 2011. The Kurds are spread out over several states formed as the British and French empires in the Middle East collapsed, leaving an ethnic group of 30 million people spread out over Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

A Kurdish zone was set up in northern Syria after the collapse of ISIS in operations by the U.S. and the Kurds in 2016-2018. A border area was taken by Turkey in the recent push by Turkish forces into border areas bordering Turkey, with the withdrawal of U.S. forces and Mr. Trump placing sanctions on Turkey. The incursion ended in a week after Russia agreed to broker a deal and the Kurdish forces left the border with Turkey. Turkey has Kurdish people in the southeast of the country who participate in elections and are Turkish citizens, and Iraq has an autonomous region run by the Kurds.

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Physical exercize done regularly, done daily, and a willingess to put up with the mundane, boredom of the mundane to put on the sneakers, getting out or getting on a treadmill, rower or bike, to keep pushing forward, day after day. This is important to ward off cancers, heart issues, metabolic disorders, and keep mental health. Good sleep is important, so is emotional wellbeing, mindfulness in its 4 forms, and meditation, prayer and reading. Healthy eating and eating habits that help build up health, and medication such as herbal supplements including turmeric and ginger use, are other important actions to take for healthy living.

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The U.S. and Australia setup naval cooperation in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean with ships of both countries in naval exercises.

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Melenchon got the largest support from 24 to 34 yer olds, and ended up with 22% of the vote only a few points behind Le Pen. A lot depends on how his support base votes in the next round vote on April 24. Marie Le Pen got most of her support from people 50 to 59 years old, and Macron from people over 70 years, says this report.

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The Jal Jeevan Mission of Indian prime minister Modi had the goal of bringing clean water by taps in every home. Of 190 million homes in 2023, 116 million homes now have clean tap water. This is 60% of homes in 2023 compared to 17% or 32 million homes when the program was started by prime minister Modi in 2019 just before the pandemic. Jal Jeevan's safe supply of drinking water to 1.2 billion people is closely connected to health of people and diseases, epidemics,  in villages and towns in India. In this way it ensures the health of the rural population in India, a must do of basics for development in India, that had never been tackled from 1947 to 2019. With much of it accomplished during the pandemic itself, and the target date set for 100% completion by 2024- the biggest achievement since independence. To day it is not just supply but how to maintain the supply of good fresh water using education of people in rural areas as part of the effort, and programs for preserving and storing fresh water. Programs are thought out in a broad context to include next generation technologies, water conservation and storage. ...

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Hear the complete speech of German Chancellor Scholz to an extraordinary session of the German Parliament on DW.com. This may be the most important speech in the last 30 years of German history since reunification. An extraordinary speech that sets the tone for the new Europe that Germany leads with its partners in the European Union. Fundamentally Scholz tells the German people that Germany is fighting alongside Europe for its freedom and democracy, so that the last 30 years of peace are seen not as an exception in history. Germany will not let Putin take us back to the imperial wars of the 19th century, Putin told parliament. Scholz tells the German people sending arms to Ukraine "was the only response possible to Russian aggression." He also tells them that it was not the Russian people, it was Putin who had launched this aggression. "This is Putin's War. Putin is destroying the European security structure." "A peaceful free Europe, we will defend it." This is the way Scholz finished his speech. Scholz outlined 5 actions Germany was taking including actions on investing $100 billion in Bundeswehr armed forces, in strengthening NATO capabilities, in building up Germany's technological capabilities, in 2 huge natural gas terminals. The entire German parliament stood up to applaud for a long time as Scholz described how Germany was with the Russian people who braved arrest to protest Putin's War, and there are many, many, Russians who do not support the war. Reconciliation with Russia remains a building block of German policy he said.   ...

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Hillary Clinton narrowly loses the Michigan primary to Bernie Sanders in March 2016, as the Sanders campaign focusses on Clinton's support for trade agreements that hurt American workers and lead to loss of manufacturing jobs. About three fifths of voters in the Michigan primary considered this a major issue. Many less educated younger workers see their job prospects diminish and wages drop with free trade that hurts American manufacturing jobs. Bill Clinton signed the NAFTA agreement with Mexico, and as a member of the Obama administration Clinton supported the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement, later opposing TPP when she left the cabinet. Sentiment against trade that hurts manufacturing jobs in the U.S. is strongest in midwestern states such as Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. This was also a major issue benefitting the Liberals under Justin Trudeau who won in Canada's industrial Ontario province which has suffered hollowing out and loss of manufacturing jobs under the Conservative Harper administration. In the U.S. the issue goes back to the Clinton Administration for two decades. New jobs created by Apple, Google, and other tech companies pale in comparison with the industrial jobs created in another era that benefitted working class families. This issue and high unemployment or under employment, lower wages for working class families, was a major issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign. Widening wealth disparities, and lack of upward mobility, high tution and healthcare costs for ordinary families, dominated the campaign in the U.S....

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A brief history of Alibaba, its founder Jack Ma, and ways in which it is different from the internet business sites in the U.S. Like Google it gets its profits from advertising, but acts as online retailer with its website Taobao. With 50% of the Chinese e-commerce market for delivered parcels, Alibaba generated revenue for 3rd quarter 2012 of $1.78 billion, and net profit of $792 million.

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A New York federal jury convicts Sam Bankman-Fried on all 7 counts. The US Attorney in Manhattan had this to say- "While the cryptocurrency industry might be new, and the players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new, this kind of corruption is as old as time. This case has always been about lying, cheating, stealing, and we have no patience with it." In ways similar to the continuing war that is taking place across many sectors Mr.Bankman-Fried's lawyers tried to paint a different picture that turns out to be far from the truth- that he was a math nerd and an entrepreneur building a new business using innovative ways.

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Short time work programs, paid leave, aid to small business for employee retention with the government paying a big percentage of wages, and unemployment benefits till companies rehire employees with government paying for this, are all different ways in which the U.S. and Europe are coping with the coronavirus crisis.  In the U.S. 22 million have applied for unemployment benefits with the U.S. government picking up a substantial part of the wages till companies rehire these employees. In the UK the government has launched a program that gives 2500 pounds or $3100 to each worker each month upto 80% of the worker's pay. The money is sent to businesses for retaining employees. This could cover estimated 8.3 million workers in the UK at a cost of $52 billion. The U.S. has a similar program with the first phase $377 billion already distributed to small businesses which requires retention of employees for government forgiveness of these loans. The basic idea is retain employees who could stay at home or be in short work programs or work from home. The French government is paying the wages of 9.6 million workers, almost half of workers in the private sector by sending the money to 785,000 small businesses. In Germany the Kurzarbeit program covers 725,000 companies which supports the wages of employees in a downturn and is financed from a special fund. The cost for Germany, France and Spain is about $147 billion or 135 billion euros for such programs. The European Union will step in with a 100 billion euros loan package. ...

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US adds 22,000 jobs in August 2025 with losses of jobs in manufacturing and construction, and gains in healthcare.

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The 2016 Republican platform is written to express the ideas in the Republican Party for family values, child rearing using the Bible and traditional values, calling pornography a "public health crisis."  The Family Research Council and tradition or family focussed groups played an important role in writing it, with Mr. Trump playing less of a role. Instead of "physical barrier" with Mexico, it says "a wall"  should be built in a taking up Trump's idea, but in general it is a clear expressing of traditional family values that Republicans have supported for years and expressed frustration with the movement of social lives in an opposite direction. The same sex marraige decision by the Supreme Court and transgender debate were not present in 2012 election, so in that sense the Republicans see the country as moving in a different direction. More of the pendulum having swung too far in another direction is how Republicans perceive it, and their response is to go back to how things used to be and the world they knew, based on what they see as positive outcomes for the whole of society. Hence language that encourages teaching of the Bible in public schools, condemning pornography as a menace particularly for children, and insisting on "man made laws being consistent with God given natural rights." A good understanding of the Bible is considered "indispensable for the development of an educated citizenry."   Amendments opposing gay and transgender are being added. ...

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Higher oil prices and a steep rise of about 50% this year are leading countries like China and India to consider raising prices for gasoline to promote conservation after years of subsidizing fuel because the needs of poorer people in these countries.

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The bowling of Siraj and Krishna help India win by just 7 runs in the final Test at the Oval in London, following a similar thriller in which India was on the other side losing by 20 runs at Old Trafford. The series is tied 2-2 and India retain the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy. Along the way Shubman Gill matches Don Bradman's record scoring of 810 runs in a series, and Ravindra Jadeja matches the all time great Gary Sobers 5 wickets and 722 runs as all rounder in 1966 series.