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US president Biden points out in his letter to the US Congress- "When I was elected President, a pandemic was raging and our economy was reeling, and trickle-down economics had undermined our nation’s growth long-term. I was determined to rebuild from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down, because when the middle class does well, we all do well. We can give everyone a fair shot and leave no one behind. Our plan has brought transformational progress." "Along the way, we’ve achieved one of the most successful legislative records in generations, bringing new opportunities to communities of all sizes nationwide. We’re tackling years of underinvestment in public infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing, making sure the future is made in America by American workers. We’re making the biggest investment in American infrastructure in generations, including over $400 billion for 46,000 projects in 4,500 communities to date. These projects are rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges, railroads, ports, airports, public transit, water systems, high-speed internet, and more, in every part of the country. We’re also making the most significant investment in fighting climate change in history—advancing breakthroughs in clean technology, boosting energy independence, lowering electricity costs for hardworking families, and revitalizing fence-line communities smothered by a legacy of pollution. At the same time, we’re working with the private sector to strengthen America’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries as well, empowering workers and small businesses to share in the benefits. Already, my Investing in America agenda has attracted $650 billion." ...

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Chris Buckley of the NYT looks at selected speeches of president Xi of China to military officers during the first 5 years 2012 to 2017 but fails to look at the China Xi Jinping faced in these years. It was a period of change in China when it was not clear which direction China would take after the messy experiment with free markets under a socialist state controlled system led by the CCP. That period from 1990 onwards led to hypergrowth in China that modernized China yet shifted American and European manufacturing to China alienating working class communities in the western countries. It hurt China also through widespread contamination of air and water, and widespread corruption and decline of the CCP. The Bo Xilai demagogic effort to subvert the system from inside happened by 2012 endangering the system itself from the inside while it responded to the pressures created by the experiment with free market from corruption, regional inequality, and other problems. ...

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The UNICEF Represetative in India describes the effort made by children to change attitudes and take action on issues related to sanitation and the Clean India campaign of the Modi government. It shows that a generational change in attitudes is underway as children take the lead for the first time.

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Sabine Kinkartz of the DW.com looks at the way in which Olaf Scholz achieved what was seen as impossible through patience, grit, and hard work in the face of adversity. SPD was seeing poll numbers of as low as 15% in the spring of 2021, just months before the election. Scholz believed in his party's ideas for the renewal of Germany, remained undeterred even after losing an election to lead the SPD to Esken and Walter-Borjans in 2019, when Esken and Walter-Borjans reinforced the idea that the SPD should stand for workers and families, what it always stood for. Scholz was put forward as candidate by Esken and Walter-Borjans in 2021 with conviction. By Spring 2021 it was clear that Scholz had achieved the impossible, getting the conservative Merkel and the CDU, with instincts against borrowing in all situations, to agree to a huge aid package for Germany to fight the pandemic, and a huge aid package for the European Union to fight the pandemic.  That Scholz remained undeterred in his campaign by low poll numbers and went on campaigning on the basis of convictions about what is right for Germans and Germany, comes from deeper convictions from his days growing up in the Hamburg youth wing of Social Democrats in the years following SPD's Wily Brandt and the post war recovery. Germany's most remembered leader after Adenauer, Willy Brandt was leader of the SPD Social Democrats from 1964 to 1987, and chancellor 1969-74. Both Adenauer and Brandt are respected some 50 years later in the world and in Germany. That Germany is going back to this tradition of leadership after the period of the Merkel years when Germany was held back, brings new hope to Europe and the world. In allying with the Greens under a younger generation leaders Scholz saw the promise of an opportunity to tackle problems of climate change and investment in infrastructure together. Both parties see borrowing as essential to invest big in the future. Scholz message to Germans, Europeans and the world is - "Big jobs, but our country is capable of doing them." A message sent out from the US by president Biden, and from Asia by the Indian prime minister. ...

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With the surge in travel that might even exceed prepandemic levels in the US this summer, being better prepared helps. Some tips in the WSJ- morning flights have fewer delays than later in the day, TSA Precheck $78 for 5 years or Clear at $189 a year are a good way to avoid lines, the Delta or United App that lets you know how far your gate is and where to be dropped off at the airport, packing right,  the drop off, and food and drink.

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A riverside project on the banks of the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad gives the city of 10 million a new look. The project is similar to ones on the Thames in London and Seine in Paris bringing new park space and areas for of public space for a rapidly growing city. Guardian Cities is looking at 15 new cities with population growing to exceed 10 million by 2035- from Tehran, Iran, to Luanda, Mozambique, Hyderabad, India, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Surat, India, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Chengdu, China, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The way this was done was to develop a self financing model. This was the work of architect Bimal Patel who proposed selling 14% of riverfront land of 200 hectares to recover costs. The Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation spent 161 million dollars to build new housing for 11,000 displaced families who worked in squatter type housing on the riverbanks as domestic workers, clothes washers. The riverbed had become for decades a dumping ground for city waste. The goals were to provide access for public to the river front and clean up the water with water treatment plants. Bimal Patel calls the project one of three generations as  will take another three years for new water treatment plants. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation bears the cost of about $220 million. The famous Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi lies along this riverfront and it gives this sacred space in India's history, the home of Mahatma Gandhi for many years in the struggle for independence, a healthier, brightened space along the river. ...

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The Jal Jeevan Mission (tap water for all), Swacch Bharat Mission (Clean India), cooking gas for rural women, digital bank accounts for all, and other projects pushed forward by Mr. Modi are changing life for India's 1.3 billion people. Gati Shakti is a master plan for integrated development of infrastructure by bringing in all ministries of federal and local governments together to work together in an overall plan. Because of the new digital capabilities in 2021, and large technical capabilities India is witnessing development in a way that is unprecedented. Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state in the north with a population of 230 million, is the focus of a major development transformation through infrastructure building with determined effort at the state and federal levels. For the first time Mr. Modi is ensuring projects are part of a master plan for transforming the country making certain projects get done on time, efficiently and without leakage of funds. The best evidence of this delivery of services is the vaccination drive with nearly 1.4 billion people vaccinated. And projects to complete new vaccine development including mRNA vaccine that does not require cold storage, and is easier to provide. ...

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MP's and others on a panel give their views on the results of the local elections in England, and what this means for the general election. A Greens party MP says taking action on climate change is a clear vote winner. Sewage and water pollution in the rivers is an issue coming up again and again. Communities underfunded and undercared for by the Tories. John McConnell, a former shadow chancellor and MP, says for a decisive victory that helps get the majorities needed to pass legislation for funding investment in the economy, in infrastructure and fighting climate change, the Labor party needs a better result than this one. After a new Labor government is elected by the middle of its term it becomes important that the win in the general election is a big one with an overall majority in parliament. For this Labor needs to do well in Scotland taking back the position in Scotland that it held in 1997 before the emergence of the Scottish National Party.  ...

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In April 2010 P&G's Dawn liquid dish detergent was shown in television commercials as the right stuff to clean birds and marine life affected by oil spills. The Gulf Oil Spill that happened afterwards has created a live opportunity for the product to be used to help clean marine life and birds that are stained by the grimy oil in the Gulf waters. P&G will have donated 12,000 bottles of Dawn detergent to help clean up for marine life and birds caught in this spill.

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In parts of Mexico sugary softdrinks are easier to access than clean tap water, says this report in DW.com. This is a problem that existed in Mexico for many years. Amy Guthrie in the WSJ August 28, 2013, described the problem in -Health Problem over Soda Flares in Mexico- which was shown in Lyrarc.com in 2013, showing the US, Chile, Mexico and Argentina with high consumption of sugary softdrinks and high rates of diseases related to this. Mexico's government has made efforts to increase awareness about the risks and dangers of overuse and Bloomberg philanthropy has made efforts to increase awareness. Yet the problem has persisted. The risks are high for countries such as India, China, Vietnam. One ad in Mexico City subways showed 20 ounce sugary softdrink bottle and asked "Would you take 12 teaspoonfuls of sugar?" Mexico passed the US in countries with high obesity rate over 100 million people in 2013. Higher all cause mortality was shown in a European study of 451,000 people for people drinking more than 2 glasses of sweetened softdrinks a day, with data collected between 1992-2000 and supporting public health campaigns limiting the use of such sweetened softdrinks. ...

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Diet consultant Tallmadge says be careful about reduced fat peanut butter, enhanced water, energy bars and multigrain foods. She says reduced fat peanut butter is worse than ordinary peanut butter because it takes away the nutrients in the oil. Enhanced water can be nothing more than sugary drinks with vitamin added, better to drink clean tap water. Sugar is a major ingredient in energy bars. Better to snack on fruits and veggies and yogurt, or carry nuts and dried fruits if hiking or doing outdoor activity. And watch out for the marketing words saying its multigrain, what you want is whole grain not refined starch. Don't be fooled by the marketing of the packaged foods industry, check the ingredients carefully, because labels such as "low fat," "high fiber," "multigrain," and "natural," don't mean much. Eating right starts with selecting food carefully and diligently, and goes a long way in preventing many of the diseases and problems coming out of poor eating habits.

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China's new prime minister Li Keqiang makes his first foreign trip with a trade delegation for talks with Indian representatives and business leaders, showing the importance he places on India. India offers China's companies access to large opportunties in infrastructure development, and China can benefit from India in the area of information technology and pharmaceuticals. Trade is envisioned as expanding from $70 billion in 2012 to $100 billion by 2015, and expanding rapidly as the two economies grow. Economic contacts also would provide an anchor for future relations as China faces difficulties in its relations with Japan, and S. E. Asian countries, and a U.S. wary of China's capabilities. This was pointed out in the joint statement. Li Keqiang also emphasized this in an editorial page article in India's daily newspaper, the Hindu, saying India and China have "to work hand in hand," to promote Asia as "an anchor for world peace." A peaceful India-China trade and economic relationship opens the way for investment and participation in development by China alongside Japan, Germany, France, UK and the U.S. in India, as the next major source for global economic growth. This also serves to defuse Asian tensions as both economies grow, and increased contacts between cities in India and China with the twining of cities program launched in the meetings. India can use China's capabilities in infrastructure development, the two countries share the need for information sharing on lowcost solutions in healthcare, in managing urbanization, and solutions for clean water in rural areas, and use of IT solutions in development, where much remains to be accomplished through cooperation. Some of these themes are the focus of Li Keqiang in his efforts for urbanization in China. ...

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Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, India, UK, European Union elections are taking place by June 2024 and US in November 2024. Yet it is misleading to lump them together. Much discontent is there to see as in the UK with cost of living, governance, time wasted on Brexit, India with lingering effects of the pandemic on rural voters, caste based voting. In India protest vote of lower caste Dalit voters in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, even with government support in forms of universal healthcare, food for poor households during pandemic extended, cooking gas, housing support, clean tap water, direct bank account deposit to accounts of poor and farmers. Yet in the states in the south and east in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, and generally in the south the BJP vote count increased so that losses in the north were made up leaving the percentage of vote for India for Modi's BJP party at 37 percent in 2024 instead of 38% in 2019, losing the absolute majority 240 seats of 543 yet having campaigned heavily for partners who added seats 294 of 543. In the UK Keir Starmer may see some vote preference for Labor erode yet the Conservative record is in shambles even conservative experts will say, as in India where the opposition parties offer no prospects for the future and little track record for making India the second or third largest economy in the world which the BJP has set and shown to have achieved over 10 years by taking India to No. 5 in the world economies. ...

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Greg Ip tells India's story, piped water for hundreds of millions of Indians, massive increases in road and rail, rapid development of infrastructure, aviation, ports logistics. WSJ graph shows country growth of economies for Japan, China, India, Germany in 2000 and 2020. By 2000 Japan had grown its economy to become about half the size of the US economy with two decades of rapid growth since 1980. China repeated this process with two decades of hyper growth since 2000 to become about 75% of the US economy by 2020. The graphs also show Japanese growth tailing off so rapidly after 2000 in relation to the US economy that it is now only about 25% of the US economy. China is likely to follow the same path as growth slows and with an aging population to become about 35-40% of the US economy by 2040 from 75%. India following the process that happened in Japan and in China is likely to become close to 35-40% of the US economy by 2040 from about 18% today, with the fastest growth over the next two decades for the most populous country in the world. Greg Ip points out what has been achieved since 2014 with the Modi government. Good governance without leakages of public funds dedicated to infrastructure, ease of living, GST one India one tax so that growing pool of funds from taxes fund rapid development with no leakages to corrupt officials,  Swacch Bharat or Clean India, clean water from taps, electricity and cooking gas for the whole population of India with dates for completion. All this Ip calls removal of the shackles that existed for far too long even past 2000 and 2010 when China had vastly surpassed India from its low point in 1980 after Mao and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. India today is in as much a pace of development as China in the 1990's and Japan in the 1960's, except that it now has the benefit of grasping how development can be done in a way that does not affect climate and health in adverse ways as happened with China's hyper growth -which also led to the tragic loss of manufacturing for workers and communities in the US and Europe due to the economic theories of laissez faire of the Reagan era. Reagan theory for governments not working with industry that were applied indiscriminately during the Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump presidencies for three decades led to shipping manufacturing overseas with no regard for the risks and dangers. What Greg Ip fails to mention is the uniqueness of India that is united by Vedanta, Hinduism and Buddhism for thousands of years, and which keeps the fabric of society together when it is divided by 13 language groups. These 13 language groups are: Hindi 43% of the population, Bengali 8%, Marathi 7%, Telugu 7%, Tamil 6%, Gujarati 5%, Urdu 4%, Kannada 4%, Odia 3%, Malayalam 3%, Punjabi 3%, Assamese 1%, English 1%. It was the vision of the early leaders Vivekananda, Gokhale, Mohandas Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, that united a diverse country with many languages and cultural variation. And it is this vision of Vivekananda that is creating the Good Governance under Sab ka Vikas, Sab ka Viswas, Sab ke Saath, Sab ka Prayas of today- development for all, with the confidence of all, with the support of all, the efforts of all. Without a disciplined direction based on hard work India could not make it this far or fulfill the aspirations of its youthful population by 2040. ...

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A lead researcher at Stanford and UC Berkeley says he hasn't seen anything like it, the opposition intensify so quickly. 70% of Democrats and 50% of Republicans oppose overinvestment in AI  and increasing in sentiment- not about stopping progress but  about stopping hyperlevel investment of trillions of dollars and diverting from reindustrialization/infrastructure for US that creates jobs and a better qualityof life. In today's world neither China or the US can afford hyper investment, most Asian countries would prefer to let the US do it and later get that technology for free one way or the other. Therefore this means the American people are being hoodwinked- they pay the price when their bridges and roads, airports are in disrepair, when even a national network of data charging stations could not get funded under Biden which would have addressed the biggest problem for transition from fossil through EV's to fight climate change.  The investment community is being hoodwinked. Investors are being hoodwinked as the returns are uncertain and cannot be justified on financial grounds- only by hype.  Polls only ask about AI not the hyperinvestment in AI. If the truth is known that these trillions of dollars diverted by using flaws in capital markets in the US, avoiding financial scrutiny and hyping up AI when returns are by a long shot uncertain compared to rebuilding America's infrastructure and industries to compete with China and the EU- that is desperately needed- then these numbers would show the vast majority of Americans oppose this diversion of funds from the infrastructure and reindustrialization that create jobs that support working families. Take for example Texas, a Republican state, where the Agriculture Commissioner is calling for a moratorium on new hyperscale data center development in the state, citing higher costs for farmers, and strains on the power grid. It is not about stopping progress. Fon transition to renewable energy or example the adjustments made by Biden and Democrats allowed some fossil fuels use to make the transition, the same policy being pursued under different political slogans and labels under DJT. It is not about stopping progress as progress continues even under DJT Republican administration - natural gas prices and coal use prices are making natural gas a choice for power plants, the cost of oil at $100 making EV's hybrids cost less than gasoline cars. AI technologies will advance, and the wherewithal, the framework in which AI should operate can be built alongside without throwing everything out of balance. Throwing the whole economy out of balance, destroying the chance to create jobs and bring about the 1st priority of America and EU- reindustrialization and infrastructure renewal alongside India's modernization. That requires these trillions of dollars being pushed into AI by a few self-interested individuals without returns, and trillions of dollars more. If that is accomplished any challenges from China will fade in comparison with the scale of the effort in the EU, the US, and India with the largest industrial bloc in the world far bigger than China. This is not mere words. It is a plan of action that is being put into place right now at Oslo, Norway at the Nordic+EU Summit with India on the next phase of this effort, put into place piece by piece through hard work and a clear vision for the future. ...

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This may be one of the best responses at the confirmation hearings on an important topic of climate. Watch Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in confirmation hearings with Le Zeldin for EPA Administrator. Lee Zeldin said "climate change is real," and DJT was talking in "the context of the economic cost of some policies where there is a debate and a difference of opinion among parties."

In responding to Senators Lee Zeldin promised cooperation with a bipartisan spirit to tackle climate change, talk to other countries including China about climate change action, and work with individual states including Alaska and Utah which have clean water and air concerns. His demeanor and responses were calm and collected and expressed a desire to fulfill the hopes of most of the Committee Democrats and Republicans through actions of the EPA on climate and the environment.

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U.S. Supreme Court nominee BrettKavanaugh, a Court of Appeals judge in the District of Columbia, could affect the Mueller investigation and issues of pardon, because of his expansive views of the presidency. He was part of the Kenneth Starr investigation of president Clinton. During that investigation he pursued it vigorously but later his opinion was that the president should be not distracted from his important duties, and should have some freedom from being prosecuted. For this reason it is not clear how he would act in the Mueller investigation. President Trump could have considered this when he selected Kavanaugh, says this report.

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Pete Seeger used a sloop to take people down the Hudson River to educate them about the river and how it could come back to life if cleaned up. Today the river once polluted with sewage and oil pollution is clean enough to provide recreational opportunities. It also provides drinking water for the town of Poughkeepsie in New York. Hudson River Sloop Clearwater environmental organization which headed this effort is now the Riverkeeper which advocates environmental policies for the Hudson River. Seeger lived close to the outdoors in a log cabin on 17 acres near the Hudson River. He cut wood on this land since the 1960's and he says he loved the exercize and sound of cutting wood every day.

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South Korea's Posco received environmental clearance in January 2011 for a steel plant with a capacity of 4 million metric tons a year. Posco has now been given permission to clear forest land for the $12 billion plant and infrastructure. The plant capacity will later be increased to 12 million tons a year. Indian law does not allow forest land to be cleared if villages have claims to the land. Projects by Arcelor Mittal and Posco have been held up for five years because of hurdles in getting environmental clearance and permission to clear forest land.

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Stephen Castle of the NYT gives an objective look at Andy Burnham of the Greater Manchester area and Labour party leader. Burnham has said that Britain has been on the wrong path for 40 years and had the courage to prove this by leaving London for his home region of Greater Manchester in the North of England, after serving as chief secretary of The Treasury and Labour minister under Gordon Brown around the time of the financial crisis of 2009. After winning in Greater Manchester he served as Mayor of this important region of Britain second only to London in importance, which after the fall of the British Empire, has led to politics focusing entirely on London. His term as Mayor involved getting transportation out of the hands of the private companies and having the government run it efficiently for the people of Manchester. His term is viewed favorably for improving the economy of the region. Compared to the people Britain has turned out previously- Thatcher, Blair,  Brown, Cameron, Starmer, he has genuine experience running a region and tackling tough problems, which none of the other leaders had, that comes from his hard work for the people of Greater Manchester as head of the local government. He has the skills to bring people together around his vision for the Labour party, similar to that brought by Clement Attlee. At Lyrarc we looked at what  Britannica Encylopedia has to say about Attlee and found that Attlee spent his first 15 years in the difficult working class district of East London, similar to what Burnham has done by moving back to his home region in the north and quietly working to understand the people, their aspirations and how to make them come true. Attlee did this in 1945-51 (setting up the National Health Service NHS and Bank of England, other revered institutions) the way Franklin Roosevelt did in the 1930's to establish the modernization of New York government that he later applied to 51 states as president. This is the kind of task similar to Attlee and FDR that Burnham has the potential to accomplish for Britain. Like Attlee Burnham is self effacing with little sense of wanting public recognition, comfortable with who he is and where he is from. Like Attlee staying away from Ramsay MacDonald's Labour government in 1931, when it failed to find a clear path ahead for Britain, (Burnham concentrated on Manchester away from London), and decided to forge his own way forward with new ideas and being creative- as it was under Attlee that the British Empire was converted into the British Commonwealth of Nations. An enormous feat that has not been fully grasped and will one day be seen as an amazing achievement of the 20th century- India independent and  creating a modernized state the size of the US, European Union or China by 2040/2047. This is our assessment at Lyrarc of the potential Burnham could have for Britain- and possibly for the world again like Clement Attlee in 1945-1951. ...

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A survey of 2000 workers by Prudential shows about 25% of workers plan to look for a better job after the pandemic, and 38% say challenges with work-life balance are a reason for them to change jobs. This is a trend seen also in labor statistics as there is a mismatch between jobs offered and jobs people are seeking in the job market in US and other countries, with job seekers looking for stability and work-life balance, and making physical and mental health a priority. This WSJ report shows how women are handling this challenge. It says it is not enough to go by a company's online policies one has to look deeper. Look for people in the know, look for clues in the interview, have a clear idea of what is important to you- flexible schedule, family friendly benefits. WSJ gives names of sites that can help provide more information- Mom's Project, InHerSight, Glassdoor, List Your Leave, Working Mother. Look for onsite child care center, fitness facilities, does company do followup emails at night, do employees appear frazzled, stressed or disorganized? Connect into alumni and other professional networks for clues and patterns at companies. Also says WSJ experts cited here employers will appreciate your asking the question early rather than later. Questions such as "does a firm promote associates with alternative work schedules" are normal questions to ask. ...

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Alexander Kudascheff of DW.com, says the Berlin Christmas market attack on the Kurfstendamm, is likely to change the way Germany looks at the terrorist threats in the world. Smaller attacks had hit Germany earlier in 2016. This one resembling the attack in Nice on Bastille Day is likely to touch a nerve with Germans who did not see something like this possible for a Christmas tradition of Christmas markets in Germany, and right in Berlin's centre.  This means stormy waters for chancellor Merkel's refugee policies. The comments to this opinion in the DW.com show the public dissatisfaction with current policy. Many of the comments focus on too open an approach of liberal media, what is perceived as a spin on stories for refugees, and on the use of words "suspected terrrorist attack" even when it had become clear to most people that it was a terrorist incident. In other ways this incident is different as it puts Germans in the same situation as Americans, Spaniards, Turks, French, and other people in the way terrorism has made people less safe or unsafe in 2015-2016. Most of this is a result of the situation in Syria and Iraq, as is the refugee situation that has divided European opinion, and American opinion.  ...

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Read the full speech of president Biden at an important time in the Nation's history, 76 days before a national election to decide the future of the Nation and the World. Excerpts from the speech selected by Lyrarc- "Look. Folks, how can we have the strongest economy in the world without the best infrastructure in the world? Donald Trump promised Infrastructure Week, every week for four years, and he never built a damn thing.  And now because of what Kamala and I have done—remember, we were told we couldn’t get it done? Remember, when we came into office, we couldn’t get anything passed?—but right now, we’re giving America an infrastructure decade not week. We’re modernizing our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, our trains, our buses, removing every lead pipe from schools and homes so every child could drink clean water. We’re providing affordable high speed internet for every American no matter where they live, unlike, not unlike what Roosevelt did with electricity. And so much more. We are uniting the country, we’re growing our economy, we’re improving our quality of life, and we’re building a better America. Because that’s who we are. How can we be the strongest nation in the world without leading the world in science and technology? After years of importing 90% of our semiconductor chips from abroad, which America invented those chips, our CHIPS and Science Act meant that private companies from around the world are now investing literally tens of billions of dollars to build new chip factories right here in America. And over that period, they’ll create tens of thousands of jobs. And many of those jobs in the so-called Fabs, the buildings that make the chips that are being constructed now. And guess what? The average salary in those fabs, size of a football field, will be over $100,000 a year, and you don’t need a college degree.  ...

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Raul Castro of Cuba indicted by the US Justice Department May 20, 2026 for Cuban Americans killed when civilian flights helping Cuban refugees in the waters near Cuba were shot on orders from Raul Castro, as minister of defense. Only towards the end of this news report by Perry Stein and Karen De Young of the Washington Post is it clear that this indictment is on Cuba Independence Day March 20, which in 1902 marks the setup of the Republic of Cuba, at the end of the US military takeover of Cuba from the Spanish during the Spanish American War. Cuba under Castro does not use this day but the day of the Communist takeover in 1959 of January 1, and celebrates as Day of the Revolution, July 26, the day when the attack on the Moncada military barracks started the Revolution against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Only the Obama administration similar to its failures in addressing the Iran nuclear weapons crisis refused to recognize 1902 date as the Cuban Independence Day, all other administrations before did. Under the Monroe Doctrine of 1824 the US clearly considered Latin America as its neighborhood and would not accept any foreign power in its neighborhood, making the Platt amendment attached to the Cuban 1902 Constitution permitting US intervention simply an addition. That the Monroe Doctrine was proven right in 2 ways is not mentioned by the Washington Post or by the elite media. What it did was to prevent European colonial powers from intervening and restoring colonial type rule to Spanish colonies in Latin America. It was welcomed by the British as it had no such designs, objected to by the Spanish Dutch and the French who had such designs for their colonial Empires. It was resented by Cubans naturally but Cubans did not consider that US is the only power who even when it pushed the Spaniards out of Cuba and Philippines in the Spanish American War of 1900 after centuries of Spanish occupation, the only power who prepared Cuba for Independence within 4 years in 1898. Which European colonial power could do this? The other reason for the Monroe Doctrine is in the Platt Amendment attached to the Cuban Constitution which committed the Cuban government to implement and maintain programs the US introduced to control yellow fever and infectious diseases. In 1934 FDR removed the Platt Amendment under a "Good Neighbor Policy. It is the relaxation of the Monroe Doctrine by future American adminstrations that has brought so much suffering and pain to North America, for the US and Mexico with illegal immigration and drugs, corrupting governance in Mexico and creating social political strife in the US, more deaths from drugs than the Vietnam, Korean and WWI combined. Today's Cuba's economy and the Venezuelan economy that copied Cuba's example has completely collapsed, one fourth of the people left the country taking with them the vitally important skills, and leading to economic hardships for the people. This would not have happened if the Monroe Doctrine implemented under the Good Neighbor ideas of FDR and the Alliance for Progress of JFK was kept in place. This shows that Cuba's Independence happened when the Americans supported Cuban rebels fighting for independence in 1898 just as the Indian Independence was won in 1947 from the British under Labour's PM Clement Attlee in 1945 taking action. Four years of American rule in Cuba to prepare it for independence as a transition is far better than 4 centuries of Spanish rule, and 2 years of British rule as a transition 1945-1947 under Attlee (who replaced Churchill in 1945 and setup the NHS) is better than 2 centuries of British colonial rule. In this sense America is with the Cuban people, just as the average British public and working class is with the Indian people.   ...