Twitter's short form of 140 characters, the iphone, and the tech platforms building on the declining cultural and other literacy in America, Europe, other countries

05/28/2020

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's regrets on what he sees as the lack of any depth in the short form that works well on mobile phones. The first smartphones came in 2007 and 2008 iphone and android versions, Twitter started in 2006, both growing at the same time, the story of a tech boom that is paralleled by declining cultural and other literacy in America. It also parallels the decline in sense of what is in the national interest among communities in America and Europe and in other countries, leaving them with fewer defences against the coronavirus pandemic by 2020.

Linked Articles

Opinion | A Presidential Smear

WSJ 05/26/2020

The Editorial Board

NYTimes.com 11/09/2013

Matt Richtel

What Bill Gates and France had in common in the fight for health preparedness

05/11/2020

France had learned lessons from SARS epidemic and prepared for the H1N1 epidemic at the time that Bill Gates of Microsoft was pushing for greater awareness of public health priorities. Today Gates says this was not enough, that he did not do enough and feels terrible about it. The irresponsible banking practices that caused the financial crises first in the global financial crisis of 2009 and then in the eurozone financial crisis that followed by 2011 led to the ditching of the pandemic preparedness effort in France and Britain. In all of the western world including the U.S. austerity practices were the response without addressing the root causes of financial crises. Investments in public services and infrastructure were neglected leading to a level of unpreparedness that is shocking. Countries in lesser developed countries with more consciousness of the importance of public services and care of the vast majority of people were better protected in the crisis as a result than the more developed countries.

Linked Articles

Bill Gates Has Regrets

WSJ 05/11/2020

Betsy Mc Kay

France 24 05/17/2020

The U.S. plan to reverse the withdrawal from Afghanistan to prevent a repeat of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq after 2011 leading to terrorism and a chaotic situation

08/22/2017

Linked Articles

Angry Trump Grilled His Generals About Troop Increase, Then Gave In

The New York Times 08/22/2017

Mark Landler, Maggie Haberman

Washington Post 08/22/2017

David Nakamuraabby Phillipdavid Nakamuraabby Phillip

The Women20 Summit in Berlin and the path for women to the workplace in Europe, the U.S., and other countries

05/08/2017

The views expressed at the Women20 Summit at the G-20 summit in Berlin reflect the views of women leaders including Angela Merkel. Problems women in the U.S. are facing are covered here by Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen. For the first time leaders of the stature of Merkel and Yellen are talking about these issues openly to drive the debate and clear the path for women.

Linked Articles

The real issues at Women20 | Business | DW.COM | 26.04.2017

DW.COM 04/26/2017

Tamsin Walker

The New York Times 05/05/2017

Binyamin Appelbaum

France's 2017 presidential election and the future of Europe

03/07/2017

Linked Articles

The vote that could wreck the European Union

The Economist 05/12/2017

The Economist 05/12/2017

Why initiating Brexit by invoking the Lisbon Treaty's Article 50 could go into 2017, or even past 2020 into new general elections- (3) the inclusion of key "Leave" supporters in Theresa May's cabinet

08/16/2016

By including a key member of the "Leave" vote, Mr Boris Johnson, former Mayor of London, in the cabinet as Foreign Secretary, Theresa May has given herself a lot more flexibility in tackling the Brexit issue so that it does not hurt the British economy. It would be hard for a key cabinet member not to be part of the team position on issues, and for the team to ignore the Bank of England's role in steadying the economy. By making the issues important to working class people in Britain her priorities Theresa May also lays the ground for everyone in Britain to gain moving forward as the economy recovers.

Linked Articles

Wait and see: Theresa May is in no hurry on Brexit | Europe | DW.COM | 15.08.2016

DW.COM 08/15/2016

Bernd Riegert / Db

The New York Times 07/13/2016

Why initiating Brexit by invoking the Lisbon Treaty's Article 50 could go into 2017, or even past 2020 into new general elections- (1) the pro stay vote in Ireland and Scotland

08/16/2016

Theresa May, Britain's prime minister, is deeply committed to the idea of the union of England with Scotland and Ireland. Invoking Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty, a step necessary for Brexit, would also lead to Scotland's ruling Scottish National Party to initiate plans for a second referendum for Scottish independence, as Scotland votd to remain in the European Union. The issue of Ireland and Northern Ireland's vote to remain in the EU would also lead to serious repercussions. In short it will be hard to separate the leave vote in England from the stay vote in Scotland and Ireland, as it will be difficult for most British people to imagine a England without a British identity. If the referendum had asked the second question "Do you still vote leave if this means the end of Britain or the United Kingdom?" the vote could have turned out differently for nationalist voters.

Linked Articles

Wait and see: Theresa May is in no hurry on Brexit | Europe | DW.COM | 15.08.2016

DW.COM 08/15/2016

Bernd Riegert / Db

DW.COM 07/25/2016

The rise of cultural illiberalism in Europe and America seriously threatens the post war society based on liberal ideas that was setup since 1945

12/16/2015

Linked Articles

Playing with fear

Economist 12/17/2015

Economist.Com

Wall Street Journal 12/16/2015

William A. Galston, William, A., Galston

A guide to understanding the Middle East and South Asia, 1980-2015, and what this means for Europe and the U.S. (1) - Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan

09/25/2015

Linked Articles

The Duel of Despots

Wall Street Journal 11/12/2015

Bartle Bull, Bartle, Bull

Wall Street Journal 09/25/2015

Neil Rogachevsky, Neil, Rogachevsky

2016 U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush's Tax Plan that spells out details, and takes a shot at 4% growth for restoring lost social and economic mobility in the U.S.

09/09/2015

The efforts to wrestle with the deficit in 2011-2012 led to a vigorous debate on changing the tax code, yet political leaders failed to take up new ideas or spell out the details. Jeb Bush, with advisors Martin Feldstein and Kevin Warsh, takes the unconventional approach of putting in the details, and taking up ideas such as the idea of limiting itemized deductions to 2% of adjusted gross income proposed by Feldstein in that debate. On the $2.1 trillion in income held overseas by U.S. companies Bush proposes 8.75% tax paid over 10 years. On business investment he proposes capital investment be allowed to be deducted in full immediately. It is based on the idea that business investment can drive a vigorous recovery, that workers bear 50% of the burden of higer taxes through sluggish wage growth. It levels the playing field for debt and equity capital, removing "carried interest" provision, as a lesson from the excessive leverage taken by financial institutions in the past.

Linked Articles

The Bush Growth Plan

Wall Street Journal 09/10/2015

Editorial

New York Times 09/09/2015

Alan Rappeport, Alan, Rappeport, Matt Flegenheimer, Matt, Flegenheimer

German experts and public opinion who see Greece's exit from the eurozone as the best thing for the euro in July 2015 (1)

07/07/2015

Chancellor Merkel's statement that the the Euro is the EU, now place more emphasis on building a strong future for the euro. Experts in Germany believe the euro is better off without Greece by July 2015. As the WSJ editorial points out political contagion is now a bigger threat to the euro, with euro skeptic parties joining populist parties with no committment to the common currency and its basic rules.

Linked Articles

German Finance Chief’s Hard Line on Greece Limits Angela Merkel’s Room to Maneuver

Wall Street Journal 07/09/2015

Anton Troianovski, Anton, Troianovski

New York Times 07/07/2015

Jochen Bittner, Jochen, Bittner

Errors made by the IMF, Syriza Tsipras far left government, leading to the third bailout program of 2015 for Greece

07/06/2015

Just when the first signs of growth in the economy were taking place in 2014 the IMF held back on a 7.2 billion euro payment to Greece which would have increased liquidity to the private sector for growth. The IMF hope to gain leverage with a future Syriza far left government. The first half of 2015 led to economic anxiety in Greece with a failed negotiating strategy of Syriza far left government focussing only on the debt and not on the economy. The damage led to about 85 billion in addtional financing needed following the closing of Greece's banking system in July 2015.

Linked Articles

IMF Warns Eurozone That Greece Needs Far More Debt Relief

Wall Street Journal 07/15/2015

Ian Talley, Ian, Talley

New York Times 07/06/2015

Gikas Hardouvelis, Gikas, Hardouvelis