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A senior Indian diplomat, and former ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawale, says China's action in the June 15 clash at Galwan Valley was the worst violence since 1967. He sees it as a premeditated and well thought out action. His view is that India's relations with China will deteriorate further. That this was an action by the PLA to take territory to what it sees as the LAC or border. For small tactical gains he says "China has strategically lost India." This will impact trade and other relations going forward in his view.  Nothing of this sort was expected says Bambawale. All the agreements put in place since 1993, everything for tranquillity at the border, all the mechanisms, have now collapsed. Bambawale has provided a very lucid and clear account of the relations and the border issues. He goes on to say that Chinese observers have given reasons for the Galwan clash with PLA- that India should stay away from the US and other democracies such as the European Union. Some reflection shows that the opposite has happened. And further reflection would show that the same situation was repeated in the period of transfer from British Empire to Republican India, and from Nationalist China to Communist China from the period 1947 onwards. Different perceptions and different leaderships that gave the perception of gaps between the two countries. In the 1950's after the Korean War Chinese perceptions about India could have led to the incursions that brought China to the borders of India in 1950, similar perceptions of gaps in development and capabilities could have led to the conflict in 1962. From 1993 peace prevailed with India after China entered the World Trade Organization under president Clinton in 2001 following a 10 year effort. Because the focus in China was on development after a series of crises, internal sense of a widening technological gap with the US and Europe, disagreements with the Soviet Union, and the experiments with market economy, internal struggles for democracy. With that period coming to a close as the new trading relationship has led to working class losses in factory jobs in the US, China is faced with protecting its economy as it and the US look at changing supply channels and how it affects both countries. It is a critical time for China as it faces governments in US, France, UK and Canada determined to protect their own interests in manufacturing jobs, renewing supply channels, and in technological advancement. The response is similar to that in 1962 when seen from the Communist party perspective as a gap has opened up with India following China's progress in the 30 year trading relationship with the US and Europe. That gap and the difficult situation China faces today with the US and EU in trade and technology has brought forward the Galwan clash and future clashes in Ladakh and at the border.  As Mr. Jaishnkar, India's Minister of External Affairs as well as former ambassador to China,  has pointed out this is a very different aspirational India that China faces. The same kind of grassroots development that happened in China and rapid pooling of capital, human resources and technology inputs for development is taking place in India, and will continue for the next two decades, quickly bridging any gaps in modernization between the two countries. The difference between a youthful population in India and aging population in China and Japan, is likely to add another dimension. China's Buddhist culture that came from India is not likely to go away, more likely is that China will see a revival of Buddhist ideas of wellness and living more as culture than religion. The experience with British colonialism that prevailed both in India and China, and which from its base in India caused so much grief to China during the Opium wars will recede from memory. Extending borders from historical memory of Japanese incursions into border areas in Manchuria could have led leaders after 1950 in China to extend borders to remote areas in the Arunachal region of India and communist theory books may have created the perception of defensive moves. In the context of an aspirational India similar to China, and no real intention on the part of India to extend itself in any way to China's provinces in Sichuan, this extending of borders as a defensive move will be seen as stemming from memories of Japanese incursions in the 1930's, but simply costly and not relevant in any way to China's own aspirational development and progress. ...

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At the New Year's eve service on National Day of Prayer January 1, 1942 president Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill worshipped together at Christchurch Episcopal in Alexandria, Virginia. The Reverend Wells said on this day 82 years ago. The idea that we could not prevail with military strength alone but with deep humility depend on God's help was one of the great strengths of Franklin Roosevelt. That it says much to the present, to the divisions of the present and lack of humility cannot be overstated.

"Our president has appointed this first day of 1942 as a Day of Prayer, for asking forgiveness for our shortcomings of the past, power for the present task of achieving victory... but spiritually we are in bad shape. We must have a deep spiritual unity that will make us ready to sacrifice our material possessions and even life itself for the moral principles for which this war is being fought." 

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The story of how a shoe company Hoka One with an odd sounding name made itself known and managed its growth from $3 million to $1 billion, patiently working through each step, not rushing anything. It was started by two French men who met at a ski race in the French Alps. It means in Maori, a New Zealand language- flying over the earth.They took shoes from a minimalist approach to a maximalist one by building larger shoes with a design that would make them very comfortable to wear. They shipped 1100 pairs to the US in 2010, and in 2012 Deckers took a stake, later buying the company. It started with word of mouth in the running community and then spread during hybrid work in the pandemic. It went from running shops to REI and special retailers and only carefully to select stores at larger chains like Dick's Sporting Goods. Each step was gradual, carefully taken, an unusual approach in this business.

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The U.S. Postal Service begins same day delivery in 2015 as it competes for business with Fedex, UPS, and Amazon.

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Mexico's economy grew at 1.34% in the third quarter of 2011, according to the national statistics institute. Annual growth is estimated at 4% for 2011. The war against organized drug trafficking in Mexico cost the economy one percentage point of economic growth, according to estimates by BBVA Bancomer, Mexico's largest bank. Mexico received $20 billion in foreign investment in 2011, about the same as in 2010. Cars and aerospace have drawn large foreign investment. Mazda will invest $500 million on a new plant in central Mexico. Honda says it will spend $800 million on a second Mexican plant. In recent years with higher costs in China, higher transport costs, and a weaker peso with a stronger yuan, Mexico is becoming more competitive with China as a manufacturing investment location. The younger workforce, low inflation and technical education schooling, offer Mexico additional advantages. Mexico is the second largest manufacturer of flat screen television sets, and is now the fourth largest location for outsourced IT such as call centers. Axa CEO, Henri Castries, and Siemens CEO, Louise Goeser, have very favorable views of doing business in Mexico. Siemens sees sales increasing by double digits through 2015, and has located one of three global R&D centers in the state of Queretaro. Goeser says many parts of Mexico are safer than parts of the U.S. A large part of the violence is concentrated in a few states, and in border cities like Juarez, and affects smaller businesses more than the large manufacturing enterprises of overseas companies. As a result it is as if there were several economies in Mexico, with foreign enterprises largely insulated from the violence. ...

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Some of the most vulnerable populations in the world during coronavirus are in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the surrounding regions, in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and in African countries. This report looks at the increase in poverty in Pakistan and increasing food insecurity with food prices increasing. Government priorities are a concern says this report. Malnutrition is increasing with estimates ranging and some as high as 40% of children. A PTI official of the government is cited here as saying that it could be as high as 50% of children suffering from malnutrition. One of the problems for food insecurity in the Indian region going back to the famines during the British rule in Bengal and the famines in Bihar during Congress rule after independence is that supplies are lacking of foodgrains or that the incomes have fallen so drastically that people could not afford to buy food. Governments stepped in after independence to provide foodgrains at subsidized prices. These programs need to be pushed to the forefront and and international assistance needs to be sought. Planning minister Asad Umar points out in this report in DW.com that millions of Pakistanis are falling below the poverty line increasing food insecurity at a critical time. He gives estimate that one out of four Pakistanis have had their diets reduced. There is every reason to support efforts for cross border supply of foodgrains between India and Pakistan as humanitarian approach in the coronavirus crisis even as differences exist over border regions- as such differences exist all over the world over borders but humanitarian approach has benefitted the entire region during the Bihar famines after independence with aid from the U.S. Johnson administration. At that time in 1966-67 the seriousness of the situation in Bihar was only gradually and reluctantly accepted by the institutions, officials and governments around the world, says Cambridge University Press looking back on that crisis. And it is to the great credit of the Johnson administration that it launched the subsequent efforts for the Green Revolution and foodgrain production involving Norman Borlaug and the Indian government. Something of this type needs to be launched again across the region.   ...

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According to a senior defense industry official Defense Secretary Robert Gates worries that counterinsurgency may not work in Afghanistan. According to the official even 40,000 troops would not give enough troop on the ground to protect the Afghns if the north and west continue to deteriorate. Gates is concerned about sending large amounts of additional US troops to Afghnistan. This is acountry with people very sensitive to occupying powers. A veteran of the soviet intervention there says they have an allergy to foreigners and attributes the soviet defeat to this. See the links in Intelilinks He is aware of the the dangers of this, if the expanded military footprint is seen as that of an occupying power especially when the government in Kabul is hugely unpopular, then this would galvanize new armed opposition to the US and draw US forces and NATO forces into aguerilla war of the type the soviet union faced there. It may do much worse if it galvanizes opposition in side Pakistan. The question Obama is focussing on is whether there is athreat to the US homeland security if other options than expanding troop strength are explored....

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H20 chip approved for China not taken up by China- 15% of sales were to go to US government. China has asked its corporations not to buy this chip.

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Damian Paletta of the Washington Post says that credit goes to Gary Cohn a former Goldman Sachs president, and head of the president's National Economic Council for the way he has quietly built up a group of leading experts on major initiatives of the Trump administration such as tax reform, infrastructure plans. Compared to the infighting and other problems in the first 100 days of the Trump presidency, Cohn is credited with building a core of ideas and experts that bring Trump more to the centre and with the prospect of winning Democratic party support. He has helped shift the president to set up a more balanced approach, less confrontational with China and not calling China a currency manipulator, getting support for the Export Import Bank, and more receptive to the Federal Reserve led by Janet Yellen. This report says an alliance of moderates is centering around Adviser Jared Kushner, Cohn, and in other reports Tillerson in foreign affairs is seen as being part of this group. On NAFTA the president has moved to a less confrontational approach with Mexico, which has helped the Mexican peso recover and improved prospects for the Mexican economy.  On infrastructure new ideas to find financing are needed and a plan to tax carbon emissions is intended to draw Democratic support as well as provide some of the funding. About $200 billion in taxpayer money and $800 billion from private investors is being discussed at the National Economic Council. This report says Cohn suffered from dyslexia in childhood, graduated from American University, and joined Goldman Sachs in an unconventional way. He shares a passion for deal making with president Trump, yet at the same time values the views of experts he has brought to formulate concrete plans for the way ahead. About 25 experts with extensive experience in government helped put together new tax changes, infrastructure plans, and international trade deal plans. His predecessor at the NEC, Gene Sperling, gives him credit for quietly pulling together the experts and doing the planning that the Trump administration now depends on. ...

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Frank Press, US president Jimmy Carter's science adviser brought the climate crisis to Carter's attention as early as 1977 in a memo to the president. It was dated July 7, 1977 and had the title - Release of fossil Co2 and Catastrophic Climate Change. The Guardian gives this report on the earliest signs of the climate crisis sent to a president who installed the first solar panels at the White House.

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The WSJ offers this profile of a son of German immigrants who accumulated timber lands in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Pacific Northwest of the US. George Weyerhaeuser's company made the diapers for store brands across America. He says he was shocked at seeing the land when the timber was taken and the area cleared and started the practice of reforestation now a major goal set by COP26 in Glasgow.

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A survey of 11,000 Japanese companies shows remote work continuing to be supported by about 38% of companies, an almost equal number of 39% support workers going back to the office. In the US major cities downtowns have high vacancies for office space with a strong tendency of some companies to keep practice of remote work or only 2-3 days in office from the pandemic period. About 23% of companies say they are undecided.

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The housing downturn as a result of sharply higher interest rates as the Fed's Jay Powell takes on surging inflation is very different from the problems of bank's shoddy mortgages of 2008. The 2008 financial crisis was a banking crisis from overleveraging by US banks and the use of questionable mortgages in housing. The rules set down and strict regulation since 2008 protect the housing market from the errors of 2008.

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US president Biden's effort to appeal to all American families and workers in the $2 trillion plan for investment in child care, paid leave, healthcare and education, and the importance of staying away from the divisive and polarizing effect of the Clinton years on Republicans, is part of the new approach of the Biden administration as it tackles America's most important problems with hopes for bipartisan support.

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Most people have not heard of Stellantis N.V. First there was Chrysler, then Fiat merged with Chrysler, now Fiat Chrysler merges with Citroen and Peugeot of France. The result is Stellantis N.V. with CEO Carlo Tavares. This group plans an investment of $35.5 billion in electric vehicles through 2025 and have 5 battery plants built in US and Europe. Tougher emissions standards worldwide are pushing car makers to make these investments in electrification of cars.

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Pakistan follows other countries by making vaccination mandatory for all public sector workers. Pakistan also requires vaccination to go to airports. France and some other countries in Europe have taken this action to prevent spread of the Delta variant.

According to the US Census Bureau 3.6 million Americans say they face eviction in 2 months as the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to end suspension of evictions July 31, 2021.

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This WSJ report cites estimates showing 11 job openings in the US, with 6.9 million people looking for work or unemployed. About 5 million more job openings than people seeking work. Low wage sectors are hit hard with people shunning these sectors. People are quitting jobs looking for higher wages, better benefits and working conditions, better work-life balance. In August 4.3 million workers quit their jobs as the American workforce goes through big changes.

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Layoffs at Microsoft, Amazon and Google are offset by more hiring. So that the companies are smaller by a small margin in 2023 compared to 2022, yet way larger than 2018. WSJ looks at the growing size of these companies. At Microsoft the headcount is 101,000 outside the US, a 70% increase since 2019. Apple's 161,000 employees are much higher than the 137,000 in 2019. A small trimming of employees only took down 3000 employees.

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Typhoon winds that exacerbated the floods in Beijing, China, are shown here in a BBC report. Recent floods in China and fires in Maui, Hawaii, show effects of climate change on opposite sides of the planet in August 2023. This is one more reason for the US and China to work with other countries in limiting the effects of climate change and focus on the important issues that require cooperation and mutual effort.

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With higher mortgage rates at 7% from 4% during the pandemic sellers and buyers are not moving forward. There is a sharp drop in US homes for sale by 14% in June over 2022, to 1.1 million homes, according to NAR. Home builders are building new homes to meet demand. Sellers often prefer to rent out existing homes and rent in their new location. Buyers preferring to rent with limited supply to choose from.

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A You.gov poll shows Europeans by 64% consider reclining seats fully "unacceptable" compared to 46% in the US. The seats squeezed into a tight space make it more difficult for passengers making airline decisions on seat arrangement an issue. Delta tried limiting reclining to 2 inches to improve passenger comfort on 20% of its planes in 2019, but has not moved ahead to do this with the rest of the planes.

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Investment in the US in clean energy technologies reached $213 billion in the last 12 months through July 2023 after the climate law was passed by president Biden. The prior year it was $151 billion and the year before that $81 billion. Investment is growing fastest in electric car batteries, EV's, and in solar panels, slower in wind energy. This shows the Biden plan is working and will accelerate in the coming year.

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The California State University system ranks high in creating social mobility in the US. Of the top 10 universities in the social mobility rankings 7 are in the Cal State System. About one third of the 460,000 students in the Cal State system are first in their family to attend college and half represent underrepresented communities. Half of all students receive Pell Grants. Cal State Los Angeles ranks first and Cal State Northridge is fifth.

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A career in pictures shown in The Washington Post that stretches back to the 1970's with elections to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Mayor of that city. Feinstein ran unsuccessfully for governor before winning the Senate seat from California. She represents the first wave of California's women politicians, followed by Nancy Pelosi who went on to become Speaker in the US Congress, and now Kamala Harris who is vice president.