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The reduction in unpaid overtime work and working weekends as companies add more people is the new trend shown here in WSJ.

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New York Times readers respond to Drew Western's article in Sunday Review, NYT of August 7, 2011. Readers express disappointment with President Obama's lack of courage and initiative.

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The New York Times reminds readers that Newt Gingrich- who criticized Romney's record at Bain Capital- was himself on the advisory board of private equity firm Forstmann Little. This editorial describes Santorum, Romney and Gingrich as corporate candidates who had close ties to private equity or lobbying firms.

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The alliance to make housing more affordable by building more units in the suburbs after many blue state areas have used zoning laws and other ways to keep new apartments out of their suburbs. It is called YIMBY which stands for Yes In My Backyard. States as varied as Montana, Arizona and Colorado to California, New York and Texas are on abiparitsan basis with Republicans working together with Democrats are looking for ways to make housing accessible and affordable by increasing funding for subsidized housing, building more apartments by loosening zoning laws, and expanding renter protection for tenants.

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India European Union Trade Deal - huge potential for EU and India for 2 billion people size markets, new manufacturing hubs, and advanced scientific + technological cooperation. Timing is critical. From the first term of DJT 2016-2020 it became clear that the supply chain concentration in China was a serious error for America and Europe. Modi came into manage the federal government in India in 2014- that first phase was to tackle the basic problems in health care sanitation and road infrastructure, agriculture. By the second term of DJT Europe had realized something had to be done to reduce concentration of trade  supply chains in China. Two things had to happen to bring India and EU together. The Ukraine War and China's indirect participation on the side of Russia, the change in administration from Merkel to SPD's Schulz,  and in 2026 to Merz and the CDU created a new awareness of the need for EU and India to come together. Yet Scholz SPD hung onto the special trade relationship even in the face of the Ukraine war and China's shift when it allowed the port of Hamburg stake taken by China to be retained. Something had to happen to jerk Germany and with it the EU out of its inability to shift towards India. Merz took this step in 2026 as the relationship with China soured over Ukraine war and the grasp of the dangers of overconcentration of the China relationship with Germany that Merkel had created. On the other side Modi had to get India's logistics, road and rail networks, ports ready for such a trade relationship where goods could be quickly shipped into and out of India. Modi worked on these investments on a rapid basis in his second and third terms. India had to offer stability in the relationship. This meant winning elections to set up state governments in key states such as Maharashtra for Bombay (Mumbai) region, Delhi capital region, and Bihar/ Orissa (Patna region northeast), Rajasthan (Jaipur northwest region), local city governments in Bombay (Mumbai) region and in the south in Andhra (Vizag region) + Trivandrum (Kerala). The combination of federal and state and city governments working in unison plus logistics and transportation, put India in contention for the role of a size and magnitude that would make a difference for Europe in its relations with China and Russia. That necessity was now fulfilled and in place. Merz and Modi, seized the chance at the kite festival in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, with a vist to the Sabarmati Ashram of modern India's founder Mohandas Gandhiji. Von Der Leyen also from CDU now joins the former premier of Portugal Antonio de Costa as heads of EU to attend the Republic Day parade celebrations in New Delhi on January 26. Nothing happened by chance. It took the hard work that in Robert Frost's words in Mowing ( "the fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows my long scythe whispered, for the earnest love that laid the swale in rows"). Japan plunged headlong into imperial ambitions after its modernization, China has ambitions under its Communist/ Markets system, India as the homeland of the Buddha and the Buddhist civilization of China, Japan and Indochina, and with its special place for Mohandas Gandhiji brings the European civilization in connection with a civilization that is just as old and advanced as the European in its philosophical and religious foundations with practice in real life, and not likely to flounder on the rocks as the Japanese and Chinese expansionist ambition based ideas. And once again with Robert Frost in- Putting in the Seed in Springtime, for Merz, Leyen, Da Costa, and for Gandhi and Modi - "On through the watching for that early birth when just as the soil tarnishes with weed, The sturdy seedling with arched body comes shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs."     ...

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Turkish identity is changing as Erdogan pushes through changes in Turkey that replace the secular character established by Kemal Ataturk with his own brand of Ottoman identity. Erdogan appeals to the pious Muslims from the lower classes in Turkey who were ignored earlier, and to people who trust him in the middle class for preserving economic gains. By increasing tension with Kurds and other people in society Erdogan has increased the divisions in Turkish society. It is not clear what will take the place of the secular society and the gains made by it in modernization of Turkey now that the whole region is engulfed by conflict, and Turkey also faces a refugee crisis at its borders with Iraq and Syria.

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Examination report of Deutsche Bank's regulatory reporting by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2014 shows serious regulatory reporting problems.

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This report shows the level of coronavirus testing as of March 27, 2020 in different states in the U.S. The U.S. testing program and supplies of tests are being ramped up quickly. About 65,000 tests are being done on Americans each day. The need is for 150,000 tests a day say public health officials. Testing is slow in California compared to aggressive testing in New York which has 60% of all coronavirus cases. California with twice the population of New York has done 77,000 tests compared to 122,000 in New York. Texas has done only 21,000 states by comparison. Every week new testing technology is being developed in different labs, medical companies, and universities. Including tests that can be conducted quickly and not requiring health workers or health workers with protective gear. Speed of processing test, least point of testing contact, and the protocol for quarantine, are all part of the testing and isolating of clusters mechanism to tackle the virus. This is critical in the coronavirus action plan being developed by Dr Brx of the U.S. White House team. ...

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A consumption based carbon footprint mapping that was developed by the University of California, Berkeley, is shown in the NYT. It shows different city centers and suburbs in America including New York city and how their consumption based footprints differ. Some places including suburbs and wealthier households drivemore, buy more goods and are responsible for higher emissions than places with better public transportation, that use energy practicing conservation.

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Bernanke's remarks at the Economic Club of New York. "Much work remains and more difficulties lie ahead" says Bernanke, exports will slow, and the labor, housing and credit markets will take time to recover, and consumer spending and investment will remain weak. Inflation is the only bright spot in this picture.

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Mike Clancy of The Prospect writes in The Times of London that he has found that two thirds of remote workers working from home would like to have the right to unplug from work and not be expected to connect with the office at some point in the day, and that this would have a hugely beneficial impact on mental health.   The biggest problem that workers working from home have found during this pandemic for one year now is that it blurs the line between work and life outside of work having a negative impact on one's mental health. Surveys have found that about half of remote workers like the idea of working from home, having time from commute and being able to be have more freedom from being tied down to the office space. Companies are looking at cutting about 25 to 50% of office space but have not looked at the problems workers have and not set new rules about when the line for work is set and workers can cut off from work and not be expected to be reachable by the office. Clancy even goes on to say that companies have looked at the problems of the last century not this one and largely stayed away from tackling the real problems of workplace- stress, burnout and surveillance. Lyrarc recommends readers look at the way Germans approach this idea of blurred distinctions between work and life outside of work in the idea of "Feierabend" that literally means breaking away from work at some point say 4.00 pm or 5.00 pm to take a bike ride or walk or do something else. ...

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The New York Times editorial says the constitutional option looks better than the recession option, now that huge cuts in spending including Medicare and Social Security are planned in the budget talks between the Republicans and the Obama White House. The Times points to $4 trillion in defict reduction in 10 years, that is being discussed as part of a grand agreement in White House talks. It reminds the Obama White House that it is not likely to win independent voters if unemployment increases as a result. The constitutional option is for the President to to point to the 14th Amendment that the public debt cannot be questioned, in effect saying the debt limit cannot be controlled by Congress as it is today. See the piece by Krugman on the same subject in today's New York Times. Krugman asks why Obama's economic advisors have not cautioned him about the size of the cuts and the potential impact on unemployment in a fragile economy. And he points out that most of the senior economic advisors have left and it may be Obama's political team that is looking for a way to win points with independent voters for next years election....

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Sheila Bair releases her new book in Sept 2012 on the financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the efforts to introduce financial reforms for a safer financial system: "Bull By the Horns: Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street and Wall Street from Itself." She is particularly critical of U.S. Treasury Secretary, and former head of the New York Federal Reserve, Timothy Geithner, as protecting the interests of Citigroup and Wall Street in his position as Treasury Secretary of the U.S. government. She describes in detail the situations in which Geithner tried to water down essential reforms to the financial system to make it safer, including the Volcker Rule. Of particular concern is the revolving door by which banking regulators or government officials join banks after service in the government which leads to weakening of regulatory and government oversight and systemic risks as in 2008-2009. Sheila Bair is widely respected for her efforts during the financial crisis from 2008 to 2011, when she headed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the FDIC. Her active involvement in defending reforms and setting up the system by which financially failing banks could be taken over and unwound without risks to the U.S. financial system are lasting contributions. She also succeeded as a manager by setting up an experienced and effective successor in Martin Gruenberg as head of the FDIC, to continue this work. A former Congresswoman, she describes herself as a Republican populist from Kansas. Her current role is as senior advisor to the Pew Charitable Trusts, which itself is a rare phenomenon today for a senior government official leaving government....

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16.3 million acres wildfires in Canadian West burn in August 2025- the smoke reaches midwest and northeastern US. Wildfires in San Luis Obispo County in California 2025 bring smoke to Los Angeles.

The Air Quality Index in Detroit, Montreal and Toronto reaches levels of 147, 144, and 158, it reaches. On August 4, Cairo was 122, Dubai 107, Kolkata 112. It shows how these fires are affecting air quality in the US and Canadian cities. Northeast New York Boston will be affected by Aug 8 Fri as it eases up with winds in Detroit, Toronto by Aug  6 Wed.

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Women executives at a panel discussion sponsored by Columbia Universiy in New York, in Dec. 2014, provide ideas for getting more women in Tech fields. Ideas include, mentoring, with early education exposure to technology careers- as early as middle school. One executive says she takes in 150 female high school students to Washington D.C. for leadership training. Other ideas are to turn maternity leave into a positive feature of women's lives by letting women who do well keep their duties by delegating them to others while they are away, and making a smooth pathway back to work full time. The suggestion is to allow a gradual transition to ramp back up to full time work, and allow flexible hours, working from home. In daily work women are encouraged to look for partnerships with other areas of the organization for getting results, and being sensitive to which areas of the organization they need to build support in.

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As a civil rights campaigner Harry Belafonte's efforts were legendary. NYT gives these black and white pictures of Belafonte in an anti Apartheid protest outside the South African embassy in 1964, addressing a civil rights rally in New York in 1960, with Sidney Poitier at a civil rights rally (he studied theater at the American Negro Theatre with Poitier), and checking on free primary education in Kenya in 2004 for UNICEF.

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Iraq has $3 billion at the New York Federal reserve Bank in overnight deposits, needed for the Iraqi economy's smooth operation. Loss of access to this account would hurt the Iraqi dinar currency with sharp devaluation. It would also hurt workers, spending and the Iraqi economy.

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The WSJ shows options to travel to Europe from the US for under $200 one way on new budget airlines set up by Iceland (Play airline), Norway (Norse Atlantic Airways), Britain (Condor Airlines), France (French Bee), Italy (Neos). Add in bags and meals and it could run to about $400 one way as you pay for everything else extra. One would travel to that country to locations such as Reykjavik, Oslo, London, Paris, Milan, and connect to other parts of Europe. Flights are from New York, Los Angles, San Francisco, Miami. With fares for Delta, United, and other carriers up significantly this offers another option.

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Facing low approval ratings the new cabinet of prime minister Kishida is aiming for stability. New ministers can get to work immediately. New Cabinet secretary Yoshimasa was previously defense minister and foreign minister, and is No.2 in the Kishida faction of the LDP. It is a difficult road ahead as members of the Abe faction resigned from a fund raising tickets probe by prosecutors. 

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Clearly New Yorkers can as a community do better. As Paris gets ready for the Olympics the efforts of City Hall and the French local and federal governments can be something for New York to learn from. Clearly as home to Wall Street New Yorkers should get their priorities straight and invest in the subway system taking a page from Tokyo and other cities that are doing infinitely better in their subway systems with modernization and attractive subway facilities. Surely this takes investment in people and facilities on a scale with tens of billions of dollars in investment which can be diverted from wasteful spending in many startups, and tax dollars going into what comes first for New Yorkers using the subway system every day. Today New Yorkers are like the people of Mumbai who until the efforts of the Modi government to invest in the complete modernization of subway and trains had given up hope so entrenched were old systems and old ideas.

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Yellow vest protesters in Paris have a point about the rising cost of living in Paris. Paris now ranks as one of the top 3 most expensive cities inthe world after Hong Kong and Singapore.  This is using 150 items in 133 cities worldwide in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2019 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. Other cities that are in top ten include Zurich and Geneva ranked fourth and fifth followed by Seoul, Tokyo. Israel's Tel Aviv entered top ten for first time. New York and Los Angeles rank eight and tenth.

London property prices fell for second year in a row in 2018. No German cities in top ten, Munich overtook Hamburg and Frankfurt moved up three places. In Canada Vancouver is dropping and Toronto is still holding up.

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About 425 cty residents of New York were looking for work as of December 2009.

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This report in The Times points out that the world of work is changing as employers reduce office space and shift workers to work from home with some limited time spent in the office environment to link up with colleagues. This report cites a survey that shows 45% of companies are saying they do not need 70% of office space.  The Times has been published for one year with employees not coming into the office. The Reach which publishes the Daily Mirror and Daily Express in UK has cut office space and 75% of employees in future will work full time from home. Banks are also making that move- HSBC is getting rid of 40% of global office space, Lloyds Bank is getting rid of 20% of office space. With these changes comes the question when did this idea of working out large offices start? It started in 1906 with the Larkin Administration Building in New York. It was based on the ideas of Frederick Taylor's scientific management ideas and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to recreate something like a factory floor. Later by 1970 office spaces shifted to privacy with cubicles and private offices. It then went through another transformation with a shift to open offices as in Japan in the period around 2000 which is making a comeback today. This time open offices with social distancing space for a smaller number of people coming in for a short time to the office. Simon Nixon says employers should not simply look for savings as the main motivation but at the broader picture- wellness of employees, guiding employees on how to structure work and space at home, associations in this field should also provide guidance and get involved in the transformation of office space. Productivity goes with wellness, and happy employees who have kept wellness in mind will be more productive asset for the employers. Lyrarc recommends office workers read articles on the German approach to office work called "Feierabend," which sets clearly demarcated lines between work and recreational activities that renew one for work the next day. Feierabend literally means "end of the day" in German and a specific time say 5.00 pm cuts off the days work and sets time aside for breaking away from work to take a bike ride or a walk in the garden for instance.   ...

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Carter's work for Habitat for Humanity continued right up to 2019, five years before his death at 100 years. This report shows a picture of Carter and wife Rosalynn after he had 14 stitches from a fall at his home, still back to a Habitat for Humanity site in Nashville in 2019,  at 95 years of age. It shows Carter at sites in New York City in 1984, and the couple doing wood work at a site in 1992.

In addition to eradication of Guinea worm and other parasitic diseases in Africa Jimmy Carter lived a life right out of the Biblical teachings that he delivered at Sunday School at a local church in Georgia.