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Eugene Daniels Politico interview with Brian Fallon of the Harris campaign. The focus of the Harris campaign is to get the electorate to know more about her and her plans for the economy, across all parts rural and urban of the most contested states. To get across to voters how her plan for the economy stands in contrast to the former president in the belief that once people get to know her economic plan they will support her for a better future for America.  There is also the realization that this campaign is compressed into three months August-September-October. The change from Biden to Harris integrating the campaigns had to seamless, and this has been seamless, an essential prerequisite. Another is that it had to be nonstop in every corner of the nation indifferent to rural and urban, red or blue. Nothing matters more than talking to all parts of the nation, to young and old, Republican and Democrat, urban and rural, men and women, to fight for every single vote, and this is happening in this campaign. The essential prerequisite to do this was to do it as the underdog which is how the Harris campaign is being carried out in these last weeks and days. ...

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The US Federal's half percentage point interest rate cut bodes well for stocks and bonds in the US, says this report in WSJ, as it reduces the burden of interest rates on small business that has a part of its debt in floating rates. The default risk component of rates also shrinks for large and small companies. A lot depends on how much the US is investing in manufacturing, in chips and science, in education, in infrastructure that reduces the costs to business and in its industries, which is the ultimate driver of growth. In this sense the Biden administration and Jerome Powell's Fed have accomplished a remarkable deal in the difficult period of the pandemic's four years 2020-2024. Much remains to be done yet this is a big deal, and the next president can leverage these strengths to set the US on the right path, the Way Forward for America.

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The Thompson Divide in the White RIver National Front is where Colorado's largest Aspen stand is located. These are Aspen trees that have a lateral root system and one of the treasures of Colorado for future generations of children and adults. Efforts are being made to protect it.

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There was a time when tech meant scientific advance for mankind and something positive for ordinary Americans. Today "Tech" can mean something different from what it used to mean, including something that is unwanted, even pernicious, something to increase profit margins even to exorbitant levels that hurt ordinary Americans and the public, and not a scientific advance in the real sense of the word. Nothing that inspires hope and better future for mankind. RealPage software that induces increase in housing rent prices is one aspect of the current housing cost of living crisis that Harris is focused on. Binyamin Applebaum of the NYT looks at the RealPage software sold to housing companies that would increase prices and be an added burden to households already under pressure from rising grocery prices and housing rent increases during the pandemic. This is a key issue for voters in 2024 and a comprehensive approach has to be taken on many fronts to address costs- including attack on price gouging, $50,000 for first time home buyers, and incentives for home building that Harris has proposed, and other actions.   ...

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What is the Winter Fuel Payment in the UK? The Independent provides some answers. It was introduced in 1997 by a Labour government in Britain. It now provides 200 pounds to people over age 66, and 300 pounds to people over age 80. To get this payment pensioners and retired people have to be eligible for pension credits. This is possible if your income level is - Income at £11,343.8 a year if single, or a shared income of £17,313.4 for two or a couple is what qualifies one for this winter fuel allowance. The British energy authority says winter fuel costs will rise by about 300 pounds. This means a 500 pound hit to budgets of pensioners who are not eligible for winter fuel allowance under the Labour plan. The Labour plan is to do this because of the hole in public finances left by the Tories of 22 billion pounds. Starmer and Reeves say this is needed and the responsible decision. One million pensioners face a loss of Winter Fuel allowance and Age UK says: “Older people in this group often tell us they really struggle financially; the proposed change will make it even harder for them to afford to stay warm when it gets chilly. ...

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Pat Gelsinger is right about "fighting for every inch" at Intel for everyday manufacturing chips that make up our lives, to not let market forces swinging wildly in different directions one moment this way the other way the next, decimate American Manufacturing. Regulators have a job to do to protect America's vital interests and of its people. AI surge for Nvidia make it a one trillion company one day and briefly a two trillion dollar company for a day. In 1998 only a small $15 million loan from Iramijiri of Japanese videogame company Sega helped Nvidia founder Jensen Huang survive when it took a hard turn and a design failed. Huang even says in WSJ he would not start the company if he did this again as market forces can be crippling for personal lives as well. What does this all mean? The Biden Administration has a plan to revive America's chip making genius and innovation that has driven America from 40% of the manufacturing of chips to 5%. Intel is right at the heart of this plan. The Chips and Science law will do this including $8.5 billion for Intel manufacturing which Pat Gelsinger is pushing forward for Intel Corp.  Here comes a company that has outsourced Manufacturing entirely- Qualcomm to takeover Intel. It knows nothing about Manufacturing, it cares nothing about American Manufacturing and loss of leadership in Manufacturing, and for the millions of people who work in America in factories and research facilities related to manufacturing design.  ...

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There are fines in the UK for missing school. A fine of 160 ponds for 5 days unauthorized school absence and court action with fine of 2500 pounds, visits by police. For mental health and other reasons some children miss school and have to be home schooled. After the pandemic this went up 60% to 126,000 children in the UK.

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Jon Tester seeks another term as Senator of Montana. Senate control by party could depend on Montana, says WSJ.

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In the past market forces pushed the US out of the chip business to highly subsidized chip companies TMC and SMIC in Taiwan and China. US cannot have it both ways. It cannot compete with China in chips and allow temporary market forces do the job of decimating its chip industry.    Market forces are rags to riches and mostly short term ignoring long term. Nvidia now valued at $1 trillion under market forces would not exist today. WSJ showed recently that only with the help of a loan from a Japanese Sega videogame executive Iramijiri to Nvidia founder Jensen Huang was Nvidia able to survive market forces in 1998. Qualcomm a maker of phone chips has made a takeover offer of Intel in 2024. Intel shares dropped 60% this year and is valued on share basis at $90 billion- yet was recently at $290 billion closer to its true value as America's chip pioneer and leader. Qualcomm is at $185 billion. Yet share values can be rags to riches as Nvidia story of going up to $1 trillion in 2021 and $3 trillion in 2024 shows. Such a deal draws anti trust concerns with too much control under one company. A deal for takeover of British owned ARM by Nvidia was stopped by regulatory authorites in UK and the EU in 2022. The US government is giving $8.5 billion to Intel to build up its chip making technology in competition with China. The Gelsinger plan is for manufacturing to be boosted up, so is the effort of the Biden administration. It may take time yet it is the right approach for the US. Pat Gelsinger is leading this effort at Intel. In the past market forces pushed the US out of the chip business to highly subsidized chip companies TMC and SMIC in Taiwan and China.    ...

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Trend to remote work is cooling off. 80% of employers now say that over 3 years they see full time office work 5 days a week. The new trend is just beginning.

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Children in the US should not be directed to educational content developed by tech companies using writers in Kenya and Philippines who lack the education to do this. A data labeler that hires people in Philippines and Kenya at $8 an hour, hundreds of thousands of low cost contractors, to create content. Some of the content is of such low quality that it had to be redone by Scale employees, says this story in WSJ. It started out providing this to self driving technologies companies needing data labeling, and now does this for AI.  Samples of questions for content are - explain a moon landing to a 6 year old, says the WSJ. Serious questions about quality of content going to AI and the willingness of Tech companies including Google and Apple to not make this a priority.  Education requires a different approach for quality of content and the tech monopolies are not the ones who should be in this role to build the educational content that a team of scientists and faculty envisioned in cultural literacy for the US under ED Hirsch since the 1970's. More than at other times in US history this is important to preserve the Nation the founders envisoned. ...

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How unequal Britain is compared to say Finland or France and its effects on gender relationships is shown in this report by Elle Hunt in The Guardian. Wealth and assets grow faster in value than income growth in the UK and a small section of the population has inherited wealth that accumulates faster than income. Vast gaps in income and wealth are shown for several marriages, how each person felt in the marriage, how they had to deal with public perceptions, and where their own sense of wellbeing helped them navigate this territory. In France or Finland with lower wealth and income disparities and a different culture much less of this is expected than in the UK or the US which has Anglo-Saxon cultural tendencies.