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Media networks express views of their billionaire owners at social media networks such as Elon Musk's X (Twitter) and Fox News in the way the issues facing the country are framed and by the moderators such as Bret Baier and Carlson leaving many major issues such as infrastructure, education, incomes and jobs unaddressed. Musk's X social media network formerly Twitter shows a taped interview of Mr. Trump by Tucker Carlson just when Republican candidates including Mike Pence and Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, were in a televised debate on Fox News network on August 23. Mr. Trump said of Fox News network that the network was not particularly friendly to me, and said he avoided the debate to not be harassed by the other candidates. The 12 million viewers on Fox News compares with impressions on the social media network which had 690,000 likes and 180,000 reposts, fragmenting what the Republican party base would see and offering no real delving into the real economic issues facing the country. ...

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The firing of Tata CEO Cyrus Mistry by Ratan Tata, former chairman of the Tata Group, leads to a prolonged crisis at the companies of the Tata Group. A vote is needed at Tata Motors and Tata Steel for Mistry to be ousted from these companies following a vote to oust him at TCS. The parent company's board of directors have voted to oust Mistry. The expert view is that the crisis will not last much longer as all Tata companies need the Tata name and will eventually fall in line with the wishes of Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata followed J.R.D. Tata, and Jamsetji Tata, both legendary leaders of the company. Though Mr. Mistry's family owns 18% of the company, much of the reputation of the company lies in the Tata name and the work of JRD and Jamsetji, so that the 660,000 employees of India's largest company are likely to see this as a temporary setback in the long term.

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On world tuberculosis day the work of Dr. Zarir Udwadia is acclaimed for drawing attention to a resurgent tuberculosis in India through a medical journal article in 2012 for untreatable TB. India has 2.8 million new TB cases annually, 100,000 being drug resistant, according to WHO. India relies on outdated diagnostic tests that miss about 50% of the cases and Dr Udwadia says India needs newer technologies including GeneXpert tests. TB can be easily treated at a cost of $5 with 4 drugs over 6 months if done in time. Wrong drugs, incorrect doses, irregular medication, lets the TB bacteria become resistant causing havoc- leading to taking of 250 injections and 15000 pills treated for upto 2 years and costing thousands of dollars, with the toxicity of the drugs levels creating risks of deafness, blindness, kidney failure, and psychotic conditions. Crowded conditions in slum areas act as an incubator of the disease and infection rates, with 20 people being infected by one patient alone. ...

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Britain will offer a pathway to citizenship to 3 million Chinese in Hong Kong, British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab confirmed an earlier statement. This applies to British National Overseas status (BNO) and their dependents upto 3 million. He stated that the new security law to control protests in Hong Kong were a "flagrant" violation of the agreement made with China 23 years ago.  He called it a "clear and serious breach of the joint declaration" of the two countries in 1997. The new arrivals from Hong Kong and their dependents will be given 5 years limited leave to stay and work in the country, at that point they can apply for settled status and after 1 year of settled status they can apply for British citizenship. The Foreign Office expressed alarm at one provision article 38 of the security law that seeks jurisdiction over anyone who criticizes China wherever they are in the world, putting them at risk if they travel to Hong Kong or China. ...

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Andrea Martin-Lof has designed about 1200 homes in Stockholm. He is designing apartments in Sweden's tallest building in Gothenburg, the 73 story Karlatornet, under construction. Interestingly he is designer for low income housing as well as for the elite. He loves diving into archives and looking into the history of buildings. This makes it possible for him to appreciate the old with the new, combining and bringing in a dialogue with the past into his contemporary designs. He can be original and capable of reimagining. He built a summer house in the Stockholm archipelago entirely of plywood and marble. Another of his innovations is in working downstairs from his office, which gives him proximity to get ready for a meeting or go down for a quiet lunch.  During architecture school he reveals in his new book that he was diagnosed for brain cancer. After the tumor was removed he learned to work differently listening rather than telling, appreciating gut instinct and curiosity. ...

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Google will take part in the Digital India project of the Indian government with a $10 billion investment over five years. This is about leveraging the power of digital technologies for transforming lives of farmers, young people and for creating new businesses. Google Search and You Tube reaches 245 million Indians. Local language content is popular for 66% of the content online. For Google CEO Pichai this as he says is deeply personal as the investments in early computers and digital use in the first 20 years after independence in 1947 provided the opportunities for Pichai and Microsoft CEO Nadella and countless others to learn about these technologies in schools and universities in India. These investments will lay the ground for opportunities to be created for new generations. Earlier Google partnered with Tata Trusts to launch Saathi so that the internet could reach India's villages. About 23 million women in 300,0000 villages have gained through Saathi the first use of internet. ...

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Why Mark Rutte is unpopular and disliked in most European Union countries but popular at home. The Dutch contribute $2.4 billion to the EU budget but says this report the Dutch have setup tax havens taking about $6.7 billion from the revenue that would otherwise go to the governments of Germany, France, Italy and Spain. This shows that the idea of the thrifty Dutch is only one side of the story. The clever Dutch may be more like it. This time France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and most other EU countries including Poland are critical of the Dutch and countries such as Sweden and Denmark for not showing solidarity with Europe during the pandemic. The real reason for Mark Rutte holding out in not supporting the European Recovery Fund of $500 billion of nonrepayable aid to EU's pandemic hardest hit countries is that after the tough election against the far right in 2017 he faces another challenge from right wing parties in Netherlands opposed to any aid or solidarity.  ...

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India has done well with low cost, scalable, low tech solutions in the past. This is also being done now to tackle the coronavirus. This is being used to support what may be the largest lockdown in history. Everyone is expected to remain at home. Only shops selling essential items such as food and pharmaceuticals are allowed to remain open. All but essential offices are closed, with workers told to stay home. Indelible ink that takes two weeks to wash away was widely available following the election. It is being widely used with high numbers of infections having the back of their hand stamped "Home Quarantined." After India announced a nationwide lockdown all wireless carriers were asked by the government to  insert a taped coronavirus health advisory that comes on after callers dial and before the call connects.Th recorded message talks about how to protect against the coronavirus. Prime time news shows are interrupted three times a day for back to back news conferences from the prime minister, and local officials.   ...

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Arango takes a look back at the history of Iraq- the 400 years of Ottoman rule and the role of Gertrude Bell in defining Iraq's current borders under British rule. Saddam Hussein, Maliki and Islamic State pitted Sunnis against Shiites and Sunnis against Kurds for the last 40 years, leavig a divided country. The current effort to put Iraq together as a country with different faiths and communities under prime minister Abadi will take many years after so much bloodshed. Northern Ireland shows that it can be done after much pain and loss, when all realize putting the past behind is the only way forward.

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The European bank stress tests could trigger the restructuring of the troubled landesbank sector in Germany say German experts. The landesbanks do about 25% of the lending in Germany and are in severe financial stress. The landesbanks suffered hundreds of billions of losses in the US subprime mortgage securities. There has been no serious reform of the landesbanks. Even though the management of one of the landesbanks Bayerische Landesbank in Munich was under criminal investigation- the management made bad decisions that led to the losses in bad investments totalling 25% of the Bavarian state's yearly budget. A similiar problem is unfolding in Spain where the Spanish government has initiated action for the troubled cajas bank sector, the regional savings banks in Spain. In Spain the government and opposition came together to reach an agreemet to consolidate the cajas from 45 to about 20 and set aside a fund of 99 billion euros for this task. In Germany the landesbanks are controlled by German states and regional savings banks, so the German government has no direct control over this failing banking sector....

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Ms. Park Geun-hye of the conservative party was elected president of S. Korea on Dec. 19, 2012. She received 51.6% of the vote compared to 48.0% for liberal candidate Moon Jae-in with about 87% of votes counted. Issues in the election included the high amount of household debt, welfare payments, high cost of student tution, and lack of jobs for new college graduates. Both candidates favor moderate policies towards N. Korea and the communist neighbor was not a factor in the election. The focus is on uncertainties about the economy and regional disparities between the southeast and southwestern provinces.

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Berlin's Neues Museum destroyed during the war, is painstakingly built using the bricks and stone from the ruins, by the London architect David Chipperfield. As for many public buildings in Germany the past is opportunity, and the scraps of the old building were used, with "millions of decisions" technical, aesthetic and political in a vast jigsaw puzzle handed down by Stuler the original architect of the building- which opened in 1855 to promote "the elevated interests of the people." Chipperfield built a new building using the remains of the old. And based on the long lines in Berlin, waiting for hours in the cold March weekend and stretching for half amile, the building works for the people of Berlin. Of the grand central stairway that edges on upward through the old brick and into the new structure, upward to more light, the NYT writer Kimmelman says that this space is a metaphor for Germany today. In their response to its history Berliners are keeping the history as part of the large jigsaw puzzle of human experience and response....

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The iphone 16e 2025 for $599 more battery, more camera and larger screen offers more features at the lower end of the price range. One can see this as a phone that helps tackle the cost of living crisis that could hurt Apple sales from buyers with moderate incomes who are cutting back. It could also target a growing middle class buyer segment in India. The e in 16e could stand for economy buyers who want basics in the Apple and could attract upper income buyers of Xiaomi , Huawei and Samsung. Apple iphones have strengths in: seamless ecosytem navigation interface reliable and secure ios software higher resale value Apple discontinues support for older iphones after about 7 years. iPhone 13's can still be used in 2025 4 years old, a good time to change would be by 2026. iPhone 15 was introduced in 2023 which means a good time for changing it is 2028 using a 5 year change which balances the need to update and  update to have access to newer iphones. ...

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This marks the D Day celebrations for the US in World War II to be held on June 14, Saturday. The president DJT referred to this in his remarks in the White House with German chancellor Merz. It is not just Army Day but the entire war effort under FDR that won World War II under Generals Eisenhower, Marshall and Patton on the European Front against the Nazis occupation of Europe that is being celebrated. DJT again referred to it in an Oval Office meeting on June 10 on the situation in Los Angeles.  Even German chancellor Merz called it Liberation Day for Germany from the Nazis. The Weimar democracy did not survive the years of French imposed high war reparations and hyperinflation leading to the Nazis taking over. US Gen. Pershing was clear that no Armistice should be signed that the war should end with the complete defeat of the Kaiser in Germany and this would have given the US a role it lacked in a final peace settlement that allowed Germany to build a democratic process to replace Prussian militarism. ...

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This opinion in the DW.com after the selection of ExxonMobil's Rex Tillerson as U.S. Secretary of State, asks whether the exploitation of natural resources and gaining advantages in trade agreements replaces concern for human rights. Still it says after all these concerns Rex Tillerson deserves a fair chance.

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Foxconn announces salaries for workers would increase by 16-25% to about $400 a month before overtime. Foxconn plans to reduce overtime. Foxconn is a major supplier in China for Apple Computer.

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The secret say Dr. McGeverly an astonishing 104 years, as do others is to find things to do that make life meaningful and important and "our hearts sing." A daughter of missionary parents spent her childhood in India and is shown in an old photo carried in a basket. She studied medicine and had a holistic medicine practice in Arizona. She lives in a small home next to her daughter and is shown with her grandchildren. This last month we profiled Sandra Day O'Connor who created iCivics to spread civics knowledge in America for children after retiring from the Supreme Court at age 75. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were also profiled in Lyrarc.com for their resilience. In Virtues of Aging Carter says it is the action that is beneficial to others that is also beneficial to oneself that is the secret to aging right. This is also the concept we see common to the holy Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Buddhist texts that define right living in this way.

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This WSJ editorial says Donald Trump's first foreign policy speech is full of contradictions. Mr. Trump says foreign policy should be "unpredictable" yet this also means says the WSJ, that the country should trust his instincts, and everybody else a loser- "I'm the only one-believe me, I know them all- I'm the only one who knows how to fix it." It says the speech gets an "Incomplete" at Trump University. It criticizes Obama, but in failing to stand up for peace through strength that marked the post war peace since 1945, WSJ says that more than people realize Mr. Trump is a continuation of Mr. Obama's policies of withdrawing from global engagement that has ensured that peace. Trade wars with China, Mexico and Japan could lead to a world recession. Though much needs to be done to ensure trade is fair to U.S. workers and business, Trump has no clearly stated path to do this, instead relying on brinksmanship that could end up in trade wars.

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A conversation by Louise Story of the NYT with Judge Rakoff who oversees the Bof America settlement with the SEC case. In an interview he reveals his thinking behind his rejection of the SEC settlement with a $33 fine. He says that when he joined the securities fraud unit of the Southern District of New York as a young attorney, prosecutors placed greater accountability on individual executives at companies, and charges tended to be filed against the executives rather than the companies. Rakoff says that the feeling behind this was that if a crime is committed it is important to find out who are the persons who made the wrongful decisions and why. So he asks why did the B of A executives behave the way they did, and why did the SEC behave the way it did. And says Rakoff, in his mind its the individuals who made these decisions that lacked ethical value should pay a higher fine and be held accountable.

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The U.S. Supreme Court by a vote of 7-2 struck down a California law that bans the sale of violent videogames to children. Writing the majority opinion Justice Scalia said "even when children are the object the constitutional limits of governmental action apply." Breyer dissented by saying that it made no sense to not allow a child to see a nude picture woman under obscenity laws and yet allow the child to see violent acts against women. Clarence Thomas was the other justice in the dissent. Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Ginsberg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor supported the decision to allow violent videogames to be sold to children. Justice Alito supported the decision but expressed serious reservations about the breadth of the majority's opinion saying- " the Court is far too quick to dismiss the possibility that the experience of playing videogames (and the effects on minors of playing violent videogames) may be very different from anything we have seen before."

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New rules enacted after the Reserve Primary Fund broke the buck in the 2008 financial crisis would help prevent another problem for money market funds. Money market funds must keep 30 percent of their holdings in securities that can be converted into cash in 7 days. Another factor mitigating the impact of U.S. money market funds holding about 50% of their assets in European bank debt, is the action taken by the money market funds to reduce their holdings of this debt and shorten maturities. According to S&P estimates of the 500 U.S. and European money market funds rated by S&P, 80% of European bank holdings is limited to 3 months or less, and 95% to 6 months or less. Vanguard's chief investment officer says the situation would have to be one of a very rapid decline, and not just Greece but also impacting Spain and Italy for these debt holdings to result in losses for U.S. money funds.

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In this editorial the Wall Street Journal says it supports the "sequester" or trigger of automatic cuts in 2013 if the Supercommittee in the U.S. Congress fails to reach agreement on budget cuts. Across the board budget cuts are not the best option, but says the Journal given that politicians have failed to come to agreement this is the best option available. This will generate $68 billion in savings in 2013. The Congressional Budget Office estimates cuts will be 7.8% for domestic programs, and defense will take a 10% cut. Medicare spending will fall by 2%, mostly payments to providers. To put this in perspective the Journal points out that total domestic discretionary spending doubled to $614 billion in 2010 from $298 billion in 2000, providing a higher starting point for cuts. It says some of the cuts in defense could be restored through a supplemental bill as planned by Sen. McCain.

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A hybrid gas-electric bus costs 60% more, but is 30% more efficient for the hybrid model and 65% more fuel efficient for plug-in models, says a Navistar executive. Navistar is the first U.S. maker to bring out a hybrid bus model. Experts say buses are ideally suited for electric versions because of short routes within city limits and predicatable routes. School buses also spend a lot of time in depots where they can be charged easily. Trans Tech Bus is planning to start production of a electric school bus in partnership with Smith Electric Vehicles. Trans Tech's president says the new electric school bus will be priced so that districts could recover the added cost- a $30,000 premium at this time- in fuel savings of 3-5 years. The savings for diesel are about $60 a day for a school district near Fresno with poor air quality. Recharging the battery costs about $17.

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German chancellor, Angela Merkel's advisor, Uwe Corsepius, briefed European Union ambassadors on the draft document for EU economic integration, prepared by the German ministry. This document identifies six priorities: abolition of wage indexation systems, agreement on mutual recognition of education qualifications, creation of a common base for assessing corporate tax, adjustment of the pension systems, establishment of a national crisis management regime for banks and new legal measures to force countries to commit to tough fiscal policies through a "debt alert mechanism." Under the plan countries will be assessed agaist economic indicators and tracked by the European Commission. Other steps Merkel is proposing are coordinating retirement ages across countries. See the interview with Portugal's prime minister Socrates, where he supports the coordination of the retirement age. Socrates does not commit to taking out the adjustment of wages for inflation in that interview. The leaders of 27 countries of the EU meet February 4 in Brussels, and this document will be discussed at the meeting....