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Many of the young people joining terrorist groups come from Tunisia. A security expert tells DW.com that the radicalization of youth in Tunisia began with the overthrow of Ben Ali and his government in Tunisia at the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011. Ben Ali's regime detained many of the people in opposition groups, leading to the release from prisons during the revolution. The radicalization of Tunisia's youth began during this period, according to this report. The Benghazi attacks on American embassy from Libyans opposing Gaddafi who had crossed the border into Mali, also followed a similar pattern after the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya. In Libya many radicalized people in opposition groups were released from detention following Gaddafi's overthrow. The current democratically elected government of Tunisian president Beji Essebsi is monitoring the situation. This report describes the experience of some Tunisians in terrorist groups who were brought back home from other countries by their families. EU countries and the U.S. supported the Arab Spring but the aftermath was not well managed leading to further upheaval, and now terrorism. Some of this happened as the governments changed in the U.S. with Obama replacing Bush in the U.S. and Hollande replacing Sarkozy in France, and showing little interest in managing the aftermath or helping the new governments in Libya, Tunisia and other countries make a smooth transition with aid, security assistance, and maintaining the basic services provided by government. A well formulated and conducted effort from the West could have prevented the worst effects that are seen in 2014-2016. The costs to contain the crisis that has ensued are far greater than what would have been needed in material resources and expert assistance from the developed countries of Europe and the U.S.- without military involvement as there was a general sense of being lifted from years of dictatorship in Arab North Africa, and general sense of goodwill towards the West during the Arab Spring.   ...

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Speaking for the Biden administration Anthony Blinken says that "on the current trajectory, if we don't do more, if the entire world doesn't do more, the entire world won't be vaccinated until 2024." What is needed he said is to "speed this up, and get that done, I think, in a much shorter time." Experts say the immediate impact of the Biden decision to give waivers on transfer of patents technologies is to get drug companies to cooperate with each other and for them to voluntarily join in the manufacture of vaccines globally. This would be done through global manufacturing alliances in major pharmaceutical manufacturing nations such as France, India and other countries that can quickly ramp up manufacturing if they have access to the technologies involved and the knowhow itself. The Biden decision is then the first of many decisions that would lead to voluntary action by pharmaceutical companies cooperating say Novartis and Sanofi in France and Switzerland with a Pfizer or Moderna in increasing manufacturing capacity or a Serum Institute or Reddy Labs in India working with Pfizer and Moderna or Novavax. These companies already have the basic structures to ramp up. This would take months yet the process has to start immediately. Today many companies such as Glaxo Smith Kline in UK and US are in a position to get involved in manufacturing but need access to the technologies and knowhow. Leadership by the US plays a huge part in making that happen.  ...

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There is one problem with the bull market in U.S. stocks in 2018. Most Americans are not part of it. Research by Prof. Edward Wolff of New York University, shows 84% of stock market wealth is controlled by the top 10% of Americans. This was 81% in 2007. This widens the gap between the wealthy and the rest increasing disparities and reducing social cohesion.

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Problems older workers face as they try to remain active, stay healthy with active participation, contributing to the economy. In societies like the U.S. where age has different meanings compared to Asian societies, older workers have to conceal their age. This goes against the need for greater workforce participation of older workers to make up for the effect of aging societies and fewer younger workers.

It is a good thing that labour force participation rates of workers in their 50's, 60's and 70's are growing, good for the health of the workers, good for their financial health nearing retirement and good for the productive contributions to the economy. Imagine all that experience going to waste.

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This report in the WSJ shows how Amy Barrett, the new Supreme Court nominee, has managed to combine parenting with her career as a Notre Dame professor and judge on the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A lot of help from her husband, a flexible workplace, living in a smaller town South Bend, Indiana, and a willingness to go with nonconformity, make it possible. She is up at 4 or 5 am to exercize. Blending different worlds is part of this. She can go from work to run an activity for the children. She also views raising children as the activity that has the "greatest impact on the world," so that her career is seen in a bigger context of life.

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Weigel of the Washington Post compares how the Affordable Care Act was passed in Congress in 2012 with the push by Speaker Ryan and the Trump administration for the American Health Care Act in 2017. Republicans he says are making the same mistake as Democrats by rushing this through Congress. There is no broad consensus on whether all Americans should be entitled to health care as in Europe and Japan for their citizens, and health care is priced in a way to make it expensive for the state to provide- until the twin problems are solved by creating a new culture in the U.S. that sees things differently, politicians will come up with their own plans based on their interests and which groups they serve.

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Iraq is being dragged into Iran War with Iran backed Popular Mobilization Forces as part of the current Iraqi government. Today there are Sectarian divisions Shia and Sunni jostling for influence and power in the state of Iraq, a state created artificially in 1921 by Britain to protect its regional interests. After the Ottoman Empire 1524-1918 was broken up, after the WW1 in 1918, the British in subsequent negotiations got the League of Nations Mandate for Mesopotamia- historically the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It was made up of three provinces of the Ottoman Empire Basra, Baghdad and Mosul. Basra had a large Shia population, Baghdad and Mosul had a large Sunni population.  To this date no census has taken place except in 1987 and 2024 and never one that shows which portion of the population is Shia or Sunni, so no one really knows. Britain installed Faisal 1 as the King of this artificially created kingdom in 1924. The British operated in this way controlling the Shah of Iran at the time, and the Iraqi king, Egyptian king. Britain and France tried to install a Caliph in Istanbul who would rule Turkey and protect British and French interests but failed because of a Turkish military officer Ataturk who declared a independent Turkish state based in Ankara in the 1920's and defeated British sponsored armies and forces from Greece.   ...

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The Treasury Department Report to U.S. president Reagan in Nov. 1984 offers an approach based on fairness that has great relevance to today's effort at tax reform. This approach resulted in the the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Similiar families with the same income were expected to pay the same amount in taxes in the interests of fairness. The tax revenues were set without any loopholes or exemptions, and the question was asked how much does marginal rates of everyone have to go up so that a particular group gets its exemption or loophole supported by its lobbyist?

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This article in The Lancet published in February 2018 throws much light on how the ban on gain of function research on virus was lifted -research that carries with it the danger of increasing transmission of virus if something unexpected happens in the manipulation of a virus. It was lifted in 2018 in the US by officials in the US Health Ministry, NIH and HHS. The Cambridge group of scientists and experts opposed lifting the ban on such dangerous research that could make the virus more contagious through manipulation. Epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch of Harvard School of Public Health wrote at the time that the lab research to create a more lethal strain of virus could lead to "an accidental pandemic" yet he was ignored. The public in America and in the world is unaware of how this created serious risks for public health in the world through the coronavirus.  Did US health officials lift the ban on such research without consulting other countries such as India, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and the EU on its ramifications. Were public health experts and the publics themselves in the US and around the world not drawn into the discussion of public health and the dangers that existed. Not only did officials in HHS and NIH restart the research by lifting the ban but also sent funds overseas for such research- was this a proper or thoughtful action considering the risks involved.  Is enhanced surveillance of virus- a dubious benefit from manipulation of a virus- something a few health officials can decide for the whole world in addition to the US. How are health officials in one or two countries responsible to the people in India, Brazil, Europe and the poorest populations in the world in the world in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, people who have suffered devastating consequences from transmissibility of the virus, including children and older people with health problems. India, Brazil, Italy, Spain, France, UK, and other countries worst hit by the coronavirus must ask serious questions about how they can protect their people if institutions in the US and international institutions are seen as failing to protect world public health. ...

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The U.S. Federal Reserve Open Market Commitee takes a position of pause and wait as it decides in March 2012 not to take any new further bond buying stimulus measures. There is uncertainty in equity markets about the effect this will have on equity prices. During the last two pauses in 2010 and 2011 the equity markets experienced downturns after withdrawal of bond buying measures by the Fed, leading to Fed action with QE 1 and QE 2 followed by a surge in equity prices and the S&P at over 1400. At the peak during the 2001 and 2008 dot-com and housing propelled booms the S&P reached over 1500. At this rate the curve for U.S. equity prices for the 2008-2012 period resembles a repeat of a narrow steep V shaped curve with only a 7% climb in April 2012 needed to reach the 1500 point in the S&P 500 average at which the previous two booms in prices ended up in a bust. John Taylor, Stanford economist, in a separate op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on March 29, 2012, called for a change in the mandate of the U.S. Federal Reserve for a more rule based policy because of the dangers of repeated boom and bust periods in the U.S. economy as a result of ultra loose monetary policies. The problem at this point in April 2012 is that profits of companies are not expected by analysts to come in strongly in the second quarter, with a slightly improving unemployment picture, expected upward pressures on oil prices from the Iranian situation, eurozone debt problems in Spain and Italy, and slowing growth in China, India and Brazil. These fundamentals do not support an S&P at the levels seen during the height of the last two booms of 2000-2001 and 2007-2008....

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The month of August 2011 ranks as the 10th worst month for U.S. stocks in 75 years. Or to put it another way of the last 900 months, the month of August 2011 ranks the 10th worst month in terms of volatiltiy. The average up and down movement each day in August was 1.%. In August the Dow Jones Industrial Averages were down 529 points, or a drop of 4.4%. This is not what worries investors as much- as their are months like May 2010 which had a 7.9% drop. The impact on investors is in the increased uncertainty that this creates about how an investment will perform in the future.

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This report in the Washington Post says the cancellation of the Trump meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea was the result of a lack of detailed planning and lower level meetings before a top level meeting. The more that Trump mentioned "Libya" the more North Korea turned hostile leading to the cancellation by president Trump. North Korea has long seen the Libyan route where Moammar Khaddafi of Libya closed all nuclear facilities as leading to the fall of the dictator and his government.  Experts say the Trump unconventional way of diplomacy is not entirely disproven, yet this shows it has its limits in what can be accomplished. It is also one of highs and lows, moving in one direction and then in the opposite direction in a short period.

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There are 2.3 million federal workers outside of the US Post Office and military. WSJ analysis shows more than half of the Congressional Districts with the largest proportion of federal workers are Republican districts. How do you get these Republicans to sign off for layoffs in their own states and districts asks the WSJ. DOGE faces a tough fight on this. The other issues are about getting the work of government done where the layoffs to cut costs are done in a way that reduces the productivity of workers with conflicting goals and instructions so that important work doesn't get done. US Treasury's Fiscal Data Site shows the US federal government spent $6.9 trillion in 2024 or 23% of the US GDP. The Government Accountability Office last year issued a report that fraud, waste losses were about $521 billion, this is about 8 percent of the US federal spending in 2024. To get this done, to cut waste and fraud requires a patient effort which also does a job of convincing the people of America that the cost cutters are doing a good job, cutting fat not bone or muscle. DOGE led by Musk require much patient effort - loud, high profile actions could hurt with distractions.  It is different on runaway illegal migration and 490,000 deaths from fentanyl over 12 years, where action cannot be loud enough to get America's voice heard and action taken to prevent any more deaths. Biden and Democrats signed up in 2024 to Republican Senator Lankford's bill, so that it means both Republicans and  Democrats now have to deliver on this.   ...

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Three events made the US a continental democracy built out of the colonial Empires of the British, the French and the Spanish under four presidents- Jefferson with Louisiana Purchase, Polk settling the Mexican American War, Lincoln defending the Union, and his vice president buying Alaska from Russia. James Polk 1845-1849 was the 11th president of the US. At the time of the Missouri Compromise he deftly kept the Union together. A protege of president Andrew Jackson from Tennessee Polk also worked hard to create the bicoastal Nation the US is today by extending the work of president Jefferson who setup the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon, to bring the new Republic's frontiers in the West to the Pacific territories that were part of the Spanish and British colonial Empires. For the northern frontier he settled on the 49th parallel with the British instead of 54 degrees parallel 40 minutes or 54-40 that was the slogan for the Polk 1844 election campaign taking the border to the northern frontier of the Oregon Territory.  Polk was faced with settlers in Texas who had set up their own state in the south the Texas Republic under General Sam Houston in 1836. A situation Polk handled by integrating the new Texas Republic into the new Nation and faced with a military taking control of Mexico in 1846 under General Paredes and confrontation with the US, leading the US into the Mexican American War 1846-1848. The integration of Alaska was completed under president Andrew Johnson in 1867- Johnson was Vice president under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War- when he had Seward negotiate the purchase of Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars in 1867.   ...

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Administrative costs are one of the key reasons tution costs have increased to excessive proportions in the U.S., putting a heavy burden on the middle class, reducing social mobility that is an important aspect of postwar progress in Europe and the U.S. by putting college out of reach for millions of young people. This also creates a heavy debt burden for young people- U.S. student loan debt passed $1 trillion in 2012- who are less likely to buy a first home because of years needed to repay student loans. The market pressures to control costs do not exist in the same way as industries such as automobiles, because of the demand for college education in a modern globalized economy. Douglas Belkin and Scott Thurm have provided an indepth look at the University of Minnesota to show the spending surge and internal tendencies for faculty and bureaucracy to increase spending on hiring, building expansion to compete with other schools, and salaries to support their own within the college and university system, with a passive student community, and passive parent community, and lack of other outside pressures. Tution and fees for state residents doubled in the last decade at the University of Minnesota to $13,524. The figures tell the story- total debt with borrowing for building construction at U.S. 4 year public colleges tripled to $88 billion between 2002 and 2011, according to the Department of Education. Debt servicing costs doubled at the University of Minnesota to $106 million in that period. Minnesota's government provided $570 million for university operations in 2011, same as 2003-2004 school year even with inflation and 10% higher student enrollment. Yet analysis by the Department of Education and the Wall Street Journal shows in that period the spending increased disproportionately compared to inflation, student enrollment and teaching activity, with little restraint. WSJ analysis showed the University of Minnesota system added 1000 administrators between 2001-2011, with administration hires increasing 37%, double the increase in the students and double that of teachers. During that period the number of employees to manage people, programs and regulations went up 50% faster than the number of instructors, according to the Department of Education. Bureau of Labor Statistics cites this as the reason tution costs went up faster than health care costs. The 19,000 employee payroll at the University of Minnesota means one employee for three and half students. The new university president in 2011, Eric Kaler, interviewed by WSJ's Belkin and Thurm, says no one knew what it cost to run the school when he started....

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A key wicket of Brooks to end a long partnership with Joe Root as Siraj takes the catch at the boundary line and drifts over past the boundary line making it not a valid catch. Siraj ends the series by bowling out Atkinson for a 6 run win by India vs England August 4, 2025 at the Oval in London.