LyrArc Article Gist
BBC looks at France's mayoral elections and the race in Paris between Racida Dati (connected to Sarkozy) and Emmanuel Gregoire deputy to Anne Hidalgo Mayor of Paris. 930 miles of bicycle lanes in Paris have reduced pollution in Paris by 10 years, which helps Gregoire. Dati says Paris "is dirty and unsafe." She points to 10 billion euros in debt for Paris. Dati comes from the conservative side and is a protege of  former president Sarkozy of the Republicain party.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Baltic cables cut were first the cable linking Sweden and Lithuania. Following this the cable connecting Germany and Finland was cut. China's government was not involved, and China says it strongly supports maintaining the security of international submarine cables in accordance with international law. The Chinese ship was carrying Russian fertilizer and had visited Russian ports. Danish Navy ships then tracked the Chinese ship and made it anchor in the Kattegat Strait connecting the Baltic and North Sea. Damage to underwater cables happened in Swedish waters resulting in Sweden launching an investigation.

LyrArc Article Gist
Drop to 22,000 from 127,000 for irregular migration after border checks in Germany under chancellor Merz of the CDU coalition. Family reunification is ended for subsidiary migration. Step by step Germany is regaining control of the country and taking responsible actions to prevent extreme responses and protecting democracy from every source of danger.

LyrArc Article Gist
China's share of US imports reached 10% in 2019. It collapsed during the pandemic after 2019. It then recovered in February-March 2021 to about 15%, and surged afterwards to 42%, and is down close to 15% in November 2024. The incoming DJT administration is bringing back a focus on tariffs- a tariff as high as 60 percent is unlikely as American companies are likely to oppose this. A smaller tariff increase of 20-30% would bring the share of US imports from China back to less than 10% that existed in 2019. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Shrinking GDP, tax revenue declines, and government aid to business and workers, is pushing U.S. debt to record levels. The Congressional Budget Office report shows federal debt to exceed 100% of GDP for 2020. It was 106% of GDP in 1946 after the financing of the second world war. Because the coronavirus pandemic is comparable to the second world war in scale of threat the government approved $2.7 trillion in aid relief.

LyrArc Article Gist
Foreclosures are now accounting for 10% of homeless people. In the midwest this is upto 15%. Three years ago in 2007 this was close to zero.

LyrArc Article Gist
Efforts to ramp up the actions on stopping illegal migration in the EU after the US president describes the shaky situation in Europe. EU ministers agree on centralized list of safe states to return migrants- Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. EU plans to downgrade trade ties with countries that do not cooperate. The idea of return hubs outside the EU are proposed by Denmark. Denmark is now working with UK to help the UK develop a Denmark style policy that cuts down illegal migration after the unrest in Britain over asylum hotels. Failure to act quickly and have a comprehensive approach that works to reduce illegal migrants across borders can lead to governments such as the UK being voted out for other parties with strong anti-immigration stance as the mood shifts in Europe.

LyrArc Article Gist
Figures from Kiel Institute for World Economy show that European Union aid to Ukraine is nearly double that of the US- $187 billion for EU to $98 billion for US aid. The American Enterprise Institute conservative think tank also confirms EU aid is significantly higher. Trump said US was $250 billion to European Union $100 billion- completely the reverse of the facts. This is one aspect of the debate with Harris that was not fact checked to reach the 67 million watching immediately similar to the FBI correction on crime rates by David Muir.   "Look, we’re in for $250 billion or more because they don’t ask Europe, which is a much bigger beneficiary to getting this thing done than we are. They’re in for $150 billion less because Biden and you don’t have the courage to ask Europe like I did with NATO. They paid billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars when I said either you pay up or we’re not going to protect you anymore. So that may be one of the reasons they don’t like me as much as they like weak people. But you take a look at what’s happening. We’re in for $250 to $275 billion. They’re into $100 to $150. They should be forced to equalize.”   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The State of the Union Address in 2026 cited the enormous impact on the world we know today over 2 centuries by this Nation. Jefferson breathed his last in 1826, between that and two persons in the chamber- including Air Force pilot who is 100 years old- between 1826 and 1926 when this pilot was born is a span of 100 years, and in this pilot's lifespan another 100 years. In this period, a couple of generations in our lifetimes, so much was achieved, said the president. So much of the address was about the potential ahead following the heroic efforts of the past. We are part of something larger than us, says the president, and this larger than us is the collective consciousness of the American Nation. "Two-hundred fifty years is a long time in the life of a nation. But in another sense, it's really a mere moment in the eye of history. Two of the gentlemen we met in the gallery this evening took their first breaths one century ago. One hundred years before that, on July 4th, 1826, the author of the Declaration of Independence, brilliant Thomas Jefferson, drew his last breath. Just a single long human life span separates the giants who declared and won our independence from the heroes who stand among us tonight. Everything our nation has done, everything we have achieved, has been the work of those few great lifetimes. In those brief chapters, Americans built this nation from 13 humble colonies into the pinnacle of human civilization and human freedom. The strongest, wealthiest, most powerful, most successful nation in all of history. Americans ventured out across the daunting and dangerous continent. We carved pass through an unforgiving wilderness, settled a boundless frontier, and tamed the beautiful but very, very dangerous wild west. From empty marshes and wide-open plains, we raised up the world's greatest cities. Together we mastered the world's mightiest industries, shattered history's monstrous tyrannies. And we liberated millions from the chains of fascism, communism, oppression and terror." Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and JFK, through their efforts and the efforts of scientists and industrial pioneers, and of the People of the United States, of educators and scientific endeavors, so much was achieved, and so much lies ahead. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
European bans on social media for children 2026 UK, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, for under 15 years and under 16 years. 

LyrArc Article Gist
As to financing of $6000 child tax credit costing about $100 billion a year as estimated by Office for Responsible Budget some of it would come from the $360 billion in tax savings over 10 years by Medicare negotiation of prices with Pharma, other would come from taxing corporations and high incomes at rates that are similar to what firemen and teachers pay of 20-25%. In his speech at North Carolina Aug 15, 2024 at Wake Tech in Raleigh, president Biden said- "You know how many billionaires there are in America?  There’s now a thousand billionaires.  You know what their average tax they pay — federal tax?  8.2 percent.  Anybody want to trade with a billionaire — their tax rate?  (Laughter.)  Well, guess what?  If they just paid 25 percent — it’s not the highest bracket by a longshot — 25 percent — do you know what that would do?  That would raise $40- — $400 billion over the next 10 years.  Imagine what we could do with that.  We could fundamentally sh- — slash the federal deficit.  We could make sure there’s home care.  We could do so many things — consequential — including finally making sure that we take care of Ukraine from that butcher Putin.  (Applause.) ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Key points in the National Digital Communications Policy 2018 to be approved by the Modi cabinet are that every citizen of India will have 50 mbps access to broadband by 2022. Key development institutions will have 100 mbps speed. 

10 million public wifi spots are planned for 2022. Expand the ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices by 2022. And attract $100 billion in new investment. Under National Digital Grid the National Fibre Authority will be created to have the supporting organization to achieve these goals.

LyrArc Article Gist
France joins Britain in requiring masks in indoor space. The number of new cases in France are now dropped down to a few hundred each day compared to several thousand before. This month in July the reproduction rate passed 1 suggesting need for caution as social distancing rules, avoiding French custom of kiss in greeting, and mask wearing are now being less strictly observed. Anyone not wearing a mask after August 1 would be fined $125 or 100 euros.

LyrArc Article Gist
Research in Motion puts together a Blackberry smart phone in June 2012 by combining a patchwork of licensed technologies.

LyrArc Article Gist
Tepco will take a loss of 1.247 trillion yen or $15.28 billion for the fiscal year ending in March 2011. President Shimizu of Tepco resigned. He will be replaced by Toshio Nishizawa, a joint managing director who worked for 36 years at Tepco.

LyrArc Article Gist
Comments by Eric Schmidt CEO of Google in an interview with the NYT's Helft. Important points emerging from the interview. Google he says does not know how long this crisis will last. Response not to waste money means less hiring and more careful expense reviews, and more focus. Managers are very very sensitive to important aspects of its culture, so such perks will continue which make it fun to work at the company for employees. And he says careful investment inthe future. "If you tighten too much, you eliminate future innovation, and then you set yourself up for a really bad outcome five or ten years" down the road. And here is the most important point he makes in advising the Obama administration. Do not take up the economy first, and let energy come in afterwards, deal with all the major problems at once, especially energy, which are part of the problem and the opportunity for the economy. For instance as the auto industry shrinks these job losses can be filled with jobs making parts for renewable energy like wind turbines and blades, like solar energy generation parts. This is actually happening already, government could speed things up by mandates for renewable energy and by help to companies through incentives. See the link to this in the NYT about companies in places like Newton, Iowa where lost jobs at Maytag are being replaced by renewable energy jobs. And several million jobs can be generated in energy to make up losses in auto jobs in the midwest. These parts of the Obama plan may have come up through conversations with Schmidt and other advocates of this, and by seeing what is already happening as reported by the NYT in the link. It makes Obama look like a farsighted genius, but its just sharp observation and careful listening. Pickens is already advertising this on television for his wind farms in Texas. It is not only Google's thinking, as Schmidt says, but good common sense and some ballpark estimates that would tell one that it would save sending 1 trillion dollars to Middle East and other nations that is needed for investment at home in the U.S.. Schmidt's calculations are that this amount could be saved in 22 years through renewable energy, plug-in hybrids and other innovative technologies. ...