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Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping have frowned on the accumulation of wealth and the IPO pay day, says this report in the WSJ. The largely unregulated company Alibaba in its role as a financial business, its complex ownership structure, and practices, have met with skepticism from China's financial regulators. They see the financial operations of Alibaba and its businesses as operating with little financial oversight and the state having to assume risks if something failed. The company's business model of payments app Alipay, mutual fund, voluminous data collection, operations as small loan provider to half a billion people, are seen by Chinese leaders and president Xi as posing unknown and unclear risks when not properly regulated. Commercial banks are subject to  tough regulations and capital requirements that Alibaba has avoided. State owned banks supply Alibaba with majority of the funding and take on most of the risk even though Alibaba makes profit from the transactions, is the perception of regulators. China's export model and manufacturing have enable it to create the banking capital on which such internet business models have thrived. In a world where supply chains are being redone, and following the pandemic, there are questions about how businesses that were created in the period before the pandemic should operate in a different environment. ...

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Business top management in Germany comes from the top 2-4% of Germany's population in education, wealth and upbringing in 2025. Sociologist Michael Hartmann, a professor at Darmstadt University of Technology, has found that for the last 100 years the top managers and boards of 400 largest German companies are made up mostly of sons of business executives and people with a advanced higher education background, that this has not changed much over that period.

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Business and government costs for workers in the US increased by 5.1% in the second quarter 2022 over the prior year. For the first quarter the figure was 4.5%.

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The growing popularity of bakers in France who grow wheat and mill the wheat, or use just the simplest ingredients is the subject of this video report in DW.com. 

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Biden reaches out to young black people in his commencement address to Morehouse College in Atlanta.Biden says he stood up for young black people and their aspirations for a better life.

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China's Xiaomi smartphone maker makes electric cars. It delivered 135,000 EV's in 2024.

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The foreign lobbying by Pakistan and then India in Washington DC for access to the White House using lobbyist firms in the US. This enabled leaders from Pakistan to visit the White House in the US soon after conflict between Pakistan and India erupted over terrorist incident. Terrorist incidents happened in New Delhi and Islamabad in November 2025. The DJT administration may have gained support from Pakistan/Turkey for the Hamas settlement through this lobbying effort. The DJT administration inadvertently put itself in a position of being influenced by lobbying in this case for access to the White House. Following that event China's president Xi Jinping tightened restrictions on rare earths in trade negotiations with the US for a temporary agreement that gives access to the US market. This leaves the issue of illegal fentanyl flows from China and Mexico to the US, important to the US, and of restructuring world trade, also important to the US, major goals of this Republican administration in abeyance.   ...

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This report in the NYT says South Korea is putting itself at a disadvantage by investing in the US and with its commitments for buying LNG from the US. It like other articles in the NYT sells America short. The goodwill earned by Japan and South Korea by the approach to trade agreements that acknowledges the unfair treatment the US put up with from both partners for decades is something that will be remembered by the American people. Any agreement South Korea and Japan make with the US will be to the lasting benefit of the two Asian nations as it is built on shared goodwill of the American people and the people of Japan and Korea. Agreements with China are largely temporary adjustments in a larger situation of competition between the US and Europe with China and are transient arrangements.

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How to manage relationships as you get older. What makes for energizing connectedness feeling in relationships and when do relationships wither. Different aspects of managing this social connectedness that we all need for good mental health are discussed by Francine Russo in WSJ.

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An extraordinary moment in history took place at Rajghat Gandhiji Memorial in New Delhi on September 10, 2023. The leaders of 20 largest nations from all over the world observed a moment of silence after devotional hymns at the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. Click on original article to pull up the larger picture and take our On the Spot Quiz on which countries were paired together on either side. On either side of Modi are Widodo (Indonesia) and Lula (Brazil), next to them either side Macron and Biden, Albanese and Sunak, EU's Michel and Leyen , Erdogan and Yeong, Fernandez and Meloni, Qiang and Kishida, Lavrov and Scholz, Sissi and Ramaphosa, Rutte and Trudeau. Can you tell which countries each pair of leaders are from? Answer below for our first On the Spot Quiz. Answer: France and US, Australia and UK, EU's pair, Turkey and South Korea, Argentina and Italy, China and Japan, Russia and Germany, Egypt and South Africa. It is an exceptionally well thought out arrangement. With Indonesia and Brazil on either side of India, you have the core of the aspiring population of 1.7 billion people more than anywhere else on the planet Earth, who think alike, act alike. And next to them are leaders of France and US, Australia and Britain, and the European Union, who are resolutely backing the shift in agenda- debt assistance, tripling renewable energy, and a new infrastructure building effort for ease of living.   ...

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Mitch Smith of the NYT looks at the Grand Rapids area for the 2024 election. Grand Rapids is atownof 660,000  which is the second largest city in Michigan. Originally populated by Dutch settlers it now has about 10% Hispanics in addition to about 10% blacks. The Hispanic population has increased over time. Some Republicans such as Ben Ingrebretson have drifted away from the party and voted for Biden in 2020. In February he voted for Nikki Haley, part of the 34% who voted for Haley in Kent County. He approves of Biden's view of America as "a beacon" for the world but does not approve of stimulus spending or forgiveness of student loans. Grand Rapids is also the area where governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, went to school and which gave her a 10 percentage vote margin.

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The news and information including video available on the internet have eroded dependence on public broadcasting in the US for communities across the US. The tendency of public broadcasting to be filled with people of views that did not represent a crosssection of America further eroded the credibility as views changed over time across different parts of America. By 2025 public broadcasting appeared as a leftover from the 60's and Congress defunded it in July 2025. 

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The WSJ looks at the UAW's wage demands for 8% a year over 4 years, a shorter work week, defined benefit pensions, and equal status for new workers. The auto companies are seeking the flexibility they need to price cars at levels that are competitive with overseas competition. 

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The unique methods used by Japan to tackle labor shortages as a result of declining population. Since 2012 working age population declined by 4.7 million, yet people working increased by 4.4 million. The pools used are elderly, women and foreigners, mostly neglected by other countries. This offers important lessons for other countries facing similar problems.

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The issue of virtue signaling has come up at the BBC as it goes through a period of change under new rules. Rule Britannia! and "Land of Hope and Glory" are now reinstated in television programming. Prime minister Boris Johnson says "it is crazy for us to go around trying to censor it." Saying that "people love our history and our traditions with all its imperfections. It is absolutely absurd."

Land of Hope and Glory is written by Edward Elgar, has the lines -

"By freedom gained, by truth maintained/ Thine Empire shall be strong."

Earlier decisions have come under strong criticism in Britain.

There is a sense that countries are better off recalling and affirming their history and traditions during the pandemic, so that people can have faith and hope for the future.

 

 

 

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The Guardian shows pictures of empty vaccination center in Erfurt, Germany, as the use of the Astra Zeneca vaccine is temporarily paused. The European Medicines Agency says the vaccination benefits far outweighs any side effects from rare blood clots. UK Health and Medicine Regulatory Agency and health experts also confirm this. Astra Zeneca says its trials showed fewer blood clots in those people who were vaccinated than in the people not vaccinated.

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All the pent up energy after the uncertainty of the last couple of weeks and the Democratic party held up, then the energy burst into the open, one adviser said it was going bonkers, it was intense- 250 million was raised in 36 hours, most of it from new donors, and 58,000 new volunteers to join in the campaign for Kamala Harris. Nothing like this has been seen in modern times.

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A lack of rules for children growing up has affected an entire generation in U.S. and Europe and other countries. Sociologists say rules are essential for children to grow up and develop the skills for living and the lack of boundaries and rules has taken away this essential component for this younger generation today. Sociologists call this "infantilizing." It has also led to  people living in their own space and not carrying on the conversations essential for young people to develop into responsible persons.  Experts say this process of responding to the rules and learning are essential developmental process to go from childhood to adolescence and adolescence to becoming developed adults. This has been compromised over the last 25 years so that the socialization process that enables transmission of values from parents to children has not been taking place. An unwillingness to have moral based judgements and tell children what is good or right has added to the weakening of this process by which children learn and develop into mature responsible adults. ...

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The Russian economy will suffer a loss of about 7% of GDP in 2022. After 2023 over the next five year period Russia will feel the effects of a drop in energy demand as it tries to find markets to replace European demand. The shift to renewables will accelerate in future years and will affect the demand for Russian fossil fuel supplies.

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The Journal's Jeff Bennett talks with Rodney O'Neal, the CEO of Delphi Automotive. O'Neal says Delphi's success depends on focussing on advanced technologies where emerging market producers are less able to compete. He has focussed on 33 product lines which are 'green,' safe' and connected.' If it doen't create value then revenue and cost numbers are wrong, is O'Neal's lesson from the bankruptcy filing. He likes the chaotic discussion coming form strong debate, where views are expressed with passion and counterpoints made, and he takes this debate seriously, because as he sees it choosing the right course is a significant task in itself, which takes much time to correct if wrong. There are major improvements in emission and fuel economy ahead and a high tech future for the automobile industry. He see America's future in high-tech where America can do better than emerging market producers, and ensuring that the steady flow of exceptional American talent continues to be channelled properly....

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A poll showing 70% of boys and girls 16-17 years of age are missing school from mental health problems. After covid girls are exposed to an explosion of online pornography, and had more exposure to screen time and social media than would be useful for young people. The problem is acute for girls where one third say they "suffer from anxiety."

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A year after Butler, Pennsylvania attempt on the president's life DJT reflects on it in this interview he granted to Gary O'Donoghue of the BBC. DJT said- "I don't like dwelling on it because if I did, it would be, you know, might be life-changing, I don't want it to have to be that." DJT says he liked "the power of positive thinking, or the power of positive non-thinking". On Russian president Putin and the continuing war in Ukraine- "I thought we had a deal done four times and then you go home, and you see, just attacked a nursing home or something in Kyiv. I said: 'What the hell was that all about?'" "I'm not done with Putin. I'm disappointed in him." On Prince Charles, now King Charles- "a great gentleman." And on Britain's prime minister Starmer hear this- "I really like the prime minister a whole lot, even though he's a liberal."   ...

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This WSJ report cites estimates showing 11 job openings in the US, with 6.9 million people looking for work or unemployed. About 5 million more job openings than people seeking work. Low wage sectors are hit hard with people shunning these sectors. People are quitting jobs looking for higher wages, better benefits and working conditions, better work-life balance. In August 4.3 million workers quit their jobs as the American workforce goes through big changes.