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Watching a YouTube clip for 15 minutes can use up about a third of the $20 monthly 1 gigabyte Verizon wireless data plan for the iPad. Verizon is asking users to use thier WiFi networks as much as possible, and the iPad defaults to those networks.

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Cost of living (groceries and healthcare costs) in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. WSJ talks to the member of Congress Mackenzie and voters in this region of Pennsylvania, in a competitive House District in 2026. Voters are not dining out, using food banks, and are 50-50 in their support for DJT vs Democrats, yet plan to vote Republican. They attribute the worst inflation to Biden when it went up 20% one year, with DJT trying to cut the cost of living but failing to make the kind of headway that is needed.

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For Germany's students and young people the preferred destination in Europe is Austria or Switzerland, and includes Tokyo, seen as cleaner better run and good places to live. A large number of people, about 21% of young Germans 18 years to 29 years would like to go to another country to live. This is shown by a survey "Youth In Germany," or "Jugend in Germany" by Verlag. Slow growth, the polarization of society and rise of AfD, poor job prospects, neglect of infrastructure and public services are given as reasons.

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Chuck Hagel on the need to bring in more countries to handle difficult situations such as the one the US faces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says thats why the world now has a G20 and not a G8. No country can face these situations alone especially when there is a mutual interest of many countries in these situations. He calls it a 20th century reaction to 21st century realities. He says the 2 wars cost more than a trillion dollars. One sees a new respect for international institutions such as the UN, World Bank, IMF, and GATT renamed WTO, even with Republicans. Chuck Hagel's point makes a lot of sense and is generally accepted in people's understanding of the situation from the Defence Department to the Administration, and among respected politicians. It is putting it onto practice that is the hard part. As Hagel puts it, it is important to remember what Lyndon Johnson told Senatior Russell, that he knew the Vietnam war could not be won, and yet he did not want to pull out and be the first American President to lose a war. This is a contradiction because if it can't be won its going to be lost under the next President or the one after that, in this case Gerald Ford. Hagel says it not ours to win and lose. Here he points to the interconnectedness and shared interests of all nations. Every great threat to the U.S., whether it is economic, terrorism, nuclear weapons proliferation, health pandemics, environmental degradation, energy or water and food shortages, is also a threat to global partners ansd rivals. So its wrong to view engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan through the lens that says its about winning or losing. And he asks win what? Too many cultural, ethnic and religious dynamics are involved for any one nation to control. Hagel concludes by saying that the US, the Defense Department, the Obama administration, must get this right, as it affects the global architecture for the next generation. Fresh thinking is needed. Single issue engagement is obsolete in the 21st century in dealing with global partners or rivals, or countries with aspects of both....

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Benchmark jet fuel at $1838 on April 16 2026, compared to $838 before Iran War. The need to replace 50% of EU fuel imports from Middle East to last 6 weeks till June. At 75% replacement OK till August. US and Nigeria provide alternative supplies to Middle East sources of jet fuel. Airlines could feel shortages it it is not replaced. Jet fuel is 20-40% of airline costs.

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Frances tax system places 40% tax on single earner family with 2 children compared to 20% in the US. France debates how to pass the budget and how to meet budget shortfalls in revenue, where to tax. France's top tax bracket is already at 55%, the second highest in Europe, which does not make the job of setting taxes easier. Additional 1.9 billion euros was to be raised by raising the tax rate for families that had tax liability of 20% if they made over 250,000 euros. This has raised 400 million euros only in 2025. This editorial in the Washington Post is critical of the French tax structure and says it is not just the rich who end up with higher taxes. It says that the average French single worker gets to keep only 53% of income after taxes, whereas American average single worker who gets to keep 70%. The extra 20% could be what the American worker pays for health care if as in some cases health care has become so costly in the US as to cost more than a mortgage, as reported in the WSJ in January 2026. Can government buy healthcare more efficiently and distribute it than families on their own. In the case of pharmacy products would removing the power to negotiate  prices with pharmaceutical companies conducted in government run by special interest groups as happened under US president Bush make it so expensive to buy pharmaceutical products that the advantage of smaller taxes is destroyed by a perverse healthcare system run by special interest groups with help of lobbyists. This is just to show that yes the US tax system with lower taxes can fail when other things go wrong in managing crtical costs such as healthcare and housing.   ...

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The school as an extension of the caring nurturing family, starts with the good motivated teacher, one student at a time. The example of teachers at a Union city public school in New Jersey. At one time a failing school it is now an example of what can be done with good motivated teachers. David Kirp, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, is the author of the book: "Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of the Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools." Kirp reminds us that the answers are closer to us than we think, the nurturing influence of the schools extends the work of the family, more intuitive, and resembling more of the ways we think and feel children respond to good teachers.

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The WSJ is still calling the president's stop fentanyl flows tariffs on CMC Canada Mexico and China economic tariffs in this editorial board opinion. It is incomprehensible that little or no mention is made in most of the media of the magnitude of injury to the US, the 490,000 deaths in America over 12 years as the result of Canada, Mexico and China not taking the needed action to stop fentanyl flows into the US. There is also the added factor of lack of a level playing field in trade which has resulted in the same communities in many cases having suffered from in the case of China loss of 25 million jobs over the last 10 years and loss of $250 billion in infrastructure and public services for schools, libraries, childcare, and health care clinics that were lost from losses in taxes for local communities in the US. This has decimated life in these communities and in small towns across America.  In the case of Mexico the illegal migrant flows that were not stopped at the border have put an added burden on already underfunded and strained public services in local communities in the US. This is the reason for much of the frustration and anger that has built up over time in these communities with the response from the DJT administration to find solutions. CMC countries could have taken action on their own, yet the US had waited too long for this action. Reciprocal in reciprocal tariffs is about fairness, a level playing field, something that China had agreed to in the spirit of the WTO entry in 1994 and American desire to aid China industrialize build a modern economy. Instead US business was coopted by China during the industrialization process 1995-2010, 2010-2020, including in the first term of the DJT administration even when tariffs were imposed. This happened with transfer of technologies happening late into the first term of the DJT administration 2016-2020, which has led to a much of the pent up frustration and action in the first 100 days of DJT in 2025.  ...

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In this interview with Gerald Seib of the WSJ, U.S. president Obama responds to criticism within his party as he pushes for the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement with Japan and other countries in Latin America and Asia. European nations and India have joined the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank setup by China, creating pressure for the U.S. to respond to China's influence in the region. The interview shows president Obama taking the criticism from inside the Democratic party personally about his lack of concern for middle class and working class families during his six and half years in office.

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NYT's Mokoto Rich provides this excellent report from Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea, where the current president's father attended teacher's college, and where she draws her base of support. Her father is the dictator president Park who ruled South Korea from 1961 to 1979, known for efforts to modernize South Korea and protect it from the Communist North.Most of the city's residents no longer support president Park Geun-hye because they say even though she herself is a good person, she had poor judgement in having a friend who they say swindled her. That friend Ms. Choo Soon-Sil won favors and contracts using the powers of the presidential office with the full knowledge of the president. This makes her incompetent for the presidential office say even conservative supporters who disagree with the opposition's protests. 

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Musharraf's efforts at economic growth were not broad enough or deep enough to create a measurable difference in the lives of the Pakistani people. And improvements in industry and agriculture may have been shallow compared to the potential. The wars or conflicts one or the other with India and the failure of political leaders may have been too big a distraction to achieve the significant effort needed to make a serious improvement in the lives of ordinary people and grow the middle class. Inflation is up by 24% year to year in July and rising, which is really an intolerable burden in a poor developing country. Now what little progress was made in Pakistan for the lives of ordinary people and the middle class is unraveling in the face of increase in the price of food, and fuel. And the the fall in the value of the Pakistan ruppee to Rs 75 for one American dollar, a 24% decline in value since January 2008 in only 8 months, shows a serious loss of confidence in the economy. The fall in the foreign exchange reserves is striking from $16 billion in November to $9.92 billion at this time. Pakistan appears to be heading in the direction of a serious refocussing of its economy, its politics, its educational institutions, and government and private industry, and its military in the direction of improving the lives of ordinary people, building industry and agriculture and building its infrastructure. If left unattended this crisis can only get worse and none of the past experience the old military approaches, the religious politics, the corruption in politics, the old political slogans, the conflict building with India, is going to be of much help in tackling the real day to day problems of improvement in industry, agriculture, infrastructure, and building better lives....

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The U.S. Justice Department opens an investigation of the largest airlines, Delta, American, United Continental, and Southwest for collusion in limiting expansion. The major 4 airlines control 80% of the domestic airline seats in the U.S. The 3 major airlines have grown slowly compared to Southwest in recent years. JetBlue and Spirit are also growing faster. Southwest plans to expand by 7% in the 4th quarter. U.S. airline domestic seats show slow growth since 2010, with growth picking up in 2015 over the prior year to 3.5% in 2015, according to Innovata. For 2013 and 2014 <0.5% growth in seats, in 2012 decline of <1%, 2011 growth of less than 1%, and slight decline in 2010. During the crisis 2008-2009 airlines cut seat capacity. Price increases have averaged 5% increase from 2007 to 2014 to $391, adjusted for inflation for domestic seats. The U.S. Justice Department investigation will look at "possible unlawful coordination."

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With the government goal of a $5 trillion economy in the next five years, India is expected to be the fourth largest economy in the world by 2026 after the U.S., China and Japan. India moved past France and Britain and will move past Germany by 2026, making the U.S. the only non-Asian economy in the top four. Britain is holding its own and its economy is expected to be larger than France's in five years.

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German regulatory authority takes a tougher stance in 2014, as the time when regulatory authority passes on to the ECB approaches. In the past BaFin has been seen as too supportive of Deutsche Bank.

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Michael Bromwich, a Washington lawyer and experienced investigator, will head the Minerals Management Service. He is from outside the oil and gas industry, and may have the benefit of looking at the industry from the angle of proper regulatory action.

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This is what Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said during the game in Valencia, Spain. 

"If a stadium insults a player racially the game has to stop, and I would say the same if we were winning 3-0. Stop the game there is no other way. The referee says the fans have to be informed first, and then if it continues we stop the game. But for me, he doesn't need to inform them. I am curious to see what happens now."

The incident in which Vinicius Jr, 22 years, was given racial insults in the Real Madrid Valencia La Liga game has led to repercussions all over the world. 

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Under the rules for the European currency and the European Union there is no mechanism or process of fines or other sanctions to promote compliance to debt and deficit rules. In the case of Greece, an examination of budget reports shows that Greece never met the deficit rule of 3% for any year except 2006 and it has never been within 30 percentage points of the debt ceiling. Greece's statistics are faulty and deficit figures are continually being revised upwards. Several times the figures were quadruple what was initially reported in late 2009, for instance the deficit figure was 3.7% of GDP, then revised to 13% of GDP, setting off the current crisis for the Euro and the European Union. In 2001 Greece failed to reflect $2.2 billon in military expenses. According to Eurostat, the EU statistics authority this was 10 times what was saved from the derivatives swap arranged by Goldman Sachs to trim Greece's deficit. That transaction trimmed the deficit by one tenth of a percentage point.

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Kathryn Ruemmler is legal counsel at Goldman Sachs, and adviser to the CEO. The WSJ looks at Epstein file releases by the US Justice Department on Ruemmler's connections to Epstein in 2019 as a legal adviser. Some of it is after FBI arrested Epstein. Other files released show Ruemmler had consulted with Epstein on jobs she was interviewing for with Goldman, and potential jobs at Google, Facebook and Citadel, according to this report. This aspect is similar to what is reported in the media about Mandelson having consulted with Epstein for job offers at large financial companies. In the case of Mandelson he described his access to influence in Labour government decisions. The Mandelson connections are rocking the British government of PM Keir Starmer for his poor judgement in appointing Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US and lack of due diligence on his background.  WSJ report says Ruemmler had helped try Enron executives and this brought her attention that led to her going to the White House as Barrack Obama's counsel. She left in 2014 and was a white collar defense lawyer at Latham and Watkins.  ...

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Reliance India Limited to build 168,000 b/d Clean shale oil refinery in Brownsville Texas, to cut US trade imbalance of $58 billion with India by $15 billion a year, about 25%. Much of the product could be exported to India from the port of Brownsville in Texas. This helps improve relations with India as the US president was looking for ways to cut the trade deficit with India. The US India trade agreement is based on increased energy exports by US to India. US has a trade imbalnce with India of $58 billion which was an issue in recent trade talks with India. US wants India to get energy product from the US under the US India Trade Agreement. The president of America First Refining Trey Giggs says- "The United States has a surplus of light shale oil but a shortage of refining capacity designed to process it." This CLEAN refinery will strengthen the domestic supply chain. For India and Reliance (RIL) this is also a way to get out of the quagmire of getting supplies from the Middle East.   ...

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Xi's "Great Rejuvenationof the Chinese Nation" compared favorably to DJT's "Make America Great Again" by Xi Jinping during DJT visit to Zhonghanhai Compound of China's leaders in Beijing. Xi Jinping says during DJT visit to Beijing May 14 2026- “Through strengthened cooperation, both China and the United States can promote their respective development and revitalization." This is important to grasp if one wants to understand China. Much of the media focuses on this or that smaller aspect of the DJT visit to China, including the NYT when it shows DJT invited to a walk on the garden grounds of the Zhonghanhai Compound. It does not accept that president Xi Jinping finds little that is relevant to China today and its aspirations in places like Iran and the Middle East. That Xi admires the US efforts for reindustrialization and renewal in the same way he sees the rejuvenation and renewal of the great Chinese Nation and sees this as shared goals for betterment of their people's lives.  ...