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The U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear the Trump travel ban case. It said in an unsigned opinion that part of the request by the Trump administration to stay a lower court ruling would be granted. This part of the request relates to "foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the U.S.", only these people would be prevented from entering the country till the full case is heard by the Supreme Court. The revised travel ban related to 6 mostly Muslim countries for 90 days.

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Spark some joy in your life and other tips for Mental Health. Tips include make new friends, get adequate rest, cope with anxiety and depressing moods, be able to quit some goals if not sustainable, let go of grudges, quit in a smarter way, and be kind to yourself.

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A steady decline in the price of Brent crude from $115 to $92 in the period from June to October 2014. Slow or no economic growth in Europe, and declining growth in China was the main reason. A cut in oil price by Saudi Arabia in September with lack of coordination in OPEC to control supplies when prices are declining, and increasing supplies from the U.S., provided additional basis for price declines. This price decline comes as large energy companies invested heavily in mega-projects to bring more oil supplies when prices were up to $128 by mid-2012. Consulting company EY estimate is that there are 163 such mega projects worth $1.1 trillion underway, most behind schedule and over budget. The projects were based on oil prices being over $100. Oil field development costs are increasing rapidly. Douglas Westwood, a consulting firm, estimate is that productivity of upstream capital spending has fallen by a factor of 5 since 2000, declining by 5% a year, as oilfield equipment and services demand exceeds supply. Greater technological sophistication also adds to cost such as Shell's Nobel Bully platform for deep sea drilling. See link- Noble Bully. Oil majors are now cutting spending, and some planned big projects are on hold. About $300 billion in assets may be up for sale. Shell plans to cut spending by 20% in 2014, Exxon and Chevron 5-6%. Shale oil projects in America need about $57 to be profitable with an internal rate of return of 10%, by one estimate. Yet this is an average and does not reflect differing producer costs. This estimate does not reflect the high cost producers, some of whom need closer to $110....

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Consider not only the cost of gasoline per gallon but also the higher fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks. The comparison is with the profligate consumption and larger cars before 1978, when gas hit 20 cents per mile on average, today it is 15 cents per mile on average, these figures factor in inflation which should be taken into account in coming up with the real number. Gas cost less in the 60's and 70's but fuel efficiency was pretty poor in those days, and cars were much larger, so per mile gas cost even more before fuel efficiency made big strides in the eighties and then again reverted to the pre 1978 days as gas prices dropped and consumption jumped, in the 90's. Conclusion: high gas prices are needed for the market mechanisms to work, and incentives to develop more fuel efficient vehicles if those vehicles demand increases.

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40 members of parliament agree to sign a letter of no confidence in prime minister Theresa May, in November 2017, according to the Sunday Times report. If 48 members of parliament agree Theresa May would be forced to resign from office.

After a snap election in June members of the Conservative Party are showing lack of support for her government. There is also considerable uncertainty over Brexit and the outcome of negotiations with the EU.

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For democracy to be effective people have to have a participatory role and have their voice heard. Mark Easton, Home Editor of the BBC, says this has not happened in the June parliamentary election. How is it that the result leaves Britain without an effective government, as Conservatives have only a 3 seat majority after joining with the DUP party in Ireland. The result a very fragile government. He asks how the election could be seen as providing people with a voice even though turnout had increased, when even after Labor increased its vote by 9.5% and Conservatives by 6% the Conservatives had to woo constantly the DUP party with a tiny fraction of 0.6% to form a government.

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The pound falls in value to $1.30 as Mr. Boris Johnson rejects the requirement stated by Mr. Macron of France that Britain must follow EU rules. Mr. Johnson says Britain  will choose sovereignty over anything else, creating the possibility of a hard Brexit. He says the UK should not be expected to follow EU rules, anymore than the EU should be expected to follow UK rules. Business leaders hope these are opening statements only. 

Mr. Johnson want a Canada style agreement or failing this an Australia style agreement, and failing this he would stay with the existing Withdrawal Agreement with the EU he negotiated earlier. The UK wants to complete negotiations for a deal by December 31, 2020.

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Carly Fiorina is the daughter of a law professor Joseph Sneed, who taught at Stanford, Cornell and Yale, and was Dean of the Duke University Law School. Joseph Sneed was made deputy attorney general under president Nixon. She tried following her father into law studies, with one semester at UCLA law school before dropping out. She later continued studies after teaching English for 1 year in Italy- doing her MBA at the University of Maryland before joining AT&T in 1980. At AT&T's federal procurement division she was selected for a fellowship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Later she was a senior executive at Lucent in 1998, a spinoff from AT&T, leading to the position as CEO of HP in 1999.

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Chevrolet and GMC finish in the top 5 in the J.D. Powers Initial Quality Survey for 2013. Owners reported 97 problems per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership for Chevrolet, and GMC owners reported 90 problems. The survey incudes problems with new technology such as navigation systems. Ford had 131 problems per 100 vehicles largely because of problems owners have with the new touch screen multimedia systems called MyFord Touch. GMC and Chevrolet use butons and knobs for the MyLink entertainment and navigation systems. By not doing extensive redesign GM moved up in the rankings. Because mechanical quality is about even for Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, GM and VW, the rankings now include new tech systems performance for automobile owners.

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Eighth grades civics and history national test scores in the US hit new lows of 13% for history and 20% for civics meeting proficiency standards. The Test used was the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Reading scores are also low. About three decades of progress appear to be wiped out during the pandemic. A message for president Biden- the fight for the soul of America starts right here and this site Lyrarc.com has a knowledge role for this to happen.

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Annalena Baerbock German Foreign Minister continues to voice concerns about German policy towards China after the sale of a stake in Hamburg port to Chinese shipping company Cosco. Chancellor Scholz went ahead with a smaller stake after opposition from 6 ministries within his administration including the Free Democrats and the Greens. He will be visiting China soon after the recent party Congress. Scholz's spokesperson says Scholz does not favor decoupling with China, yet favors diversifying and minimizing the risks.

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The CNBC video of Fed chair Jay Powell at his historic visit to Brookings to explain how he plans to tackle inflation for working families and at the same time feel his way through this so that the Fed does not raise rates more than is essential to tackle inflation, so as to bring back those who have left the labor market. The labor participation rate needs to be pushed back up to where it was before the pandemic, and is important for Powell.

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The governor of India's central bank, the RBI, says cryptocurrency are a threat to the economy and stability and savings of ordinary Indians. He believes private cryptocurrencies should be prohibited. He recently launched RBI own digital currency to combat the problem of private cryptocurrency firms. There is no proper regulatory oversight for cryptocurrency leading to abuses as most recently seen in the dramatic collapse of FTX in the US which was based in the Bahamas. It is covered by the WSJ.

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The fight against misuse of aid funds from donor countries is an important fight for Ukraine. Success in the war to defend Ukraine depends on winning the confidence of the European Union and the US that donor funds to rebuild Ukraine are going for that purpose. There is also the need to maintain the confidence of the Ukrainian people including millions displaced or refugees within the country, and the millions of other Ukrainians who are now intolerant of the corruption that used to be.

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The Biden administration is proposing strict rules for the $7500 tax credit on new EV vehicles. Rules going into effect April 18 will restrict the credit only to certain models yet to be announced that fulfill strict criteria on sourcing of minerals in the US or friendly countries. The idea is to bring the supply chain for minerals critical for EV batteries back to the US and its partners, and shift it away from China that today controls that supply chain.

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The WSJ Editorial Board calls Macron's comments during his trip to China a blunder. Macron said in an interview with a reporter from Politico and two French journalists- "The question Europeans need to answer is it in our interest to accelerate a crisis on Taiwan. No. The worse thing would be for we Europeans to think that we must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the US agenda and a Chinese overreaction." 

 

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The Biden Infrastructure plan aims to put $400 billion into home healthcare for seniors shifting away from hospitals and institutions. By 2030 one in every five people will be at retirement age in the US, as the aging population surges. Studies show seniors can - if supported by services and the resources allocated by the government - live better quality lives at home for an extended period in retirement. This is an important issue for seniors and the Biden administration after the pandemic.

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Governor Yuko Koike has set 2050 as the date for Tokyo to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has put out the plan in "Tokyo Zero Emissions Strategy." All vehicles will be using electricity or fuel cells. And all buildings will use solar and other forms of renewable energy. The govenor called on all Tokyo residents to fight climate change. Also planned is an effort to reduce use of plastic and other materials that consume large amounts of energy.

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The Biden $1.9 trillion aid package that cleared the US Congress on March 10, 2021 sets the stage for an economic rebound by 2022. OECD forecasts now show the US economy by the end of 2022 to be larger than forecast before the pandemic. In trade and other business policy the Biden administration is quietly following the changes made under the Trump administration to make the US position stronger in international trade and manufacturing, and remaking supply chains to meet US interests.

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Moderna has made the initial batches of doses of the vaccine for the variant of coronavirus including South African variant, and shipped these to the National Institutes of Health in the US. If the test results are positive the vaccine for variant could be given authorization by the third quarter of 2021. It is becoming crucial to stay ahead of variants developing from the coronavirus and pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, J&J, Astra Zeneca are working on the technology to tackle this.

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After only 6 months in office as CEO, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is making large chip investments in the US. He has committed to $20.5 billion chip investment in Arizona and $2.5 billion in New Mexico in the first 3 months on the job, to be followed by additional investments in 2021 and 2022. Intel under Gelsinger has made plans for $50 billion in chip making investments, including plans to become a chip maker for others. Intel also plans to acquire Global Foundries.

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Issues of war an peace, food supplies, climate change and renewable energy transition, world health, and other issues that relate to the wellbeing of people in the world can only be met by broadening the membership of the UN Security Council. US president Biden favors broadening the membership of the UN Security Council. Ministers of the G4 countries, Germany, India, Japan and Brazil met this week to push for reform of a UN Security Council that is now not working or dysfunctional. 

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PM Modi inaugurates 5G service in 13 cities in India. These cities are Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Pune, Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Jamnagar, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Chennai, Varanasi, and Kolkata. Other cities will be connected in the next few months and other parts of India in the next phase of 1 to 3 years. Jio's Akash Ambani and Mukesh Ambani took the leadership role in pioneering 4G in India. Jio is now playing a key role in pioneering the transformational technology of 5G throughout India.

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A study published by UNICEF shows that of 55 countries only three showed increase in popular perception of the importance of children's vaccines- India, China and Mexico. The Vaccine Confidence Project is conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The study says a total of 67 million children missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021 the years of the pandemic, vaccination coverage decreased in 112 countries, and much backsliding in vaccination happened that needs to be corrected.

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NASA technologists say cost constrains can be useful in planning moon missions. India's Chandrayan 3 cost $70 million for the moonlanding and the Vikram rover scientific research on the lunar surface. Progress is made through an incremental approach as Chandrayan 2 was based on the lessons from Chandrayan 1 which lost contact from lunar orbit, and Chandrayan 3 learning from the landing failure on the lunar surface of Chandrayan 2. This also reduces the cost of the next mission.