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A poll by Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows two thirds of Israelis oppose a truce in which the three aims are not achieved of stopping nuclear weapons development, stopping ballistic missile weapons development and action through proxies in the Middle East. Other polls JPPI show as much as 93% of Israel's Jewish population support the war to achieve these goals. 

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Action to tackle the cost of living crisis taken by G-7 countries France, Germany, Italy, Canada, US, is shown here in The Guardian. France and Germany have taken the strongest action to protect lower income people, the US with the Inflation Reduction Act has taken broad steps to limit healthcare costs and invest in the economy. The UK appears to be the weakest in taking action and the new budget of Mr. Kwarteng is seen in this way as failing to protect vulnerable parts of the population.

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Havana a ghost town with little activity, garbage piling up, and population struggling to make a living- pictures as France's Le Monde sees it in Jan 2026. Was it all worth it?  A revolution happened in 1956 against Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista that lost its way over 4 decades to 2000, on life support for another 2 decades to 2026. The Cuban experiment caused Venezuela to enter the same realm of disillusionment and many insurgencies in the rest of Latin America that failed with too much rhetoric and little to back it up with in investment and growth through patient effort and inputs of capital, labor and technology, and cooperation with US and EU, the very stuff that changed lives in China and India for 2.5 billion people.

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Changes at CBS News and CNN News to better reflect news events. CNN is considering an offer from Paramount that improves on an offer from Netflix.  This would change the editorial content of the site. Polarization in one direction supports polarized thinking in the other direction when what is needed is free and honest, fair reporting of people and events. This leads to people constantly exposed to only one side of the story, which makes running a country more difficult, and leads to all sorts of distortions in policy that hurt the public interest and the national interest. It is not only about profit because reporting is how people get news and analysis of events, which determine what policies are taken up by the nation, leading to good or bad results or very good and very bad results.

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Lifespan, Healthspan, Wealthspan, how about Mattering Span or Not Losing Purpose in Retirement? It is always on the mind of retirees how to do things to not lose the activity and sense of purpose in life. Much needs to be done to get retirees back into life, into participation in the economic life of the Nation. With so much knowledge and expertise, and the capital in trillions of dollars, this is apart of the population that has so much to offer and so much that can further advance the Nation in fields of education, health, the arts, culture, sports. With a slightly slower pace than youngsters, this group brings so much of value- knowledge and wisdom that can be tapped into at all levels of business activity with new ways and approaches to involvement.

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Cem Ozdemir, Baden-Wurttemberg State Premier, with roots in Turkey born in Stuttgart area (parents came to Germany in the 1960's). Cem Ozdemir is exceptional in his popularity in an affluent German state. The 2026 state election campaign was run with focus on Ozdemir, and he did well in his debate with the CDU leader in the state. He led his party to over 30% of the vote. A third of working class voters gave the AfD their vote and it made it to 19% of the vote. The CDU came in second with a half percentage point below the Greens at 29.5%. Ozdemir was pre school educator and has a degree in psychology before he joined the Greens party. Under Chancellor Schroeder he was domestic spokesperson, and under Chancellor Scholz in 2024 he was Agriculture Minister.

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From Warren Court 1953-1969 at 72% score for pro-Civil rights in Burger court 1969-1986 score of 52%, under Roberts it is same at 52% in 2026, basically a 50-50 rulings on civil rights and minorities. Even though it appears much has changed with appointment of new Justices by DJT not too much has changed, except a fair amount of skepticism added and more questions asked about the real impact of decisions and how they play out in real life. In real lifer some things work out differently than intended. Amy Coney Barrett is one of the Justices with no particular leanings as shown in the interview on C-SPAN by Rubinstein recently even though she is from Notre Dame and appointed by DJT with an enriched family life.

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US Forest Service agency plans to relocate it to Utah from Washington DC. The idea is to relocate to the communities it serves by placing 15 state directors to regions NFS serves. Salt Lake City's family focused life, its international airport and its lower cost of living are seen as attractive for recruitment. Utah is also one of the mountain states where large forests are located in the western US. Tom Schultz, head of the Forest Service says -"This is about building a Forest Service that is nimble, efficient, effective and closer to the forests and communities it serves." A network of centers of US Forest Service will also be used to redistribute personnel to regions and states- including ones at Colorado, Georgia, New Mexico, Montana, Wisconsin and California.

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IMF forecasts are always behind the curve and come out a month or so after some event has happened. For fast paced events the lag makes the forecasts obsolete in a short time. Even so the IMF says the impact will be to reduce world growth from 3.2% to 2.5% based on situation today, a slight drop in growth. More impacted are the country's with weaker financial situation going into this period including countries in the Middle East and Africa, Asia. There are also indirect benefits from the naval blockade which is to accelerate the move to renewable energy reducing fossil fuels as a percentage of each country's energy mix with more room for nuclear and solar energy, and getting more efficient use of energy with Germany and Japan as examples.

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P/E ratios for stocks in the U.S., Europe and the emerging market countries in 2013. A large gap between the U.S. and Europe for longer term returns, 22 for the U.S. compared to 10 for southern European countries such as Spain, Italy and Ireland. This uses the cyclically adjusted returns based on the Shiller P/E which takes average ten year earnings adjusted for inflation. Using earnings expectations for the next year the U.S. P/E is 13.5 compared to 12.7 for developed markets including Germany and the UK.

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Pam Bondi, US Attorney General gives a vigorous defense of the DJT administration and the president in hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She tells US senators it was Democrats who politicized the Justice Department first. And Bondi defended the hard work of the administration in fighting illegal immigration and violent crime. In 5 hours of exchanges she answered Senators on the other side- “Don’t you ever challenge my integrity.” “I have abided by every ethical standard. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial as attorney general.” She told Senator Durbin of Illinois when asked about the sending of the National Guard to Chicago- “I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump." Senator Graham of South Carolina, and Senator Grassley of Iowa who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, asked Bondi why the Jack Smith investigation into Trump under president Biden had looked at phone calls made by Senator Graham and by Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, both Republicans. Graham asked Bondi: “Can you tell me why my phone records were sought by the Jack Smith agents? Why did they ask to know who I called?” Grassley called this an "outrage" and an "unconstitutional breach." At the same time FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that he had fired "those who had acted unethically" in this situation. These exchanges show the mood of the Nation and the people as the National Guard heads to Chicago in September 2025 to reduce violent crime and tackle illegal immigration.     ...

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The problem facing Africa is whether vaccine supplies will run out before new vaccine supplies come from America, Britain and France. Only less than 1% of African people have been fully vaccinated out of a population of 1.3 billion people. US president Biden said America will provide 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to poor nations before the G-7 meeting in Cornwall, UK. Britain added 100 million and France 30 million doses. With new more transmissable variants out there Africa is in considerable danger today. The Delta variant from India has been shown to be about 70% more contagious than the Alpha variant from Kent UK. It is already the dominant variant for new cases in the UK. The new variants are now spreading in Africa. Cities such as Johannesburg, South Africa, and Kampala, Uganda are seeing a surge in cases. Another problem in Africa is that governments are increasingly reluctant to impose strong lockdowns because of the economy. Already it is believed that Africa's middle class has been severely affected during the last 18 months. ...

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Startling fact seen in this chart of Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis in the adjoining article next to this one- that in 2026 we are seeing 1929-1937 levels of military spending to GDP ratio of 2-3% just before it jumped to 45% in 1940. It is a cautionary tale not to spend too little (2-4% is a danger point) as lack of military modernization means a lot more spending soon after, almost 10 times that- 10 times 4% or 40% in World War II.  Message to the US is not what Starmer and company are saying in Europe- it is that don't invite the existential crisis of 1940 again for western (US, EU, Canada, UK) and eastern democracies (India, Japan, Indonesia, Australia) by not doing military modernization. And 2-4% of GDP for military spending is not going to be enough to do this.

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Impact of Iran War on European economy- Germany's growth 1.3% and 1.7% growth in 2026 and 2027 down to 0.6% and 0.9%.  With inflation at 2.8% and 2.9% from 2.0% and 2.3%. This is the consensus of all forecasts including Ifo Institute and Kiel Institute, which also see prices coming down in the second half, the Iran war impact mostly first half only. Clearly Germany will be able to ride out the Iran crisis and oil at $120 in April 2026. A big part of this is that there is a trillion dollars in investment that Germany's Merz has initiated and this makes a huge difference. France is self sufficient in energy with its reliance on nuclear energy. Germany imports only 6% of its energy from the Hormuz straits which means supplies will be available just that prices will be higher. Germany also can accelerate its renewable energy shift which would pay dividends in the future. Germany also practices conservation of energy better than most countries, similar to Japan, getting the same GNP with lower and lower energy needs. If the US were to do what Germany and Japan have done in energy conservation there would be no need for Hormuz, US could supply Japan with energy. ...

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Independent contractors rule reinstated by DJT administration following employee status push by Biden and unions. This affects 11.9 million workers in the US. Independent contractors cannot unionize and lack some of the protections of labor law. The independent contractors get to choose where they work for remote work days and get to choose the projects they want to take up, set their own hours which can help for childcare or care for parents. It includes workers in real estate, construction, arts, design, and personal care, where most of these independent contractors work. Only a small part is in Uber drivers or DoorDash delivery gig workers. This Editorial Board opinion in Wash. post cites Bureau of Labor Statistics that says from a 2023 survey that 80% of this worker group prefers independent contractor work to full time traditional employment which has less flexibility.

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20 million barrels a day  of oil flow through Straits of Hormuz. 2.6 million barrels a day by pipelines to Oman. 70% of it going to Asia- China, India, Japan, South Korea. Iranian exports go through these Straits also making it difficult for Iran to generate oil revenue if the Straits are closed to shipping. Would Iran risk closing the Straits and what would it take to open the Straits? The answers are given in the adjoining article by Wald in The Atlantic Council publication. It says even if Iranian waters are closed in the Straits of Hormuz oil can still flow through the longer route in UAE waters. Wald says the bigger risk is for Suez and Red Sea shipping which is restricted by the Houthi rebels supported by Iran, with the US Navy operating in that area to keep shipping lanes open.

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100 ships pass through Straits of Hormuz daily 5-6 daily in March 2026. BBC Verify looks at the kinds of ships from India, Pakistan, Iran, and Greek shipping that have made it through the Hormuz shipping lane.  Some of these ships go close to the Iranian coast and not in the middle of the channel. The mountainous terrain along the coast, the peculiar geography of the channel have made it difficult to secure the Straits of Hormuz for international shipping . The channel is itself narrow at one point about 24 miles of water separating Oman from Iran. The shipping lanes are 2 miles wide, a separation zone of 2 miles between inbound and outbound ships. This makes it hard to secure from fast speedboats, missiles, and drones without securing both sides of the channel on mountainous terrain. 

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There are about the same number of borrowers 3.6 million instead of 3.4 million yet over 10 years Parent Plus Loans have grown by 61% or $44 billion to a whopping $115 billion burdening parents and students. Yet no one mentions that it is the colleges that are causing much of this increase with their failure to control costs. The government is now stepping in and it is up to parents to do their homework on school value so that this overburdening with debt that colleges take for granted becomes a thing of the past. If colleges cannot control costs they should feel public dissatisfaction and be ruled out. Colleges and Universities act as if they are not in a market system economy where costs cannot be simply passed on, costs have to be managed or consumers of a service will turn down that product.

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In Argentina the Right and Left politics have failed for most of this century, the economy struggles again in 2026- Millei and Argentina as shown by the NYT's Cohen. Yet inflation is down and something different is being tried. Bloated bureaucracy is cut down to basics, investments in mining and oil, manufacturing weak and infrastructure investments lacking, no clear solutions. Mexico benefits from American reshoring of factories in automobiles yet is the place where drug trafficking is happening and this is a problem of major dimensions, Brazil benefits from its vast agricultural wealth in the Amazon region, Argentina is seeking a mining boom, Venezuela after a deep shock from Chavez ideas and hyperinflation only now recovering, much of Latin America and Africa have missed the economic and technological changes that are underway in Asia for the last 50 years.

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It is not far away as India and Canada have a long relationship in the British Commonwealth of Nations as prominent members. India and the Eu relationship was also building up for years to get to the takeoff stage with huge potential. The US India trade relationship will also benefit from the deals signed with Germany and EU as it gives new approaches to do trade with US.

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Restaurants in UK have large price increases. UK restaurant owners say they are facing a squeeze with 55% of revenue going to pay taxes in 2026, and 45% left for rent, employees wages, electricity, food and other costs. Unclean streets and closure of restaurants during covid affect the prospects in the restaurant business. 38% of restaurant customers say they cannot afford to go to restaurants the way they used to.

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How to build a global port network with less cash- China's state owned Cosco and it's European ports network is an example of savy buying during financial crises, and when companies in Europe and the US were keen to make sales of ports. China simply integrated it into a vast exports network, using containerized terminal expansion modernization to build its manufacturing for export model. This was an extension of its domestic network where it added new port infrastructure to newly built rail and road connections.  India today is learning from this example. By 2000 the Chinese global export model was entrenched. It was also the year when the junior Bush president extended the wars of Reagan/Bush in Iraq of the 1980's to Afghanistan. China had a clear road ahead to build state of the art infrastructure of ports, logistics and exports over the next 10-15 years without any defense costs.  Piraeus in Greece south of Athens, a port concession acquired in 2004 Antwerp in Belgium (Austrian Netherlands), a minority stake in a container port acquired in 2008. In 2013 with sale of Terminal Link ports in a 49% stake deal by CMA of France holding 51%, China has stakes in Zeerbrugge and Antwerp, Busan South Korea, and Le Havre, Montoir and Fos in France, Xiamen in China, Miami and Houston in US. Rotterdam, Netherlands- Cosco acquired in 20126 a 35% stake in Euromax Terminal in Rotterdam from Hong Kong's Hutchison's Holdings for $125 million. Valencia and Bilbao majority  51% stake for $270 million, when JP Morgan paid as much as $950 million to ACS of Spain for these ports after the 2009 crisis led to Spanish divestments. Today in TEU's shipping containers China sends goods to Europe 10 times what it takes in through Spanish ports. Hamburg-In May 2023 Germany's Scholz overruled Habeck to let sale of 24.9% of Hamburg port to COSCO go through ...

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Zeit Online takes a look at German chancellor Angela Merkel's statement made in a beer tent in the Muich suburb of Trudering- "The times in which we can completely rely on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days." Zeit Online says the words "ein Stuck" in German were meant to say a bit or somewhat, but the essence of the statement that the depending on the trans-Atlantic alliance was now over comes right through.

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Plans for the Quad countries to launch a new effort in the last quarter of 2021 to produce 1 billion vaccines in 2022 for adding to supplies in the Indo-Pacific region that includes Indonesia, Malaysia Thailand and Vietnam. Japan would provide the financing for the manufacture of vaccines in India using American technology and raw material supplies. Australia would help with delivery in the Indo-Pacific region. The foreign ministers of the Quad countries, US, Japan, Australia and India, will meet on June 29 in Matera, during a G-20 foreign ministers meeting in Italy. 

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Media pays little attention to the costs of intermittent wars 1970 to 2026 and lost opportunities for economic development and modernization of a whole range of countries in the Middle East from the area around Egypt, and North Africa including Libya, Sudan, the region around Arab part of the Ottoman Empire of Iraq, Syria, the region stretching from Iran to the Gulf, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As Asia advances in modernization this area and the areas in parts of Latin America that are affected by "drug states" within states are severely impacted. Even the oil dividend is time bound as it lapses in the Middle East with the transition to renewable energy that is only likely to accelerate between 2026-2035. It reflects a series of poor choices by a whole generation of leaders in these regions.