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In Houston, 17,000 people are settled in shelters after the devastating flood waters hit the city. Dallas Convention Center houses 5000 people evacuated from homes. The Bayou areas of Houston were hit hardest. The Texas National Guard of 12,000 was fully deployed with 18,000 National Guard personnel from other states. Experts say the Houston floods are unprecedented in the U.S. for the number of inches of rain that hit the city. 

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Museums, state offices, libraries and police stations in the southern German state of Bavaria are required to display a cross in the building entrance area as part of a new state regulation issued by prime minister Soder. This is intended to remind people of Bavaria's history and culture. Some institutions such as the Bavarian State Library are taking a minimalist approach by hanging a small cross behind the circulation desk.

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A sense in the Netherlands that the Dutch language is threatened by the increasing number of courses that are taught in universities in English. About 74% of masters degrees courses in Netherlands are taught in English. Netherlands lecturer's union BON warns of looming "linguicide" for the Dutch language. It is suing the Universities of Maastricht and Twente for anglicizing courses without a reason. Dutch is spoken by 22 million people worldwide.

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The anti-corruption bill for creation of a Lokpal agency passed the lower and upper house of the Indian parliament in December 2013. It was stalled for two years after the efforts of political activist Anna Hazare's protest movement for passage of the bill. With national elections approaching in 2014 and the ruling Congress party's image bruised badly in state elections of Dec. 2013, party leaders decided to support the bill. In the elections in the capital Delhi a anti-corruption party, Aaam Aadmi (for the common man), created only recently, won a major part of the seats. In India corruption hurts not only at the national and local level as in China, but affects the daily life of the common man as bribes are required from ordinary people for anything to get done that requires approval from the huge government bureaucracy. In that sense it takes a toll on economic development and affects the quality of services received by the vast majority of people, which is why the party calls itself "common man."...

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Lawrence Downes makes a road trip with singer Linda Ronstadt to her Sonoran roots in Southern Arizona and northern Mexico. They go to Tucson where Linda grew up and visit Naco, Canelo, and Banamichi. Her great grand father was a German immigrant in the 1950's who settled in Banamichi, as a mining engineer and a colonel in the Mexican army. The group including Ronstadt's friends spends several nights in the midst of cactus, agave and open blue desert skies. Beginning with a visit to the mission San Javier del Bac, Linda's spiritual center, Downes attends mass with Linda at the Church of our Lady Loreto. A colorful description of the journey, Ronstadt and friends, which shows Linda's early inspirational roots, and where her 1987 album Canciones de mi Padre comes from. The anguish bordering on tears in her Sonoran voice held back and then the release, has a deep Mexican quality abut it.

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How temp services companies such as Kelly Girl and Manpower were started in the post war period. What this means in today's economy with the increase in temp and part-time workers without worker protections and benefits. The trend to temp workers without contracts or protection is seen in Germany, Spain, Japan and other countries. Hatton cites Census Bureau statistics showing one third of adults experiencing poverty are working, one fourth of jobs in America pay less than the federal poverty line of $23,050. In the U.S., Europe and Japan it is not only the jobs that matter but the kind of jobs. Even in countries such as Germany that reduced the unemployment rate this came with a downside in the higher number of lower paying jobs. Temporary workers almost doubled in two decades in Japan to 33% of workers by 2007. Some of the difficult work after the nuclear accident in Japan was performed by temporary workers.

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President Biden tells an audience of workers that he sees the world through the eyes of Scranton and the working people he grew up with, and through the eyes of workers like those in the audience. He tells a audience of union workers that he is bringing manufacturing back, and doing this with investments of billions of dollars that never happened under previous administrations for a generation of Americans. Some highlights from his speech- Biden is investing trillions of dollars in American infrastructure, manufacturing and advanced technology and at the same time cutting the deficit by 1.4 trillion dollars The Republican plan of spending cuts being voted in by the House of Representatives will according to Moody's lead to a loss of 780,000 jobs in the US. Forty of the 500 largest corporations in the US paid zero taxes. About $200 billion dollars in profits of corporations are to be taxed at just 15%- lower than what working families pay- to fund much needed investment in America. There are 1000 billionaires in America compared to 700 before the pandemic, and they pay 8% in taxes. President Biden says under his watch no corporation or billionaire should pay less in percentage of income taxes than union workers in the audience.    ...

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In parts of Mexico sugary softdrinks are easier to access than clean tap water, says this report in DW.com. This is a problem that existed in Mexico for many years. Amy Guthrie in the WSJ August 28, 2013, described the problem in -Health Problem over Soda Flares in Mexico- which was shown in Lyrarc.com in 2013, showing the US, Chile, Mexico and Argentina with high consumption of sugary softdrinks and high rates of diseases related to this. Mexico's government has made efforts to increase awareness about the risks and dangers of overuse and Bloomberg philanthropy has made efforts to increase awareness. Yet the problem has persisted. The risks are high for countries such as India, China, Vietnam. One ad in Mexico City subways showed 20 ounce sugary softdrink bottle and asked "Would you take 12 teaspoonfuls of sugar?" Mexico passed the US in countries with high obesity rate over 100 million people in 2013. Higher all cause mortality was shown in a European study of 451,000 people for people drinking more than 2 glasses of sweetened softdrinks a day, with data collected between 1992-2000 and supporting public health campaigns limiting the use of such sweetened softdrinks. ...

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This NYT report cites safety experts saying that Norfolk Southern's excessive focus on profits may be partly to blame for derailments and accidents like the one in Ohio. Norfolk Southern made $3 billion in 2022, invested $2 billion in its railways and operations, up a third from 2021. But says the NYT Norfolk invested only half of the $18 billion it put into stock buybacks and dividends for its railways and  operations over a five year period. One environmental group says the railways have fought all kinds of basic safety regulations- modern braking systems, stronger tank cars for explosive, even information on what's on trains from passing to communities. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington now leads an investigation from the Senate Commerce Committee. She said- Over the past five years the 7 railroads "have cut their workforce by nearly one third, shuttered rail yards where rail cars are traditionally inspected, and are running longer and heavier trains." Concerns about staffing shortages and rail road scheduling policies led to workers not being able to take medical leave leading to workers deciding to go on strike. This was averted by president Biden on December 2, 2022 by imposing a contract for pay raises and better terms for workers on the railroad companies only about 3 months before this train disaster. ...

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Chinese president Xi Jinping is learning from the country's Covid experience in the way Biden and Democrats learned from their initial push for tighter restrictions in 2020-2021. Most covid restrictions, quarantines, testing is being lifted in China and efforts are being made to stabilize the economy hurt by frequent lockdowns, and a new path is being taken that responds to the Covid lockdown fatigue of the people.  This will lower Chinese growth below the central bank forecast of 3.3% for 2023, yet it also offers a learning curve for the Chinese leadership and new government that was put in place after the CCP party congress in 2022. This may be experimental in the short run but offer benefits for China and the world in the long term. For the first time it means China's trade tensions with the US are turning the corner in a way no number of tariffs and rhetoric could do between the two countries. The evidence- China's exports to the US have declined by 25% already in the last few months. Exports to the EU have declined as well by 11%. China's trade surplus in November 2022 showed a drop to $70 billion from $85 billion in October. ...

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The Independence Hall Philadelphia, speech by Joe Biden was in retrospect a turning point in America from the chaotic politics of the last 5 years, following a decades long fracturing of the social fabric of America. That fracturing had many causes, all of which have been identified by president Biden and leaders in Congress such as Mr. Schumer and Senators Coon, Hickenlooper, and others, who are working nonstop on legislation and funding of America's new priorities. These are priorities of protecting working class families, building their savings, supporting education and healthcare for working class families, building back better America's crumbling infrastructure, tackling climate change, financing renewable energy, rebuilding America as a manufacturing leader for the world. It is because of this effort that candidates who support this effort prevailed in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona for Democrats to retain the Senate and be competitive in the House of Representatives. Only complacency led to unexpected losses in New York state for the House of Representatives leading to loss of the House by a small margin. This NYT report looks at what happened in 2022 and what this means for securing the country's key priorities to build hope for the future of America and of the free world.  ...

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Pope Francis makes atonement for the treatment of 150,000 tribal children from Canada's Indian tribes in Quebec and Ontario. These children were separated from their families in a program of forced assimilation that failed. Indian tribal people and the regions of Quebec and Ontario are only now coming to terms with the treatment of tribal people who inhabited this land for centuries before the first European settlers from Britain and France arrived in North America through the Atlantic ocean voyages. This scene is relevant as India's leaders including Mr. Modi select a tribal woman from Odisha (Orissa) Ms Murmu a school teacher in India's northeast to the position of president of the Republic of India. It was never thought of this way yet tribal people exist in Indonesia, Philippines and many parts of Asia. In India tribe population is 106 million and makes up anywhere between 8 to 30% of population mostly in the northeast and tribes are the dominant population in the border regions facing China in its occupation of Tibetan region. This shows there is a lot to learn in how to respect the dignity of the people in these regions especially now when with climate change  sustainable living is the first priority.  ...

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Jenny Medina looks at America's Biden 10 months into his presidency. Biden compared his presidency to that of FDR in his first years in office in 1933 with America in the depths of the Great Depression.  This report says FDR was better able to communicate how the New Deal would help families and workers in the face of distrust. Biden needs this today. During the ten months of the presidency Biden has already taken the tough decisions that are needed. For the vaccination drive, for the vaccine mandate on the coronavirus pandemic. On Afghanistan Biden took a similar tough decision to step away after learning the lessons of that conflict. He has quietly moved forward to build the alliance with Europe. On the infrastructure plan he has made the tough decision to make certain the essential components of spending on healthcare, education, childcare, support for mothers and older Americans are put in place, so that one bill for infrastructure is not passed without the bill for healthcare, childcare, mothers, elderly and education. Only this can provide the needed credibility for Republicans in states such as Tennessee who support community college open to all to come behind the overall Biden families and workers plan, and for working families throughout the whole country to support further spending for renewal of America.  ...

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US president Biden's multi-trillion dollar spending plans for infrastructure, climate change plans, education and healthcare, are based on a changing perception about the effectiveness of the public sector spending initiatives. The Reagan period idea that the public sector is not as efficient as the private sector that lingered through the Clinton, Bush and Obama, Trump administrations is no longer accepted. After the pandemic another perception is taking root that when it comes to health infrastructure the government has a leading and indispensable role to play. Gone are the doubts about this that hung like a cloud over the nation's plans for infrastructure in health, education and supply channels. Following the global competition with China a new factor is also playing its part. The need for government to play an active role in trade, in protecting technological resources, and in supporting US technological firms in competition with other countries. There is a new perception that the government should be determined to play this role. In the effort to be self-reliant after the pandemic the government is expected to play a role in redesigning the supply channels and providing the direction and incentives for supply channels worldwide that give America a competitive advantage and less dependence on other nations. ...

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A Kyodo News poll shows about 60% of Japanese want the Olympic games cancelled. Japan faces another wave of the pandemic with a surge in Osaka and other cities. The government's handling of the pandemic is disapproved by 71% of Japanese in a Kyodo News poll. Over 80% are unhappy with the slow vaccine rollout.   India faces a surge in cases public dissatisfaction that is similar to Japan and other countries in Europe. France and Germany have a slow vaccine rollout. In India vaccination drive is affected by a lack of supplies as in France and Germany with shortages of vaccine. The European Union in April signed contracts for over a billion doses with Pfizer and India has plans for ramped up supply of its Covishield and Covaxin vaccines to 2 billion doses by December 2021. This shows how difficult it is for advanced countries and major pharmaceutical producing countries such as as India to vaccinate their populations quickly in the initial stages of the vaccination effort. In July the vaccine effort would be in its 7th month and vaccine supply constraints are expected to ease as a result of aggressive action by governments in EU, France, Germany and India. This will also enable addressing needs in Latin America, Africa and South East Asia. ...

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Any idea that herd immunity is the way out is dispelled by a simple look at these pictures from the NYT showing what the level of infections are today and what they would have to be for "herd immunity." No Asian nation has even mentioned the word. Most Asian nations have the most experience with virus of all sorts. The only government that supported the idea without saying so openly is Sweden as indicated in a report in FR24 on the amplification of coronavirus in Sweden compared to neighboring Denmark, Norway, Finland. Imagine with a threshhold of 60% of people having antibodies provided by experts for herd immunity, the current New York level of about 20% would have to triple, and Sweden's 7% would have to grow seven fold. It is hard to imagine New York going through something of these proportions. Looking at what works now that other countries handling it have set examples of what works provides a better way- low tech contract tracing the German way, and one used in Asian countries, and the cluster isolation through testing and contact tracing adopted in many Asian countries as well as Germany. Strengthening public health systems, and working one's way out of the crisis where there are no easy answers offers real and realistic hope. ...

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More than 600,00 people in Hong Kong are expected to use their colonial era British National Overseas (BNO) status to seek the pathway to citizenship offered by the British government. The advocacy group HKB Hongkongers in Britain surveyed the city's residents hoping to take advantage of the program that starts in January 2021. The Home Office had expected this to be about 500,000 over 3 years. About 80% of those surveyed want to emigrate in 2 years, faster than expected. About 75% of them have university degrees and earn well above the city's average, so that they can contribute to the British economy. About 75% plan to travel with children. Only half have friends in the UK and few have family there. Compared to the influx of migrants into Germany this is likely to bring a fresh infusion of talent into the UK economy at a time when Britain is embarking on building trade with countries around the world after leaving the European Union. Germany had language classes and many problems to integrate migrants from Africa. There is no language barrier and cultural issues are also for the most part absent. The technical skills of Hongkongers with BNO status could add to the British economy in many unanticipated ways.   ...

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Total sales of Truth Social are $5 million over 3 years, it cost $40 million raised through convertible notes to finance losses, says this WSJ report. By using financial dealmaking methods this could create $300 million for Truth Social and $6 billion for Trump Media, says WSJ in the report. DWAC shares were set at $10 and are now at $144 with its connections to Trump Media & Technology Group, going up 150% in the last year. Digital World Acquisition is a SPAC meaning that it is a shell company- or special purpose acquisition company in financial jargon- that lists shares on an exchange with the sole purpose of buying a private company and taking it public. Investors buy and shell shares on the expectation of which company it buys and how that company will perform. Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent of Mr. Trump's Truth Social social media company will merge with Digital World Acquisition SPAC and the new company will replace the old with the sticker changing DWAC to DJT. This could happen next week if the majority of DWAC shareholders approve it. This could get Truth Social $300 million says WSJ and Trump Media main shareholder with 60% holding about $3.5 billion in this deal making, says WSJ. ...

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Denmark based Maersk is the link that connects Asian exporters to the US and Europe. It measures its container ships in size by TEU's a TEU being  20 foot container boxes, 20 foot equivalent units being standard. The Dali container ship had 4700 40 foot container boxes that was built for 10,000 TEU's. When Japan was the large exporter getting Toyota's into Long Beach it was 6400 TEU's , with China now sending BYD E vehicles it is now as large as 10,000 TEU's. In the future with India sending its exports under a resilient supply chain to the US it is 20,000 TEU's. What we don't see are these ports such as Long Beach and Hamburg (in which China has ownership stake) which are increasing capacity for taking in exports from Asia. It has reached these volumes only in one direction from Asia, which president Biden is trying to reverse by building factories at home for resilient supply chain and for jobs and a future for American workers. The Dali 4700 containers that hit the bridge at Scott Key in Baltimore also were figuratively hitting America's own manufacturing base, and its workers and communties built around factories, across the Nation. ...

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Japan is meeting a shortage of workers by bringing in workers from other countries including China. In jobs ranging from apple picking to airport baggage handling Japan is getting foreign workers, and making changes in its immigration laws. Prime minister Abe is pushing for these changes to increase growth of the Japanese economy. In the past 4 years the number of foreign workers has nearly doubled to 1.46 million and a new visa system will accelerate the process to bring in more workers. Out of 27 countries in a Pew Survey Japan is the only country where more people favor immigration to rise than those who think it should decline. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Mr. Suga says- " In my view that shows how real the labor shortage problem is." Immigration authorities say they gave visas to only 82 refugees in 2018, less than 1% of those applying, so that there is not a sense of recasting Japan as a nation of immigrants or fulfilling any obligation to accept people from war torn nations. The problem Japan is facing is that 3 in 10 people are over 65 years old. In 2018 the population declined by 430,000, causing a need for job applicants. In fact cities and towns are looking for new ways to hire older workers who retired by offering flexible hours. ...

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Geetanjali Shree win the International Booker prize for the best fiction novel translated from other languages into English. Her book Reti Samadhi is about an older woman coping with the effects of the 1947 partition of India and has what Geetanjali Shree calls the meandering mind of women spanning 725 pages in Hindi. "Woman are stories in themselves, full of stirrings and whisperings that float in the wind, that bend with each blade of grass," says Shree in the opening pages of the novel. Shree writes about a teenager who goes through the traumatic experience of partition as a teenager and experiencing depression at an older age decides to confront the experience by going to the place where it happened a second time. Shree is from Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh (UP).  UP a Hindi speaking state is getting into the international field as the experiences of the region are being shared in other languages. It is now at the forefront of rapid development in India under the Modi administration and a state administration that sees India's largest state in an international context. Bringing Hindi, its tone and rhythm, and the style and exuberance of the author to a English reader, is a challenge that was handled well by Daisy Rockwell of the US. ...

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The increasing use of millet grains to substitute for wheat and rice is good for India as it copes with climate change. Millet grains are more resilient in the current heat waves that will continue for some time. Millet grains are also better from a nutritional perspective. The entire chain, planting season timing, irrigation and fertilization of crops, need to be researched and the research used to prepare for climate change with new agricultural practices, say experts. Nutri cereals such as jowar, raagi, bajra, have the physiology to be resilient and have lower water demands, higher tolerance for coarse soils and heat, says a professor of ecology at Columbia University. The UN has declared 2023 as the Year of Millets and PM Modi has also launched a campaign for greater use of Millet grains. Millet grains have a high level of iron, fiber and certain vitamins.  With obesity increasing in all countries  after the world moved away from these Millet grains and other ancient grains the time has come for a return to the more nutritious grains of the past. Only one or two generations ago in our families history these Millet grains and ancient grains were used widely resulting in better health and fewer of todays medical conditions. ...

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Thomas Piketty is France's and Europe's best trained economist today with highly popular books, one on Capital, and one on Capital and Ideology. Piketty was trained at the London School of Economics, where Greens leader Annalena Baerbock of Germany was also a student, and today he is professor at LSE. His research has shown that for economic growth to happen after the pandemic European societies need to take the lead and build fairer societies where everyone has a decent living and a fair share of the pool of resources in each country. Piketty is respected by leaders that range from Biden and Scholz in US and Germany to president Xi in China. Biden's Families and Workers plan and Scholz's plan for dignity of workers and working class, and the Common Prosperity campaign of president Xi for greater investments in education, healthcare and housing are all inspired by Piketty and by the socially conscious background of these leaders. Prime minister Modi's plans for Jal Jeevan, cooking gas, to ease the burden on hundreds of millions of Indian women, for farmers with small land holdings in agriculture to improve output and use less chemicals, and for investments in infrastructure projects, housing, are also coming from similar concerns for growth and fairness. ...

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Zoom calls in the wee hours of the morning or night, and emails at all hours, the scrambling that happened during 2020 and 2021 during work needs some structuring and laying down of boundaries. The work day got kind of crazy. Here Rachel Feintzberg offers tips on getting back to a healthier and more productive worklife by setting clear work boundaries and hours. The key experts say is to be respectful but resolute. Some tips are to follow boundaries such as a 6.00 pm for last calls you take- to do this 80% of the time and compromise on remainder. If pandemic habits are hard to break try innovative ways, like getting out on sports, cycling or gym routines at 6.00 pm. Its alway good to remember and articulate to peers and bosses that you will be most productive and producing higher quality work when you have time for taking care of your health and healthy living. Its hard depending on the boss but over 6 months it gets you to a better place. German practice of Feierabend actually refers to when you stop working for the rest of the day and is done in Germany. It sets a clear demarcation or boundary between work and leisure hours needed for healthy living. ...

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During the period of lockdown there were some positive changes and people are now looking at how some of these positive changes can be preserved. Drastically cut air pollution and the impact on health is one of these positive changes. People with difficulty breathing in the pollutants in the air had symptoms relieved and now dread going back to the pollution levels they had to get used to. For some lockdown has even given them a break from illness. Many people who experienced the clean air and calm of this period of the virus  are now asking how this can be preserved. In cities like Birmingham polluted air is known to reduce lifespans by 7 months for children. In the UK this is particularly true of the Midlands region with its road and air traffic industries, where there is a nostalgia for the calm people had from the experience of living and working from home. The stresses of capitalism and the rush and pace of life being muted for a while, and a bigger focus on the collective wellbeing and the community. In London and other parts of the UK there is the national debate on how one can continue to make the intelligent choices in the way we live and in the tradeoffs between health and wealth.    ...