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The other title of this article in the NYT was "California's fading Political Machines and volatile race for Governor." Gone are the days when Pat Brown was able to put his son Jerry Brown in the race for governor, there are 9 persons running for governor of California in 2026. The current governor Gavin Newsom is said to be promoting his book in Nashville, Tennessee, where many Californians are moving with the inflated cost of housing in the state. Gavin Newsom's grand father gave a $5000 check to Pat Brown in 1943 to run for District Attorney, this report says citing the book. From that time Pat Brown became Attorney General and then governor of California in 1958, defeating Richard Nixon in 1962. In 1962 Pat Brown seemed vulnerable as his signature accomplishment setting up the UC system of college campuses and the water reservoir, tax increases to pay for this, were in their beginning stages and their lasting value not recognized at the time. Nixon from Whittier, California, was a former Vice President and was seen as likely winner. This toughly fought election created the Pat Brown myth and so called machine that helped his son Jerry Brown to two terms as governor 1975 to 1983, and again after serving as Mayor of Oakland and Attorney General to come back to governors race again in 2011 (because term limits came after 2011) and be governor again 2011-2018. Another way of looking at it is that in his last two terms it was also Jerry Brown's careful balancing of the budget and finances of the state, his environmental support, that made him a reliable figure for the public interest not just the political machine backing him.  California to be sure has had popular governors on both sides Reagan won in 1966 as governor of California to succeed Pat Brown. The Kennedys and Pat Brown are matched by the Reagan supporters in the state. In today's situation where China's dominance in industry and manufacturing has affected all parts of deindustrialized America, California is no exception, where much of the middle class has seen their savings eroded, the issues are different and the challenges are different. ...

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WSJ's Alistair MacDonald talks to farmers in the Chernihiv region north of Kviv which was overrun by Russian troops early in the war before withdrawing. Herd farmers brave mines and continue to farm in difficult conditions. Many have borrowed heavily for next years harvest. Many farmers have damaged equipment and craters from bombing in the fields. About $4.3 billion in damage happened in the early days of the war. 

Farming is the occupation of 14% of the population. It brings in 40% of the $68 billion in Ukraine exports each year making it important to get farming back as early as possible. 

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American men took the biggest hit for life expectancy in an Oxford University study, with life expectancy dropping by 2.2 years in 2020. American women life expectancy dropped by 2.65 years. Lithuanian men had a decline of 1.7 years. This is the largest decline going back to the days of the Great Depression in the 1930's

Elsewhere in Europe, life expectancy declined in many countries for the first time since the Second World War. This happened in Spain, Italy, England, Wales and Belgium. Women in 8 countries and men in 11 countries had drops in life expectancy over more than 1 year.

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French plans to cut energy use by 10% from 2019 levels in 2 year are announced by prime minister Elisabeth Borne. The target is 40% reduction in energy use by 2050. The key is to make energy use more efficient says president Macron. The efforts include turning down thermostats in buildings to 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Households are asked to start heating 2 weeks later than usual and end heating 2 weeks earlier than usual this winter. Civil servants will get about 3 euros a day for working from home. Remote work for some days a week is encouraged and carpooling is expected.

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This report in BBC on climate change issues in Australia with bushfires and floods and the hottest decade in history, was written four days before the election. It says even with the extreme weather disasters phasing out fossil fuels was a politically toxic issue in Australia and no party wanted to talk about it except the Greens. The election has changed this decisively with the Greens and other smaller parties getting one third of the vote. No party has proposed cutting carbon emissions by over 50%- Labour at 43% and Morrison coalition at 26%. Labour won by taking up climate change as an issue.

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For National Governance Day- Praveen Siddharth, private secretary to the president, writes about the way Atal Bihari Vajpayee handled the difficult situations he faced in parliament after his government faced no confidence motions and his government collapsed for lack of one vote, leading to a government that lasted 13 days, before finally winning the 1999 elections for a first full term in office. This opened the way for a post independence modernizing India based on good governance, "sab ka vikas sab ke sath, sab ka prayas." National governance day is observed on the day of the birth of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

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This Guardian report provides a timeline for lunar exploration. The last Apollo Moon missions date back to 1972 with Apollo 17. It lasted 12 days with the first crewed space flight to the moon taking Schmitt and Cernan to moon's surface while Evans orbited above. Since then it has been quiet for lunar exploration till Chang'e 3 lander and rover from China in 2011 put China on the moon, followed by Chang'e 5 in 2020. Today August 23, 2023 India puts its own moon lander and rover on the South Pole of the moon which is expected to have water.

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Air quality index for PM2.5- particulate matter 2.5 extremely hazardous- reached 285 on November 9, 2023. The thick smoke was visible on NASA satellite imagery. Much of it come from burning of paddy rice straw after the rice harvest in states of Haryana and Punjab near New Delhi. Governments at the federal level and state levels have failed to stop the burning of stubble. The fire smoke adds to pollutants from industrial activities, and pollution from cars and buses. The first week of November and last week of October was when fire activity happened this year, delayed after monsoon rains.

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Women do twice as much of the caregiving for elderly parents and small children as men. About 41% of mothers say this makes it harder for them as working parents. About 20% of the female workforce in U.S. is giving elderly care. This adds up to more stress, decreased working hours, decreased income, needing leave of absence, and missing promotions or training. Only 14% of working people in the U.S. have even one day of paid leave to care for a new baby or seriously sick family member- a startling statistic for America, showing lack of family friendly policies at most companies.

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Lessons from an Italian family about staying fit and getting exercize during the lockdown within the home. The father is part of a running team in Rome. He has spent 18 days with his wife and teenage son at home already, as Italy remains in quarantine. He can't run the Rome marathon so he and his friends divide the 42 kilometres so that each person runs 1 kilometre at home. Other advice- plan your day carefully, stay in different rooms so its easier to spend a whole day, and the next day and the next together. do some hobbies, exercize to stay fit. 

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Ms. Powell Jobs, the wife of Steve Jobs of Apple has a long relationship with Kamala Harris since the days she ran for Attorney General of California. She has followed Kamal Harris's career in politics over 2 decades. It is a friendship of shared interests in arts and culture, in political philosophy, and shared feelings in being women in the spotlight, says this report by Theodore Schleifer in the NYT. It is less about money, though it sounds odd to say this, than in a shared sense of purpose and as women caught up in events at this time in history.

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Ron de Santis now realizes the errors made in trying to base a campaign on out-Trumping Trump. It is 2023 and it is a different country. Lessons were learned, both Democrats and Republicans are a different breed these days, and have more in common than is realized. The shaking up and open discourse part was the easy part, the hard part of building America is what is taking place today, and requires a different disposition and frame of mind.

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Americans are being pummeled by election ads for 12 months before November 5, 2024, at their doors, on television, on podcasts and on social media. Super PAC's are providing seemingly unending funding for candidates and races. The ground game is being determined by careful planning and the funding to back it up for door to door, print ads, and television ads. There is no end in sight to cost and funding of races.

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Total USA sales fell 35% from a year earlier in the last quarter of 2008. At Chrysler the fall was steeper, at 46%, according to Autodata Corporation. On average vehicles sold in December had been on the dealer lots 92 days before being sold, up from 59 days in 2007, according to J.D. Power & Associates. Chrysler vehicles were on the dealer lots for 142 days before being sold, the most for any automaker, up from 70 days in 2007. And AutoNation Inc, estimates that 3.2 million vehicles sit on dealer lots around the country. At the current pace of sales this would last 4 months. AutoNation's CEO Mike Jackson said that he is cutting vehicle orders by half.

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Lessons can be learned about careful reopening in fighting the coronavirus from other countries. Here the Netherlands experienced a rise of cases by 500% within two weeks of reopening after some poor decisions. The Mark Rutte government decided to open all bars and nightclubs resulting in a twelve fold surge in these locations in one week. Most of the new coronavirus cases were in people 18-29. Data from Dutch public health institute shows 4 out of 10 new cases linked to bars and nightclubs with 262% surge in cases for young people 18-24 years. This goes to show that with the vaccination drive what we see is the cases shifting to younger people, the unvaccinated, and to activities like nightlife. People going to work, or doing hybrid remote work with trips to the office, workers in factories, people doing essential shopping, are not causing the rise in cases. Much can be learned from these examples in working out reopening that does not lead to new crises with surging cases in new waves of coronavirus. Earlier in 2020 summer tourists who ignored mask and social distancing restrictions in Croatia brought on a post summer coronavirus wave to Germany and Austria. This time Greece and Portugal are introducing restrictions. Greece plans to make vaccine health pass required effective July 21 to go into restaurants. Another lesson from Netherlands this week is that a 20,000 person music event of 2 days in Utrecht where QR codes were required showing vaccination or PCR tests failed. About 1000 cases were attributed to the Utrecht event alone. Reasons given are that people faked the QR codes, or that the covid testing system produced too many false results as much as 20%. The same QR code system was followed at nightclubs resulting in big problems. One can never be sure that things work as expected and the risks are great as this adds up. Even vaccines offer limited protection and only if fully vaccinated depending on the type of vaccine. One dose of the vaccine is simply inadequate, and obesity, other morbidities can lead to problems. Withdrawing the mandatory use of face masks in most situations is also a risky decision of the Dutch government. Face masks offer the added protection at a time of variants that spread quckly, and when large parts of the population have only one dose of the vaccine, some elderly are still not vaccinated, and young people have not been vaccinated in large numbers. ...

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Are DJT Republicans forgetting about promises to tackle high prices in first 100 Days asks the WSJ?

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"The most nervous time of my life is when I was waiting for my A- Level results," says Liz Truss in this interview in The Times with Tim Shipman. More nervous than now when she is running for the leadership of the Conservative Party says Truss. She really cares for education considering the time she talks about it. And childcare is something Liz Truss cares deeply about.

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Mark your calendar for May 29 when You Tube will host screenings  of the virtual film festival from multiple locations- Cannes France, Venice Italy, Berlin Germany, Toronto Canada, and New York. This is the "We Are One- Global Film Festival," with virtual cinema program for 10 days with feature films, documentaries, shorts and round tables. Films can can inspire and bring people in different countries together in a useful virtual format combining many of the best film festivals worldwide.

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A 105 year old woman farmer in Tamilnadu state (formerly Madras) works on her 2.5 acre farm growing bananas. These days she has taken to organic farming with zeal. She was awarded Padma Shri India's national award for her work increasing popularity of organic farming. She comes from a village near the city of Coimbatore. She has worked closely with Tamilnadu Agricultural University and travels to many farmer meetings. Students from the University visit her farm as part of the Village Stay Program.

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What will China look like in the future depends on Li Qiang as well as Xi Jinping. Li Qiang is a close associate of Xi Jinping, as his chief of staff in the early 2000's in Zhejiang province. At that time he interfaced with Chinese companies on investment and economic policies. This WSJ report looks at Li Qiang and how he could be a moderating influence on Xi and provide another perspective for business and economic policy in China. He is seen as having his own instincts on policy, believing in competition, yet deferring to president Xi on broader policy issues for the CCP and China. He replaces Li Keqiang who was sidelined by Mr. Xi as Xi formed his own team from his early days in the provincial governments in China. Some of these connections date back to the early days under Xi's father, Xi Zhongxun, who was one of the leaders in Yenan in the war against the Japanese and the encirclement efforts of the Nationalists against the Communist party local governments in the north during the 1930's. Xi's father was later one of the leaders in the 80's shaping the opening up of China to a market economy under premier Deng- a role not tackled by hardly any of China's leaders from the 1930's. In this sense both Xi's having taken on difficult roles in shaping China's recent history, with the younger Xi building his own team to chart a new path for China. ...

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The Guardian looks at high street, the small downtowns in urban areas across the north of England and the Midlands, coastal towns in decline, where Reform UK is offering an alternative to the decline.  Are Britain's best days in the past, and after the failure of Austerity, Brexit and the disappointment with Starmer, what lies ahead. If Farage wins and falters will this put Britain in a spiral of permanent decline? Boarded up shops, closed department stores and banks, with the rise of online shopping and online services, is creating a new situation on streets in mid and small towns in England. People see the decline all around them and this is creating anew mood in favor of trying something else after Labour and Tories have promised and things are taking a turn for the worse in the physical appearance of neighborhoods. Across the UK 34,000 shops closed in 2024, that is 37 a day, and this is true more for the north of England, the Midlands and deprived coastal towns, where Reform has come close to Labour in the last election. In one focus group in You.gov and other research a participant used strong words- that it was "soul destroying" to see the extent of the decline. Across Europe, in Germany as in UK, in France, the same sense of high street decline is evident. Underinvestment in transport, policing, healthcare, and social services. University of Warwick professor Fetzer  has studied this and the effects of austerity first under Cameron and Brexit under Johnson, the covid period, return of Labour but no lifting up program of large investments that would create a feeling of change, to replace the sense that somehow Britain was "going to the dogs," with half a million shoplifting offences in 2025, up 13% in 2025 over 2024, and the homelessness. ...

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The number of people working lesss than 35 hours per week is approaching 7 million according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many of these families are seeing furloughs of afew days amonth, pay cuts and shorter working hours. All this means buying at the discount store, like this family which keeps careful track of account balances while shopping, and keeping a meticulous track of purchases tossed into the shopping cart with a calculator so as not to go over the budget. This may be the reason companies like P&G have introduced affordable lower end brands, so as not to permanently lose these customers to store brands. See the link to P&G's discount brand strategy, which couples with its developing super premium brands at the same time, yet barely eking out a 1-2 % revenue gain in 2009 and 2010 by its estimates.

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How is it that Britain's regulatory agency approved the Pfizer vaccine before the U.S. FDA agency? This report in the NYT says FDA looks at the raw data. Britain's Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency looks at the information provided by the company. It still does the testing batch by batch and has access to the data and looks at thousands of pages of data. What about the European Union? The European Union Medicines Agency meets on December 29. It takes days after it meets to get input of 27 countries so that vaccination cannot start till January. The U.S. president summoned the FDA to the White House to find out how soon the FDA could act. Both Britain and the U.S. are feeling the impact of the second wave of coronavirus.

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The closing days of the US campaign in October 2024. Walz campaigns in Nebraska, Harris in Michigan and Trump in Pennsylvania.