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A church choir that is secular and performs in the cultural centre where Munich Philharmonic performs brings about 500 people together, amateur singers who perform together for 1-2 hours and get filmed. It is now in the centre of controversy about performing Madonna's 1989 hit Like a Prayer. Jens Junker puts these performances together for Go Sing Choir says- "we were taken completely out of context and used as evidence that the reactionary conservative right are so stupid." About 1500 reaction video expressing outrage appeared on social media on Tik Tok. For Junker who is doing this for the Euros and for people getting together for some fun without resentments or quarrels, it shows the urge to fight the other side is so strong that it blinds one to the very human side of life we all share. “I’m staying out of that because polarising is the opposite of what we’re about. If anything, all this encourages me in what we’re doing because it shows the need to create places where people can meet, beyond attitudes, opinions and any resentments against each other, and concentrate on what unites us."   ...

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Calin Georgescu of Romania who won the first round of the Romania election is interviewed by The Times of London.  An advocate of life lived close to Nature and religion,  who agrees with RFK Jr., and a skeptic of UN and NATO wins the first round of the Romanian election in 2024 with 23% of the vote. Social media Tik Tok videos helped Georgescu come out of obscurity into a lead in the election. This interview was conducted in darkness after a blackout at a friend's home outside Bucharest.  He says of the war in Ukraine that it is not our business, we are interested only in Romanians. His main concern agricultural independence for Romania as sovereignty, which means food water and energy. He wants respect, health and sovereignty for Romanians.  Georgescu is not sold on the British/French/German/Japanese narrative of the Ukraine war, as he sees Putin (and DJT) as patriotic in sentiment. He says Romania is fine in the EU and NATO but will negotiate what is in the interest of Romanians. ...

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The coalition in Ireland remains in power with Sinn Fein at 21%, yet the combined vote for Fine Gael+ Fianna Fail at 40%. Sinn Fein is the political party of the IRA which is now focused on local issues such as housing, immigration and transport.

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Left out in much of the media coverage is that Zelensky's popularity rating in Ukraine, after three years of war and everyone having lost at least one family member, is at a low of 16%, and most people prefer that he not run again for president, as reported in this In Depth report in The Times of London. After huge losses on the Russian side, Russia's economy on war footing and costs of the war, and on the Ukrainian side fatigue and losses with infrastructure badly damaged, there is only one way out with a negotiated settlement. Biden and NATO's support is mostly to give Ukraine a negotiating position for a settlement as a new president DJT takes office in the US, also looking for a settlement of the war not letting it drag on with nothing to gain for NATO or Russia.

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Decades of investment in car manufacturing and EV's is paying off for China. It now exports 5.7 million cars of which 1.7 million are EV's. EV exports are twice that of Germany. Car production capacity in China surged as the Chinese market expanded to be larger than Europe and the US combined. The production capacity is twice the size of the domestic market- 40 million gasoline cars from 100 factories.  As domestic sales have slowed down there is a push for exporting this excess capacity. The US and the EU are imposing tariffs on Chinese cars to protect their domestic manufacturing. The push to become a leader dates back to premier Wen Jiabao 20003-2013. Wen chose Audi engineer Wan Gang as minister of science and technology, and gave him the task of making China the leader in electric vehicles. Manufacturers were given subsidies, tax breaks, cheap land and electricity. By one estimate the EV manufacturers and battery makers in China received $230 billion in subsidies since 2009.  This is one reason the EU and the US are imposing tariffs to protect their domestic manufacturers. As the shift to EV's continues in China- half of the cars in 2024 EV's- the gasoline models are shipped overseas. China has now replaced the western brands in Russia with it's gasoline models.  China makes great savings in batteries as it controls the supply chain in batteries. It makes EV's at 30% lower cost with these efficiencies. ...

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More reasons on the Russian side to make a negotiated settlement is the loss in value of the ruble by 25%, and the central bank raisng interest rates to over 20%. War weariness on both sides in Ukraine and Russia, Zelensky's popularity down to 16% and nothing to gain in prolonging this war for the US, NATO or Russia. 

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Failure to invest in housing and transport leading to this becoming an issue in the 2024 Irish elections. Ireland has a surplus of $25 billion.

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The most striking aspect of the "Freedom" memoirs of Angela Merkel is the lack of regret. The lack of regret for leaving Germany hamstrung with overdependence on one country for oil and gas leaving Habeck of the Greens as Economy Minister little time to find alternatives for Russian oil and gas. The lack of regret for not investing in childcare, not investing in digitization of the German economy, not investing in transportation (Deutsche Bahn is late most of the time and the Frankfurt train station is a relic from the 20th century), not investing in renewable energy technologies such as EV's, not investing in infrastructure.

The worst part leaving Germany with hands tied unable to invest even modest sums of money because of a clause in the Constitution that limits deficit spending to 0.35% of GDP. A clause put in by Merkel in 2009 called Schuldenbremse or debt brake.

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After 5 years of reconstruction following a fire, get a glimpse of the new Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. It reopens December 5. Le Monde offers an inside look at this cathedral as it lets in more light and dispels some of the dark corners and spaces with reconstruction.

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Take a look at the new Notre Dame Cathedral after its restoration. One look from The Times at Notre Dame and the other from Le Monde in an adjoining article.

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Catalonia looks more like Scotland as the Socialists win just as Labour wins in Scotland in 2024. The separatist cloud over Spain and UK finally clears and the people become wiser to unscruplous politicians seeking to divide and exacerbate economic problems. Wilkinson of The Times looks at the period 1980-2003 when Jordi Pujol ran the state of Catalonia in the years following the 1975 return to democracy from Franco's dictatorship. Jordi Pujol confessed to $11 million in embezzlement with Andorran bank accounts a decade back. Some reports say $290 million. This report looks at views in Spain that the shift to Catalan nationalism under his successor Arturo Mas was an effort to keep his party in power by appealing to nationalist sentiment. This led to the 2007 independence referendum, and shows how fickle public opinion can be, how it can be moved in different directions to the detriment of the people, the local region and the country by unscruplous politicians. In May of 2024 sentiment in Catalonia shifted as shown in the adjoining article from The Times. The Socialist party of Pedro Sanchez and its leader in Catalonia Salvador Illa became the largest party in the May 2024 elections. The separatist party of Pujol and Puigdemont winning only 39% of the vote.  Pujol is being rehabilitated, the Catalan independence movement having run its course and dissipated, the best course for Sanchez and Spain and the People's Party opposition in Madrid being to close this chapter, as the Catalan people become wiser.   ...

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The new US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, 44 years was the chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer the USTR in the DJT first term. He is a former Air Force lawyer who became a trade lawyer and protege of Lighthizer.

In testimony before Congress Greer has said that he "does not subscribe to the myth that more trade with China reduces the likelihood of conflict."

"From a defense perspective, it is critically important to restore the U.S. manufacturing base to ensure that the U.S. can credibly deter escalation by China and, if necessary, defend its national security interests at home and abroad."

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Mexican president Sheinbaum in a conversation with Trump says all caravans have already been stopped inside Mexico. The two presidents discussed the flow of drugs, migration and closing the border. DJT called the conversation "wonderful" and "very productive."