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BBC News Original article ›
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Najib Razak of the UMNO United Malay National Organization who succeeded post independence leader Mahathir Mohamed of Malaysia is implicated in the1MDB scandal that also involved Goldman Sachs. $4.3 billion is estimated to be stolen from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Razak is given a15 year jail sentence in a scandal that has rocked Malaysian politics and reduced confidence in Malaysia's investment for modernization. irreparable harm is done to the nation's British inherited institutions for law and order, responsible parliamentary government, following the long premiership of Mahathir, ethnic nationalist "putra" movement of the UMNO, and the governments that followed Mahathir including Razak. Similar problems have affected other countries with ethnic nationalist movements in Sri Lanka where corruption and mismanagement of the state finances and treasury led to lack of funds for essential imports, and in other countries in Asia. Corrupt practices and misuse of state funds intended for development became a feature of government in Indian states following the rule of the Indian Congress party under Jawaharlal Nehru, with ethnic nationalism creating ethnic states in India, and causing irreparable harm to development and modernization with lack of capital and policy decisions. This has led to the lag of modernization in India with China of about 10-15 years that also affects defense at the Himalayan border with China as China's hybrid state capitalist economy surpassed India and matched the US in 2 decades 2000-2025. Only now is India under responsible governance pushing to close the gap and modernize rapidly under a new government in it's third term. Much of the thinking that accompanied post independence decolonization is now under question with it's assumptions that decolonization alone would lead to development is debunked. Modernization as China and India has learned comes from the good and responsible use of abundant capital, abundant labor, and abundant management resources, abundant technological access, good policy and plans at the federal and state levels, and good sustained leadership from the top. ...
BBC News Original article ›
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India European Union Trade Deal - huge potential for EU and India for 2 billion people size markets, new manufacturing hubs, and advanced scientific + technological cooperation. Timing is critical. From the first term of DJT 2016-2020 it became clear that the supply chain concentration in China was a serious error for America and Europe. Modi came into manage the federal government in India in 2014- that first phase was to tackle the basic problems in health care sanitation and road infrastructure, agriculture. By the second term of DJT Europe had realized something had to be done to reduce concentration of trade  supply chains in China. Two things had to happen to bring India and EU together. The Ukraine War and China's indirect participation on the side of Russia, the change in administration from Merkel to SPD's Schulz,  and in 2026 to Merz and the CDU created a new awareness of the need for EU and India to come together. Yet Scholz SPD hung onto the special trade relationship even in the face of the Ukraine war and China's shift when it allowed the port of Hamburg stake taken by China to be retained. Something had to happen to jerk Germany and with it the EU out of its inability to shift towards India. Merz took this step in 2026 as the relationship with China soured over Ukraine war and the grasp of the dangers of overconcentration of the China relationship with Germany that Merkel had created. On the other side Modi had to get India's logistics, road and rail networks, ports ready for such a trade relationship where goods could be quickly shipped into and out of India. Modi worked on these investments on a rapid basis in his second and third terms. India had to offer stability in the relationship. This meant winning elections to set up state governments in key states such as Maharashtra for Bombay (Mumbai) region, Delhi capital region, and Bihar/ Orissa (Patna region northeast), Rajasthan (Jaipur northwest region), local city governments in Bombay (Mumbai) region and in the south in Andhra (Vizag region) + Trivandrum (Kerala). The combination of federal and state and city governments working in unison plus logistics and transportation, put India in contention for the role of a size and magnitude that would make a difference for Europe in its relations with China and Russia. That necessity was now fulfilled and in place. Merz and Modi, seized the chance at the kite festival in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, with a vist to the Sabarmati Ashram of modern India's founder Mohandas Gandhiji. Von Der Leyen also from CDU now joins the former premier of Portugal Antonio de Costa as heads of EU to attend the Republic Day parade celebrations in New Delhi on January 26. Nothing happened by chance. It took the hard work that in Robert Frost's words in Mowing ( "the fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows my long scythe whispered, for the earnest love that laid the swale in rows"). Japan plunged headlong into imperial ambitions after its modernization, China has ambitions under its Communist/ Markets system, India as the homeland of the Buddha and the Buddhist civilization of China, Japan and Indochina, and with its special place for Mohandas Gandhiji brings the European civilization in connection with a civilization that is just as old and advanced as the European in its philosophical and religious foundations with practice in real life, and not likely to flounder on the rocks as the Japanese and Chinese expansionist ambition based ideas. And once again with Robert Frost in- Putting in the Seed in Springtime, for Merz, Leyen, Da Costa, and for Gandhi and Modi - "On through the watching for that early birth when just as the soil tarnishes with weed, The sturdy seedling with arched body comes shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs."     ...
NYTimes.com Original article ›
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The contrast between modernizing, developing East and South Asia ( from Mumbai to Shanghai) with war torn desolate West Asia (from Tehran and Baghdad to Kabul and Islamabad) is so striking today that it is something to reflect upon for wisdom and understanding. UAE support for Sudan's RSF Rapid Strike Force and Saudi support for the military - fracturing of Sudan, errors piled on errors led to the civil war in Sudan. A civil war in a country neighboring Saudi Arabia just across the Red Sea. Saudis and UAE were on opposite sides briefly after UAE pulled out of Sudan, UAE acting in this way to object against Saudis requesting US sanctions on UAE.  Once close partners have moved apart as they spread their influence in different conflicts in the Middle East.  This has not created a region that can grow economically without the disruptions of conflict in the way other parts of Asia have emerged to modernize the countries as in Taiwan, Korea, China and India. In neighboring Pakistan another conflict has emerged as partners split, with looming conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yemeni Houthis are in conflict with the US and affect the Persian Gulf shipping lanes.  Iran with it's pursuit of weapons programs and nuclear weapons is using capital that is badly needed to improve the economic situation on arms buildup for the regime and for allies in Lebanon and Yemen, leading to protests and crisis. In this way the Middle East has failed to use oil wealth to modernize the entire region. Much of it was wasted in Iraq and now in Iran by policies that led to war and regional conflicts not modernization and technological transformation that has happened in Asia. The US has inadvertently becoming a partner to this as when the Obama administration helped fund Iran's economic rebuilding which was instead used to fund the military, and before that the Reagan administration support for Iraqi socialist ideology regime. The challenge for China was how to modernize after the Japanese invasion and civil war. In Korea it was how to modernize after the civil war. In India it is how to modernize with a smaller neighboring country Pakistan promoting terrorism and wars now with China's support. In Asia all these challenges were and are being met to steadily and persistently modernize to European standards with a singleminded focus and determination to meet the aspirations of the people with the US business working alongside Taiwanese, Korean, Chinese, and Indian governments and private industry. In West Asia various ideological (Iraq), military (Pakistan), religious Shiite (Iran), religious + modernizing (Saudi +UAE) with erratic leaders and little representation of the people, has destroyed the tranquillity of the region and destroyed democratic forms of government, destroyed bottom up education and health of the population except for priviliged groups in countries in the region of West Asia. Involvement of US and Europe or Russia in West Asia has led to distintegration of Soviet Union (Boris Yeltsin) and deindustrialization of US and Europe (Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama administrations) with business shipping out manufacturing to China while wars engaged the attention of American and European elites in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan. The entire west Asian scene for 1950-2030 has been a disaster, one massive disaster for all involved. The contrast with East Asia and South Asia reminds one of the words from Robert Frost of New England in Mowing- that reflects on the enduring value of honest labour. "My long scythe whispered to the ground. What was it it whispered? It was no dream of the gift of idle hours, or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf: anything less would have seemed too weak to the earnest love that laid the swale in rows. The fact is the sweetest dream that labour knows. My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make." ...
BBC News Original article ›
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Garlic, ginger, turmeric and similar products are vital for healthy living and healthy food. So it is surprising that so little has been done before the Trump tariffs on Chinese food dumped in the U.S. This BBC report by Pamela Parker says 1994 was when the U.S. confirmed dumping by China of garlic yet the tariff that was placed was of an ineffective type that could be circumvented. As a result the U.S. producers such as Vessey in California that produced garlic for 100 years and 5 generations decided to not produce it beside cauliflower and cabbage. Of the surviving producers one producer today in California produces 100 million pounds of this product that has value way beyond the actual dollars as vital for healthy food supplies in the U.S. In fact after reports of contaminated water supplies in China imports of ginger and other such food products have been shifted away from China.  It is well known that the industrial revolution in China came too quickly and at a large cost to the environment after 1990 including contamination of the water, rivers. For this reason it is stunning that the people setting trade policy in Washington could have ignored the vital need of U.S. meeting food needs for healthy living out of its own soil and trusted farming community. To not have done so and let producers of garlic or ginger or other such vital food products to sustain health to go out of business is nothing less than a part of the growing calamity of self inflicted wounds that have happened so far. At no time more compelling an issue as today in the pandemic. The truth is that when it comes to healthy food supplies it is vitally important, as important as national security. And local supplies grown in one's own state or country particularly for vegetables, herbs, and fruit, are very critical. There is no way to even compare product grown locally to product grown in any country where water supplies may be contaminated by rapid industrial growth. ...
NYTimes.com Original article ›
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China's breakneck growth was enabled by housing construction, and coal in a way that created problems of climate change. Now China's largest housing developers Evergrande and Country Garden together have a staggering $500 billion in debt and in serious financial trouble in or near default. How will China's government respond? It let Evergrande who had defaulted on debt payments build 300,000 apartments last year, just to protect home buyers. Now it's founder Mr. Xu is taken in for questioning and "illegal crimes." Making sure that the apartments on which people made deposits are built would cost another $72 billion, says Nomura. Yet suppliers, painters, builders and brokers are owed another $390 billion, in one estimate. And foreign creditors are getting together for complicated restructurings. Evergrande had entered wealth management promising 8 or 9% returns and has stopped making payments. All this is affecting public confidence in the future and China's growth story. For decades China depended on housing construction for high growth rates. Now the process is unwinding with both in financial difficulties. This NYT report says that after Evergrande's default, Country Garden failed to make a payment on $200 billion in debt last week and has 400,000 apartments that it sold but has not finished building. ...
The Wall Street Journal Original article ›
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US $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027 fiscal year by the president for military and defense spending is about 4.7% of US GDP forecast of $31.8 trillion in 2026. In 1960 it was 9% following the Korean War. It dropped to 3.1% of GDP by 2000 and stayed around 3.4% till the current effort to modernization of the US military is thought to require about 5% of GDP.  (World Bank charts). The US spent far higher during an earlier period reaching 14% of GDP in 1953 during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This report shows WSJ Analysis of where the $1.5 trillion request for Defense is going-  $1.1 trillion for War Department and $350 billion for critical munitions. The munitions are in short supply and war in Iran shows that it plays a critical part in defensive systems such as intercepting of missiles as missiles in short supply affect overall capabilities. An additional $200 billion for Iran War. Pay raises for Defense personnel. $66 billion for shipbuilding- 34 ships to put the US back in the lead for shipbuilding it has lost to China, with the help of Japan which is also ramping up the shipbuilding it has lost to China. US and Japan were leading shipbuilders in the  1930's and in the 1960's, then lost it to South Korea and China. About a 12% decrease in other Department's budgets including Health and Human Services, Treasury, Commerce, Interior, Housing and Agriculture.  These cost reductions some of it coming from more efficient functioning and from concepts such as zero based budgeting where every line item in the budget gets reviewed every year for how much is needed for the purpose, is the purpose still valid, and can it be done more efficiently costing less. $660 billion is coming from the savings. The Nation's capital will also get a facelift, a major renovation, after being ignored for years. In the new Budget is $10 billion for the Presidential Capital Stewardship Program within the National Park Service for beautification projects in Washington D.C., which will give the National Capital a much needed new look for millions of visitors from the 51 states in the Union.    ...
The Hindu Original article ›
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In India's southern coastline state of Kerala, PM Modi has pursued a strategy of working with the CPI led government on development projects, and at the same time contested elections to set up a BJP government in the state. The capital city of Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) local election has led to a BJP municipal government in 2026. In an address to supporters in Trivandrum PM Modi said he was gratified by the results in elections for the capital city of Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), and wanted to make it India's model city., It reminded him he said of the situation in Gujarat when the BJP party won elections in Ahmedabad for the first time in 1987 for city government. By showing good governance in Ahmedabad, BJP was able to win elections in the state and provide good government and industrialization for Gujarat for the decades since 2001 when Modi formed the state government. This bodes well for Kerala said the Indian PM. Many schemes for improving the welfare of farmers, for people in health, housing and small business loans are coordinated by the federal, state and city governments to get the best results and this speeds up industrialization and modernization in the Indian model to create the kind of results China and Japan achieved in their heyday. ...
WSJ Original article ›
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China is building a new hospital in Wuhan the center of the coronavirus outbreak, to contain the outbreak. The plan is to build it in just 6 days. China has taken a new approach to tackling this health crisis, isolating the area and speeding up action to find solutions to the virus. A shortage of hospital beds and resources in Wuhan led to the decision to build a new hospital rapidly. China's rapid response is the first high speed response and could be a model for future outbreaks. Before this during the SARS crisis in China, and other health crises worldwide, action was taken gradually by hospital and government authorites leading to more deaths and wider spread of disease.

Wall Street Journal Original article ›
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The loss of state support in the 1980's resulted in the gradual withering of the health care system in China as individuals bore the brunt of health care costs. Hospitals and clinics shifted to pay as you go system, with the emphasis on prescribing treatment that would boost income including costly tests.
WSJ Original article ›
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Effects on mental health of the lockdowns in China for covid and personal stories of despair and helplessness.

WSJ Original article ›
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This article is a must read for everyone to know where our plastic and other paper waste is ending up. With China's ban on importing plastic waste the stuff is being shipped to India, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. Now these countries are turning it back. Who needs sometimes contaminated waste. In the U.S. it ends up mostly on landfills. It is a health hazard as one recent story of waste shipped out to a part of Chile shows- with health problems for people in the vicinity. The WSJ has done an excellent story with diagrams and pictures in this exceptionally good story we recommend for our readers to know what is happening worldwide with plastic waste.  There is increasing education of the harmful effects of plastic and there is a government campaign in India supported by the prime minister Modi to reduce use of plastic bags and find ways to dispose off local plastic waste. In the light of this why would India or Malaysia or any other Asian or Latin American or African country want any other country's plastic waste, particularly when it is a health hazard. In fact China for so long allowing importing of plastic waste till recently so it could be processed with low cost labour and reused for plastics production is incomprehensible, considering the health risks involved. ...
BBC Original article ›
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Did you now there are internet addiction camps to rehabilitate people affected by overuse of internet time, spending time online for hours at a stretch. The BBC looks at one such camp in South Korea. Having such fast internet connections and being one of the most well connected internet countries in the world looked great until one realizes the cost. Being advanced or going faster and faster doesn't mean better without the exercize of needed discrimination of what is best for healthy lives and healthy mindsets. Everything elders once took for granted such as time spent with crafts, sports, outdoor activities, and hobbies, are being given to kids at these internet addiction rehabilitation camps. One kid watched youtube for 18 hours a day and now the way back to mental and physical health is to stop using the iphone or android phone altogether. This maybe of some comfort to countries without the internet connections prevailing in so called advanced countries. Even there the improvements are coming with a cost such as the proliferation of watching Tik Tok from China in India and China with poor quality content that is likely to fragment peoples attention making it harder to lead healthy lives that we once took for granted before the advent of Mr. Job's screen enabled phone. ...
New York Times Original article ›
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China bans smoking in public places in June 2015. The authorites say unlike previous bans before the Olympics this one will be enforced. The damage to public health is immense, with about one third of smokers in the world in China. Public spaces include restaurants, offices, bars, nightclubs, airports and trains. Included also are areas around schools and hospitals. There are 301 million smokers in China, according to the World Health Organization. About 53% of men and 2.4% of women smoke regularly, and this contributes to 1 million deaths from heart disease, cancer and other diseases. WHO estimates about 100,000 deaths from second hand smoke. About 28.1% of the population are smokers, based on the 2010 survey. The survey was organized by the WHO and China's Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The figure of 2.4% shows women are less affected than men by the damage done to public health. Women also are leading the way to fight smoking and effects of second hand smoke. People in Beijing already have to deal with the effects of pollution in the air they breathe, and are keen on eliminating the additional harmful effects of secondhand smoke added to this....
WSJ Original article ›
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As the world changes in 2021 after tensions in world trade, climate change and the health pandemic companies that are out of favor include Alibaba in China and Softbank in Japan. Some of these companies were overvalued and  capital markets  that supported these companies ignored the major needs in climate change, health, education, and infrastructure building. 

The Guardian Original article ›
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Tobacco use has reached levels of catastrophe in Jordan as a major public health crisis develops. This Guardian report says there is influence of Big Tobacco in developing countries. About 80% of men in Jordan use tobacco or smoke cigarettes, according to a government and WHO study, smoking an average of 23 cigarettes a day. This could soon spike rates for cancer and other lung diseases, and warnings of a future public health catastrophe comes from the Amman King Hussein Cancer Center.  Indonesia is one of the other nations with high level of tobacco use. In countries in Europe and America where tobacco use is controlled there are restrictions on advertising and efforts to control use which are less prevalent in developing countries that put there health systems more at risk from lung diseases. This is true even of countries such as India and China, where a lot remains to be done. At one time Japan also suffered from this problem. Revenues to the state from tobacco and other financial interests, as well as lack of strong public health protection agencies is a problem that needs to be tackled for public health. In China about 50% of men smoke and there are 300 million smokers, with one third of tobacco consumption in the world in China. In India the figures are 234 million and 47% of men smoke, with the highest smoking at 80% in Kolkata and over 70% in the northeastern states. The damage from this to public health is enormous. In China the China National Tobacco Corporation CNTC is the state run tobacco company, the third largest company by profits in China. In India the largest tobacco company is Imperial Tobacco Company ITC. Tobacco was brought to India and China by the Portuguese from Brazil 400 years ago and may have taken the most lives in the two countries over that period. ...
WSJ Original article ›
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Lake county with 230,000 population in Ohio received 60 million pills. Ohio Counties say after the $650 million settlement verdict by US courts for CVS, Walgreens, that it cost them $1 billion for law enforcement, social services, and health services. The opioid crisis dealt another blow to communities in the US already devastated by the behaviour of banks in the 2009 economic crisis, the outshoring of entire manufacturing to China, followed by the pandemic in 2020. America is only now coming to terms with the failure of previous adminstrations as the Biden administration takes on this task of bringing America, its workers and families back to healthy thriving communities.

dw.com Original article ›
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This report in DW.com presents a situation where supply of oil runs out as demand way exceeds supply as shale oils in US are depleted, and no new reserves are found. A story in WSJ last week reports that the salty water from shale oil extraction is injected back into reservoirs at a rate that creates serious problems in the Permian Basian of the US including East Texas. The IEA forecast in 2026 shows about 97 million b/d of production and demand slightly exceeding this in both 2030 and 2050 which would suggest defossilization has not taken place. Yet the US pullout from defossilization under DJT is sure to be reversed by future governments in as short as 3 years, and the current DJT policy is simply a response to the cost of living concerns of the majority of Americans. The scenario that fossil fuels will be required forever is promoted by the oil companies and by OPEC+ including Russia. But this situation will reverse as the cost of living crisis and the low wages and incomes, loss of factory jobs, low savings, health care inflation, is tackled under the DJT administration and the US economy becomes stronger with lower inflation.  This scenario of  steady oil demand can be reversed if China and India and Europe push ahead with renewable energy and technological change as is happening today, and will not be seriously impacted when the US joins the battle with its renewable energy push in 2028. This is not just an optimistic scenario, it is a balanced one as private industry in the US will sense this and move ahead with development of new technologies for renewable energy so as not to fall behind and to pioneer on their own. That is the history of innovation in the US for the last 100 years and will not change. ...
WSJ Original article ›
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It depends- only if you look at it in actual millions of people. In percent of people Voice of America and this WSJ report show that US obesity rate is much higher with 22 states above 35% and the rate overall at about 25%, compared to China's at about 14%. The fact that this was reported in this way is happening as this issue is taken far too casually in the US, when the quality of life is largely dependent on health. And such high levels of obesity in the US, catastrophic levels in some southern and midwestern states, means one is not doing things right and heading for a poorer quality of life. This report in the WSJ cites estimates of obesity in China of as high as 200 million and likely to grow by another 100 million by 2034, about 14% of the population being obese today and obesity increasing to about 20%. In China the demand for weight loss drugs is growing. The government has a program to reduce the intake of salt, sugar and oil and increase health foods in the diet. Meat in the diet has tripled and there is a need for more health conscious attitudes in China, even more so and urgently in the US. Both the US and China are too auto centric in their culture, particularly the US where public transportation has not been given high priority leading to a lack of enough exercise getting to work. ...
New York Times Original article ›
New York Times Original article ›
Wall Street Journal Original article ›
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Two of three obese people live in developing countries. About 29% of the global population is obese in 2013, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Between 1980 and 2013, obesity increased by 47% for kids and 27% for adults in the global population. Dr Murray of IHME says no country was the exception. Diet and inactivity are the principal culprits. About 37% of world's men and 38% of women are obese. Obesity increased rapidly first in developed countries, becoming noticeable by 1980 and slowing since 2006, and now is growing fast in developing countries. Germany is a surprise No. 8 on the list. The U.S. No. 1 ranking tells a lot about the misguided priorities of living in the U.S., lack of education on healthy eating and healthy living, and not putting healthy habits at the top of things to do above making more money. An extreme case is South Africa where 42% of women are obese. The most obese countries are by rank - U.S., China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, Indonesia. Middle Eastern and North African countries have high obesity rates for children. The study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation....
WSJ Original article ›
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This report in WSJ takes a detailed look at how the shift to digital payments, and digital badges for covid free designation on smartphones are affecting a part of the population of 60+ years that is notinternet or smartphone savy.  60+ years make up only 10% of the users of internet on age based graph, even though they are a large part of China's rapidly aging population, estimated to be closer to 20% of the population or about 250 million. Elderly people in China are having a hard time with scanning of health codes to access transport and other services. To tackle the covid pandemic China has health codes assigned to citizens which link user national ID and Covid status. These need to be scanned in for access to train and transport facilities and other services, color coded digital badges on smartphones that show one is covid free.  Most elderly cannot handle these smartphone tasks because they lack the skills of young people with smartphones or lack the digital payments having used cash all their life. Other problems are poor eyesight, health problems, but the most severe is a big skills handicap in downloading apps, in typing quickly, and in navigating the internet. The government is taking steps to provide relief for the elderly by prohibiting places of services from refusing to accept cash, and finding ways to make the health codes system work for seniors. ...
DW.COM Original article ›
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When the coronavirus spread in China it was expected that Taiwan would be affected badly. Yet Taiwan has managed the situation in a number of ways that has limited cases to 50. Health experts attribute this to quick preparation and early intervention. After the 2002 and 2003 SARS epidemic Taiwan setup the National Health Command Center (NHCC) to combine resources for managing a health crisis. This was to prepare for the next crisis. Taiwan acted early imposing a ban on travel to China, Macau and Hong Kong, and a ban on the exporting of surgical masks to keep a stockpile in Taiwan.  Taiwanese government integrated data from national health insurance with immigration and customs data. A program was developed  that allowed people to report travel histories and symptoms by scanning a QR code when they arrive in Taiwan. Travelers receive a text message with their health status that allows customs officers to focus on the ones requiring attention. The public's willingness to follow government regulation is now much higher after the difficulties caused by the SARS crisis. This makes them willing to follow more readily action taken by the government, as SARS memory is still fresh in their minds. Investments in public health systems and in biomedical research is much further advanced than in other countries. A research team at Academia Sinica has developed antibodies that can identify the protein that causes coronavirus, The aim is to shorten the test time for diagnosis to 20 minutes. The lead researcher Yang says the next step is to validate it before turning out a rapid test kit. ...
The New York Times Original article ›
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Jacobs and Richtel of the NYT give this exceptional story of how Mexico changed between 1980 and 2016. Following the joining of NAFTA free trade zone the Mexican diet and food ecosystem began to more closely resemble the food diet system in the U.S. bringing with it severe health consequences. Soda and coke are now more entrenched in Mexico, as are fast food outlets. In 1980 only 7% of Mexicans were obese, compared to 20% in 2016, according to Institute for Health Metrics at the University of Washington. And diabetes kills 80,000 people a year, becoming the top killer according to the World Health Organization. A trade expert at Tufts University, Timothy Wise, says Mexico took on the worst aspects of a first world country like the U.S., with few protections. A similar problem is taking place in India and China as obesity grows, according to the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, as low nutrient highly processed foods of large food companies with huge advertising budgets take a prominent place in diets. This is a growing problem for countries from Colombia to Ghana and Nigeria. ...
The Wall Street Journal Original article ›
LyrArc Article Gist
Much of the reward for Labour goes to Health, Nutrition (food choices), and Education (schooling choices for children). This is the backbone for any Nation that is going to be strong and have a good future. Yet economic structures in 2026 and for decades has swung too far in one direction away from Labour and more and more for Capital, creating grave risks for the Nation, and setting the US as the wrong role model. Labour and Capital in 1980 vs 2026- increasing reward for Capital from 7% to 12% of GDI decreasing for Labour 58% to 52% in same period. In some areas this is not so because other regions have set their own priorities and this is a good thing Europe has a strong and fair access healthcare system, India has a strong and fair access pharmaceuticals healthcare system, which act as role models for the US. In 2026 RFK Jr, Dr. Oz at HHS and DJT are focused on getting US pharmaceuticals prices down to levels in the European Union. The real dangers of the skewing in the direction of Capital of rewards is creating a class that is not sensitive to the lives of ordinary people resulting in fracturing of society. Something like that happened in 1600-1800 in India and China leading to the disintegration of society and becoming overcome by foreign European powers which had more dynamic societies from the bottom up that led to discoveries in science leading to the industrial revolution. One detects something like this happening by accident by poor governance and bad decisions for wars (Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama), and the same administrations pushed by bad advice from economists to ship the productive manufacturing resources of the Nation to China. If not reversed it would lead to the kind of decline Asia witnessed after 1600- hitting all classes of society and destroying the economic structures as foreign powers get the upper hand. The surrendering of research labs and higher education in advanced science fields to foreigners at US and European universities poses similar risks as fractured society with Capital dominant and unaware of the risks. Such societies have less perception of such risk than a bottom up built social, economic and political framework with large numbers of aspiring local citizens seeking these positions in science and technology in the Nation. ...

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