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"Wars have been lost because of logistics," says the director of logistics and engineering in US Central Command. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges says the Russian logistics system is exhausted- that it was never setup in a way that it could support a long conflict outside of Russia. It has smaller fleets of trucks and is dependent on rail lines in the south near Kherson and Crimea that have been hit. These trucks now have to travel longer distances to supply the troops. Damaged bridges also lead to difficult supply conditions. Ukraine seeks to use this has a way to push Russia out of Kherson and other region in and near Crimea along the Black Sea.

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How a winner take all economy that pays a lot for what are called the "greedy" professions in law, consulting and finance, impact women. In these professions 24 hour or almost 24 hour availability has led to quadrupled income levels. To do this as this NYT article shows someone has to go part time time or be there when the children need it, or when the maximum work hours spouse is out at work, for doctors appointments and other needs. In many cases this is the woman as shown in examples from the law and other professions in this article. Women are finding that this shift to longer hours in these professions, consulting, law and finance, mean they have to voluntarily give up working the similar long hours that their husbands are putting in, especially when well educated women marry well educated men. A more normal level of schedules would enable both partners to work full time, and have time for each other and the children. This is one of the ways the U.S. is different from a country like France which provides the added benefit of better child care to promote balanced lives and more opportunities for women to advance their careers and use their education. ...

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India's Ministry of External Affairs says both sides have agreed to de-escalate in the border dispute involving Bhutan, India and China. This happened after discussions between Indian and Chinese diplomats. "Expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going," according to the Ministry of External Affairs statement. The dispute began when China began work on a motorable road in the Doklam plateau which provides entry into India's northern plains.

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The lockdowns and remote work have led to men spending more time taking care of children at home. The stereotype of the hapless dad as a second grade caregiver is now out of date. Dads have learned a lot during the pandemic.

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WSJ points out that the wealthiest 400 billionaire families in America pay only 8.2% in taxes on federal individual income taxes between 2010 and 2018, not the 3% it says president Biden has said. The average income tax rate in 2020 was about 14% says the WSJ. For higher incomes it was about 25%. All this happened while infrastructure, education and health remained woefully underfunded, with Tech companies egregious behaviour in not paying their fair share of taxes and massive misallocation coupled with low productivity of capital invested compared to infrastructure. 

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Queen Elizabeth's virtual visit to Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel after the completion of a 155 bed unit in 5 weeks instead of 5 months.Queen Elizabeth hailed the Dunkirk spirit of the construction workers and said "Thank goodness, it still exists."

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Whats the breakdown of costs for Detroit's Three Auto Companies. The following infomation is from documents submitted by Ford Motor Company to Congress. Detroit Auto Companies Foreign Makes like Toyota Hourly cost Hourly cost Hourly wage for workers $29 $26 (Toyota Kentucky plant) Holidays and Vacation pay & pay for Detroit laid off workers $14 $9 Cost of Health Care and Pensions for $16 Toyota has only 300 retired retired workers workers Overall cost $71 $49 The biggest difference is in the cost of paying laid off workers, jobs banks, and in the cost of paying the health care and retirement pensions of retired workers. And for GM there are about 1 million of them, (96,000 active workers, 497,000 retired workers and also the dependents of retired workers) costing GM $4.8 billion on health care. At $1500 per car for GM costs on health care vs. $200 per car for health care costs at Toyota. The difference is $1300. If this is factored in to the profitability of small cars then the field is skewed one way. On a $23,000 car that is a 5% margin right there for adiffernce of $1100 in health care costs. If this is the way profit is calculated on small cars with this health care differential factored in then there is always a muddleheaded tendency to product he bigger cars and trucks because they can absorb this differential better. But it doesn't make sense that this should dictate how the business is run. And it could lead to serious mistakes which appears to be the situation at the Detroit companies, the way they went into the downturn right into 2008 with a product mix that was going to be hit hardest by a change in customer preferences. ...

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French president Macron on a dawn to dusk two week effort to prove that he takes voter concerns for the cost of living for pensioners, elderly, young people, poorer communities in rural areas and smaller urban areas very seriously now that inflation is surging. The French presidency is seen in the Gaullist tradition as invested with huge concentration of powers, forgetting that De Gaulle helped bring about the major social changes in France by bringing farmers across France from scattered small plots to the modern agriculture and technology that was unknown in rural areas, and investing heavily in infrastructure building to build a modern France. The strong presidency itself was designed to give the president the power to make these changes.

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How much room is there to raise interest rates. Patrick Minford of the University of Cardiff says a lot more. At the rate of 9-10% inflation in Britain more interest rate increases are likely. Minford is advising Liz Truss who is candidate for prime minister. Minford's main ideas are- Get interest rates back up to what was considered normal in previous decades- 5-7% for mortgage rates is what it used to be. At that rate it protects people's savings something that did not happen in the last 2 decades of ultra low rates worsening the wealth gap for Britons in different classes. Cutting taxes is about providing the economy a boost as rates go up. It is not about huge cuts, just modest cuts like the 30 billion pound cuts proposed by Truss. Minford is not talking about low taxes. He is simply talking about having taxes at levels that will promote growth- "the key to growth is not having high taxes. We're not talking about cutting them, just talking about not having them at catastrophic levels." Here is what Liz Truss is proposing- Reverse the recent rise in national insurance. Scrap the increase in corporation tax. About this plan Minford says- "If we raise corporation tax we will kill off growth." Minford dismisses concerns about borrowing. " It's crazy to begin to try to drop the debt to GDP ratio 5 minutes after Covid." With higher rates Minford also think there will be fewer "zombie" companies eating up the nation's capital, while protecting the savings of hard working ordinary people in Britain which hasn't happened in the last two decades of ridiculously low rates, worsening wealth gaps in British society. Minford calls Sunak's policies "puerile" and too much beholden to Treasury thinking. Liz Truss says Sunak's policies are for Brexit in name only, not taking advantage of Brexit to rid Britain of cautious policy that does not capitalize fully on cutting the bureaucratic and regulatory burden to get growth, and trade that favors Britain. ...

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This WSJ report is part of its ongoing investigation of the origins of the coronavirus and the role of a risky coronavirus research study in Wuhan, China.

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US Naval Blockade of Iran to include taking all Iran sanctioned ships in oceans of the world, says Gen. Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Caine says-The U.S. "will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran. This includes dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil. As most of you know, dark fleet vessels are those illicit or illegal ships evading international regulations, sanctions or insurance requirements.” It will also include ships carrying war supplies. Most of Iran's 1.6 million barrels a day of exports goes to smal independent refineries on the eastern coast of China, which are known as "teapot" refineries.

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The selection of Tim Walz as VP was simply from the heart for Kamala Harris- She liked the way Walz called the former president's campaign "weird" saying we are not afraid of "weird" even if it is "creepy." Kamala Harris liked him- "he is so open" "I like him." And you could see it on the stage in Philadelphia.  “Governor. Veteran. Coach. Teacher,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, wrote on X. “Winner.” Being a teacher mattered to Jill and Joe Biden and to Jen O'Malley Dillon. Jill teaches community college and did not miss class even in the days of the Inauguration. Harris really respects teachers. It helped that he was a veteran and the most senior army reserve man in the House. And his record showed for climate, for fairness for workers and families, achieving in Minnesota through legislation what Biden has done for the Nation. ...