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Japan believes it can get what it wants through the negotiating style it adopted with Reagan and then Deputy Trade Rep. Lighthizer. It won't work. There is a new US president who know's Japan's approach to trade, and the US has a lot more experience with Lighthizer and Jamieson Greer his deputy running negotiations with Scott Bessent, some 45 years later.

DJT to Japan: “Dear Mr. Japan, here’s the story. You’re going to pay a 25% tariff on your cars, you know? So we give Japan no cars. They won’t take our cars.”

US says it will just send that message to Japan in a letter if it won't negotiate a level playing field and fairness in world trade.

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In his sermon the new Pope says there are many settings where the Christian faith is vewed as "absurd" - with power, wealth, and technology dominating - but it was just this that shows missionary outreach is needed.

"A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society," he said in the address delivered in Italian.

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Turkey's elections for parliament and for president are on May 14, 2023. President Erdogan is running again after two decades in power. Turkey faces high inflation of over 57% which has created a serious cost of living crisis in Turkey. Erdogan has issued a wide range of stimulus measures- energy subsidies, a doubling of the minimum wage, pension increases, and a chance for 2 million retirees to retire immediately. A kilogram of tomatoes used to cost 8-10 liras and now costs 25 liras. Rents are going up with steep increases. Turkey has been hit hard by the war in Ukraine as it depends on Ukraine for grain supplies. A popular mayor of Istabul Ekrem Imamoglu from the Opposition is shown here as an alternative for president. Erdogan started his political career as Mayor of Istanbul with the military opposing him. His management of the economy helped him win two terms as president, which is now in a severe crisis.

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The relationship between the French and American presidents helped build the alliance of the U.S. France and Britain in the joint response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The effort to end the use of chemical weapons was strongly supported by Macron and Trump.

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As early as June 15, 2007, internal J.P. Morgan documents show, high-level risk management officers at Chase's investment bank sent e-mail to colleagues to report that Madoff was suspected to be running a Ponzi scheme. In Feb 2006, a risk analyst at Chase reported to his superiors that the returns of the Madoff Fund did not make sense, as it did far better than the securities reportedly in the portfolio. A lawsuit is being filed by the bankruptcy trustee of the Madoff Fund against Chase for allowing Madoff to bring billions of dollars of investor's cash into and out of his Chase bank accounts right upto the day of his arrest in Dec 2008. At the same time Chase had withdrawn $241 million of the $271 million it had invested in Madoff-linked hedge funds.

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Morgan Stanley predicts global infrastructure spending will grow 3% this year, down from 10% last year, and down to zero growth or decline in spending in 2009. This will affect companies like GE, Emerson and Caterpillar.

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A 93 year old from Ireland who started rowing at age 73. He shows that our body does not have to lose muscle with aging. He is the subject of this case study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, shown in The Washington Post. He is a one time baker and battery maker who does curls and lunges with small wieights and does rowing with 30% rowing of some intensity the rest at a steady pace. 

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Donald Trump is interviewed on Meet the Press on December 8, 2024. 

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The 24 hour migration of moose over the Angerman river to summer pastures from a region 300 miles north of Stockholm is the subject of a 24 hour continuous show on Swedish television SVT. It is watched by 9 million viewers whose rhythms slow down as they watch the moose cross the river. There is a calming effect of slow TV and many people including the filming crew feel relaxed. 26 remote cameras, 9 night cameras, and a drone are used with 12 miles of cable. There are 300,000 moose roaming in the woods and forests of northern Sweden.

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GM shares hit a new low of $1.52 on February 20, 2009. On February 20, 2008, one year ago, GM shares were at $25.54 a share. This is the lowest level in 70 years. President Obama's task force onthe auto industry met on February 20 for the first time.

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A humble diligent focused Diogo Jota who never went to Benefica or Sporting or the big clubs but worked his way step by step and into the hearts of the Portuguese people and soccer fans everywhere. A tribute in the BBC Sports to Portugal's famous soccer player who died in a car accident.

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Boris Johnson, who heads a minority government in Britain following resignation of Theresa May, will do just about anything to push Britain out of the European Union by October 31st. He has said he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than ask for an extension of the October 31st deadline. The British parliament is dead set on preventing that and has passed legislation requiring a extension of the October 31st deadline to January 2020. Johnson is even willing to go to jail for breaking the law, on the grounds that he is simply supporting the people's referendum choice over an elected parliament. This is itself a strange situation because the elected representatives in parliament decide for the people, and views in a referendum can change over time. Johnson says the reports of Britain's economy taking a blow from simply falling out of the European Union without a negotiated deal are exaggerated. He even once said all it means is that there might be "a shortage of Mars chocolate bars." Before becoming prime minister with a one vote majority in parliament which he promptly lost on the first day parliament met, Boris was a journalist who was elected Mayor of London. His only other position was for a brief period with controversy as Foreign Secretary in Theresa May's government. By taking in as chief adviser the head of the Brexit referendum Leave campaign Mr. Cummings, Mr. Johnson shows he believes he could win a general election with a carefully orchestrated campaign like that of Leave that blames the Labour Party, and the Scottish National party for stopping Brexit and halting the people's mandate.  The question is whether Cummings has gone too far or Boris Johnson has gone too far using Cumming's methods and views. Many Conservative moderates were expelled from the Conservative Party by Johnson and Cummings leaving the Conservative Party in self-destructive mode and the worst shape it has been in its history. It is not clear that after 10 years of austerity and rule by the Conservative party, and the mess from the single minded pursuit of Brexit that has overshadowed Britain's other priorities, that the British public would simply give a broken Conservative Party another mandate without thinking carefully about all the consequences. More so amid the lack of trust that is a feature of the Boris Johnson minority government.  ...