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Protests in Hannover, Germany, as U.S. president Obama visits the Hannover Trade Fair. Protesters oppose the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Treaty promoted by president Obama. A recent Bertelsmann Stiftung research institute poll shows larger rejection of the treaty in Germany than a mid-Feb. poll by German broadcaster ZDF showing about half of Germans opposed. Interviews with a dozen protesters show suspicion about large corporate interests, and fears that the talks are secretive, a sense that the interests of ordinary people would be neglected. Elections in the U.S. in 2016 have shown a surge in sentiment opposing trade agreements.

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Jupiter and Saturn appearing this close for the first time since the Middle Ages during Christmas. Can be seen at night with a pair of binoculars.

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Der Spiegel has this interview with Robert Habeck, Economy Minister of Germany, on how Germany will cope with a step by step cutoff of oil and gas supplies from Russia in winter 2022. Habeck says this is likely to happen. Der Spiegel ask Habeck questions about the various actions Habeck is taking to get Germany through this winter. This includes bringing back coal plants that were being phased out, plans for industry to pass on gas that it is not using, setting priorities for homes over industry where possible, providing aid to people with low incomes who cannot afford to heat their homes this winter. Habeck calls for greater efforts for conservation that can reduce gas consumption by 10% with simple steps such as shorter time in the shower,  setting the thermostat down by 1 or 2 degrees in winter, using air conditioning less often, cooking in a way that uses gas efficiently, increasing insulation in the home, better distribution of air in the home, and so on. How much time does Habeck spend in the shower- less than 5 minutes. He leaves home by 7 and gets back late at night after work. Does he think Germans have the grit and determination to meet the challenge Putin is posing of creating disaffectionmnin German society through first gas prices and then gas shortages this winter? Habeck believes Germans can and will respond in a way that takes Germany through this winter and through all the threats Russia under Putin is posing. ...

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Jet Blue came to Boston in 2004. At the time it had one gate and 30 employees at Boston's Logan International Airport. The airline now has 2300 workers and 17 gates in Jan 2012. It now has 104 nonstop daily flights to 44 locations in the U.S. and Caribbean, with plans to reach 150 flights by 2015. As American and Delta pulled back to focus on their main hubs, Jet Blue expanded quickly. It started as an airline for vacation travellers, but soon attracted business passengers for the cheaper cost of flights, especially for cost conscious travellers after the recession hit in 2008. Jet Blue also offered better service and more leg room for business passengers. Jet Blue's CEO, Dave Barger, says 30% of traffic into and out of Logan now is for business travel.

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Apple CEO Cook's blue collar roots in Alabama. He says he has worked at an aluminium factory in Virginia and a paper factory in Alabama, and grew up spending a lot of time in factories. Cook was hired by Steve Jobs to fix Apple's manufacturing operations after Jobs rejoined the company in 1997. At that time Apple's manufacturing plants had serious quality problems and high levels of rework in plants, and Apple had high levels of inventory. Cook was largely responsible for the new manufacturing setup at Apple. Jobs did not get it into the details of manufacturing- being more interested in the design aspects of the product- and people close to Apple say Jobs rarely visited Apple plants. This gives Cook greater credibility as Apple tries to change the way its products are made in China. Under Cook Apple has joined the Fair Labor Association and initiated FLA inspections of Foxconn plants making Apple products.

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Lack of experience and vague policy positions are leading to the collapse of the Five Star party started by comedian Beppe Grillo in Italy. Unlike the movement against establishment politics started by Mr. Macron in France as a minister in the Hollande government with considerable business and government experience but still an outsider, Mr Grillo and his representative Mr. Maio in the government lack experience in governing. This is leading to its complete collapse only two years after its success at elections winning 33% of the vote. It shows that such movements can be short lived without a clear economic agenda that can be implemented, not mere criticism of the existing arrangements.

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The action taken by local and government officials to address the high PM 2.5 pollutant levels and smog in Harbin, China, in October 2013. For the first time the Ministry of Environmental Protection has powers to take serious action. It is sending out inspection teams to cities across China for the winter to make sure environmental regulations are enforced. One big change is that cities now report in real time the change in pollutant levels for PM 2.5, the worst pollutant. By Oct. 2013 113 cities in China carried the live reports on websites. The Ministry has published a list of the 4189 factories in China that create 65% of total industrial air pollutants in China. The Jinping-Li Keqiang administration supports the stronger enforcement and has set a goal of reducing PM 2.5 levels by 15- 25% each year for Tianjin, Beijin and Hebi province in northern China, compared to 2012 levels. These three regions have been given the target of reducing coal use by 80 million tons a year.

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Strategic siting in renewable rich areas (Dallas center the largest is in renewable rich area) and fair cost allocation to not burden small businesses and households are major issues in Data Center building. Data centers for AI -rows and rows of servers 5000 in hyperscale data centers- used 4% of the US total electricity use in 2024. This is growing rapidly. By 2030 this is expected to grow by more than double, by 133%. About 60% of this to power the servers and 30% for cooling the servers. About a third of these servers are located in Virginia, Texas and California. How will this affect Cost of Living concerns, affect electricity prices? Carnegie Mellon working with North Carolina State University did the modeling on the energy and emissions implications of data center buildup in the US in their Open Outlook Initiative. A 8% annual increase in electricity prices is expected on average and as high as 25% in Virginia by 2030.  Total of about 40% increase over 5 years. Between 2014 and 2024 10 year period average cost for a home electricity use went up 25% from $114 a month to $142. This would now go up by 40% to about $200 by 2030 in just 5 years significantly impacting cost of living in the US. In which states will it strain electricity grids? In 2023 data centers consumed 26% of the total electricity supply in Virginia. In North Dakota 15%, Nebraska 12%, Iowa 11%, Oregon 11% according to Electric Power Research Institute. What are the energy types used? Natural gas is used for 40% of the data center electricity, wind and solar 25%, nuclear 20% and coal 15%.   ...

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37 tornadoes hit 6 US states in a weird weather pattern. One tornado stretched for 250 miles sweeping through and flattening whole towns such as the 10,000 people working class town of Mayfield, Kentucky. Kentucky was hardest hit, other states were Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee. The last time a tornado stretched out this far was in 1925 for 219 miles. The number and range of tornadoes suggests a change in weather patterns. Some debris hurled into the air as high as 30,000 feet is a sign of the changes in severity of weather patterns. List of people unaccounted for was 8 pages long in one town.

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VW's Dieselgate settlement required it to spend $2 billion on electric charging stations in the US to compensate society for air pollution caused by its faulty diesel engines. The Washington Post looks at these EV charging stations and finds many of these do not work. An author of a reliability study on charging stations Prof. David Rempel of UC Berkeley says there should have been more oversight as he considers it to be public money. About 80% of these charging attempts are successful at 4000 fast chargers run by Electrify America according to JD Power, and customer satisfaction is low.

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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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Scientists have determined that formaldehyde emissions from chemical and oil refineries and vehicles play a significant role in creating the smog and haze in China. After recent improvements in air quality by limiting use of coal, the focus now shifts to other sources. 

Scientists say the formaldehyde emissions combine in a chemical reaction with the sulfur dioxide released from burning coal to create substances that create the smog and haze over Beijing and other cities.

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Average US bills for electricity have gone up by over 10% in about 15 states with some rate hikes over 20%, reports the Washington Post. In New Jersey 21%, Virginai 15%. Higher prices in Utah where renewable energy projects cancellation have drawn criticism from Republican governor Spencer Cox. Higher rates also in Indiana, Ohio and Louisiana. Data centers put up by tech companies are taking up huge amounts of energy pushing up rates. Voters believe these tech companies are not paying their "fair share." There is also no clear idea on whether clean energy is pushing up prices of electricity or whether the cancellation of clean energy projects including the ones that make sense  are pushing up electricity prices, with voters going both ways in their perceptions. With a rapidly shrinking gap between India+ Japan and China, the US can finally put to rest the burdens of conflict such as the 1930's Japanese invasion of China, the war after pearl Harbor in the Pacific, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam conflict in which America and its people shouldered huge burdens. ...

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In a first at Davos World Economic Forum, China's president Xi Jinping uses the 2017 meeting to give a one hour long spirited defense of the world trading system, critical of U.S. president elect Trump's protectionist views without naming him. Xi pointed out that "no one will be winners in a trade war." And went on to add that restricting world trade was like "locking oneself in a dark room, keeping out wind and rain from outside but also light and air." For the first time Jinping stated that China would take the U.S. role of defending the world trading system from attack as needed. On climate change Xi defended the Paris accords, and gave China's commitment to pursue changes regardless of what the U.S. under president Trump does. This follows Chancellor Merkel of Germany's statements on the issue critical of the views of president elect Trump, and taking the lead to defend the world trading system. Xi also pointed out that many of the ills that led to voter discontent in the West were not really from the freeing up of trade but from the pursuit of excessive profit with the financial crisis of 2008.   ...

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The Masterplan Delhi 2041 implemented by Delhi Development Authority will take into account many of the problems of air pollution and environment friendly proposals that Delhi has today. Planning for more green areas, to encourage walking and better pavements are part of this focus as the current Master Plan 2021 comes to a close.

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An effort by educated Chinese in business, government, and other professions to have informal discussions in small groups through getting together for dinner. This helps educated Chinese find ways to communicate their concerns about corruption, abuse of power by public officials, contamination of food, air and water pollution.

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This report in the WSJ looks at the war in Ukraine in July 2022 as seen from the Ukrainian side. Ukraine has 12 million people displaced or refugees, about a third of the population, particularly in the east. Most of the refugees are women and children. Cities in the east and the south face artillery attacks and airspace over Ukraine lacks the air defense systems that would help Ukrainians live lives not constantly under threat of bombs going off. In this situation and with the massive damage, there is also a breakdown of trust on both sides. Not just the leadership but 93% of the population is against negotiating a peace till the territories lost in the south and the east are regained, says this WSJ report. This report shows Zelensky describing his typical day, his yearning for peace, but serious fears after the failure of the 2014 peace agreements with Russia that Russia is simply negotiating agreements so that it can consolidate its control over territory till it launches another attack. This means that the war will go into a counter offensive phase in the south where Ukraine has its economic links on the Black Sea around the port of Odessa. Ukraine will want to recover the territories in the south so that its future on the Black Sea is restored to what it was before. The eastern part of Ukraine in the Donbas region is being integrated into Russia and Ukraine may seek to improve its position in that area around major cities that it controls and controlled till losses in June.  The lack of air defense systems over Ukrainian airspace that would protect civilians and people of Ukraine in the countryside and cities is what hurts Ukrainians the most. It is the reason why there are so many refugees and displaced people. The US and European countries have failed to provide the air defense systems that would have protected the civilian population and created the worst aspects of this war in the number of refugees having to flee their homes and seeing them destroyed. Years from now people may look back and say this is the worst aspect of this war apart from the claims of either side. As Lincoln said during the civil war in the US in his annual message of 1862 the land is there for ever, and this generation will pass away. The conflicts and tearing apart that this generation of Russians and Ukrainians have experienced, may not be the feelings of future generations.  ...

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A small town mayor who says he will fight with Biden for workers and families in every county in Pennsylvania wins the Senate seat against aTV health show host favored by Mr. Trump. The scrappy fight put up by Democrats on their own in different parts of the country is the main takeaway from this election for control of running 36 of America's 51 states and control of Congress. Fighting an election with major legislation on controlling healthcare costs and for renewable energy, infrastructure investments, Mr. Biden and fellow Democrats was forced into a back to the wall fight because of price increases from Russia's war in Ukraine. Voters took notice not falling for the message on inflation alone that is being tackled by the Fed's Jerome Powell, giving room for seeing the larger picture.

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Dyeing a pair of jeans requires 100 litres of water for the dyeing process and 15% of artificial synthetic dyes make their way into waterways as pollution. In this report The Hindu shows how centuries old indigo plants are being revived, many of them native to India. These plants contain 0.5% of Indican which exposed to oxygen produces the blue substance Indigotin. It is one of the few naturally based dyes for cotton fabrics. Other plants native to Idia also produce dyes that are less harmful to the environment. These dyes replace synthetic dyes made from petrochemical derivatives.

The work of Padma Shri Vankar, formerly of IIT Kanpur and her colleagues has helped identify and create dye extraction and dyeing methods for several plant species. This includes Nepal barberry of Arunachal, wild canna , Flame of the Forest from which colors for Holi festival are derived.

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In a 50-50 Senate to pass president Biden's $3.6 trillion Families and Workers plan requires the vote of Kyrsten Simema, Democrat of Arizona. Simema is the lone holdout in the plan to raise $540 billion by increasing corporate tax rates to pay for part of the plan. Tax rate increases on capital gains would raise nearly $300 billion. A law passed by president Trump lowered corporate tax rates to 21% which would go up to 26.5% under the Biden plan. The top individual rate lowered to 37% would go up to 39.6% and capital gains rate from 23.8% to 28.8% under the Biden plan. Democrats say these new rates are fair considering how much wealth distribution is skewed and how much workers and families have failed to benefit in the policies pursued by different administrations since Reagan, through Bush, Clinton, Obama and Trump.