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Chris Klomp, 45 years, takes over at 65,000 person $2.6 trillion government agency, Department of Health and Human Services, as Counselor, as Robert Kennedy Jr. heads for the campaign trail in addition to HHS duties March 12 2026. He impressed DJT with his negotiating ability against the drug companies in the government's efforts on Affordability of medicines. DJT calls him "my favorite Mormon." Susie Wiles was looking for a stabilizing force at HHS after vaccine controversies and wants the message to focus on improving health and cutting costs. Robert Kennedy Jr says about Klomp- "He is moving quickly to impose operational discipline, sharpen our strategic direction, and fortify a renewed sense of mission and accountability.” Klomp is pulling together all the agencies under HHS including FDA and others. Klomp takes his role seriously to cut costs and improve Health- .“In health care in particular, I do believe that I’m my brother’s keeper, and our job is to do the very best that we can for the people that we serve — the American people.” ...

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This title is a classic example of how to lie with statistics. Specifically the idea of 50% increase. 99 Irish citizens deported in 2025, a 50% jump over 2024, when one hundred thousand Irish citizens live in the US. The title could have read one tenth of one percent of Irish citizens living in the US were deported in 2025. Kennedy, Biden, Reagan were Irish in origins, most Irish are law abiding citizens, most are integrated into American society. The law applies equally to all- it only goes to show that the law applies to the Irish also and that it is fairly implemented consistent with US Supreme Court decisions supporting Congress and the Executive when it comes to immigration to the US, Latin Americans and Irish alike are treated equally under the law.

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France's 3300 Total Energies gas stations cap gas pries at $8.50 a gallon comapred to $4.22 at market rates in the US. Total Energies CEO Pouyanne says the cap is possible so long as the French government does not impose awindfall profits tax on the company. Profits at the company rose to 5.8 billion for hte last quarter up 51%. The cost of the cap is about $580 million so the company is still way ahead and this preempts the possible windfall profits tax which might go even further. At the same time the company gains public respect.

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German digital decline-only 20% of Dusseldorf administrative public services are online, Berlin much less than Dusseldorf, other cities in Germany lag behind. Denmark is way ahead of Germany with all public and administrative services shown on one site for every citizen of Denmark. In Germany there is institutional inflation in that each city does digital development separate from others, and there is no national system. It may have come from Germany's disinclination to centralize things in the political system after the Nazi period of the 1930's destroyed liberties, which extends into the social sphere. In any case fax machines are common in Germany, and are needed to correspond with public services of city and state. Germany's IT industry association Bitkom tells DW in this report that 77% of German companies still use fax machines, and 25% use fax machines frequently.

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Both presidents Biden in 2024 and Carter in 1980 faced high inflation that reduced their popularity, under Biden over 9% and under Carter 13%. Cost of living became a major issue as wage increases did not keep pace with inflation. WSJ attributes the inflation under Carter to policies of Richard Nixon and failure of the Fed under Miller and Volcker to control inflation. It attributes the inflation under Biden to Covid spending and on top of that the Spending under the Inflation Reduction Act and other bills passed to rebuild infrastructure. Biden and Fed's Powell did bring inflation down in 2024, and it had also to do with supply bottlenecks, opportunistic behaviour by retailers in 2022-2023.  A significant weakness for Biden was the Border and failure to act quickly under Homeland Security head Alejandro Mayorkas, against whom the Republicans started impeachment proceedings. Added to this was the continued flow of fentanyl destroying American lives. Another weakness was the unease of parents with policies on transgender. On foreign policy the Obama policy of funding Iran under the nuclear negotiated agreement increased risks for Israel and emboldened Iran. ...

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UK Denton (Manchester region) by-election gives Greens 40% Reform 29% and Labour 24%- as Greens replace Labour in UK in 2026 with disapproval of Starmer's leadership. Starmer appeared to be not thinking for himself and letting his campaign manager Morgan McSweeney run the government's strategies in serving working class voters a key Labour constituency. McSweeney at every turn pushed Starmer in a direction of diluting policies that were intended to serve working class voters to chase the Reform vote. That strategy has failed and won Starmer 18% approval among the British public. It just appeared to work in the last 2024 election but it may have been an understanding of that vote that was completely wrong as Labour won by small margins in many constituencies. A key opportunity has been lost for Labour by both Corbyn's dogmatic behaviours and Starmer's lack of authenticity and personla leadership for Britain, following the failures of the Cameron-Johnson years under the Tories, and before that with Blair, three decades lost for Britain to build a brighter future. ...

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David Albright, a former weapons inspector in Iraq, says 24 days is enough time for Iran to wipe out traces of nuclear work, such as working with explosives to trigger a weapon or construction of a small plant to make centrifuges. A situation actually happened in 2003 when the atomic energy agency wanted to inspect the Kalaye Electric Company site in Iran in 2003, where Iran was using centrifuges received from Pakistan. Iranians removed all traces of illicit work at the time while delaying inspectors. This case was cited by Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director of the agency. Heinonen says smaller scale activity such as manufacturing uranium components for a nuclear weapon can be carried out and the traces deleted in 24 days. Senator Corker points out that the time allowed would be more than 24 days when all the time is added up correctly.

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Iran's Ahmadinejad's speaks to reporters and editors in New York before his address to the UN General Assembly. He says: "During a historical phase, the Israelis come into the picture and are then eliminated." This WSJ editorial finds President Obama's response and his address at the General Assembly of the United Nations inadequate to convince Iran's government and ruling mullahs that the program has to be ended. Sanctions have not produced the needed results and have only gradually been tightened showing a lack of resolve. President Obama failed to speak up for young people and university students in Iran who held demonstrations against the Ahmadinejad regime when it changed the election results- just as he did not speak up for the young people fighting a dictatorship in Libya and Egypt, or just as has failed to do for the young people fighting today in Syria. In this respect Obama has abandoned America's role as a beacon of hope for countries around the world. It is left to American media and public opinion to vigorously express these ideas in unison, as it has already done every step of the way. Clearly Ahmadinejad does not speak for the Iranian people, especially the young generation, and Egypt's president Morsi like every other Arab leader may have problems with Israeli policy but sees the need for peaceful coexistence. It would be more accurate to say that the Iranian people, like the people of Syria, are trapped as Morsi put it to the General Assembly, in "the tragedy of our era," moving from dictatorship to dictatorship....

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How crude oil flows are affected by the narrow waterway Straits of Hormuz if blocked, Kuwait's lack of storage, Iraqi production going from 4.3 million barrels a day to 1.3 million. China could use more coal, it has 300 days of oil inventory, US is self sufficient. Asia will have problems- India, Japan and South Korea.  Europe also faces a shortage of oil supplies. How will this be tackled? 

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Much of the talk of risk posed by crypto digital assets when central banks around the world cautioned about crypto digital risk is less heard in 2026 with crypto companies financing of the DJT campaign. Banks remain wary of crypto digital assets and of new legislation supported by Coinbase to legitimize crypto assets. Most banks pay very low interest rates of 0.1% on small deposits and this also presents a problem, though there are options where some banks offer rates of 2-3 percent.

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A Druze community on the Golan Heights split over the conflict with Lebanon and Hezbollah. Elders identify with Syria, young people identify with Israel after studying at Israeli universities. Attacks on a soccer field here led to retaliation by Israel.

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Germany's chancellor Merz says he is ready to finance Patriot anti missile systems for Ukraine July 10 2025, as Ukraine comes under heavy missile and drone attacks in July 2025.