LyrArc Article Gist
Liz Sly of the Washington Post provides this exceptional account of the different phases of the war in Syria originating in 2011 with the Syria democracy protests, suppression of protests by the Assad regime, civil war by 2012 , Russian intervention by Putin, the U.S. under Obama and France under Hollande on the sidelines in 2012-2014. The result is a breakup of Syria by 2014 with coastal areas under the Assad regime supported by Russia and Iran, the Kurdish controlled areas, areas controlled by various rebel groups, and the control of other areas by Islamic State which also gained control of Mosul in Iraq. France conducting an air campaign in Syria in 2015 in response to terrorist attacks originating in Syria. With a number of foreign countries involved in support of Sunni and Shia factions in the conflict, the Turks opposing Kurdish autonomy, the U.S. supporting Kurdish forces after withdrawal from Iraq under president Obama, the situation by the beginning of 2016 was much more complex than in 2011. The five year period led to a situation where half of the population of Syria of 22 million is displaced or turns into refugees, about 2 million in refugee camps in Turkey, and 500,000 seeking asylum in Germany and Austria. In Iraq an additional 2 million are displaced or refugees with the Sunni-Shia conflict. Understanding of the events and insights over these 5 years can be gained from the group- "Events for the democracy protests and the struggle for freedom in Syria." The intervention of foreign countries and the missing element of U.S. leadership in the region in 2011-2015 as the U.S. and France remain preoccupied with economic crisis, lead to a situation where most Syrians decide to leave the country entirely. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Americans are being pummeled by election ads for 12 months before November 5, 2024, at their doors, on television, on podcasts and on social media. Super PAC's are providing seemingly unending funding for candidates and races. The ground game is being determined by careful planning and the funding to back it up for door to door, print ads, and television ads. There is no end in sight to cost and funding of races.

LyrArc Article Gist
New studies from the University of Chicago and the Chinese University of Hong Kong show China's growth rate measured by real GDP to be overstated by 2 percentage points on average every year from 2008 to 2016. As a result the size of the economy may be overstated by 16% or more than $1.5 trillion. Industrial output and investment it says have been exaggerated.

LyrArc Article Gist
One cannot imagine that this city is Hong Kong. It shows how the coronavirus is having some unexpected effects and interesting experiments. About 800,000 students are going through a 2 month school closure. The response is to setup a crash course in digital learning. Schools are sending lessons and assignments to students to online. Live video interactions are being conducted. Parents are involved in intensive home schooling efforts using digital learning.

LyrArc Article Gist
Jimmy Lai of the Apple Daily in Hong Kong and Taiwan supported the democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2014.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ringo Starr of the Beatles says he wrote the song "Hard Day's Night." He never has tried pizza or curry. His attitude to music is always play with someone in a group. He is indifferent to titles and knighthood. He feels at home in Nashville and LA.

LyrArc Article Gist
A large increase in fuel efficiency as planned by new EPA rules creates a different environment for electric cars. Current average fuel economy is 26. New rules that raise the average fuel economy to higher than 47 mpg will result in cars that conserve gasoline, reduce emissions, and make these vehicles more attractive to operate than electric cars on a cost basis, without sacrificing too much in conservation and emissions. A new study shows that achieving the increase to 47 mpg with new technologies will cost automakers about $2000 per vehicle. At $4.50 a gallon for gasoline it takes six years for a hybrid to be more cost effective than a 47 mpg car, according to this study. For a plug-in it would take 7 years and a pure electric vehicle 8 years. This suggests gasoline would have to cost more than $4.50 for electric cars to get an economic advantage. Technological breakthroughs and new technologies in electric cars which are a nascent industry at this time are not worked into these calculations. This could result in a different situation and favor the companies doing the pioneering effort to learn these technologies and develop cost effective solutions....

LyrArc Article Gist
Real estate prices are declining in Australia, with signs of overbuilding. Growing immigration, a commodities boom with higher demand from China, slow construction and foreign investors had pushed home prices higher. This led to a decrease of 2-6% in home prices in Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne, according to RP Data. Home construction in Melbourne increased by 40% since 2006, according to Australia's Bureau of Statistics. Analysts point to an oversupply of homes in Melbourne. Home and apartment prices in Melbourne declined by 3.9% in 2011, according to RP Data-Rismark.

LyrArc Article Gist
Yale University's Robert Shiller quotes Thomas Jefferson from a letter written in 1820, where he said about the passions in the North and South about extending of slavery to the Missouri territory: "this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror." He says there are serious consequences of letting longterm unemployment continue. He cites a proposal by Edmund Phelps, Nobel prize winner in economics from Columbia University, which would have the government give a subsidy of $4.50 an hour for the lowest paid workers, with declining amounts till they earn $15 an hour. This proposal would cost about $150 billion and be aimed at reducing income inequality and making these lower paid jobs attractive. Other proposals for reducing unemployment are to use work-sharing on a national basis with government help.

LyrArc Article Gist
Oil prices went up by 16.8% in the 1st quarter 2011. The increase in oil prices for all of 2010 was 15.1% With the decline in inventories and and fears of a disruption in oil supplies, oil price has become a significant concern at the end of the 1st quarter 2011.