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There was a time when tech meant scientific advance for mankind and something positive for ordinary Americans. Today "Tech" can mean something different from what it used to mean, including something that is unwanted, even pernicious, something to increase profit margins even to exorbitant levels that hurt ordinary Americans and the public, and not a scientific advance in the real sense of the word. Nothing that inspires hope and better future for mankind. RealPage software that induces increase in housing rent prices is one aspect of the current housing cost of living crisis that Harris is focused on. Binyamin Applebaum of the NYT looks at the RealPage software sold to housing companies that would increase prices and be an added burden to households already under pressure from rising grocery prices and housing rent increases during the pandemic. This is a key issue for voters in 2024 and a comprehensive approach has to be taken on many fronts to address costs- including attack on price gouging, $50,000 for first time home buyers, and incentives for home building that Harris has proposed, and other actions.   ...

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In total this is a 50% tax on Indian imports to the US with DJT executive order of  August 6, 2025, 25% baseline for trade and 25% for Indian buying of 2 million barrels a day of Russian oil. US and EU say this money s fueling the Ukraine war, along with higher purchases than this by China from Russia, which add to Russian oil revenues and higher oil production. The order takes effect in 21 days so that India has time to come up with an agreement with the US. The Swiss also are scrambling to get an agreement, hit with 30% tariff.

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Is Norway endorsing the position of a former president of the US to "Drill, Baby Drill.?" It would cost upwards of 1 trillion dollars to fix US inaction on climate change to 2028. Norway is drilling like crazy to help Germany tackle the cutoff from Russian oil and gas supplies. It is also pursuing climate change action and green energy. The result is some confusion about where it is heading. The Guardian comments on this position taken by Norway. It can only be seen as oil and gas meeting a transition period's needs, yet with the severity of cliamte change events in the form of fires and floods in the world in 2024, is this a tenable position? Norwegians will say their cleaner fossil fuel production takes the place of dirty coal plants in Europe. How could Germany manage without Russian oil and gas without Norwegian supplies they ask. Others say Norway gets a quarter of its GDP from oil and gas. It is at the same time the country that is way ahead in renewables, most of its grid runs on renewables. And yet it has cut greenhouse gas emissions only by 11% since 1990 4 times less than Germany. Norway will come up for more criticism considering that its push on fossil fuels in 2023-24 is reducing investment for shift to a fossil free world. It is not an issue that can be talked away or not confronted head on as it is the harbringer of something worse- doing nothing for 4 years to 2028 that is proposed on the back of stuff that is being done by Norway- a US presidential candidate promising to relegate climate change action to zero by denying it exists and by saying "Drill, Baby Drill," at the RNC Convention in Milwaukee. ...

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Romney's advisors work to re-focus the campaign with more time spent by the candidate in the swing states and states too close to call- Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin. This is in addition to Ohio, Florida and Virginia, which are seen as critical.

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German regulatory authority takes a tougher stance in 2014, as the time when regulatory authority passes on to the ECB approaches. In the past BaFin has been seen as too supportive of Deutsche Bank.

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This is a story of missteps in retailing that can lead to loss of as many jobs as when large automobile plants close-about 65000 jobs in retail at big box store Bed Bath & Beyond in 2019 down to 32,000 by 2022, and with all stores closing in 2023 all jobs lost. Some of these jobs were replaced with the growth of Amazon in online retailing and warehousing shipment, others permanently lost. Jordyn Holman and Lauren Hirsch of the NYT explain how a major retailer collapses into bankruptcy in 2023. This retail chain started in 1971 thrived on its two founder's concept of building a customer base around a store that piled high the volume of merchandise selection for bedsheets, towels, pillows, kitchen appliances, and offered 20% coupons on brand items. It survived the 2009 crisis and by 2012 its stores were up to 1100 from 350 ten years earlier in 2000. This was a result of 4 acquisitions including Buy Buy Baby and Harmon Stores Its collapse is a textbook case of what can happen. Its financial foundations were weakened by a bond offering $1.5 billion, going into the debt market for the first time.   From its success attracting activist investors and the company according to analysts trying to fend them off. The bond offering was the first step to impending disaster. In 2019 three activist investors won a fight to appoint 4 new board members and hire a new CEO Mr. Tritton from Target.  The big change happening just before the pandemic was the complete change of management with the new CEO. Stores that had made the decisions on what merchandise to buy based on location were no longer allowed to do so. Some stores were closed and there were layoffs reducing employee morale. The big change came to the 20% coupons which was the unique feature of the store getting people back into the store. Coupons were cut back as profits declined. The pandemic introduced new elements of surprise. The supply chains were disrupted, and just at that time new management decided to shift to private labels to increase margins and sales. Kitchen Aid was replaced with private labels. As a result of supply chain disruptions the stores could not be stocked leading to customers moving away, a crisis was brewing. At that very time something concealed the crisis from view. The Biden administration checks to support people during the pandemic led to a sudden increase in sales, a one time spurt. Then as suddenly as the spurt months later a complete dropoff in sales. Management closed more stores, suppliers who were not paid demanded to be prepaid leading to stores being only partly stocked. Bed Bath & Beyond collapsed as its coupons were dropped, its stores poorly stocked, no brand merchandise such as Kitchen Aid, and decisions made at the wrong time including the debt load all taking a toll at once. By the end of 2022 bankruptcy loomed. In April 2023 the company declared bankruptcy after failed efforts to raise additional financing. The same changes also hit Best Buy, another big box retailer, which managed the changes to internet buying by shifting sales to the healthcare sector, and continuing to build on it strengths as a retailer of motivated employees with knowledge of the electronic merchandise. It made it right through the pandemic without the changes in management that happened at Bed Bath & Beyond. ...

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DJT appeared on Oz's health show in 2016 as a presidential candidate, and sees OZ as a fellow tv show host, a kindred spirit with a passion for what he is doing. As head of Medicare and Medicaid after afailed effort for a Senate seat from Pennsylvania, Oz is still someone whit a keen sense for the politics as well as what is good for the healthcare of Americans. He shares apassion for good health as a goal for America that was held up by JFK, and his nephew Robert Kennedy Jr who now leads the Make America Health Again movement. Oz fervently believes the time for healthy America is now after many wasted years under Clinton/Bush/Obama when national interests were neglected for places like Bosnia in a historical conflict of Turks and Serbia that goes back centuries (Clinton), in the deserts of Iraq (older Bush), in the mountains of Afghanistan that claimed Brezhnev as a victim the younger Bush followed, two wars prolonged by Obama and closed by DJT and Biden. Something as basic as health and pharmaceutical prices was allowed to get as bad as it is in 2026 with prices through the roof. DJT's plan is to get the pharmaceutical companies to commit to certain prices, to the lowest price they sell the same medicine in Europe. This is what Dr Oz wants to see not just for the next 3 years but put into established practice for the future years.  Oz says about presenting the DJT plan on healthcare to Congress and the Nation- “We didn’t demand that they do it. We said, ‘This is something that is very popular and highly achievable.’ ” Healthcare costs, gas and automobile costs, energy costs, housing costs are all part of the 4-5 costs that are the key elements in the cost of living crisis or affordability crisis that is uppermost on the minds of Americans. Already the Medicare payments to insurers are going to be flat for 2026 compared to 2025, as part of policy to get costs down, push pharmaceutical costs down. ...

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Documents from the Fox News Defamation lawsuit show much tension between news personnel and the television network's prime time news show hosts, says this report in the WSJ. Dominion has $1.6 billion lawsuit in March 2021 against Fox News for defamation. It says the network spread claims that the company's voting machines helped rig the 2020 US presidential election in favor of Mr. Biden. 

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Indian financial and project assistance to Sri Lanka is making a huge difference for Sri Lanka. With a relationship that goes back to the time when the first Buddhist missionaries arrived on the island India has a long relationship with Sri Lanka. In addition to financial help India is planning major long term projects in renewable energy, port infrastructure and energy pipelines from southern India. Reuters looks at these projects in this report.

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China has made an astonishing turn away from covid restrictions. Yet this comes after three years that hurt growth which will affect the recovery says this column in WSJ. China is looking for 5% growth in 2023. Problems in the way are a public affected by the lockdowns, a covid surge, housing that will take time to recover, and diversification by Foxconn and other companies away from China to India, Vietnam.

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Biden had his PSA test for prostate cancer about 11 years back in 2014, an astounding fact given that he ran for the presidency in 2019. The nation did not know that all this time this cancer was developing and would affect the manner in which the nation's affairs would be conducted. Putting an unelected Vice President into the White House also has its own serious drawbacks. 

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Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 88% from the prior year. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads in the first quarter 2012, double the volume in the prior year. Profits reported by Apple for the first quarter 2012 were $11.62 billion, an increase from $5.98 billion the prior year, almost doubling profits.

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Short time work programs, paid leave, aid to small business for employee retention with the government paying a big percentage of wages, and unemployment benefits till companies rehire employees with government paying for this, are all different ways in which the U.S. and Europe are coping with the coronavirus crisis.  In the U.S. 22 million have applied for unemployment benefits with the U.S. government picking up a substantial part of the wages till companies rehire these employees. In the UK the government has launched a program that gives 2500 pounds or $3100 to each worker each month upto 80% of the worker's pay. The money is sent to businesses for retaining employees. This could cover estimated 8.3 million workers in the UK at a cost of $52 billion. The U.S. has a similar program with the first phase $377 billion already distributed to small businesses which requires retention of employees for government forgiveness of these loans. The basic idea is retain employees who could stay at home or be in short work programs or work from home. The French government is paying the wages of 9.6 million workers, almost half of workers in the private sector by sending the money to 785,000 small businesses. In Germany the Kurzarbeit program covers 725,000 companies which supports the wages of employees in a downturn and is financed from a special fund. The cost for Germany, France and Spain is about $147 billion or 135 billion euros for such programs. The European Union will step in with a 100 billion euros loan package. ...

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This WSJ report shows how the debt ceiling negotiation were conducted and the process that made it possible to reach an agreement since the State of the Union address by president Biden on February 7, 2023. It started with Biden getting unanimity right on the floor of Congress during his speech about protecting Medicare and Social Security. The Republican strategy was to pass the legislation on spending that did not specify where cuts were to be made yet used 2022 spending levels with a 1% increase. The deal was to be for three years and passed the spending bill with an increase inthe debt ceiling. Till that time the Democrats decided to not enter negotiations.  Biden and McCarthy then had to choose who would represent their side in the long negotiation process that lay ahead till June 5. Progressive Democrats called for invoking the 14th Amendment that allows the government to continue functioning and pay its bills. Biden chose not to take that route. Respect for the other side, a prepared script are an important point in negotiations. To get results something even more important is essential flexibility and a plan, Plan B. Trust began to develop between McCarthy and Biden. Biden and McCarthy did not any time engage in acrimonious description of the other side. At one point when Biden was in Hiroshima for the G7 meetings Ricchetti on the Biden side and Graves on the Republican side began to feel the frustration. Biden decided to fly home early from Hiroshima. He was constantly in touch with his negotiators Steve Ricchetti, a trusted aide, and a cabinet official the Budget Director Shalanda Young. Graves a long time trusted adviser of McCarthy headed the negotiations for McCarthy.  Shalanda Young and Garrett Graves are both from Louisiana and Graves says he used to work out with Young's dad in the same area. This had a positive effect. It also reduced the tensions in the negotiations so that it could be said this was the calmest negotiation from either side that has been seen in the US  for a long time and bodes well for America's future and for its people, far beyond any concessions made by either party.  Biden made clear at the outset what he could accept without leaving it hidden- he would agree to some work requirements, he would not agree to work requirements for Medicaid. Others in the Democratic party conveyed how distraught they were with efforts to impose stringent requirements for federal food aid during a cost of living crisis when the Republican positions ruled out any new taxes on the wealthiest Americans. In the end Republicans agreed to keep spending limits for 2023 for two more years into 2025 when they would be increased by 1%. Democrats offered to cut (Income Tax) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) spending to increase IRS staffing from $80 billion to $70 billion. Biden said "nobody got everything they wanted." It would have to be passed in Congress with the support of moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans, with members holding extreme positions among Republicans and Democrats opposing. The two parties coming together after a long time to meet the real challenges ahead for the American people. ...

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Lights were turned off at 1800 local time in Rio de Janeiro, as Brazil showed its disapproval of the racism faced by Vinicius Jr at a Spanish League soccer game. The picture is of the Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio in darkness, a touching symbol and message.

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What happened with the Allied strategy of area bombing of Hamburg with 4 British raids a day, in 1943 when victory was far from assured, is shown by a historian of UK German relations. Most of the city destroyed, a million homeless.  King Charles's visit to Hamburg does a lot for reflection on this part of history, at this time of war in Europe.

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Cummins gets 5 wickets, England's top batsmen out for three ducks, two years of preparation show the tension, the need to throw the "million dollar fast ball" as bowler Harmison did in Brisbane in 2006 sending the ball straight to second slip. This time the first ball by Mitchell Starc dismisses Burns. This is the first day of the Australia England Ashes cricket series.

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The new iPad coming out in March 2012 will be priced at $499, with the prior version being priced now at $399. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, says the iPad sales in the 4th quarter of 2011 surpassed sales of PC's by any individual manufacturer. To give some idea of the impact Apple's sales of $9.5 billion for iPads in the 4th quarter were twice the sales revenue made by Microsoft for Windows software and close to the total revenue of Google during the quarter. This third generation iPad looks like the previous one. It has an A5X quad-core chip for faster processing and a higher resolution screen with 2,048 by 1,536 pixels. The new iPad also works on the new cellphone network technology called LTE. It works on AT&T and Verizon's networks. Users can dictate e-mail on this device.

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Queen Elizabeth's words on April 5, 2020 during the depths of the coronavirus pandemic will always be remembered, when she said reminding one of of her words in 1940- "We will meet again." "I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge. And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any. That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humored resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterize this country. The pride in who we are is not of our past, it defines our present and our future." "And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths, and of none, are discovering that it presents and opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect, in prayer or meditation. "It reminds me of the very first broadcast I made in 1940, helped by my sister. We, as children, spoke from here at Windsor, to children who had been evacuated from their homes and sent away for their own safety. Today once again, many people will feel a painful sense of separation from their loved ones. But now, as then, we know deep down, that it is the right thing to do. While we have faced challenges before, this one is different. This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour, using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal. We will succeed- and that success will belong to every one of us. "We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return, we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again."   ...

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There is a unique value in being creative and coming up with one's own way of doing things. New possibilities come into view with creative efforts and not taking the time worn path without thinking. In all activities and particularly new endeavors this becomes important.

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Spain's former king and father of King Felipe, who at one time was respected for his work bringing democracy to Spain after the Franco period, is now involved in issues related to Swiss bank accounts that are affecting the reputation of the royal family in Spain.

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Michael Gove resigns from the Tory government of Rishi Sunak days after the announcement of UK elections on July 4, 2024. Here he says a greater implosion than gaining about 150 seats  for the Tories party could even blow away his chances in a solid Tory seat. Much has changed in Britain since the days of Brexit which is highly unpopular today with the British public. The Times Tim Shipman looks at the controversial decisions of Gove and how he added credibility to the Leave campaign when he had previously advised Cameron against holding a referendum. Today 58% of British people support joining the European Union. Gove's actions and that of others including Johnson, Cummings and Sunak show Conservatives in a poor light leaving Britain in a precarious position with low growth and little room in finances for the kind of investment Britain needs for its infrastructure, public services and its economy. It is a lesson that sudden ill thought out moves for political advantage by politicians and poor decisions can create chaos and diminish a nation's prospects. ...

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Keller says that Fox News has contributed to the corrosiveness that has affected public dialogue in the U.S. He admits that the prestigious urban newspapers like the Washington Post and the New York Times can be condescending and too open to consider points of view that do not have merit. Yet, he says, they are different from Fox News in that they are self-critical and take up different points of view outside their own, an openness that Fox News lacks. A little research shows another side of the Times- during its early years the Times with a scoop of its own helped put the boss of Tammany Hall, which dominated New York politics in the late twentieth century, in jail. The journalists of the Times, even though they have their own screwups, always must carry the added responsibility of living up to a long heritage.

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Lenovo's acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.91 billion in January 2014. Google paid $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility in 2011. The Moto X model has not sold well in competition with Apple and Samsung smartphones. Google will retain 15,000 of 17,000 patents acquired as part of the Motorola acquisition, patents worth billions of dollars and helping it defend its Android mobile operating system. Google sold Motorola Home which made setup boxes to Arris in 2012 for $2.35 billion. Motorola Mobility had $2.9 billion in cash at the time of the acquisition. In addition Google is retaining a research group led by Regina Dugan working on new technologies.

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A number of issues came up at the Women20 Summit in Berlin. Annette Niederfranke, Director of the International Labor Organization, brought up the issue of family reconciliation as "one of the toughest challenges for working women worldwide," that in order to meet obligations women tended to work in "non standard forms of employment and in part time work linked to lower wages, lower social security, lower benefits, and fewer training possibilities." Childcare was also an issue that was prominent considering the lack of adequate childcare in many countries including in the European Union. With responsibilities for the elderly, babies, and small children women tend to be in the workforce for shorter periods leading to men taking up many of the higher positions. Angela Merkel pointed out that Gemany tended to take a narrow view of professions available to girls, saying- "So it is very very important that we take a broader view of things while girls are still at school." Merkel also supports a Africa compact that would help women set up small and middle size businesses in poor countries. The "Digital" aspects of this and other efforts for women were a major topic being discussed. One idea that came up was that more cooperation from men was needed to make things happen. This is the third Women20 Summit after ones in Turkey and China, and a sense of momentum was felt by women. ...