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The home equity borowing in which advertising changed people's view of home equity from hocking your house to socially acceptable use of such financing like the "LIve Richly" ad campaign of Citibank which alone cost $1 billion from 2001 to 2006. Since the early 1980's the value ofhome equity went up from $1 trillion from $1 billion and about a quarter of Americans with mortgages have home equity loans. Banks earn 25% higher returns on these loans.

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Glaxo, like other pharmaceutical companies facing severe competition from generics, aggressively marketed the treatment for Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) with its drug Requip. Glaxo made a strong marketing push for Requip with advertising in medical journals even before approval of Requip by the FDA, sending specialists to discuss treatment with general practitioners, and advertising strongly to consumers. Half of Requip's sales come from treatment of Parkinson's disease for which it was originally designed, the other half comes from RLS. Are their pressures to treat an expanding array of diseases merely to increase sales.

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The U-2 plane of the US Air Force flies at 70,000 feet. It is in service for 70 years and was last made in 1989. The U-2 Dragon Lady was used to track the Chinese spy balloon at altitudes not reached by conventional airplanes. The USAF has a fleet of 31 U-2 planes. The U-2 made by Lockheed first flew in 1955 with flights over the Soviet Union. 2 U-2 planes flew around the Chinese spy balloon with sensors that enable it to examine the balloon and jam its electronic signals.

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The tough job President Obama faces as he faces opposition from politicians who have interests to protect, and healthcare businesses with interests to protect. The President has to come up with a plan that is deficit neutral, because financial markets could see a healthcare bill that further widens the deficit as a signal for higher interest rates that would deepen the recession. At the same time each of the three sources of revenue puts him at loggerheads with political leaders in Congress or groups with interests to protect. Limiting income tax deductions for high earners could raise $267 billion in 10 years. It would require taxpayers in the top tax brackets deduct their mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and charitable donations, at the 28% tax rate instead of the 33% and 35% tax rates. The opposition is with democratic leaders that it would hurt charities, universities that depend on tax deductible donations, and taxpayers in high tax cities like New York city that are the home base of Democratic leaders. Yet only 1.4% of households would be affected says the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, says charitable giving would decrease by 2%. The other opposition on this comes from the preference of Senators Baucus and Grassley, who head the Senate Finance Committee, for tax increases or cost savings to come from the health sector. Specifically they want to see the value of workers' employer provided health benefits subject to income taxes. It is a situation in which every sensible person admits the need for healthcare reform and would see the current pace of healthcare costs as unsustainable and dangerous; and after that will just go back to his group and try to preserve as much of the status quo as possible, so as not to disturb by much the benefits or compensation they have secured from the system over the years. Then there are political leaders in Congress with their own preferences, and Congressmen who are the subject of heavy lobbying by these interests. The administration and the Presidents job is to navigate this stream with a workable deficit neutral plan, without any requirement for any group to make sacrifices, and in some situations even small sacrifices for the public interest. Would charitable institutions be hurt that much, what if charitable institutions were exempted, why would other interests the try to obtain the same exemption. Its like the unions trying to keep the old unsustainable goldplated healthcare and other benefits at GM even as the ship was going down. Taxing employer provided employee health benefits as income would raise $2.5 trillion over a decade. The opposition here is from unions which are a force in the Democratic party and which count tax free health benefits as a legacy of the labor movement. Employer provided health insurance covers 160 million American employed and their dependents under the age of 65, so it has a wide impact. Yet most economists favor ending the tax break. They say it mainly goes to upper income taxpayers, and discourages cost consciousness among consumers of health care, thus encouraging excessive spending and surging health care costs. Senior Obama advisors, Peter Orszag, the budget director, and economist Jason Furman favor this approach. So do Republicans in Congress. Senators Baucus and Grassley are not asking for the complete removal of the tax break, what they want to see is capping the value of benefits that go untaxed. If the tax-free limit is $13,000, a policy worth $15,000 would pay income taxes on $2000. A third spource is to spend less on Medicare. About two thirds of the $948 billion in savings Mr Obama has proposed over 10 years comes from a number of reductions in Medicare spending. $177 billion comes from insurance companies bidding for government reimbursements for offering private plans to seniors. $106 billion comes from cutting the subsidies to hospitals serving the uninsured as universal coverage should remove this need. And $110 billion in reduced payments to hospitals and doctors because of productivity gains. A range of industries insurance companies, hospitals, doctors drugmakers, nursing homes, home health care companies and medical device makers, all stand to lose from reduced payments from Medicare and Medicaid. And these groups with interests to protect are another factor in this process of working out a healthcare plan. ...

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Algorithm based media do poorly when it comes to mental health. This article in the WSJ series looks at how users can escape the algorithm when they feel it is harmful to their health, and whether this is possible.

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Keir Starmer leads the summit of European leaders in London on March 2, 2025. This effort comes after a controversial breakdown in communication between DJT, vice president Vance with Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House.

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Walter Mead of WSJ offers this view- expect more action from DJT in 2026 not less, than 2025. The president took the US Supreme Court's decision in stride, noting that it lets him do the same thing on tariffs- charge tariffs on countries doing unfair trade with the US- with other tools in trade legislation, just not IIEP rules. On the practical side every country wants to keep its trade agreement with the US said the president- Britain, Japan, South Korea, Germany, China, India. China and India have increased exports in 2025 even with tariffs rules that allow some exemptions. Large trading nations do not want the uncertainty that comes with renegotiating agreements arrived at with much difficulty with the US. This is not mentioned much in the media such as WSJ and NYT which instead  focus on the tariff revenue already collected of $130 billion and its use or refunding. What is relevant is that the purpose of splitting powers beteen the executive branch and the Supreme Court and Congress is preceded to a great extent by the public's ideas about what is fair, of rights of the US to fair trade, and preventing the deindustrialization of US and Europe. Which is why the Supreme Court has tried to tread warily on issue of illegal migrants by millions entering the country, and is trying to tread warily on issue of rebuilding American industry and infrastructure using tariffs to reduce concentration in China and act to restore a fair trading system for the US and the world. ...

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D66 and Rob Jetten win 27 seats in Dutch election to become the largest party and form new government. Geert Wilders Freedom Party comes second at 26 seats losing 18 seats from last election. Other centrist and left and right centrist parties came in the top five parties. Housing replaces migration as the top issue in Netherlands.

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There is a unexpected tradeoff for the flexible workweek and hybrid work that come in the form of a 7 day workweek, say professionals.

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This report confirms in a fact check that 15% of the global greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from livestock farming. This includes dairy and meat.

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California gets 75% of its oil from imports and one third of imports from refineries dependent on Hormuz Straits. 20% of jet fuel comes from South Korean refineries, and 25% of gasoline from South Korean, Indian and Taiwanese refineries. This means things can get very tight if the war continues in the Middle East. This could happen as South Korean, Indian and Taiwanese refineries become low in their own stocks and export much less. California has not benefitted from the shale revolution in the Permian basin as pipelines do not exist for transporting that oil. Shipping oil on tanker ships from Texas to California costs more than shipping oil to California from Asian refineries. Over 20 years California lost 50% of its oil refining capacity by creating conditions averse to the oil industry, instead of adopting a two pronged approach of shifting to renewable energy with some flexibility for fossil fuels hat was adopted by the federal Biden administration, also run by Democrats. As a result Chevron which was California based for 144 years shifted its headquarters to Houston,Texas. There are no signs Governor Newsom, a Democrat is reversing his position to show more flexibility on fossil fuels during a transition phase to renewable energy.  ...

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The peace agreement between Israel and the UAE comes with Israel agreeing to not annex further any Palestinian territories. 

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Isolated for long periods during the coronavirus people come to the ancient Buddhist temples in Nara, Japan, for a revitalizing experience. See the video from NHK World.

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Macron uses a clause in the French Constitution to pass the budget without a vote in parliament because parliament is too divided to come to an agreement.

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The effect of a sudden health crisis such as cancer on the finances of Americans leading to capsizing and losing everything is shown here in the WSJ. In 2024 this comes after the pandemic has already affected finances of working people. 

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Doctor are suffering from a "demoralization syndrome" says Eric Reinhart, physician at Northwestern University. He sites one study that shows universal access to health care in America could have prevented at least 338,000 deaths during the pandemic. Overwork comes from physicians retiring from the healthcare workforce in large numbers. In 2021 117,000 physicians retired and only 40,000 physicians joined the workforce. Another 20% will retire in 5 years. Burnout itself comes from a realization that the system is failing its people and you are working within it without the social and cultural narratives that supported previous generations of physicians. It is these narratives of honesty and service that are the essential parts of the human condition that are lacking without access to good health care for all the people and the education to promote good health.

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When it comes to climate change China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world- more than North America, Europe, South America and Africa combined. It emits about one third of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. When it comes to climate change action China is meeting its 2030 targets 6 years earlier, and it is meeting all the increased use of energy through renewables. Yet there is another side and this is that China is building coal fired plants at a rapid pace to meet its energy needs. Xie Zenhua meets John Kerry at Sunnylands estate in southern California to discuss how China and the US can cooperate on climate change action. No two nations are so critical to meet the challenges posed by climate change from fires to floods and drought.

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US tariff on India of 25% penalty for buying Russian oil and 25% baseline going into effect 21 days later in DJT executive order of August 6, 2025. A 30% baseline on China but no penalty for buying Russian oil. The 21 days will give time for India to come up with an agreement with the US. 

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Rightly seen the reality in China, says Li Yuan in NYT is not about the tallest bridge at Guizhou, or the acceleration of an AGI race with China, but that enormous debt finances that bridge, pensioners live on $20 a month in that Chinese province. Doctors, lawyers and accountants provide the $1.50 ride share in that province suggesting that all is not right when it comes to the living standards of the people the ultimate test. When it comes to AGI and AI China is simply integrating it into processes and work for general efficiency, nothing strategic about it, merely routinely integrating a technology. There are deep structural flaws in China's development says Li Yuan, when there are enduring strengths in the US. It may be that Silicon Valley is more of a problem in the US as it seeks to divert more of the resources that should go into people benefitting infrastructure in the US. Ultimately the US must seeks its own path built on the expansion of frontiers in the US since 1787, followed by industrialization in the 1870's and again in 1940's and 1960's in a government of the people, for the people and by the people. ...

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A more fundamental difference comes from health, mental health, worklife, wellbeing that are essential to healthy living. Taking care of one's health comes before everything because there is no quality of life without good health and well being. One can see this in the contrast of the styles of Carlos Tavares who is current CEO of Stellantis which includes Fiat Chrysler and the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Sergio Marchionne. Carlos Tavares comes across as an example of healthy living and healthy living practices at Stellantis, Marchionne and Elon Musk are a big contrast and appear not to care about practices essential for healthy living and healthy worklife. Proven over and over again and over time humility and respect for the dignity of others matters,Tavares and others like him leaders who have humility, respect the dignity of workers, listen to their managers, and support healthy worklife practices that enhance productivity, are the real role models for young people in business, in America and in the World. Media loves hype, yet for ordinary managers and workers in factories health and healthy living is what matters uppermost. It is also true for their children in how they choose their role models and for America as a Nation, the values the World respects America for and is willing for America take the lead. After the pandemic this is more true than ever.  ...

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This report in WSJ by Mike Colias about personal politics exaggerates the impact of political party Republican vs Democrat in the switch to electric cars as most of the resistance comes from the lack of charging facilities and not enough technological breakthrough in cost and efficiency to make the switch. And much of the political resistance by a third of the population comes more from the idea that it supports China sourced materials. This comes from misinformation and old data as Biden has imposed 100 percent duty tariff on imports of China made electric cars and 50% on solar panels just last week. Americans including Republicans are realizing that the only way to compete with China's subsidized push for key industries is for America to do the same. This gives the American manufacturers the time and the support from the US government to compete with EV's made in China supported by Chinese government large not so visible subsidies over long periods. WSJ reports recently showed how China's prime minister supported building Tesla plants in China to observe American manufacturing methods and technology, in the process advancing its own technologies in EV's at a faster pace. Making Tesla's role contradict the idea that politics not misinformation and technological lag is causing resistance to EV's both of which will fade over time. ...