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Former Vice president Mike Pence says he told president Trump after the election that the claims about the election results not being correct were false. In making his decision Pence says he put his loyalty to the Constitution above the interests of the career of any one man.

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The impact of foreclosure in one Detroit neighborhood called Boston-Edison, where Henry Ford once lived and how the residents who have a neighborhood association going back many years to the 1920's are coping. The human consequences of foreclosures for a neighborhood. How could either side win, the lenders or the borrowers in a foreclosure situation and the need for the government to step in and bring some sense to the whole thing before it sinks both and blights towns and neighborhoods across America. One home bought for $179,000 in April 2006 was sold in the Boston-Edison area for guess how much, $6,500. Which shows that by the time thieves who for the copper and metal mining of these homes can destroy tens of thousands of dollars in value in minutes, and the deterioration of the neighborhood with crime and boarded up looks, and the very presence of foreclosures on each street destroys enormous amounts of value so that in this case the bank and its lenders got how much, less than $6500 or less than 4% of its original price. Repeated all across America this just does not make sense. Just as it never made sense for those who benefitted from the housing boom to say that subprime lending was a good thing because it brought home ownership to the less well off. Only lending that is at rates that are reasonable and considers the borrowers true finances, and on ethical and fair terms can be good lending and only government regulation designed to be easily enforceable and keeps lenders responsible, can ensure that this happens, as a free market is not good for this sort of thing. And this is all the more true for lending to those who are less well of because their ability to screen these contracts and their wording is not adequate and their own understanding of their finances inadequate. Barclay's Capital estimates that there are 811,000 bank owned homes in the USA, up from 129,000 in 2006, and predicts that it will grow by 60% before peaking in late 2009. ...

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Fears that India may be falling behind China, Mexico and Brazil in healthcare for the people. A planned budget increase was never implemented. Today the Indian government spends only $20 billion on healthcare for a population of over 1 billion people. Annual spending on healthcare is about 1.4% of GDP. Now the Indian government is planning to increase this to 2.5% of GDP. One senior health official Amarjeet Sinha, says other emerging economies such as Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, now have better public health indicators than India. In 1990 India's public health indicators were similiar to those countries. Another serious problem in India is malnutrition with an estimated 4 of 10 children malnourished. Underinvestment in healthcare is a significant problem as needs grow but there is a shortage of resources and trained healthcare personnel. Arvind Singhal, chairman of consutancy Technopak, says India needs an additional 1 million doctors and 2.5 million nurses to meet the needs of the current level of the Indian population. To do this 600 new medical colleges and 1,500 nursing colleges are needed. The child care advocacy group Save the Children UK, points out that just to meet India's committment to reduce the infant mortality rate by two thirds of the current level by 2015- to meet India's commitment to the UN Millenium Development Goals- India will need 2.6 million additional trained health workers. This shortage is most acutely felt in rural areas, especially in the large states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar....

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Micron Technology, GlobalFoundaries, Intel, Samsung are planning large investments with the assistance of governments in US, and Japan. Taiwan Semiconductor plans to build a chip plant in Japan. US has allocated $52 billion for domestic investments by chip companies. In recent decades bad policy has led to chip making demise in the US which the Biden administration is determined to reverse by boosting US chip production. Intel Corp has announced large investments in US and Europe, Micron is expected to follow in this direction.

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The shift to digital from newsprint for newspapers in the U.S. is taking place in gradual steps. Print ad still account for 86% of $24 billion in revenues for the newspapers in 2011, according to the Newspaper Association of America. About 45 million buyers for the 1400 newspapers in the U.S. put their hands on a printed paper edition each day. At the same time print revenues have fallen by half since 2007. So as not to overly disturb the existing customer base for newsprint papers, and wary of the still developing revenue model with lower revenues of the digital newspapers, Advance Publications is making a gradual shift to three days a week from daily papers. In 2009 it moved the An Arbor News to two print editions weekly and in early 2012 it shifted 7 other daily papers in local communities of Michigan to 3 times a week print editions. The pulbback has shifted readers to the paper's websites. Local communties depend on papers in a crisis such as the one that hit Louisiana with Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Circulation for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans has declined by half to 133, 557 daily in March 2012. Yet the digital edition has a distinct advantage because journalists continued to provide reports online when the hurricane knocked out printing presses. The advantage continues with the lighter iPad tablet devices which will make the papers accessible in a convenient hand holdable way. The problem is with the revenue stream which has not been established in a convincing way for digital as yet so that it would support hiring journalists. As it shifts to online reporting on its site Nola.com, Advance publications will shift to 3 print editions per week in New Orleans. And this will mean laying off 50 journalists, and covering a region with 1.3 million people with the remaining 100 journalists. Advance Publications will do the same for its papers in Birmingham and Huntsville in Alabama. For journalists like Caroline Little, a former publisher of the Washingtonpost.com, the scary thing is that fewer and fewer journalists are supported by the online model, and yet the shift to digital is unmistakable. For reaching younger readers not accustomed to holding a print newspaper, it is also the only way forward. ...

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Japan's baseball pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $325 million over 12 year contract. Yamamoto was Japan's best pitcher for 3 years. He joins Shohei Ohtani another Japanese baseball player who also joined the LA Dodgers. 

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Shenzen was a small fishing village in the 1970's. Over four decades its population now exceeds that of Hong Kong. Many companies such as Huawei and Tencent, Ping An Insurance and China Vanke are based in Shenzen.  The protests in Hong Kong are not reflected in the sentiment in Shenzen, says this report from Shenzen, China. About three quarters of a million people cross the dozen border crossings linking the two regional economies. People in Shenzen can watch Hong Kong television yet many prefer to watch mainstream Chinese sources of information such as China CTV, and smartphone app WeChat of Tencent. This report describes Hong Kong's waning cultural and economic influence on China so that most people follow the narrative shown on China Television CCTV.  The protests and situation in Hong Kong are also putting back the effort by China to integrate the whole area into what is seen as a "Greater Bay Area" pulling together nine cities in Guangdong province including Shenzen, Hong Kong and Macau. ...

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More revelations such as Pandora papers may not do much because the inertia is institiutionalized and the political system is available for hire, says Prof. Prem Sikka of the University of Sheffield, UK. He says armies of accountants, lawyers and financial experts support this system, the regulatory system in the UK is ineffective, and too many MP's are on the payroll of corporations, says Prof. Sikka in The Guardian. It is the sheer size of the problem that is staggering and could be an indication of how it reduces upward mobility in society, leads to financial crises, and defunds infrastructure, defunds healthcare and housing in US, Europe, Britain and India. The size of illegal money and tax evasion money in the world today is according to this article in The Guardian simply astonishing- $3.6 trillion. 

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Global Foundries based in New York and STMicroelectronics based in Switzerland are teaming up to invest $5.7 billion for a semiconductor factory in Crolles, in southeastern France. The French government will provide additional funding and support for a new home based technology supply chain. The plant will create 1000 jobs.

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Hotels in New York City can cost a fortune- $1100 a night in December near Christmas, $300 in September, $150 lower in January. Here dawn Gilbertson shares a small condo with an Airbnb host for $155 in December in Brooklyn about an hour subway+walk  to Manhattan.

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Mokoto Rich of the NYT discusses sentiment in Japan as the North Korean nuclear program advances. A majority of Japanese surveyed do not favor preemptive strikes. Japan's Constitution only allows acting in self-defense. Experts say Japan has to consider what it would do for missiles flying over Japanese territory in the direction of the U.S. A Japanese government ruling in 1956 allows acting in self-defense in a broader way. Yet the public in Japan is not sure what is the best way to respond. Also to be considered is how this will be seen in South Korea and China- would Japan taking a greater defensive role and building its own anti-ballistic missile system defenses lead to greater tensions in the region.

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Sweden and Finland say they want to preserve their right of self-determination to join NATO. Russia will meet with NATO in the context of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12, 2022, for discussions. Russia has given its list of grievances and demands to the US in meetings between Biden and Putin. The Western alliance and NATO aligned nations in Eastern and Northern Europe see standing firm together as the best way to counteract Russian pressures as it places 100,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's borders.

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For a long time CNN struggled with how it could avoid the peaks and valleys of viewer attention for its news programs- with a jump in viewers when a big news event happens and then a fall in viewers when not much is happening. Programs like Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown," have helped CNN tackle this problem. At first in 2012 and early 2013 when Bourdain's name came up in discussions at CNN for such a show, there was much disagreement about it, as some did not see the merits of bringing in someone who is not a journalist. By 2012 Bourdain had achieved prominence with his program on food "no Reservations," on Travel Channel. CNN's approach was to have a non-journalist take people around the world and tell stories about life and culture of the country and its people, in unique restaurant settings. By having a doumentary travel series CNN hoped to use the flexibility to delay a show if a news event broke out. Many viewers take tips on travel from the show. It has an enthusiastic following, thanks partly to Bourdain's style which is informal, relaxed, and jovial. Especially how he doesn't take himself seriously, and not thinking too much about Obama's guest appearance on the show at a small restaurant in Vietnam, where Bourdain picks up the tab of $6. That has won him over 800,000 viewers consistently from the 1st to the seventh season of the show. ...

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See the Breakthrough Agenda Report on Climate Change targets and hurdles after COP26, on the IEA website, and opportunity for 85 million additional jobs by 2030 in renewable energy. The report is done by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and Climate Change Champions. It points out the need for better international coordination if climate change goals set at COP26 are to be achieved. The report calls for a breakthrough by addressing the international "collaboration gap."

IRENA makes 25 recommendations to be discussed at ministerial meetings. It also says that 85 million new jobs could be created in renewable energy worldwide by 2030 compared to 2019, offsetting the loss of 12 million jobs, creating a huge jobs opportunity with action on renewable energy.

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Holman Jenkins of the WSJ talks to CEO Blankfein of Goldman Sachs. Goldman is about to issue large bonuses to employees which Blankfein says he would do to keep his people happy even if it means upsetting the public, especially as Goldman is seen as abeneficiary in the government's bailout of AIG and a beneficiary through its close contacts in the administration.

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The Czech Republic brings an amateur baseball team of firemen and teachers to Tokyo World Baseball games and wins 8-5 over China.

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Public sector layoffs in Spain in 2012-2013 under the governments deficit reduction plan- as mandated under fiscal compact rules agreed to in the December 2012 eurozone meetings- will worsen Spain's severe unemployment rate of 25%. These public sector layoffs are only now taking place. Upto now local governments had helped offset rising layoffs in the private sector by preserving employment. The result will be a further increase in unemployment in Spain, creating a crisis of large proportions.

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How IBM with its Smarter Planet initiative, GE, Cisco are creating smart infrastructure that saves energy. This reduces carbon dioxide emissions by reducing traffic congestion in cities like Stockhom, uses less water at plants, uses less energy for rail locomotives. These companies use technoloical advances in sensors to monitor use and advaced software to control usage. The huge stimulus spending in these areas creates new opportunities that companies are pursuing aggressively. One Dept of Energy project in Washington state using IBM technology showed that peak loads on utility grids can be reduced by 15%. Nationally such an advance in the U.S. over a 20 year period would eliminate the need for 30 coal-fired plants. IBM has a project in Norway for distribution with the largest food supplier using tracking software to optimize shipments and reduce spillage.

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Th Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, is designed to provide relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. HAMP has also prevented these homes -from the seven million home loans that are delinquent -from joining the overall inventory of homes, and depressing home prices further. Eighteen months after HAMP was introduced, it looks like HAMP has failed to help homeowners to the extent needed to revive housing. Of the 1.3 million modifications extended to homeowners, about half have been cancelled, and about one third or 422,000 homeowners have received permanent loan modifications. The results for July 2010 show that it is slowing down even more. The number of homeowners receiving modifications in July is growing at a much slower rate. 17,000 new trial modifications were started in July, 2010, but 5 times that number of loan modifications were cancelled. HAMP has reduced the montly payment through a lower interest rate and longer term, with the average borrower receiving a montly modification of $500. But even with lower payments and permanent modifications homeowners still have lots of debt. The median rato of total debt payments to pretax income is around 63.5%. And analysts estimate that 20% of borrowers with permanent modifications will re-default. The program had aroused huge expectations, hoping to help 3 million homeowners. Which is why Professor Kenneth Rosen, of the University of California, Berkeley, considers the results embarrassing for the Obama administration. Adding that the Obama administration should be ashamed of these results after all the hopes that were aroused for real help to homeowners. ...

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With 27% of votes counted over half or 57% of Berliners voted for nationalization of private developer housing units, only 39% voted no. Berliners cast more votes than they ever have. The vote shows Berliners have had enough of speculation in housing, mad rents, that are pushing locals out of the housing market, say referendum supporters. The vote is non binding, what it does is forces the Berlin city state government to find solutions to the housing problems in Berlin after decades of speculation in housing, and putting local Berliners in the forefront of housing solutions and housing investment.

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Mental health is no longer an issue during the pandemic and its aftermath just for a few. It has assumed a mainstream character. Here in this NYT report one finds the Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murthy, describe his problems with mental health. To create an awareness among the public that it is important to pay attention to what may be lost in a overly large focus on work or business, ignoring the social signals whose importance may not be realized till much later. As Surgeon General he says he simply focused on work and did not pay attention to the simple social interactions that help one relate to other people, and knowing about other people's lives that add a new dimension to living.  In Lyrarc during the pandemic we described the German mental health practice of Feierabend of consciously breaking away from work- especially remote work that lacks preset boundaries- so that by 5 or 6 pm one just calls it a day. At that point going out for a bike ride or walk or some activity in the outdoors that helps revive mind and spirit in ways that keep good health. It also prepares one for the next day's activity, to be able to approach it feeling refreshed and invigorated. ...

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German chancellor, Angela Merkel, appeals to members of the Christian Democratic Party to support the European project at a party convention in Leipzig on November 14, 2011. "We live in times of epic change. Our political compass has not changed. But the context is constantly changing," said Merkel. The 2 day convention used the motto: "For Europe. For Germany." Her message was that it will take years of hard work to fix the crisis and yet this has created an opportunity to put the European project on a sounder footing. Finance Minister Schauble put it succintly as he supported Merkel's appeal: "We now need to build the political union in Europe we never managed to build in the 90's." This comes as changes are taking place in Europe with new unity governments being formed in Greece by Mario Monti, a former EU commissioner, and in Greece by Papdemos, another EU official. And it comes as a head of Italy's central bank, Mario Draghi, who had pushed for stricter controls on spending by the Italian government, is now the head of the European Central Bank. Merkel also hit on the theme of a stricter financial union, and the need for courage to change the treaty underlying the European monetary union to allow strong, automatic sanctions for violations of the treaty. She also emphasized that the government had ruled out issuance of eurobonds that makes the EU as a whole responsible for the debt of individual countries. On that point she said: "Everywhere we look we find behaviour that cannot go on for long. Everywhere people are living as if there is no tomorrow."...

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To better reflect a diverse electorate in the presidential nominating process in the state primary elections president Biden is proposing including states with more union voters and diversity. South Carolina comes first with more union and diverse voters, then Iowa and New Hampshire with more rural voters, then Michigan with more union voters, followed by Georgia.

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The final COP28 agreement 2023 in Dubai, UAE, does not call for phase out of fossil fuels as Gemany and the EU called for. It instead uses the term "transition away from fossil fuels." Questions are being raised as to what was achieved at this climate change summit in a oil producing country.